Retirement Conference Q&A: Takarazuka Revue Moon Troupe Top Star talks about the finale of the Sayonara Show, "It's good to end it with just the two of us"
(Source from Sanspo)
Takarazuka Revue Moon Troupe Top Star Tsukishiro Kanato embraced the closing performance on the 12th for her graduation performance "Eternal Voice"/"Grande TAKARAZUKA 110!" at the Takarazuka Grand Theatre on the 12th, bidding goodbye to the homebase. After the Sayonara Show, she appeared at the press conference. The following is the Q&A.
Q: Why did you choose the black tails?
Because there's still the Tokyo performances, and I'm still a Top Star, I'm still an otokoyaku, and it's far from the day I'm not living as my stage name and returning as myself yet. I chose the black tails to graduate at the Takarazuka Grand Theatre. Hayama (Kiomi)-sensei (a choreographer who passed away last June) always said, "Black tails is a costume without extra ornaments. That's the best thing to showcase in otokoyaku", so I wanted to present that myself too, and chose the black tails without other special design.
Q: You mentioned the god of stage in your speech.
I was able to finish the performance successfully today, that on the closing day I can enjoy this performance with my troupe members, and see the performance end without fail. As Top Star, I've always hoped that every performance would conclude successfully, but today as a graduating member, this feeling also stayed true, that when I'm able to embrace this closing day successfully and as a graduating member come down the grand staircase and give a speech, I think it's the god of stage watching over us, giving power to the graduates and also everyone in the troupe.
Q: How was the scenery on the grand staircase for the last time?
The graduates who went before me and other members were watching over me closely, and the graduates' faces were bright when they heard their name being called. Rather than the scenery before me when I came down the staircase, I'd say even now I remember much of how the underclassmen looked. Everyone looked so bright with beaming smiles, and that gave me strength to come down the staircase
What were you talking with Rei Makoto-san on stage?
It's a secret, I hope you understand.
What are your thoughts for the Sayonara Show?
The most memorable to me was when the graduates sang "Compass of Your Heart" (Rain on Neptune) and that was very good. It's a song with amazing lyrics, so rather than my song, this first comes to my mind. In the finale, it was my hope that it would be great if it were to end with just the two of us (with Umino). There are many Sayonara Shows that end with all of the troupe members or (the Top Star) alone, but now this is a Sayonara Show with Umino Mitsuki who has been with me until now, so I wanted to choose a song that was the most memorable to the two of us.
What does the Takarazuka Grand Theatre mean to you?
There's a great warmth filled in the Grand Theatre. A theatre that has such large capacity of power. There's the scenery from the opening day of my debut stage, and all of these experiences were in the Grand Theatre. All this time, I had been growing up with these various memories and experiences in this theatre. So it's a theatre that encapsulates so much energy.
What do you want to tell the next Top Star Houzuki An?
I don't have much grandeur to tell her, but during this time, I've had the chance to go to the Takarazuka Hall of Fame and I realise how many people have been part of creating Takarazuka till now. I think that all of that led to what we are today, and I felt proud and happy that I am affiliated as a member of (Takarazuka), so I believe this will continue to be relevant as Takarazuka continues to be loved by many when there are new Top Stars. That's what I think is so warm and amazing of Takarazuka.
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hey. imagine your f/o finding fragments of their love for you around them.
they hear a lyric or two from a song they wouldn't usually listen to, but whatever is being said in it - it's exactly how they feel about you. they read a poem that doesn't impress them much otherwise, but there's this one line that speaks to them, reminds them of you or their relationship with you. maybe they overhear a stranger talking about their own love life and they say something that resonates. they totally relate to those famous romantic quotes from classic literature and poetry. you know the ones. even if they're a bit too sappy. maybe they see a beautiful sunset, come across an art piece, a meme, a diary entry, a classical song, an article, ANYTHING, and see their love for you in it.
even if they don't dare to say it to you, they get all soft when it happens. it is delightful when someone else has managed to capture that feeling!!
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Narrative in ACZ
So this time I want to talk about the narrative in ACZ and why I personaly love it.
So what I love about ACZ (and the reason why it´s my favourite in the main line series) is how it kinda works like a legend or a fairy tale.
What I mean by this is that there is not a single "correct/canon" version of the game.
This is possible because the gameplay isn´t actually taking place durring Belkan war.
What we are playing is what Brett Thompson´s documentary thinks happened in it.
The problem is that he doesn´t really have all the details.
The closes he can get to them is Pixy, since he actually knew Cipher more personally and was with him the longest time, the only other people being Eagle Eye and PJ and.... yeah...
But even then it´s been 10 years so most Aces will not remember everything. All that remains it´s their emotions and memories about Cipher and the effect that he had on them by shoting them down.
Even Pixy himself isn't really that reliable (It´s funny because he is also partly a narrator of the game with Thompson).
Not only did he knew Cipher only up to Stage of Apocalypse, but Cipher literally changed his life by preventing him from launching V2 (and causing all the suffering that he later witnessed on the ground Zero).
Cipher in a way saved Pixy, by stoping him from something he could never come back from.
So I wouldn't be surprised if Pixy´s view of Cipher probably isn't completely objective.
And this ties to Cipher and the Ace system. Cipher isn´t really a character.
He is a perfect vessel for player, he is like a rorschach test. He is what ever we want him to be.
And this is thanks to the Ace system and how it allows the player to roleplay Cipher how ever the player wants.
Do you believe Cipher was a total merc?; Do you think that the Razgriz route is the one for you?; Or do you want a mercenary that becomes a knight but after Pixy´s betrail falls back to his merc ways?; Or maybe you like a knight that becomes merc and after a lot of retrospective after Pixy´s betrayal becomes a soldier?
All of these and infinite more are possible.
Which is why I kinda hate when some people in the fandom insist that there must be canon route.
Because having one defined route would kinda kill all of this.
Sure people might still talk about them, but why waste your time on all of these non-canon routes? When merc is totally canon because of AC5? Why try to analyse your story in your own route when the only that matters is the canon one?
So why I am bringing this up?
Becuase this (infinite interpretation) combine with complete erasure of who or what Cipher did is what makes ACZ acts almost like a legend of fairy tale.
Because the only way Cipher can live on is throw the stories of others like Pixy and other Aces. But since it´s been so long nobody will ever trully know how it all went down.
Simular thigs happens with fairy tales and legends like Cinderella, there isn´t one true story.
In some versions the fairy godmother doesn´t even exist and she got her dresses from hazel nuts. In others there were 3 nights with balls that Cinderella went to.
Sometimes she has help from all sotrs of animals others it´s just pigeons. Sometimes her step mother locks her up, other she is given the task to separate peace from ashes perfectly.
But still there are some constants, because these constancs are what make it a tale of Cinderella.
And same could be said about the Belkan war.
Cipher and Pixy will always win in B7R. They will liberate Directus and destroy Excalibur. Pixy will always leave for AWWNB.
PJ will always buy flowers for his girlfriends. And Cipher will always fight Pixy in the end.
But everything else?
We simply don´t know and more importantly can´t know.
And that is what is so beautiful to me.
Because then the interpretetion of the story and Cipher can be anything you personally believe.
And the story doesn´t force you to one interpretation of it.
But it encourages you to think about the story and why your version is the one that you like specifically.
So yeah this is why I love this game so much and why it´s my favourite in the series. Thanks for reading.
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A lot of you on here feel waaay too comfortable admitting that you don't and refuse to listen to rap music, and I'm not loving the incredibly reductive takes on rap because the kendrick/drake beef has it on some of yall's radar for the first time in your life.
I'm not going to sugar coat it-- for americans especially, if you consider music a significant interest of yours but still feel the need to search for acceptable reasons to keep yourself ignorant of black music, or think of rap as a monolith of hate and violence and not equally as diverse as any other genre, or can only name nonblack rappers… you should be embarrassed of that. And your embarrassment should not keep you from being active about exposing yourself to unfamiliar art and broadening what you listen to.
'I don't understand what they're saying/they rap too quickly' I'm surprised by how much I keep seeing this-- speed is not a stylistic trademark of most rap music, & clearer diction as a performer is much more necessary in rap than other genres?? Statistically rap has a lower bpm (here's an example of one person's study) average than other genres. (of course these aren't all-encompassing, but you can look into this yourself using sites like bpmdatabase.com.) Do you really feel overwhelmed by speed listening to Kendrick or Biggie or Nas or 2Pac, or have you never actually listened to their songs?
'I have to look up the lyrics'-- so what? is it a bad thing to take an extra few seconds to engage with an artist's work? If you listen to lyrical music, do you care when it's the artists you listen to? Why does the thoughtful art consumption everyone talks about not also apply to black art?
'there is too much violence and misogyny and commercialism' this is not unique to rap, or true of all rap music. Artists exist that talk about other things, the way they exist in all genres. There is an entire wikipedia page listing alternative hip hop musicians and rappers if you consider seeking it out too much labor. Click one!
'i find it unrelatable'-- who cares? Being unable to engage with art you don't find wholly relatable is a deeply childish and self centered way to exist. You get on here reblogging feel good navel-gazey posts about the shared human experience and caring for one another, but a rapper talking about living with violence or poverty is stretching the limits of what you can imagine or empathize with too much for you to care about it? You don't find that embarrassing to admit to?
You don't have to love rap, you don't have to incorporate it into what you listen to every day, but a lot of you need to be aware you're parroting reagan era anti-rap (& antiblack) pearl-clutching talking points, and it's a very ugly look. It isn't racist if your favorite genre isn't rap, but you need to do some serious self reflection if you consider it inherently less artistic, intelligent or positive than 'whiter' genres when you don't actually listen to it. I am looking at you, people into other counterculture genres-- it's crazy how much I see this from self-professed punks and metalheads especially lmfao. If expression, counterculture art, anti-censorship in music and the right for raw and unfiltered music to exist matters to you as much as you say you do, you should care about rap's relationship to censorship & fight for its legitimacy just as much as what you listen to.
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