Today's evening

Dark blue evening gradually calming the Earth crept into the streets bringing the usual spring-summer weather with it. Small lights were still visible through the soft cotton of mist. I thought I must gave been a fool to dislike this view from my window

my humble opinion on TCA 2011 ~ ROFL!

well, I should thank our vk.com Takarazuka group for providing the videos, though not in a very nice quality

and the performance presents...

a ghost named Rantom of Umeda Arts Theatre in Flower corner

a beast from Algiers in Moon corner

a priest and a nun dancing a tango in Star corner

and warm words towards the Japanese citizens who experienced the earthquake in March

a must see

tomorrow is a week after you left. today is two weeks since I left Japan. and two weeks and a half since I last saw you

nobody pushed me down from the platform to the railway. no earthquake ruined the hotel I was staying in. our plane did not crush because of the dreadful weather. and none of the buses I get on everyday got in an accident because of their usual competition with the other buses driving by their sides

the food I eat contains no dangerous viruses. no stray dogs bite me. no maniacs run around. no thunderbolts. no danger

in other words, I am still alive. 'tis hard, 'tis painful and 'tis not better than before, but I keep on struggling

links! ~ about the new RomiJuri

lately, 'thas become a fashion, to make correlation charts for every musical. RomiJuri also seems to be complicated to Zuka authorities, therefore they provide an explanation of who is who...

moreover, they created a separate website for this performance! hey, is it such an outstanding musical that everybody makes such a fuss? well, ok, I admit 'tis, and the previous post of mine provides the facts why 'tis, but guys... there are plenty more which deserve their special page, but there is none T__T

the site
provides 8 small photos from previous performances, 4 for Snow and 4 for Star, also 2 movies in awful quality, and a PR campaign movie for the upcoming one. erm... and who are those blessed with a chance to hear the songs from the presentation which was held just several days ago??? I mean, a presentation implies that someone should see it! who was it??? where is the result???

also a huge page was created for Masao. as if nobody knew her... o___O 

the site is beautiful and richly designed but seems useless to me...

I am angry

translation! ~ RomiJuri 2012 presentation

unfortunately, a lot of articles on the website are deleted (probably as old) so the link will be dead after some time

*upd 28.04*
two lessons of Japanese where I was bored again and had almost nothing to do, were exactly what I needed to finish the translation, coupled with my lovely and somehow a bit useless pocket translator (which is great because it allows to draw a kanji and it searches it in the database, but it dislikes my handwriting and refuses to recognize even a properly written character sometimes)
still, I managed to translate everything, except the dates of the performance which I feel to be unnecessary


April 27th, 2012

A presentation about Moon Troupe performance 'Romeo and Juliette'

On April 26th, there was held a presentation about the performance 'Romeo and Juliette' by Moon Troupe of Takarazuka Revue, sponsored by Mitsui Sumitomo VISA card.

This performance, which is presented with cooperation of every interested company in the VJA group which marked the beginning of Mitsui Sumitomo card corporation, is a work that was turned into a new musical by lyricist, composer and director Gerard Presgurvic, from one of the most worldwide famous eternal love stories, 'Romeo and Juliette' written by William Shakespeare. It was first performed in France in 2001, and this modernistic spectacle earned high praise. After that, it was performed in almost every corner of the world, becoming an international hit, and can boast a total audience of more than 5 000 000 people.

In Japan, the Takarazuka performance was first held by Star Troupe in Osaka and Hakata, then by Snow Troupe in Grand Theatre, and was a success.

This time, the performance will be the debut of the new Moon Troupe which is formed with the new Top Star, Ryuu Masaki, as its core. Also, a notable thing is that Demi-Top Star, Asumi Rio, will switch roles with the Top Star.

Please welcome the showy and dramatic performance 'Romeo and Juliette' challenged by members overflown with youth.

The presentation started with Ryuu Masaki together with Manaki Reika, who plays Juliette, and Asumi Rio, who also plays the switch role of Romeo, presenting songs from the performance. The four songs with deep feelings - 'itsu ka' by Manaki and Asumi, 'boku wa kowai' by Ryuu, 'aimer' by Ryuu and Manaki, 'sekai no ou' by Ryuu, Manaki and Asumi - immediately turned the presentation hall into the world of 'Romeo and Juliette'.

After the songs were presented, a press-conference was held, where opinions on the performance were expressed.

Ryuu
I am incredibly happy to be granted with 'Romeo and Juliette' as our first performance. At the same time, I received a lot of words from mr Koike (the performance director) which are necessary for my growth, so I expect a lot from this performance. I feel blessed as a stage performer, because this time I will be granted with a lot of experiences, as we have a performance with switch roles. I will be doing all I can. For the new Moon Troupe it marks the new start. I want to create an interesting performance together with Manaki and Asumi, and united with all the members of Moon Troupe. Therefore, I humbly ask for your support for Takarazuka Revue and Moon Troupe.

Manaki
I am full of happiness and delight to have been bestowed with the role of Juliette in 'Romeo and Juliette'. This time there will be two Romeos, but I want to love to the very end the Romeo whom I will meet. Together with ms Ryuu and ms Asumi and with all the cast I want to tackle this performance frankly and straight, so I would like to ask for your support.

Asumi
I have been a fan of the work 'Romeo and Juliette' which was turned into musical and story, and also films, so I feel a strong happiness for that I can play switch roles in a performance connected with it. During the farewell show of ms Kiriya, the Moon Troupe could feel its unity deeply, and this time I would like everyone to move forward feeling fully the colour of ms Ryuu. As I have switch roles, I will work hard reserving my stamina and guts.

 

blue bridge

'twas a bright day, small ferries were 'swimming' under the recently built bridge. I did not manage to shoot all of them, but you can see at least one

私に力を与えてくださった、と私は書いた。でも、ただ、落ち込むことなく生きる力だと思った。こんなに強くなると、思わなかった。

二度と出会うことがなくても、頑張れる。

Today's the day before yesterday

I could not walk on without taking a shot of what I saw. 10 o'clock in the morning. The sun lit the platform - unusually from the left. Almost empty station. Somehow, an easy and light feeling

link! ~ Aono-sama's next performance (and not only hers)

thanks to TakaWiki I know that Aono-sama is participating in a show BAD GIRLS meets BAD BOYS next month!

ohhh I am so glad for her. she always said she loves dancing, and I do hope she will enjoy herself. though I am surprised she is moving forward so fast, but well, 'tis a good surprise

well, she said in 'Dancing Doll' (for which I thank the community again) that she is ready to move forward and she is not afraid of anything... that is really so, I see. good luck to you, Aono-sama

well, some may be glad to hear that the other 'bad girls' include Mizu-sama and Kozuki-sama

translation! ~ Quatre Rever Top Star Goods - Kiriya-sama's design

I came there to check the price of the pen and pencil with Kiriya-sama's design, because I wanted to buy them but I decided to save money. and... how stupid of me. 'tis no longer there. 'twill never be

well, at least the page with Kiriya-sama's design is still available. therefore, I should at least provide the translation for the explanation of Kiriya-sama's theme

 

*translation going from the very top*

Moon Troupe Top Star

Kiriya Hiromu

goods created under supervision

*pics*

design theme - 'DIG DREAM'

main colour - blue

concept of the design

大夢 (Hiromu)=BIG DREAM

with a unique expression power, using her own name as a hint, this is how the theme was decided

filled with dreams and romance, the goods were created

the motive is the favourite 'transport'. balloons, airships, prop planes, the classical transport of 17-19 centuries filled with romance, calmly travel across the sky carrying dreams on board. the design reminding of colourful stickers which are put on trunk case is very cute

_____

translator's remarks

>_____< why is everything about her so ideal... I admired this design from the very first day I saw it. having compared it with the other Top-sama's design I only came to love it even more... no offence, but I never liked when letters are placed so that they make something, some shape or object, which is the theme of Ranju-sama's design. Otozuki-sama's design is too sweet, overly sweet and cute, the same goes for Yuzuki-sama's design, which is richly decorated but the 'princess' style is sometimes getting too - IDK, fanciful or fussy... and Oozora-sama's design contains too many mosaic objects which are also not of my preferences

but the 'oldy' Kiriya-sama's pictures and inscriptions (however Engrish they are) fascinate me so much..... how did she guess that I adore retro transport, colourful objects and the stuff? HOW???

I am too lazy to translate the whole speech of Kiriya-sama, but

what she says in the movie is

that she used her stage name as a motive, putting it simply 'BIG DREAM', and included the objects like balloons, airships, etc. because she likes transport and high places, so that to create an image of a dream spreading in the sky. she put all her might into developing the design and it contains all her love, so... well, I would say - please visit Quatre Reves and buy the goods, but...

my humble opinion on Aono-sama's Music Salon 'Very Best of Me'

hey, the guys were dancing to the 'Tank!' from 'Cowboy Bebop'! ^___^

oh, I should say one thing again! I would not be able to watch this if not for the community
therefore, my thanks flies there

dancing

nobody would ever doubt Aono-sama's dancing skills, so there is no need to describe her dancing numbers 

singing

well, to be serious, meseems all the 5 Moon members came to the stage without warming up to singing. the first part of the show was so-so. however, the closer to the end, the more successful it grew

starting with the part where she sang solo her songs from different performances, she was absolutely brilliant

her 'hitokakera no yuuki' literally sent shivers down my arms while she lasted the last note

'kotoba ni dekinai' made me cry. the tenderness and strength combined in her were so acute that I could not help crying

she said in her farewell address that she was sometimes described as 'manly', and she was bothered by it. I cannot disagree with this statement. but she also said she realized 'twas her own way of being musumeyaku. and I completely agree with it

yes, she looked great in pantsuit, you know. it suited her. meseems, she is the only one musumeyaku who can wear trousers, among those I know. no offence, 'tis completely ok if a person has his own style. I do admire cute little, or not little, musumeyaku in girly dresses. I am just saying that how Aono-sama is different, at least for me

trousers do not mean that those 3 magnificent long dresses Aono-sama wore looked bad, no. the pink one was doubtful but ok, the blue-violet one was very beautiful, and the last one, the pure white, was simply gorgeous. I may be biased, well yes, I am, but the dress again a was much simpler and 'serious' than than that given to musumeyaku usually. perhaps, knowing her own style, Aono-sama was not very happy when she got dressed in the white-black dress for Revue 2011 (magazine) photo session... well, again, I admired Aono-sama in white

and the last song, which was written specially for Aono-sama by Koyanagi-sensei and Teshima-sensei, was... was drowned in my tears, which were on the keyboard, on the mouse, on the table, on the plate I just used which was standing in front of me, just everywhere. fortunately having no one but me at home I could cry to my heart's content, if 'tis possible to say this about tears

the others also surprised me

first, though the start was not successful, I could reassert that Uzuki has a very nice voice, which reminds me of Masao's voice BTW

Sachika-chan was so very cute when she spoke, that I was surprised that her singing voice was completely different, sonorous and even ear-piercing

Tamaki-san was much better than I expected. my unfair treatment of her receded and yielded to respect towards her image, which seems to me to be one of the most manly among all the otokoyaku in the Troupe

and Reika-chan! proved her cuteness and also proved to be a good singer. I was worried that a former otokoyaku may seem too unexperienced in singing, while acting and dancing seem to me a bit easier to learn when the role is changed, but Manaki-san was ok. I hope her Top Combi and Demi-Top Combi (well, how shall I call it?) will be ok

again, thank you, Aono-sama. you were such an unusually strong and shining Top Musumeyaku. your characters were never ordinary, you added your own charm and your own kind of beauty to all of them. you have been special, at least to me

my great thanx to Tudou ^.^

erm... I just wanted to express my happiness and gratitude to those who upload a lot of decent stuff on Tudou

f. e. the video about the last day oh those who retire in Grand Theatre is already there! ^___^

*upd*

why is everybody pronouncing so very touching speeches... I cannot cry anymore, my eyes ache!

at least I should provide the text of those speeches... I promise I would do this very soon, perhaps I might have finished translating them by the end of the week

interview translation. Ms Kiriya's Tokyo interview about her retirement

the first thing I should do today, of course!
the original article

The interview of Kiriya Hiromu, retiring after the closing night of Tokyo performance
On April, 22nd, Kiriya Hiromu, the Top Star of Moon Troupe, gave an interview on her retiring after the end of musical 'Edward VIII' and brilliance stage 'Misty Station' in Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre.

Kiriya Hiromu

'We have just successfully finished the performance of 'Edward VIII' and 'Misty Station' in Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre. Full of energy, with happy feelings, we were able to see the curtain fall down after the closing night, and now I am full of gratitude and sense of accomplishment. I thank you all for your cheering that I was honoured to receive.'

Q. If you recall the place called 'Takarazuka', what is it like?

A. The very essence of my life is that I have been doing my best with the feeling that I lived for the stage, and I still cannot realize the fact that I will not stand on that stage anymore starting from tomorrow. 'Takarazuka' is an irreplaceable thing, and I think from now on I will live on never forgetting this feeling, never losing it.

Q. The Farewell show was splendid, wasn't it?

A. We created the show having received a lot of recommendations from Saitou-sensei, so that it would be focused on the performances where I played the leading part, and the others who retire also got highlight scenes. There was a dance in black tailcoats on the Grand Staircase, and I think there were no Farewell shows before which went as far, but I wanted to show the path I have taken, so I was allowed to pack it with many things.

Q. The music which accompanied you descending the Staircase for the address?
A. It was a melody of rockette dance in my debut performance 'Phoenix'. One phrase from it is used in the show 'Misty Station' which has just ended.

Q. How and when did you think over your last address?

A. First, I made an address in the Grand Theatre, which was so close to me even before my enrolment, that was the first part, then I came to Tokyo, but in the everyday life being constantly pressed by the performances, I could not settle my thoughts, so I was thinking from the previous evening till today's morning, and finally decided during the performance itself.

Q. After this day has come to an end, the moment when you clearly realized that it is the retirement?

A. The atmosphere of the audience was quite different from before, so I was feeling today was the closing night, but I concentrated on the performance without being washed away by different feelings, and I acted aiming not to be overly worried by the fact of retiring.

Q. When will you have the actual feeling of retiring?

A. From those who already retired I was honoured to hear that it takes approximately one busy month to settle everything and get prepared to the new life, but in two or three months I will probably start feeling lonely.

Q. Any words you would like to convey to the juniors who are to meet the 100 anniversary of Takarazuka Revue in two years?

A. I have arrived on this day having lived with the belief that there is no other talent than to do your best, with the feeling that doing your best is never in vain, so I want you to be proud that you are in such a wonderful place where you can do your best, I want you to do your best in challenging yourselves to try all the chances for yourselves.

_____

translator's remarks

1.  almost cried at the last words, the address to the young generations...
2. *upd 27.04* 

changed 'rocket' to 'rockette'. I thought the dance to be a kind of motive of a rocket, as the revue 'Phoenix' uses the theme of other planets and spaceships etc. having read the description I see there were no rocket dances, likely ロケット means rockette, however I have never met any mentioning of rockettes in the interviews of siennes so far, therefore - hard for me to say anything... >___< please forgive my inexperience

now this is how the end looks like

you might remember me taking screencaps from personal pages on TakaWiki, I posted them some time ago

here is the next part of them. 'personal pages: next stage'
thanks to everybody who left, and congratulation to everybody who moved forward
nothing is eternal
somehow or other, life is going on

lyrics! ~ 'nakanaide' by Mayumi Itsuwa

'do not cry, I am always by your side, however far we are torn, even if we are separated'

how I wish to hear such words

Japanese lyrics

泣かないで　僕はいつも君のそばにいるのさ
どんなに遠くに引き裂かれても、離れていても


「あなた」、「私」、「とても寂しいの」と
途切れ、途切れに話す電話の声
一日だけ会わずにいたから
それだけで不幸せなのかい

泣かないで　僕はいつも君のそばにいるのさ
どんなに遠くに引き裂かれても、離れていても

あなた、もしも、二人分かれるなら
黙ったままで去ってゆかないでと
馬鹿なことさ、臆病になって

「明日は必ず会えるさ」

言わないで　もうそれ以上愛は試しちゃいけない
女は男に、男は女に帰るものだから


English translation

Do not cry, I am always by your side,
However far we are torn, even if we are separated


‘I…’, ‘you…’, ‘very lonely…’ -
The intermittent voice on the phone,
I was not able to meet with you for one day,
Are you so unhappy only because of this?

Do not cry, I am always by your side,
However far we are torn, even if we are separated

If the two part, you
Keep silent, as before, and ‘do not go’
Foolish thing, feeling timid
'We will be able to meet tomorrow, for sure'

Do not say it, we cannot test our love anymore,
Because women come back to men, and men come back to women

lyrics translation. 'Sayonara dake wa iwanaide' by Mayumi Itsuwa

upd. 07.07.15
minor mistakes corrected

I was going to meet this day perfectly calm and concentrated. there was not a trace of tears in my eyes. however I could not help crying almost with sobbing when unintentionally I pressed play on this song

the last three lines are almost killing me. spring did not come soon this year, and it will become warm only next week here where I am. however, come it or not, from tomorrow...

Japanese

別れ雨は私の

心を濡らす
あなたはもう傘さえ

乗せてくれないのね
あの楽しい日々は愛の影法師、夢だというの
この町の角に春が来ても明日からは
一人歩く私の前に

後姿もあなたが見えるだけ

行かないでと一言

跪いても
心の奥の寂しさ

癒せはしないのね
今さよならだけは言わないで、そんな言葉を
幸せ置き去りにたった一つ、そんな言葉を
二人の愛の思い出にしたくない
今さよならだけは言わないで

 

あの楽しいは日々愛の影法師、夢だというの
この町の角に春が来ても明日からは
一人歩く私の前に
後姿もあなたが見えるだけ

translation

The rain of parting

Falls on my heart
But you will not walk

Under one umbrella with me
Are those happy days are just a shadow of love, just a dream?
Even if spring comes to this part of the town, from tomorrow
In front of me, who walks alone,
I see only you in every retreating figure

Even if I say one thing ‘do not go’

Falling on my knees
The loneliness in my heart 

Will not be healed
Do not tell me goodbye now, this word
The only thing to be left as happiness, this word
I do not want to make them the memory our love,

Do not tell me goodbye now

Are those happy days are just a shadow of love, just a dream?

Even if spring comes to this part of the town, from tomorrow
In front of me, who walks alone,
I see only you in every retreating figure

sayonara show... sayonara hide

the last performance has ended. the ending performance has started

fabulous dances, ephemeral sparkling of the stage, voices rising high in the hall

and several thousands of people watching - probably with penlights in their hands again

they show their smiles. and I hide my tears

pics comparison! ~ Edwards and Wallises and... dogs?

everybody was admiring how the 'Edward VIII' poster was made to resemble the real photo of Edward and Wallis. however, there are some other resemblances, which reveal that the musical followed the real story much closer. at the moment I am not able to trace all of them, but I found several nice images to compare

the famous are these ones

another thingh which Takarazuka properly copied from the real life is the wedding (the colour is also the same, though we cannot see it here)

not a hundred percent the same, but I think to be pretty close (well, I cannot say for the colour)

well, this is a comparison I apparently should draw, no matter how alike or different the pictures are

and the last moment. well, I know they are holding Pugs, not French Bulldogs, but...