An Unexpected Crossover
Regrettably, I’ve never played Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (aka 逆転裁判, gyakutensaiban in Japan) or any of its iterations, but I am oddly excited about this:
The title translates as “Turnabout Trial: Truth Brought Out.” Apparently this is a musical based on the video game series, performed by the Takurazuka Revue (宝塚歌劇団, Takarazuka kagekidan), an all-female musical theatre group based in western Japan. The group is pretty famous in the Kansai area where I live, but I’m not sure if it’s popular in the rest of Japan and I’m pretty sure it’s almost unheard of overseas. Of course both male and female parts are played by women, and the whole look and feel of the shows dangle dangerously if not outright plummet into the depths of “camp.”
The interesting thing is that the Takarazuka Revue’s target audience is mostly women, which I find to be largely split between those in college and those aged 60+. While I know that the Nintendo DS has broken into markets previously impenetrable by video games, I am wondering how much appeal/name recognition this title has with Takarazuka’s audience. But then again, the Japanese Capcom site seems also to be aggressively pushing the production, so maybe they’re trying to pull in more males into musical theater?
I’ve always been mystified by the Takarazuka Revue concept, but have never been interested enough to see it for myself. Perhaps the video game crossover angle will finally push me over the edge next month when it opens on February 5.
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“I’m not sure if it’s popular in the rest of Japan”
TakArazuka is a national institution. Everyone in the country knows about it.
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Thanks – I don’t get out of Kansai much so I’m not sure if it’s nationally known.
You forgot to yell 異議あり!
Fail.
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I only know Japanese 30something women who play (and love) that game series. Looks like this musical thing is gonna be a great fan pleaser.
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Takarazuka is creepy. The make up the “male” characters have on is always so Ziggy Stardust that I can barely keep from laughing.
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every foreign feminists is touching this stuff while discussing japanese women … it’s usually either ‘ repressed women can be themselves’ or
‘ repressed women cannot be themselves’ as a reason for this troupe.
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They are applying their own theories and prejudices to Takarazuka. It’s nothing but dramatised Mills and Boon/Harlequin Romances, plus a few over-obsessed fans who cannot separate fantasy from reality.
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I’ve always wanted to check this place out, especially now that I live less than 15 minutes from the theater. I’ve never played these games either so this show isn’t particularly appealing to me, but with each new ad I get more and more tempted to just go.
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Phoenix Wright is a great game. I know a bunch of people in Britain who love it and none of them are 30-year-old Japanese women.
I’ve see Takarazuka once, when they came to London on tour in the 1990s. It was an interesting experience. I’m not a fan of musicals. It was very well done and highly camp. But then so is Kabuki, it might be argued.
Anyway I would definitely go and see Takarazuka Phoenix Wright.
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“The group is pretty famous in the Kansai area where I live, but I’m not sure if it’s popular in the rest of Japan and I’m pretty sure it’s almost unheard of overseas.”
Wasn’t a significant chunk of that old Brando-in-Japan film Sayonara dedicated to the Takarazuka or a troupe modeled on it? As I recall, his love interest was a player of male leads.
It also gets the better part of a chapter in Ian Buruma’s irreverent classic overview of Japanese-pop-culture-circa-1980, A Japanese Mirror, which may have been the first book about Japan that I read.
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Thanks for those resources. The wikipedia page says that the group in Sayonara is indeed based on the Takurazuka Revue.
As for A Japanese Mirror, found it on Amazon and looks interesting though perhaps dated according to the reviewers. Perhaps if I find it in the library I’ll check it out.
When will Phoenix Wright be in a Capcom VS game?? i hope this ziggy stardust h0 is an alternate costume.
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wow i’m in shock, never expect it’ll be a live musical. the game itself is wonderful, you should really try it when you have the chance.
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Woow this looks cool !
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If you want to go you better get tickets fast, and save your yen. That place is a goldmine for whoever reaps the profits. (The Hankyu group I think.)
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I see the tickets aren’t on sale yet for Tokyo, but Takarazuka is already sold out:
http://ent.pia.jp/pia/event.do?eventCd=0847066
If anyone decides to go, it’s their reserve team in the lead roles in a smaller theatre (not sure about Tokyo…), so you’ll not get the full OTT experience.
I was at the main hall yesterday seeing a musical based on some Korean epic that features Yon-sama in the lead on the telly, but the Takarazuka girls were a good deal more butch than him.
(Also, one of the gods looked like Jack Sparrow, but that’s another matter altogether…)
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Out of Japan some people know them because they have made 2 plays with Morning Musume, “Ribon no Kishi” and “Cinderella the Musical”. It’s the only thing I know about them.
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