Kageki Shojo!! (かげきしょうじょ‼)

The Coco review. This now famous theatre

company was founded during the Taisho era by Oizumi minoru,

part of a group of big name companies in Kobe.

The all female acting troupe was composed only of young unmarried women.

Their extravagant productions and dazzling performers stole the hearts of thousands.

None more so than the Otokoyaku actresses,

who were said to be more gentlemanly

than real men and earn the troupe huge swaths of female fans.

Years later, a school was established to

train the troupe's next big stars,

the Coco School of Musical and Theatrical Arts.

Its admittance rate is as low as Tokyo University,

with only the most lovely and talented

actresses offered a place on the roster.

Uh.

Um. Excuse me.

No.

You're not a cheap.

I'm sorry to bother you, but aren't you Nadachi from JWP?

Oh, I didn't mean to intrude. I'm such a huge fan.

I had to come over and say hi.

It was so awful how they forced

you out of the group like that.

But I know if you keep on trying,

you'll come back even stronger than before. Oh, I'll.

Stand you forever, Nodachi, no matter what happens. Good luck out there.

No, I can't take it. Someone help! I.

Touching. Whoa!

Hey, what's the matter? A fan touched my shoulder. A male fan.

I got you. But don't worry. Doesn't

look like he's followed you here.

They showed up at my sister's place.

It's your results from the first round of Koka admissions.

Well, what's it say? I made it. Just need to pass one more.

And after that, it's two years without any men.

Not only students go to school, I.

There are teachers there too, you know, male ones like me.

That doesn't count. You're different. I know. Now let's go home.

I hear sarissa made it past the first

round of admissions for Koka. That's hard work for you.

Koka is that acting troupe right where

they do all that? Singing and dancing.

Of course she'd make it. Apple doesn't

fall far from the tree after all.

Now, honey, don't you go mentioning that

in front of Grandpa Ken, please.

Just cause they wear fancy costumes doesn't make it cute, you idiot.

That's not the point. There's some things

Grandpa Ken doesn't need to be reminded about.

Fine. Calm down, will you? What's this? Huh? A lot.

Of commotion. Oh, there you are. We heard

your side got past the first round for Koka.

That's quite an achievement. I missed you both.

Hmm. Goodness. Is that why you're all

here? To celebrate? Thoughtful of you.

Well, don't just stand there. Come on in. Hey, Sarasa.

You won't get an answer. I don't

think she's here. She's not Sarasa.

Well, grandma, this is what I've been waiting for.

I was given the gift of being born a girl.

So I'm going to give it everything I've got and then some.

So many hopeful applicants, all vying to join

the great Coco School of Musical and

Theatrical Arts in its centennial year.

As part of its historic 100th class.

So how many applicants did we get this year?

1135, if you believe it, only the top

200 girls made it through to today, though. Pretty crazy huh?

Of these, just 40 candidates will be offered

admission and they all want it.

Got to be eager to show up an hour early.

They'd be a bit less eager if they

knew what kind of nightmares in store

for the ones who do get in.

Look, that's Miyuki Hakuho. She was a musumeyaku in the flower troupe.

That'll be her daughter, then. Kaoru Hoshino.

If she gets in, that'll make three straight generations of Coco actresses.

She got passed over for admission the last two years.

She definitely heard what you were saying.

That was quite the glare. Oh look sama Sugimoto

Makoto review nerd who got the top

score in the first round? Yep.

And she's also an award winning ballerina

with a world famous troupe. Yeah.

Ditching prima ballerina for Koka actress. That's a choice.

Whoa. Hold on a sec. I think I'm seeing double.

Those are twins, right? That makes more sense.

And here I was wondering why the same girl had applied twice.

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Put on your teacher face. It's time to get serious.

Um, I'm very sorry. Please excuse me.

Well, that one looks normal. No one

who applies here is truly normal. Especially. Where is she?

Oh, looking for her. She's a special kind of not normal. Yep.

Gives new meaning to the word odd.

I bet she didn't make it past the first round, huh?

Look at that. Wait. Well, look, that's.

I nodded to the former J-pop idol.

Whatever. Apparently she told a fan he was

a creep straight to his face.

It turned into a whole thing, and they kicked

her out of the group after she got canceled online.

It's fine. And now she's going for a Coke. That's so wrong.

I'm fine. I don't care what anyone says about me.

I trained for this. Nothing can hurt

you if you don't feel anything. Oh.

Look at your cute little niece. She's

real interested in the cherry tree, huh?

Not good. Forget about the stupid tree. I stay back.

Your own family. And you didn't warn her about the curse?

Beautiful. Are you alone to. Such incredible beauty?

Yet no one wants to bask in it.

Excuse me. Hey. Think I can get a picture?

Her limbs were long. And lithe, graceful and elegant.

Her eyes were full of sparkling stars.

And she was so terrified. Hello, I'm Sarasa Watanabe. I'm 15.

You're really tall. Yeah.

Is that your applicant ticket up there?

No worries, I got it.

No way. She just jumped straight up

without bending her knees or anything,

and she landed in the exact same place.

Her core strength must be insane. All right.

There you go. You can thank me by taking my picture.

Here. Huh? Oh, sorry. This one's the camera app. See?

Hold on a sec. I'm taking a picture of you.

Right. I want to get a good

one with the cherry tree behind me.

Grandpa can have to work today, so he couldn't come.

But I can still show him pictures.

Wow. Seriously, how do they not know about the curse?

As the rumor goes, if you stand

beneath the cherry tree before admission and you have

no hope of ever becoming the top

star in one of Coco's troupes.

Okay, take one from over here. Next. Huh?

Let's get one from this angle.

Another? On that fateful day under the

cherry tree, I met Sarasa Watanabe.

A toast to your successful admission.

That weird girl. How'd she manage to make it?

In which weird girl? The tall one. Sara saw something or other.

Applicant's attention, please. We will now present

the Coca School's 100th class. Are you ready?

No real surprise that I got in.

A rotten fish is still a fish. But what about her?

Congratulations on your admittance. You should be very proud.

I am Vice Principal Haruhiko Oizumi, and

I am here to talk to you.

Empty chairs on either side. Everyone's avoiding me.

I'm so. Sorry. I am late, but I was talking

to Grandpa Ken on the phone and it took like, forever.

Oh, good.

Anybody sitting here? Yes. My invisible friend. Loudmouth.

Hey, cool. You took my picture with the cherry tree.

Of course. Cherry tree. You made it in two.

That's awesome. She really doesn't recognize Nodachi.

I thought everyone knew J.P.. Well, maybe

her family doesn't have a TV or the internet. Or maybe.

She's only pretending she's. Gonna hear you guys.

I feel like such a dummy. I told you my name,

but totally forgot to ask what yours is.

That's okay though. You can tell me now, and I'll continue.

With you two. Done talking. What?

Really? Why the hell did they let her in first?

You're not rotten. Okay, so stop talking like that.

It's unusual though. You taking an interest

in others? I'm not interested in her.

You asked why they let her in.

It was on the recommendation of two instructors,

Mr. Rando and Mrs. Ohgi. The acting and history teachers.

She isn't a typical candidate. But this is our centennial year, right?

What better time to mix things up