anniversary of the 'Great Moon Troupe Retirement'. watched 'Misty Station' once more ~ discovery never ends

'Great Moon Troupe Retirement' is a thing I thought up just now. since so many beautiful and wonderful ladies left Moon Troupe at once, I think I could say something like this to describe the even that took place last year on the very same day...

music
while I usually rely on my ears and memory to recognise this or that song, there are still many songs and/or artists I do not know. having a booklet with the composers' and lyricists' names mentioned enables me to know better what sources of inspiration there exist that make Takarazuka directors create such beautiful shows
tamashii no refrain & shuuketsu no sono e 

last year I mentioned that 'tamashii no refrain' is an NGE song by Takahashi Youko

however, songs borrowed from Evangelion are not limited to it. this song is also from NGE. and I learned it only a few days ago. well,  I knew from the start that 'tis not a native Zuka song. however, I did not even bother to learn who is the original singer. that is my biggest mistake! 'tis Megumi-sama! how could I fail to guess, when the style is so obviously hers

if I were to choose which version I like better I would certainly be unable to do that. on one hand, the originals are energetic and I love this kind of pop arrangement with electro sound and rhythm very much. on the other hand, I love it when pop songs are made into orchestral pieces - like in case with TWO-MIX Rhythm Generation [Paris-France] or SUMMER PLANET №1 [Paris-France]. also, there is no way I could choose between ear-piercing vocals of Hayashibara or Takahashi, and deep low Kiriya's and Ryuu's, or high sonorous Aono's. both songs are great in both versions. yes

Ambient-57
the only version I could find there on YT is

but if you want to find the original, you would like to know that it belongs to a Japanese jazz band called PE'Z and is part of the album 'Okite Neru -FUNNY DAY & HARD NIGHT-'
kaze
is based on the song 'kaze' by Hashida Norihiko to Shuberutsu

PRIDE
is a song based on Yasuharu Takanashi's theme music for 'Pride FC'. the original is so great that I completely understand why one would want to create some visual performance to this music

you can hear it on the vids of FC openings, though for me 'tis kind of a pity that such music is used simply as background for announcing the names of the sportsmen... 'tis kind of... too heroic? well, maybe for people who love mixed martial art 'tis really important, I do not really know

Fantastic City
is another song coming from fighting, this time from wrestling. on the Japanese Wiki it is mentioned as the former theme music of Masahiro Chono, and the best variant of it would be probably ↓

the composer of the original, as well as the author of the Takarazuka version, is Suzuki Osamu
asaki yume mishi
is how the song title should be spelt, I guess. however, the title is written as 朝き夢見じ, unlike the traditional 浅き (a kanji for 'morning' instead of 'shallow', 'light'). the song is again a PE'Z one from the same album. Blogger does not let me insert a vid, so watch the original here if you want ↓
http://youtu.be/QW3eUKKEXx0 
Good Bye My Love
is a song by Ann Lewis, composed by Hirao Masaaki

such a tender song by Ann surprised me, since I only heard her performing rock songs like 'Roppongi Shinjuu'. by the way. imagine Takarazuka version of 'Roppongi Shinjuu'. would be great!
The Final Countdown
is too famous to be explained

Alone Again and My Way
Alove Again by Gilbert O'Sullivan

was made into an almost instrumental composition for the all-troupe dance, with only a few words sung by lady Aono - including the 'woduwidooo' ^o^ I mean, 'what do we do'
'My Way' would be the proper way to call this song, since the Japanese lyrics are based on 'My Way' and have nothing to do with the original 'comme l'habitude'. I would even say they have the opposite meaning...

though I actually dislike the melody of this song - yes, when I hear the melody I feel like I am eating something soft, pink, disgustingly saccharine sweet and bitter at the same time - I loved the instrumental version, and of course, my dear Sawaki singing made me see this song from a different angle. and I still remember how lady Kiriya said on her concert - 'I was looking forward to singing this song so much, since in the Takarazuka performance I only had the chance to sing the last line'

performance
is it only me or Misty Station is one of the most freakiest shows of Takarazuka? in the good sense of this word. at least, if someone asked my opinion, I would not recommend a person unacquainted with Takarazuka works watch it, as I consider it a 'non-classical' revue
let me start with good points. raise your hands those who agree that these costumes are ones of the best in Takarazuka revues! for some reason, I love this design so much...

other costumes are, however, more... questionable would be rude, but very 'unique'

that does not mean I dislike them, though. I cannot, since I liked the performance itself, its structure and the stories told


conclusion
after a year, Misty Station is still near the top of my favourite performances. I do not know whether it wins or loses to Dance Romanesque, but this is so subjective that it hardly makes any sense
by the way, did you notice the animated introduction?

did you smile at Kiriya's wink?

have you ever looked at Aono looking at Kiriya?

have you ever put Combi dance on pause and look closely?

and I wonder... do you feel like I do when the stage is covered in darkness and only the center spot is lit up?

oh, and did you notice the special moon 'batons'?

hectic rush right before state exams does not let me sleep much or relax a lot, but an hour of watching Misty Station saved me a lot. this is all

my humble opinion on HIMEKA

while having nothing to do with Japan in terms of her origin, she struggled and she was successful - she was able to sing a lot of songs from anime she loved and she became an anime song performer herself. however, I would separate these two sides of her

her own songs present on the 'himekanvas' album were great. this was the album I started with and I was fascinated. her pronunciation and her voice and her manner reminded me of the 2000s generation a lot, which is gradually fading away yielding to the overly cute songs of the late 00s and the 10s which we are living through

however, being so delighted with the fact that I found an almost 'classical' anime songs performer, I hoped too much that her covers would be good, too. I was mistaken. half of the songs she covered should be banished into oblivion (in her version of course)

'sayonara solitaire' - tasteless, vulgar, banal, trivial, just like millions of other singers on the Earth could perform it. even if I admit that Chiba-san is not a perfect singer herself, and this song could be covered by someone perfectly, HIMEKA was not an example of 'another version which has a right to exist'. oh no, too pops a voice, too plain an arrangement, simply terrible

'yuzurenai negai' - ohhh... and this song should be prohibited for being covered for_ever. yes. nobody, nobody ever should dare to sing this song. oh please, do not touch Tamura-sama's works. while 'sayonara solitaire' could be performed by someone else provided she (or even he) does not have an obviously pops sound, 'yuzurenai negai' should not be covered by anyone at all. never. no one.

'tamashii no refrain' - I admit I was a fool not to know that this song is from NGE - shame on me, thousand times. well, now I know - and what? I hate it sung by HIMEKA even though I should admit she sung it so-so, not bad... but ooh... I heard it covered by Takarazuka. I listened to it just now sung by Takahashi Youko-san. HIMEKA's voice cannot add any charm to it. moreover, this is a song from 90s. and such works should not be adapted into modern ones or covered by modern performers. they do not, they cannot understand the soul of 90s. well, they could - but I have met none so far, who would

'voices' - I should I admit I have forgotten who performed this song in the original. I guess it could be Arai Akino-san, but I am not sure. however that may be, HIMEKA spoiled the song as well. no voice trembling or shouting with all your might, no pops cheap tricks can make this song more beautiful than 'twas in the original. I wonder if HIMEKA knows the story of this song and its origin. HIMEKA's voice is completely wrong here, she does not create the image that was so necessary in the movie. oh, 'tis 'Macross +' if you wonder

'sore ga ai deshou' - I thought this song to be completely suitable for HIMEKA's voice, and suddenly... 'tis also contra-indicated to HIMEKA. though the voice of Shimokawa-san was also cute and smacks of pops, it was a bit more gentle and 'airy', as she did not put too much of a strength into singing
'Adesso e Fortuna' - I thought this to be a beautiful song of HIMEKA's own creation, but then I thought it sounds strange for her, as if something is wrong there, as if 'tis not for her... and what a coincidence, 'tis a cover. I should admit I liked it a lot in HIMEKA's performance, 'tis very expressive and strong but... when I listened to the original from 'Records of Lodoss War' I felt so nostalgic, despite the fact I have never watched the anime itself or heard the song. again, 'twas the 90s. 'twas a different time. 'twas another style. it cannot be transformed into something new and contemporary. though there are a lot of examples of successful reviving of something old, this particular strata of music should be left there where 'twas, forever

the other songs were perhaps ok, but I could not listen to them while realizing that they were perhaps completely different in the original version

summing up...

somehow, while having only one voice, HIMEKA seems to be split up into 2 people. one of them is a successful singer with a lot of nice songs, and the other one is a cheap sounding pop singer spoiling everything she reaches up to. this makes me respect her as a foreigner who bravely comes to Japan to fulfill her dream but I shall listen only to her own songs and ignore her cover album

well, compare for yourselves - 'sayonara solitaire'