Many thanks to　kozuki, mizukusa, and wao_wao for their help!

Otozuki: For the first round of this new corner, I thought that talking to an elegant musumeyaku would be good (laugh)

Shirahane: Elegant…? (laugh)

Otozuki: That’s right (laugh). Because of that, I chose Tonami (Shirahane) (laugh). Well, because we’re classmates and we haven’t had a chance to formally talk like this, I thought “It’s a good opportunity, isn’t it?”

Shirahane: That’s true, isn’t it? I’m glad that you nominated me (laugh).

Otozuki: Some way or another it looks like this article is going to end up being half “(laugh)”, but…

Shirahane: Looks like it (laugh)

Otozuki: First of all, shall we try looking back at the first time we met?

Shirahane: Okay (laugh). You might say that our time at Takarazuka Music School was…

Otozuki: Because our classes and our cleaning areas were different, you might say that…

Shirahane: Yeah (laugh). I had an impression that Kimu (Otozuki) was at any rate very energetic (laugh). In ballet class, I have a strong image of you frisking around, don’t I? Usually a feeling of jumping (laugh).

Otozuki: That image, even now I have the feeling that it hasn’t changed, but…what should I do… (laugh)

Shirahane: (laugh)

Otozuki: For Tonami, I would say “She’s innocent”, isn’t she? (laugh)

Shirahane: “An innocent and smooth person?” (laugh)

Otozuki: (laugh) As for striking things, maybe the episode in drama class (laugh)

Shirahane: My accent was really strong, wasn’t it? (1) (laugh) Because of that, in drama class, it was really awful (laugh).

Otozuki: A lot of fun stories still linger, don’t they (laugh) But conveying them on the pages of a magazines is…

Shirahane: Difficult (laugh)

Otozuki: Because you can’t even express the intonation (laugh)


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Otozuki: After we entered the company, because you were assigned to Moon Troupe and I was assigned to Snow Troupe, after our hatsubutai, for some time we weren’t in contact, right?

Shirahane: That’s right. …huh? What about the Berlin performance?

Otozuki: I went on it!

Shirahane: You went on it!? Together with Micchan (Hokushou Kairi) and Miho-chan (Maishiro Nodoka).

Otozuki: I went! It was only the four of us classmates. If I remember right, those were the people who were ken-3 at the time…It’s amazing that now everyone is still here.

Shirahane: Truly (laugh)

Otozuki: If I remember right, the day of departure fell exactly on my birthday, and before we got on the plane, everyone celebrated, didn’t they?

Shirahane: That’s right, that’s right!

Otozuki: Although because of time differences, even when we reached Germany it was still my birthday (laugh)

Shirahane: That’s right (laugh) We celebrated in Germany too (laugh)

Otozuki: Right. At a German McDonald’s (laugh). Now that you mention it, the four of us did things like buying matching t-shirts over there.

Shirahane: The four of us did things like sightseeing. If I think about it carefully, I have a lot of pictures taken together with Kimu (laugh).

Otozuki: (laugh)

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Shirahane: When it was decided that I would be transferred from Moon Troupe to Snow Troupe and I talked to my Snow Troupe classmates on the phone, by chance all of them were together, and in turns everyone said into the phone things like “Welcome!” and “I look forward to it!” Everyone’s kindness made me really happy. You probably don’t remember (laugh). Because that was the first time I changed troupes, inside of myself I was bewildered after all was said and done.

Otozuki: But you adapted really quickly, right? (laugh) It felt like you had been in Snow Troupe all along (laugh).

Shirahane: I was made used to my new surroundings as I was learning the ropes (laugh).

Otozuki: (laugh) The first thing that we didn’t together was “Love Goblin”, right? Oyae-chan, who you played, was extremely fun. It was like, “Isn’t that her true character?” (laugh)

Shirahane: Komu-san (Asami Hikaru) said so too. She said, “You didn’t make a character at all, did you?” (laugh)

Otozuki: (laugh) Both in rehearsals and during the performance it was really fun. We created the roles together while discussing various things, right?

Shirahane: That’s right. I’m remembering this all of a sudden now, but after “Love Goblin” was over, you and I went to see the Cosmos Troupe members’ show…you don’t remember? At that time, after the show was over when we paid our respects to Mizu-san, she kindly said “I hear that “Love Goblin” was extremely fun. People said that you two were a good combination.”

Otozuki: I remember, I remember.

Shirahane: Mizu-san also went on the Berlin tour, didn’t she?

Otozuki: That’s maybe why we paid our respects to her.

Shirahane: In Berlin she kindly took pictures together with us, didn’t she? (laugh)

Otozuki: That’s right, that’s right. (laugh)

Shirahane: Fate is mysterious. (laugh)


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Shirahane: Speaking of Kimu, the truth is you’re plagued by demons of nervousness. At first glance you can’t really see it, but…

Otozuki: Is that so? (laugh)

Shirahane: During the honkouen on the day of the shinjinkouen, in your nervousness your hands became cold while on standby behind the curtains. But, when compelled to for the shinjinkouen performance, you hung in there.

Otozuki: Really? Why do you think that? (laugh) As for shinjinkouen, Tonami and I teamed up for two works: “Romance de Paris” and “In Search of the Bluebird.”

Shirahane: Yes. Hey, speaking of the “Romance de Paris” shinjinkouen… (laugh)

Otozuki: (laugh)

Shirahane: My stomach unfortunately was rumbling (laugh). Moreover, it was during the love scene… (laugh) Right before we kissed, at the most suitable spot, it went “Guruguru~~!”

Otozuki: Inside my head I was thinking things like, “Eeh?! Now?! From there?!”

Shirahane: Sorry. (laugh) It really wasn’t a charming and innocent rumbling.

Otozuki: No, no, even that was charming and innocent (laugh)

Shirahane: (laugh) Kimu kindly caught my mistake.

Otozuki: At that time, I thought you truly were an important person (laugh).

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Shirahane: In “Hanayou”, O-Yotsu, who I played, was loved by Konoe-san, who you played. Every time Konoe-san pined and cried for O-Yotsu, I thought in the wings of the theater “I’m sorry…”

Otozuki: (laugh) For that show, every day a nervous feeling along the lines of “Isn’t my heart going to stop?” hung in the air.

Shirahane: There were no songs and no dances; we truly had to show the scenes and connect with only our acting. All we had for background music was the sound of cicadas.

Otozuki: More than usual, we had to play these roles while feeling our nerves as finely honed as possible.

Shirahane: It really was a show where we were taught a lot of things, wasn’t it?

Otozuki: Yeah. Many senka members were with us and everyone truly treated us very warmly. They often kindly ate with us, didn’t they?

Shirahane: At Yuuchan-san’s (Natori Rei’s) house, we also had a takoyaki party, didn’t we. At that time, Tom-san (Todoroki Yu) brought matsutake mushrooms (laugh)

Otozuki: That’s right, that’s right! Even still, you looked at the matsutake that Tom-san brought and…

Shirahane: I blurted out, “Wow! What big shiitake!” (laugh)

Otozuki: As would be expected by now, as would be expected of Shirahane-san! (laugh)

Shirahane: After that, Tom-san said, “That’s right.” (laugh)

Otozuki: Tom-san is cool, isn’t she? (laugh) At that time she didn’t say as a result, “They’re matsutake!”, but she’s cool.

Shirahane: Even so, takoyaki prepared with matsutake is great, isn’t it?

Otozuki: All the same Tom-san disagreed. If I remember right, in the end there were too many cut-up matsutake prepared for the takoyaki. Tom-san stir fried those in butter, didn’t she?

Shirahane: That’s right, that’s right. That really was a good memory. She went to considerable trouble, so we’d like to take this opportunity…Tom, we were very rude on that occasion (laugh)

Otozuki: (laugh)

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Shirahane: During “In Search of the Bluebird”, you played a woman for the regular performance, didn’t you? At that time during the revue “Takarazuka Dream Kingdom”, I was able to see an even more otokoyaku-esque Kimu than usual. I don’t know if that was on purpose or unconsciously, but…

Otozuki: Because I thought that I had to absolutely not drag along the musumeyaku-ness of the show…it maybe was deliberate. Tonami, you’re very sharp. As expected of a classmate.

Shirahane: (laugh) You say it’s because we’re classmates, and there are various things that are because of that. There are many things I can ask because it’s you. For example, sometimes in a play, there are some things that as a musumeyaku I should hold back on, or perhaps, I should do that for the play. Things like that I can’t judge objectively. At those kinds of times, I often ask you for advice. Because you’re Kimu you have a different viewpoint than me. And so when you give me your honest opinion from your viewpoint, it’s extremely helpful.

Otozuki: If you say that, then the opinions that you give me as a musumeyaku are also very valuable. This is because you likewise honestly say to me the things you can’t really say when there’s a difference in years. If we can generate a synergetic effect, that’s good.

Shirahane: That’s true. Whenever I’m with you, I’m able to laugh. That’s a really good thing. Even during sad times, even during strenuous times, whenever I talk about my troubles with you, I feel like always in the end I’m laughing as we finish. It’s as if when I come to myself, I think “What was it that I was upset about?” (laugh) In this way, I think that the advice I’ve become accustomed to is extremely valuable. From here on, please watch over me (laugh)

Otozuki: (laugh) Within our class you are the first to reach leading role status, right? Because of this, I’m particularly very proud. At the same time, I myself think that I should do my best more and more. Because you make me feel that way, I’m extremely grateful. From now on I will keep getting motivation from you, and I want to grow, so please keep giving me your opinions. Occasionally, please tell me things like “Otozuki Kei is…” (laugh)

Shirahane: (laugh)

Notes:

1) Shirahane Yuri is from Fukushima. Takarasiennes are forced to speak standard Tokyo dialect. For you Americans who are reading this, imagine trying to make a Texan or a southerner speak standard American English.