As the rest of the world deliberates whether Home Alone or Die Hard counts as a Christmas movie, I have always felt myself above such things. ^_^ But then, translator Jocelyne Allen pointed out that Sailor Moon S Movie is in actual fact a Christmas movie and I could not argue. When she reminded me that this week the Sailor Moon Musical Kaguya-hime no Koibito was available for streaming on Japan 2.5. Stage Play World, my wife and I put together an impromptu double play of a story neither of us much like. ^_^
Firstly, Sailor Moon S The Movie is streaming in dub for free on YouTube right now for US folks. We never bought the new Viz release, so I dragged out our old Pioneer (!) DVD. You can rent it on Amazon Prime or buy it for only about $5 more on Amazon, which gives you a sense of how popular it is.
The basic plot of the movie is that Luna and Artemis are on the skids. Luna, feeling sick, is found by a handsome man who is himself ill. He nurses her back to health. She learns that he is a Oozora Kakeru, a researcher who is obsessed with a comet that is approaching earth, which he has named “Kaguya-hime” after the moon being from the Taketori Monogatari. Kakeru’s lover is Himeko, a woman chosen for a space mission to study the comet. There is a little tension between them as Kakeru had also wanted to be an astronaut. Luna falls in love with Kakeru, but can do nothing when he falls ill.
As Christmas approaches, so does the comet, and with it Snow Princess Kaguya is revealed to be an alien who wants to take over the earth, naturally. The Senshi fight, are defeated and band together to defeat the enemy. Usagi grants Luna’s wish to become human for one night. She takes Kakeru to space and kisses him. She returns to Earth, and Artemis.
When the Sailor S Movie came out originally I watched it for the then-precious moments with the Outer Senshi. It was originally released in Japan in 1994, my three-disk “uncut” movie box set is from 2001, so possibly older than some of you reading this. Having Haruka and Michiru on screen sharing tea or shopping together was a big deal still.
If you still need proof that this is a Christmas movie, check in at about 21 minutes in:
Note the incongruous use of L’Chaim when Tuxedo Kamen throws a top at a snow dancer. This is wildly inappropriate – he should have said “Chag Sameach.” ^_^
Immediately after this, we fired up the Sailor Moon Musical Kaguya-hime no Koibito, starring Nogizaka46 members.
It was…not bad? Also terrible, but in the exact way I love. ^_^ To begin with here is the opening song, which was shaky but solidified up. Mercury was the weakest singer throughout, but the rest of the cast was good to great.
The bad stuff was more than one song about how much girls need guys, and until they have them are permanently unfulfilled. And Tuxedo Kamen’s final solo, about which my wife said, “This is unnecessary.” A shame too, because Riku Sorahane had a great voice. From the moment she stepped on stage we could see that she had been trained as a Takarisienne. It was in every motion she made.
Other strange bits were the Luna ballets and Himeko making a comment about being pregnant, which would definitely have kept her out of space. Also the final thanks felt like there was stuff that was supposed to have been said, and instead we have “thank you very much” shouted a us an excessive number of times, even for one of these musicals.
Speaking of excessive, they say “Starry Heavens” 8 times.
So…the good bits. Overall pretty good music. Snow Kaguya had a operatic voice that worked well. The Outers were all great. I can’t embed this, but here is a clip of the Outer Senshi actresses watching the show digest. At 1:30 they watch the bit where they arrive on stage: https://youtu.be/KBHlvUVcDnw?t=90. ^_^
The very best bit, in my opinion was when the Senshi “transform” they each have some dance moves that were adapted from their henshin sequence. I though this extremely clever.
The second best thing was that Haruka and Michiru are glued at the hip throughout the whole performance – even to the point of a small perfomative hug as they leave the stage the first time and holding hands as they leave the second time. It’s more than we ever got in the animated movie and it was overt enough that I wondered idly, if we’ll ever see them stage kiss in an official property.
Overall, it wasn’t as Christmasy as the animated movie, but it was fun. Again, I can’t embed it, but here is the show digest video, so you can get an idea of the spectacle.
Next year as everyone is waggling their Scrooged at you, don’t forget – Sailor Moon S Movie is also a Christmas movie. ^_^
