Download the subs here: wtheckzukasubs.tumblr.com/shows
I've resynced the subs to fit the Sky Stage version, enjoy!
Remember you'll still need to push the timing up or down so it starts at the same time as the recording you own.
I’ve been following Ami since I thought she was young Masao in her hatsubutai photo and she keeps making me proud!
(It’s also hella funny when she’s between the tallest seito in current zuka in the first scene).
If you don’t know her but was a Daimon fan, please, discover this precious little thing!
Trigger warnings, same from the honkouen, and not limited to gun, war, death, white men being white men, racism, and so on. Those get very little screen time, except for the white men (though the actresses are neither, of course). Sorry, I should be bothered by a lot of things, but I laughed every time we got to the shirts scene, like... ugh. Considering all that, it’s amazing, but I still like and recommend this musical.
amashi juri as fujiwara no takaiko and reika haru as fujiwara no tokitsura in ohten no mon (moon, 2023) | agata sen as saeba ryo in city hunter shinjin kouen (snow, 2021) | takato chiaki as herlock sholmes in the great ace attorney (cosmos, 2023)
I accidentally missed the first 30 minutes of the play like an idiot because I took an ill-timed nap, but thanks to having read the novel in high school I caught up quickly. It was rather strange to see the "great American novel" that represents the vanity and hidden misery of 1920s America as a "Zuka-fied" shoujo manga-esque tale.
In the novel, Gatsby's love for Daisy makes him a laughingstock and unfortunate hero. The fact that the "pure and kind" Daisy Buchanon he is pining for doesn't really exist is meant to be a parallel to the American man chasing the glorified "American Dream". However, in the play Gatsby's love is played straight as a tragedy. I think this became possible through the character of Daisy becoming "A passive heroine fit for Takarazuka's worldview."
In a Takarazuka play, the heroine (not always, but) often does not have the complex morality and desires like the hero, but fits a certain character type instead. In the play, Daisy says that she is "acting" the part of a pretty but empty shell after being wounded by Gatsby's love in her youth, establishing her goodness as a heroine to the audience. But in the book Daisy is truly a rather nasty person, and Gatsby's the one who plays her up as his pure, tragic heroine for his sake.
Furthermore, the narrator character of Nick became colorless in this play as he became a one-dimensional "good guy" rather than a hypocritical man who looks down on others and presents his bystander stance as moral purity. All in all, Tsukigumi's "The Great Gatsby" felt as strange to me as Soragumi's "Sherlock Holmes" did, with the similar parallel of the simplification of a complex female character (Daisy Buchanon and Irene Adler) and the adapted heroism of our anti-hero (Jay Gatsby and Sherlock Holmes).
That said, I still enjoyed the play. Tsukishiro Kanato's charm made it a fine time (In particular the waltz scene where Gatsby runs a hand down Daisy's waist- that one action had a longing and erotic feel to it that stands out boldly in my mind). And one thing I didn't expect- The miracle of the character Tom Buchanon going from a foolish rich Ivy-Leauge boy stereotype to an incredibly attractive shoujo manga-esque villain in the play! Of course, this was all possible due to Hozuki An's acting. Hozuki An's villainess roles have a strong image of a meticulous poisonous spider. But her villain roles have the attractiveness of someone who eschews subtletly and gets what he wants through cold hard power. The keyword here would be "coldness" in that her interpretation of this character makes the otherwise one dimensional play interesting through contrast with Gatsby and Daisy's warmth in love.
In conclusion, I didn't particularly enjoy the novel The Great Gatsby but because the Takarazuka play pulled any hint of irony from the story and presented it as a romantic tale, I was quite confused at first. (Particularly telling is the scene with Gatsby's library- in the novel, the books are all fake signaling Gatsby's bluff, but in the play they are all real.) But because the novel is so short and not exceptionally striking, perhaps it was a better idea after all for Takarazuka Revue to present the story as an unironic drama that emphasizes the results of events rather than emotion, for a whole 3-hour play.
"The Rose of Versailles (2013 Moon) (Ranju André)" subs
Download the subs here: wtheckzukasubs.tumblr.com/shows
This is a project in collaboration with @matchala who was just too patient to fill in the gaps, retranslate, edit, retime, and whatnot some partial old subs I had. Suddenly, it's all brand new! I'm just so happy this can finally be released!
To be honest, this was probably the worst adaption I've seen of Berubara. I mean, the gaidens are probably worse, but I bet they have more plot than this. They've cut so much of the original performances, they should have just made it like the gala concerts and it would have been more pleasing. STILL, this was the only tome Ranju Tomu was in a Berubara, and for many other reasons, this aberration became very dear to me.
(Also, I kinda love the selfish portrayal of Oscar Masao made.)
Notice this is timed to the show with Ranju Tomu as André. The script is the same as the others of 2013 Tsuki, but the timing won't sync as they're not really robots to do it all the same lol (They almost are when you notice they get almost every single word in the script but still not there). So, beware.