shoujo kageki revue starlight, episode 1 script

[feralphoenix]

the official subs for revue starlight are a hot mess, so clearly it falls to me to do something about it. this is my own translation and is not made for profit.

CAVEAT: all of the dialogue and song lyrics are translated by ear except the opening and ending songs, and there may be small inaccuracies because of that, but i guarantee you that this is closer than the official subs. simulcast subbing is a complete disaster though, so at least forgive the official subbers for banana's lines pre-episode 7.



Episode 01: Stage Girls

KAREN
Starlight. It’s the story of goddesses guided by the light of a star. They clash, they quarrel, they misunderstand one another, but they still form close bonds.

BABY KAREN
Ooh…

HIKARI
But in the end they’re torn apart, never to meet again. It’s a sad story.

KAREN
The story of those eight women is so compelling we can’t help but be captivated by it.

HIKARI
We can’t help but be driven by those eight women’s songs.

KAREN
Let’s go… to that stage. Let’s become shining stars, together!


MAHIRU
Ahhhh… Karen-chan, wake up! It’s time to go! You can’t AFFORD to be late today, remember? Karen-chan, c’mon!!

[note on calendar: Day Duty]

KAREN
Mwuh?

MAHIRU
Ugh!! You told me to wake you up, so at least get up when I wake you!

KAREN
Kay…

MAHIRU
It’s not like I’m going to be around to drag you out of bed FOREVER, okay?

KAREN
Kay? Sorry…?

MAHIRU
All right! Let’s go!

KAREN
Ah! Mahiru-chan, stop…

MAHIRU
Huh?!

KAREN
Unngnghghgngg…

MAHIRU
Eh? Ehhhhhhhhhhh?! Karen-chan… did we REALLY have to come all the way back for it…? …Good morning, Karen-chan.

KAREN
Yeah, good morning!


KAREN
All right… FIRST!!!

KAREN
Seishou Music School, 99th class! Class seat 01, Aijou Karen! Ready to start! Stage center, Position Zero… Yeah! Mahiru-chan, c’mon! Let’s stretch.

MAHIRU
Okay! Class seat 17, Tsuyuzaki Mahiru… Ready to start!

KAREN
Concentrate from your thighs to your butt…

MAHIRU
I cant, it’s too hard!

JUNNA
Oh, it’s open.

KAREN
‘Course it is! Today I’m assigned to day duty, after all!

JUNNA
Aijou-san… Last time you overslept and showed up last, didn’t you?

CLAUDINE
I never thought the day would come that Karen would wake up on time!

KAREN
That’s a non non to you! Aijou Karen the Stage Girl is evolving day by day! I’m newer and better than I’ve ever been before!

MAHIRU
Eheheheh… Ah!

BANANA
Oh, Karen-chan, you’re so silly. You were only able to get up on time thanks to Mahiru-chan. Isn’t that right?

MAHIRU
Oh, Banana-chan, you’re the only one who understands what I have to go through!

BANANA
Of course I understand. It’s obvious, since I know you all so well!

FUTABA
C’mon, wake up already! Kaoruko!

KAORUKO
How boorish to interrupt a maiden’s slumber!

FUTABA
Oh, knock off the sleep-talk already! Even Karen’s awake.

KAORUKO
How dreadful.

KAREN
You’ve got it hard too, don’t you, Futaba-chan? With such a sleepyhead for a roommate…

FUTABA
I don’t wanna hear that from you.

KAORUKO
Hey! How dare you drop me like that! What do you think you’re doing?!

MAYA
Good morning, everyone. Class seat 18, Tendou Maya. Ready to start.

CLAUDINE
Class seat 11, Saijou Claudine. Ready to start~

JUNNA
Class seat 25, Hoshimi Junna. Ready to start.

KAORUKO
Class seat 22, Hanayagi Kaoruko. Ready to start.

FUTABA
Class seat 2, Isurugi Futaba. Ready to start.

KAREN
All right! Today’s all good!

SAKURAGI
All right. Is everyone here?

ALL
Yes ma’am!

KAREN
Year 2, group A, actors’ education class 28! No absences! Everyone, bow to the teacher!

ALL
Good morning, ma’am!

SAKURAGI
Good morning, class.

KAREN
Seishou Music School… this is a girls’ school with a proud hundred-year history. It was founded to raise new talent to perform in the theatre industry. The actors’ education class, group A, studies singing, acting, western and Japanese dance to polish our skills of expression every day; group B, the stage construction class, studies direction, scriptwriting, costuming, and large prop design, as well as other specialized knowledge required to produce plays. We, the 99th class, have chosen to live by the stage out of love for the stage. That’s right… you could call us Stage Girls! We’re a team who works to put on plays together, and at the same time, we’re all rivals on the path to stardom!

MAHIRU
Wow… what a delicious-looking Banana-chan Lunch!

BANANA
Ehehe. There’s plenty for everyone, okay?

KAREN
We’re finally done with lessons.

MAHIRU
Karen-chan… We still have afternoon classes, remember?

KAREN
What’s our first one, again?

MAHIRU
Umm… It’s English.

KAREN
English, huh… I’m totally gonna fall asleep… Huh? Hoshimi-san!

JUNNA
Here you go.

KAREN
Ooh, Seishou Fest!

JUNNA
We need to get working.

KAREN
Ehh? But it’s not until next year.

JUNNA
We could have all the time in the world, but it still wouldn’t be enough. There’s so much we have to do.

FLYER
To the ladies of the 99th class:
AUDITIONS FOR THE 100th SEISHOU FEST
Let us take this celebrated stage to demonstrate our growth and take this play to the next level—
99th class, second performance:
DRAMA “STARLIGHT”
We’re opening auditions for the main cast, so please come prepared.
OUTLINE: 100th Seishou Fest, 99th class’s second performance of Starlight
Stage director: Masai Kiriko, Script: Amemiya Shion

Main Cast:
Claire, Flora
Goddess of Wrath, Goddess of Avoidance
Goddess of Hubris, Goddess of Entrapment
Goddess of Envy, Goddess of Despair

PLAN FOR YEARLY SCHEDULE
May: Complete first draft of script, initial audition. Choose main director and staff, calculate budget.
June: Meetings with art and music departments. Secondary audition.
July: Meetings with light and foley departments. Finalize main cast and pit orchestra.
August: Summer training camp. Last chance to finalize decisions. Discuss costumes, makeup, small props, and weapon designs. Finalize art direction plan. Create sets.
September: Midterms (don’t forget to study!!), finalize stage directions, discuss choreography, work on stage design.
October: Begin rehearsals. Finalize small prop and weapon designs and make them. Take measurements for and create costumes.
November: Make pamphlets and brochures. Finalize makeup designs.
December: Complete large props, small props, and weapons.
January: Confirm that costumes fit; begin run-through practices
February: Prepare stage; begin dress rehearsals. Final rehearsals.
March: 100th Seishou Fest

(However, the real job of a student is still to study. Please strive to get good scores on your tests while practicing your performances!)

KAREN
But, like, we’re doing Starlight again, aren’t we? I know my lines!

JUNNA
What’s important is to demonstrate how much better we are than last year!

KAREN
Oh, I forgot…

BANANA
But it sure was fun, wasn’t it…? Performing Starlight in our first year.

KAREN, MAHIRU
It sure was!

BANANA
Group B supported us as our stagehands, and we members of Group A sang and performed… that play was ours and ours alone, the whole 99th class. It’s unforgettable… That moment is eternal for me.

JUNNA
But it was completely amateurish. We have to make it so much better for next year. That’s why we’re doing the same play, Starlight, for all three years of high school.

BANANA
That’s true.

KAREN
You’re right… We get to do Starlight again! We’re so lucky.

MAHIRU
You sure do like that story, Karen-chan.

KAREN
Yeah! It’s so pretty, but it’s heartrending, and it’s passionate… What’s not to love?!

MAHIRU
Eh? I-I—I do love it.

KAREN
Right??? I hope I get to play a named role again this year.

MAHIRU
Y-yeah. Maybe this time you and I could get to play the soulmates, or something…

KAREN
Nah… I bet Tendou-san and Kuro-chan’ll get the leads again this time.

MAHIRU
Huh? Y-yeah.

KAREN
Those two are worlds away from the rest of us. The way they sing, the way they dance, the way they sparkle on the stage… There’s no way we could ever be a match for ‘em.

JUNNA
Don’t you go deciding who will play the lead roles before we’ve even auditioned.

KAREN
Y-yes ma’am…

MAHIRU
J-Junna-chan…

KAREN
Did I make her mad…?

BANANA
Junna-chan’s just all fired up. Let’s make sure the play turns out great, just like our last performance of Starlight.

KAREN
All right!! Aijou Karen the Stage Girl is evolving day by day!! For our next performance of Starlight, I’ll show off an even better version of me!!

MAHIRU
Yeah!

BANANA
Let’s do our best.

MAHIRU
Are you okay, Karen-chan?

KAREN
The sandwiches have gotten to my brain…

MAHIRU
You get demotivated so fast… Oh no, Karen-chan, that’s not the right textbook!

KAREN
Huh? Tokyo Tower? Wow… Huh? Wait, why am I so close to the edge?

KAREN
Oh, I remember… This is where I bought my crown hairpin. But… at this rate it’s never gonna happen. I won’t be able to fulfill my promise with her…

MAHIRU
K-Karen-chan! Are you okay? Karen-chan…

BANANA
She’ll be okay! Karen-chan’s sturdy.

MAHIRU
Banana-chan, that’s so mean!

FUTABA
Hey, are you okay over there, Karen?

KAREN
I’m fine, thanks!

SAKURAGI
Let’s see… Starting today, the Actors’ Education Class will receive a transfer student. I know this is sudden, but you all be good to her.

KAREN
(Man, that was a weird dream…)

HIKARI
My name is Kagura Hikari.

KAREN
Hm… Eh? Hikari… chan?


KAREN
Hikari-chan…?

SAKURAGI
Aijou! Sit down.

KAREN
Excuse me!

SAKURAGI
Kagura-san has transferred from the Royal Actors’ Academy. She hasn’t been in Japan for 12 years, so help her out with anything she doesn’t know.

ALL
Yes, ma’am!

SAKURAGI
Let’s see, today Day Duty was…

KAREN
Me! Me, me! I’ll teach Hikari-chan everything she needs to know!!

CLAUDINE
What, you know her?

SAKURAGI
Aijou…

KAREN
Oops, sorry!

MAHIRU
(Oh… it’s the girl from the photo…)

SAKURAGI
When Homeroom is over, show her around the dorms. And stop standing up every time.

KAREN
Yes, ma’am!!!

SAKURAGI
Tsuyuzaki! Go with them. I’m worried about leaving this to just Aijou.

KAREN
It’s really, really you, isn’t it, Hikari-chan! It’s been soooooo long! Like, how many years?!

HIKARI
Twelve years.

MAHIRU
Huh? That long?

KAREN
Yeah, she went to England when we were five, so I’m so surprised she came back so suddenly!

MAHIRU
But I’m impressed. Isn’t the Royal Actors’ Academy the hardest acting school to get into in the world?

KAREN
Huh? It is??

MAHIRU
Didn’t you know? It’s famous!

KAREN
Huh… Wow, Hikari-chan, you’re amazing!

HIKARI
Not really…

[Sign: Starlight Dorms]

KAREN
But you haven’t changed at all! You still have it on… y’know, the hairpin from our promise!

HIKARI
…I do.

KAREN
Yaaaaay! We’re here! Splat.

MAHIRU
Karen-chan… this is our room…

KAREN
It sure is! All three of us’ll be together starting today. ……Mahiru-chan?

MAHIRU
Hey, Karen-chan… this is too sudden!

KAREN
But she’ll be lonely if she’s all by herself!

MAHIRU
But!! But I don’t want all three of us to be together… No, I mean—we can’t.

KAREN
Hikari-chan?

HIKARI
I’d just be in the way, right?

MAHIRU
That’s not what I meant… but…

KAREN
Hikari-chan! Ah… Hikari-cha…

HIKARI
I need to get ready.

KAREN
Hikari-chan…? Welcome home. Let’s do our best together… and become stars one day. It’s a promise, ‘kay?

HIKARI
Karen…

KAREN
Maaaaan, Hikari-chan ruled! Wasn’t that jump awesome?! She was like… like a grasshopper or something!

MAHIRU
Her grand fouette was so pretty too.

FUTABA
Karen’s childhood friend turned out to be a badass.

KAREN
Right?!!

KAORUKO
But for all her skills, she certainly is unfriendly.

KAREN
Well, that just makes her cool and mysterious!

FUTABA
Huh? What are you talking about?

MAYA
Kagura Hikari…

KAREN
Huh…

BANANA
Oh, so they’re going to perform it again!

MAYA
Apparently the actor who played the villain last time is going to play the hero now.

KAREN
Huuuuuh?

BANANA
Karen-chan…?

KAREN
Banana, d’you know where Hikari-chan went?

MAYA, BANANA, CLAUDINE
Huh????

KAREN
Okay, thanks anyway!

CLAUDINE
Hmmm… Kagura Hikari, huh? Think we’ve got a new rival?

MAYA
But that girl… I cannot see her heart.

BANANA, CLAUDINE
Huh?

KAREN
Hikari-chaaaaaaaan? Hikari-chan…? Hiiiikaaaaaariiiiiii-chaaaaaaaaaan? Oh! This is… ……Hikari… chan?

KAREN
Excuse me, I forgot something! Hikari-chan? …An elevator? Did we always have this? Huh? Ah… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

GIRAFFE
Then, let us open the first day’s audition… the Revue of Passion! Sing, dance, and plunder in your quest to become Top Star.

HIKARI, JUNNA
The stage lights that cut through the darkness
Illuminate the girls’ longing.

KAREN
Hoshimi-san?! And Hikari-chan?!! Is this… from Starlight?! But… what are they doing? Stop, Hoshimi-san!

GIRAFFE
They understand.

KAREN
Hm…? A GIRAFFE?!!

GIRAFFE
The Revue is already underway.

JUNNA
My body is burning with flames that reach towards the heavens.
The star I’ve been drawn to grasp is about to fall…
I have a dream I cannot give up no matter what,
I have a sky I want to protect.
When that shooting star comes streaming down, I will chase it.
It’s getting farther away and smaller—
One day my memories will fade—
Even as the winds threaten to blow me out,
I vow deep in my heart—
I won’t let anyone get in my way,
Not until I’ve burned this whole world to ash.
The flames of my passion will burn brighter than anyone else’s.

KAREN (from here on, crosstalk over Junna’s lyrics)
This is… a revue?

GIRAFFE
Correct. It is a bewitching stage, woven from song and dance. To whosoever performs the most dazzling Revue, the path to becoming Top Star shall surely open. Who shall claim the Star Tiara and become Top Star?

KAREN
Who came up with that idea?!

GIRAFFE
Oh, I understand. But see how frantic they are? They are Stage Girls, after all. Ordinary joys, the pleasures of girlhood… Stage Girls burn those trifles to ash in pursuit of that distant sparkle. Do you possess that kind of conviction?

KAREN
Those coats…

GIRAFFE
If they fall, the Revue is over.

KAREN
Hikari-chan!!

GIRAFFE
You cannot stop them. This Revue has no room for girls who cannot even wake up by themselves in the morning… who are alright with not playing the lead. Now, please leave… Nn?

KAREN
You’re in the way, giraffe!! I made a promise with Hikari-chan! That I… no, that WE will become stars one day, no matter what!!

[text: I AM REISSUED]

KAREN
I am a flower of love, blooming resplendently upon a stage overflowing in stardust! Now dressed in my new self, I make my unscheduled appearance on this glittering stage! I am Aijou Karen, of the 99th class! I’ll make us ALL Starlight!

JUNNA
Don’t get in my way!

HIKARI (crosstalk over Karen’s lyrics)
You idiot! You musn’t! Karen!

KAREN
If you have a dream you can’t give up for anything,
Then so do I, I’m sure of it!
Deep, deep inside my pounding heart,
A quiet flame of passion has just ignited!

KAREN
Position Zero!

GIRAFFE
The first day’s audition is now over!

KAREN
Hikari-chan!

HIKARI
Stupid… Karen, you idiot!!!


Who, oh who will be the one to pluck the star from the top of that tower?
The heat of a silent flame is burning in all of our chests.

This is the Wheel of Fortune
But we aren’t merely being forced to dance upon the stage
Spring forth!

I know that on that day
I saw the sparks of starlight spread
Until I’m able to touch
That faded promise…

We begin before the curtain rises,
The story is being written before our very eyes.
Now that I have been reborn,
I have been reunited with you here
Once more


Next Episode: The Stage of Fate

KAREN
Girls’ Opera Revue Starlight!

GIRAFFE
I understa~~~~nd.