Natsukawa: I really respect you, Taki-chan. Since you’re so much older...

Izumo: You liar! (laugh) Wait a minute, now.

Natsukawa: (laugh) A person above the distant clouds, who leaves everything else behind...

Izumo: You're exaggerating. (laugh) I can't be deceived by your words any more. Yura (Natsukawa), you were only in Cosmos Troupe for one year, weren't you?

Natsukawa: That's right.

Izumo: What did you come for?

Natsukawa: Eh—, you ask harsh questions, don't you. (laugh)

Izumo: Even though I said "from now on, let's do our best together in Cosmos Troupe".

Natsukawa: Yeah. But that time was "just for now". When I was an underclassman I got to be in the London performance together with Taki-chan, but at that time I was scared and couldn't talk to you.

Izumo: Ah, you're exaggerating again. (laugh)

Natsukawa: It's true. (laugh) You were like "Izumo Aya-sama of Star Troupe". Like "Chinese item, the best in the land! Izumo Aya-sama!"

Izumo: Where are these words coming from? (laugh)

Natsukawa: (laugh) Also, Taki-chan, you're a person who doesn't talk very much, aren't you.

Izumo: That's right. That time in London, I might have never talked. But Yura, you were also mild-mannered, weren't you? I didn't think you were very noisy. The truth is, I’ve known you since you were much smaller.

Natsukawa: Shocking! (laugh) That was when we were in elementary school at 'Children's Athens', right?

Izumo: Right! We were different ages, but we entered in the same year, so we were classmates. At that time, you were only about one-third my height – an affable, mild, cute girl, saying "oneechan, oneechan!" And yet before I knew it, you've become so talkative.

Natsukawa: "Before you knew it"? (laugh) It's out of respect for Izumo-san that I became talkative.

Izumo: Again! (laugh)


Izumo: Since we appeared together in Zunko (Shizuki Asato)'s dinner show as a sort of comedy duo, the two of us began to talk more often.

Natsukawa: I've drawn Izumo-san down to a lower level. (laugh) We also did Bow Voyage!, you know.

Izumo: That was the worst! (laugh) We made the end of the show almost an hour longer, because we had a free-for-all of everything we wanted to do.

Natsukawa: We were forgetting "Takarazuka".

Izumo: For the most part we all had our turn to speak, but every time Yura-chan thought of many things to talk about, so it was long!

Natsukawa: What! I could say the same thing to you. (laugh)

Izumo: To make matters worse, the slip-ups in conversation were all mine.

Natsukawa: (laugh)

Izumo: I would bow really low, because I wanted to be like "okay, the end", but it would take a long, long time to get there. (laugh)

Natsukawa: That's right, isn’t it? Taki-chan, you don't usually make mistakes.

Izumo: What's that mean! (laugh)

Natsukawa: You would never mess up in a performance; so, thinking "at this sort of time I'll have to make her slip up!" I tried hard for the audience's expectations and for Izumo-san's sake.

Izumo: And with everything done skillfully, it ended with my mistake. (laugh)


Natsukawa: Taki-chan, you are dependable, but the truth is you've partly relied on people too, isn't that so?

Izumo: That's right. You see, I'm slow-witted, really.

Natsukawa: You don't look that way to me, but...

Izumo: I mean, I'm a blockhead, aren't I?

Natsukawa: I'm getting nervous. (laugh)

Izumo: Isn't that right? (laugh)

Natsukawa: But you know, while saying "people I rely on", the next word is "tiresome" or something...

Izumo: It's true, I say that. (laugh)

Natsukawa: And yet, (laugh), I know that you were always urging yourself on, saying "keep going, keep going, self!"

Izumo: Yes, I often encourage myself. (laugh)

Natsukawa: (laugh) But on the stage, you don't seem that way at all. I admire that vitality of yours.

Izumo: What are you saying? (laugh) Yura, you also have amazing vitality.

Natsukawa: Both of us are that way; that's why Bow Voyage! turned out the way it did. (laugh)


Izumo: In the Hong Kong performance, you really saved me, Yura. You have a fine face, don't you?

Natsukawa: Not at all. I can't do needlework or anything.

Izumo: That – that's not what I meant (laugh). Although you're probably clumsy with your hands.

Natsukawa: Don't say that! (laugh)

Izumo: But you notice even the minute details.

Natsukawa: Is that so? I don't really know, myself. Maybe my arm can reach even the itchy places?

Izumo: That's amazing. Silently going scratch-scratch-scratch...

Natsukawa: What's that! (laugh)

Izumo: I'm quiet when I can be. Moving silently, like "ah, I've finally got it".

Natsukawa: Taki-chan, being the kumichou of a performance was difficult, wasn't it? I may have partly been a burden to you, but I thought "if she only became a little happier..."

Izumo: You were like an older sister. (laugh)

Natsukawa: No, no. Taki-chan, you have the Berlin performance next; that's hard. And you're kumichou again.

Izumo: That's right. Even though I said "next time, let's go on an overseas performance together", Yura, you selfishly went to China. That's why I'm going on my own to Berlin. (laugh)

Natsukawa: Why~, it's not "selfishly". (laugh) I was thinking from the beginning of the overseas performance I would get many experiences; with Takarazuka, the reality is there are impossible otokoyaku, and you can definitely see a dream, can’t you, during those three hours. Also, because it's a fine, beautiful world of imagination, they say you can become intoxicated. In the outside world, more professional parts come out in the open.

Izumo: That's right. Outside, if it's a play you act, and if it's a song, you have to sing, right?

Natsukawa: Yes. But with Takarazuka, that beautiful world will become history forever, and it's still here now, isn't it? That's why I think it will continue from here on, and I feel that it can't disappear.

Izumo: I think so too. And in Takarazuka we do many genres, don't we?

Natsukawa: Yes.

Izumo: From Japanese plays to Western ones, tap dancing, playing drums, and even putting on roller-skates.

Natsukawa: Right, right. (laugh)

Izumo: It's difficult to do everything, but on the other hand, I think all you can do is relish it here.

Natsukawa: Yeah.

Izumo: From thinking "what can I do" and "I don't know if I can try it", unexpectedly I've come to realize "I can do this too". That's why I think this is sort of a place that draws out the possibilities in yourself.

Natsukawa: Among the roles I receive I think "another different face of mine will come out", but first I have to try it myself; more than that, the teachers draw it out of you, and that's what I think is the most fun.

Izumo: That's right.

Natsukawa: At the end, I decided to try and be mega-ultra-serious. (laugh)

Izumo: Really. (laugh)

Natsukawa: Serious about once every ten years. (laugh)

Izumo: You've used it all up, haven't you? (laugh)