Takarazuka!
On Saturday, my friend Jocelyn and I went to Mt Ishizuchi (about an hour away or so) to see a hula performance up in one of the shrines there, which was pretty cool. Made me think of the opening sequence of Lilo & Stitch, for anyone who's seen that, so I got that song stuck in my head... XD
Then that evening, we got on the night ferry for Osaka. Well, actually, we missed the boat leaving Niihama, we got there just in time to watch the boat sail away. T_T Thankfully, though, my friend got her mother-in-law to drive us to Toyo, where it would be stopping next, and we made that in plenty of time.
It was my first time traveling by boat, and I really liked it. Well, I've been on tour boats and such before, (like the awesome Himiko!), but it was always a short little ride, rather than a real mode of transportation. This thing was like a hotel on water, well-lit, carpeted, even had a restaurant and a game room! The bath was nice too, we did that in the morning when everyone else was busy getting breakfast, so we had it all to ourselves. You could soak while looking out through these big windows, it was really nice.
(And yes, the "I'm on a boat" song was stuck in my head a good bit of the time... XD)
Once we got off the boat, we made our way to Takarazuka, where the Grand Theater of the same name is. Everything from the train taking us there to the road we walked afterward to get there was a good bit classier-looking somehow, so getting there was half the fun (and the photo ops).
The road leading to the theater, Hana-no-michi, was really nice, lined with trees and flowers, and a few statues of some famous Takarazuka performances, including an adaptation of the manga (and anime??) Rose of Versailles. The weather was beautiful and we had time, so we strolled about taking pictures for a bit. I hadn't seen so many pretty cafes and quaint little shops so nicely arranged in one place for quite a long time, it was really refreshing.
(...Um, I wish I was better at describing this, but right now, my brain is a little fried. Just another uncomfortably warm day in the office, but at least it's almost over.)
The theater was gigantic, probably better to describe it as a Takarazuka-themed mall with a theater at the end. The theater was almost completely packed; my friend and I could not get tickets where we could sit together, and we were near the back of the first floor, so we made good use of our binoculars.
The first half of the show, Trafalgar, was a lovely historical piece/romance... I guess it was based off of real people involved with the battle of Trafalgar? We had a Napoleon, after all... I probably should have brushed up on my history a bit before seeing the show, that whole part was difficult to follow in Japanese. The romance was predictably tragic, but still lovely to see play out. (And hey, my next goal is to try and see a takarazuka version of Romeo and Juliet, and we all know how that ends...) Music and costumes were fantastic, and they had some cool tricks up their sleeves with a revolving stage, multiple trapdoors and rising and falling platforms, plus tons of different backdrops. Scenery was quite thorough in comparison to most performances I see in the States. All the performers in takarazuka are women, and though I could have told this pretty easily just by watching and listening to them, it was still really well done. I can understand female audiences crushing on the male role performers, they were hot!
Trafalgar itself was about an hour and thirty minutes, and after a break we saw the second half of the performance, an unrelated string of song and dance performances called Funky Sunshine. This was a full, unbridled dosage of glitz, glamour and all colors of the rainbow in the sets and in the costumes. I only wish I could have taken pictures, or had the money to buy some posters or postcards...
Interestingly, a lot of the songs had a very upbeat, Oldies sort of feel to them, and at least one solo featured a song in English. I think a good reason for most of this is as a sort of comic relief/cheer up session after watching the heavier first half, a good move for business afterward, I would think, because I was really bubbly after watching all that and eager to buy souvenirs.
Jocelyn spotted one shop that allows guests to try on Takarazuka outfits and have your picture taken, so we did that after the show. For about double the price, if you make a reservation you can also have takarazuka-style makeup done, but just the costumes in themselves were pretty spiffy. Of course we did guy-type outfits, the girl outfits were beautiful too, but hey, we can wear dresses anytime. We both ended up doing the aristocrat-type outfits from the Rose of Versailles show, really cool, complete with swords, and mine had a cape. It was all really heavy, though! As fun as it was to wear it and take pictures, it was also a bit of a relief to take it off. Anyway, yeah, that picture is one of my proudest purchases yet, I would think. (Why are all my best souvenirs and memories of Japan related to clothes?? XDDDD)
Sadly, though, waiting for the pictures to develop took its toll, and afterward, we just barely had time to get back on the train to Osaka and get on the bus to go back to Niihama. We had been hoping to hit the Osamu Tezuka museum and Bodyline (the GothLoli store in Shinsaibashi) before going home, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Maybe next time? Once again, now that I'm back here, I can't wait to leave again.
Today in itself was somewhat eventful, at least in the morning, because that Senior Petition form I need to enroll in Japanese next year arrived, so I had to fill that out and send it. $12 to get it sent special delivery, should take only a few days. Ball's in your court again, OSU.