Snowflake Anthology / Golden Desert (Flower 2016-17)
Happy New Year~! 🎍 Here's to my first show of 2017!
Sekkashou
This was something truly stunning to see in person. I was blown away from the very beginning. It starts with all the lights off - even the emergency ones - so that the entire theater is pitch black. Then there’s a paa! and suddenly beautiful people are right in front of me on the ginkyou. I definitely gasped out loud.
“[Snow] Flower Anthology” is a rather fitting title for this show. It is truly poetry, a poetic reading of the seasons through dance and song. The opening scene takes place in late spring and melds into summer with Bei-chan and Chinatsu leading us into the starry tanabata festival. Other highlights include:
🌸 Kiki and and Ayase tied together by the red string of fate and surrounded by couples adorned in fabrics to die for. At the same time, the stage is moving and mirrors are reflecting all of that beauty.
🌸 An intense bird fighting scene from atop a mountain with the main combatants being Mirio and Yuzurei. That description sounds weird but it was actually amazing and the otokoyaku utilized their arms so well with their feather-printed kimono sleeves.
🌸 A chuuzume-y bathhouse (water?) scene which is fun and involves baton-twirling.
🌸 A wronged princess Kano who becomes an onryou in one of the quickest costume-adjustments I've ever seen.
🌸 A lonely winter scene with Matsumoto Yuri, the revue's guest star.
🌸 And last but not least, the breathtaking finale where winter gives way to spring. Everyone is out on stage together amidst cherry blossoms and united they sing the final song as petals flutter around them. I could not stop crying and could see that some of the actresses were crying, which made me cry even harder. Absolutely breathtaking.
It’s amazing that Harada-sensei can go from stuff like Al Capone and For the People - both of which were nominated for awards - and then go on to direct this. Talk about artistic flexibility. I usually recommend Kaze no Nishiki-e (Snow 2009) to people interested in sampling a nihonmono revue, and I will definitely be adding Sekkashou to that list.
Golden Desert
I'm sure there was tons of pressure for Ueda Kumiko-sensei to live up to her masterpiece, Hoshiai Hitoyo. Like many others, I had high expectations for this original show. Visually, I was satisfied. Musically, I was satisfied. But story-wise? I’m not so sure. I’ve been going back and forth between whether I’m disappointed with the story because it’s a bad story or because the characters are bad.
As with Hoshiai, we have a love that begins in childhood. Giy (Mirio), the slave of Talharmine (Kano), has loved her since his youth despite her growing coldness and pride. She is otherwise indifferent toward him and as royalty, plans on marrying her suitor, Theodoros (Yuzurei). This doesn't seem like a big deal to her but it tears Giy up inside. The wedding proposal is the last straw and leads him to act on his feelings by "risk[ing] his life to approach her, and Talharmine yields to his passion in spite of herself." (from the official show summary). In other words, he rapes her. It was...upsetting - but I would have accepted it as part of the story if it weren't written off as being romantic or "passionate." It's unsettling that there hasn't been any Japanese criticism and photos from that particular scene have been used to promote the show. Ueda-sensei, why?
After that, Talharmine decides to run away with Giy but the palace guards prevent this and Giy is exiled to the desert. He meets a gang of desert bandits led by Juria (hell yes) who add fuel to his vengeful fire. Yes, he has chosen the path of revenge. I can understand this as Giy is not only lovelorn, he's also been suffering under the institution of slavery. He's not exactly "free" now but outside of the palace walls he's experiencing a variety of emotions. Nevertheless, the strongest is revenge and the desert bandits can work with this. They return to the palace to exact their revenge and King Jahangir (Chinatsu) is slain. With their ruler dead, the court thrown into disarray. Theodoros decides he's had it with these people and peaces out. And now Talharmine and Giy can finally be together 〜 but it's not that simple. I'll stop with the plot description there and move on to the actresses.
🐫 Giy was a good challenge for Mirio following Bill and Ernest (gonna ignore Valmont here). She's good at playing comedic characters, but there's nothing like something fresh. I know many fans had been longing for an original show to be given to the troupe too. She made the most of having less agency as a slave and portrayed child and adult Giy so well. Giy is an emotional character, suffering under slavery and his love for Talharmine. Mirio packed a real punch in delivering these feelings.
🐫 The role of Talharmine was the best send-off present for Kano. A princess with agency who "steps on the Top Star" to quote some of the press reports on the show. Can we have more of this? She was dripping with pride and absolutely stunning to look at. Even though you want to despise her for the way she treats Giy, you sympathize with her because she has been brought up knowing she can't choose her own destiny -- and all of that has been undone by Giy and his actions. Congratulations to her both on a job well done and her graduation!
🐫 Kiki is no stranger to best friend / narrator roles so I think Ger was comfortable for her. As nibante, she seems to be having the same typecasting problem Daimon had, but rather than being thrown bad guy roles, Kiki is constantly the BFF. Hopefully she will be able to take on a villainous or more flawed character in the future. Ger was too pure for this show along with Princess Virmaya (Bei-chan), whom he loved but also respected.
🐫 Yuzurei played the snobby prince from a faraway kingdom quite well. I liked the fairer skin and hair. Very Slytherin. I don't care for Frozen but for some reason all I can think of is Prince Hans in comparison to Theodoros. Lying through pearly white teeth. In it for himself.
🐫 Somehow I found myself blushing at Chinatsu of all people -- that goatee and flowing robe combo was really...hot...
🐫 One of my favorite relationships was that between Pipi (Junko) and Queen Amu Darya (Senna Ayase). Pipi is the queen's slave, and they are on very good terms. He'd been with her through everything and serves as a mentor to the other slaves. Junko has been working a lot with Hanagumi lately so I think the closer relationship she's been fostering with the troupe made her fatherliness even more natural. On the other hand, Ayase plays the queen who is so ethereal but empty inside. She presented herself so elegantly but subtle gestures like her downcast eyes and mechanical lute-playing were really impressive. I'm looking forward to seeing her future roles as the new Top Musumeyaku.
It was certainly a pleasure to watch both shows. They were both visually and musically stunning. While I have some contentions over Giy and Talharmine's morals, it was a beautiful soap opera.