ついてない。no luck. *здец

I don't know any real obscene words other than the most common in other languages than my mother tongue. Yeah, there were some sources for practice in 'Misfits', but I'm not sure if even they would properly convey my feelings. Like our famous satirist Alexander Ivanov said, 'there aren't more than 5 words, but what combinations one can make out them!'

So, this is all to declare that all tickets for Snow Troupe June-July performance 'Bakumatsu Taiyouden' are gone in 14 minutes after start.

Takarazuka Snow Troupe 'Bakumatsu taiyouden' ~ I guess it's the same fine mess we're in

Most of all I worry about preparing and being ready for all kinds of conditions that might arise on my way. While I cannot say I never rely on chance and never grasp the opportunities that come, it's important for me to know that I did what I could to be able to grasp the best of them.

That's why I got up as early as 10-55 in the morning on this sunny Saturday and went to see how the tickets sale is going. I mean, when it was 11 o'clock here where I live, it was 10 in Japan and the tickets went on sale.

This is my conclusion:

Ticket Pia - I remember that it didn't accept my credit card last year and even before that, but if you're planning to buy tickets there, they were sold out 6 minutes after the start.

CNPlayguide - wonderfully, no tickets for Snow Troupe's performance at all.

Lawson ticket - as always, the website is not able to sustain the flood of visitors in the first several minutes, it only loaded without a problem on my 3rd or 4th attempt around 10-08 (Japanese time). A few tickets still available even at 10-20 for some days, but only a limited number (△). Mostly available are tickets for Monday to Thursday (Wednesday being a day-off).

Takarazuka official website, English version - looks like it offers the greatest numbers of tickets but don't be mislead, even if it says there are plenty (◯), it doesn't mean the system will easily secure them for you. A few tickets still left after 10-20, hard to say if some days of the week are freer than others, available tickets are occasional.

Since I know no other system to buy tickets, this is the end of my journey. I guess the 14th of May will be a hard day.

IMHO. Snow Troupe’s 'Rurouni Kenshin'

In the break between the 1st and the 2nd act, standing in the lobby and looking through the programme, I saw two western faces on the other side of the hall. I must say, though Takarazuka gains more and more popularity in other countries, it was not common for me to see a foreigner (at least an obvious one) in the theatre actually. I was wondering whether they were fans of RuroKen or of Takarazuka, or of both. But the first question that came to my head was – how did they get the tickets???

Story and characters
I still don’t know about those two, but me and my friend are fans of both Zuka and RuroKen. Going to see the performance was an extremely important thing for us, all our trip was specially planned for that, and we started planning as soon as we heard about the decision of Hankyu to stage RuroKen last year. What I did not expect was that so many Japanese turned out to be fans like us, too. I mean, more than 30 performances in total, with approximately two thousand seats in the Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre, and almost all of them sold out in 1 hour. Why do 60,000 people have nothing else to do in April? It’s a start of a new year, why don’t you all concentrate on your studies or work? I’m just joking, of course. Or am I?
If you’re not new to it, you shouldn’t expect that Takarazuka ever makes a play entirely for fans of a particular franchise. And I didn’t… At least I thought I didn’t. And still I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that they stuffed 2 hours of the play with all kinds of events for the sake of viewers oblivious to the original work, including Kenshin’s fight during the revolution, his past with Tomoe, meeting Kaoru, Yahiko, Sano, Saito, Megumi, Aoshi, Takeda and Kano, conflicts with local yakuza, contacts with police, opium production, first Gatling, European-style ball, saving Kaoru and of course, many fights in the course of it. I read the director’s explanation that the story would be something happening between the first events of the manga, but instead they just briefly explained almost the whole first arc with the only difference of Kurogasa, Kenshin's enemy and former Shinsengumi member, who was replaced with Kano and connected with Kanryu. Rather than a filler, I’d call it an alternative – and brief – introduction.
To my surprise, I discovered that for me, apparently, the scenario may be of less importance if the rest is good. And the rest was just superb. The 23rd row is only second to the farthest in the audience, but even from there I could feel how much perseverance and love was put into the characters’ personification.

Acting
When my Japanese friend, a frequent Takarazuka visitor, told me she loves Snow more than any other troupe because of the 'climate' and coherence in the collective, I couldn’t quite understand what she meant. I guess I had to see it myself to understand. It’s when everybody is in his place, and when everybody has his time to shine on stage. And I couldn’t imagine better actors to portray the characters I love so much. I was ready to see some actresses suitable and others differing from what I’d like to see, but there were no one to count as the latter. I know it’s not fair to compare Takarazuka to people cosplaying anime characters, or actors of a live action movie, but I’ve never seen anybody so similar to the original characters. I read that Watsuki approved Satoh as Kenshin for the movie. I’m not sure what he said about the actresses from Takarazuka, but he gave his consent, and I hope it was not bought but negotiated.
But well, there is one thing you have to keep in mind – it’s a stage performance, and it’s Takarazuka with its traditions. They couldn’t make a smaller Yahiko or an older Saito who would be not as hot and young as they did. Or less loveable Takeda with his money and Gatling. Or less funny Megumi, since a female role for an otokoyaku actress - even if a former one - is always like that. Or miss the chance to make Sano introduce himself as if in a kabuki play.
Speaking of Yahiko, this is the thing that will never stop surprising me in a bad way when it comes to subordination and hierarchy in Japan. So, you choose young Ms. Irodori to play Yahiko. And you don’t give her any place on the poster. I know there were enough people on it even without her and her rank within the troupe, judging by the place of her photo in the programme, is not very high, but it really made me worry they'd erase the whole character from the story. And I must say she was an incredibly good Yahiko. Just as all others were incredibly good as their respective characters.

Costumes and setting
I thought I'd write something like 'this aspect deserves a separate paragraph from me', but I'm not sure if I can make a whole paragraph out of my inarticulate proclamations of delight. Just imagine that even the 10-minute scene in the brothel Kano visited in the beginning had a row of girls wearing gorgeous clothes, imagine that when Aoshi runs, his cloak waves just as it looks in manga or anime which always looks slightly surreal, that Sano was actually carrying his big zanbato, that there were Kaoru's dojo, Akabeko, a dark forest, Kano's house built in a western manner, an opium production room, and all of them had their own interiors or exteriors.

Music
As far as I remember, the music was very good in 'Rurouni Kenshin'… though it's hard to me to say anything bad about the play that amazed me so much. The lyrics in some songs were maybe just a bit less poetic than I'd want them to be – more like normal speech, for example 'this is our first technique of Kamiya Kasshin ryu' or 'I haven’t forgotten Tomoe but now I want to protect Kaoru'. I mean, literally. And some of those songs weren't meant to be entertaining, but serious and dramatic.
It was probably a silly thing to hope they'd use any of the anime songs or background themes, though I think they could manage it if they wanted. Nevertheless, I headed for Quatre Reves fully determined to buy a live CD, but I think it was not issued then.

Conclusion
At first I thought it would be hard for me to rewatch the Takarazuka version of RuroKen in case I lay my hands on it, because 'Kenshin' is not a story to kill time with or watch for entertainment, at least for me. However, after some time, I realised that the Takarazuka version is not too deep and tragic, and its lightness makes it possible to enjoy the play again. Now I want to watch again so that maybe this time I'd have the chance to have a closer look at the characters' faces, costumes and other things on stage... Because you know, I didn't know where to look at when in the theatre. I have only one pair of eyes, and they made too many gorgeous things appear on stage simultaneously for me to follow.

Mirio transfering to Flower... so what?

one would be blind not to notice that Mirio has been trained and prepared. Demi-Top is not a position same as nibante to wait for the Top to graduate and become the new one after that. having a fresh Top in Cosmos and a Top-to-come in Snow, there are only 2 Troups able to provide Mirio with some future. 'tis easy to guess which one is more realistic, isn't it. if you ask me, even Mirio's face looks Flower-ish, and girls who are to come to Moon are as cute as Miya which establishes, apparently, the new 'face' of Moon

well, that was really predictable. not that I care anymore
I have to admit there is less and less attractive in Takarazuka now

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...

2013 BeruBara ~ you're kiddin'

you're fuckin' kiddin' me

MasaMiri as Oscar and Andre??? switching roles again??? with Ranju-sama and Sou-san in special Moon performances??? Ryuu-sama, Ouki-sama and Yuzuki-sama in special performance of Snow???

WHAT'S WITH THAT CONSTANT MESS???

oh, you can do whatever perverted things with other troupes, I don't really care, but I CAN speak for Moon, and Moon should be left in peace to do their job. LOOK CLOSELY, WHAT RYUU-SAMA IS AND WHAT OSCAR IS

my head is going to explode

Yumesaki-san and Manaka-san, both sisters as Tops, haha ^.^

haha, just read that Manaka-san who is to become the next Snow Top Musumeyaku is Yumesaki-san's younger sister. funny, I never noticed any resemblance... but even funnier, a 'family business', really

my little thoughts ~ Yumeno-san in Snow

somehow I have failed to notice the fact that Yumeno Seika had transferred to Snow. and... and... and I don't know

'tis not  as if I liked her very much, but she was nice sometimes, in some performances. and in general

'tis not as if I really hate Snow with all my might. in the end, I have never seen its usual performances

but... Yumeno-san is certainly aiming for the Top, is she not? imagining her as the future Top of Snow is kind of disappointing. of course, she might change the Troupe. but 'tis more likely that the Troupe will change her more. am I wrong?

script! well, a kind of... ~ Cafe Break in April - Moon retirements, RomiJuri

introduction

1. after being so angry with Mirio's photo session I was almost unable to see her face. however, I made myself listen to her and look at her. the Cafe Break was much later than the session I speak about, and Mirio is still cute and funny. perhaps I am wrong for being so annoyed with that image of hers...
2. also, bear in mind that this time I am not 100% sure that I could hear all the words they pronounce. mistakes possible
3. I did not put my remarks as I usually do, below the text. this time I felt like writing them directly after the sentences they are related to. I hope this doesn't spoil the text too much

if I am not mistaken, this is it

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/bEhbYcF-_WE/

Snow Troupe part

the vid starts with Snow Troupe material which I have no interest in (hint: this means - no literal translation)

what I would say is that even if I cast aside the 'absence of love' towards Yukigumi in me, still both Otozuki-sama and Maihane-sama sound very, very, very hypocritical. they speak fast and their words sound as if they were prepared before and learned by heart. and their words are just so... general... and... hollow... well, perhaps, one can say that they always say general and hollow words on such occasions, and perhaps, I am too biased to be able to feel any sincerity in the Tops whom I do not like. still, I did not have such feelings when I watched videos with my beloved Moon...

well, I can write this part down, if anyone really needs literal translation...

retirement part

we see Kiriya-sama saying the first part of her text from the conference (which can be found in my previous post). nothing in the article on the official website was different from what she really said, unlike newspapers articles which tend to sum up different parts of press-conference and omit a considerable amount of information

then some scenes from the farewell show follow

then Kiriya-sama descends the stage. the subtitle below tell us that the melody is not 'sumire no hana' but from 'Phoenix'. the debut performance of Kiriya-sama

then we cannot see who gives the first part of the flowers to Kiriya-sama... >___< showing the person from the back... and very short...

Kiriya-sama's address is as follows

'In my life, meeting with Takarazuka Revue, and that I have lived up till this day as Takarazuka's Kiriya Hiromu, - 'even if the clock is turned back, I would choose the same path'. *audience laughs&applauds - because this is a famous line her character, Edward VIII, uttered in the performance* From tomorrow, I will departure to an adventurous stage, to search a new dream. To all the spectators here in the Theatre, and to numerous people outside who watched over me, I want to convey the feelings from the very bottom of my heart - thank you so much for these 18 years.'

then we see a very brief demachi for every retiring sienne. even Kiriya-sama was shown for several seconds, including the fans saying 'thank you for everything' and Kiriya-sama throwing her roses into the crowd (though of course, it lasted much longer in reality >_____< why are you so greedy, Cafe Break creators???)

RomiJuri part

the presentation starts. the full translation I already posted

then (finally~) we have a chance to watch the songs presentation (I though I would never see them T___T) - and I was quite delighted with the combination of Ryuu-sama's and Asumi-sama's voices with Manaki-sama's. and of course, I am happy to hear her singing is good, just as I wanted it to be - sonorous and bright like that of a bird, though might be not very strong 

then 'ASUMI Cafe Break' comes. Asumi-sama welcomes the 'guests' as new Top Star ans new Top Musumeyaku

she says that there was held a presentation and asks for the Top Combi impression of it

Ryuu-sama laughs that Mirio hosting the programme is an interesting thing, and they agree that it is a new page for her (as a joke, of course... well, if I understood them right)

then Ryuu-sama starts explaining her feelings. 'finally, this has started' she says, meaning obviously their Topness. 'I have swore once more that I would do my best to create a performance that the audience would enjoy.'

Manaki-sama adds 'Though I was worried a lot, when I started singing I realized keenly that this is the beginning, that it is enjoyable.' (ohhhh you see how she looks on her partners when speaking?)

then Asumi-sama goes on talking nonsense. I am very sorry to say this but she really is >____< and somehow 'tis really funny...

'When I saw you two singing 'aimer' from aside, I thought you were so sparkling! you were so... close! *here Ryuu-sama bursts laughing* I mean, you both have such small faces... (BTW, she uses polite word for 'you both') but it is so fitting! so I became looking forward to it very much. also, I would like to ask... though it might be strange for me to ask this... is there an image of how Ryuu-san is going to play Romeo?'

'Not only Romeo, but also Tybald, and all the following roles I will have, I would like to play in an enjoyable Moon Troupe, with passion and energetically, to tackle those roles, this is what I think... to be the basis of creating a role. (this is a hard phrase to translate... by 'creating a role' Ryuu-sama means the process when the actor thinks of how to act, how to behave on stage, how to become the character he is to play, etc.) And what do you think of it, Mirio?'

'Me? Well... though I am worried, I am thinking - what can jump up to me from the environment, and how am I to react? (I should admit I did not find any resemblance of Asumi-sama's last word in dictionaries, so this is only my speculation) This is how I enjoy the process. Well, maybe I should already start creating a plan for myself.' (by plan they mean the process of creating the role which I described)

Ryuu-sama notes 'Though we have switching roles in one performance, in a way, this is as if we had two performances, and this is also an enjoyable aspect...'

Asumi-sama agrees 'When the roles are different, it is as if we had different performances. The same I felt when in Scarlet Pimpernel. The lines, the feelings were different to the extent I could not imagine, and thinking of how it would turn out to be, is also a thing to enjoy. Chapi, what do you think of playing Juliette?'

Manaki-sama *blushing already beet-red* 'Until now there weren't a lot of chances for me to have the honour of playing together with Masaki-san, and Asumi-san...'

Asumi-sama interrupts her (which seems such a cruel thing to me... how could she say this instead of supporting her kouhai?) 'Your face is so read... You're nervous so it's so red...'

Poor Manaki-sama touches her face and starts repeating in nervousness 'There weren't, were there? There weren't, were there?'

Ryuu-sama is the first to put an end to this 'Finish properly!'

Manaki-sama comes to her senses 'Yes! There weren't, so I am looking forward a lot. For me... personally... I wonder, what colour I would be dyed in, and with a pure white heart I want to move futher.' *and she smiles, probably happy she finally managed to finish her speech properly* (I remember the phrase about the colour used in animes and doramas frequently. this means that a person would be changed depending on some circumstances or other people. if somebody knows 'Kaichou wa Maid-sama', Usui used this phrase in the episode about choosing colours for the maids uniforms - he said that Misaki's colour was white because she was not influenced by anyone, and that he wanted to paint her with his)

Ryuu-sama develops the thought of them three 'The three of us seem to be a party which cannot be separated even if we are severed, and from now on, perhaps, there will be a lot of moments when we think not of ourselves, but of the other two, beyond the stage too, and turning this into a bond, thus creating a better teamwork, it would be great to create a performance like this. This is what I think now.'

Asumi-sams finishes 'So, ASUMI Cafe Break comes to an end today, but I would be happy to do this again! Thank you a lot!' *everybody laughs* (I am not sure why, maybe Asumi-sama simply said a nonsense again... I guess she might have used a word which is not usually used in such cases to mark the ending of the programme)

Ryuu-sama and Manaki-sama also say 'Thank you a lot'

farewell show part again

Kiriya-sama 'Thank you! My dear guests, I see you have already stood up... *laugh* this means... *laugh* your preparations are completed, am I right? *laugh* Hiro-san, and Soruna-san (she calls them by nicknames, huh?), I hope your warming up is also all right. *laugh* So, I would like to conduct the traditional Moon Troupe Closing Night Great Jump. (look at Mirio, she is limbering up her hands and neck!) Guests on the second floor, please be careful. Please, kumichou...'

Koshino-sama 'So, I would like us to jump on ban-ZAI. Tsukigumi...'

everybody, including the audience jumps shouting 'ban-ZAAAAI!'

Kiriya-sama says 'Thank you!' again

the end

(I ended up rewatching the last part several times. not only to write down what they say. simply... to watch again...)

I might be sticking my nose into other people's business, but Maihane-san is not announcing her retirement. is she going to do it later or am I to give up on Snow completely?

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