Song of the Week
8/19/10 - "To a Brand-New World"
Welcome to Song of the Week, Myu Corner's weekly feature on songs from SeraMyu. This week, I am featuring a song I have really liked for a long time — "To a Brand-New World," one of Sailor Saturn's two theme songs in the myus ("The World Died Out" from the Mugen myus being the other). This song was among the first myu songs that I fandubbed, and the first one I edited the lyrics for. Plus, I also wanted to do this song because I just finished reading the Infinity Arc of the manga last night (via scans from Neo Nobility), and I was very wowed by the way Saturn was drawn and by how much character development she gets despite only appearing briefly. Therefore, I decided to feature her main theme this week.
"To a Brand-New World" debuted in Sailor Moon SuperS (Kaiteiban) Yume Senshi - Ai - Eien ni... Saturn Fukkatsu Hen! (Dream Senshi - Love - Into Eternity...Saturn Revival Story), which was also the first musical in which Sailor Saturn appeared. It is the first Senshi image song to debut in a Kaiteiban (later, Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus's themes would debut in Transylvania no Mori Kaiteiban and Chibimoon's theme "Pinky Typhoon" in Mugen Gakuen Kaiteiban) and one of only two Outer Senshi themes to debut in a Kaiteiban (the other being Uranus and Neptune's second theme song, "Harsh! Saint Cry!!," which debuted in Black Lady Kaiteiban). It was also the second Outer Senshi theme to debut (the first being Pluto's theme "Stay Alone," which debuted in the unaired '95 Spring myu and on video in the first SuperS myu). However, though the song didn't debut till SuperS Kaiteiban, we got a taste of it in the original SuperS myu, because the song takes its melody from the ballad "Miss Dream," sung in both SuperS myus by the character of that name (also referred to as the Nazo no Shoujo, or "Mysterious Girl"), a girl with amazing powers over dreams whose powers have been taken advantage of by the Dead Moon Circus. Miss Dream in both myus was played by Takeda Keiko, who also played Saturn, although Miss Dream was only revealed to be Saturn in the Kaiteiban (she was just a normal girl in the original myu). At any rate, while Takeda Keiko was the first to sing this song, she was not the only one. The song also appeared in Eien Densetsu (where it was performed by Chihiro Imai, who replaced Keiko-chan for this myu only) and its Kaiteiban (where Keiko-chan returned) and in Last Dracul Jokyoku (where it was performed by Mita Mao). It was also performed by Kakiuchi Ayami, the 6th Saturn, but only in the Black Lady fankan. Thus it was performed by 4 of the 9 Saturn actresses, a feat perhaps only surpassed by how many times "Mata Mata Chibiusa Desu" has been performed by the various Chibimoon actresses.
This is a very interesting song. While it does not really give Saturn the aura of destruction she is given in the Infinity/S arc (which is better shown in "The World Died Out"), I don't mind too much, maybe because as Miss Dream she's been causing destruction through the whole myu anyway. Also, this song sequence suggests that Saturn has the power both to destroy and resurrect, which to me contradicts Saturn's words in the manga about her destructive power only paving the way for rebirth to happen and that rebirth from her destruction would be caused by Sailor Moon (something which is very clearly seen in the manga). Maybe her ability to resurrect is only a myu canon thing? Hard to know. Nonetheless, I think this is a very touching song, with its words about hope in the midst of hardship and destruction, which are very befitting the character of Saturn as she is shown in the anime and especially in the manga; though she is feared for her power to destroy, she knows that only through hitting rock bottom can revival and restoration begin. She also holds to the hope that all the Outers had in the Silver Millennium: the knowledge that their Queen and their Princess were still there to protect the universe, and as long as that was so, they could carry on in their lonely posts.
Well, that's all for this week. Tune in next Thursday to see the next Song of the Week!