Takarazuka

Takarazuka is a unique form of Japanese theater over 95 years old; the original gimmick was to break the standard actor rules and have unmarried women perform all the roles. Yes, all the roles. The troupe is popular with female audiences, as the performances are usually very melodramatic and elaborately designed, with loads of gorgeous costumes. After the first year of being taught, actresses get placed into classes for their roles more or less exclusively: musumeyaku (woman's role) and otokoyaku (man's role). The latter are exclusively breeches roles, where actresses start to cut their hair short, wear pants rather than skirts, and speak with masculine pronouns, though some very versatile otokoyaku also play female roles.

While the shoujo concept of Bifauxnen is more or less derived from this, it's interesting to note that both roles are extremely popular with younger fangirls (apart from the main audience of women in their 30s to 50s). The obvious implications are not lost on people; many shows will make an overt joke on the tastes of said fangirls, although offically the troupe tends to avoid commenting on the phenomenon. Because of the way homosexuality is seen in Japan (i.e. fine among young people, but inappropriate once eligible for marriage), it's commmonly accepted that a young girl's first crush will be on a Takarazuka actress.

Also of note: Anime pioneer Osamu Tezuka's hometown is also the base of the Takarazuka theater troupe; Tezuka was a fan all his life, and wrote a clause into his will that left a small portion of his fortune to the company to help finance future productions. In turn, Takarazuka produced a musical based on his Black Jack in 1994.

Common tropes include:

• Actor Shipping
• Bifauxnen
• Costume Porn
• Fluffy Fashion Feathers
• Ho Yay
• Melodrama
• The Musical
• Peacock Girl
• Pimped-Out Dress
• Showgirl Skirt

Shows they have adapted:

References to them in fiction:

• One episode of Kimagure Orange Road opens with Kyosuke and Madoka watching a troupe that is clearly Takarazuka (or the in-universe equivalent) performing Gone with the Wind (last scene). Frankly, it's kind of bizarre.
• Ouran High School Host Club's rivals are the Zuka Club from Lobelia School. Tamaki's spiritual counterpart, the hilariously overdramatic Bifauxnen president Benibara is naturally Genre Savvy enough to immediately notice Haruhi is actually a girl and suggests she join their school instead. Naturally, Tamaki does not enjoy Benny's interest in Haruhi.
  • Benibara's own name is also a pun on the nickname of the most popular Takarazuka show, BeruBara.
    • Keep in mind who the seiyuu voicing Benibara is.
• Unlike the audience-surrogate Inner Senshi, Haruka and Michiru in Sailor Moon are essentially Takarazuka ports: Haruka is flirty, handsome, and extremely boyish while Michiru is mysterious, beautiful and willowy. Both look taller and older than the rest of the cast for no adequately explained reason.
  • This origin is lampshaded during a conversation in the first anime where Rei points out that Makoto's recent interest in Haruka seems a little overenthusiastic. Usagi quickly pulls a magazine from under Rei's bed with a Takarazuka model on the cover, a nod to Rei's longstanding Mistaken for Gay meme.
• The heroines of Sakura Wars perform as a Takarazuka troupe in their secret identities. The series contains several Shout Outs to the famous Takarazuka Revue which popularized this trope.
  • For instance, in the second OAV, action hero Shounen Red's motto is said to be "purely, properly, beautifully" — not exactly fitting, but it is the motto of the Takarazuka Revue. A number of the shows the Teikoku Kagekidan girls put on are also serial-numbers-filed-off versions of Takarazuka shows — Ai Yue ni (Because of Love) is at least partly based on Rose of Versailles, for example.
• In the anime version of Lucky Star, Hiyori likes putting Minami and Yutaka in Takarazuka otokoyaku and musumeyaku roles.
• Revolutionary Girl Utena is heavily influenced by this cultural phenomenon. Especially interesting on the meta-level when you realize the world of Ohtori is a stage.
  • Mawaru-Penguindrum, from the same creator, features a character named Yuri who's part of an acting troupe that's similar to but legally distinct from the Takarazuka. Their signature play is a Rose of Versailles expy, and her co-lead is very similar design-wise to Lady Oscar.
• In Only Yesterday, the narrator mentions that one of her older sisters was completely in love with a Takarazuka "actor".
• The first volume of the Wandering Son manga has a class put on a production of The Rose of Versailles with numerous references to the Takarazuka original — appropriate when you consider the series is all about gender issues.
• In the manga version of Oniisama e... minor members of the Sorority are based both name- and looks-wise on top Takarazuka actresses of the time.
• Anpanman has Shiratama-san. Despite being human-looking, she's actually a shiratama, a kind of rice cake used in fruit salad, which she has a tendency to give to new people. She's very dramatic, seeing the world as a stage. She always has a new idea for a show with her as the dashing lead, and has a tendency to try and rope other characters into performing with her. She's also one of the few people that doesn't see Baikinman as a villain. Instead, she thinks of him as a fellow actor, playing the villain role. She naturally wants him to be the villain in any of her new plays, but he wants nothing to do with her.
• Bifauxnen Lesbian Jock Jun Ōtori from Stop Hibari Kun is the daughter of an otokoyaku from a prominent Takarazuka-like theater troupe.
• One of the main characters in Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is Yuu Kashima, a tall, short-haired teenage girl who is known as the "prince" of her school's drama club. She pretty much exclusively plays male roles, and has a huge group of female admirers as a result.
• Grand Stage is a series of Otome audio dramas revolving around a fictional all-female acting troupe that is very obviously based on the Takarazuka Revue. The Audience Surrogate is a new musumeyaku who has just joined the group, while the potential love interests are all otokoyaku. Said love interests are mostly voiced by actresses best known for voicing male characters, like Megumi Ogata or the above-mentioned Mitsuki Saiga.
• One chapter of Pop Team Epic has a joke about the Takarazuka Revue doing an adaptation of the manga. An adult actress with tons of makeup on is shown portraying Popuko while singing dramatic renditions of the manga's jokes.

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