While we were in Tokyo for the 100 Years of Yuri Tour, a number of us went to see a Takarazuka musical revue. I wrote about it here on Okazu, immediately after. I determined that I would definitely be buying this on Blu-Ray, because it was so epic. And, having watched it again, everything I said stands.

Hoshi-gumi Takarazuka Grand Theater Performance Musical Full-Course “GOD of STARS- Sacred Meal” / Space Revue Fantasia “Éclair Brillant” (星組宝塚大劇場公演 ミュージカル・フルコース 『GOD OF STARS -食聖-』/スペース・レビュー・ファンタジア 『Éclair Brillant 』) was flippin’ fantastic. It was everything Takarazuka all rolled up into one nutty narrative, with catchy music, crazy costumes, charismatic actresses and a bunch of songs that get lodged in your head for a week.

The story was almost exactly as I remembered it. I had wondered why I initially thought Red Boy was the Monkey King, but upon rewatch I understood why – in the first scene, Irene’s mother and she talk about how Saiyuki was her favorite story. You may be familiar with the manga/anime franchise, but the name is the Japanese rendition of the Chinese epic we know as The Journey to the West, which stars Sun Wukong (Son Goku), the Monkey King. Ah-hah! It wasn’t my imagination, there was a reference. I feel a bit better about that.

The first scene introduces us to Irene Chow, whose father makes the best gyoza. We then switch scenes to heaven where Celestial being Red Boy is celebrating his existence as “God of Stars,” when he meets with an accident.

We then find ourselves in Singapore watching Top Chef Hong Xing-Xing being confronted by Irene for his attempt to gentrify the waterside dive area known as Paradise Hawkers. Ousted from the show and his life by sponsor “Golden Group” CEO Eric, Hong is replaced by Dragon Lee, and framed for crimes. He finds himself alone, stripped of everything except his pride, and ends up at Paradise Hawkers…where he once again meets Irene. They bond over both not having parents: Hong has never known his and Irene’s mother left when her father started drinking, then he left too. She’s running the the family restaurant alone, but she has no cooking skills at all.

Hong attempts to regain his position and his pride by challenging Dragon Lee to a cooking contest. Hong heads off to the mountains to study cooking at “Kobayashidera” while Irene follows a lead to find her mother in Shanghai.

The day of the big challenge comes and Hong arrives, with Irene’s father in tow! His Celestial parents come down having found Red Boy at last, and we are all reunited with our families. Irene and Hong get each other, Dragon Lee and Chinese pop star Christina live happily ever after.

What I very much enjoyed about the show was the music, which was very catchy and ear-wormy. I’ve been singing “Ore koso God of Stars” on a loop in my head since watching it, replaced from time to time with ”Eien no Kirameki,” I think was the title of this show’s version of the word “love” on repeat. (“Ai shinjite, Ai wo mitsumete Ai wo yume mite…”)

The revue portion, which did not seem very long when I watched it live, did drag a bit. Kurenai Yuzuru does not dance, really, not even the “spin-and-pose” style that passes for dancing most of the time in Takarazuka. She merely stands and moves her arms a bit. It was not inspiring, but I had ceased to watch her much anyway, in favor of Makoto Rei, who played Dragon Lee.

The DVD has one bizarre technical glitch in the revue portion during a rendition “That’s Life” by three of the otokoyaku. The glitch, in which the singer’s mics cut out,  appears to be from the actual show, because you can hear the singers from time to time, barely behind the music. It is bizarre because they left it in and didn’t just use a different performance for the Blu-Ray.  As it was “That’s Life” I didn’t count it much of a loss. ^_^;

Still absolutely outstanding were the performances by both Makoto Rei as Dragon Lee and Maisora Hitomi as Christina Chang.

My wife had not joined us for the show in Japan, but after our raves, she joined me for this viewing. Her verdict was “It was cute. I enjoyed it.” which is all I can ask.

Ratings:

Staging: 8 Less moving parts than usual, but still, the scenery was super fun.
Story – 9 Who wouldn’t like a story about a celestial being reincarnated on earth as an Iron chef?!?
Music – 8 Loads of fun, well sung, and this time, for the first show I have ever seen…written by a woman.
Dancing – 8 Bits of it were fantastic, just not the bits done by Kurenai

Overall – 9

I have now seen in person Takarazuka performances set in France, Austria, China and Singapore. Let’s talk about “exotic places” as common fantasy theme for women.

This BD is a terrific reminder of a terrific night and for all the everythings Takarazuka can bring to the table, I highly recommend GOD of STARS.