Last Dracul Saishuu Shou - Chou Wakusei Death Vulcan no Fuuin Guide
Name Translation: Last Dracul Final Show - The Sealing of the Super Planet Death Vulcan
Stage: Third (fan) / Second (producers)
Play rundates: 3/18 – 4/8/01
Released on video?: Yes
Released on: VHS, preorder VHS
Omake footage? Yes, a Super Revue Show (performed as “part 2” of the musical), a preorder VHS omake, and a second Ongaku Shuu
Available subtitled?: Yes, from Cruel Angel Productions
CAST:
Heroes
Kanbe Miyuki – Usagi/Sailor Moon
Kawabe Chieco – Ami/Sailor Mercury
Yoshida Megumi – Rei/Sailor Mars
Hayashi Yuriko – Makoto/Sailor Jupiter
Murata Ayumi – Minako/Sailor Venus
Takagi Nao – Haruka/Sailor Uranus
Asami Yuuka – Michiru/Sailor Neptune
Hosaka Yuuko – Setsuna/Sailor Pluto
Tomioka Mario – Hotaru/Sailor Saturn
Takabatake Kasumi – Chibiusa/Sailor Chibimoon
Edo Hidemasa – Mamoru/Tuxedo Kamen
Villains
Inoue Kazuma – Death Vulcan
Tominaga Kenji – Dark Cain
Hirao Yoshiki – Magi St. Germain
Endou Ado – Roi Malkuth
Kawasaki Miki – Olam Tiphareth
Yamakawa Noriko – Elyon Yesod
Minor Characters
Yukimura Yoshiya – Mandrake
Yasuda Mari – Mandra-ko
Ajima Niki – Werewolf Child Levi
Okamoto NanaMaria – Vulcan
Mochizuki Yuuta – Count Dracul
Ono Hikari – Bloody Dracul Vampir
SUMMARY:
Death Vulcan, a personification of the planet Vulcan, has awakened, destroying Sailor Astarte once and for all. As he aligns his evil ambitions with Dark Cain’s, the world lies on the brink of destruction. Meanwhile, Dark Cain’s brother Count Dracul has come back from the dead and just wants to finish his mission to provide a non-human blood source as nourishment for his half-vampire daughter Vampir, so he can settle down peacefully with her.
The Sailor Senshi need to stop Death Vulcan and Dark Cain’s destructive plans – and fast. But with the planet Vulcan split into two personifications – the good Vulcan and the evil Death Vulcan – can the Senshi reunite Vulcan without putting Earth in danger as well? Find out in the suspenseful conclusion to the Dracul Arc.
SONGS:
- Overture/"The Last Change": The musical begins with an overture, during which the Senshi update us on the story so far (which is probably why I understood this myu without seeing the other Dracul arc myus). The overture ends with one of the choruses of “The Last Change,” a Sailor Moon theme song introduced in Transylvania no Mori.
- “Wake Up! Shining”: an upbeat group song sung by all the senshi in their civilian forms. The Outers’ outfits are pretty cool, especially Nao-san’s leather jacket (which makes her look really cool).
- “Itan no Juusei” (“The Heresy of the Binary Planet”): I love this song. It’s sung by Vulcan and Death Vulcan and is rather operatic in style. It is very much like a recitativo accompagnato, or accompanied recitative, an operatic style similar in rhythm to speech but with orchestral accompaniment, which makes it more song-like. [Thanks to Wikipedia for this info]
- “Chikyuu! Crisis wo Yurusumaji” (“Earth! We Won’t Allow a Crisis”): sung by the Outer Senshi when they interrupt Death Vulcan as he is trying to recruit Dracul to his side. It’s a great song, as I said in the myu review. It shares melodies with “Fukkatsu! Crisis wo Yurusumaji” (“Revival! We Won’t Allow a Crisis”), from the 1995-96 SuperS myus, but has different lyrics.
- “Ankoku no Sonnet” (“Sonnet of Darkness”): This song, despite its name, is not in sonnet form (it has too many lines), though it does have the problem-resolution format common to both Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnets. [Thanks to Wikipedia for this info]. It is sung by Death Vulcan, Dark Cain, Magi St. Germain and the Death Nightmares. It captures the enemies’ glee at this point very well. The three guys dance very goofily though.
- “The Last Change”: a full version of the song whose chorus appeared in the overture. This is the slow, orchestral version, rather than the upbeat “21st Century” version. It is a Sailor Moon solo, sung at first from inside a cool engraved glass block meant to represent the Silver Crystal.
- “Akuma no Ragnarok” (“Devil’s Ragnarok”): sung by Dracul, Vampir, Dark Cain, and the Death Nightmares. It shares melodies with “Kubisuji wo Sashidase” (“Present the Neck”) from Last Dracul Jokyoku, but has different lyrics. Ragnarok (“final destiny of the gods” in Old Norse) refers to the end of the world in Norse mythology, a series of events culminating in a disastrous battle which even many of the gods will not survive. [Thanks to Wikipedia for Ragnarok definition]
- “21st Century ~ Koi no Senshi ja Irarenai” (“21st Century ~ We Can’t Only Be Soldiers of Love”): a group battle song sung by all the senshi. The senshi sing as they fight the bad guys, as usual. The choreography of it changes depending on the myu, and this case is no different, seeming differently choreographed than other performances, and staged differently too.
- “FIRE”: the main battle song for the Dracul Arc. It is sung by all the Senshi during the final battle of the myu, where Moon reunites the planet Vulcan by sealing Vulcan and Death Vulcan together in the Dark Tablet. Miyuki also transforms into Serenity during the song.
- “Ginga no Sanctuary” (“Sanctuary of the Galaxy”): This is sung as a full cast finale number. Miyuki transforms back into Eternal Moon partway through. Dracul also goes and puts his arm around Dark Cain at the end (a nice brotherly moment).
There are no service numbers, probably because of the Revue Show that follows the myu.
TRIVIA:
- Mochizuki Yuuta (Dracul), the 2nd-longest myu performer (after Endou Ado) and longest-running Tuxedo Kamen, graduated from the myus after this myu. This myu was also the final myu for Kanbe Miyuki (Moon), Hayashi Yuriko (Jupiter), Tomioka Mario (Saturn), Takabatake Kasumi (Chibimoon), and Hidemasa Edo (Tuxedo Kamen).
- Miyuki-san also appeared after this myu at the Black Lady fankan for the Passing of the Tiara (where a graduated Moon actress passes on the Sailor Moon tiara to her successor) to Kuroki Marina and as a guest at the 10th Anniversary Memorial Talk and Live Show. Unfortunately, she passed away on June 18, 2008, of heart failure, at the young age of 24.
- This myu was unusual in that, like Last Dracul Jokyoku and Shin Densetsu Kourin (as well as the unreleased Super Spring Festival and SuperS Musical Show from the first stage), it was a standalone myu that did not have a kaiteiban (revision). It also played in the spring, rather than summer or winter (the Summer 2001 myu was Ankoku no Princess Black Lady).
- The Death Nightmares’ names in this myu come from names for God – Roi, Olam, and Elyon – coupled with names of the Sephiroth, or attributes in Kabbalah – Tiphareth, Malkuth, and Yesod. [Basic info from Dies Gaudii Sera Myu Entomology; definition of Sephiroth from Wikipedia]
- We learn in this myu that the good Vulcan possessed the body of Shiva Shingetsu Astarte/Sailor Astarte. She is also shown holding a crystal ball that could be Astarte’s Sailor Crystal (crystal balls were used in Sailor Stars and its kaiteiban to represent Sailor Crystals). At first, I thought Vulcan was Astarte, perhaps the good part of Astarte that escaped corruption by Death Vulcan and/or Dark Cain (both of which possessed Astarte from time to time), but in this myu Vulcan tells the senshi she couldn’t save Sailor Astarte, which suggests they are separate entities.
- This is the last myu where Ono Hikari played Vampir, though she continued with the myus until 2002, playing Prince Dimande in Ankoku no Princess Black Lady and its Kaiteiban and Hikaru Kurozuki (really Dimande) in 10th Anniversary Festival – Ai no Sanctuary.