Shin Kaguya Shima Densetsu
Shanghai Fankan Guide
This special fankan took place in Shanghai, China as part of the 2004 International Character Expo that ran from May 1st-9th, 2004 and was intended to promote that summer’s musical, Shin Kaguya Shima Densetsu.
The fankan begins with an introduction in Mandarin Chinese by the host, asking everyone if they remember Sailor Moon and explaining about how the anime was adapted into musicals which have been going on for twelve years and almost 800 performances. She then says that the musicals are now going global, and the first stop is Shanghai. She then introduces the first song, "Tsukiiro no Syndicate." At the end, she says "Okay, all Sailor Senshi, go ahead" in Japanese, showing that she also speaks Japanese.
Kuroki Marina (Moon) comes out to sing "Tsukiiro no Syndicate" (one of the cutest myu songs there is, but ridiculously hard to sing along to). Interestingly, she's in her senshi fuku, even though in the myus she's in her civilian form when she sings this song. After the second verse, the other Inner Senshi come out and dance as backup dancers, singing certain parts of the lines as in the musical version.
The screen blacks out as "La Soldier" cues up. The lights come back on the senshi as they pose, and then yet another performance of the musical's quintessential song begins. It's just a 1-chorus version though.
The host thanks the girls (in Chinese and Japanese) and then asks the audience to give them a warm welcome. She then asks the girls to greet everyone, since it's their first time in China. Marina does so, saying "Nihao" (“hello” in Mandarin) very cutely. The girls then step forward and say thank you, at which the host marvels at how fast they've picked up Mandarin (although the girls said domo, which is Japanese, rather than the Mandarin word for "thank you," xie xie).
She then prompts the girls to introduce themselves. This part is somewhat hilarious because after each girl introduces herself, the host renders her introduction into Mandarin for the audience, which in translation comes out somewhat different than what was actually said (this is true for the parts where she asks them questions also). Their surnames are rendered differently, for example (except Erica, who plays Venus, who doesn't have a surname). This might be because the host is probably reading the kanji of their names with Chinese pronunciations. The girls just do basic self-introductions, with the only highlight being Watanabe Mai (Jupiter) using the macho greeting Ossu.
The host says the audience had a lot of questions and says she has picked two of them to ask the senshi. She then repeats this to the senshi in Japanese. She asks the senshi what kind of animal they like (in Japanese), then repeats this in Mandarin for the audience's benefit.
Wakayama Manami (Mercury) starts, saying she likes horses. She says their eye is very beautiful. The host asks her if she means "both eyes" and Manami realizes her mistake, which the host then explains to the audience in Mandarin.
Honma Risa (Mars) is next, and says she likes owls because their eye is very cute (which the host renders in Mandarin as "because the owl always closes one eye").
Next comes Mai, who says she likes cats. Unlike humans, she says, cats are carefree. (The host's rendering is totally different here, with her saying Mai likes cats because they are independent and come and go as they please).
Erica is next, and says she likes dogs because they comfort her. Last is Marina, who says she likes pandas, which impresses the host. (Remember, this event was in China, where the panda is basically a national symbol). Marina says she likes pandas because they're cute, like stuffed animals.
The host then goes to the second question, asking the girls if there's anywhere else they want to go to in China besides Shanghai. Manami wants to go to the Great Wall, as she feels it will help her studies. Risa wants to go to Tibet (or "China's Xijang" as the host renders it) to train and develop her spiritual powers. Mai wants to go to Shaolin Temple (a famous Mahayana Buddhist monastery at Mount Song near Zhengzhou, generally associated with Chinese martial arts such as Shaolin Kung Fu). Erica wants to go to the Yangtze River so she can "zoom swimming from up to down stream," which makes the host laugh. Marina says she wants to eat food at all of China's restaurants (a very Usagi answer). The host says that sounds good.
The host then introduces the next two songs, "Kindness! Kaguya Island's History" (not sure what song that is) and "LINK." "LINK" comes first, with the usual great dancing. This is only the third time Marina has sung "LINK" (the other two times being at the Black Lady fankan where she debuted and at the Shin Kaguya Shima Densetsu fankan) but she does a good job with it. The other song, though it was introduced, is not actually performed.
The host asks the audience to give the senshi another hand. Then, since they've been in Shanghai for four days, she asks them what they think about Shanghai. As always, the host renders each of the girls’ answers in Mandarin for the audience.
Marina says the tall buildings in Shanghai are much higher than she had expected from the rumors she heard in Japan. She also says she's really scared of earthquakes, and that she might like to live in Shanghai since she heard there aren't any earthquakes there. Manami builds on Marina's answer by saying there are tall buildings in Japan too, but that Shanghai has building designs she's never seen before and these designs touched her. The host asks her what is the most beautiful building she's seen, and Manami says it's a TV tower in Pudong that looks like a rocket (possibly the Oriental Pearl Tower, which is in Pudong, a district of Shanghai). The host renders Manami's word "rocket" as "missile," though, which is kind of odd. Risa says she was surprised by all the Chinese characters on the computers and such, but that she recognized some of them because they are also used in Japanese. (The host renders this by saying Risa had a hard time knowing which computers and advertisements were good because of the Chinese characters, but that she began to understand them when she saw similarities in the characters to Japanese characters). The host then asks Risa if she can read all the Chinese kanji. Risa says she can read a little more than half of them. She then adds that she can sometimes figure out the ones she doesn't know if they're similar to Japanese.
Mai is next, and says when she went to Shanghai, particularly Pudong, she looked at the Yellow Head Statue and felt it was a nice place (I'm not sure which statue she's referring to, since there are several golden statues at different temples throughout Shanghai, though it might be one of the statues in Qinci Yangdian Temple, the largest Taoist temple in Shanghai, which is in Pudong). The host comments that Mai is familiar with Shanghai's environs and asks Mai if she knows the history of Shanghai. Mai says she does and adds that she's good at Tai Chi. After the host renders this in Mandarin, Mai demonstrates a Tai Chi move for the audience.
Last is Erica, who says she was surprised by the many flavors there were in Shanghai that aren't present in Japan. The host asks her what she ate. Erica says she ate xiaolongbao ("little dragon bun," a type of steamed meat bun, similar in look to a nikuman) and tofu.
The host then says the girls are going to perform a new musical soon and comments that with all they have going on they will be very busy. She then asks what they are looking forward to for their first performance. Marina says she is looking forward to better communication from Japan to China in terms of the musicals and related media. Manami says everyone's clapping helps her do well. Risa echoes the sentiment, saying "receiving everyone's spirit" helps her do well. Mai is bold, saying there is no limit to the musicals or to youthfulness, so the audience should keep their eyes on her. (The host renders Mai's last sentence as "So everyone, WATCH OUT!" LOL). Erica says it would be great if the musicals could be brought to Shanghai so that Chinese audiences could come see them.
Then, the host asks the girls if they have a message for the audience. Marina steps up. She says that even though they only performed three songs today, the musicals have lots of songs, and if the fans here cheer enough, they just might bring the musicals to Shanghai. The other girls echo her call, asking the fans to cheer. Marina then does a variation on the "oshiokiyo" line, saying "If you don't cheer, in the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"
The fankan then ends with another performance of "La Soldier" and a goodbye from the girls (using the word zai jian, which literally means "meet again" but is commonly used as a farewell in Mandarin, and subtly wishes a person life until you meet him or her again). The host ends things by thanking the audience and says there will be two repeat performances (of the fankan, I guess) later that day. One version of this fankan that I saw had footage of some young Chinese cosplayers after the event was done (kawaii!).