So I went to the Sakura Taisen V Musical today……
(BTW I still haven’t played the game yet, even though it’s sitting there on my table XD)
From the way they picked out this main cast - 2 big name anime-centric seiyuu (Kobayashi Sanae, Minagawa Junko), 2 seiyuu with musical background (Saito Ayaka, Matsutani Kaya), there wasn’t much doubt in my mind that ST5 had musicals in mind. This was the reason I was interested in seeing this.
I have to say, I was mighty impressed with the performances they managed to put up dispite the obvious budget difference they have compared with the Teito Hanagumi musicals. The stage experience really shows through from the way that Saito Ayaka and Matsutani Kaya moved so effortlessly and their good use of face expressions. Saito Ayaka always had a big cute bright smile on her face which really made her performance of the loli-character quite enjoyable. Minagawa Junko showed some pretty impressive singing skills with some jazz and black gospel music. Sonozaki Mie surprised me a lot with her strong vocals and last of all, Kobayashi Sanae, despite a distinct lack of outstanding characteristics due to the character she plays, still manages to make a impressionable performance. Suganuma Hisayoshi, who plays Taiga Shinjiro (the hero of ST5), was leaps and bounds better than Suyama Akio (Oogami Ichiro, hero of the previous ST installments). Everyone fitted their character like a handmade glove to a hand, there was definitely no complains from me about their performances - it was top notch, arguably one of the best cast, skill wise, they have ever assembled for a ST cast.
Yet I was not entirely satisfied. Something just isn’t hitting my heart in the right spot. After much thinking I know that it has nothing to do with the cast, nothing to do with the character design, and not even anything to do with the fact that I haven’t played the game.
It’s the music.
More specifically, the theme of which the music is based upon. I think the most unfortunate thing about ST5 was that they selected America for it’s background. Fact is, America simply does not have the cultural depth, history and that touch of mysterious aura of Japan or France. While the whole “American Dream” conveys a lot of up-rising, new born energy feeling and the music does manage to capture this feeling, the flip side is that it lacks sophistication and a sense of grand-ness. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great show, however while the time there was definitely enjoyable, it was not entirely memoriable. Which is a big shame IMO, since the cast is so top class with so much talent.
I wonder if this is why ST5 doesn’t get much buzz surrounding it…..
