Otaru Music Box- omiyage

The beautiful music box encased in glass was a souvenir from a friend. Recently, a friend went to Kyoto in Japan, as he was strolling on the streets of Gion, he “stumbled upon” (in his own words), Otaru music box museum store. He asked if they had the song from Ghibli studio’s animation Laputa and they did! On top of that, they had different shapes. The star shape is very suiting since the animation is about the castle in the sky.

I am digressing but there are several reasons why I am excited about this gift. Earlier this year, when I was planning to go to Japan, I had wanted to go to Hokkaido and a town nearby called Otaru; I had wanted to visit the famous music box museum. It’s a bit of a coincidence that although I didn’t get to go there, my friend got me a gift from there.

Last year, we showed Laputa at the artshow! Because the song was stuck in his head after the artshow (you know how if you leave the DVD on the main page, it plays a certain song, this was the song). It’s like a cycle of event. Chain and effect? Or overthinking in my part.

Watching the mechanical side of it wind and unwind is really therapeutic. There is definitely a certain degree of romanticizing it, but it’s because music boxes are very old fashioned. Who really uses it when you can get a song to play on loop on your media player with the press of a button? I made an attempt to record it on my phone and the sound was completely different. To enjoy the song and experience the visual aesthetics of it requires the act of being present, physically there.

Mondays are tough. It was definitely the highlight of yesterday. Thanks K!

Monkey: Journey to the West

From July 6th to the 28th, at Lincoln center, there is a musical called Monkey: Journey to the West. For those of you not familiar with the epic Chinese tale; it is a story about a monkey who wrecked havoc in the heavens after seeking immortality, got punished and had to stayed under the palm of Buddha for 500 years. A monk on a pilgrimage, seeking the Buddhist scripture in India (aka traveling West from China), freed the monkey, acquired three more assistants, the dragon prince who is now a horse, the lustful and ugly pig, and a cannibal who used to be a monk. The only thing in common for the strange group is they had committed terrible and extreme sins (except the noble monk), so in a way, to offer the monk protection is to repent for their past.

Inside Lincoln center. Love the Jewel like lights!

Play Bill!

Now that you sorta have a vague idea of the plot, the 2 hour musical started off with monkey seeking immortality. Listening to the music, I am impressed already, the soundtrack is beautiful, upbeat at critical moments, sentimental at times and it’s so integrated with the whole play, sometimes you don’t think too much of it.

The animation is by the creator of The Gorillaz as proudly advertised on the website. But I think if you are familiar with Jamie Hewlett’s distinctive art style, you would recognize it right away. He also designed the costumes which are 3-D with flat colors, so it almost gives it a 2-D effect, along with brilliant one hue super saturated colors used for stage design which is also vector like/strong outlines which is his style. The integration of the actor to the background using projection scene is done seamlessly. I also enjoyed the solo animation scenes. They were beautifully rendered, very fluid, flawless. At times you feel like it’s a video game (the sound contributes to this), especially that one scene where monkey is traveling upwards towards the heavens, going through many many clouds.

Another thing I was impressed with was the fusion of the East and West. Western music, impressions, artworks and stage design- Chinese actors, dialogues in Mandarin, Chinese epic story- seemed like a mismatch but I think there was an understanding on both side that makes the fantasy on stage work well and the story rendered true to its essence.

One criticism my friends had were, there was not enough character development for the virtuous monk and horse. They said all they did was run around, shriek and cried a little bit. I agreed but due to the time limit, they probably want to focus on Monkey and the conflict between Monkey and Pig. I see both sides of it but honestly, I wasn’t too bothered by it because I was too distracted and entertained to think about them. I think essentially, the story is about journey, and repenting for your sins, karmas and hardship but the determination to resist temptation and move on. As long as those messages are impart, it will be true to the story.

I really enjoyed the show. I think it is a truly creative and well throughout, modern interpretation of the ancient tale; It’s very effective in reaching out to the modern audience eliminating yawns and snores.