Takarazuka Revue 2002: Musumeyaku no Eregansu
The Musumeyaku’s Elegance
Like a flower, they bloom beautifully and vividly.
Just as the otokoyaku have their own aesthetic, musumeyaku also brighten the stage like a unique flower. More than that, with their graceful appeal and their steady glow, they must have some secret. In order to investigate, we ask these 5 questions.
Question 1: What do you think in your own nature is like a musumeyaku?
Question 2: Is your impression of musumeyaku different since you joined Takarazuka than it was before?
Question 3: What can you absolutely not do without when you’re standing on stage?
Question 4: What’s something you’d like to try as a musumeyaku in the future?
Question 5: Among movies, theater, and Takarazuka, what love scene moves you the most?
File 01 – Maikaze Rira, Flower
Q1: I’m not the type to be drawn by my character, but I do like to do things properly, so that may fit. (laughs)
Q2: Before I entered Takarazuka, I didn’t really think anything other than, “So pretty…” (laughs) Since I joined, the women are the same, but as a musumeyaku, I’ve realized how much depth is behind it.
Q3: For the plays, in my heart I want to portray the character’s feelings and look beautiful. Also, inside I’m very adaptable, and so I’ve been able to take to heart the advice and opinions of my teachers, my upperclassmen, and the fans.
Q4: So far I’ve mostly played “misses” and young girls, so I’d really like to try doing a more mature, sexy role in either a play or a show.
Q5: When I was in the Music School and went to see Utakata no Koi, I sobbed all the way through it. The scene with the bed, on the night they’re preparing to die… I honestly couldn’t stop. It moved me so much.
File 02 – Toono Asuka, Flower
Q1: I don’t think there’s really many ways. I don’t like delicate stuff or things like that. (laughs) I guess having a high voice is like a musumeyaku.
Q2: I had an image of “So pretty, so cute!” Since I entered Takarazuka, I’ve realized that there’s a lot more to it than just being cute.
Q3: It would be terrible if I acted in a way that only expressed appearances. It’s incredibly difficult, but I think it’s crucial to express your true emotions through the role, and communicate with the audience. I think that’s necessary when you’re acting.
Q4: I want to become more aware of how I imitate my upperclassmen. I’m still learning, so I want to absorb as many different things as I can.
Q5: The last scene of Wakaki Hi no Uta o Wasureji (“I Won’t Forget the Young Day’s Song”) is really good. With only the two of them, it’s so sad and painful… I’d really like to try it!
File 03 Hanase Mizuka, Moon
Q1: People who know me would say I’m the exact opposite of the musumeyaku image. My nature is more boyish. (laughs)
Q2: Before I entered, I had the image of the beautiful Asano Kayo (then Moon Troupe Top Musumeyaku) from the first time I saw Takarazuka. I wondered if I could be a musumeyaku like that. But in the end I decided that, as a musumeyaku, I needed to look properly towards the otokoyaku.
Q3: Naturally, I want to perform more femininely than anyone else. On stage, no matter what, I’ll demonstrate the marks of femininity.
Q4: Not just heroines; I want to play roles with more of a villainess’ character, more of a range of roles that require power in my acting.
Q5: I like tragedies more than love scenes with happy endings. In Baron no Matsuei (“Descendant of Baron”), the heroine falls in love with her fiancé’s younger brother… There’s a lot of interesting build-up leading to the love scene. I also like the reunion scene in the movie, Reisei to Jounetsu no Aida.
File 04: Shijou Rui, Moon
Q1: I really identify with it. Even when I was an otokoyaku, I thought about it a lot, and I think the “musumeyaku” has a lot more of my own feelings in it.
Q2: My impression when I first saw Takarazuka was of a figure in a gorgeous dress. There’s been a terrible number of things that have happened since then, but even now that impression hasn’t changed.
Q3: No matter how frazzled I get, I increase the energy within myself. My character is such that I won’t allow a day that I didn’t think was great.
Q4: I want to do a woman’s role where I get to perform a lot of dancing. I still don’t really know how to manage a skirt, so I want to start again from the basics and do my best while thinking about what a “female role” truly is.
Q5: I love Oscar and Andre’s love scene in Rose of Versailles. Maybe it’s because I was an otokoyaku, but I have a lot of sympathy for Oscar, who’s a woman acting like a man.
File 05: Asaki Yumemi, Snow
Q1: Well, I guess I resemble one in that I like to make accessories. I really enjoy the time when we put together the earrings and combs and stuff for the costumes.
Q2: Before I entered Takarazuka, back when I was just yearning for it, and now that I’ve entered, my impression is – completely unchanged. (laughs) I think there’s a huge amount of effort that no one sees.
Q3: No matter where I am on stage, I do my best wholeheartedly without fail. I try to make my presence appeal, and express a musumeyaku’s emotions from my heart every single day.
Q4: I’d like to have a broad range of acting as a musumeyaku, so I want the challenge of lots of different roles. Also, I love to sing, so I’d really like to try doing l’etoile at the Grand Theater.
Q5: I love the princess’ true love in Roman Holiday. I’d like to try that kind of love myself. (laughs)
File 06: Shirahane Yuri, Snow
Q1: I love beautiful people and beautiful things. More than anything else, I want to be like that. I think that’s very like a musumeyaku.
Q2: Before I entered Takarazuka, I had a real sense of wonder, like, “So nice… Isn’t it amazing..?” But I realized that in fact, the part that no one sees is where the really terrible effort is. But, not seeing the pain is truly Takarazuka… (laughs)
Q3: While holding tightly to my ordinary self in addition to my musumeyaku self, when I have a role with a partner, I start to like the one playing him and we begin to build trust in each other.
Q4: I think I’d like to play many types of roles. The ultimate would be a role I could identify with without thinking. Just being able to play it straight. It would be amazing to be able to perform a role like that.
Q5: In Gone with the Wind, the carriage scene where Rhett kisses Scarlett with a feeling of, “You’re all right…” Butler is so manly and cool. (laughs)
File 07: Kanou Chika, Star
Q1: Maybe it’s that, no matter what may happen in any one day, I stay positive and don’t dwell on things?
Q2: My impression before I entered was that being a musumeyaku means ceaselessly, always having to be conscious of yourself, while everyone else makes of you something ordinary. Of the two, I think the musumeyaku is the one who has to be the most precise.
Q3: Naturally, I want to become the sort of musumeyaku that makes the otokoyaku think, “I want to stand next to that girl.” When I have a partner, I want to be the musumeyaku that suits her best.
Q4: I’m always thinking of combinations with otokoyaku. It’d probably be good to consider my own existence.
Q5: So far, I’ve played a lot of roles where I die. So, stories like Romeo and Juliet, where regardless of how much the two think of each other, they die… I’m really awed by works like that. It’s so sad that, no matter what, we’re left alone.
File 08: Koto Marie, Star
Q1: Maybe that I don’t really get nervous when I encounter people.
Q2: I first saw Takarazuka when I was in the 6th grade and their feeling of being sweet, pure princesses was overwhelming. After I joined Takarazuka, I was really surprised, because I hadn’t known that I had to make the wigs and accessories myself. You have to be really nimble. When I dance with an otokoyaku, I mustn’t make only myself beautiful.
Q3: I think I have to make myself transparent in order to make the otokoyaku more masculine. For now, that’s my goal.
Q4: I want to be sure that when you look at the stage, you see flawlessness, so I’m very careful when I put up my hair and I try never to drop an arm carelessly. If I do lifts, I need to make sure my body lines are pretty, so I work hard doing sit-ups everyday.
Q5: I want to perform a romantic role, one where obstacles are overcome and in the end their two forms melt together!
File 09: Fuzuki Miyo, Cosmos
Q1: My nature is to be more boyish, but there’s a side of me that would like to snuggle up with a gorgeous otokoyaku-san. I don’t know if that counts or not…
Q2: The image I had before I entered was “Lovely, beautiful, they can take on anything, like a tender flower…” Since I’ve joined, I’ve thought about the balance with the otokoyaku. I feel like you have to play it beyond feminine.
Q3: The stage makeup. All of the preparations for your appearance. “Making it pretty” and all…
Q4: Rather than just saying the lines of the play, I want to be able to express the inner depths of a woman. So, I don’t just want to read the kinds of books and watch the kinds of movies that I like, but to see a variety of genres, so that my heart will be full.
Q5: It was a movie I watched for a role in a Bow Hall show, but Vivien Leigh’s lead in Waterloo Bridge was wonderful. An unchained passion that goes on, even when memories are lost.
File 10: Ayano Kanami, Cosmos
Q1: I think I aspire to be more like a musumeyaku than an otokoyaku.
Q2: Before, there was this gorgeous image. Afterwards, the image was still there, but there was also a feeling of seriousness. Once I could watch the upperclassmen from close-up, daily, while they prepared to make the play what it should be for the audience. “It’s going to be this hard,” – and I realized how much studying I had ahead of me.
Q3: On stage, keeping the “Freshness of Life” is more important than outward appearance. I try to maintain that feeling, and not hold self-consciousness in my heart.
Q4: There are so many things that I want to do, that it’s hard to decide on just one… When I have the time, I’d like to travel, in order to draw more things out of myself.
Q5: More than a short-lived love that’s deep inside you, where you can’t communicate your thoughts, I’m awed by one that’s more dramatic, where they reveal their every thought.
Note: The original Japanese text used on this site is the property of the Takarazuka Revue and Hankyu Corporation. It is used without permission, with the intent of publicizing the revue to a larger audience.
The translations on this site were done by me. I reserve all applicable copyright on them and DO NOT give permission for them to be redistributed, published, retranslated, used as fansub scripts, etc.