Claudine Saijo, a second-year student in Seisho Music Academy’s 99th graduating Actor Training Department, holds the class’s second academic and performance rank. Born to a Japanese father and French mother, her career began early with TV commercials, advertisements, and theater, supplemented by training in classical ballet, modern dance, jazz, vocals, and cello. Professional stage credits include Arrie in *Taika Life Musical* and Isabelle in *Round of Music*.
Her relentless rivalry with top-ranked Maya Tendo fuels her drive to surpass her own limits, initially rooted in frustration over her perennial second-place status. This competitive tension, tempered by mutual respect, evolves after a critical defeat to Karen Aijo and Hikari Kagura in a final audition revue. Claudine’s tearful self-reproach for failing Maya catalyzes a shift toward partnership, solidified when Maya invokes their shared potential in French—Claudine’s mother tongue.
Confident and perceptive, Claudine balances blunt critiques with unwavering support, mediating conflicts between peers like Futaba Isurugi and Kaoruko Hanayagi or urging Junna Hoshimi to embrace ambition. While casually friendly with classmates, her interactions with Maya crackle with intensity. She avoids Japanese horror stories and favors sashimi over pickled dishes.
In revues, Claudine’s black-and-silver stage attire, accented by a red pelisse jacket, mirrors her fiery artistry. Wielding the longsword Étincelle de Fierté, she performs with passionate abandon, framing combat as expressive dance. *Revue Starlight: Rondo Rondo Rondo* amplifies her rivalry with Maya through lyrics of clashing fervor, while their collaborative revue in *Re LIVE* symbolizes liberation through synchronized growth.
Post-graduation, Claudine diverges from Maya’s path—Maya joins the New National Theater Troupe, while Claudine accepts an offer from Paris’s Théâtre du Flamme, seeking challenges that reconnect her with French heritage. Yet their bond endures, evident in continued revue collaborations and mutual recognition of their intertwined legacies.
Rooted in a Takarazuka-inspired musumeyaku role, Claudine’s arc critiques rigid hierarchies, transitioning from insecurity-driven rivalry to a partnership prioritizing mutual elevation. Her journey—from prodigious child actress grappling with perceived limitations to a performer harmonizing ambition with collective growth—embodies perseverance, self-discovery, and the transformative power of competition tempered by respect.