I am posting this on the morning of your last day/performance (Japan time) with Soragumi and Takarazuka (11/19/2017). I have…some feelings😓. I’ve only been a Zuka fan for about 4 months, but in that short amount of time, it’s become my favorite and most beloved diversion, obsession, hobby, and form of entertainment🎶, above all others. This, my dear Maa-kun, is because of YOU😗. Over the summer, I randomly stumbled upon photos of you while browsing my friend’s Tumblr blog one day, and was at once enamored with your charming look, your captivating smile, and your sparkling Hot eyes. I immediately needed to know everything about you, and where I could see more of you. Very shortly after that, we started binge watching your entire career, and are still having a blast exploring this fantastic collection of musicals and revues. To date, I have seen most of your Soragumi🌌, and a handful of your Hanagumi🌸 shows. They are all wonderful, but ‘Hot Eyes!!’ changed my life, and it will always be my number one.
You are a ray of sunshine🌞, a magnetic, engaging, and alluring top star, and you have danced💃 your way into my heart forever. I recently wrote and mailed my first Zuka fan letter💌 to you, because I wanted you to know the incredible impact you had on me… someone who lives in a faraway foreign country, doesn’t know your language, and but for a series of unlikely coincidences, might never have known you existed. But none of these impediments prevent me from loving and devouring this dazzling universe✨. Because of you and all of Soragumi, I am a devoted Takarazuka fan for life. Your face, smile, and charm opened a door for me to a whole new world, and not only did that result in a strengthened bond and connection with my closest friend👭, it also quite literally improved the quality of my life. For this, I am eternally grateful to you. Thank you for giving us, your devoted fans, the gift of your talent and charms, and thank you from the bottom of my heart💖, for making my world a brighter and better place. I love you always. xoxoxo 🌟❤️😙🌟❤️😙🌟❤️😙🌟
THIS WAS A RIDE. I’d planned on seeing A Motion once, so I overpaid for a decent seat to yesterday’s afternoon show. Then a friend of a friend of a friend was trying to get rid of a front row seat for Friday... I straight up abandoned my Tokyo Airbnb and ran back to Osaka to claim it.
(This made me think that there are probably two types of people: ones who would cancel the final night and attempt to secure a refund in this situation, and ones who would go to great lengths to pretend they are still there in the room just to avoid causing a thing. Guess which one I am)
While not the most brilliant show I’ve ever seen, it was maybe the most satisfying; two days of A Motion at flying sweat distance left me about as full and happy as I’ve been since I started doing this. It HEAVILY catered to my personal tastes and weaknesses, and Soragumi was quite literally on top of me, so you definitely can’t take this as an objective assessment... but I. Friggin. Loved it. I’m not sure how to review it without just spoiling it number by number, but I will try to keep it more general aside from a few points where I just can’t help myself.
BACKGROUND: A Motion is Asaka Manato’s farewell small theater dance concert (not that Umegei is small, but it’s half the troupe). Despite it being all Maasama all the time, it’s also a shockingly good show for EVERYONE in it, especially the next four ranked otokoyaku assigned to this group: Sumiki Sayato, Aizuki Hikaru, Sorahane Riku, and KazukimotherfuckingSora. I even got really healthy doses of Fuuma Kakeru (<3) and Mirei Jun (who was especially breathtaking??). Act 1 is an array of pop music and has a real concert feel; Act 2 opens with some silliness and then mostly Takarazuka songs. Toward the end there is a medley that rotates between 4 teams (led by each one of the 4 aforementioned otokoyaku) with a talk segment. I saw Team B (Aichan, which was DVD day) and Team D (Sora).
The song choices and choreography throughout were SO ON POINT. In particular, Act 1 has a medley of hits from 2002—the year of Maa’s debut—and this ABSOLUTELY SLAYED ME. They hit my weakass Hello!Project garbage heart with Matsuura Aya AND classic Morning Musume (in fact, the song that got me into Morning Musume), PLUS TM Revolution done by, of all people, RIKU and SORA WITH HER HUSKY VOICE AND BLUE HAIR AND GENERAL TRASHY ANIME BOY AESTHETIC, my teenage nerd soul is still screaming into infinity.
My other personal highlights:
SORA SORA SORA. Sora SLAYED all the choreo. Sora had a million vocal solos. Sora got to be Romeo. Sora did a hard slide to the edge of the stage right in front of me and I felt my whole face burn red with a heretofore unfelt intensity. Sora eventually discovered I wouldn’t stop staring at her and gave me a devastating wink.
The overwhelming energy of the theme song. iTunes when.
Watching backlit beads of sweat fly off Riku... DON’T JUDGE ME
The Kento Mori choreographed number was so intense and so good. Sharp, creative, metallic, musumeyaku in pants, just everything.
The pose Maa hits right as the curtain falls at the end of Act 1, especially from my position looking up at her and the lights (and again, watching the sweat fly as she stuck it... don’t judge me)
Hitokakera no Yuuki, ugh <3
The audience was TURNT on Friday. I don’t know if it was the DVD filming or the live viewing relay or just a coincidence. but I’ve never experienced an atmosphere like that at a Takarazuka show. Screaming, squealing, I bruised my hands clapping. They WOULDN’T LET MAA LEAVE, she had to come out and tell everyone it wasn’t senshuuraku and they needed to go. My neighbor in my share house here, BY STRANGE COINCIDENCE, works for TCA and was filming that day. She said the camera operators were having so much trouble because people kept standing up, and Maa kept coming back out way more times than anticipated. Saturday was normal. What the hell, Friday??
...and TEAM D’s CORNER, which I will summarize because it will probably never see the light of video: after asking Maa about a memory from each show for each song in their medley, Sora, mastering the ceremonies in the nerdiest way possible throughout, decides she’s going to let the audience vote by applause for what famous line they’d like Maa to reenact. The choices were “shineba ii,” something from A Song For Kingdoms, the end of Melancholic Gigolo, and the salute (?) from Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Except she forgot to pay attention to which one actually got the biggest reaction, so she made Maa do them all. SHINEBA II got a girly SHINIMASU~~<3 from Sora, the next one got a RADAMEESSSS~~, then her punishment for being an idiot was standing in for Felicia. I wish I had a camera in my brain; it was the most Sora packed into 10 minutes that I’ve ever seen.
Most importantly it looked like Maasama had an absolute blast, and I’m so glad they gave her something like this to go out on. Must-own if you’re her fan, extremely pure blissful fun if you’re into Soragumi in general (or JPop trash of my generation). SO GLAD I got to see it twice.
