Comments on: An Unexpected Crossover

By: Xacur

Xacur — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:04:32 +0000

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.

By: Ken Y-N

Ken Y-N — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 03:17:34 +0000

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…)

By: sleepytako

sleepytako — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:32:13 +0000

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.)

By: Stéfan

Stéfan — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 16:32:15 +0000

Woow this looks cool !

By: Cindy

Cindy — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:47:09 +0000

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.

By: Rated-R

Rated-R — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:07:15 +0000

When will Phoenix Wright be in a Capcom VS game?? i hope this ziggy stardust h0 is an alternate costume.

By: DKO

DKO — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:26:40 +0000

You forgot to yell 異議あり!
Fail.

By: Pamela

Pamela — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:10:48 +0000

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.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:10:34 +0000

“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.

By: RMilner

RMilner — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:25:59 +0000

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.

By: Pamela

Pamela — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:15:24 +0000

Thanks – I don’t get out of Kansai much so I’m not sure if it’s nationally known.

By: feitclub

feitclub — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:45:41 +0000

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.

By: Ken Y-N

Ken Y-N — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:31:07 +0000

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.

By: lady gaga

lady gaga — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 07:58:51 +0000

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.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 07:27:36 +0000

Takarazuka is creepy. The make up the “male” characters have on is always so Ziggy Stardust that I can barely keep from laughing.

By: Rated-R

Rated-R — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 07:17:03 +0000

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.

By: The Overthinker

The Overthinker — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 07:11:36 +0000

“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.