What is Kageki Shojo?
"Kageki Shojo!!" is a Japanese manga series by Kumiko Saiki. It was serialized as "Kageki Shojo!"" in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Jump X from 2012 to 2014 and was collected in two tankลbon volumes. It was later re-released as "Kageki Shojo!! Season Zero" (Kageki Shojo!! The Curtain Rises in English) in a single tankลbon volume by Hakusensha in March 2019. A sequel manga by Saiki has been serialized in Hakusensha's josei manga magazine Melody since 2015. It has been collected in twelve tankลbon volumes. The re-release and the sequel are licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment. An anime television series adaptation produced by Pine Jam aired from July 4th to September 26th 2021. As of June 2021, The series has accumulated over 1 million copies sold, including digital-only editions."
(Source: Wikipedia)
(Source: Wikipedia)
Story
"Ever since she was a little girl, Sarasa has wanted to play the role of Oscar as part of the Kouka Acting Troupe, an all-female acting troupe similar to Takarazuka Revue. But before she can do that, she has to attend two years at the Kouka School of Musical and Theatrical Arts. As Sarasa practices singing, dancing, and acting, she grows closer to the other girls in her year, including her roommate, the stoic former J-idol, Ai. Though Sarasa is great at making friends, her outspoken nature and grand ambitions earn her lots of enemies as well. Can Sarasa keep her upbeat attitude and achieve her dream of stardom?"
(Source: Seven Seas Entertainment)
"Ai Narata, a former member of an idol group called "JPX48," applies and gets accepted into the prestigious Kouka School of Musical and Theatrical Arts (whose annual admission is no bigger than 40) to become a stage actress. She tried to travel incognito in order to get to the school without drawing attention, although her cover gets blown. Her fame (and associated controversy that caused her "early graduation") preceded her upon reaching the school, making her an outcast from the get-go. And just as she is attracted to the "cursed" sakura tree within the campus, a tall girl reached out for her ticket that got blown into one of the tree's branches, then asked her if she could take a picture of her under the same tree. But Sarasa Watanabe, the tall girl, earned some stares from the people gathered at the courtyard--which includes the daughter of a family of stage actors and one who passed on becoming a prima ballerina in favor if enrolling at the school--when she declared her intent to become the "top star" someday."
(Source: Wikipedia)
Glossary
Kouka Theater Troupe: Founded a hundred years ago as a theater troupe comprised of young, unmarried women. Split into four troupes (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter). Main theater is in Kobe.Otokoyaku/Musumeyaku: Designated roles for the gender of characters actresses play. Otokoyaku actresses play male or masculine characters, while musumeyaku actresses play female or feminine characters.
Top Star: The actress who heads her troupe. Each troupe has an otokoyaku top star and musumeyaku top star. Top stars appear in every major production.
Kouka School of Musical and Theartrical Acts: Two-year prep school where the next stars of the Kouka Troupe are forged. Girls can apply anytime between 9th and 12th grade!
First-year Students vs. Second-year Students: While first-year students primarily focus on their studies, second-year students are tasked both with their studies and mentoring the first-year students, as well as managing their cleaning schedule and helping them with lifestyle adjustments.
Characters
Sarasa Watanabe
(Voiced by Sayaka Senbongi, known for Haru from Beastars and Kikuri from Bocchi the Rock). Aged 15 (at the start of the story), 178cm tall, and the protagonist of our story! She's an aspirant at the Kouka School who stands out of among the rest of the Kouka students, and not just because she's the tallest student in the school. She dreams of playing Lady Oscar one day and strives to aim for the top.
Sarasa has a bubbly personality, being friendly towards those who cross her path and openly affectionate of those she's close with. However sometimes her brashness can sometimes stray into being inadvertently tactless. She's a big fan of anime, manga, and period dramas, and she's always ready with an anime reference in any conversation.
While learning Japanese dance at the Shirakawa household, She aspired to become a kabuki actor, not knowing that kabuki is an all-male form of theatre, and was eventually forced to give up her childhood dream when faced with that reality. She hadn't studied vocal music and ballet for long before entering Kouka, but she made up for her lack of experience with an innate ability to copy other performer's gestures perfectly, using the fundamentals she's developed through Japanese dance as a tool to forge her future.
Ai Narata
(Voiced by Yumiri Hanamiori, known for Shin Sato from Cinderella Girls and Ryuji Ayukawa from Blue Period) Aged 16. Nicknamed "Naracchi." She is a former idol who is expelled from her group because of her trust issues with men and she applied at the Kouka School to escape her past. She suffers from androphobia due to childhood trauma.
Ai always had a strained relationship with her mother while growing up, who treated Ai like a burden. Ai withdrew into herself, becoming apathetic and skipping school. Only her uncle seemed to care, and once she confided in him, he took her under his wing. The lingering influence of her trauma means she continues to keep to herself and tries to not get involved with others, a subconscious attempt to protect herself from further harm.
While out, she always wears a face-mask and avoids wandering, abiding by the social rules of any given situation to minimize her interactions with others. She joined JPX because it's an all-female group, while holding no real interest in idols or idol-culture, not realizing she'd have to personally interact with the male fans. After being forced to graduate, she joined Kouka Academy because of the exclusion of male performers and the primarily female fanbase. Over the course of the story she learns to lower her walls to others and develops a deep-felt passion for stage acting.
Sawa Sugimoto
(Voiced by Sumire Uesaka, known for Anastasia from Cinderella Girls and Lum from the Urusei Yatsura remake) Aged 16. She is the class representative of the Centennial Class. Being a huge Kouka fan (a Kouka nerd, otaku if you will) she enrolls at the Kouka School, skipping her chance to become a prima ballerina.
Sawa is a calm and dependable committee chairperson who passed the entrance examination with the top score. With her steadfast and diligent personality, she makes for a strong class leader and keeps her composure in most situations, except when it comes to Kouka-related issues (to the point of getting a nosebleed when seeing a top star in person).
Ayako Yamada
(Voiced by Riko Sasaki, known for Daia from Kiratto PriโChan) Aged 16. Nicknamed "Aya." She's timid, shy, and plagued with anxiety over her weight. She almost quit the school due to the pressure. Despite that, she is one of the most talented performers in the Centennial Class.
She is arguably the best singer in her class, but isn't very confident in herself, considering that many of her classmates have trained all their lives to be on stage (e.g. Sawa's family running a ballet studio, Sarasa doing kabuki as a child, and Kaoru being a third-generation Kouka applicant). She worries about a difference in abilities compared to her classmates.
Kaoru Hoshino
(Voiced by You Taichi, known for Ayanami from Azur Lane and Hephaestion from Fate/Grand Order) Aged 18. She is the daughter of a second-generation Kouka actress. Unlike her grandmother and mother, who played female roles as musumeyaku at Kouka Revue, she aspires to play male roles as an otokuyaku. She auditioned for Kouka three years in a row until finally being accepted during her third-year of high school. Because of her repeated attempts to get in and her esteemed family background, she works extra hard to prove herself, striving to maintain a higher level of professionalism than her peers.
She takes her training as a Kouka student very seriously, to the point of scolding her classmates for letting themselves get tanned during the summer instead of taking care of their skin, and snapping at suggestions that might tarnish the prestigious image of Kouka academy.
Chika & Chiaki Sawada
(Voiced by real-life twin sisters Satsumi and Risae Matsuda, known for Hoshi Shouko from Cinderlla Girls and Hakumei from Hakumei to Mikochi respectively) Aged 16. They've been inseparable since birth, in-sync with everything, including their hopes and dreams. This is in spite of their differing personalities, with Chiaki being energetic and outgoing while Chika is reserved and introverted.
Inspired by the bunny lady twins they saw in a Kouka performance, they auditioned for Kouka together, but initially only Chika was accepted. This devastated Chiaki, so much that she didn't leave her room for three days. To console her sister, Chika decided to defer her admission to Kouka so they could try again the next year. This becomes a source of resentment from Chika towards her sister, as it was a major sacrifice and significant risk, since there's no guarantee they would accept her or Chiaki on their second try.
Gallery
official art
(from kumiko saiki's twitter)
(work in progress images, also from kumiko saiki's twitter)
stitches
(click for fullsize)
fanart
(click for sources)
Misc.
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