If you missed the scans, you can find them here~

Finally, the first interview between “God” and the “Evil,”
Dark Takizawa and Angel Nishikido

「We’re revealing the poster and photo shoot of Takizawa Hideaki and Nishikido Ryo’s first collaboration drama, Orthros no Inu. Since the crank-in, the demon Ryuuzaki Shinji (Takizawa) who has the healing hands of God and the angel Aoi Ryousuke (Nishikido) who has the murderous hands of the Devil have started to quickly embrace their roles.

Takizawa-kun and Nishikido-kun were at a shoot where they were told to lift and pose with their hands (because their hands play an important role in this drama). The objective was to express a secret that is kept inside them, so they were each told to face the camera with their own different expressions.

In Takizawa-kun’s enthusiastic performance, he gave the strong impression of a charismatic, yet mysterious man. During the shoot, he was able to keep his face, pose and the atmosphere of the studio very intense. When the shoot ended, the staff said “That was very good ne” and Takki’s face lit up in a smile – his facial expression completely different from what it was a minute ago.

Meanwhile, Nishikido-kun, who’s character despises his own powers, presents himself with a sad expression. But when the staff said “try to look even sadder,” he smiled shyly and said “but its a little embarassing…”

The confrontation between Ryuuzaki and Aoi, who meet each other through a checkered destiny. The battle between them is coming soon!! 」

sugoi ne, Takki~ after watching this season’s Make Me a Supermodel, i have gained a lot of respect for models. Its a gift to be photogenic and to be talented enough to express strong emotions through your eyes…

仕事に集中しているタッキー、やっぱり素敵！(＞▽＜)

This is only a rough translation of the article in Anan #1640.

anan #1640

People: Special – Takizawa Hideaki

Takizawa Hideaki-san showed up alone in the cafe where we had this interview. (It doesn’t say here, but his manager O-T was in the hospital for surgery then) He seems so natural that it almost made us think that he doesn’t care of himself as a well-known big star. He looked relaxed and calm like an adult.

“No, I’m not fully grown-up yet. I’ve always wanted to grow up fast. But when I turned 20, I was disappointed in myself for being far from my vision. So, now I’m aiming for a good 30-year-old adult. I don’t feel comfortable with myself as a 26-year-old.”

“Honestly, I don’t know if I have built my career well. One thing for sure is that all the experiences that they’d let me have made me who I am now. However the work we do constantly needs progress. It’s important to keep reforming myself. It’s difficult but, once I start, I’d like to continue. When I work on one project, I always try to enjoy things that can be connected to the next project. That also creates my motivation.”

What does he hope to be like in his 30′s?

“If I can continue doing the things I like, am interested in, and that leads me to a real project, that would be perfect.”

Takizawa-san’s year 2009 starts from starring in his stage musical “Shinshun Takizawa Kakumei” at Imperial Theater. For him, the stage is exactly the place where he can do what he’s interested in.

“We are right in the middle of a preliminary meeting, so I can’t tell you the details yet, but I’d like to make the musical worthy of a New Year production, and a spectacular one that is also enjoyable.”

Previously, he has been showing various challenges like “flying” and “acrobat” on the stage of “Dream Boy” and “Takizawa Enbujo”.

“After doing it many times, the eyes of audiences tend to get used to it, and they are not going to be surprised anymore with just any ordinary directional technique. With that, I know I have to keep up to the level.”

Recently, he’s not only a performer, but a producer and a creator as well.

“My fans often tell me to stop working in the background, but I don’t think it is ‘background work’ at all. Instead, I’d be in the position to do what I want to do – almost 100%. Perhaps you can call it ‘a main character behind the scenes’. Anyway, I guess I love creating things after all… Since I can understand the feelings both as a creator and a performer, it helps me know what they are expecting of me during each job.”

Perhaps that’s why he doesn’t always push himself to the front. He knows where and when to step back. Sometimes he even makes way on the stage for his younger co-workers.

“I’m just doing it to make myself look better. It’s just like, a flower (in the center) looks more colorful if the surroundings are beautiful.”

He says so, but you can find generosity behind his words if you look deeply at how he is trusted by his younger co-workers. We really feel that he is a true man.

Translated by nyanco, edited by mich :)

I know it’s weird to start off my first translation of Takki’s Tokyo Walker essays with Vol. 17. Maybe I’ll slowly go back and translate the rest when I have time. But I cheated, coz I referred to the chinese translation when I overcame problems :P

Don’t you think that this is fresh? Vol. 17 (scan)

(Tokyo Walker 6/20~7/3)

“How are the schools like today?”

From this volume onwards, I’m thinking of using “School” as a theme for discussion. To suddenly mention “School”, everyone must be quite shocked, but recently if you’ve seen the news programs, do you find that there are more cases of youth crime? Youth younger than me are saying depressing things like “I have no dreams for the future”. The topic of “Young boys and young girls in our present society have very difficult lives”… Even after many years pass, I’ll still feel vague about it. Thus, just what kind of situation is the youth education in schools today, I am quite deeply in doubt… and I hope there will be a solution.

Although it happened many years ago, when I look back on my school days, the memories I have are making the teachers very angry (laughs). The reason might be having a strong feeling to oppose the teacher, when they have differing viewpoints, are biased, or they do not want to listen to what students are trying to say. Of course, not every teacher is like this, I have also met good teachers. By “good teacher”, I’ve since realised that there are a few.

Recently, who I feel is a “good teacher”, is none other than “Yankee Sensei” Yoshiie Hiroyuki (link). After I watched his documentary program, I was very touched. Usually I’m not the kind who cries easily, but I cried a lot. I even bought the DVD (laughs). It is really amazing to be able to capture your students’ hearts.

The next volume I will have a face to face talk with Yoshiie Sensei. Although I’m looking forward to it, I’m starting to feel the pressure… I’m really very nervous~ (laughs).

This week’s freshness:

The Takki who talks enthusiastically about “Yankee Sensei”, and who’s about to talk to him in person. At first it was “I want to have a chat with him’, then as the day approaches, Takki flinches instead “It’ll be great if I can just have one look at him…” (laughs) He shows a glimpse of being a fan. That is very fresh!

Ijou desu~~XD

I read uuu’s chinese translation of Top Stage and decided to translate it into English. Apart from the typo error (Takizawa Hiseaki… LOL~), I really love this mag!! Pics – check. Article – check. Since it’s doubly-translated, it might not be very accurate, but the essense should hopefully still be there…

Top Stage – July 2007 (Vol.47)
.
.

Want to create a regular stage production
Last year, he touched the hearts of the audience with a compelling performance on stage. This summer, Takizawa Hideaki will once again stage “Takizawa Enbujou”. This time it will be more complete and scaled up. We asked Takizawa, who has started preparations for it, how he is feeling now.

Carrying off from last year, I’m grateful to everyone for their support. This year, “Takizawa Enbujou” will also be staged at Shimbashi Enbujou. We have gone through a lot of discussion, and by the time you read this article, rehearsals should be underway.

Now I’m discussing with the staff on what our standpoint should be. If we can say it in a phrase, it should be “[Takizawa Enbujou] is back!” Like this. It will not be exactly the same as the previous one, but will also not be totally different. We will try to overcome the problems that we encountered last time and improve on them, to present a more complete piece of work. It should be something like this.

There were suggestions to create an entirely new piece of work but I personally feel that if that is the case, we shouldn’t be using the name “Takizawa Enbujou”. If it is a new piece of work, and if we still continue using this name, then it will lose its meaning. As long as “Takizawa Enbujou” is around, I will preserve whatever that needs to be preserved from the work that was created from scratch last year. But on top of that, I also hope that there will be elements of surprise and freshness for the audience. Rather than thinking of new ideas, I am more focussed on creating a stage that can only be seen in “Takizawa Enbujou”. I hope that it will become a regular piece of work.

More in detail. The 1st segment. Legendary stories in the history of Japan are usually presented in the form of Kabukis. This doesn’t change much, for eg. “Byakkotai” or “Taki no Shiraito” etc. Because content is rather similar, the focus will be on the way it is presented. There are also suggestions to increase the Kabuki presentation. Should we keep the old? Create new ones? There were differing opinions during our discussions. The final decision is, if we want to produce a Takizawa Kabuki, then we don’t have to adhere rigidly to any particular style. What will the final outcome be like? Although I’m not sure yet, the aim is to create a unique piece of work. Compared to the previous one, there might be a decrease in the number of scenes, but there will be scenes which will be more in detail and richer in performance. Specifically the Kurama scene at the end of the first segment – the battle in the rain. I want to strengthen this scene. We started our discussion with what should we do to strengthen this part. To power up the rain battle scene, the flying has to be “byun byun”. Crossdressing too, to power up, the esthetiques when entering the stage… I am lying actually (laughs)

The 2nd segment is “Yoshitsune”. Although it was announced that it will be a monologue, actually it is not entirely a solo performance. There will also be other supporting cast taking part. The importance is not in the number of performers. The main theme is different. In the previous one, it was the bond with mother and sister. It was about family love. This time the focus is on the relationship with older brother – Yoritomo. The emotional change Yoshitsune went through will also touch on family bond. It’s a men’s world.

I am aware of the media’s announcement that it will be a monologue (laughs). How shall I say this? Although I can’t say much now, during our discussions, there wasn’t any mention of a monologue. The day when the announcement was made, the staff and I were shocked as during our dicussions, our impression was that there will be a lot of people, quite different from a monologue. It isn’t solely a one-person show and me talking all the way. But for now, we have arranged for Yoritomo to be also played by me.

Therefore, I will have to appear alot in the 2nd segment (laughs). Now, I heard that I will not have to leave the stage. No matter how I think of it, I think it’s not possible (laughs) Yoshitsune is on the stage and there are different elements that will be added to the plot. This kind of monologue, compared to last time, Yoshitsune’s thoughts and feelings will be brought out more. The 2nd segment will undergo the most changes.

The 3rd segment is Show Time. Show Time is not only an extra. If possible, I want to add more significance and meaning to it. Now I am thinking about it… The 2nd segment last year was during Yoshitsune’s death. The theme of “Death” is a little dark. So this time, we will present this in a more positive way. Yoshitsune’s death will be portrayed in a brave light. The end of the 1st segment is when Ushiwaka enters the stage. The 2nd segment will show his growth to his death. The 3rd segment links to the Takizawa Hideaki now. The theme is Rebirth. On the way to rebirth, I will also sing “Venus”. I’m really sorry about that (laughs)

All in all, this will be a carefully planned piece of work. I am working hard now. There are still alot of unfinished work for “Takizawa Enbujou”. To me, just by being able to perform it evokes a lot of feelings in me. It is a very important piece of work to me.

There you go~ it’s loosely translated from the chinese translation, and you know how some stuff can be lost in translation ne~~ In any case, I’ll be back with more Enbujou~~ (Hikaru-kun mo ♥)!