Cleverly Disguised as a Responsible Adult

Ignore this if you don't know anything about Takarazuka ^^;

( No, really, I wasn't kidding ^^; )

It's always a little weird watching revues in their touring/Chunichi/etc. versions.  I like how lower ranked people get bigger parts, but it's hard for the troupe not to feel like it's at half power simply because of it being cut in half number-wise.

( My thoughts under the cut )

To be completely honest, for all that I am excited that Kiriyan has become top, she hasn't become top of the troupe that I fell in love with three years ago.  There are still people I love in tsukigumi, but the truth is I still feel the loss of many people I love (Eri-san, Sueko, Taki-san, Mihoko, Yuuhi, Ai-chan, etc).

At the same time I've waited a while for Kiriyan to be top, and I *want* to like her tsukigumi.  I don't want to be so caught up in retirements and politics that I can't enjoy things any more.  

Anyway, I still have Yukariko to watch, and I plan on buying Scarlet Pimpernel when it comes out <3

I’m lucky to have been able to see three shinjinkouen performances since becoming a Takarazuka fan.  They’re always so, so much fun.  Shinko performers only get one chance per run to do their performance and as a result always put 200% into their roles.

Shinkos are always a little rough around the edges, but even with that I found the Casablanca shinko very, very enjoyable on its own.  There were a *lot* of promising siennes in the cast.

( My review under the cut )

Since I've gotten home, I haven't managed to get any work done on my grad school admissions essays. And yet I seem to have found the time to finish my Casablanca review AND write a Christmas card to Micchan >.> For the record, I went into this show thinking of it as "Takarazuka Does Casablanca." I don't think anyone could be Humphrey Bogart, etc. so I tried to think of this "Casablanca" as a completely different animal.

 

( The Bad )

 

 

( The Good )

 

 

( Cast Rundown )

 

So in conclusion…no, it’s not an absolutely perfect show. But I really, really love it anyway, and I really recommend that everyone see it

I'm embarrassed to say that I had my copy of How to Succeed for a little over a year before I actually watched it >.>
 
( Some thoughts under the cut )So in short, you really should try to track down a copy.  But you can't have mine :P *clings*

...*wanders off to scheme about possible casting for a future production*

I watched the honkouen of "Aoi Tori wo Sagashite" tonight.  What a cute show!  I'm embarrassed to admit that this is actually my first Komu/Maa-chan show (and I'm not sure if it technically counts since it was also a Tom show).  Somehow I've managed to miss out on a lot of pre-Mizu yukigumi >.>  This may need to be corrected.

The performances were very solid all around and the entire cast was obviously enjoying having Tom back in the troupe, but it was the 84th class who stole the show for me.  Before this I had only seen Tonami in the strong, elegant roles that she has become known for.  Who would have known that she is just at talented at playing ditzy roles too? (although we really shouldn't be surprised)  Everyone needs to see this show if only to see her forlornly singing "Happy Birthday" to herself while wearing a bathrobe and face mask <3333  And tomboy-musumeyaku!Kimu?  Need I say more about how happy this made me? 

Oh, and Kashige was adorable.

Beyond a lot of good performances, I thought it was also decently written.  Convoluted, yes, but in the Takarazuka way and therefore not bad.  There were both moments that had me rolling on the floor and some genuinely touching moments as well.  I'm looking at the TakaWiki now, and I don't understand how Ishida-sensei can write such good shows (namely Aoi Tori and Osaka Samurai), and yet also produce such wastes of my time like Sakamoto Ryoma and Reimei no Kaze.  I guess everyone has their good and bad days >.>

Only...parts of the plot got a little confusing.

( Spoilery question underneath the cut )

I wanted to quickly post some "Dancing For You" thoughts.

( review underneath the cut )

Meep.  I feel bad saying this, but I liked the Daigekijou version better.

( review under the cut )

Why didn't anyone tell me that Mami's ESP! is awesome?  It's been a while since I sat down and watched something that wasn't an interview/production notes/etc.  As much as I love off-stage stuff, I think I need to start working through my backlog of revues if ESP was any indication of really sparkly things that I didn't realize I had.

There was Rika singing "Born to Be Wild."  Vampire!Mami.  Kiriyan, Yuuhi, and Tani in drag.  Mami and Rika having a pair dance-esque moment before Mami dances with Dan-chan.  Kiriyan singing the etoile (I somehow didn't know that she had ever done an etoile).  But most of all, the entire thing was suffused with Mami Crack.

It also makes me feel a little sad to see how many wonderful people have left tsukigumi since 2001, but I suppose that's the nature of Takarazuka.

By the way, what was the reason for tsukigumi being so out of synch in 2001?  I think it was first "Ai no Sonata/Ima Sumire Hana ga Saku" in Tokyo, then "Practical Joke" (a Theater Drama City show), then "Ai no Sonata/ESP" in Takarazuka as Mami's sayonara show, and then "Great Pirates" as Rika's debut show, but Tokyo only.  The whole thing makes my head hurt a bit...

Okay, now that I have that particular bit of drama out of the way, I went to see MiiMai on Sunday! 

 

 

Before the show I was talking to a tsukigumi fan friend of mine.  She said that there are some shows that she dreads having to see multiple times, but this isn’t one of them and that she was smiling the entire way through.  I agree completely.  If you have the opportunity, I really recommend seeing this one, regardless of whether or not you’re a fan of tsukigumi or any of the Takarasiennes involved.