#end of year tag
Takarazuka End of Year Tag 2021 (Part 1)
In which I finally answer my own tag!
You can find the questions here
I decided to answer the questions in 2 posts, first 7 questions today, and the rest tomorrow coz I’ve realised I’ve run out of time, so without further ado…
1. Sumire no Hana: Did you find a new favourite this year? (Either someone who has entered the company this year or someone who has been in the company a while but you have only just become a fan, or both!)
I have a couple for this! All musumeyaku! I started the year by noticingIrodori Michiru as Mozart in Fortississimo, I thought she was such a fun character and it’s so unusual to see musume in male parts so that made me even more interested in learning about her. Then later in the year, I saw City Hunter, which although wasn’t really my thing, I did come away from it thinking “michiru was so cool in that”, haha! So now I’m definitely going to keep watching her shows, I really want to see her shinjin koen “hoshiai” and “wansu”!
The other two I have become a fan of is the ladies of the moment for the Flower Troupe, and that’s Hoshizora Misaki and Mihane Ai! They just absolutely blew me away as Isabelle and Ann Neville in Prince of Roses. I found them so striking because of how young they looked and yet how fierce their acting was. When Urara as Margaret Beaufort says to Mihane “You’re a strong woman aren’t you?” I really felt like it was not just Beaufort’s thoughts of Ann but the thoughts of us watching Mihane on stage. They both seem to be getting great roles so I’m excited to see where their career takes them!
2. Never Say Goodbye: Which taidansha was the hardest for you to say goodbye to this year?
Do I even need to answer this one? It is of course Hana Yuuki. Hana Yuuki means so much to me, she’s a an actress that kind of sneaked up on me. I became a takarazuka fan when she had just become Top Musume but I didn’t become a fan of her right away, perhaps it was because I was still infatuated with all the otokoyaku at that point, or maybe it was because there was only “fairy tale” and “koisuru” to watch of her top run at that time. But then gradually I started to like her more and more, and once reihana top combi happened and I saw the Haikara-san live stream suddenly she became my entire fan identity. I think she is brilliant. I love how she strives to keep improving and you can see how she has grown with every performance. I also love her acting, she performs with this honesty that I’ve never seen from any other performer, she completely transforms into whoever she’s playing, and even if she has to act in a cartoony style (for a manga adaptation for instance) she still manages to get to the heart of her character and make them feel real. I was so heartbroken when she annouced her taidan, “haikara” hadn’t even finished yet! I had prepared myself for a good couple more years with her and then BAM! She was gone. But I love how right till the end she never got typecast, for such a short top musume run she got to play so many different kinds of women, maybe even more so than top musume who have had longer careers. She had an incredible final show as Pompeia in Augustus and a beautiful send-off in her sayonara show, which contained so many moments that will stay with me forever. Thank you Hana for brightening my days x
3. Material Girl: Favourite piece of merch (most treasured Takarazuka thing you have bought yourself this year, OR if you didn’t buy anything this year, a piece of merch that is on your wish list)
Speaking of Hana Yuuki, my most treasured piece of merch from this year has to be my bromides of the sayonara show in Tokyo. I was convinced because of proxy service that by the time white rabbit would be able to buy them for me they’d be sold out, but they weren’t! My momentos of reihana.
Also wanna give a shout out to le cinq in general, I ended 2020 with 3, now i have 9! They are perfect for my interests, the photos make great art references, and then the scripts help me study Japanese! XD I love my le cinq collection, they give me the serotonin I need to get through these dark days. Earlier in the year when I was in my uni house, I felt pretty rotten, and I had this ugly wall in my room that had gross marks on it and cracks in the plaster that I would stare at from my bed, which made me feel worse. But then I covered it with my le cinq posters and it honestly gave me a boost every time I looked at them.
4. Mon Paris: Did you discover a new fav show that was not from this year? (This can be any fav show that you saw for the first time this year that was released before 2021)
This is super hard actually coz I realised that whilst in my first year of zuka I watched as many things as I could, this year I’ve become set in my ways. I just watch reihana on repeat and then maaaaybe I’ll watch the latest official live stream (I think the only time I’m guaranteed to watch an official live stream is if it’s hanagumi, I’m sorry). So I’ve thought long and hard about this trying to remember what I watched. And I think I’m going to go with a trick answer and say, the Casanova shinko! So I’ve seen Casanova before, but I’ve never seen the shinko. So many people talk about how good the Casanova shinko is so I was so I’ve been meaning to watch it for the longest time, and then a month or so ago a friend streamed it for me and it was such a fun experience! I loved seeing Hana again and so many other siennes who since then have become really big in the troupe. It was a delight!
5. Wings of the Heart: Favourite fandom memory (this could be a fun stream experience, going to the theatre with friends, all collectively freaking out about something together, anything really!)
Without a doubt it has to be watching the Nice Work official live stream together with friends. My favourite thing about being in the zuka fandom is the community we have. Watching streams together is always fun, but there was something extra special this time. We had been absolutely convinced we would never see this show because it was a broadway adaptation, but then last minute it was announced we would get a live stream and we all FLIPPED the hell out. We couldn’t believe our luck. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited for a show before, it just sounded so perfect for reihana and hanagumi, I was so excited. And then when we did watch it we all changed our names and icons to reihana and nice work related so nobody knew who was who anymore and we just spent the stream filled with joy! It was a very special time.
6. Where is God (kami wa dokoni): What Hankyu announcement shocked you the most this year?
I’m gonna go with something totally random for this and say getting rid of the Tokyo Theatre’s QR? What’s that all about? Idk it’s just was the most random thing and makes no sense, a theatre without a gift shop? I get that it’s a little small but they litterally have a massive one across the road that people could go instead. Lol it does not affect me at all but I have fond memories of that place T-T
7. The Final Dance (Saigo no Dansu): What was your favourite duedan of the year?
I’m going to do a trick answer for this and say the most beacutiful dance I’ve ever seen, reihana barefoot dance in cool beast. UGH its so delicate and tender and bewitching and beautiful and poetic. I love the beauty and the beast type story that goes with it too and ahhh its just so perfect, no other duet dance comes close.
End of Year Takarazuka Tag
I was bored and decided to create an end of year tag for the Takarazuka fandom! Use this tag wherever you like, or tumblr, twitter instagram, hell make a youtube video if you like! Only rule is to have fun and credit me (please tag me, I’d love to see your answers!)
Oh and use the tag #endofyearzukatag
Questions under the cut! Enjoy!
1.Sumire no Hana: Did you find a new favourite this year? (Either someone who has entered the company this year or someone who has been in the company a while but you have only just become a fan, or both!)
2.Never Say Goodbye: Which taidansha was the hardest for you to say goodbye to this year?
3.Material Girl: Favourite piece of merch (most treasured Takarazuka thing you have bought yourself this year, OR if you didn’t buy anything this year, a piece of merch that is on your wish list)
4.Mon Paris: Did you discover a new fav show that was not from this year? (This can be any fav show that you saw for the first time this year that was released before 2021)
5.Wings of the Heart: Favourite fandom memory (this could be a fun stream experience, going to the theatre with friends, all collectively freaking out about something together, anything really!)
6.Where is God (kami wa dokoni): What Hankyu announcement shocked you the most this year?
7.The Final Dance (Saigo no Dansu): What was your favourite duedan of the year?
8.My Everlasting Dream: What show have you rewatched the most this year?
9.Fascinating Rhythm: What zuka song has been stuck in your head all year?
10. Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend: What was your favourite costume(s) of the year?
11.Cool Beast!!: what was the most ridiculous costume(s) your saw this year
12.Greatest Moment: A special moment on stage that stayed with you
And finally, the big ones:
13.Musical:What was your favourite musical (one act or two act) of the year?
14.Revue: What was your favourite revue of the year?
