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 'The Tale of Coimbra'

the reason why I chose this performance to watch was... Aono-sama of course. the more I think about her, the more I love her. still I cannot make myself watch any Bow Hall or shinjinkouen if she has another 'partner'. this time, somehow I felt - if 'tis Todoroki-sama, 'tis ok. she is from Senka, and she is not a young actress 'in training'

acting

a strange thing, the more I watch, the more I realize that every actress has her own successful roles and those which do not impress much. therefore, if an actress seems to be a good one but gives an awkward image of a bad one, there is something wrong with the role itself. or so I thought while looking on some siennes in this play

Yumeno-san was the first in this row of siennes who changed their image for me. her character was completely different from what I saw before, and this particular fact made me think I was completely right when I thought she is a capable one, and 'twas me who could not appreciate her 'full capacities'. she was cute and funny, and I loved her

Suzumi-san was... erm... strange... o___O well, to be honest, she was strange before, too. somehow, none of the roles so far seemed to be 'her', or maybe, she never looked natural to me in any of her roles. this does not mean she acted bad, but she simply gave an impression of good acting, not living on stage. I wonder what kind of image would suit her best? this it yet to discover (and also, brown hair....... even black looked more natural on her ^^`)

well, Aono-sama herself was no less strange. while showing clearly that she is such a wonderful actress already, she was completely not herself with that speaking in high voice, uttering overly polite words and pretending to be such a usual affected girl from a typical European love story. ohhhh no I am not against such things, I love this kind of stories in books and movies, and I would love it in Takarazuka version, and I am willing to watch more of them... with another musumeyaku-san playing the main part

buuuuuut when she same out as Miranda... heeeey! that was nice! ^____^ but short T___T

Yuuka Riko-san. erm... well I hope she is a nice girl with a talent... which was not very visible this time, though. she simply overacted, or so I think

and Todoroki-sama herself. her previous appearances always savoured of coldness, and I was kind of persuaded that this cool attitude was a part of her elegant but distant image. I cannot say this image changes a lot this time, but her tragic, sad and deeply hurt character was if not unexpected than at least more thoroughly portrayed than I would expect her to
Miya-san. the only exception in this row. I did not like her at all. though her character could be a greatly portrayed young man, her acting was very weak. very, very, very weak. as if she had never been trained as an actress... >___<

vocals

I thought there would be nothing particular to pay attention to. and suddenly... O____O

the duet of Pedro and Pimenta... O_____O

the duet of Constanza and her mother... O_____O

the song of Antonio and his band... O_____O

ohhhh everything so ideal...

and also

music

itself was a masterpiece. the orchestra theme and the song for the Antonio-band, the aria of Ines when in the convent, the song of the ship crew, and a lot of other pieces impresses me much as they could be performed even separately from the play

plot

weeeell I honestly dislike when there happens any kind of tragedy because of misunderstanding (RomiJuri being the example) so this is not a story I would love to watch for real or rewatch ever

revue part
well, I was not expecting much from it, but it DID surprise me as well. the dances were very beautiful and though I thought they would be plain and a bit boring, they weren't. the part I liked especially was the one performed to an oriental melody and the moment when Aono-sama was raised by several otokoyaku was simply *______*
again, I saw how much she tends to adjust her movements to that of her partner(s), and her eyes also followed everyone she was dancing with. 'twas beautiful, almost impossible... and at the same time, she retained her style, soft and firm, swaying and rigid. the style which cannot be confused with someone else
my dear, dear, dear future Moon Top Musumeyaku.....

to sum it up
a great performance to enjoy, but does not climb even close to my Top list ^^`

I watch them only.....

yeah I watch Zuka's performances only. though I'd like to proceed to smth else, I can't help watching Zuka and reading the Scarlet series.
now me is for the nice interpretation of 'Evgeny Onegin'
as I didn't like Tatiana in the original, I don't like her in the musical either. I wonder how Maihane-san became the Top with such poor vocal abilities.
well, I'm in no position to critisize her, you'd say. to be PC, I'm not fully satisfied with the way she sings. is this ok at least?
to be honest, I noticed the same manner in the voice of my lovely Aono-chan. however I know she does everything deliberately 'cause she CAN sing the high notes both in a loud voice and rather softly as well. and she can do the vibrato if she wants to. moreover, she has the tembre, the thing which distinguishes the siennas from one another. guys, tell me honestly, do you believe Mimi also has it? I couldn't make out 'tis her if I didn't see who is singing currently. well, 'tis IMHO after all...
what's not a fairy-tale taken out of the blue, is the fact I liked Olga in the book. just a little, no kind of admiration or smth. she was just cute and what's wrong if she loved to laugh and was rather light-headed? I can't even blame her for her change in preferences - she wanted to be happy, so what if she found a man she could love and who loved her? if Lensky wasn't dead, would she come to an adultery? we can't say for sure. she might never have. so I can't blame her.
who made the musical a bit more interesting? monsieur Tricke did. the song for Tatiana.... haaahaaahaaaaaa ROFL 'uauauauauauauaaaaaaaaa' ^o^
well, as for Todoroki. I didn't like her appearance as I did in the 90 anniversary vid. what I liked much better was her playing. for the first time in my life there appeared some sympathy for Onegin. he even played his trick with Olga not only of the wish to revenge Lensky, but also to show the true colours of hers to the possible her future husband. this wasn't is the original, as far as I remember.
the other thing that surprised me greatly was the stuff with Decabrists. really nice, eh? as I didn't have any feelings towards Onegin in the original, I didn't expect I could cry in the end as they were singing the final song about the flow of time and finding happiness... Todoroki-sama made him quite another man. yeah, she did.
*weep*
that was far greater than I expected and it proved I love Zuka's everything. those strong feelings overflowing the stage, overflowing the audience, reaching my heart through the screen of my PC, they are priceless. I'm only ashamed I know not the rest of the actresses 'cause they're from Snow and I'm still a total nub in any troupe but for my sweet Moonies (it sounds strange, actresses... do I have to say, female actors? it reminds me of a recent issue we discussed at the English class in the university - should women on the stage and in movies be called actresses or what?)