Rose of Versailles - Oscar (Yukigumi, 2006)
Finally, after too long a waiting time, I was able to pick up my Rose of Versailles - Oscar DVD yesterday and I’ve been watching it almost non-stop since. I had been somewhat prepared to maybe be disappointed, maybe to even dislike it - since the general atmosphere about Berubara is… ambivalent at best in the Zuka fandom as far as I’ve been able to tell. To be honest, I was neither disappointed nor in any way tempted to feel any dislike whatsoever for this musical. Quite on the contrary, I think it’s the best piece of shinies I’ve ever laid eyes on - this coming from a relentless Elisabeth fangirl. I love Zuka’s version of Elisabeth, I really do, but after having watched Rose of Versailles I think… I think I really, for the first time, get what it is Takarazuka Revue is all about. I understand why Berubara has become the Takarazuka performance, because it seems to fit everything the theatre is about to an A. The otokoyaku role is beautifully portrayed in the figure of Oscar, the musumeyaku and otokoyaku make a perfect whole on stage (much more so than they do in Elisabeth which is quite “male”-dominated) and the story itself seems to fit everything Takarazuka is about better than anything I’ve seen before. My second worry had been that I would be bored because it’s more of a dialogue/talking-based musical than Elisabeth which is carried by the songs - merely because I don’t speak Japanese and thus wouldn’t be able to follow the plot. My worries were for naught. After having read the short summary on TakaWiki and a very short presentation of the manga on Wiki, I understood most of was going on and even where the details were lost on me due to the barrier of language, I had no problems picking up the atmospheres or following the plot. This was quite a relief and… well, it made me love it all the more. I actually loved it so much that the first thing I did after having watched it for the first time yesterday was to find and download the first volume of the manga - which I read a long time ago but barely remember anything of, mostly because I didn’t find it that exciting - and reread it. With Komu’s Oscar, Masae’s Rosalie ♥ , Kashi’s Andre and Mizu’s Alain in the back of my mind I even found a whole new interest in the characters while ploughing through the first eleven chapters. It got me that invested, yes.
The music… it’s no Elisabeth, surely, but God, I’ve fallen in love with it anyway. There’s a gentle, comforting and very inviting feeling in all of Berubara’s music. I remember most of the songs and the melodies make me smile. Elisabeth’s music is brilliant, pure genius, but this… this is different. Sweet, I want to say, even though a lot of the musical numbers aren’t actually sweet as much as… well, it fits the setting of France during the Revolution and the general scenarios of military, love and friendship. I loved it very much and all the songs were brilliantly sung, there wasn’t one single song I thought sounded off (not even Mizu’s singing, a pleasant surprise). Lots of musumeyaku songs! So much love! I want to listen to it again and again and be taken into that world of sugar coated, pink dresses and roses everywhere~!
Main cast… Asami Hikaru’s Oscar. When I first watched the musical, I wasn’t sure what to think. Komu is a very strong Oscar - of course, fitting too - but with the manga so far away in my memory, I wasn’t sure whether I thought it was too much or not. I enjoyed her way of portraying her, I did, did, did, but all the way through it I thought there was something… amiss. However, when I started reading the manga, I could barely tell Komu’s Oscar and manga!Oscar apart. I’d forgotten how much more down-to-business and cool detachment manga!Oscar is, but with the original character in mind, I rewatched the show this morning and I thought Komu did a marvellous job. Her Oscar lives and breathes for France, for the French Guard and for the common people - she is an idealist, but an idealist who is not afraid to act. Besides that, I thought she had an absolutely breath-taking balance between the masculine Oscar who leads the French Guard and is a soldier to the core, and the much more feminine daughter of the Jarjayes house. The line is very thin and Komu’s femininity is understated, but in a necessary way that only makes her reactions during the love scenes with Andre much more pronounced. Very subtle and very respectful, Komu. Plus, her voice… I adored her voice. Her singing was mesmerizing. Wonderful job!
Takashiro Kei’s Andre. My mysterious otokoyaku from the café scene in original Yukigumi Elisabeth 96, all… shining on stage. Both my gf and I agreed on Kashi being one of the best-looking otokoyaku we’ve seen. She has a hint of Mizu over her face, some Sena Jun as well, but her smile is her own and over-all she’s just so unique. Much love just for your appearance, Kashi. About her Andre… Komu!Oscar and Kashi!Andre had so much chemistry. From the first scene where they show up from behind the tree where their baby!counterparts had been sword-fighting behind… it was easy to tell that they were friends, with every hint to the opportunities of being so much more, but that they were friends over the differences in social ranking. Even though the musical of course didn’t focus on their relationship, the slow development of their feelings were pretty clear-cut (even if Oscar is pretty oblivious to it). More impressive is it that despite how Andre stays pretty much the same during the show, Kashi did a good job at making his emotions grow stronger and stronger until finally breaking like a wave when the entire Girodelle matter comes into the picture. I can understand why some people would find Rose of Versailles melodramatic and painstakingly easy to overact, but seriously… this is a manga on stage, it’s supposed to be portraying huge emotions and with the huge emotions at play here, I think the acting was subdued just enough for the message being clear, but not drowning in the noise of too much. This rings true, I personally think, both for the love scenes between Andre and Oscar and the death scenes. Especially Kashi’s acting during the scene where Andre’s going to poison himself and Oscar was heartbreaking. There were a couple of scenes where I think her wig was a bit in the way and her hints at Andre’s problems with his sight got too Phantom-ish (oh noes, my face), but it didn’t destroy the image of a devoted, loyal Andre who will do anything for his beloved Oscar.
Mizu’s Alain. Oh, Mizu. It’s not a secret that I’ve never considered myself a Mizu fan, but I might just have been converted. Mizu’s Alain was one of the characters I enjoyed most in the entire musical. He was so masculine, military-ish, biased and the development his character went through throughout the run of the story was convincingly portrayed and beautifully shown. Mizu is so very masculine when she’s all reserved and aggressive (in a non-Tod!way). Her Alain’s mocking, yet awkward attitude made him very enjoyable to follow and I kept catching myself in following her in the background with my eyes instead of watching Oscar or whoever else was the centre of attention at any given time. The way he shifted between his military self around the squad, but changed into an almost goofily excited boy (at least for five minutes, until he gets teased with it XD) when his mother and sister show up. It was so convincing. Not that I wasn’t aware that Mizu is a great actress, but this really floored me. Maybe the fact that she only had few solos helped a bit too… Heh, nah - I actually kind of liked her voice in this. I mean, I even enjoyed the song she sang during the Revue show afterwards, it fitted her way of singing very well! Oh, and on a completely unrelated note… Alain’s mother, Simone (yay, represent!), was played by Miho Keiko - my favourite Madam Wolf (96) and Lichtenstein (07). She had a beautiful solo in the show and her etoile song was… wow. I almost didn’t recognise her, but knew I’d seen her somewhere before… that face and that voice, it’s difficult not to pay notice to.
Sou Kazuho’s Girodelle… well, it was not like Girodelle had a lot of scenes and overall the character really does nothing for me, but Eritan was so pretty with that wig that I enjoyed every scene she was in despite my reservations for the character. Her face, her voice - oh yes, I could listen to her talk all day. Her Girodelle was very gentle and understanding and guh, probably everybody’s dream guy, right there. The first time around, it came as a big surprise for me that Girodelle was the suitor of Oscar, I totally hadn’t anticipated it (even though I’d read the summary), but by the second watch I actually think Girodelle’s feelings for Oscar are pretty clear-cut from the first short scene they have together. It’s not overpowering love, but the great admiration that is tangible between the two characters holds borderline romantic undertones. The acting in this - so very manga-ish in outlet too - is quite stunning.
Last but not least, Maikaze Rira’s Rosalie… I will make this very, very clear and unmistakable. Masae’s Rosalie defined this show for me. I love Oscar as a character, but every scene with Rosalie in it has become my favourite. Not only because of the yuri-ish undertones between Rosalie and Oscar - which are quite understated in Zuka compared to the original manga (understandably, considering the Revue’s premise), but certainly still there - although those were nice in and by themselves, but the very obvious respect with which Rira portrayed Rosalie simply brought me close to tears. Rosalie was never a popular character - I remember reading that Ikeda Riyoko wrote her out of the plot because the readers didn’t care for her - and she could easily be portrayed as a flat character; a naïve, too-perfect little girl with a fittingly little-girl crush on the woman she serves with all her heart, but Masae doesn’t fall into that trap. She brings edge to Rosalie’s emotions, isn’t afraid to hang the cutting pain of her emotions out in full view, isn’t afraid to have Rosalie touch upon all the most ugly aspects of loving someone who is out of your reach (whether this be interpreted romantically or not doesn’t really matter, the result is pretty much the same) and most strikingly, does all of this while at the same time adding a quiet, feminine strength to Rosalie that fully mirrors, but also compliments Oscar’s. Yes, I wouldn’t have minded if this show had been named Rose of Versailles - Rosalie, simply because of all the actresses in the main cast, Masae owned this show the most. The most memorable scene in this musical is the dance scene where Rosalie dances with Oscar’s garment, imagining it is Oscar she is dancing with. Not only is the choreography and the music amazing, but the entire feeling of this scene makes up for everything in this show that was over the top (aka, the Pegasus at the end of act 1), by being everything but while at the same time being overwhelmingly emotional. Standing ovation necessary.
Favourite scenes besides every single one featuring Masae (and especially the scene mentioned above), was every scene featuring the French Guard. The otokoyaku in these scenes just seemed to have so much fun! Their acting was great, their interaction likewise and I especially admired how they managed to avoid the kind of pauses that often come of having a lot of people engage in scripted conversation. The flow of their dialogue was natural and they all just reminded me of my dad’s probies at work (he’s a sergeant); young, wild men who think they can master everything. Every scene that featured dancing… the choreography of this musical was beyond wonderful! Especially with all the rapiers and fighting scenes! Especially the first scene where Oscar meets the French Guard and they have no respect for her, ending up in a fierce fight between Alain and her… I didn’t understand half of what they said, but it was still so. much. fun. seeing Oscar getting mocked and teased and then pwning them all in return. LOL. Heh. The scene where Andre is about to poison Oscar really touches me a lot too, Kashi’s acting is so stellar (I would give everything to watch Osa’s version of this, seriously). The quiet scene where Oscar plays the violin for her mother and sister… it was very tranquil and really showed off another side of Oscar’s character. I liked this scene a lot - as one of the few family-scenes that really interested me besides the initial one with all the sisters singing their Bara song (this song is too cute~). The revue was pretty, especially Masae’s and Komu’s pair dance and Mizu during the otokoyaku dance. She looked as if she was enjoying herself immensely!
All in all - it’s been decided for me what I will be spending the next few days doing. Watching and rewatching this show until I’m ready to barf if I see any more sugar coated dresses or hear one more mention of anything “bara”.