Song of the Week
10/21/10 - "Orleans no Sei Senshi"
Welcome to Song of the Week, Myu Corner's weekly feature on songs from SeraMyu. This week, in honor of my friends at Miss Dream, who are as we speak chugging away at a long-anticipated release of the original Eien Densetsu (which unlike its Kaiteiban and the well-known senshuuraku of that Kaiteiban, has never been subbed before) – and perhaps also because I just signed up for a fantasy-style online RPG called Fiesta that I learned about from a Facebook ad – I'm featuring one of my favorite myu songs, "Orleans no Sei Senshi." (I debated whether to do this one or its longer equivalent from the same myu, known as "La Fatalité Sei Senshi." I ended up deciding on this one; maybe I'll do the other one next week).
"Orleans no Sei Senshi" ("Holy Soldiers of Orléans") is the opening vocal song of Eien Densetsu, following an instrumental overture. The context is, we learn later, a play that is being put on by the school in which the five Inners, Hotaru, and the Three Lights are all taking part, though the scene does seem real at first. The song boasts the five Inners in awesome caped costumes that remind one of The Three Musketeers or, to hit closer to home for the myus, the old anime The Rose of Versailles. It's also the only time I recall swords ever being used on stage by someone who wasn't a villain. The big shoulder pads and the capes don't get in the girls' way at all, and indeed the capes are flourished in perfect sync every time. The song, though short, is catchy and ties to its context (a play about a French princess, given the setting of Orléns) with the use of French words. While the context is less dramatic than its longer counterpart from the end of the myu, it still serves its purpose well.
Aside from being used as the tune for "La Fatalité" in the same myu, this song is also used as the tune for Uranus and Neptune's betrayal in both Eien Densetsu and its Kaiteiban and the later Kakyuu-Ouhi Kourin, where it is called "Orleans no Sei Senshi ~Uranus Neptune no Uragiri" and "Uranus Neptune no Uragiri" (Uranus and Neptune's Betrayal) respectively. It also appeared at the Eien Densetsu (Kaiteiban) fankan (in the "Uranus and Neptune's Betrayal" version) and Transylvania no Mori fankan in its regular form, as well as on the Best Song Collection CD.
Simply put, this song rocks. I enjoyed learning it to fandub it, and now that I have to redo that fandub, I'm going to enjoy learning it again. I think I probably like it because "La Fatalité" is one of my favorite songs too. Both songs are great songs. Considering the last two musicals started without upbeat group songs - SuperS started with the slow ballad "Double Moonlight Romance" and Sailor Stars with the Three Lights song "Chasin' After You," as opposed to Gaiden's "Mystery Sagashi" and Usagi Ai no Senshi e no Michi's "Solar Miracle Make-Up" - it was time for another one, and "Orleans no Sei Senshi" fits the bill.
Well, that's all for this week. Tune in next Thursday to see the next Song of the Week!