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matataku_hoshiI have a confession to make: I purposefully try to stay away from nihonmono.
I have another confession to make: Although I have fallen (very) hard, I have only recently gotten into Takarazuka (I'm at your mercy, sempai ^_^). My first show was Ryoma Sakamoto/I Love Chopin at the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater. I went because I thought Takarazuka looked interesting. Admittedly at the time I was in a rush so I didn't get a chance to really look over the summary before seeing the show (but given the fact that these were "scenes" from the life of Sakamoto Ryoma and a little haphazard, I'm not sure how much it would have helped).
I liked the opening number. I liked it any time people stopped to sing. I liked Kashige. And I really liked I Love Chopin. But Ryoma-den? I had a really hard time understanding it, and therefore enjoying it. Partially because I think some of the language was older Japanese (as opposed to modern), and partially because so much of it was related to politics. In fact, the only parts I really remember understanding were the romantic scenes between Rui and Kashi. Regardless of whether or not it was actually a good show, I didn't actually get that into it that much at the time. But I Love Chopin? The cracktasticness of that (plus the fact that I bought a copy of tsukigumi's Elisabeth a couple of weeks later) have sealed my fate as a raving fanatic.
However, it's because of this first impression that since then I have tried to stay away from nihonmono, which is too bad since that cuts out some shows that I would otherwise be interested in. My Japanese is intermediate. With a summary and some repeat viewings, I can usually get the gist of a lot of shows shows pretty well. I was really happy with myself yesterday when I realized that I was able to understand probably 75% of the dialogue in Ernest in Love. Repeat viewings really do wonders for me. But when you start shaking up the language/use difficult terms...it gets harder.
I have another confession to make: Although I have fallen (very) hard, I have only recently gotten into Takarazuka (I'm at your mercy, sempai ^_^). My first show was Ryoma Sakamoto/I Love Chopin at the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater. I went because I thought Takarazuka looked interesting. Admittedly at the time I was in a rush so I didn't get a chance to really look over the summary before seeing the show (but given the fact that these were "scenes" from the life of Sakamoto Ryoma and a little haphazard, I'm not sure how much it would have helped).
I liked the opening number. I liked it any time people stopped to sing. I liked Kashige. And I really liked I Love Chopin. But Ryoma-den? I had a really hard time understanding it, and therefore enjoying it. Partially because I think some of the language was older Japanese (as opposed to modern), and partially because so much of it was related to politics. In fact, the only parts I really remember understanding were the romantic scenes between Rui and Kashi. Regardless of whether or not it was actually a good show, I didn't actually get that into it that much at the time. But I Love Chopin? The cracktasticness of that (plus the fact that I bought a copy of tsukigumi's Elisabeth a couple of weeks later) have sealed my fate as a raving fanatic.
However, it's because of this first impression that since then I have tried to stay away from nihonmono, which is too bad since that cuts out some shows that I would otherwise be interested in. My Japanese is intermediate. With a summary and some repeat viewings, I can usually get the gist of a lot of shows shows pretty well. I was really happy with myself yesterday when I realized that I was able to understand probably 75% of the dialogue in Ernest in Love. Repeat viewings really do wonders for me. But when you start shaking up the language/use difficult terms...it gets harder.
I'm a little worried about my enjoyment of Osaka Samurai because of this. From the very, very little that I was able to read from the summary, this one seems to also have some politics in it since the whole first paragraph was talking about the status of samurai in Osaka at the time. Since there doesn't appear to be a lead female role either, there doesn't appear to be much romance involved. For the record, I didn't actually get to the second paragraph, which is where I think they actually started summarizing the story. The first paragraph with all of its Osaka-ben was really, really hard. It involved a lot of having to bug my school's English teacher, which just made me feel awkward.
I'm worried that Osaka possibly will turn into a show without a lot of singing that I will once again have a really hard time understanding it, especially since they'll be using Osaka-ben. Also, since it isn't a Grand Theater show, there's no official English summary. I'm concerned that this is going to be two hours of listening to dialogue about something I don't understand. It may be good, but that doesn't mean I'll necessarily be able to recognize it for that if I can't understand a darn thing. *flails* Kiriyan, please know that I'm going to see this only because you and the rest of tsukigumi are so awesome.
Also, Takarazuka fans out there who don't speak much Japanese: You have my admiration and you deserve much karma for your dedication to this fandom.
I'm worried that Osaka possibly will turn into a show without a lot of singing that I will once again have a really hard time understanding it, especially since they'll be using Osaka-ben. Also, since it isn't a Grand Theater show, there's no official English summary. I'm concerned that this is going to be two hours of listening to dialogue about something I don't understand. It may be good, but that doesn't mean I'll necessarily be able to recognize it for that if I can't understand a darn thing. *flails* Kiriyan, please know that I'm going to see this only because you and the rest of tsukigumi are so awesome.
Also, Takarazuka fans out there who don't speak much Japanese: You have my admiration and you deserve much karma for your dedication to this fandom.
Well, regardless, Osaka Samurai is opening in a few days at Bow Hall, so congratulations to Kiriyan and the rest of tsukigumi. I will be keeping my eyes peeled to the internet for any articles/pictures/etc.
Edit: My bad, apparently Yumesaki Nene is the musumeyaku lead role. Interesting that they didn't go with Ai-chan, given how much she and Kiriyan have been paired together in the past. Makes me wonder what will happen in terms of a musumeyaku partner if Asako retires and Kiriyan becomes top star. Of course, Mihoko sticking around is more than fine by me too and she and Kiriyan could quite possibly make a good combo. Assuming that Hankyu decides to promote Kiriyan when Asako retires. Which hopefully will be a while from now.
In any case, good for Yumesaki Nene. I haven't seen her in a prominent role yet but she seemed cool in her Cafe Break interview from what I remember. And I'm definitely glad that she's getting a bigger role than Mimi in the ParisSora shinjikouen. Absolutely no offense at all meant to either her or Mihoko, but Mimi I thought was really a fairly boring role.
