Erin Watches Sera Myu, Stage 3 Part 2
Dec. 29th, 2010 05:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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sailormoonContinuing on from the previous post, as all three myu form a single continuity.
Chou Wakusei Death Vulcan no Fuuin
Okay, I confess: I had to watch this one twice. The plot is complicated, I looked away at too many important moments, and all of a sudden I realized I had no idea what was going on. It doesn't hurt that the lighting is full of Dramatic Shadows, that can make it hard to keep track of who's in the scene.
Even in the rewatch, it's a bit of a mess. The opening provides an abridged (and incomplete) recap of the previous two myu, plus what is perhaps the shortest song yet: a single verse from Usagi. Fitting for a show that has so much multi-directional conflict, it manages to work in very few actual songs.
A brief sampling of the plot threads it tries to juggle: There's a baby werewolf running around, which the vampires want to kill. There are a couple of mandrakes (humanoid plants) who end up taking care of the werewolf. The lonely planet Vulcan (the eponymous Death Vulcan) has two consciousnesses: an evil one that is jealous of the Earth's light and friendship and wants to destroy it, and a good one (later revealed to be Astarte, as in the previous myu's Sailor Astarte) that gives the senshi cryptic advice. The various vampires have mixed loyalties; Vampiru in particular becomes an unlikely ally for the senshi, in part to spite her father. In the midst of all this, the senshi get shuffled around in groups (Outers, Inners, and Usagi+Chibiusa+Mamoru), without any real time for individual storylines. When the Ginzuishou gets stolen, Princess Serenity shows up via time travel with a spare.
On the plus side, at least Serenity's dress is pretty.
One of the most intriguing points in the whole thing, as far as I'm concerned, was an idea that barely got mentioned, much less explored. A villain explains to Usagi that the actual words of a spell don't matter: any words can channel power. Usagi promptly channels a flash of magic with words like "cookies" and "ice cream." This is an amazing backstory for some of the sailors' more nonsensical Engrish-y attacks, and could have gone all sorts of interesting places. And...it doesn't.
Frankly, I wish the story had left out the vampires. (Does this make me a bad vampire fan? Ah well.) And maybe the werewolf kid too, even though she has a potentially epic destiny as the one who will provide a bridge between humans and demons. Alternatively, they could have kept the Astarte-Vulcan plot out of this whole chain of myu altogether; but I was satisfied with the vampires' story at the end of the last one, whereas I would kill for a whole show exploring Death Vulcan and Sailor Astarte.
At least the lack of music is sort of compensated for, as the story ends 4/5 of the way through the video, with the last fifth consisting of the following...
Super Revue Musical Show
Senshi dance ensembles with music, including lots of solos! The Inners each break into their very own flame solo: "Temptation the Grace" (Venus), "Drive Me Mercury" (gee I wonder), "Zigzag Flash" (Jupiter), and "Messenger of Flame" (Mars). Plus "Miracle Twister" for Tuxedo Kamen.
A bunch more actors get into other costumes to sing the image songs of their characters from previous myu, including Loof Merrow (the pirate princess), Taiki, and Beryl. Presumably they didn't get any useful image songs during the vampire arc. The Outers just get together for a round of "Bundle the Heart: Makin' For The Right." And everyone reunites for a medley in the finale.
Last Dracul Jyokyoku Official Guide Video
The third actress to play Sailor Moon completely subverts Dawson Casting: she's 15. Awesome.
This includes footage from publicity photoshoots, fan events with Q&As, press interviews, and of course backstage at rehearsals. The actresses playing the senshi each get a moment to deliver some pretty standard "I'll give it my all, so please enjoy it!" cheer. A couple of the guys get a longer interview.
The only really monumental thing comes towards the end, when we get to see a fan event in which a bunch of tiny adorable children are brought onstage to mimic ChibiUsa's dance. Some of them are in itty-bitty senshi outfits. Cutesplosion.
Last Dracul Jyokyoku Omake
Kind of a compressed version of the previous. Cute songs, some Q&Aing, backstage footage, stuff for sale.
500kai Kouen Kinen Video
A commemoration of the 500th performance. Graduated actresses return for DVD commentaries on some of the older myu, and a few interactions with their replacements, particularly with each Usagi passing on the torch to her successor. Some photos of cute kids in costumes; some ensemble singing for an appreciative audience.
Transylvania no Mori Official Guide Video
Cute backstage footage and interviews. A photography session, a script reading with voiceover commentary. There's a sweet audience Q&A where Usagi's actress flails over an in-character answer to a question from an itty-bitty fan in an itty-bitty version of her costume, and another adorable bit from a fan event in which she instructs a while semicircle of itty-bitty fans (some of whom are getting help from the big senshi standing behind them) in how to cast Moon Healing Escalation.
There are a couple of songs, presumably filmed at fan events, that would have been neat to see in full (such as Pluto's cover of Galaxia Gorgeous); but all we get is a truncated version with more voiceover commentary. Sigh. Others get full filming, though, including the senshi and the Sammael Quartet doing an ensemble chorus. Towards the end is a perforomance of "FIRE!" with some truly epic lighting; and we conclude with a nice reference video for the official Moonlight Densetsu dance.
Transylvania no Mori omake
Instead of generic questions this time around, each senshi actor (including Astarte) gets asked which parts of the myu were their favorites, and get a chance to talk about the thought and planning behind some of their acting in specific moments.
There's also the usual bonus dancing, plus commentary-laden footage from the big finale to the senshuuraku performance. (...Is that redundant to say? Like saying "final performance performance"?)
Transylvania no Mori Kaiteiban FanKan
At last, straight-up video from one of the fan events! It's abridged, but not talked over. Some cheerful introductions; songs; Q&A; Usagi feeling up Mamoru's costume. Sammael Quartet is still the cutest, and I don't think I took time during the myu itself to appreciate just how well-done and detailed their wigs are.
More tiny kidlets join us on stage to try their best at Sailor Moon's intro-speech move. Chibiusa flubs it in the middle of the demo, for which Usagi adorably scolds her in-character. A few are presented awards for their costumes; one, when asked where she's from, replies "30th century." Awwwww.
There's an actual planned in-character (if tongue-in-cheek) interaction between Dracul and Vampiru. And an adorably random shoujo-manga-style drama scene (a hero, a girlfriend, a villain), played by three of the male actors. And an in-character Q&A for the senshi, with special guest Astarte. And music! Lots of music.
Transylvania no Mori Kaiteiban omake
This one's mostly just clips of the myu with voiceover commentary. Rei's actress is graduating, so she gets a moment to tearfully address the audience. And there is confetti, just because.
Chou Wakusei Death Vulcan no Fuuin omake
Clips with the show from voiceover commentary, plus the final address from Usagi's graduation. Plus her final dance number, although even that gets the voiceover. And a brief offstage interview at the end.
Music Collection Vol. 2
Songs! Just song after song after song, with the lyrics printed on the screen and extra reference angles to help you learn the dance moves. Ironically, the video on this one was slightly out of sync, so the moves and the lip movements didn't line up with the music in the first place.
Chou Wakusei Death Vulcan no Fuuin
Okay, I confess: I had to watch this one twice. The plot is complicated, I looked away at too many important moments, and all of a sudden I realized I had no idea what was going on. It doesn't hurt that the lighting is full of Dramatic Shadows, that can make it hard to keep track of who's in the scene.
Even in the rewatch, it's a bit of a mess. The opening provides an abridged (and incomplete) recap of the previous two myu, plus what is perhaps the shortest song yet: a single verse from Usagi. Fitting for a show that has so much multi-directional conflict, it manages to work in very few actual songs.
A brief sampling of the plot threads it tries to juggle: There's a baby werewolf running around, which the vampires want to kill. There are a couple of mandrakes (humanoid plants) who end up taking care of the werewolf. The lonely planet Vulcan (the eponymous Death Vulcan) has two consciousnesses: an evil one that is jealous of the Earth's light and friendship and wants to destroy it, and a good one (later revealed to be Astarte, as in the previous myu's Sailor Astarte) that gives the senshi cryptic advice. The various vampires have mixed loyalties; Vampiru in particular becomes an unlikely ally for the senshi, in part to spite her father. In the midst of all this, the senshi get shuffled around in groups (Outers, Inners, and Usagi+Chibiusa+Mamoru), without any real time for individual storylines. When the Ginzuishou gets stolen, Princess Serenity shows up via time travel with a spare.
On the plus side, at least Serenity's dress is pretty.
One of the most intriguing points in the whole thing, as far as I'm concerned, was an idea that barely got mentioned, much less explored. A villain explains to Usagi that the actual words of a spell don't matter: any words can channel power. Usagi promptly channels a flash of magic with words like "cookies" and "ice cream." This is an amazing backstory for some of the sailors' more nonsensical Engrish-y attacks, and could have gone all sorts of interesting places. And...it doesn't.
Frankly, I wish the story had left out the vampires. (Does this make me a bad vampire fan? Ah well.) And maybe the werewolf kid too, even though she has a potentially epic destiny as the one who will provide a bridge between humans and demons. Alternatively, they could have kept the Astarte-Vulcan plot out of this whole chain of myu altogether; but I was satisfied with the vampires' story at the end of the last one, whereas I would kill for a whole show exploring Death Vulcan and Sailor Astarte.
At least the lack of music is sort of compensated for, as the story ends 4/5 of the way through the video, with the last fifth consisting of the following...
Super Revue Musical Show
Senshi dance ensembles with music, including lots of solos! The Inners each break into their very own flame solo: "Temptation the Grace" (Venus), "Drive Me Mercury" (gee I wonder), "Zigzag Flash" (Jupiter), and "Messenger of Flame" (Mars). Plus "Miracle Twister" for Tuxedo Kamen.
A bunch more actors get into other costumes to sing the image songs of their characters from previous myu, including Loof Merrow (the pirate princess), Taiki, and Beryl. Presumably they didn't get any useful image songs during the vampire arc. The Outers just get together for a round of "Bundle the Heart: Makin' For The Right." And everyone reunites for a medley in the finale.
Last Dracul Jyokyoku Official Guide Video
The third actress to play Sailor Moon completely subverts Dawson Casting: she's 15. Awesome.
This includes footage from publicity photoshoots, fan events with Q&As, press interviews, and of course backstage at rehearsals. The actresses playing the senshi each get a moment to deliver some pretty standard "I'll give it my all, so please enjoy it!" cheer. A couple of the guys get a longer interview.
The only really monumental thing comes towards the end, when we get to see a fan event in which a bunch of tiny adorable children are brought onstage to mimic ChibiUsa's dance. Some of them are in itty-bitty senshi outfits. Cutesplosion.
Last Dracul Jyokyoku Omake
Kind of a compressed version of the previous. Cute songs, some Q&Aing, backstage footage, stuff for sale.
500kai Kouen Kinen Video
A commemoration of the 500th performance. Graduated actresses return for DVD commentaries on some of the older myu, and a few interactions with their replacements, particularly with each Usagi passing on the torch to her successor. Some photos of cute kids in costumes; some ensemble singing for an appreciative audience.
Transylvania no Mori Official Guide Video
Cute backstage footage and interviews. A photography session, a script reading with voiceover commentary. There's a sweet audience Q&A where Usagi's actress flails over an in-character answer to a question from an itty-bitty fan in an itty-bitty version of her costume, and another adorable bit from a fan event in which she instructs a while semicircle of itty-bitty fans (some of whom are getting help from the big senshi standing behind them) in how to cast Moon Healing Escalation.
There are a couple of songs, presumably filmed at fan events, that would have been neat to see in full (such as Pluto's cover of Galaxia Gorgeous); but all we get is a truncated version with more voiceover commentary. Sigh. Others get full filming, though, including the senshi and the Sammael Quartet doing an ensemble chorus. Towards the end is a perforomance of "FIRE!" with some truly epic lighting; and we conclude with a nice reference video for the official Moonlight Densetsu dance.
Transylvania no Mori omake
Instead of generic questions this time around, each senshi actor (including Astarte) gets asked which parts of the myu were their favorites, and get a chance to talk about the thought and planning behind some of their acting in specific moments.
There's also the usual bonus dancing, plus commentary-laden footage from the big finale to the senshuuraku performance. (...Is that redundant to say? Like saying "final performance performance"?)
Transylvania no Mori Kaiteiban FanKan
At last, straight-up video from one of the fan events! It's abridged, but not talked over. Some cheerful introductions; songs; Q&A; Usagi feeling up Mamoru's costume. Sammael Quartet is still the cutest, and I don't think I took time during the myu itself to appreciate just how well-done and detailed their wigs are.
More tiny kidlets join us on stage to try their best at Sailor Moon's intro-speech move. Chibiusa flubs it in the middle of the demo, for which Usagi adorably scolds her in-character. A few are presented awards for their costumes; one, when asked where she's from, replies "30th century." Awwwww.
There's an actual planned in-character (if tongue-in-cheek) interaction between Dracul and Vampiru. And an adorably random shoujo-manga-style drama scene (a hero, a girlfriend, a villain), played by three of the male actors. And an in-character Q&A for the senshi, with special guest Astarte. And music! Lots of music.
Transylvania no Mori Kaiteiban omake
This one's mostly just clips of the myu with voiceover commentary. Rei's actress is graduating, so she gets a moment to tearfully address the audience. And there is confetti, just because.
Chou Wakusei Death Vulcan no Fuuin omake
Clips with the show from voiceover commentary, plus the final address from Usagi's graduation. Plus her final dance number, although even that gets the voiceover. And a brief offstage interview at the end.
Music Collection Vol. 2
Songs! Just song after song after song, with the lyrics printed on the screen and extra reference angles to help you learn the dance moves. Ironically, the video on this one was slightly out of sync, so the moves and the lip movements didn't line up with the music in the first place.
