Sera Myu 30 Day Meme

Day Four- Favorite Musical? Why?

I love so many of the musicals, so this is a difficult question. Sailor Stars, Kaguya Shima Densetsu Kaiteban, all of the Dracul arc, and Tanjou! Ankoku no Princess Black Lady all vie for the top spot.
However, I have to say the Eien Densetsu Kaiteban (especially the senshuuraku) is my favorite.

…the Why is under a cut, because while I tried to keep it short (I avoided everything that might come up in other days, and didn’t talk about my love of the First Stage Starlights), this still got pretty long.

To start, we get this:

The girls with sabers? Yes please forever and always.
(I do like the original version of this with Haruka and Michiru better, though).
Then, there is absolutely everything about the “Kick Out a Bloody Mystery” sequence. I have an undying love for Rei Saito’s voice in the opening lines (and her voice in general, I wish she had more solos). Everything that follows is pure gold. (Don’t get me started on the Starlights. Just don’t.)
…However, speaking of the Starlights, I think this musical is one that does a good job of putting them on equal footing with the sol senshi, instead of putting them firmly above. This is one of my favorite lines:

I love that who saves who goes back and forth, and I love that the Outers are competitive about it. It’s a tiny thing, but it does so much.
Now at this point I have to admit that a huge part of why Stars is one of my favorite arcs is because of how much I identify with how Usagi handles being apart from Mamoru. I’ve been in a long distance relationship for a few years now (with the exception of summer breaks), and while thank goodness my boyfriend isn’t secretly dead, everything about Usagi’s reactions rings true. This musical brings it in extra hard with the rooftop scene. Usagi is so happy about her love while singing “Gondola no Koibitotachi,” but then the music cuts out and we go from this:

to this:

That silence and loneliness hits me like a brick every time. I won’t talk about “I Miss You” here since I’m bound to use that for another day of this meme. (I’m not sure “To a Brand New World” will come up, but I’ll skip it too because this is already so long).
And so, onto Kakyuu. Princess Kakyuu is a huge reason I love both versions of Eien Densetsu, because prior to watching, I didn’t have any strong feelings about her. Boy, did that change. Both of her songs, along with her actions in general, made her full tragedy clear to me in ways in wasn’t before. This Kakyuu is on of my favorite manga/anime to musical adaptations, because it takes what already existed and makes it clearer and more powerful. “Kakyuu-ouhi to Three Lights” is especially moving, since it presents their relationship in a way I feel the other mediums don’t really get across. There’s such a sense of love and duty and conflicting hopes that makes me cry every time.

Things that make me cry is practically a theme of this musical, though, which is probably why I love it so much. This rendition of “Tabidachi” always gets me and Kakyuu’s death tears me apart (although that’s partly because I have feelings about Seiya instinctively protecting Usagi instead of Kakyuu, but I’ll leave that for now). Every version of Sorezore no Elegy breaks my heart, but the aftermath of this one is especially wrenching. I love Anza’s screams in Sailor Stars, but her quieter reaction here is even worse. The self blame for her and the Starlights is just painful. Then there’s the real killer: “Uranus to Neptune no Uragiri.” I cannot tell you how much I love they kept this scene from the anime, and how much I love the song. Sanae and Hiroko are amazing in their performance of this scene. Uranus leads, but Neptune knows right away what she’s doing and agrees.

If you don’t cry at this point you must have tear ducts of steal.

And then, “I’ll give it to you. All of my power.”

I don’t even have words for my emotions at this point. Just incoherent screaming.
The final battle is great, but so are all final battles, and then they pull out “Densetsu Seitan” and my tears are endless. The group performance of “Double Moonlight Romance” is just magical.
…Even the curtain call is amazing.

So yeah. That’s my favorite.