matataku_hoshi: (Asa and Mihoko in The Magician's Melanch)
matataku_hoshi ([personal profile] matataku_hoshi) wrote2009-07-06 12:16 am

Sena Jun retirement announcement

...is anyone really surprised?

I have mixed feelings on this one.  I feel like Asako overstayed her time and I hated the fact that the company never gave her a new partner after Mihoko, but there are also performances of hers that I really love (Ernest and Love and Me and My Girl, namely).  Also, I got into fandom in January of 2007.  From the top stars of that time, only Mizu is left o.O

Whew, what a crazy year for retirements.

[identity profile] kirakira-sora.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 07:24 am (UTC)(link)
As much as I was waiting for it and am glad that Asako is moving on... its still kinda bitter. Retirements are not fun for anyone.

I really wish she hadn't come to the point she had and that she had no partner after Mihoko.

I enjoyed Asako as an otokoyaku in her earlier days and as Mihoko's partner. She didn't seem to be happy with her situation and now she can do whatever she likes :-D

[identity profile] muffin-song.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 07:29 am (UTC)(link)
As much as I was waiting for it and am glad that Asako is moving on... its still kinda bitter. Retirements are not fun for anyone.

Agreed completely. Even if I'm not a huge Asako fans these days, I know there are others who are and I hate to see my friends in pain.

That being said, she will have had four and a half years by the time she retires. That's not a bad run.

I really wish she hadn't come to the point she had and that she had no partner after Mihoko.

Agreed again. Asako was unlucky enough to get hit with a string of bad show in the beginning. Eventually they got better, but she still seemed worn out.

[identity profile] cosmos14.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 07:30 am (UTC)(link)
hahaha i'm not surprised... XD
kiyaah love your icon. =^^=
AsaKana... dokidoki

[identity profile] muffin-song.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 08:10 am (UTC)(link)
I don't think anyone really is. Anytime there are things about goodbye in the title ("Never Say Goodbye", "Adieu Marseilles", "A Bientot", etc), it's pretty much a given.

Maybe Tani's took us by surprise due to the title? -_-;

[identity profile] cosmos14.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 08:18 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe Tani's took us by surprise due to the title? -_-;
ahhh yeah. that one is really unexpected. =/
i really hope Kiriyan will take over.

[identity profile] palais.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 07:57 am (UTC)(link)
It will be sad to see her go, as she is indeed one of those "first faces of Takarazuka" that define my personal fandom. As is the general consensus, though, it is her time.

Is it essentially a given that Kiriyan will replace her?

[identity profile] muffin-song.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 08:09 am (UTC)(link)
Is it essentially a given that Kiriyan will replace her?

You would think so. Kiriyan has been long overdue for a while now to become top.

(That being said, there are no "for sure"s in this fandom. We were all pretty sure that Tomu would become the next top of sora after Tani, although Tomu has not been waiting as long as Kiriyan).

But yeah, I'd be pretty surprised at this point if Kiriyan didn't make top. The real question for me is who will be her partner. My dream is Ai-chan, but my suspicion is that they'll go with someone else, as the company has not been favoring older musumeyaku lately. I just hope that 1) it's someone I like (or can at least tolerate), and 2) Ai-chan gets a good role to go out on, since I suspect that she'll also retire with Last Play.

[identity profile] kirakira-sora.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 08:11 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe Alice?


That would be kinda weird....

[identity profile] muffin-song.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 08:19 am (UTC)(link)
Alice would be perfectly acceptable as she is one of the few of my favorite musumeyaku who have NOT retired in the last year T_______T

I'm trying to decide if she and Kiriyan could work. Maybe? It's often hard to imagine without actually seeing them together.

*restrains self from commenting on Shizuku*

[identity profile] kirakira-sora.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 08:20 am (UTC)(link)
I forgot about Shizuku....

[identity profile] muffin-song.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 08:23 am (UTC)(link)
I'm trying to be optimistic by reminding myself that the choices are not always obvious. Mizu and Nacchan were paired together a few times (Kimi wo Aishiteru, Karamazov Brothers), so who would have thought that the company would have picked Mika instead?

I've been trying to ignore this new wave of top musumeyaku that I'm less than pleased with as a whole, but Kiriyan is sacred territory :P

[identity profile] kirakira-sora.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 08:25 am (UTC)(link)
But that's not quite fair.. Nacchan is super talented and so is Mika. Shizuku is growing up, but I still find her fairly weak.

Though, frankly they are all far younger than I like.

[identity profile] muffin-song.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 08:31 am (UTC)(link)
*decides to match the icon because after all, there is nothing that can't be blamed on Micchan XD*

But that's not quite fair.. Nacchan is super talented and so is Mika. Shizuku is growing up, but I still find her fairly weak.

Honestly, I don't know Mika that well. She seems okay enough. But Tonami was one of my favorite musumeyaku ever, so I'm feeling picky about her replacement.

Really, with all of these new musumeyaku, they're not so bad individually. But I hate how the trend is moving so young and cutesy, especially compared to Tonami and Asuka. Plus Mihoko and Ume-chan were at least out of their shinko years when they started. And if Hankyu was going to pick young musumeyaku, couldn't they have at least picked ones that I liked? :P

But Shizuku...yeah. My frustration is that she's being promoted over people who are more talented IMO :/

[identity profile] kyttenfae.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 08:41 am (UTC)(link)
Mika is pretty much as close to Tonami as you can get within current Yukigumi, actually... I personally like Nacchan a little better, but that's a personal response not anything involved with their talent levels. Really though, Mika is amazingly a mini!Tonami, but isn't so much a clone that she doesn't have her own personality.

I 100% do agree though on the fact that I also wish they'd let the musumeyaku mature a little more before promotion... considering that your voice doesn't mature until late 20s/early 30s, the years of beautiful vocal music we're being forced to miss by musumeyaku aging out of the system through promotion or lack-thereof lately just sucks. :(

[identity profile] palais.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 08:43 am (UTC)(link)
And if Hankyu was going to pick young musumeyaku, couldn't they have at least picked ones that I liked?

Agreeing that the trend is bothersome, and I'm right with you on this statement. I miss musumeyaku who were young ladies, not little girls.

[identity profile] palais.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 08:40 am (UTC)(link)
It's rather depressing that a ken-9 musumeyaku is an "older" musumeyaku. The disparity in ages between otokoyaku and musumeyaku top stars is one I find rather annoying.

I will keep my fingers crossed for Ai-chan. :)

[identity profile] muffin-song.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 05:59 pm (UTC)(link)
It's rather depressing that a ken-9 musumeyaku is an "older" musumeyaku.

EXTREMELY. (I realize that there is a history of this throughout Takarazuka, but it still doesn't make me happy).

I miss musumeyaku who were young ladies, not little girls.

YES. I tend to like musumeyaku in two categories: 1) Mature (a la Asuka or Tonami), or 2) Spunky (a la Ume, Alice (who doesn't seem to take any nonsense offstage), Ai-chan, etc).

Anyway, I'll stop here, I might write a big post addressing this later.

[identity profile] fyrie.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 08:10 am (UTC)(link)
I can't say I'm surprised by this at all. Ever since Elisabeth was announced, I've been expecting it. Sort of expected her to go with that, but I suppose losing Touko/Asuka, Tonami and Tani/Ume in repid succession over 3 months would have been a bit too much.

[identity profile] muffin-song.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 08:16 am (UTC)(link)
True. Then again, in 2006 there was Wao retiring in the spring, and then Wataru, Komu, and Kashige ALL retiring in succession. Talk about a crazy year!

The way things line up it seems like every few years you suddenly get everyone retiring all at once -_-;

As for Elisabeth...well, the production itself seems to have turned out decently from what I've heard. But I still think tsuki was a strange choice to be the troupe chosen to perform it. My guess is that Asako wanted to go out on a show that was written for her?

[identity profile] fyrie.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 11:01 am (UTC)(link)
I think Sena's secretly been hankering for Death for ages, and wanted to do it before she left ;) She's stunning vocally. I've not heard a Death so strong since Ichiro Maki in the original, and that really surprised me. Plus, the change in style and mood is great :)

[identity profile] sarabakanashimi.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 09:21 am (UTC)(link)
Not surprised, but still a bit sad :( Anyway she looked so tired lately, so, uh, maybe it's for the best? *entertains mad hope of Kiriyan making top with Ai-chan*

[identity profile] caithion.livejournal.com 2009-07-06 02:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Pleasepleaseplease let me know on the money transfer questions I emailed you before this afternoon (your time). It's my last chance to do it before your deadline, because I have to work during open ATM hours on Wed/Th, and I'll be in Tokyo on Friday.

[identity profile] dinhu-4ever.livejournal.com 2009-07-07 04:00 pm (UTC)(link)
The one day I decide to stay away from the pc this sort of things happen. *sigh* It wasn't really surprising, considering the name of the show and all...we all what to expect from performances with words related to goodbye/farewell/last and etc.

So...does anyone know when the next top annoucement will be made?