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yukinojouI saw this show one and a half times (the half being the revue, before fleeing Bow-Hall-wards), both times from toujitsuken seats - the very back of the balcony. I remain in love with those seats: they're perfect, you can see everything and opera-glass everyone you choose, and they cost so little compared to the rest. Plus getting in early enough to queue up for same-day toujitsuken means you can watch the actresses arrive as well. (Incidentally, I am in love with Suzumi Shio's dress sense.)
I love nihonmono, and traditional dance revues in particular. This one has everything, with an overarching joyful mood that connects everything. Oh, and Matsumoto Yuri-sensei, who is an absolute master of Japanese traditional dance.
But most of all it's Star Troupe's mad energy channeled into controlled dancing. The group scenes are wonderful, with eighty people moving in unison. I wasn't able to watch anyone in particular; it felt too good to just take in the image that all of them were creating.
Particular scenes that attracted my attention:
- The love story with ninjas: Chie as the wandering samurai who falls in love with Nene the courtesan, while dodging attacks by Teru and her ninjas. Makaze Suzuho was a most enthusiastic ninja, with suspiciously Balkan-style swordwork. Teru remains a master of death scenes. Chie is having way too miuch fun.
- Everything with Matsumoto Yuri-sensei, from her solo dance to flirting with Toyoko to a great trio dance with Toyoko and Teru.
- The otokoyaku dance with straw hats. Ah, the Siennes and their hats ;-)
- An absolutely energetic group number that wouldn't have been out of place in the Legend Version II revue.
Oh, and Chie. Someone this good at Latin dancing should not take so well to traditional style as well. Plus Chie-voice. Ah :)
I had my reservations about the play parts of the show, based on the movie with Richard Gere. Hollywood-style tales about boot camp and the glory of army life - with a limited focus on just a few people to boot - didn't seem like Star Troupe style. Too serious, not ensemble enough, and definitely not enough glamour.
I should have trusted Ishida-sensei more. Somehow, this show manages to hit all the buttons - just enough comedy (the recruits breaking into Sharona!), just enough seriousness (excellent and brutal fight scenes), the right songs at the right moment (and yes, it's mostly Up Where We Belong in various versions), and more than enough going on to make you want to thump people because they keep doing things and you have no idea where to look!
Dear Tomomin (Yumeno Seika) is the chief culprit there. Della Serra, her character, is this complete dork, so convinced that he's collected and cool, but um. Not. From the pink shirt and bow tie in the first line-up, through the constant glasses and bowl cut, to teaching others how to keep their lockers in order (or mocking them, depending on her mood on a particular day). She dances in character, jerking and falling over, where usually she's one of the best dancers around. In the party scene, I still have no idea of how Zack and Paula (lead characters) met, because I was following Della Serra's attempts to first hit on Perryman's wife, then hit on Paula (only to have Chie!Zack take the wine he had brought), then find dance partners only to have every girl flee from him. Mind you, later on in another bar scene Della Serra wanted to play pool, but got dragged out by three girls who definitely didn't plan on keeping his clothes on ;-) And after Seeger (the girl cadet) makes it over the obstacle course, she wanted to double-high-five everybody, especially Chie, to the point where Chie or Toyoko would give in just to make her go away. (It didn't work.)
Special scene-stealing mention must go to Junna (Mizuki Ryou). Her cowboy is a cameo, but for three minutes she steals the show completely, arguing with the conductor and generally being fantastic ♥
Chie (Yuzuki Reon) and Nene (Yumesaki Nene) got their typical roles - young, strong, rebellious. I liked the fact they didn't get together quickly, but there was actual complication and growth both in their relationship and for each as a person.
Which in Chie's version was all Teru's fault. Dear Ouki Kaname: You are not a sadistic drill sergeant with a big stick. At least not off-stage. I do think they have to remind her of it, because she likes that stick far, far too much. Poking people with it. Stroking it. Running it over a certain person's body, from chin to belt and up again. Yelling. Breaking and bending the rules whenever it suited her. She was having way too much fun, with an evil glee that makes me think she was making up for over a year of Hoshigumi teasing ♥
Toyoko (Suzumi Shio) as Perryman was just having way too much fun :) She was another person who got all into Chie's personal space. Maybe Chie is magic indeed ;-) She was amazingly cool with bleach-blond hair, and she worked wonderfully with Yuuka Riko, who played Perryman's wife. She was this solid character for others to bounce off of.
I have to admit I didn't care for Beni's (Kurenai Yuzuru) plot at all. It was standard tragic Takarazuka fare, and I had the feeling she would have preferred a fun character like Della Serra as well. Her Sid was definitely downgraded in importance from the second lead of the movie to an episode that gives Zack an angsty mirror. A lot of it was due to the fact that Shirahana Remi's Lynette outshone Beni completely. She was amazingly strong and ruthless in her drive to have an officer husband, at once girlishly idealistic and practical. Even the news of his death didn't break her down. There was something icy about her, and shining.
Otoha Minori made a great Seeger, very earnest and determined. She was around in a lot of scenes, and got spectacularly drunk at the bar. The more I see of her, the more I like her!
And the main cadets were rounded out by Makaze Suzuho. Makaze didn't have any defined story for her character, but she did get lines. And she rounded out the cheerleaders.
Ah. Didn't I mention the cheerleaders?
That would be because they broke my brain. In the movie, while the sergeant makes Zack do situps (pushups in this version), the other cadets moon him in a show of solidarity, proving that Zack is a team player after all. How to make it more family friendly for Takarazuka?
How about putting Yumeno Seika, Suzumi Shio and Makaze Suzuho in cheerleader outfits with pompoms, miniskirts and ridiculous wigs (pigtails, ponytails and springy curls in turn) and have them do a cheerleading routine about how Zack should FIGHT-O!
That was me dying in my chair. Thank you, girls.
I love nihonmono, and traditional dance revues in particular. This one has everything, with an overarching joyful mood that connects everything. Oh, and Matsumoto Yuri-sensei, who is an absolute master of Japanese traditional dance.
But most of all it's Star Troupe's mad energy channeled into controlled dancing. The group scenes are wonderful, with eighty people moving in unison. I wasn't able to watch anyone in particular; it felt too good to just take in the image that all of them were creating.
Particular scenes that attracted my attention:
- The love story with ninjas: Chie as the wandering samurai who falls in love with Nene the courtesan, while dodging attacks by Teru and her ninjas. Makaze Suzuho was a most enthusiastic ninja, with suspiciously Balkan-style swordwork. Teru remains a master of death scenes. Chie is having way too miuch fun.
- Everything with Matsumoto Yuri-sensei, from her solo dance to flirting with Toyoko to a great trio dance with Toyoko and Teru.
- The otokoyaku dance with straw hats. Ah, the Siennes and their hats ;-)
- An absolutely energetic group number that wouldn't have been out of place in the Legend Version II revue.
Oh, and Chie. Someone this good at Latin dancing should not take so well to traditional style as well. Plus Chie-voice. Ah :)
I had my reservations about the play parts of the show, based on the movie with Richard Gere. Hollywood-style tales about boot camp and the glory of army life - with a limited focus on just a few people to boot - didn't seem like Star Troupe style. Too serious, not ensemble enough, and definitely not enough glamour.
I should have trusted Ishida-sensei more. Somehow, this show manages to hit all the buttons - just enough comedy (the recruits breaking into Sharona!), just enough seriousness (excellent and brutal fight scenes), the right songs at the right moment (and yes, it's mostly Up Where We Belong in various versions), and more than enough going on to make you want to thump people because they keep doing things and you have no idea where to look!
Dear Tomomin (Yumeno Seika) is the chief culprit there. Della Serra, her character, is this complete dork, so convinced that he's collected and cool, but um. Not. From the pink shirt and bow tie in the first line-up, through the constant glasses and bowl cut, to teaching others how to keep their lockers in order (or mocking them, depending on her mood on a particular day). She dances in character, jerking and falling over, where usually she's one of the best dancers around. In the party scene, I still have no idea of how Zack and Paula (lead characters) met, because I was following Della Serra's attempts to first hit on Perryman's wife, then hit on Paula (only to have Chie!Zack take the wine he had brought), then find dance partners only to have every girl flee from him. Mind you, later on in another bar scene Della Serra wanted to play pool, but got dragged out by three girls who definitely didn't plan on keeping his clothes on ;-) And after Seeger (the girl cadet) makes it over the obstacle course, she wanted to double-high-five everybody, especially Chie, to the point where Chie or Toyoko would give in just to make her go away. (It didn't work.)
Special scene-stealing mention must go to Junna (Mizuki Ryou). Her cowboy is a cameo, but for three minutes she steals the show completely, arguing with the conductor and generally being fantastic ♥
Chie (Yuzuki Reon) and Nene (Yumesaki Nene) got their typical roles - young, strong, rebellious. I liked the fact they didn't get together quickly, but there was actual complication and growth both in their relationship and for each as a person.
Which in Chie's version was all Teru's fault. Dear Ouki Kaname: You are not a sadistic drill sergeant with a big stick. At least not off-stage. I do think they have to remind her of it, because she likes that stick far, far too much. Poking people with it. Stroking it. Running it over a certain person's body, from chin to belt and up again. Yelling. Breaking and bending the rules whenever it suited her. She was having way too much fun, with an evil glee that makes me think she was making up for over a year of Hoshigumi teasing ♥
Toyoko (Suzumi Shio) as Perryman was just having way too much fun :) She was another person who got all into Chie's personal space. Maybe Chie is magic indeed ;-) She was amazingly cool with bleach-blond hair, and she worked wonderfully with Yuuka Riko, who played Perryman's wife. She was this solid character for others to bounce off of.
I have to admit I didn't care for Beni's (Kurenai Yuzuru) plot at all. It was standard tragic Takarazuka fare, and I had the feeling she would have preferred a fun character like Della Serra as well. Her Sid was definitely downgraded in importance from the second lead of the movie to an episode that gives Zack an angsty mirror. A lot of it was due to the fact that Shirahana Remi's Lynette outshone Beni completely. She was amazingly strong and ruthless in her drive to have an officer husband, at once girlishly idealistic and practical. Even the news of his death didn't break her down. There was something icy about her, and shining.
Otoha Minori made a great Seeger, very earnest and determined. She was around in a lot of scenes, and got spectacularly drunk at the bar. The more I see of her, the more I like her!
And the main cadets were rounded out by Makaze Suzuho. Makaze didn't have any defined story for her character, but she did get lines. And she rounded out the cheerleaders.
Ah. Didn't I mention the cheerleaders?
That would be because they broke my brain. In the movie, while the sergeant makes Zack do situps (pushups in this version), the other cadets moon him in a show of solidarity, proving that Zack is a team player after all. How to make it more family friendly for Takarazuka?
How about putting Yumeno Seika, Suzumi Shio and Makaze Suzuho in cheerleader outfits with pompoms, miniskirts and ridiculous wigs (pigtails, ponytails and springy curls in turn) and have them do a cheerleading routine about how Zack should FIGHT-O!
That was me dying in my chair. Thank you, girls.