「スターの片鱗」 (Star no Henrin)
“A Glimpse of Stardom”

FOR THE LOVE OF THEATER!

Another week in the life of our aspiring Kouka stars and frustration is about to burst. The passion inside of our first year’s hearts continues to be drowned by hours of theoretical lessons. The biggest challenge in overcoming this, you ask? A centennial tradition and a once in a lifetime chance resting upon the accuracy of Sarasa’s impersonation of Andou-sensei (which turns out to be perfect). It was just last week when I found myself a bit disappointed with the lack of balance between relationships and the more artistic pursuits of the show, so I was more than pleased with how this week’s episode turned out.

For the first time, in one hundred years, the first year class will get to act during their lessons. Phantom (a.k.a Andou-sensei) splits his class in groups of four students and they all get a scene from Romeo and Juliet. What a nice treat! After a game of jan-ken-po (rock paper scissors) Kaoru gets the role of Romeo and Sarasa gets Tybalt. On the musumeyako side, Chika’s first impulse was to go for Juliet, but lacking self-confidence, the half of the Sawada twins opts for the role of Juliet’s nurse and thus leaves Juliet in the hands of Ai. In a hilarious turn of events we find out Ai can’t read kanji. What a character quirk, I laughed out loud with how unexpected it was.

We get to learn a bit more about Kaoru’s ‘uptightness,’ rooted in the familial pressure of being a third generation Kouka and we even get a nice moment between Ai and Kaoru. The girls performance, as one would expect of amateurs, has many areas in which they can improve, but much to the girls’ surprise, the hard hitting criticism lands in Sarasa’s lap. And I have a suspicion as to why: Sarasa is a copycat. Kitajima Maya from Glass Mask had this same crazy quirk about her, she would watch a scene from movie or a play and would be able to replicate the actor’s mannerisms and speech to perfection. The problem? The act of copying itself. So perhaps Sarasa’s journey will be one about finding her own voice as an actor, in pursuit of expressing her authenticity on stage. To make a character her own. 

RED ROSES

And since we’re on the topic of parallels between both series’, there’s no way I can’t address the elephant in the room! ‘Akai Bara no Hito,’ Red-Rose-Fan?! Seriously?! Ha! For those of you who don’t know, one of the MLs in Glass Mask is a 30 year old man named Hayama Masumi who uses the alias ‘Murasaki no Bara no Hito,’ or ‘Purple-Rose-Fan’ to display his support and affections for the main protagonist who is also in love with a young actor, same age as she. The major difference being that Kouzaburou and Akiya are siblings and Kouzaburou has been open about his actions regarding Sarasa, even if he only informs Akiya later on–in GM, the younger actor, Sakurakouji, is employed in Masumi’s theater troupe, their relationship is quite distant and no one knows about Masumi’s feelings towards Maya. So, I’m curious to see how this is going to develop. 

On other news, Ai’s also fighting for a spot in our starry-eyed blonde’s heart, and she’s won’t to lose to any ‘frog bot’! The girls’ friendship continues to evolve as we finally level up from Watanabe-san to Sarasa after a lovely birthday gift. Whichever direction the story goes, no matter which of the male leads end up with Sarasa, one thing is for sure, Narata Ai is here to stay and possibly share many a love story with her on stage. Have a good week everyone!

Full-length images: 36.

6 Comments

    1. Oops. I missed the rest of that sentence ha ha. I just added it now.

      But here it goes:

      “The major difference being that Kouzaburou and Akiya are siblings and Kouzaburou has been open about his actions regarding Sarasa, even if he only informs Akiya later on–in GM, the younger actor, Sakurakouji, is employed in Masumi’s theater troupe, their relationship is quite distant and no one knows about Masumi’s feelings towards Maya.”

      I meant to compare the male dynamics from both series’

  1. Ah I love this! Once I participated in a theater workshop, and believe me, I do well enough to get into character…. and I DID THE SAME MISTAKE! My teacher could not explain it very well, but I reasoned (with a headache lol) that to “play a character! it is not the same as “portraying one”. Owning a character as your own is a lot of work, and it delivers. And that is where the fun starts.

    My teacher also used to tell me other theoretical notions applied to theatrics as well, that I found fascinating (like how emotional recalling is not the best option when transmiting emotion, but rather other methods)

    Lovely really. Damn, I want to do theater again… =D

    Xanathos
    1. Wow! That sounds awfully interesting. Please, if you have any inputs for the next episodes I’d be really curious to know more about the theoretical/methodological aspects!

      I can only imagine how tricky it is to ‘own a character.’ I imagine the process would be very immersive and introspective, am I too far off?

      Aw, if that’s something you’re passionate about, it’s never too late to go back! Even if you have no intention of pursuing a professional career, giving yourself the opportunity to dedicate time for something you love often brings a sense of fulfillment that has immeasurable worth. It really seems like you enjoyed your time 🙂

      1. Simply put, you need to study carefully both the script (what you can get from it, as it is the main rule you have to follow, as you cannot deviate without permission) and the instructions of the director. Between that, you need to find the best way to express per instructions to the best of you acting and creativity. And most of the time at the beginning, IT WILL NOT WORK. Why? Because it’s a trial process. That’s why the director.

        As in everything, the director holds the vision of how it should look like. You can sell the director an act, but depends on him if iti is ok or not. The acting class I took was for a voice-over course, and in the recording booth it is the same: the best skill (my teachers tell me, anyway) it’s to have the open-mind, patience and endurance to try as many times IT NEED BE.

        Well, it was a basic workshop. But it was fun. 😅

        Xanathos

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