Original Color

I realize my Vox account is very new, but I'm hoping I'll be able to attract people to it soon.  This is mostly because I want to have good, thorough discussions over what I write.  I realize that Vox is quite different from LiveJournal, in that sometimes the capacity for group discussion and the desire to do so seems reduced.  However, I believe that a public venue like this is much more suited to my needs as someone who likes to think, discuss, write, and share.  While I'm still adjusting to the posting interface, I really love the layouts available.  They offer more readability than I'm used to.

That said, there's a topic I'm planning on discussing as soon as I can round up interested parties: Women and power in Japan.  I want to cover everything from subtle, somewhat unseen power in much earlier times, all the way up through today's OL culture and politics.  It's a risky topic, especially since I don't have a major library at my disposal.  I do think it would be interesting to get input from a variety of sources and to discuss it openly.  I usually focus on males in my studies because I'm annoyed with female stereotypes perpetuated in the West, but this is a topic I definitely want to examine, even informally.

If it happens, I imagine it will be well down the line.

Nothing else to post about now.  Off I go.

ETA: I really need to learn to check my spelling thoroughly.  I bet I'll catch another typo.

And a pleasant good evening to the people of Vox.

Today's random topic is Taishu Engeki--kabuki's everyman cousin--and kabuki itself.

I'm actually a decent fan of Saotome Taichi, who is one of the brightest young onnagata performers in Taishu Engeki these days.  He's beautiful in his male roles, but he's beyond stunning in his female performances.  I was first introduced to him via scans of his DVD booklet.  This was a little while after I went quite insane and bought Takizawa Enbujou, so I was still in the spirit of traditional performance and pounced on the opportunity to learn about a new performer.

There are plenty of clips of Saotome on the web and many promotional pictures, but I'm really taking a liking to his idol mag shots.  He's quite cute without the makeup; I've seen a few Japanese news/wide show announcers get very giddy over him simply because he's so adorable.  In interviews I've seen, he has a lovely, shy disposition, is a bit soft-spoken, but is clearly a professional.

It's in these idol mags that he'll talk about how he wants to pursue more male roles.  He knows he's good at the female roles, but he doesn't particularly like them; luckily, his stage presence is so radiant that I think he'll be able to do whatever he wants, in time.

Seeing his beautiful form and movements makes me miss being able to watch theater performances. I haven't had the opportunity to see much in the way of full-length traditional performances since my theater class, but I might start looking soon.  I'll randomly look up rakugo performances, omatsuri songs, shamisen and sanshin, the like, but I hate to watch kabuki or bunraku--just for example--clips.  I'd rather see entire performances.  I'm getting desperate over here.  Need more.  I have no access to a film library at the moment, though.  If I'm able to keep looking at pictures, at bits and pieces, I hope I'll continue to learn anyway.

Although the minor prompt for this was some sort of odd Saotome Taichi photo binge I went on last night, the major prompt is a lovely report on the first act of Takizawa Hideaki's Takizawa Enbujou 2008 Inochi (LOVE) as found at takki.us.  He has definitely amped it up this year, so I'm going to go quite insane if there isn't a DVD.

Enbujou 2006 is an absolute delight.  Act one is essentially ramped-up kabuki bits and traditional stories.  He does a mask sequence, a ghost sequence, Byakkotai, Chushingura, and a light onnagata sequence.  For his first attempt, it's remarkable.  He worked very hard to learn all of the styles for the onnagata portion, and though it still looked amateurish I considered it quite a feat for an idol.

Part two of the show picks up the tale of Yoshitsune, whom Takizawa played in NHK's 2005-2006 Taiga drama.  Again, it's amateurish at many points, but he has kabuki actors supporting him who really bring the work together.  It's updated, yet traditional.  And, as usual, the entire climax of the story takes place in the brief third section.  The final act of the show is a collection of Takizawa's pop tunes and dances, a real toe-tapper that showcases his voice.

[TV] 080407 sukkiri-tackey takizawa enbujo 08

Seasoned kabuki fans might initially frown at such a venture, but for those who are new to the genre or adventurous, I highly recommend Enbujou.  I'll probably recommend 2008 even more if it is actually released on video, because in the intervening two years (show ran in 2007 and this year) he has added stunts, greatly increased his traditional dance and acting abilities, and taken every opportunity to help his support actors (Johnny's Jrs) learn more about traditional styles.  The show now includes Takizawa putting on full white-face makeup live on stage prior to a Sagi Musume performance, a comic onnagata scene by Johnny's Jrs, and extended traditional costume/character sections.  And of course, as the show's success grows and continues, he'll get more money for the production and therefore better sets and costumes.  I think there are something like 32 costumes/changes for him alone in Enbujou 2006, and there are more now.

And it can't go without mention that Takizawa took on the dual role of Yukinojo/Yamitaro in Yukinojo Henge this past January, bringing his love of kabuki to the small screen.  Though there's a lot of over-acting, the costumes are amazing and Takizawa gives a rather impressive performance in his stage scenes.  What can I say?  This man made jidaigeki just that much prettier, and I can't get enough.

• Saotome Taichi's DVD "15sai" is available at YesAsia.
  
• The Regular Edition of Takizawa Enbujou 2006 is available at CDJapan, and you may run across the Limited Edition elsewhere--but you pay $20 more for prettier packaging.  There aren't any bonus features.  First press got a massive poster, though.
• Previews of both exist in the wide world of LJ, but I won't direct link unless requested.  LJSeek.com is a good resource and should turn them up.