sumire_no_hana

I have to admit that I haven't really been extremely broken up about most all of the retirements that have happened in the past year or will be happening in the near future.
The notable exception where I was pretty broken up about might be Go-kun *whimper*. There were a few whom I was extremely sad to be losing (Mihoko, Taki, Rinka, Shina, Marietta)... but the day goes on. I feel somewhat....jaded? silly? out of the loop? that I don't have the reactions that many of you do to hearing people are leaving. I side with caithion that Takarazuka in motion is a beautiful thing.

I'm sad about Ume-chan leaving. I'm not debilitatingly broken up about it, no, but I am sad about it. I think most of us expected it at this point. It doesn't make it hurt any less to some people, I'm sure. Am I broken to pieces over it? Nope. But a very special woman will be going on...

I've come to adore Ume-chan. She's probably my favorite top musumeyaku in recent time and BY FAR my favorite Soragumi top. (You may hate me for it... but ... errr.... I never really cared for Hana very much >_> Then again, I never had the Wao/Hana combi worship either.)

But Ume... Ume is an 86th, which is an automatic check in her favor in my book ^_~ I have an automatic affinity for the 86th class. This past year and the upcoming one has been/will be hard on the 86th class
Left in 2008: Aoba Michiru, Maina Rion, Shiki Erio, Ayuse Mito
Leaving in 2009: Asagiri Shino, Mochizuki Rise, Kazuki Shin, Kazu Ryouka, Hizuki Hana

Ume-chan is the last of the 86th class in Soragumi <3 <3 <3

But Ume... Ume was wonderful. She was a step in the right direction for musumeyaku. She brought a lot of spunk and personality to her on and off stage personas.

Love you Ume-chan <3 <3 I'd rather not wallow in this day as a sad one.... but rather a celebration of all the wonderful things you've done and accomplished... and how the future is going to be yours.

Tani!?

Well THAT certainly came out of nowhere

I get up at 4 am needing a drink of water and decide to check and see if maybe, finally, they put up the roles.


Ther did.

Too tired to do anything right now, but here you go

Please tell me that Sora babies in an opening ceremony event aren't the most adorable things ever?!

(As Rose Ambassadors, they apparently unvieled a part of the garden and took part in a commemorative tree planting as part of the Hankyu/Hanshin "Friendship Fair"

I know it was all pretty much "go here, pull down this tarp; go here, move a shovelfull of dirt," but white pants in a garden, Nagi, dear? Just asking for trouble

After months of telling myself that I'd do it, I finally put together a page for "Bow Voyage," Soragumi's first Bow Hall appearance.

Of course, when I actually want to work , I keep being interrupted every 5 minutes by my mom telling me to do something or other. Right now I'm supposed to be taking her laundry out of the dryer and hanging it up *sigh.*

As a result, I gave up on trying to translate the scene descriptions while I'm at home here, as every time I get on a roll, I get interrupted yet again. I suppose I'll work on it when I get back to the apartment tonight sometime. Backlinking is pretty brainless... maybe I'll do that in the mean time.

*edits* maybe one of these days I'll send a message about maybe officially becoming an editor. I'm sure I'm probably driving all of you people insane with asking to link up pages in places I dont have access to edit ^_^;;)

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Oh, I forgot to add!

Happy Easter everyone!

This is kinda what spawned the .... comment insanity.... last night.

After discovering a few weeks ago that we lived so close to each other, these plans are what subsequently enused. Behold, our cosplay group for Otakon this coming July.

( Franz, Elisabeth and Death will not be raping your friends list tonight )

I've come to the conclusion that I need Calaf and Turnadot. What it's adapted from, the story, the costumes, Hana laughing maniacally....


Guh

*adds to the ever-growing list of shows I NEED*

Hankyuu, you are going to bankrupt me yet.


Which reminds me about how bitter I am with the USPS.

Rant time!!!

They tried to deliver a package full of shiny on Wednesday. midoriseppen was home the entire time, but the doorbell never rang.

So I re-scheduled delivery for Thursday, since Vicky wasn't leaving to go to her Mom's house for the weekend until the evening. They never came >_<

I came home today from work... and what is that sitting all soggy and rain-soaked in the mailbox? A peach slip of doom >_<

So, tomorrow, I'm going to trek out to our local USPS package place at 25th and Snyder *shudders* to get my package full of shiney, because of course, the USPS is completely inept.

Oh well, back to the project of doom. TCAV-172 through TCAV-344 are done. I've officially reached the halfway point of the TCA videos! (Pretty much everything from May 2001 to January 2007 when they officially switched over to only DVD)

I'm working on the cast list for "Never Sleep" instead of doing actual work, like a good girl. My justification to myself is that part of the project I'm working on needs my manager's review - but she's out sick with strep throat.

I haven't even attempted to read the show description yet, so I really don't have much of a clue about what the show's plot is aside from the brief blurb on the TakaWiki page.

However, going through the show's cast list, is it me or am I remembering a bunch of these names from "The Maltese Falcon?" The rest of them sound very Irish mobster-ish. hmmm.....


(As an aside, it also, it appears that Maou Akito is retiring after the show.)

Shinies in the mail today! Oh the baby love! Sora babies! Tsuki babies! <3 <3 <3 I completely forgot how hungry I was and how I'd planned on making dinner when I came in the door. Zuka babies take precedence over sustenance.

Tsukigumi Encourage Concert

Pure

Love <3

Perhaps I'll give a more in-depth review of it once I have the chance to watch it again - perhaps sans all of the fangirly squeals and drooling. I do believe I've found a Tsuki Musumeyaku or two to adopt, though <3!

If it wasn't nearly midnight, I'd start watching Understudy... I've been eager to watch it since wao_wao posted her caps and review of it a while back. Sora babies? Check! Adorable cuteness? Check! I do believe I have my entertainment for tomorrow night!

I think this post needs a spinning Maggie icon, just because!

Oh Sora babies in a dinner show love! <3

(As found here)

Hmmm... it's interesting that this is the second Tomu show this season that they've paired Sora babies with. Perhaps it's to a develop deeper interest in Soragumi itself? Or in it's young stars? Considering the troupe's waning popularity/Searching for an identy post-Wao and Ohana, and with Kashi and Shijou Rui's short Top Star run, it wouldn't surprise me if that was the motive.

I am in love with sumirenosono on YouTube. I'm constantly checking my subscriptions to see what they upload.

Today's gem?

Tacchin, from the Soragumi Encourage Concert. The more I see of her, the more I love her.


(this is the same person who, several days ago, also posted a clip of wao/komu/wataru's "Birds of Paradise" scene from This is TAKARAZUKA!)

Why am I so amused that Tatsu Tsukasa's nickname is "Kotatsu?" It IS the most ingenius Japanese appliance/piece of furniture ever, truly. Why do I find it so adorable that both she and her sister Kotobuki Tsukasa share the same "given" name? That they were both Black Angels in Soragumi's Elisabeth?

Family relationships in Takarazuka always interest me - Particularly those between siblings. Take, for example, Ayaki Nao and Ayano Oto. There's always something simultaneously strange and amusing about Death singing to Young Rudolf when Death and Young Rudolf are sisters.

Well, back to linking up Mugen Houjushou. Eventually I'll do the scene descriptions as well...

And this post really tells me I need to make myself a generic Soragumi icon...

Well, I had planned on putting up scans for you all this evening, but that obviously hasn't happened.

I suppose there is good reason. I happened to see that I had pictures that I could scan for a Takarzienne who didn't yet have a page (Narumi Jun). I didn't really know much about her, but that is one of the nice thing about working on these types of pages. You learn a lot.

I've had this tendancy to work on pre-soragumi tsukigumi performance pages (Okay, I'll admit my blatant bias, due to Zunko). Narumi Jun's name popped up in the cast lists as I built those pages. (She was in hoshigumi in her later career - And, unfortunately, that's the troupe I tend to know the least of). She seemed to be a young 'zienne that had a good bit of potential in the late 90's, yet nothing ever really wound up happening to her career. She wound up retiring in 2003. The interesting things you fine.

Well, I hadn't originally planned on spending so much on this page, but I suppose I'm intrigued by simple things. Well, off to finish of her page and link it up all over the place.

Back posted from zephyrsky




midoriseppen and I are having our own little Saturday night Takarazuka marathon.

Awesome Pizza from the place around the corner? Check (South Philly, how I love you and your pizza)
Our first two DVDs of the night? Check
Our respective favorite Takaraziennes? Check (Zunko for me, Komu for her)
Our respective troupes? Check (I'm Sora, she's Yuki)
Glasses that match our respective troupes? Check (I'm the purple one, she's the green one)
"Beverages" to fill said glasses? Check

Our drinks of choice this evening are appropriately named "Passion and Pain." One half Wild Passion Alize. One half Champagne. One completely apropos title for a Takarazuka marathon.

And as if "Madame Wolf's Collection" wasn't already dirty enough a song....

Back Posted from zephyrsky

Italian names do not translate into Japanese very well.

Muddling through the katakana, trying to figure out what the heck the name could be in Italian, throw out the occasional French name just to throw a wrench in the works.... I don't think I realized what I was getting into when I started this show! It doesn't help when the cast list is a mile long as well. The only saving grace is that the show is based on historical fact/fiction, so I had a bit of help in figuring out the proper spellings of the names.

I still have some more work to do on the page, but that was a full Sunday worth of work for me. I was working on "Prestige," The revue half of the show, when I finally gave up a little after 2 am - not because I needed to be up for work this morning, but because it was getting so cold out that it was fridgid at my computer (which sits next to a window). Tonight I'll most likely finish it up , along with the back linking.

There are were so many great young stars in this show... Mizu, Tani, Yuuhi and even Sararan, in her first show after her debut, in the kick line and in the background (Why did you retire so early!? ;_;)! This isn't even including the amazing cast of more established 'Ziennes.

It appears I really have a thing for pre-Soragumi Tsukigumi. Considering the number of members of Tsuki that transferred into Sora at it's inception (Zunko included), I suppose that it's not that surprising.

I think I've finally decided to make a Zuka only LJ. I have to figure out what I'm going to name it though, but once I do, I'll be sure to let you all know! Once I get paid, I'll probably make it a paid account so I can keep my million and one LJ icons on there, as well as customize my layout.