Takarazuka Revue & Revue Starlight (Part 2) | (Not Quite) Daily Show

[@armany1999]

Maybe the giraffe is a reference to Little Hans' dream, a famous Freudian (psychoanalytic) case. Freud interpreted the giraffe in one of Hans' dreams as a representation of his father, the long neck of the giraffe representing the long penis of his father as well as the towering figure of the giraffe representing the image of authority his father has along with his penis. As you've pointed out, the giraffe only resides in a sort of dreamland that is the secret underground auditions chamber. The words ‘dreamland’ and ‘secret’ perfectly capture the nature of subconscious imageries that are the main subjects of psychoanalytic analysis. These images are hidden representations of unconscious fears and desires. So maybe Revue Starlight is utilising a phallic symbolism for authority (possibly also patriarchy) with this giraffe. When Karen is first introduced to the giraffe, she looks up at a towering figure giving a dramatic speech (in a bass male voice associated with authority) and is intimidated by all the things happening around her. Later, when she gathers determination, she presses down the giraffe’s neck and steps on his head to make her entrance. The giraffe is, for a moment, not intimidating at all. Behind the coolness, there lies a theme of defying authority to follow one’s own path, which adds to the coolness in my opinion. So far, the big dictation of the authority is that only one person can be the top star and it’s a matter of course to accept that and compete with others like your life depends on it. Karen rejects this ideal and challenges it by fighting for shining with others (especially Hikari-chan), but it seems for now she is still not revolutionary and determined enough, things that need time and experience.

[@DanteObscuri]

I think there's more to just being able to make full use of the stage to determine who wins these underground auditions. For one, during ep2 Junna made a much better use of the stage than Karen, but she still lost. So, I think what determines who wins the audition is the performer's passion, and how pure this passion is. For example, Junna was clearly passionate about becoming Top Star, yet she couldn't beat Karen, because unlike the latter Junna had many doubts that made her make bad decisions, such as hiding herself during her audition with Karen, which was synonymous with losing the spotlight, and thus her defeat. Another good example is how Hikari, despite having been presented as this highly skilled performer who trained in England, faced a hard time and could have even lost against Junna, during their audition in ep1. The reason why I think that's a good example is because, when we saw the full rankings in ep3, Hikari's ranking was 8th. Of course, if the rankings represented wins or losses at the underground revue, Hikari's ranking would make sense since her duel ended up in a no-contest due to Karen's involvement. However, what wouldn't make sense is Karen's ranking, considering she has, at least, 1 valid victory. Yet, Karen is ranked 9th, whereas Junna, who lost to Karen, is ranked 7th, and even Hikari who doesn't have a victory as far as we know is ranked above her. So, I'm thinking the ranking doesn't represent wins and losses, but motivation. Thus, Karen is 9th because after having been completely overwhelmed by Maya, who also even questioned the strength of her motivation, she just lost all confidence and thus her passion and motivation were highly affected. This could also explain why Hikari couldn't beat Junna, even though in real life Junna doesn't seem to be particularly skilled (despite her hard work), whereas Hikari was presented as someone very talented; and that's because, as the rankings showed us, Hikari has very little passion about this play. Why? I suppose we'll learn this much later and I'm assuming this is going to be connected to why she's trying to prevent Karen from participating in these underground auditions.

[@Ethernialol]

I think Hikari just in denial when it comes to what she really wants to do. It's not about this auditions in general, but more about how she views herself and her relationships with Karen. I could be wrong, though.

[@kylec8015]

I personally didn't see Junna's loss (Karen's victory) in episode two as dealing directly with either of their performances, their ability to use the surroundings to their advantage, their maneuverability, or even their passion. Instead these aspects were in my view, only a pretext for a necessary story element. In her first battle in episode one, Junna faced loss and didn't take it very well at all (as seen in the first half of episode two). That being said, when she is again put into a confrontation in episode two, she really didn't have any other other choice but to lose. Which would be better?: That she win and not put anything she learned into practice? Or that she lose again, but this time demonstrate her progression by taking the loss in stride and moving forward, in an effort to better herself? To me, it seemed clear before the fight started.

[@NearlyOnRed]

I suspect that it will be a combination of: talent, effort, or desire. How well anyone does will be some kind of trigonometry between these aspects (it actually has this in common with Hanebado). Talent counts for a lot, and sometimes effort is not enough to overcome it (Claudine over Maya or Juuna over Karen). However, talent is not enough by itself, as we can see from Hikari's example (she lacks desire if we believe what Maya said about her). Karen wasn't even in the underground revue initially; her desire seems to be linked to Hikari. She was someone who didn't care about the starring role or getting out of bed on time....UNTIL Hikari re-entered the picture and Karen was reminded of what she originally wanted. Agree that the 'leader board' is not some kind of win-loss record. Something else is going on there. Actually, something else is going on in general I think. Hikari is determined to keep Karen out of the contest, and I wonder if taking her place was just why Hikari returned. Combine that with Maya's comments about sacrificing Claudine, and I start to wonder if something sinister is going on, if there are perhaps more consequences than is obvious to us right now. Anyway, the 'making use of stage' is definitely not all of it, but I felt like their 'magic' seemed to be related to this. Correctly leveraging all the things available to them is just the kind of thing to separate stages actresses from one another, and this could be visually represented to us in the audience with the dramatic and fantastical way the girls make the stage elements obey their whims during their duels.

[@Ethernialol]

About the stage usage. You could notice how when girls starting manipulate the stage the stone on their weapon starts glowing. I think it is some kind of "activator" but what actually make it work we don't know(how girls even know they could do that in the first place? Karen sure doesn't know.) For how long have been happening this auditions? Sure they don't start them with Hikari appearance. Junna implies that all necessary stuff in the mail, but even she stars reasearching giraffe. That's actually something that never happened in Ikuhara works, which in known for using this kind of symbolism(and the director of Starlight is Ikuhara pupil). The moment when characters start questioning weird evens and not just accept them for granted viewer should question them too, so I'm looking forward to how they're gonna explain all this stuff in the future.

[@roblochon]

>[...] will help us all get centered on this series [...] Position zero!

[@Ethernialol]

There are some elements that important specifically to Starlight. 1. The stage play itself has only 8 roles in it, while there are 9 girls, including Hikari. Addition of a new girl creates new tension, that's why Banana has to step out from the stage to deescalate potential conflict. There is probably much deeper meaning in Banana decision but I won't be able convey my whole thoughs about it in the comment format(and with my broken english). On the other hand, Top Star Tiara have 9 gems in it, so inclusion of Hikari in the whole battle royale was... how should I put it... predetermined? 2. Fated couple. All cast girls forming clear pairs, so you could say they're not only fighting for themselves, but rather to play that fated couple with their "beloved one". It's especially true for Karen, as it's her childhood dream, but other girls wanted to share spotlight with their pair as well. On the other hand the story of Starlight stage play is tragic, the fated couple cannot be together. It's a story about separation.

[@NearlyOnRed]

1. Yeah, and even though Banana seems to be stepping aside...there are still 9 slots on the leader board. I also think that something else is going on with her, and she has been unusually interested in what the other girls are doing or how they interact with one another. 2. Fated couple even has the 'red string of fate' from the sewing machines during the transformation sequences. I wonder if the nature of them being mechanized/assembly-line makes a difference here. As in, if they are a 'manufactured fate' rather than a 'natural fate,' and might therefore be subject to being overturned. I agree that Starlight itself is going to have a theme of separation, and if the context was allowed to run its normal course, then maybe it ends in the separation foreshadowed. However, Karen is the fly in the ointment; she is intended to make EVERYONE be on stage, somehow, and I am guessing that means all 9 of them somehow. That said, everyone has a different reason/motivation for being in the underground audition, so I wonder how much Karen could even conceivably do on her own; sorting out everyone's wants/desires/goals is probably going to be the meat of the conflict, if I had to guess.

[@Ethernialol]

The thing I don't like about "everyone could become a Top Star" is the sudden implications it creates. You see... In Takarazuka Revue it's either all, or nothing. You either fight to become a Top Star or accept that you'll never be one. In a general European theather environment you can become the star of the theatre but there are no strict rules like "only one person could become a star" and depending on the performance you could share spotlight with others or achieve something for themself. But there are one type of performance where everyone truly a star - that is an idol show. Idols could share stage with others, sang shared songs and generally be equal. Some of them could be more popular than the others but it's more a subjective matter than a flaw of the system that force you to like only one star. So by saying "we will all became stars" it's almost like show trying to say "screw the theather, just became idols instead". But "becoming an idol" is not the solution, system still exist, you are just not part of it. What if I don't want to be an idol, but want to stay in theather? Are you trying to deny the whole competitive nature of theather(which is exist everywhere and not just in Takarazuka) and going for an easy solution? I really hope series does not imply it that way.

[@kawaiiggk2558]

1.Actually the 9th girl is Karen,b'cuz without Karen who jumping in,Hikari cant stay on Starlight

[@kawaiiggk2558]

But,i agree with you

[@kawaiiggk2558]

2.Yup,same here :D but mahiru doesnt included,she didnt have a couple b'cuz karen already have hikari :D

[@wyuhin5000]

Wonderful primer into Takarazuka. It's interesting to see the connections between theatre, idols, magical girls, and anime. Indeed, the giraffe is quite a mystery. I do have a personal theory on its possible significance, that the giraffe might be representative of a qilin (which is called 'kirin' in Japanese, and so does giraffe). In fact, qilin were historically believed to be giraffes in actuality. In Chinese mythology, it's the animal that serves as a kingmaker that is appears before kings and sages. Similarly, the giraffe appears before Karen (which led me to initially consider her as chosen by the kingmaker). But then again, in later episodes, other characters also interact with the giraffe. Additionally, in the stage play version of Revue Starlight (which was produced before the anime), the giraffe is unseen to the main cast (only a minor character ever interacted with the unseen giraffe). =

[@odjn5157]

Really solid couple of videos.

[@matthewk320]

Odjn i am really impressed.

[@BillErak]

Absolutely fantastic couple of videos. This is exactly what I expected of these short type videos and you're nailing it. So glad Starlight won.

[@sbaster]

the troupe names are the different types of girls on the mobile game, which is amazing!

[@htsn39]

I also noticed it! I got so baffled at seeing that even something simple had such big context... Well, this applies for the whole series tbh lol

[@Ifritcrisis]

Thank you so much for this!!

[@LovelyYTRocks]

Really good analysis, just started watching this series myself.

[@LordKoKuyou]

The video part 1 was great and so is this one. You're really nailing it Th8a.

[@garfield15]

This is good stuff my dude

[@claresaprama499]

9:08 that Violet light again.

[@Joseito1875]

Great analysis! Your channel was a nice discovery. I love how this anime is getting the appreciation it deserves. Do you analyze manga too?

[@HerrKestas]

Did anyone notice deteriorating machinery during Karen's transformation sequence in ep2 and 3?

[@Ethernialol]

I rewatched it few times and it's mostly identical. There is probably one shot when they added more rust in episode 2, and it could easily be animation error/inconsistency due to the production time constraints, but episode 1 2 and 3 just have different timing with some missing shots. This type of sequences rarely getting redrawn, cause it's really hard to do in the long run, and they on itself could be considered budget saving feature.

[@HerrKestas]

forging machine got more rusted and sword blade got impurities in them. I quess we need to wait for more episodes to see if anything changes or so , but i still think it means something.

[@kylec8015]

That's an interesting idea. Kinda ominous...