Yurika's take on Der Tod in the Elisabeth 30th Anniversary Special Gala Concert was completely new, and just perfect for her. She perfectly draws on her larger-than-life aura to create a unusually calm and composed Tod, confidently waiting for Elisabeth to come to him. The closest predecessor is Osa's Tod, who similarly appears as a merciful deity with an eternal perspective on human lives, rather than as a malicious being too involved in human doings. However, OsaTod still seems more vulnerable to the novel emotions, and at times more sinister. Rather than being unsettled by the realisation of feelings for Sisi, YurikaTod just seems fascinated and intrigued by it, savouring every new emotion. I don't think he (because it's a rather male Tod, although with visible breasts) has a concept of "negative" or "positive" emotions, nor does he view death and suffering as bad, since it belongs to his realm. Rather, he's just naturally drawn to and energised by such emotions. He is only truly shaken once, in the Ai to shi no rondo reprise. Being Yurika, her Tod is of course also extremely sensual...
The new combi formed with Sakura was an unexpectedly successful one. Sakura's Sisi was also fantastic, with an equally fresh take on the role. She looks more childlike than most and her Sisi-as-a-girl is extremely naturalistic, but she also manages very well to mature as Sisi. She portrays a quite passionate Sisi who's struggling with her emotions, rather than elegant and composed. Somehow that spark she has reminds me of an opera primadonna. Her Sisi is also very haughty and full of herself, which is a good match for Yurika's smug and self-confident Tod. I've never before seen a Sisi who doesn't only resist Tod (that's in the script), or roar at him to get lost (like Gun's Sisi), but has the nerve to deliberately get close to him and stare him in the eyes before refusing him. Which only makes YurikaTod more smitten and fascinated by her. (A completely logical take, as it's her defiant "Watashi wo kaeshite!" that makes him fall for her in the first place.)
What I'm trying to describe here is not the usual the-more-she-resists-the-more-I-want-her dynamic, which is common with the meaner Tods like Mizu or Saeko. (Don't get mer wrong, I still love MizuTod too!) That vicious circle of increasingly frustrated possessiveness is not there in this version. Rather, YurikaTod has the magnanity to simply become more attracted to Sisi the more she exceeds his expectations and surprises him with new experiences and sensations. For example, he doesn't seem to kill Rudolf out of spite, but rather just to feel closer to Sisi. And YurikaTod's "door angst" in Sisi's bedroom scene was a completely fresh take, almost a reversal of the usual. Instead of being overwhelmed with the pain of rejection and then turning it into revenge to regain composure, YurikaTod just gets high on the sweet, sweet pain and channels that energy directly into that of the angry crowd.
A magnificient performance likely made even more magnificient by the experiences she has had since taidan. Performing like this just a few months after a C-section(!!) is a bit extreme, but I doubt she could have quite reached this level while still in Takarazuka. And in such great vocal shape too - singing the part was honestly what worried me most beforehand. Additionally, Sakura was such a great match for her, able to tease her and give her that little energy boost she needs in a similar way as Kano or indeed Maa! Speaking of, a YurikaTod and MaaSisi combi in the next gala would be quite something... Maa has already shown she can play Sisi to her Franz in "unknown". Though if they just repeated the combi with SakuraSisi I certainly wouldn't complain either.
Oh, another interesting detail is she played Tod completely without any jewellery. Surely a first? She looked great in MaaTod's costumes of course and she couldn't have picked a better wig.
Fingers crossed for a full release on Bluray/DVD!
