This could become a series if I really wanted to bombard you all with blather ;)

[wao_wao]

Introductory note: this is a rambling, speculative post -- mostly full of rhetorical questions. I invite people to air their own theories if they wish... but everyone is just as free to skip all of this. ;P

Comments

[happy_riceball]

I'm afraid to say any Nacchan theories because I fear I'll jinx my hopes. ^^;

*takes down Soragumi notes*

[wao_wao]

*laughs* Well at least someone read this and got something out of it.

I can guess what you hope for Nacchan; I've heard a few people saying it. But honestly, as much as my heart cries with each new young musumeyaku top... I don't really want to see any of them have super-short careers. That's just crummy for anyone. :\

[michiru42]

Is this hope for Nacchan the hope that I mentioned in my "Bonnie and Clyde" review? (Not saying it directly for the reasons stated above!)

Thanks for telling me about her role in Russian blue. Both my inner lover of good stories and my inner musumeyaku fan are madly in love with Oono-sensei, who has never failed to give me good musumeyaku roles or a good story. And if Nacchan is the only other "rising musumeyaku" in the upcoming Bow Hall play, that gives me even more hope for her. Heck, think of Nagisa Aki, who got no leads after her first few years; she just got lots of meaty nibante musumeyaku roles in Bow Halls and the Daigekijou.

I've come to realize that a musumeyaku with career aspirations doesn't need to be a top star, given how well a lot of the supporting gals are doing outside Zuka. Top would be great, but as long as Nacchan continues to get great roles, even supporting ones, I'll be very happy for her.

Ooh, I can't wait to get the Russian Blue DVD!

[wao_wao]

Er... Admittedly I didn't read your review because I didn't want to spoil myself more than I already have for "Bonnie and Clyde". But glancing at it now... No, it's not Teru x Nacchan but Yumiko x Nacchan that I hear everyone "secretly" holding out for.

Personally I'm taking the stance of "I'll wonder what's going to happen but choose to not predict / hope too much."

Aaaaaanyway, actually my point about Nacchan wasn't even "will she become top" but "will she even stay nibante musumeyaku". :\

(People keep telling me "think of Nagisa Aki", but as much as I love her she was very much the exception, not the rule.)

[violet_tango]

Hm... but after all, Nacchan did the same as Mimi did.
In 2006, she suddenly appeared and got all the big roles, and Kaori, who was in that position before, vanished into the background.

I have a list of things I hope to happen, but I guess we can't do something else than waiting. :(

[wao_wao]

It's a fickle game, being a Takarazuka star. :( ♥

(I see your musumeyaku-in-white-looking-over-her-shoulder icon and raise you a musumeyaku looking over her shoulder in a strapless gown! ;D)

[violet_tango]

Nacchan and Alice seem not to be too happy with Hankyu politicd, do they?

[wao_wao]

No they are not D:< !!!

[ladybretagne]

In true cultist fashion I have undying optimism that the 88ths never making top is not a foregone conclusion. They remind me of Touko, Komu and Naruse circa Wonder Three (in fact an 88th Wonder Three is one of my deepest DEEPEST wishes). Now granted the 77ths were more prominent than the 88ths at the time (at least that seems to be the case), but I can definitely see the similarities. And honestly, I'm entirely okay with Dai never making top if it means she's happy and she hangs around as an awesome upperclassman, but I do still think it's too early to tell what's going to happen with them. It seems to be such a constant back and forth, and I don't know if it's accurate to say that Chii-chan is automatically ahead because she had a Bow Hall lead, when Dai-chan had two shinko leads and Mii-chan had a shinko lead and a number of other prominent roles. I think part of what muddies the waters with the three of them is that they're such different types so it really starts to just depend on what the available roles are like.

[wao_wao]

Of course the last thing I want is to shoot down other people's dreams. I encourage optimism! This is just a lot of me musing.

But I do feel like in the last year it's become more obvious to me about the 88ths, I mean...

Paradise Prince
Mii-chan = cool person on Team Ume
Chii-chan = dorky person on Team Tani
Dai-chan = dead person portraying flashbacks behind a screen :(

Bara ni Furu AmeMii-chan = two roles, one as a waiter with a couple of lines but also prominently featured in a sexy dance

[ladybretagne]

Re: ParaPuri, I think you have to take shinko leads in account there, because from all I've gathered Dai-chan tends to stress out a lot and I think she probably needed to not have a larger role in the honkoen if she was going to tackle the shinko lead. BaraAme obviously I don't know, but I think AmeUta probably comes out as a wash between Mii-chan and Dai-chan.

But yeah, honestly I don't know what they're doing and I've got absolutely no objectivity anyway so... eh. Dai-chan is such a raving, RAVING fangirl that I don't really worry that she's going to up and retire on me if she gets passed over, but I would be totally lying if I said it didn't make me sad to think of NONE of them getting the kind of attention that I think all three of them do and seriously Maakun, seriously if she ends up the big star of their class I will freaking lose it.

But YES, that Bow show, double or triple lead, the 88ths, it would be AMAZING and it would be about damn time Hankyu. You hear me?

[wao_wao]

I think you have to take shinko leads in account there...

They sure haven't been lax on Mirio in that regard. :\

Dai-chan is such a raving, RAVING fangirl that I don't really worry that she's going to up and retire on me if she gets passed over...

This, I will continue to believe. ^___________^

Bow show next year. I will voice various theories but shouldn't get my heart set on anything...

(Re: Makkun, I love her in a "guilty pleasure" kind of way for her absurdity, not her talent. ^^;;; The same could be said of Beni, another high-profile 88th?)

[wao_wao]

*laughs* I think Takarazuka encourages us to be shallow; I mean, at the very least the basic concept of a company full of hundreds of women from which we are able to decide who we find the most beautiful...

Anyway, seeing as you yourself admit to being uninformed, I should tell you that they're ALL interesting. You're just not watching as closely as some of us. ;)

[muffin_song]

Re: Nacchan...I don't get it either. And I find it horribly unfair that she doesn't even get the nibante role in Kanashimi no Cordova :P

If the company was going to push Kacha over the 88ths so fast, why didn't they give her a lead sooner? Why is your treatment of Kacha so confusing, Hankyuu?

Obviously Bara ni Furu Ame was a missed opportunity for Kacha. But as for before that, even though I think that Kacha will eventually jump over the 88ts, it may have been a bit much for her to jump over all three of them for the Valencia, Reimei, and ParaPuri shinkos. (That being said, she managed to jump over Mii-chan and Chii-chan for Tomu's role in both. Er, well, Chii-chan did better than her in Reimei, but you get the idea)

[wao_wao]

Kanashimi no Cordova

Hoo boy, have you got your tours confused XDDD;;;

That being said, she managed to jump over Mii-chan and Chii-chan for Tomu's role in both...

See, that's exactly my point. "Each time *someone* was a little behind Kacha," if not two of them.

I don't think it's so out of the question for Kacha to have jumped over all the 88ths in 2007, or even earlier. You could say it was "a bit much" for Chie to spring up and hog all the Hoshigumi shinkos, but she still did it -- and now Makaze Suzuho's looking to follow the same pattern.

[muffin_song]

Hoo boy, have you got your tours confused XDDD;;;

They're both angsty and set in Spain :P

Honestly, I like how the soragumi shinkos have not been dominated by one person for a while now. I feel bad for the hoshigumi fans in that Suzuho is dominating their shinkos. (I haven't seen Suzuho and have nothing against her. It's just that I think it's boring when anyone gets more than say, three shinko leads in a row. And even three is pushing it a little).

Now, the downside is obviously none of the soragumi 88ths are coming out ahead :/ But I think they're something of a special case since there are three of them in one class.

[wao_wao]

No excuse. ;P

In my opinion if the company was serious about any of the Sora 88ths, they would separate them a la the Tsuki 85ths (and, as Britt pointed out, Yuki 77ths). Not that the former Tsuki 85ths are doing all that amazingly... Although things are looking up for Meo, and I still reserve some hope for Morie.

It's just that I think it's boring when anyone gets more than say, three shinko leads in a row. And even three is pushing it a little.

I clung to hope with Alice-chan's four shinko leads, but at least with musumeyaku it doesn't necessarily get you that far anyway. :\