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yukinojouThis show is personally important for me as the subject of the first piece of Hankyu merchandise I ever owned - a clear file ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rkold got for me back in - 2006, I believe :) I love the visual design of it, the dark red and the Heian costumes. Little did I know that between this and Elisabeth 1996, I'd become a firm Snow fan!
The show is a nihonmono to beat all nihonmonos. The sets are sparse and dark, the light bringing out the wooden grain of the floor - the changing settings are indicated by single, dominating set-pieces like a wisteria that takes up the whole stage. The costumes are utterly lavish, completely realistic, though the long sideburns do make for rather visible weave lines. There is little music, but what is is voice-focussed, harmonious.
And then there is the dancing. This is the nihonmono for traditional dancing. Fan dancing! Bow dancing! Naginata demon dance!
Cast-wise, it's definitely an ensemble show, with 29 speaking parts and each of them getting the spotlight for the moment. The plot is complicated, and I'm hindered by lack of Japanese ability or English summary, but I managed to grasp the gist of what was happening. Still, it's more than enough just to look at the pretty costumes, pretty dancing, and wonderful acting of Snow's finest :) And the start of act two... okay, that bit didn't need translation.
Miho Keiko is deliciously imperious and chilling. In the garden scene I would have to be blind to miss the force of Yamashina Ai's smile. And Asaki Yumemi handles that naginata far too well. It's a good show for showing off musumeyaku, between the dancing and the plotting. Kaho Anna gets a starring scene that's so fragile and painful. And Sahana Mako is priceless - "I have important things-" *yanked down by a head-shorter musumeyaku* "No you don't!"
Seshiru! Daigo Seishiru was all of ken-3 and yet you can't tell by the way she struts. The camera loves her, definitely. Even when her moustache is extremely dodgy. Hiiragi Tomoe - such bounce and the faces she makes (not to mention guts enough to just duck Komu's swats and bounce right back in the garden scene). And then she's the everyman character, the one everything just happens to, and oh, she breaks your heart.
Takashiro Kei - she's one of those cut-glass actresses, so intense and bright. An attempted seduction by Kaho Anna's character sizzles in a very elegant way.
Maikaze Rira doesn't really suit the eyebrows-in-forehead look, but her walk in kimono is light as a feather. I love the way her and Komu's voices work together. She doesn't get much to do, but she does it with perfect dignity.
Asami Hikaru - I love my Komu in any form, but the no-nonsense courtier look fits her very much. She's more than a little lost in the intrigues, but she cares so much. And no-one can hold a silence like her, or make it say so much.
And oooh. I just checked and Hiiragi Tomoe is an 85th who shares my birthday. No wonder I like her ;) As far as I'm concerned, a show with a cast of nothing but 85ths (say, Chie, Morie, Hiromi, Eriko, Masako, Ragi, Emi Kurara, Kaho Anna, Minami Mari, Mihou Aya, Maisaki Rin, Miwa Asahi, Yamashina Ai and Ichika) would be one thing that'd get me to Japan.
rkold got for me back in - 2006, I believe :) I love the visual design of it, the dark red and the Heian costumes. Little did I know that between this and Elisabeth 1996, I'd become a firm Snow fan!The show is a nihonmono to beat all nihonmonos. The sets are sparse and dark, the light bringing out the wooden grain of the floor - the changing settings are indicated by single, dominating set-pieces like a wisteria that takes up the whole stage. The costumes are utterly lavish, completely realistic, though the long sideburns do make for rather visible weave lines. There is little music, but what is is voice-focussed, harmonious.
And then there is the dancing. This is the nihonmono for traditional dancing. Fan dancing! Bow dancing! Naginata demon dance!
Cast-wise, it's definitely an ensemble show, with 29 speaking parts and each of them getting the spotlight for the moment. The plot is complicated, and I'm hindered by lack of Japanese ability or English summary, but I managed to grasp the gist of what was happening. Still, it's more than enough just to look at the pretty costumes, pretty dancing, and wonderful acting of Snow's finest :) And the start of act two... okay, that bit didn't need translation.
Miho Keiko is deliciously imperious and chilling. In the garden scene I would have to be blind to miss the force of Yamashina Ai's smile. And Asaki Yumemi handles that naginata far too well. It's a good show for showing off musumeyaku, between the dancing and the plotting. Kaho Anna gets a starring scene that's so fragile and painful. And Sahana Mako is priceless - "I have important things-" *yanked down by a head-shorter musumeyaku* "No you don't!"
Seshiru! Daigo Seishiru was all of ken-3 and yet you can't tell by the way she struts. The camera loves her, definitely. Even when her moustache is extremely dodgy. Hiiragi Tomoe - such bounce and the faces she makes (not to mention guts enough to just duck Komu's swats and bounce right back in the garden scene). And then she's the everyman character, the one everything just happens to, and oh, she breaks your heart.
Takashiro Kei - she's one of those cut-glass actresses, so intense and bright. An attempted seduction by Kaho Anna's character sizzles in a very elegant way.
Maikaze Rira doesn't really suit the eyebrows-in-forehead look, but her walk in kimono is light as a feather. I love the way her and Komu's voices work together. She doesn't get much to do, but she does it with perfect dignity.
Asami Hikaru - I love my Komu in any form, but the no-nonsense courtier look fits her very much. She's more than a little lost in the intrigues, but she cares so much. And no-one can hold a silence like her, or make it say so much.
And oooh. I just checked and Hiiragi Tomoe is an 85th who shares my birthday. No wonder I like her ;) As far as I'm concerned, a show with a cast of nothing but 85ths (say, Chie, Morie, Hiromi, Eriko, Masako, Ragi, Emi Kurara, Kaho Anna, Minami Mari, Mihou Aya, Maisaki Rin, Miwa Asahi, Yamashina Ai and Ichika) would be one thing that'd get me to Japan.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-14 01:10 am (UTC)I wish Maachan-in-drag had a bigger role, if nothing else because that makeup was just so much nicer on her, but... ah well. She and Komu were lovely.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-14 05:57 am (UTC)