Sera Myu 30 Day Meme Day Seven- Who do you think was the actress who matched her character the most?
I have to go with Sayuri as Seiya for this one. Seiya is one of my favorite characters, and Sayuri’s performances are just absolutely perfect in my eyes (even in the Shin Densetsu Kourin Fankan, when she’s not even in costume, she’s still absolutely Seiya). She does such a great job capturing the different sides of Seiya– the fun popstar, the serious leader, the unrequited lover, the survivor– that, more than with any other character in the musicals, when I think of Seiya I think of her version.
Sera Myu 30 Day Meme Day Six- Least favorite scene
I really dislike when the Inners try to take Galaxia’s star seed in Shin Densetsu Kourin. It seems out of character in a lot of ways. There’s a huge difference between how the Inner Senshi and Uranus/Neptune operate, and this scene ignores it. First of all, this is a huge risk, and I can’t see any Inner except maybe Minako taking it. If their plan had gone wrong, they could have ended up killing Usagi. Uranus and Neptune are very much about doing anything it takes, so it makes sense for them to risk their princess to save the universe. The Inners, though, would never do it, at least in my eyes. Then, there’s the fact that they did all of it without telling Usagi anything. Rei and Minako, I can believe they’d do it if they thought it was the only way. But Makoto and Ami? Knowing that by not telling they’re going to hurt Usagi? No way. And then to have it be Ami’s idea? I think this is a big misinterpretation of her intelligence. Of course she’s smart, of course she could come up with this plan, but this scene ignores that she doesn’t operate on cold logic. Ami has always been a character who feels things, and the musicals usually portray that well (see all versions of the study abroad storyline). For her to have come up with a plan that was guaranteed to hurt Usagi’s feelings and could actually kill her if it went wrong, and actually carry it out throws that whole side of her away.
Sera Myu 30 Day Meme Day Five- Favorite Musical Scene
If I tried to choose a fun or emotional scene, I knew I’d never make the choice. I’m going to say my favorite scene is the Crystal Tokyo bit in Kaguya Shima Densetsu Kaiteban for what it does for the musical AND for the Sailor Moon canon as a whole.
The Kaguya Shima story gets so much stronger with this scene in it. The original KSD has Chibiusa talk about what we see here, and both SKSD shows skim over Chibiusa’s conflicts with Neo Queen Serenity. But this conflict, especially when we see it, makes the other children’s story more poignant. (Especially since in the Kaiteban, their tragedy doesn’t make Chibiusa say she’ll try and get along with her mother more.) This scene juxtaposes KSD’s idolization of motherhood with an example of a realistically complicated mother-daughter relationship without damaging the overall message. The audience gets to see why Chibiusa runs off to the 20th century and how difficult her relationship with her mother is, but they also get to see that Neo Queen Serenity does love her, which is something the original lacks.
I also think this scene does something similar for Sailor Moon as a whole. I’ve always had trouble with the gap between Usagi and Neo Queen Serenity, particularly in terms of motherhood and her relationship with Chibiusa. How could Usagi, perfect wonderful Usagi, not be an amazingly affectionate and doting mother? How could she ever become that distant ideal that she is for Chibiusa? Part of this, I think, is something I’m coming to terms with as I get older, but part of it is something this scene really made me understand. Fumina is such a wonderful Serenity, because she’s graceful and elegant while retaining much of that core Usagi-ness. It would have been easy to have her only be Usagi-like in the bits where she teases Endymion, but instead Usagi peaks through in the entire scene. Her frustration is a particular selling point for me. It’s toned down, but Fumina plays Neo Queen Serenity’s exasperation very similar to how she plays Usagi’s. This really helps explain Neo Queen Serenity’s relationship with Chibiusa. NQS is mature enough not to snap at Chibs as quickly as Usagi does, but that annoyance still shows through. Combine that with NQS understanding the necessity of things she hated when she was younger because of her duties as a senshi and then as queen, and suddenly all of Chibiusa’s feelings make sense. Chibiusa is similar enough to Usagi to hate studying and brushing her teeth and all of those things, but I think she’s different enough that when her mother pushes her towards those things (with some annoyance), a part of her hears that she’s not good enough (at least early on; by the time this scene occurs she knows Usagi well enough that she knows she’s probably better than her mother was at the same age. Pre-Black Moon/R, though, I can definitely see it happening).
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.
I have to start this one by saying that I don’t really pay that much attention to the actors. I appreciate their talent and think they all did a really excellent job, but I’m prone to being way more interested in the women. That said, Yuuta’s performances are the ones I enjoy the most, probably because he’s usually a great compliment to the actresses on stage with him. Besides being ridiculously talented, something about his manner always makes me smile. I think he also does a great job at playing the father figure and that’s really endearing to me.
I really wanted to have a more original answer for this one, really I did, but I love Hikari too much to not label her my favorite. She just blows me away every time, no matter what role she’s playing. No one else could make Prince Demand sympathetic, or bring that perfect balance of hilarious and serious to Taiki. She has a great flair for villains (and villain songs oh my god), but is also able to make me cry any time her character dies or is in pain. Hikari’s performances embody so much of what I love about sera myu, so when I have to choose just one actress, it has to be her.
Sera Myu 30 Day Meme Day One: What was the first sera myu you watched?
I watched Sailor Stars Kaiteban first, which is probably a really odd place to start. It was last May, when a post went around tumblr with links to watch all of the musicals with a few marked as recommended. This was one of the recommended ones, and since Stars has always been one of my favorite arcs, I decided to try it. I got hooked from the moment it opened with the Haruka/Michiru and Three Lights concert, and have since watched all of the musicals in a fairly random order. This is still one of my favorites (although I like the original Sailor Stars a tiny bit better).
SittingOverHereDreaming 