my humble opinion on TCA 2010 'Forever Takarazuka'

the prologue is titled 'Over Sea'. actually, there's a reason to it, as the song lyrics list the oversea performances of Takarazuka since the time of its establishment

as usual, the Tops participating in the concert reminisce of the coming to its end year

after Oozora-sama says she explored a new character - a weather reporter man with a funny posture - Matobu-sama and Todoroki-sama made me die because of laughing... 'but the usual image of Yuuhi is like... nihil... and like - 'okaeriii', and like 'abayo!', and like 'kampai'...'

and once again, Matobu-sama shows a great sense of humour. 'was it this year? last year? or this? oh, that was a show named 'EXCITER', so that's last year... may_I_speak_of_the_last_year? it will take approximately 30 minutes, is it ok?'

then calling Todoroki-sama as 'Ishi-san' and 'anii'... >___<

then 'oh yeah, and... what was I speaking of?'

and then 'but the cool scene only lasted for 3 minutes...'

and then Todoroki-sama addresses to Otozuki-sama as 'Kimuchi' ^.^ so cute

and then Todoroki-sama shares her impressions of the year - she thought that Matobu was a mood maker, she thought that Oozora was a shy person who suddenly transforms when an MC in the TCA, and she thought that Otozuki was... oh, she didn't think of her

Oozora-sama protests - 'but speak not of me, but of yourself' and Todoroki-sama - 'I was surprised! [by Oozora-sama transforming] there are 365 days in the year, but yesterday and today were the most important!'

then Todoroki-sama speaks about Kobayashi-sensei - 'we believe that he watches over all the actresses with a smile from a theatre somewhere'

Hanagumi corner presents a parody on 'Gubijin' and 'Exciter'. when Matobu-sama started singing and speaking in a high-pitched kawaii voice I could hardly prevent myself from LOLing so that my parents wouldn't wake up
as for the 'Exciter' theme song - I was astonished by Matobu-sama's vocal, the Troupe's vocal and the music itself. such an energy... *___* mitemitaaaai~
Yukigumi was showing 'Roge' and 'Solferino' and 'Rock on' numbers, but the concept was not really funny for me. Otozuki-sama was running with a chair attached by handcuffs... but that was not laughable really
Soragumi started with ''R''ising song, but... erm... why so poor singing??? ^^` unlike that, acting was superb. and Oozora-sama as Gin-chan throwing her shovel...? at the orchestra director Sasada-sensei and saying 'you may try conducting with it...'
'Funky Sunshine' theme 'sorapower' was not too impressive, to tell the truth

the second act full of nice average Zuka songs. I am not saying they are bad, they are just average, pleasant to listen but not too special
there was only one scene where some covers... no, not covers really, only elements of famous songs were performed such as 'Go Go Go Ale Ale Ale' and 'Besame Mucho'
and BTW, I don't want to sound rude but Soragumi really sing bad. I see them again on stage and all of them are pretty unimpressive, including Nono-sama. and Snow was not much better >___<
the second 'talk break' was marked by 'kawaikochan' entering the stage to give the Tops cool water and handkerchiefs
mess on the stage. everybody joking and laughing. Todoroki-sama - 'we're not backstage, so will you please calm down!'

finale was supposed to represent images of the cities where oversea performances were held. to tell the truth, I wasn't impressed much again... in my mind, the choice of singers for each song was wrong. for example, 'yesterday' didn't sound good in Oozora-sama's rather abrupt version, and vice versa 'New York New York' would be better by Oozora-sama instead of Matobu-sama

soooo this is a very good TCA, but the more I watch something like this the more I wonder how people who don't understand Japanese watch TCAs...

my humble opinion on... website? ~ Oozora-sama and Nono-sama memorial

http://kageki.hankyu.co.jp/revue/correlation/j271.html

somehow, Cosmos Troupe seems to be not only the most freaky, but the richest also. not only it goes beyond the borders of 'tradtionalism', but also gains the most sophisticated, to put it mildly, decorations. not only the stage decorations, costumes also, and... how shall I call it... setting? staging? well, overall impression of how the stage looks

the more I look at Oozora-sama and Nono-sama, the more I understand I lost nothing by paying no attention to their combi. at the same time, I admit they both are good actresses, however, with different approaches. Nono-sama seems to like affected manner of playing. if she acts, she ACTS. if she pretends, she does it so that everybody would notice how much she tries. if she plays, she makes everyone see that she plays. not that she lives on stage. and there would be nothing wrong with it for me, if not for one thing. she has nothing of herself in her roles. she lets the role shape her as much as it can, and leaves nothing personal in it

vice versa, Oozora-sama never does something like this. while given different roles, she plays them as she can, in her unchangeable manner. therefore, however emotion there might be in the character, they all look the same for me

some praise her smile which is rare and thus precious. well, I know people whose smile is really rare and therefore worthy of earning, but even smiling Oozora-sama fails to impress me. I thought I was wrong, I hopes I was wrong, but the more I see her, the less I want to watch a performance with hers. realizing I am wrong for judging like this, I cannot help thinking this way

still, I wish them both good luck in their final performances in Tokyo