New top stars announced !!!

Ok just had to share this. Well since I had the intention to post more things on my blog anyway guess it is as good an excuse as any ^^.

Well just recently there was a press conference concerning the curent topstars of Takarazuka's snow troupe, Sou Kazuho, and her retirement. Which came as quite a shock since she had the position of top star after Otozuki Kei (音月　桂) retired in 2012. So for her to go after such a short time was really shocking to read. Especially since I actually liked her ^^.

Former Snow troupe stop star Otozuki Kei 音月　桂

(13 th September 2010 - 24th December 2012)

Current Snow troupe topstar Sou Kazuho 壮　一帆　

retires : 31st August 2014

And then of course her partner Manaka Ayu followed. It seems to have become a tradition for pairs to retire together. Besides Flower troupe that is I can only think of a few that actualy retired together, as far as I can see. It kind of adds a charm I guess to have a pair become topstars together and also retire at the same time. The only thing is that I seem to lose all my favourite musumeyaku this way. I adore Manaka Ayu, I really like her style so I'm really sad to see her go after she finally made it to top musumeyaku.

Current Snow troupe topstar Manaka Ayu　愛加　あゆ 

retires: 31st August 2014

But I do have to say that the musumeyaku that is going to fill the position of next top star does make her retirement a little more bearable. I kind of assumed that Ranno Hana （蘭乃　はな）the current Hana gumi musumeyaku top start would retire with her partner  Ranju Tomu (蘭寿　とむ), since she got the position after the musumeyaku retired and her then partner retired as well. So this means that Asumi Rio (明日海　りお) is going to be her third partner. Not that I mind her staying she is really amazing <3. 

Current Hana gumi topstar Ranju Tomu　蘭寿　とむ 　

retires: 11th  May 2014

 Current Hana gumi topstar Ranno Hana 蘭乃　はな

She stays topstar after her current partner retires

One of my favourite actresses (together with Yuzuki Reon, 柚希　礼音 ,see furter down this post for picture) Asumi Rio　明日海　りお. 

Becoming topstar : 12th  May 2014

But well I kind of thought that other musumeyaku might have replaced her, but in the end it really is the actresses their own decision to retire with their partners or not. And I actually made a list of possible musumeyaku who might be on the list of next possible top stars ^^. And one of my favourites got the position once again. 

So without further a do the bext topstar cmbi of Snow wil be..... (with link to the official site)
http://kageki.hankyu.co.jp/news/detail/8c0a5b3a2f856cad82a6425f8633d9bc.html

 Sagiri Seina  早霧　せいな

becoming topstar : 1 st September 2014

Sakihi Miyu 咲姫　みゆ

Becoming topstar : 1st September 2014

Well the otokoyaku was kind of obvious, since most of the nibante were already gone. They seem to have this system where you first obtain the position of nibante at a topstar's side for at least 2 years, before you actually get the topstar position ( for the otokoyaku only ). Since Otozuki Kei left and Sagiri Seina became her official Nibante but did not have the 2 years yet she had to wait and Sou Kazuho was taken from Flower troupe to become Snow troupe's top star, and Asumi Rio was Ryu Masaki's sort of nibante  (she was a demi topstar, translated as half so they shared main roles) in Moon troupe and she was placed in flower troupe afterwards to become top after Ranju Tomu Retired, Ouki Kaname was appointed top star of Cosmos in 2012 after the then topstar Oozora Yuuh retired, and in Star Kurenai Yuzuru was officially made nibante after Suzumi Shio retired in 2012. So there really were no other nibante left with the right amount of experience ^^. And even though she might not be my favourite I know Sagiri Seina will make a great top star, please take care of my Miyu ^_^ !

And well as mentioned before I actually looked at the current musumeyaku and I came up with some possible topstar candidates myself ^^. And this girl was really high on my list :D (well she was at the top actualy XD), I mean just look at her doesn't she make the most adorable musumeyaku lead ever? And being a Mirio (Asumi Rio's nickname) fan I got a good glimpse of her during her Bow hall performance. She played the female lead role in that play. And she really is just to die for. So please do your best Miyuchan and become a great combi with Sagiri Seina, I'm rooting for you ^_^!

Well maybe for the unfamiliar ones I might as well list the other current topstars as well. Just so you might have an idea who's who. For the hardcore fans just to add some nice pictures to look at XD. We can never have enough zuka pictures now can't we.

I already added Flower and Snow troupe, so that leaves the troupes : Moon, Star and Cosmos ^^.

Current Moon troupe topstars:

Ryuu Masaki　龍　真咲

 Manaki Reika　愛希　れいか

Current Star troupe topstars :　

 Yuzuki Reon　柚希　礼音

Yumesaki Nene　夢咲　ねね

(btw she is also the elder sister of  Manaka Ayu, the current top of Snow)

Current Cosmos troupe topstars :

Ouki Kaname　鳳稀　かなめ

Misaki Rion　実咲　凛音

And now for the time being I don't think this list will change. Most of them have only been topstar for a short time, and the current one are quite popular. The only one who have been topstars for a number of years now are Yuzuki Reon en Yumesaki Nene of Star troupe. They were appointed topstars in 2009. They're unbelievebly popular combi and it doesn't seem like they are going to retire this year ^^. Which relieves me since I am a big fan and hope to enjoy them for a long time to come ^_^. Well there have been topstars that held the position for like 6 years, and if they are popular enough they let them stay for that long ^^. So I'll keep my fingers crossed.

So far the quick topstar update :), I just had to rant about that again. Since that is about the only thing I can check currently. Though I have to say I have an anime which I really adore, so maybe I'll just introduce you to it next time. Just so that I have something different to talk about, otherwise I might just have well started a Zuka blog XD.

See ya, hope you enjoyed ~! 

静夢　龍

Hoshigumi Romeo&Julliete 2013

Ok keeping up a blog while having an insane busy workschedule did not work out -.-, so long time no update. So from now on I'm going to try harder to make regular posts.

Sooo I finally got my graduation present. Even though I graduated in August I had to find a way to get my present to Holland. Luckily my kouhai helped me out ^^, he ordered it for me and send it by mail. After six monts of waiting I was able too watch the blu-ray I had my eyes on for almost a year :). Which is the the performance of Romeo & Julliete of Takarazuka's star troupe ^_^. (See poster below.)

As for the ones who are not familiar with this theatre: Takarazuka is a Japanese all female theatre. In other words all the actors in the play are women, so you have ones that specialize in female roles : Musumeyaku 娘役(if you translate that litterally you get daughter role), and of course the male roles 男役 (male role).

Takarazuka also has a certain system concerning the ranking of theirs stars and what kind of roles they receive in their productions. You have the so called top stars who will always get the leads, and then the second most important actress naturally receives the second most important role (usually the villian role).
The ranks are decided by their experience and most importantly their popularity.

Takarazuka has five different troupes which roughly exist out of 60 to 70 people, but this can vary from time to time. The troupes names are Hana （花）flower troupe, Tsuki（月）Moon troupe, Yuki（雪）Snow troupe, Hoshi（星）Star troupe and Sora（宙）Cosmos troupe.

And that is a basic introduction if you want any more information you can check out the official site ( they also have an Englisch introductionary part):
Official English site
Official Japanese site

But there is also a site called takawiki which is made by foreign fans for other fans to provide information, share tips etc. :
Takawiki site

So now that's over with let's get started on the play itself ^^. This version of Romeo & Julliete is actually written by a Frenchmen named Gérad Presgurvic and was first performed in France in 2002. It is a very popular musical and has been performed in countries all over the world. It follows the story of William shakepeare's story of Romeo & Julliete, although with maybe a slight alteration at the end concerning Paris. But other than that it follows the original plot with roles added of Death and ( in Takarazuka's case ) Love. They're invisible characters to the main cast and sort influence them throughout the story. Just in case there is someone who does not know the story justr a short summary:

The story is about two young lovers who live in the town of Verona, where two families, the Capulets and the Montagues, have been in fued for a really long time. Untill this day they still fight each other and hold a deep hatred towards another. The main characters Romeo Monatague and Julliete Capulet fall in love after meeting each other at a ball. Of course they can never be together because of their families and marry in secret, also because Julliete's parents plan to wed her to Paris. After that the families are outraged because of their union, and a fight occurs with a tragic ending for Thybalt and Mecutio. After that the two are seperated and by misunderstanding Romeo utimately thinks Julliete died. He comes to her side and drinks poison to be reunited with his love. Although it was just a fake to get her out of town and she finds Romeo dead by her side after which she also kills herself.

For Takarazuka this version, there is a reason why the year it was performed in included, is the forth time this play has made it to their stage. This musical is extremely popular in Japan, other productions besides Takarazuka were also set up. Star troupe performed this musical before in 2010, and two other troupes, Snow and Moon, also performed the musical in 2011 and 2012. Now why would you let the same people perform a production twice? Well some of us were also surprised (but very delighted I can add) that they would perform it a second time. The curent Star troupe top stars (the otokoyaku star in particular are very popular)　are very popular and so was their first performance of this musical. And besides that reason members are also sent from one troupe to another or they leave/retire (退団, taidan) from the company. This means that the actresses constantly change in the troupes. Some retired which held some important roles, other transferred to other troupes or where transferred to Star troupe. So even though the majority of the actresses stayed the same, some of the main roles were portrayed by other people this time.

And also to make things easier for all of us (not really it might get a bit confusing) they also had some switching roles, some actresses received two roles and alternate with each other . Which means that there are two versions, simply called A and B. But they keep version A as the main version so to say.

The lead roles are for the current top stars (their names are stage names btw, they are not allowed to use their real names)

Romeo : Yuzuki Reon (柚希  礼音)

Julliete : Yumesaki Nene (夢咲  ねね)

The role of Thybalt was protrayed by two actresses, I'll list the a version first and B second.

Kurenai Yuzuru  (紅  ゆずる)
Kurenai Yusuru performing kyou koso sono hi

(sorry if it is not really clear, it was the most decent picture I could find)

Makaze Suzuho (真風  涼帆)

The we have Benvolio which was also portrayed by two different women.

Rei Makoto (礼  真琴)

(the right one) Kurenai Yuzuru
Kurenai Yuzuru performing douyatte tsutaeyou

And the role of Mercutio was also alternated.　(These two also portrayed Paris, but I wans't able to find a picture T^T)

Ichijou Azusa (壱城  あずさ)

Tenju Mitsuki  (天寿  光希)

And last bu tnot least the roles of Death and Love were also alternated, I think it is obvious from the costumes which is which ^^. Though I wasn't able to get a shot of Tsurumi Mayu (鶴美 舞夕) as Love.

Makaze Suzuho 

Mao Yuuki (麻央  有希)

Rei Makoto

And so far the alternated roles. And actually pretty much the main roles.

As for the musical itself (I might be a bit biased though XD) I think it is really awesome. So far this is one of my favourites. And not just because my favourite actress is in it ^^, though it does play its part. But I also really like the music and the songs. I can't give an example of this version but there are some songs on the internet or youtube. The copyright is really strict and things get deleted rather easily...
I did manage to find quite a few videos ^^, I added the links to this post. Though not all of them are of the same version, but those are just there for the songs. Further down are videos of the 2013 performance :).

But here is one of my favourites sekai no ou (kings of the world): sekai nou ou hoshi gumi 2010   

And it is still Star troupe but it is the 2010 version ^^. Romeo is the same actress, Benvolio is protrayed by Suzumi Shio (涼 紫央) but she retired in 2012, and Mercutio is played by Kurenai Yuzuru and she plays Thybalt and Benvolio in the 2013 run.

And here are some samples of the French version, there might be some slight differences sometimes but in general the melody is the same. Every production gives there own little twist to it,  so it is natural that nothing is completelt the same, but you get the feel of the music ^^.

Music Ball scene: ball scene music French musical

Boku ha kowai or in French Jái peur (I'm afraid) : Jái peur
Japanese version : boku ha kowai 2011

And Vérone (Verona) : French song Vérone
Japanese version 2010 : Verona Hoshigumi 2010

I actually saw all the versions of Takarazuka, sadly not all of them live -.- . That is the downside of being a foreign fan, on the other side they release DVD's or sometimes Blu-rays of almost every production. So that way we'll be able to see the play ^^. I have seen Star 2010, Snow 2011 on DVD, and saw the Moon performance live. That was absolutely amazing to get to see one of my favourites performed live. 

Still it was really a shame I had to miss Yuzuki Reon's Romeo, because she is my absolute favourite. I just adore the sound of her voice, and I'm reallt picky with vocals. It sometimes even annoys me -.-, but anyway I just like to be wowed by a song and sometimes just the personal sound of a singer can put me of the wow factor. Not that they're not good, quite the contrary but it is just doesn't give me goose bimps so to say ^^.

And Yuzuki Reon manages to wow me everytime so far, and she is also known as one of the best dancers. And she's really lovely to watch as Romeo. And especially in combination with her partner Yumesaki Nene, they make such a great pair and they're just adorable in this production. Some pictures below for illustration ^_^.

Balcony scene 2013

Aimer wedding scene 2013

And of course Kurenai Yuzuru has her own charm, she doesn't quite beat the first Thybalt which was portrayed by Ouki Kaname (she transferred to a different troupe) but I actually enjoyed her Thybalt ^^ so singing wise she was great. And her villain roles are just to die for really, she also played Benedict in Ocean's 11 (yeah they made a musical of the movie ^^) and I just adored her in that role.

Though I have to say that I do prefer Makaze Suzuho as Death, she performed really wel but just nothing beats her Death aura. And compared to the other performances I kind thaught her Thybalt wasn;t as good. But that is just my personal opinion.

Makaze's Death is just to die for XD, also how she plays around with Romeo and the atmosphere on stage is amazing to watch.

Just like I think Tenju Mitsuki makes a better Mercutio than Ichijou Azusa, even though I adore Azusa she just didn't meet my expextations. Maybe I expected too much or my idea of the role is different but I don't know her version just didn't quite cut it for me. But then they have to compete with Kurenai Yuzuru who portrayed the role in the first run and she was really great, just like Sagiri Seina from Snow, and Miya Rurika of Moon troupe. But I guess you can't have everything right ^^. 

Kurenai, Yuzuki and Tenju combi 

Rei, Yuzuki, Ichijou combi

And then Benvolio, I was really pleased by both actresses actually. Well Kurenai Yuzuru was bound to make something out of it anyway, but the way she portrayed Benvolio was really amazing. She kind added a little humor and lightened the role somewhat, compared to Suzumi Shio who had a little more serious touch to her Benvolio. So I really liked her Benvolio just because of the slight goofyness ^^.

And the Rei Makoto, she is also one of my current favourites but she's quite young so this was the first big role she got in a main run production. And I was really looking forward to her Benvolio and wondering what she'd make of it. But I have to say she really made my day :). I just adored her, she can really sing the songs with feeling and the way I like to hear them as well (so double plus point for her there) and also add the slight goofyness to the part which I like. So I guess I can say that I have a new favourite benvolio here :D.

Also here are some scences from the play.

Video of the final scene 2013

rehearsal video

 Even if it is not the Takarazuka version I highly recommend this musical. The songs are great and are garanteed to stick long after you've seen it. And the story is just a classic one that you have to see at least once in your life. And Takarazuka give their own flair to it, they always have their own Revue show added at the end of the performance. In this case it is a long musical so a short Revue show is included at the end where they sing songs and perform dance routines.
But they also have productions that are shorter on time and have a complete Revue show as a second part of the show. And it always end with the large stairs and the top stars wearing large feater constuctions on their back (don't know how to explain it other wise just look at the picture you'll get it ^^.

Here some pictures of the Revue show.

And here the Finale with the all the actresses on stage.

Video of the revue show 2013

I hope you enjoyed reading my review, or rather me ranting about one of my favourite Takarazuka productions XD. If you ever get the chance to go see a show, live or on DVD, take it because their shows are really amazing. It doesn't matter if you don't understand Japanese, in the beginning I didn't get all of it either. Though I did study Japanese which made it easier in the end, there are also a lot of foreign fans with next to no knowledge of Japanese and still enjoy the shows. Plus there are always fan sites where they offer translations or summaries of the plays so you can grasp the story somewhat. And they also perform western musicals like Romeo & Julliete or Elizabeth, so you can always find information about those plays.

Thank you all and till next time !

~静夢　龍