{"id":1948,"date":"2015-01-15T22:02:17","date_gmt":"2015-01-15T14:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/?p=1948"},"modified":"2015-01-11T18:42:17","modified_gmt":"2015-01-11T10:42:17","slug":"37-zucca-x-zuca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/2015\/01\/15\/37-zucca-x-zuca\/","title":{"rendered":"37. Zucca x Zuca"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Zucca<\/a><\/p>\n

Takarazuka is a world that blows me away every time I get a glimpse of it. The sparkles. The glitter. The handsome otokoyaku. And did I mention the sparkles? The posters alone have a lot of sparkles and despite grabbing my attention each and every time, my only knowledge of Takarazuka is based on its relation to boys\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 love ((check Jennifer Robertson’s book on Takarazuka<\/a>)). Not that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a direct relation but the fanfare of women over the genderbending otokoyaku has often been cited as a cultural origin of girls\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 fascination for the androgynous bishonen. There are texts who would refute that claim, of course, but either way, Takarazuka looks and sounds like an awesome thing, right? In Zucca x Zuca<\/em> shows me what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like to be a fan of Takarazuka.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Zucca<\/a>
All the love for one’s favorite Takarasienne!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zucca x Zuca<\/em> is a webcomic that’s running in Morning\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s MOAE website. Haruna Lemon captures the world of Takarazuka fans as they celebrate, obsesses, and maybe cry over their favourite actresses and their performances in colourful and delightful comic strips. Her art is so cute! She captures the bright and sparkly facade of the genre without burdening us with the excess of the real thing. Sometimes, Takarazuka\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s excess can be crazy but as I learned in Zucca x Zuca<\/em>, a lot of the props and makeup seen in Takarazuka are actually handmade by the takarasiennes themselves! Fans would also recreate this in their homes, pretty much like cosplay sans the parading bit.<\/p>\n

\"Zucca<\/a>
Oh! Funky Sunshine! Solar Power wo Kanjite!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

One of the amusing things I read in the first volume was the continuous reference on a song with the lyrics \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Solar Power wo Kanjite\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Seriously, a song about solar power? With matching dance moves for every syllable!? This can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be real right? Well, I was wrong. It’s frakking real<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The most amusing part about Zucca x Zuca<\/em> is discovering the references mentioned in the comic. Rather than overwhelming me with glitter and feathers, the manga showed the grandeur and splendor of Takarazuka in bite-sized pieces. I am still tickled pink thinking about “Solar Power wo Kanjite\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and should I find a number of women waving their hands, I know what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in their head.<\/p>\n

\"Zucca<\/a>
The life and times of the Zukawota!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Despite Zucca x Zuca<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s immersion in the life of a Zukawota (so amused with this name!), it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not an overwhelming read for Takarazuka newbies like myself. The comic does have a bit of a glossary to explain some things (and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re closer to witty idiot\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s guide for the Takarazuka dummy!). And the comic itself is really lighthearted and funny!<\/p>\n

To a degree, I find myself relating to the Zukawota. While I may not know the exact references, I connect with their excitement, frustrations, and the quiet slips of their fandom in their normal lives. In many ways, the zukawota’s similar to the fujoshi. Day by day they struggle to live their lives both as a fan and as a woman. Like the teacher who named her groups based on Takarazuka groups. Or the girls who would sing Solar Power wo Kanjite on a really sunny day! Despite this attention to the unusual ways of the Zukawota, nothing of the series was condescending. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lovely read and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so glad Amazon recommended it to me. If anything, it makes me want to catch a Takarazuka show the next time I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m in Japan.<\/p>\n

Series Information<\/h3>\n

Zucca x Zuca by Haruna Lemon
\nSerialized in MOAE Website<\/a> (you can read this for free!) 
\nPublished by Kodansha
\nAvailable digitally via EbookJapan<\/a>, LineManga, AmazonJP<\/a>, and ITunes
\nAvailable in print via Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oh! Funky Sunshine~~!! Zucca x Zuca by Haruna Lemon is possibly the best manga for Takarazuka 101! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Oh! 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Zucca x Zuca is possibly the best manga for Takarazuka 101!","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[594,120,473,159,179,595],"class_list":["post-1948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-haruna-lemon","tag-kodansha","tag-josei","tag-morning","tag-seinen","tag-webcomic"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p26e5y-vq","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":921,"url":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/2012\/02\/27\/the-tale-of-three-tezuka-ladies\/","url_meta":{"origin":1948,"position":0},"title":"The Tale of Three Tezuka Ladies","author":"khursten","date":"February 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It's hard to imagine Tezuka with heroines. 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