New-OSK in Trouble Date: 9/23/2007

The Teikoku Kagekidan of Sakura Taisen as everyone knows is based on a real style of theatre. Most people only know of the elements that are based on the biggest, grandest and first of the Kagekidan theatre's namely the Takarazuka Kagekidan, however a major inspiration for Sakura Taisen was the Shochiku Kagekidan of which Ouji Hiroi's aunt was a founding member. Even the location and design of the Teigeki's base of operations in Ginza is based off of the SKD's theatre. When cable TV was introduced to Japan in the 70s the popularity of the Kagekidan theatres began to wane, Takarazuka held on thanks to the steadfast support of it's parent company Hankyuu and the run away hit that was their adaptation of the Manga "The Rose of Versailles", the SKD and it's sister company the Osaka Shochiku Kagekidan were not so lucky and were disbanded. However the OSK rose again as the New-OSK with many smaller sponsors instead of one mega-sponsor. It has entertained fans for years but now it's in a bit of trouble; the New OSK has filed for the "corporate rehabilitation procedure", which from my understanding means that they have 2 months to come up with a plan to recover financially and 5 more months to prove to their creditors that they can pull it off. From what I've read on communities the OSK is already progressing on the way to being a healthy company once more but it still needs help. So if you've ever been interested to see what a real Kagekidan performance is like, or are already a Takarazuka fan but would like to experience something a little bit different maybe this is the time to check out what it's all about. I myself have only seen one New-OSK production so far "The Portrait of Lady Rain"; I've uploaded a clip to youtube and it is down below. If you're looking at purchasing more you can check out the Official Website and Official store. If you have any trouble ordering the goods Junklover at the New OSK Livejournal Community, would be glad to help you. By the way, a note of interest. The official flower of the Takarazuka Kagekidan is the Sumire (Violet) while Sakura is the flower of the OSK. I've always wondered if there was symbolism in making the Takarazuka flower the big Top Star of the Sakura Taisen world while the Sakura was the enduring, and hard working up and comer. Food for thought?