Song of the Week
8/5/10 - "Stay Alone"
Hello again and welcome to Song of the Week! In my current sleep-deprived state, I hadn't really thought of what song to feature this week. But then when I went on the Miss Dream forums this afternoon, fellow staff member (and Myu Corner affiliate, via her site Seramyushop.com) Ruth had posted a question about the song "Stay Alone," which I then answered. After answering it, I decided it would make a good song to feature. So this week's song is Sailor Pluto's first theme song, "Stay Alone."
This song was actually first introduced in the Winter 1995 musical, Sailor Moon S -Henshin - Super Senshi e no Michi-, which was the first musical in which Sailor Pluto appeared as a character (Pluto had previously appeared in silhouette in the 2nd musical, but there she was played by Jupiter actress Kanoko, in her Jupiter costume with a Garnet Rod). It was sung by the first Pluto actress, Hosoki Miwa. However, that musical was never released on video, so its true debut – that is, its debut on video – did not come until the Summer 1995 musical, Sailor Moon SuperS Yume Senshi - Ai - Eien ni..., where it was sung by fan favorite Pluto Saitou Rei in her on-video debut (she'd actually debuted in the 1995 Spring musical, but that was never released on video either). It later appeared in Shin Densetsu Kourin, the sixth musical, but with a different third verse that focused the song more on Pluto's longing for Endymion then on a battle-related theme (as in the original). Other than this, it appeared at an unreleased Sailor Stars fan event, at an early unreleased fan event at Monky Park, and at the fankans for Final First Stage, Kaguya Kaiteiban, and Shin Kaguya Kaiteiban.
I really like this song. I'm not sure whether I like it more than Pluto's other theme song, "Forbidden Hades" from the Black Lady myus. They are both excellent and were sung primarily by (in my opinion) the two best Plutos, Saitou Rei and Hosaka Yuuko, respectively. I haven't seen the context of the First Stage version, but I can understand the Pluto/Endymion context of the Shin Densetsu Kourin version (which is also the first musical to feature King Endymion) and I think the lyrics are very well written for that context. Both versions do, however, focus on Pluto's loneliness in her position, something that is touched on in the Black Moon arc of the manga and doesn't entirely have to do with Endymion (overall she is simply lonely; her pining for Endymion makes it worse). It is definitely a good song to listen to.
Well that's it for this week. Next Wednesday is a special anniversary for the myus, so I'm going to pick a special song next time. Tune in next Thursday to see the next Song of the Week!