when I watched 'Gunslinger Girl' for the first time in my life (season 1 of course, there was no season 2 at the time, and even no talks whether it would come) it was a highly popular topic - comparison of not only girls, but also their relationships with their 'big brothers'. one person was describing every 'couple' in details giving their relationship a name on world-art
some time ago I saw an opinion poll asking what current Top Combi everybody likes and why
it was then when I though I might try to analyze the image of Top Combis, not actresses separately
needless to say which Top Combi is my favourite, but again - why? in other words, is Kiriya-sama completely responsible for the fact I love Moon Troupe?
the answer is - no. though she is my personal goddess, I should not fail to admit there are other people in the Troupe which made my love for it as solid as a diamond (can I draw such a comparison?)
of course, I love the current ni-san-bantes, I love several other actresses I listed already and spoke of many times. but now I only want to speak of Aono-sama
though for a Top Star 'tis a usual thing to reach the position after at least 10 years of being in Takarazuka, it does not necessarily mean there are no exclusive cases when she is a little younger or much older. on the other hand, strict rules cannot be applied to the process of choosing of Top Musumeyaku, can they? as for now, I can see a trend towards making the Top Girls so very young that I almost doubt their skills - 3 years seem to be too short a time to refine one's acting ability. however, not all of Top Musumeyaky are small children, eh?
what I am trying to say, there can be cases both when the age difference is huge and when Top Star and Top Musumeyaku are almost of the same age. I know 'tis neither polite nor Takarazukish - to speak of age, but I am not trying to measure who is old and who is young in the real life, I am only speaking of experience and generations siennas belong to
what seems important to me is that the minimum and maximum age of entering Takarazuka musical school differ by 4 years, and the real date of birth is not revealed, so for every actress the estimated time of her graduation if from 18 to 22, plus some extraordinary cases (aren't there any?). therefore the calculating error is 8 (as I am speaking of Combi, that is 2 people). of course, in order to write a proper analysis I should have searched for interviews etc. and find out the year when this or that sienna enter the School, and also what time she attempted to do so (BTW, if I remember correctly Kiriya-sama made 2 attempts). however, the difference in the years of debut seems to be sufficient enough to me, as it probably represents the average number
let me start with Flower. the difference in their debut is 10 years, so we can suppose the extreme cases to be from 6 to 14
Moon has the difference of 9 years, so the extremes are 5-13
Star Tops differ by 4 years, so the extremes are 0-8
Snow Tops differ by 8 years, so the extremes are 4-12
Cosmos Tops differ by 12 years, so the extremes are 8-16
however, 'tis not only the actual difference in age influences what my opinion, but also the image of each sienna
basing on my impression of all the actresses (taking into account that some of them are still like while spots for me, as I have never seen even a single performance of them), I would put Flower, Moon and Cosmos together, and Star and Snow together, though the difference in Snow is not far from that of Moon and Flower
the first group are those who seem to have more of a difference in terms of age, and the second one are those who seem to be closer
so, again - going through each troupe
Flower. this is a completely groundless opinion, but RanRan Combi looks like big brother and little sister to me. though Ranno-sama is not too young an actress, she looks really childish, small and cute, while Ranju-sama looks and mostly - sounds like a very caring and responsible person
Star. those two are true lovers, always so completely reveling in and savouring their love that I am almost afraid it might influence their results...
Snow. if I try very hard I can suppress my negative attitude towards Maihane-san. well, not completely, but at least... though she also has a significant difference with Otozuki-sama, they seem to be so very equal and alike that I would name them childhood friends or classmates
Cosmos is a very hard thing to comprehend. though the difference is the biggest one I never thought of it as a problem. on the other hand, the Cosmos Combi does not seem to be a Combi at all for me, as of they were completely alien and strange to each other, only colleagues working together, each seeking his own success and fame
and Moon... my lovely Moon... the very reason why I remembered of 'Gunslinger Girl' in this post is because Moon Combi reminded me of how my favourite couple in the anime was described in the comment - partners. this word sounds a little too cool and may seem to be the same as in the previous paragraph, but for me 'tis not. the principal difference is that colleagues are two people working together without sharing anything or having anything in common, but partners are mutually complementary, necessary, even vital and act as a whole. I should admit they have a significant difference, and Aono-sama is much closer to Masao and Mirio in terms of her age, but whenever I look at Moon Combi together I cannot help admiring how beautiful they look together and what harmony they radiate
I am glad that Aono-sama pronounced the line in her speech during the Grand Theatre farewell performance - 'if I were not beside Kiriya-san, I could not be myself'. though many circumstances and factors influence such phrases, I prefer to believe those words were sincere and her tears were genuine
forever my beloved Top Combi - KiriMari...
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