This Week in Anime

Song of the Summer

Coop
As cursed a pairing that might be (both in theory and application), it seems to me that the stage and animation have always been in conversation, Chris. For an inverse of Phantom, in which an anime has been adapted for the stage, look at the Frank Wildhorn-composed Death Note and Your Lie in April musicals. Deeper than that, anime has probably taken cues from the stage since the medium's inception. Starting with Noh, Kabuki, and other traditional Japanese stage arts, before evolving with the emergence of the Takarazuka Revue, experimental theater, and Western productions. You could easily argue that the birth of 2.5D stage shows is the culmination of this relationship.

And yes, Chris, before you ask, I was a theater major.

Not to mention series and films that might not technically be musicals, but have tunes that regularly punctuate their most emotional moments.

I won't hear "Kakusei" and NOT think of Lio's rampage in the back half of Promare...or NOT see this as the opening number to Dirty Pair: Project Eden.

Similar to those earlier examples, INTERSTELLA 5555 sits on the edge of becoming a Jukebox Musical. But to be considered one, you'd probably need a wider spread of tunes from various artists... Like this little flick made by Toei Animation in 1986!

I'll give it points for attempting to condense such a grand story into a two-and-a-half-hour movie, but The Rose of Versailles doesn't exactly work in this form for me. Which is a shame for more than a few reasons, but chiefly: I'm sure the illustrious ladies of the Takarazuka Revue have thoroughly cracked this nut on the musical end of things.

Secondly, there's this other musical involving the French Revolution that serves as a perfect example of how to adapt a dense work for the same runtime.

I'm inclined to agree with you. Honestly, the film reminded me so much of my time with compilation flicks like the Mobile Suit Gundam Trilogy and Tomorrow's Joe. Specifically, in that they're so intensely paced that the viewer is watching plot points on screen rather than being allowed to breathe alongside the characters throughout their experiences. Coincidentally, that's the strength of a good musical number—it allows the audience to get a bead on a character as they let out everything on their mind. It felt more like ensemble numbers were prioritized to move the plot along. For instance, Oscar and Marie Antoinette could've had an intense duet in their last meeting, but that didn't happen.

It all makes me feel as if they weren't able to fully commit to the musical aspect of the film. Because when a show can nail a number, the entire emotional experience is made better for it. For as talented as Hiroyuki Sawano and Kohta Yamamoto are, I wouldn't say they're the right composers for a proper, old-style musical.

I agree on the theatricality of Sawano's tunes, but perhaps it was a bit of a mismatch of thematicity—at least for me. It's probably an unfair comparison to make, but my brain goes to the sound of Sondheim's works (specifically Into the Woods) or again, Les Mis, when it comes to grand, sweeping musicals. Then again, that line of thinking is probably a bit limiting if a creative is looking to strictly follow those well-traveled paths. When you hear the people singing the song of angry men, it's sometimes hard to get it out of your head, Chris.

This one fascinated me with its focused use of these laments. Especially because these tunes come out with no explanation, nor does the narrative try to figure one out either. I love that these girls are just letting their emotions out, and the first episode of Red Garden shows that they've got plenty on their minds.

This reminds me of when my professors once told me something to the effect of, "Breaking out into song makes no sense, but if it's a strong, uncontrollable outburst of emotion, that action will be way more believable to the audience."

I can't think of a better example of this concept in practice than Revue Starlight and its film follow-up. When it comes to a battle of wills through song, it's hard to beat a breakup song that's punctuated by a fleet of semi trucks that are sent flying at both parties

These clashes did so much to address my only real issue with the series itself—these girls are way too nice to each other. There's too little jealousy or friction between the members of the 99th class. Perhaps there's an air of sportsmanlike rivalry shown, but theater kids (especially teenagers) are brutal—one-upsmanship is more of the mo in reality. I was thrilled to see The Movie address that issue right away by upping the angst immediately.

The sheer amount of songs, sword fights, and lesbians on display is reminiscent of another rather theatrical series.

As Steve mentioned when we talked about it at length earlier this year, Revolutionary Girl Utena goes all in with its theatrical imagery. Aside from the overwhelming influence of Shūji Terayama and J. A. Seazer, there's a fair bit of exploration with the concept of a stage itself, with series' dueling grounds. At first, it feels very much like a blank canvas for stage combat, but abstracts over time with the introduction of increasingly bizarre set pieces and props starting in the Black Rose Saga.

If Utena were a theater person, they'd be the designer who obsesses over how to best shatter the audience's conceptions of the stage. Be it through set design, the lighting, or the use of projections. However, the series itself is very keen on cluing in the audience to be suspicious of whoever's running it all back in the booth.

Though more focused on more traditional musical fare, Revue Starlight shares so much of this specific strain of DNA I'm scratching at here. Then again, Starlight's director, Tomohiro Furukawa, worked under Utena director Kunihiko Ikuhara before staging his own animated play.

Absolutely! The constant conversation between both media makes for more creatively diverse works in general. Perhaps it doesn't always result in a winner of a musical, like the aforementioned Rose of Versailles or the lackluster Ryoma! The Prince of Tennis, but that back-and-forth keeps those juices flowing. I'd say the Macross series is probably a happy medium between the musical adjacent works we've mentioned and a full-on musical.

It's very hard for me to watch the finale of Macross Frontier: The Wings of Farewell and not feel that explosive outpouring of emotions we've been coming back to again and again.

Have you ever seen the power of song pierce an asteroid, dear reader? Watch Macross 7 and you will.

It's time to update the ranking of the world's highest mountains once again.

It's how I learned that you don't HAVE TO put beef in your stroganoff.