Recommended DVDs

[helsgard]

I have a Christmas gift from a friend that came with the instruction to buy a new Takarazuka DVD. (Oh, the horror! he he) So: recommendations? I like (and have) all the Elizabeths, both Ernst in Love, Singin' in the Rain, Me and My Girl, Black Rose of the Desert, Dark Brown Eyes, Excalibur, Gu Bigin, Hoshigage no Hito, Legend Ver. II., Zorro, ... a

Comments

[helsgard]

Ah, thank you! I had read somewhere that Aran was truly scary as the Bad Guy. It's still on my To Get list.

Opinion of Silver Rose, Legend Ver II and Zorro:
"Legend Ver. II" is the second complete show I saw, the first being Cosmos's "Elizabeth" (which turned me into a drooling twitching grinning euphoric mess). I was totally confused by the story but captivated by the costumes and the acting. I had not a clue who was doing what, but I instantly took to Yuzuki Reon. As an engineer I was constantly trying to figure out the costumes - how much does all that WEIGH? - and special effects... until there was this battle scene and I forgot everything else. Think of a child who has a vague clue what candy is, then drop her in the middle of a Godiva superstore. <@.@> I think I've watched it about eight or nine times now, and I'm starting to get a handle on the story. Of course when I got the disk I first dug out all my Korean mythology books, and queried our draftsman (he's from Korea) but then I learned it's based on a manga. (I haven't acquired a copy of that yet.) I enjoyed the review but again, I had only the "Elizabeth" DVD to compare it with.
I still enjoy it, but I like Star's "Scarlet Pimpernel" more. I think the whole light-saber/glowing magic stuff doesn't come off as well as it should (I kept thinking how I'd do it better...)
"Zorro": My sixth TCA DVD. I fell head over heels for Nishiki-e of the Wind - I still play it when I'm in a celebratory mood - but wish I liked Zorro more than I do. Someone told me that Mizu wasn't feeling well during it, and it shows. Zorro is okay but not my favorite. It really didn't translate well to the stage, in my humble opinion.
"Silver Rose Chronicle": I liked it very much. I've only seen it once - Yumiko as the geeky guy was so astonishingly good that I missed a lot, also I was following a translation on TakaWiki. I want to just sit and watch it to take in the performances without bothering with trying to understand all the dialog. I'm not into vampires, though Fred Saberhagen was a friend of mine and I liked what he did with Dracula - I have some Romanian blood in me, no pun - but the recent proliferation of blood-suckers isn't to my... ahem... taste. But this story was sweet and I did like it. But I need to watch it several more times to get its full flavor.

Did answer your question?

[rouen81]

Thank you for your kind answer.

You should really get El Halcon it is a good show.
Elisabeth seems to be the gate way drug for many takafans,the Yuki 2007 version was the one for me. Legend is great show, I specially liked Ouki Kaname's Hogae so friendly at the begining and so messed up at the end.
This websites helped get the idea of what was going on in Legend http://sevenses.wordpress.com/recap-archive/ and the series http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hrlxr_q1HI&feature=related

I liked Zorro in all it's campy glory, from a song about Wakan Tanka that really belongs to the plains not to California, the pronuntiation changing form Zorro to Zoro, the weird mariachi hats closer to Oaxacan Costa Chica hats than to mariachi, liberal use of the word Mexican, Spanish. it ws just plain fun wish I could have understoond what the villians were plotting regarding France. I also fell in love with Nishiki-e.

Geky Yumiko is one of the best things in the planet in my opinion and the good thing about this show is thaat they went for the love story with abit of how difficult it is to try to leave a nromal life for an immortal instad of OH My God vampires rulezz; but yes the recent blood -suckers are a bit bland to my taste though if you want to read a short but good vampire story I'd recomment Theophile Gautier "La Morte amoreuse"

http://www04.us.archive.org/stream/greatshortstori01brangoog#page/n10/mode/1up

[helsgard]

Ooooo oooo oooo, THANK YOU for the links!! MORE time sinks!!

A year ago on YouTube I found the Chinese series "Monkey" and I was jumping up and down with joy. I adore Monkey. But then someone yanked it for copyright and I was sad. It's difficult drawing the line between abuse and fair use, and doubly frustrating when the goodie is yanked away. Internet is spoiling me.

[rouen81]

It certainly spoils us, with out it none of us would be able toe buy Zuka goodies or communicate with other fans easily. The recaps are quite funny you can print them and use them as reading material while you wait in appointments :) I found La Morte amoreuse through a radio program and was hooked.

Yes it is a fine line you wonder am I really stealing this if they never planned to show/sell this in my country?

With zuka I love the clips but not the full shows though I would certainly love if they would release some shows on dvd.