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masahiSummary: A former soldier and an aristocrat had a brief, intense affair, but their difference in station drives them apart. Years later, when things have changed for both of them, they are reunited.
I will freely admit that I'm not a Cosmos fan. I know it's biased, but ever since the days of Takahana, the troupe hadn't interested me. Actually, more especially because of Takahana. The top combi left me cold, and since I always expected the troupe to continue on the same vein, I didn't even bother to get interested in them at all. It turns out that this was a big mistake, since I have missed out on a fantastic top combi who sizzle and a troupe who managed to constantly surprise me.
While I couldn't completely follow the show, since it is notoriously complicated, the basic idea was easy enough to keep up with - Tani's character loves Ume's character, and has done since a past encounter. Ume's family have difficulties and Tani and Co. intercede to help her - a general boy meets/loves/loses/rediscovers/saves girl story :)
I couldn't help loving the energy, which was impressive given how exhausted the troupe must be in the last 5 days before retirement of a whole swathe of the performers. The dynamic, the relationships, the interactions and everything were perfect, and even when I didn't know who was performing what (no programmes or Le Cinq left at all), the acting was solid enough that relationships were apparent.
The singing actually blew me away. I love a good voice and they certainly have them in spades in Cosmos. Tani and Ume alone were fantastic, but the back up support only added to it, and it carried over into the Amour revue, which was the spangliest glitter-fest of glee I have ever seen in my life. There seems to be a love of discoballs at the moment, since they had one for the Elisabeth revue as well.
Also, on the note of That Dance, personally, I didn't find it half as sensual or sexual as the dance in Carmen or the bits I've seen of Dal Lake. A bit more explicit, what with the hip thrusts, but that does not make it sensuous or sexy to me. Carmen could have burned the stage. This was clumsy, first-time nookie by comparison ;)
Cast-wise, I feel the need to babble:
Yamato Yuuga as Justin Balzac - I didn't know much about Tani when I went into this show, but she was fantastic as Justin. Her passion and intensity were spot on, right up there with her masculinity, which is impressive given how thin she's currently looking. She sparked against Ume, which I loved, because there's nothing worse than leads who don't have very good chemistry.
It was also matched by the dynamic between the rest of the cast, especially Tomu, who was a perfect foil for her. Also, I adore a top star who has the full package of singing, dancing and acting. I'm going to watch with interest what she does once she's retired.
(Also, the scene when she sprawls on the table, legs in the air, was just too good :D)
Hizuki Hana as Yvette - Ume really, really surprised me. She was such a strong musumeyaku, and that was totally unexpected. She fits in the same mould as Asuka, Tonami and Ayane, which shouldn't have surprised me, but it really did. Her voice also caught me off-guard, and I don't imagine there are many musumeyaku who can actually manage a stage full of otokoyaku during a dance as intense as the tango, while being the only 'female' present.
Her Yvette was sympathetic and passionate, and I loved the scenes between her and Tani, as well as the relationship set out with her brother and the rest of her family as well.
Kotobuki Tsukasa as Yvette's father: she cracked me up entirely in some of her scenes, especially when she does the speech announcing Yvette, getting gradually higher and higher and higher in pitch.
Ranju Tomu as Baron Victor Orange: Tomu and Tani had a great dynamic, especially in the scenes when they were conspiring together, but Tomu really blew my socks off when the revue started. I knew she had a good voice, and I've seen a few things were her in them, but hearing her voice live pushed up the WHOA! factor several notches. She could blow out a soundsystem if she wasn't held back.
My prediction on her front is that Yuuhi is being brought in as a brief, filler-top-star (and will likely head to senka after), to give Tomu that last little bit of time to hone her skills and get her ready to be the next Top Star. She's almost there, but she just needs that last little bit of time to polish herself up.
Hokushou Kairi as Francis: Now, this is one person I should have recognised, but completely didn't, and yet, I was completely smitten from the word go. The poofy hair and adorable behaviour won me over before I even knew she was the illusive Micchan I had heard so much about. And then, she sang and I might have fallen sideways. If she is being set up to be nibante to Tomu's Top Star, I would say Cosmos is going to get very interesting in the very near future :)
I would babble about more, but on the whole, those are my main thoughts, and the only other thing I can think about the revue was SPARKLY!!!!! I can't say I'll be rushing out to buy it, but it's certainly let me see Cosmos in a new light and I'll definitely not mind seeing more of their stuff, both past and future.
I will freely admit that I'm not a Cosmos fan. I know it's biased, but ever since the days of Takahana, the troupe hadn't interested me. Actually, more especially because of Takahana. The top combi left me cold, and since I always expected the troupe to continue on the same vein, I didn't even bother to get interested in them at all. It turns out that this was a big mistake, since I have missed out on a fantastic top combi who sizzle and a troupe who managed to constantly surprise me.
While I couldn't completely follow the show, since it is notoriously complicated, the basic idea was easy enough to keep up with - Tani's character loves Ume's character, and has done since a past encounter. Ume's family have difficulties and Tani and Co. intercede to help her - a general boy meets/loves/loses/rediscovers/saves girl story :)
I couldn't help loving the energy, which was impressive given how exhausted the troupe must be in the last 5 days before retirement of a whole swathe of the performers. The dynamic, the relationships, the interactions and everything were perfect, and even when I didn't know who was performing what (no programmes or Le Cinq left at all), the acting was solid enough that relationships were apparent.
The singing actually blew me away. I love a good voice and they certainly have them in spades in Cosmos. Tani and Ume alone were fantastic, but the back up support only added to it, and it carried over into the Amour revue, which was the spangliest glitter-fest of glee I have ever seen in my life. There seems to be a love of discoballs at the moment, since they had one for the Elisabeth revue as well.
Also, on the note of That Dance, personally, I didn't find it half as sensual or sexual as the dance in Carmen or the bits I've seen of Dal Lake. A bit more explicit, what with the hip thrusts, but that does not make it sensuous or sexy to me. Carmen could have burned the stage. This was clumsy, first-time nookie by comparison ;)
Cast-wise, I feel the need to babble:
Yamato Yuuga as Justin Balzac - I didn't know much about Tani when I went into this show, but she was fantastic as Justin. Her passion and intensity were spot on, right up there with her masculinity, which is impressive given how thin she's currently looking. She sparked against Ume, which I loved, because there's nothing worse than leads who don't have very good chemistry.
It was also matched by the dynamic between the rest of the cast, especially Tomu, who was a perfect foil for her. Also, I adore a top star who has the full package of singing, dancing and acting. I'm going to watch with interest what she does once she's retired.
(Also, the scene when she sprawls on the table, legs in the air, was just too good :D)
Hizuki Hana as Yvette - Ume really, really surprised me. She was such a strong musumeyaku, and that was totally unexpected. She fits in the same mould as Asuka, Tonami and Ayane, which shouldn't have surprised me, but it really did. Her voice also caught me off-guard, and I don't imagine there are many musumeyaku who can actually manage a stage full of otokoyaku during a dance as intense as the tango, while being the only 'female' present.
Her Yvette was sympathetic and passionate, and I loved the scenes between her and Tani, as well as the relationship set out with her brother and the rest of her family as well.
Kotobuki Tsukasa as Yvette's father: she cracked me up entirely in some of her scenes, especially when she does the speech announcing Yvette, getting gradually higher and higher and higher in pitch.
Ranju Tomu as Baron Victor Orange: Tomu and Tani had a great dynamic, especially in the scenes when they were conspiring together, but Tomu really blew my socks off when the revue started. I knew she had a good voice, and I've seen a few things were her in them, but hearing her voice live pushed up the WHOA! factor several notches. She could blow out a soundsystem if she wasn't held back.
My prediction on her front is that Yuuhi is being brought in as a brief, filler-top-star (and will likely head to senka after), to give Tomu that last little bit of time to hone her skills and get her ready to be the next Top Star. She's almost there, but she just needs that last little bit of time to polish herself up.
Hokushou Kairi as Francis: Now, this is one person I should have recognised, but completely didn't, and yet, I was completely smitten from the word go. The poofy hair and adorable behaviour won me over before I even knew she was the illusive Micchan I had heard so much about. And then, she sang and I might have fallen sideways. If she is being set up to be nibante to Tomu's Top Star, I would say Cosmos is going to get very interesting in the very near future :)
I would babble about more, but on the whole, those are my main thoughts, and the only other thing I can think about the revue was SPARKLY!!!!! I can't say I'll be rushing out to buy it, but it's certainly let me see Cosmos in a new light and I'll definitely not mind seeing more of their stuff, both past and future.