thamychan

[thamychan]

yuki daiya as succubus (right) and kinami raito as magnus (left) for 2025 flower troupe's castlevania 🦇

[thamychan]

i was watching some stuff and i saw THIS. takane fubuki giving ichiro maki a flower. i literally had to pause the video and breathe deeply for a second.......

[thamychan]

How to Buy Takarazuka Castlevania on BD/DVD

I’ve seen a lot of Castlevania fans express interest in the currently running Takarazuka Castlevania musical and wondering whether or not it would get a pro shot, so I thought I’d jump in and write up a little guide on how to get your hands on the upcoming home video release of Takarazuka Castlevania.

Now, Takarazuka is unusual in that its parent company, Hankyu, is extremely aggressive about piracy and protecting its copyright. The company regularly trawls through YouTube and other social media websites to take down content, and they have deliberately made their livestreams increasingly harder to access in response. This can make it feel like getting your hands on Takarazuka is really difficult and, if you’re used to Japanese companies that are friendlier, it’s definitely a bit of a fan culture shock! 

However, it’s actually not difficult at all. Purchasing a Takarazuka Blu-ray or DVD from outside of Japan is a straightforward process. You just have to know what, when, and where.

What to Buy

Takarazuka releases the vast majority of their shows on physical media. All of their shows staged in the Takarazuka Grand Theater and the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater (hereafter “a GT show”) receive a physical media release on both Blu-ray and DVD.*

The main distinction between the two is the video quality, price, and special features:

A GT Blu-ray costs 11,000 yen and includes rehearsal footage as well as Star Angles, which are special cuts of scenes focused on certain performers. In the case of Castlevania, the Star Angles will focus on the performers playing Alucard, Maria, and Richter.†

A GT DVD costs 8,800 yen and contains no special features.‡ 

Both are region-free but neither includes subtitles of any kind, not even Japanese.

The physical media release will include Castlevania, the one-act musical, as well as Ai, Love Revue!, a separate musical revue with no connection to Castlevania. While Takarazuka does stage two-act musicals, the combination of a ninety-minute one act play with an hour long musical revue is classically Takarazuka. This particular revue repeats some classic numbers from Takarazuka’s past, so it’s a good introduction to what Takarazuka is all about!

When to Buy

Takarazuka physical media releases try to drop fast. A GT show is usually filmed during its run in the Takarazuka Grand Theater (before it moves to the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater) and released during the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater run. Usually is the key word here; I’ve received at least one Takarazuka Blu-ray before the final performance in Tokyo, but others can get delayed, likely due to copyright negotiations.§ Given that Konami is directly involved with the production, I don’t have any concerns about copyright or delays.

Based on recent GT show announcements and releases, I would expect to hear the release schedule announcement during the break between runs (7/21 to 8/15) and the Blu-ray/DVD to release late in the Tokyo run (8/16 to 9/28). So I’d estimate finding out in August that it’s releasing sometime in September. 

Where to Buy

Once the Blu-ray/DVD has been announced, you’ll find it available for international purchase on the following websites:

cdjapan.jp

CDJapan always carries new Takarazuka products, offers multiple shipping options, often has coupons, and allows you to pre-order items. This is predominantly what I use and I can personally recommend it.

Yesasia.com

Yesasia carries new Takarazuka products, offers coupons, and offers free shipping. Takarazuka Blu-ray/DVDs will be noted as “Japan version,” but remember, they’re region-free. I have no experience with this website, so I can’t vouch for it personally.

TakaAn

TakaAn is a shop focusing on Takarazuka (but also other theatrical troupes) in Japan that offers overseas orders via email. 

Amazon.co.jp

Amazon.co.jp used to regularly stock new Takarazuka products, but less so lately. Still, worth checking.

Secondhand Stores 

Secondhand copies of Takarazuka Blu-ray/DVDs crop up on websites like Suruga-ya and Mercari from time to time. Suruga-ya is easy to use, has a wide selection of items, and often offers coupons, while Mercari has a proxy service (Buyee) built in to help you purchase items from overseas. Both are dependent on availability, but are a great way to save some money! (Just make sure the shipping and proxy fees aren’t wiping out the money you save!)

Where to Find Out More

I hope this helps out some Castlevania fans in their quest, since I know Takarazuka can be a little opaque. If the new musical has gotten you interested in Takarazuka, feel free to check out this So You’re New to Takarazuka post and this primer on the Sumire Code. Takarazuka's got a bit of a learning curve, but it’s a wonderful (and very sparkly) hobby! 

* In Takarazuka, the distinction is between GT shows and small theater shows. One of the five Takarazuka troupes performs a GT show (with the full troupe) and then will split for the small theater shows, with half of the troupe in one show and the other half in another, performing in venues outside of the Takarazuka Grand Theater and Tokyo Takarazuka Theater. This allows people who are not the Top Star of their troupe to get leads. These smaller scale shows often receive home video release on Blu-ray, but whether or not it does is based on the internal ranking of the star within Takarazuka (Top Stars always do, but baby’s first lead, not so much). So while not every Takarazuka show gets a home video release, the vast majority do. 

† Flower Troupe/Hanagumi’s Top Star Towaki Sea, the Top Musumeyaku Hoshizora Misaki, and the nibante, Seino Asuka, respectively.

‡ In the pre-Blu-ray era, DVDs not only included the Blu-ray special features, but additional features (like digests for any switch cast roles, documentary features), and came on two discs. 

§ There are some shows that are never released on home video for copyright reasons, usually imported musicals with very complicated licensing agreements (like Big Fish). This hasn’t happened to a GT show in decades and is usually kept to small theater shows, if at all.

[thamychan]

[thamychan]

The Pope, desperate to avoid ever interacting with JD Vance again, went to the one place the Vice President couldn't follow: heaven.

[thamychan]

Ranju Tomu’s and Ranno Hana’s duet dance from Ocean’s 11 2013

[thamychan]

[thamychan]

watching WB keep resetting dc movies' universe every three years because they don't have a backbone to go full in with one iteration used to irk me but i've come to realize it's the most literal comics experience you can get on the big screen

[thamychan]

You know, some of my favorite fics are abandoned.  And yeah, I wish they weren't  abandoned, but it doesn’t change the fact that I love them.  I certainly don’t wish they’d never been written.  Just saying, for those of us with dangling fics we guilt ourselves over.  It’s still better that you wrote what you wrote.

[thamychan]

[thamychan]

The Dawn at Solferino (Snow 2010) Shinko subtitles

jstage.dreamful .org/solferino-snow-2010-shinko/

Or click the link under “source”.

Please do not upload the subs anywhere else!

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This was what made me want translate Solferino! I love both Saki and Ayu, and this was the first shinko where they took on the lead roles together (they were also the leads for the RetJ shinko). Hokaze Narumi plays the nibante role, and Tsukishiro Kanato, who was still very new then, has a pretty prominent role in this as well.

[thamychan]

A bad photoshop will always be funnier than an AI image no matter what

[thamychan]

I just found the funniest font ever

Like. What is this. Why is this. Who is the target audience of this?

[thamychan]

i love my cat but he is very fond of trickery

[thamychan]

fun thing about herding and/or generally neurotic breeds: they are really good at following rules you have instituted, but they will also make their own Dog Rules they will follow stringently whether or not you like it

[thamychan]

[thamychan]