#hdad!!

[eien-no-gakusha]

Asumi Rio Photo Essay Hare demo. Ame Demo!! (Rain or Shine) [Get Here]

This part is so pure it hurts! Excuse me for I have an onion-induced condition in my eyes right now.

Ch03:  Bow Hall Performance - Haru no Yuki (Part 2)

So on to that all important story of the butterflies:

In the middle of a performance, an underclassman gifted me a blue butterfly she found that eerily resembled the one on the poster.  The next day, another kid comes over boasting “Hey, I found another one~” And I wound up with 2 butterflies.

So I put these two Mr. Butterflies in a shoe box at the time, intending to return them to the costume department later.  The pranks calmed down a bit after that.

Then came the day of the final performance.

The curtain descended on my favorite Bow Hall [performance].  How I miss it. However, as a memento, I stuck one of the butterflies backstage in a snug place on the stage-left quick change partition.  That little butterfly has been with me in my memories since.

Years later, Ryou-chan (Tamaki Ryou), while starring in Bow Hall, goes through the trouble to tell me “Hey, that butterfly is still there!”

…I couldn’t believe it.  That little guy was still there?  I always figured someone would have thrown it away while cleaning.  So I went to see for myself and…

IT WAS THERE!!  (Here’s a picture)

Might have shed a tear [when I saw it].  It even fluttered its wings for me… Actually, it was just the breeze from a mini-fan but it sometimes looks real when the wings move…

(I only glued it from the striped portion [so the wings are flexible].)

I brought that butterfly home right then and there. It was as if that butterfly had watched over those many other underclassmen who starred in Bow Hall after it was put there.

In a way, this little butterfly embodies my youth… Anyways, now I carry it around in a little wooden compact box so it can watch over me in peace.

[eien-no-gakusha]

Asumi Rio Photo Essay Hare demo. Ame Demo!! (Rain or Shine) [Get Here]

Ch04:  I <3 Food!!

Food is probably my second most favorite thing after theatre. Bottom line, I absolutely love food!

Now what I’m about to say isn’t really “dreamy” but… Even a Takarasienne can’t live on thin air (1) – one can’t survive, let alone sing or dance [without a proper meal]. Food is what makes the body, after all.

Doesn’t matter if it’s a crowded yakiniku restaurant or a cozy onabe joint; Whether I’m lunching alone or at a diner [with friends]…It’s all good to me. It’s also nice cooking for myself using my favorite ingredients and flavoring.  I always feel pleased afterwards.

But of course – Mom’s cooking is always best!

When Mom comes to see me perform, she would bring fresh vegetables from home and we’ll cook all sorts of side dishes together in high spirits. We always make more than we need but its fine since the sight of all that food never fails to make me hungry.  Just thinking of all the stuff I want to cook brings me to tears.

Well, I’m the type to just keep on eating.  I always wind up having seconds in the end.  A healthy stomach is a full stomach!

Great, now I’m about to cry for a totally different reason…

(1) lit.  “Even Takarasienne must eat something other than mist…”

[eien-no-gakusha]

Asumi Rio Photo Essay Hare demo. Ame Demo!! (Rain or Shine) [Get Here]

Ch03:  Bow Hall Performance - Haru no Yuki (Part 1)

“Haru no Yuki” (Spring Snow)

This one is very special to me.  It’s as if I was destined to perform it. I absolutely love this play…the people involved, how we all got immersed in the worldview.

Random Fans:  “Kiyoaki was just the perfect role for you.” Underclassmen:  “Sayumi-san IS Kiyoaki!”

To this day, I feel undeservedly blessed with actor’s luck [for this opportunity].

BUT, but… Matsugae Kiyoaki-kun, despite being a high school boy from that [historical] period, is such a horrendously twisted character.  In a strange way, I’m happy when I’m told he suited me so well.

During the story’s opening and closing song “Hojo no Umi” (1), while the chorus is giving Kiyoaki-kun various things, everyone’s voices just swelled up together and brought the world of “Haru no Yuki” to life.

As usual, I would take my cue from the chorus to appear on stage.  But our voices and the scenery would come out differently with every performance…

Seeing Toshi-chan’s (Uzuki Hayate) quiet and unwavering strength with my own eyes… Experiencing Sachika’s (Shirayuki Sachika) overflowing passion firsthand… Being enveloped by Maai’s (Maai Suzuka) endless affections…

And so on…I was at my most emotional back then and everyone’s voices simply moved me to tears…

The script, the songs, all those memories we made together…simply everything.  If I go on, I’ll risk singing my own praises.

(1)  Hojo no Umi (The Sea of Fertility) is also the title of Yukio Mishima’s tetralogy, in which Haru no Yuki is the first novel.

Translator’s Note Fangirl Talk: Dude, I love how Mirio just takes pride in her title as Fuck Boy Supreme. Like she knows she’s The King of dysfunctional-playboy-asshole characters and loves it.

But seriously speaking, this journal entry is simply so sweet.  Clearly, this performance is very important to her.

Never read any of “Hojo no Umi” & honestly it sounds like a dark and heavy read that is right up my alley but the Japanese reading level is probably far beyond me right now.  But from what I can understand of Takarazuka’s rendition of “Haru no Yuki,” it’s a really good and deep story.  And Mirio IS Kiyoaki indeed.  It truly is one of her defining performances.  Love it!!

SPOILER TALK:

Also, can’t help but suspect the minor masochist streak might or might not have started here w/ that one hell of a Beating from a pool cue but this is too pure a post to be talking about that lol

I think they should adapt all 4 books as a stage play or mini-series/anthology and cast Mirio as the lead. It could be a great acting challenge, kind of like how the actors from “American Horror” play different characters per season.  She would need to portray 4 very different people who are, at the core, also strikingly similar.  But then we would need to fetch Tamakichi to reprise her role as Honda and both Top Stars are a tad busy being Top Stars and all.  But if it ever happened, I would watch it.  Then I would buy the box set and watch it some more.