I’m impressed by how effectively Takarazuka can express the Heian era on stage. Women weren’t even supposed to be directly seen by men who weren’t family members. Poetry contests instead of sword fights. Admittedly, a play that’s plot revolves around who’s a better drummer (and not even of a big tough taiko, but a little wussy tsuzumi) isn’t for everyone. But the Takarazuka folks can stage these so beautifully – the costumes! Ah, I love the costumes! Yep, I was getting my Japanese-Major-geek on.

And the plot was easy to follow, which is my major problem when I watch “traditional” plays. I could even keep the names of the characters straight! Plus, stuff actually happened, it moved along. End was a little odd, but it reminded me of actual Heian stuff I’ve read, so I was fine. Music… Eh… Enjoyable but forgettable. On to the actors:

Haruno Sumire: Kind of a typical Takarazuka lead role. Osa hit all the oh-why-doesn’t-anyone-understand-me and oh-why-do-I-love-my-best-friend’s-girl high points, but really, nothing is sticking out all that much a couple weeks later. I love the way she sings and she’s good at Japanese dance. Her stage presence and everything is wonderful, so I just kind of watch her and don’t worry about the character so much.

Fuzuki Miyo: Why, oh why, does my Fuu-chan get no love??? It’s not that this was a *bad* role - but it could have been way more interesting. And just when the first act was making me expect significant stage time, they go and ruin it. She’s barely in the second act until the end! *teeth-gnashing* *foot-stomping* I wanna see my Fuu-chan!

And… I hate to say this, but… I don’t think she’s very good at Japanese dance. Her movements seemed a little forced. Maybe just an off day?

Toono Asuka: Ah, yes, the “Sweet Young Girl” Role. Izumi was the variant on this, “Plucky Young Girl”: She fusses at the main character, while secretly loving him, so she fusses and then runs off and cries. Bleh! Not that Toono’s not good, she was great. Our two female leads do grow some backbone towards the end, but not nearly enough for me.

Ayabuki Mao: It was weird for me to see Ayabuki playing a real actual grown-up emperor! He’s all stern, and serious, and has a mean laugh, but…. It’s Yumiko! And she’s so *cute*! I had to sort of flip on-and-off my mental “Yumiko” goggles the whole time, cause her acting was spot-on, but her face was still… adorable. So, it may just be me resigning these two “visions” that made me feel like the emperor had kind of a spoiled-kid gloss to him. It’s actually kind of a tough role, because the character does a lot of things that are bad, but he wasn’t really a true villain. Just very used to getting every single little thing his own way.

To sum up: I really enjoyed this, though it couldn’t quite break out of the boring-as-heck main character thing that (I felt) “Asaki Yume Mishi” (another Heian era play) did. I grumble a bit about the characters, but it didn’t actually bother me that much while watching it. I think that’s because this sort of old-fashioned story always uses character “types” and broad-brushstrokes. Oh, and I forgot to mention before – the non-line-dance line-dance substitute was wonderful. I loved it. The whole finale was pretty good, actually.

So, I can see myself watching this again and enjoying it, which with my timeframes these days really tells you something.