From Takarazuka Graph, February 2017

NOTE: The title is a cute pun in Japanese… not so much in English, haha. Also the feature is accompanied by adorable pictures of the two of them in silly costumes (described below). Please buy Graph to see them!

ーA master chef and a fried egg?!

KAZUKI: When it came time to decide what to do for this momentous first installment, I thought Kano is a great cook so why don’t we go with this! It was a quick decision.

KANO: On top of that, it also reminds me of when the two of us used to hang out while I was still an underclassman in Cosmos Troupe… (haha)

KAZUKI: Haha. The day we were assigned to Cosmos Troupe was right during Grand Theater dress rehearsal, and since we didn’t take part in the following performance either, we had a ridiculously long break as ken-1. Somehow we were always together, and since we both still lived in the dorms at the time, we were always messing around in Kano’s room (haha).

KANO: I had a big strawberry pillow in my room, and Sora would always come and lie down on it, and before I knew it I’d started cooking for 3 (haha).

KAZUKI: You’d start a whole speech like “Well then, today I’m going to prepare a meal using this fresh Kazuki!” and you’d shake me so we could start cooking. Even though no one was watching.

KANO: We’d always start doing impromptu skits like that (haha).

KAZUKI: Also whenever we’d do our sideshow skits with our Cosmos Troupe classmates, Kano would always play this character with a pillow stuffed up under her shirt, so since this is such a precious opportunity she did the same for me! (haha).

ーHow your relationship changed when you were assigned to Cosmos Troupe

KANO: Until we were assigned to Cosmos Troupe, the two of us hardly spoke to each other at all.

KAZUKI: That’s right (haha).

KANO: But there is something I remember really clearly! When we were in music school, there was one time Sora casually asked me, “Wow, your handwriting is so nice. Did you take penmanship lessons?” and that made me sooooooooo happy! Like, getting praised by this multi-talented person (haha).

KAZUKI: I totally do not remember that (haha).

KANO: Then we were assigned our troupes after our debut, and well, the rest is history. We were always together, every day.

KAZUKI: How did we get so close? Oh yeah! Once we were assigned, we kept going to see Cosmos Troupe shows together.

KANO: That’s right! We’d go watch and learn about 4 times a week, and we’d get so excited together, like “every single person is so pretty and has such extraordinary style!”

KAZUKI: Before we knew it we were attached at the hip (haha).

KANO: But we’re both terrible at waking up in the morning, aren’t we (haha).

KAZUKI: When we were the youngest in the troupe, we’d have to to meet up early in the morning to clean and prep things. We thought, neither of us can wake up at all, what should we do? And then our solution was… (haha)

KANO: That it would be better not to sleep! (haha)

KAZUKI: (Bursts out laughing) Right! The two of us thought the very best method was just, not sleeping! (haha). We’d stay up till morning practicing weird faces, cooking for 3, and such (haha).

KANO: And we watched the sunrise together from our dorm window (haha).

KAZUKI: That was kinda romantic! (haha)

ーAlways together…?

KANO: When we were underclassmen we even got our drivers’ licenses together, right?

KAZUKI: Oh yeah! And there was that time we took our graduating practical exam as a pair, with one of us in the back seat while the other was driving… (haha)

KANO: And when it was my turn for the practical…

KAZUKI: I think they call it the “creep phenomenon” or something, since you weren’t stepping on the accelerator or the break the car just kept slowly creeping forward all the way till the end (haha).

KANO: When the teacher said, “Why don’t we press the accelerator a bit more,” I was like “OK” *ZOOOM* and pressed too hard the next time…

KAZUKI: For real though, I didn’t even think I’d make it to my turn at the practical. I was afraid for my life (haha). But we both made it safely to graduation together, and we went for our last test together too.

KANO: And since our birthdays are only a week apart, we’re also going to renew our licenses together!

KAZUKI: Even now, despite being in different troupes, we’ve been saying that we’ll do whatever it takes to match up our off days so we can go get our licenses renewed together (haha).

ーSomething amazing about Kano that only Sora knows!

KAZUKI: Let’s see…

KANO: Hey, what’s with that distant gaze? (haha)

KAZUKI: She’s really diligent? (haha) Um… Oh, her ability to concentrate!!

KANO: Eh!!

KAZUKI: That, and also she’s really nice to people. Like, she’s really secure in her own way of thinking and her own opinions, but she’ll also listen carefully to other people’s opinions, and tries to adopt the good parts little by little.

KANO: Aaaaaaaah, what the heck, now I’m embarrassed! (haha)

ーA weak point of Kano’s that only Sora knows!

KANO: I’d still like to be able to go out and face the world so please take that into consideration when you pick something… (haha)

SORA: Aaaah I can only think of weird things! (haha). A weak point… Ehhh…..

KANO: Accelerating…

KAZUKI: There we go! (Haha) Yes, you’re bad at stepping on the accelerator.

ーYour performances together

KANO: One that sticks out in my mind is when we both played young boys as ken-2 in Classico Italiano.

KAZUKI: I remember that! I was the older brother selling flowers, and you were the younger brother shining shoes.

KANO: The two of us were supposed to act out something a little different every day… then one day backstage, we did this totally unrelated lovers’ quarrel thing (haha).

KAZUKI: Yeah (haha). A minute before we were supposed to go on, I realized, “Oh no, I messed up”… but I didn’t have the courage to apologize (haha). It was so natural always being together that somehow it was really embarrassing to have to apologize to you face to face (haha).

KANO: That’s because you’re like an actual little boy, Sora (haha). You really are! (Haha) so then when we thought about what we should do, during the part of our scene where we’d always ad-lib anyway, you wound up saying “sorry about earlier!” (haha).

KAZUKI: Right, in character! (haha). I thought if I was in character I could manage to apologize (haha).

KANO: It was so cute I forgave you (haha).

ーKano’s first shinjin kouen lead!

KAZUKI: She got her first heroine role in Legend of the Galactic Heroes. I remember thinking yay it’s time!!

KANO: You got me a present and a card with a bear on it!

KAZUKI: Eh? I don’t remember (haha)

KANO: No way! It said something like “Congratulations on getting the heroine role. I’ll always have your back!” I still have it up in my house!

KAZUKI: Aaaah that’s embarrassing!

ーFrom Cosmos to Flower Troupe, and then…

KAZUKI: Ugh, I kept thinking when is it gonna happen, when is it gonna happen… and then it finally did.

KANO: People said things like, “Kazuki is going to retreat into her shell” (haha). Even the upperclassmen were worried about what would happen if the two of us were separated.

KAZUKI: Even though the one who experiences the most loneliness and anxiety with changing troupes is undoubtedly the person actually doing it, Kano would always say such nice things like, “We’re going to do our best to open our hearts to everyone, not close ourselves off!” (haha).

KANO: Even after I transferred to Flower Troupe you always came to see my performances!

KAZUKI: I went to see your top debut Ernest in Love, but the moment you came out for the duet dance, I started tearing up… like, waaaah she’s dancing (haha). A little while ago I had the chance to see your graduation show, and since I’ve been watching your evolution from such a close distance all this time, all of these feelings mounted, and I sobbed in the audience (haha).

KANO: (Haha). But looking back, I spent my time as an underclassman like a mischievous childhood spent with my mischievous friend (haha)… In Cosmos Troupe I was fortunate to receive so many roles that let me break out of the traditional musumeyaku box, and then in Flower Troupe I had the privilege of studying the foundations of the quintessential musumeyaku… I’ve had the opportunity to learn such a wide scope of things, it has truly been a blessing!

Study Results: Flower Troupe Musumeyaku Kano Maria

Even though she has a gentle fluffy side to her, she’s also a hard worker, and to me, she’s like a twin sister (haha)