#yuzuka rei

[miumiumacaron]

柚香光 ♡

[ladies-and-jennes]

I have no trouble understanding why she's the most popular among Western fans

[yaomeis]

GRAPH 2023 January — Flower Troupe Special Photo Selection, scanned by me ♡

[jubigiuu]

Hi umnn guess who... Doodled more takarazuka... Haha *slides them under your door and runs away*

[liminal-roses]

"years of pilgrimage" was actually a doctoral thesis in cuntology

[yuzukahibiscus]

Takarazuka Reuve Flower Troupe Top Musumeyaku Hoshikaze Madoka says goodbye in the home base, "I love Yuzuka-san and also everyone!"

(Source from Daily Sports Entertainment)

Takarazuka Revue Flower Troupe Top Star Yuzuka Rei will be graduating from Takarazuka Revue on May 26, and she performed with Top Musumeyaku Hoshikaze Madoka on the closing performance of their graduation performance "Arc en ciel~The Rainbow Over Paris" on 24 March, saying goodbye at the home base.

Yuzuka came down the grand staircase in the formal otokoyaku costume which is the black tails, and said, "In these 15 years, I just kept on running. It was a journey that I devoted all of my youth to."

As Cosmos Troupe Top Musumeyaku, she partnered with Makaze Suzuho and later transferred to Flower Troupe to be with Yuzuka as the Golden Combi. She delivered the following speech,

"10 years ago in this place, my life as a stage performer started here. Makaze-san and Cosmos Troupe members taught me the foundations from the very beginning. And later, meeting with Yuzuka-san is my most cherished treasure. Whenever the time, she'd never let go of my hand, and she always shines so brightly. I am full of gratitude. I am so happy to graduate together with Yuzuka-san." Later when the two appear on stage again, she shouted, "I love Yuzuka-san and also everyone!"

Another popular star is Hozumi Mahiro who is also graduating. She said, "I believe that as long as Takarazuka continues, this will be a place where I can return to my roots."

The Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre performances are from April 14-May 26.

[laurelilu]

yuzuka rei + mihane ai - labyrinth (fashionable empire)

[bioh4ck]

Houzuki An and Yuzuka Rei as Rosalia and Antonio Condulmer in Casanova (2019)

[mizusjawline]

If I had a nickel for every time a fave of mine played Rudolf and went on to become Top Star of hana or soragumi, I'd have exactly four nickels. Which isn't much but it's weird that it happened four times.

[asumemerio]

[ladies-and-jennes]

2009 🩷 2024

[miumiaumeow]

Edgar and Alan

I really did not like the way Yuzuka's face turned out, so i changed it a bit in photoshop to do justice to her beauty.

Watercolor on paper.

[bulanpagi]

Scanned from Kageki August 2023, personal collection

[liminal-roses]

yes, another one!

[yuzukahibiscus]

Jewels of Takarazuka – Yuzuka Rei-san [Flower Troupe] (from Fujingaho May Issue)

This series documents the words of Takarazuka Top Stars, and their strength of living in the current age and Yuzuka Rei of Flower Troupe appears on this month’s issue.  Like a king that shines ever brightly on stage, Yuzuka-san appears on the photoshoot scene and we compliment her for having a flawless beauty like a deer in the wild. Then when she’s standing in front of the camera now, it seems like some kind of story is about to begin… Yuzuka-san speaks with carefully woven words and with a soft voice, talks about what she is thinking now.

Even if the acting is decided already every day, I just love presenting a new vibe to it

The one we admire in Shoujo Manga, the piano magician with fervent fans, the Broadway Star Dancer. With her gorgeous visual and delicate acting, Yuzuka-san brings such beautiful characters you couldn’t see in reality to life. If you watch her stage performances, you’d see that the world of dreams is here now……That’s what I firmly believe. When we interviewed Yuzuka-san, she was challenging to perform the famous work in Takarazuka Revue, the renowned musical of “MAYERLING”. It is about the tragic love story between Austria Crown Prince Rudolf and his lover Mary Vetsera. Yuzuka-san used to express it uniquely, “I don’t want [my performance] to look like it was cultivated artificially but to deliver one that is naturally moving”, so how did she feel when she was working on this famous musical?

“I’ve said that, haven’t I (LOL). I really like fresh air. So in the world that I’m portraying, even though we’d be doing the same things every day… That’s quite the opposite of what I said [about natural acting] (LOL). But even if we’re doing the same things every day, those first encounters and experiences are different every time. In contrast, even though it may be the first time I’m seeing some audience, I can feel that they’re the important people who’ve always known me… Performers and the audience can create some feelings and reactions together that not even we can imagine, and that’s something that I always find enjoyable. The premiere of this performance was 40 years ago. Even though there’s a little change in direction, the prologue song and the choreography was similar to how it was back then. I’d act according to what I understand from the whole setup of the musical. I won’t think about what I think is correct, instead I’ll continue to question my interpretation and delve into it more to act while thinking about it.”

In this musical with such intensity, you’d have to build up so much strength for the ending…

“Amidst the intensity and while continuing to maintain focused, there’s a unique kind of energy in musicals, surprisingly I’m not too overwhelmed by that. But while that builds up and accumulates densely, I think it’s difficult to overcome the “gap” or that “space” when [the tension] couldn’t build up well. Or maybe I should say, that it feels like those Jenga building blocks…… But the concentration the audience have for this musical is higher than before, so I felt that they also helped us create this ambience for us together.”

I want to walk a path that won’t feel like I’m betraying myself

This is perhaps the charm that’s only unique in live performances.

But in these 3 years, the previous situation was still unstable and as a leader she led the troupe to overcome very tough circumstances.

“I really thought that while I’ve been learning, I’ve already walked this far. Even in the same scenarios, I’ve come to learn that depending on people’s circumstances, there would be different feelings and the way we approach things also change. I know that it’s not good to just evaluate things while thinking only of ourselves. If everything was successful, I think it might be difficult to have the experience where everyone aims at “facing wholeheartedly towards stage performances” together…… so I thought I acquired a lot [during this time.] Whatever something happens, I want to be the person that people can trust in. Even if I covered it up, only I would know how I have dealt with that problem. Sometimes I may not know if I’ve made a wrong decision, and I won’t even know if that would be the best decision for that time, yet there must be something that I could learn from in failure. That’s why, I’ve decided not to do things that would make me lose confidence in myself. I often say be confident in yourself, but it’s difficult to believe in yourself without evidence. “Trust” might be a slightly different word, but I don’t try to deceive myself, instead I worked hard for it desperately… I wish I could feel that way without any hesitation,  and I would want to say that my underclassmen self when I was still trying to find that confidence.”

That delicate and soft feeling may be different from what she said a few years ago about “wanting to face my weaknesses earnestly”. 

“When we act, we think about humans, but it’s difficult to comment on whether they’re strong and weak. If they’re “weak”, they may seem negative at first glance, but they also may be someone that has great observation, a profound imagination,  and that they sincerely care only for a particular something. So “strengths” and “weaknesses” are two sides of a coin. If one believes too much that “I am strong”, that may instead lead to this pushing force that overwhelms oneself. So I’d say, it’s fine to be weak. Because humans are not born to be perfect. Rest a little, recover yourself, find your strategy to face your next task. When you find that strategy, if someone else has troubles, you could then help them. When I was playing as Rudolf, I really felt how greatly people impact others. That’s probably why I have such thought.”

Embracing her internal weaknesses with that resilient strength bestows her with the persuasion capacity on stage. Perhaps the Flower Troupe stage performances she lead will continue to shine radiantly.

MY JEWEL ~The jewel of the heart~

This is a photo of my nephew and my dog. “Even though they don’t always meet, but when they do, they’d always take a walk. My dog loves my nephew and is always smiling. My nephew leads the dog carefully like an adult when they walk together and I can slowly feel his growth. Now as I’m playing as Rudolf, I’d have to say, “Because of everyone’s great love, I have also progressed and grown.”

ON STAGE...

“ENCHANTEMENT –A Luxurious Perfume–” is a stylish  revue with perfume as the theme. This is a Takarazuka-styled revue wound in the gorgeous world of black tailcoats, silk hat and cane. Apart from singing and dancing, you could see her sometimes chic and sometimes sexy, that you couldn���t miss her out in any instant.

Next stage: Musical Romance “A Battlefield for the Two of Us” (Author/Director: Masatsuka Haruhiko)

In a stage of a fictitious federation formed by numerous autonomous states, this is about a young military officer with burning passions and how he struggles between the gap of the country and the individual, portraying his story of an “unacceptable” love and great friendship. Yuzuka-san says, “It’s very interesting learning from the rehearsal of Masatsuka (Hirohiko)-sensei’s musical. “War” is still sometimes that is relevant to us in this age, so I will cherish the importance of performing this production and do my best to create this production.”

[laurelilu]

『Be Shining!!』 official promo image