Cleverly Disguised as a Responsible Adult

Hankyu has given us no scandalous news recently, and I don't have anything to do while waiting for my disc to copy.  In the mean time, I'm subjecting my friends list to scattered thoughts on a few shows I've been watching lately :P

( Excalibur, Rika's sayonara show, and Mami's sayonara show )

I can't figure out what tsuki is doing in 2009.  (Granted I think we're all in the dark given that we haven't gotten a new top musumeyaku announcement, nor has Asako announced her retirement). 

So there's a show that will be at Theater Drama City, and then Showa Women's University.  My guess would be that this is tsukigumi's Berubara, and that they're doing the there day run at Showa Women's University because they couldn't get a hold of the Nippon Seinenkan or any of the alternatives.

What I can't figure out then is the Bow Hall also running at the same time.  Kiriyan just had the Hakataza show in August 2008, and I doubt they would give her two leads within a year.  It would also be really strange if they gave her a 17-day Bow Hall show that didn't have a Tokyo counterpart.

Who else is there besides Kiriyan, though?  They're not really treating poor Ahi as a sanbante these days, but I'm not sure if Morie, Sonoka, etc. are being pushed so much that they would be given such a long-running Bow Hall.  Someone suggested the idea of it being a run split between two leads, although usually there is a break between runs when that happens.

Also, both tsuki and hoshi this year will have two Daigekijou shows in a row without any smaller shows in between.  I wonder if this is going to be the new pattern or if this is just a result of Hankyu switching over to the new schedule.  Regardless, I'm really glad that the smaller shows haven't disappeared altogether (although there is a sad lack of workshops this year).

Of course it's a bit hard to predict who will get which leads without knowing about transfers.  After all, a year ago would anyone have predicted that Yuuhi would be leading the 2008 hanagumi Theater Drama City show?  But I have to say, I kind of enjoy the speculation side of Takarazuka, even when it's driving me crazy ^^;;

..how is it that I don't have a MiiMai icon yet?  Probably because I'm trying my best not to spoil myself.  Anyway, on the news today, I found out that apparently Noel Gay's grandson went to see tsukigumi's production of MiiMai.  (Noel Gay was the composer for MiiMai). 

You can never tell with press appearances, but he at least seemed to enjoy it a lot.  Asako, Kiriyan, Mihoko, Ahi, Taki-san, Ai-chan, Naho-san, and Misa Noeru-san got to shake his hand as he congratulated them (What is Misa Noeru's proper nickname anyway?  The TakaWiki says it's Maya-san, but I'm not sure if I've heard that before).

He said that Misa Noeru's Parchester was very funny and that he really enjoyed Taki-san's singing.  He didn't have as extensive feedback for Kiriyan, but I suppose no one is perfect ;)  Afterwards he got a program signed by all the tsukigumisei.  There was an interpreter there translating everything he said into Japanese and I didn't get to hear the siennes try to speak English, but it made me happy regardless ^^

Because I've been doing my best to ignore everything MiiMai related until I see it, in a way I've almost forgotten how soon it's coming up.  Assuming my club can get me tickets, I should be seeing it in slightly less than a month.  In the mean time, I'm stuck plugging my ears, humming, and looking away from the TV every time something MiiMai related comes on.  (At least if I'm too lazy to actually get up and turn off the TV, which is most of the time ^^;)

Pari no Sora Yori mo Takaku/Fancy Dance was the first time that I saw tsukigumi live.  Right now I'm watching it on TV.

It was my second live Takarazuka show.  My first was Ryoma-den.  However, in between the two I had bought copies of Tsuki's Elisabeth and Ernest in Love and was budding into a fan.  As my crummy luck would have it, I came down with a fever that week and was still sick that night.  Even still, I still went.  I had been excited about this all month, plus it was a 8000 yen ticket and I didn't want to waste that kind of money.

Watching this again, I am reminded that PariSora is a fairly crummy show with a few good bits.  But even still, when I watch it I can't help but smile because I remember falling in love with Takarazuka then, and particularly with a certain stuttering French inventor.  By sheer luck, I think I had either row six or eight tickets.  Way off to the left, but still pretty darn good.  When people ask me why I like Kiriyan, well, there are many reasons.  But I often tell them it's because of her smile.  Even though now I may look back at the opening of PariSora and think that first song is a little too pink for my taste, I won't forget the feeling of wonderful shock that the real life Kiriya Hiromu was in front of me.  (Not to mention the real life Sena Jun, Ayano Kanami, and Oozora Yuuhi, but that's a different story).  To be honest, I remember some of the Takarasiennes looked tired.  But I was amazed at how bright and genuine Kiriyan's smile was.

By the time Fancy Dance started I was really starting to not feel good.  Unfortunately even now I have trouble enjoying the Arabian number towards the end, not because there's anything wrong with it in the least, but because I somehow associate it with being sick.  Even with all of that, however, I convinced my friend to stay after with me for demachi.  I ended up chatting with a nice British lady who was a big Takarazuka fan as well.  I stood behind Kiriyan's club.  I'm strangely having trouble remembering the exact details of what she did as she collected letters, but I remember I took some pictures and I remember that she smiled and said "Bai bai!" as she finished.  Later on that week I remember I was teaching at one of my crappier schools and trying not to go crazy.  I looked at the pictures on my digital camera and cheered up.  (Looking back at them now they're not very good pictures, but they made me ecstatic at the time).

Okay, I'm going to attempt to be productive.  But I felt like waxing nostalgic <3

Tsukigumi starts Me and My Girl tomorrow~~~!  Break a leg, girls!

I'm going to kindly request to my friends list the same thing that I requested for A-"R"ex: If you could put any promotional pictures, reviews, etc. under a cut, I would be extremely grateful.  I really ruined Mahoroba/Magician no Yuutsu for myself by looking at too much advanced material, and I'm trying my best to never do that again.  I hope this isn't too much trouble, but I would really appreciate it >_<

In closing, I think you guys know by now where my loyalties lie in tsukigumi.  Despite that, I thought that Hollywood Lover was definitely the better of the two tsukigumi shows that came to the Nippon Seinenkan this January.  Just uh, don’t tell the Kiriyan cultists that I said that -_-;;;;

Yuuhi fans, you definitely need this one.  Tsukigumi fans, I highly recommend it.  Even if you’re not a particularly big fan of either, I still really recommend Hollywood Lover.  Really, I can’t think of any complaints.