shoujo kageki revue starlight, episode 8 script

[feralphoenix]

since this is past where i just dropped the subs, this translation is completely without training wheels. this is my own translation and is not made for profit.



08: Into the Light

HIKARI
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. But it’s a tragedy, and at its conclusion waits an eternal parting.

KAREN, HIKARI
Then let us go together, to claim that star!

HIKARI
Our dream will never come true.

HIKARI
We can’t help but be impassioned by that play, and those voices raised in song. Let’s go, together, to that stage. To become shining stars, together…!


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


KAREN
Dear Kagura Hikari-sama. It’s still quite cold here, but how are you doing? Aijou Karen the Stage Girl is doing great today as usual! Oh, you know what? The 99th Seishou Fest’s performance of Starlight wrapped up safe and sound! It was my first performance at Seishou Music School, but with the help of all my classmates, I think I was able to put on a really good show! But I don’t plan on staying satisfied with this—next year I’ll get the role of Flora for sure! It’d sure be nice if you’d come to watch when that happens, Hikari-chan! Just kidding. Step by step, I’m heading towards fulfilling my promise with you! I think! So, Hikari-chan, you work hard too—oh, but no matter what, doing anything reckless is a non non! I’ll send another letter soon. This has been Aijou Karen!

HIKARI
I’ll be back!

HIKARI
Karen, thanks for always writing. My lessons may keep me busy every day, but I’m still running towards the stage we promised! To become a star here—at the Royal Actors’ Academy! This is a stage acting school attended by people who hope to work in theater-related jobs in the future—set painting, directing, scriptwriting, stage design and lighting, foley. Our classes are divided by specialty, and we each have our own specialized curriculum covering everything from the latest artistic theory in theater to actually making props. All the classes are high-level, specialized courses taught by famous instructors with years of real-life experience on the actual stage. And my classmates have gathered from all over the world to compete for the same dream… I can’t let my guard down for a second. Every day is a competition as serious as a performance! I mustn’t let myself become satisfied with the deuteragonist’s role I won for our regular play! I have to get even better, perform even cleaner, in pursuit of the stage of our promise…!

KAREN
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! Hikari-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan, you can’t goooooooooooo!!!

HIKARI
Karen, crybabies can never be stars!

KAREN
Huh? B-but Hikari-chan, if you go to Donlon—

HIKARI
That’s “London”!

KAREN
I can’t be “Starlight” by myself!!

HIKARI
My mind’s made up!

KAREN
Does that mean you’re not going to London after all?!

HIKARI
No, I’m never coming back until I’m a star! I’m not gonna see you either!

KAREN
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!! Why? Why?! Hey, why? Why why why????

HIKARI
‘Cause if I’m here, you’re gonna depend on me the whole time!

KAREN
Noooo!!! What about phone calls?

HIKARI
No!

KAREN
Umm… um, then… How about letters?! Hikari-chan, you don’t have to write back! I’ll just send you them! Okay?????

HIKARI
Fine.

HIKARI
Karen…

KAREN
Hikari-chan?

HIKARI
Let’s meet again onstage!

KAREN
‘Kay! It’s a promise!

HIKARI
No, even better! It’s our DESTINY!

KAREN
Destiny? Okay!

[SIGN: Tokyo Souvenir City]

HIKARI
I played it tough in front of Karen, but that was really for my own sake… If I didn’t push her away, I’d want to go see her. “I love the stage. I love Starlight.” Since Karen said that to me… I’ll keep running. We’ll reunite under the spotlights. Karen will be waiting for me on that stage! So that we can both become stars! So I can’t be proud of myself yet. I have to climb much, much, much higher…!

HIKARI
What is this place…?

GIRAFFE
＜Revues are enchanting stage performances, with songs and dances.＞

HIKARI
A giraffe?!

GIRAFFE
I see, so Japanese would be better for you. The Revue is a bewitching stage, woven from song and dance. To whosoever performs the most dazzling Revue in the upcoming auditions, the Star Tiara shall be awarded, and her path to becoming Top Star shall surely open.

HIKARI
Top Star…?

GIRAFFE
She who stands upon the Stage of Fate. She emits an endless light, blossoms in every talent, and shines beyond the bounds of time as the eternal lead role.

HIKARI
The Stage of Fate…

GIRAFFE
Will you participate in the auditions? …I see.

HIKARI
Karen, I’ll… be waiting for you! On the Stage of Fate…!

HIKARI
No way…!

JUDY
Hmph.

GIRAFFE
With this, all auditions have been concluded.

CLASSMATE
Wow, what’s up with Judy? She’s gotten way better all of a sudden…!

HIKARI
Just what was up with those auditions…?

JUDY
The oppression of the people, the endless wars, the hubris of the emperor… We cannot allow it to go on any longer!

HIKARI
What’s wrong with me? This is such an important play, but I don’t feel anything. The nervousness of standing on stage… the exhilaration of singing in the theater…

HIKARI
Our right arm, our own son’s best friend… Are you saying that even YOU will betray us now?!

HIKARI
All the sparkle that I used to feel onstage… Why…?

JUDY
Even if I must face him one day…

HIKARI
It’s gone…

HIKARI
130 grams of lost weight… One bottle of my usual hand cream. A salmon sandwich from Crosstown. A paperback copy of Macbeth. 11 two-pound coins. About the weight of a kidney. So just what is it that’s missing… from me? What’s wrong with me? I can’t feel anything. I used to be so driven. I feel like I must have been looking forward to a lot… But now, I can’t… I can’t remember any of that. Why… why was I onstage to begin with? What was I going to that school for…? Oh, that must be it. The promise I made with Kare… …Karen… No way… Just now, I… I promised Karen something, and that’s… What’s WRONG with me?! What happened?! …The auditions…! No. No…! Pick up. Pick up…! Pick up, you damn giraffe…! I won’t have it!! If this goes on, I…!



HIKARI
“To whosoever performs the most dazzling Revue in the upcoming auditions, the Star Tiara shall be awarded, and her path to becoming Top Star shall surely open.” But if you lose, everything will be taken from you. Everything, including your precious sparkle…!

GIRAFFE
You understand.

HIKARI
You tricked me.

GIRAFFE
The birth of a new Top Star requires a great deal of fuel, you see.

HIKARI
And that “fuel” is the sparkle you stole from me…?

GIRAFFE
I didn’t foresee that you would still have that much sparkle left. So, I’ll allow you to have one more chance.

HIKARI
Eh…?

GIRAFFE
In the next audition, that is. It will be held in Japan. To whosoever performs the most dazzling Revue in the auditions, the path to becoming Top Star shall surely open.

HIKARI
I can participate in the auditions again?! Why?

GIRAFFE
A Stage Girl who’s lost everything… a Stage of Fate that none could possibly predict… That is what I wish to see.

HIKARI
I’ll participate.

GIRAFFE
Then I will take care of the necessary proceedings.

HIKARI
Where in Japan?!

GIRAFFE
Even if you have to face her one day…

HIKARI
Hey! Hey, answer me!!

HIKARI
When I raised my hand with all my strength, I lost my grip on my oath from that day and dropped it into the depths of hell… I climb once more onto the stage of destiny. Even if it shall end in tragedy… Kagura Hikari, of the 99th class! Everything I do is for “Starlight”!

GIRAFFE
Thus begins the sixth day of auditions… the Revue of Loneliness! Sing, dance, and plunder in your quest to become Top Star.

HIKARI
For the sake of the promise I swore…

BANANA
It’s okay, don’t be afraid

BANANA (crosstalk over lyrics)
You poor thing, fighting with such a tiny blade… You must have gone through so many hardships. But it’s all right now. I’ll shoulder them all for you!

BANANA
The blade you wield is trembling

HIKARI
Even a little sparkle can go a long way!

BANANA
Don’t be afraid. You’re already one of us, Hikari-chan…!

BANANA
Bid farewell to your world that revolves around sadness
I’ll protect the people I love
And wind back to before their despair

HIKARI
And as many times as it takes—

BANANA
Grief, farewells, disappointments… In my replays, I’ll protect you from all the torments a Stage Girl faces…!

CLAUDINE
Hah!! Karen, what’s driving you this way?!

KAREN
I promised Hikari-chan!!

BANANA
Why, Hikari-chan…? What drives you like this?

HIKARI
It’s because Karen… and my fate… are waiting for me!

HIKARI
I just wanted to show off to Karen. The stage… acting… musicals… I wanted to brag about how I knew a world that other girls didn’t. I wanted to show it to her and surprise her.

KAREN
Hikari-chan, let’s go to that stage!

HIKARI
Huh?

KAREN
Let’s become stars together, and make EVERYONE “Starlight”!

HIKARI
That was the moment I was born… as Kagura Hikari the Stage Girl!

HIKARI
I will never lose again!!

HIKARI (crosstalk over lyrics)
Even after I lost everything else, my promise with Karen is what kept me connected to theater. So I’ll become a Stage Girl once more.

HIKARI
The sounds of my beginning caught me by surprise
And before I knew it, my destiny had changed
The moment we crossed our pinkies and swore, I awakened—

BANANA
She…

HIKARI
And I start to walk forward
Even if I cannot make my dream come true by myself

HIKARI
But to do that, my only choice is to defeat all the other participants and become Top Star. I had no other way to keep my promise with Karen! And yet… that stupid Karen… Even though in these auditions, it’s plunder from others or be plundered from yourself… all to protect me…

KAREN
WE will become stars one day, no matter what!!

HIKARI
I can’t steal Karen’s sparkle from her! But…! If I don’t defeat EVERYONE, that sparkle will…!

KAREN
Then let’s both pass! If we both sparkle the brightest, then I’m sure…!

HIKARI
If we sparkle together… I’d never even considered that! But…!

BANANA
Ah…!

HIKARI
But even so, I can see it…! Our “Starlight”!

HIKARI
Our dream will flower

[SECOND ACT: THE MOMENT A FLOWER BLOOMS]

GIRAFFE
Her sparkle is being reissued…

HIKARI
The little seed we buried together in our youthful days
Is blossoming into great flowers, guided by the stars
I won’t lose again! I won’t give up!
I will reach out to you!
I will not run away, I shall not weep
As I head for the site of our vow
I always wanted to see you so much
The bond of stars we have reforged
Can make a miracle happen!

HIKARI
Position Zero!

GIRAFFE
The sixth day’s auditions are now over.

BANANA
Do you really understand, Hikari-chan…? The drama “Starlight” is a tragedy. It’s predetermined that it will end in parting. Are you really all right with that? Even if you and Karen… if you have to fight her one day?

HIKARI
Even so… together with Karen, I’ll…


I’ve been watching you all along
It seems like you’ve left your loneliness behind
Tonight too the moon is smiling down at me
Please turn my way, and fly me to the star

I couldn’t tell you how I felt
So I imagined other lives and I’ll try acting them out
Because I want to catch your eye
Oh fly me to the star


[ranking:
Tendou Maya
Saijou Claudine
Kagura Hikari
Daiba Nana
Aijou Karen]

GIRAFFE
What a blitzkrieg. The destined pair, is it…? I see.

NEXT TIME: On the Night of the Star Festival

HIKARI
Girls’ Opera, Revue Starlight!

GIRAFFE
＜I see.＞