Takarazuka Journal

Ai Kagiri Naku
Moon Troupe, 1982-83

Leads: Daichi Mao, Harukaze Hitomi

[ Takawiki ]

( Summary: )

( What I Thought: )

Mao: Pretty. Shiny. Good voice. *LOVE*
Harukaze Hitomi: You're not Kuroki Hitomi. Who the hell are you? ... I wanted to slap her character. Gabe wandered in, and I told him I wanted to slap her, and he was rather shocked that I wanted to slap a blind girl. But after about five minutes he agreed with me and fled the scene. She was... obnoxious. Ridiculous. And had a shrill voice.
Tsurugi Miyuki: Bumbling, slimy evil. Hm. Interesting. I am intrigued. Not enough Utako in this show.


In conclusion: I seem to have gotten the wrong half of this performance. I want Passionate Barcelona.

Comparing these two, I have to say... 1990 is less painful. And trust me, this is a frightening thing indeed.

Here's the info and song list for TMP 1990 "Hello! Wonderful Time"

Points in its favor include, as many agree, the cuteness of the baby 'siennes in tuxes. Also, Oura Mizuki and Marimo Eri's lovely dance to "New York, New York", Mori Keaki in a suit "42nd Street", and a version of "Leaning on a Lamppost" from Me and My Girl with Kodama Ai playing the policeman.

Points against include: lycra, bad singing, attempts at Beatles and David Bowie covers, and... well, too much to list, really.

TMP 1989 "That's Movie! II

It's two hours of Oscar-winning songs from the 30s to the 80s. And no one attempted to modify them to keys that these woman could actually sing in. I swear my ears started bleeding. Again with the lycra too, but mainly the problem was the singing, because... that's all they did. A few brief walk-across appearances of otokoyaku in dresses (Scarlet ahoy), but that's all we had to break up the monotony.

Points in its favor include.... Suzukaze Mayo singing "Take My Breath Away" from Top Gun (Hey, I'm an 80s child, okay? I like this song; it makes me cry.), and... uh.... Utako's giant, dangly moon earing? ...... And also, um... well, uhm... It's Takarazuka? Actually, though, it was more than worth it for Kaname's version of "Take My Breath Away". It sure did. And also, the faces Fubuki was making at the baby doll in that one song were really priceless.


It appears that Marimo Eri was the current favorite back then. I think she had more appearances in each show than any of the other top stars. I can see why, too. She sang decently and danced well.

*is good, writes a review in her review journal*

Angel's Smile, Devil's Tears (Faust)
Moon Troupe, 1989

( Cast )

( Summary )

What I Thought

Utako is a dork. A cute dork, with moments of brilliance, but over-all, a dork. She reminds me too much of a goofy, over-enthusiastic puppy for me to take her seriously, and all I've seen her in so far are two rather depressing, tragic, love stories. What does this tell us? Well, it tells me I really wish I had one of her comedies..... Kodama Ai reminds me eerily of Ayano Kanami at times. I liked her much more in this than in Minami no Aishuu; the more mature role suited her very well. Her singing is always a pleasant surprise. Kaname must be the cutest evil fallen angel in the history of the universe. Luckily she has a good evil smirk. Non-chan slayed me dead again and again. Too cute! Too cute! *sniffles*

The heaven scene scared me. I was very worried what the rest of the show would look like, but luckily we left behind the horrid blond wigs, angel wings, and sacharine singing fairly quickly. The next big song number was at the university and I loved it. It was definitely my favorite song in the show. There wasn't really much dancing, beyond Utako's table dance in the bar and the angsty dance of regret towards the end. Over-all it felt more like a play than a musical, which brings us to the acting. I think Kodama Ai was my favorite actress. Particularly her scene in the mental hospital: "He loves me, he hates me, he loves me, he hates me, he hates me, he hates me, he hates me..." *shivers* Everyone else was, well, all right, but not brilliant. Oh! Non-chan was pretty brilliant. ;) But Kaname kind of hammed it up a little too much, and Utako spent way too much time being a dork. *sigh*