I had an ecstasy of St. Teresa at May’N and Megumi Nakajima concert.
So, July 2nd, the Day 2 of Anime Expo was awesome. Thanks to our honorable Anime Diet staff, I was able to attend the live show of Sheryl Nome and Ranka Lee at Nokia Theater.
Macross F’s music is heavenly awesome. Very rock-oriented. I think in America, rock music has been replaced by R&B and Hip Hop. But in Japan, rock continues to be popular in J-pop. Yes, there’s the 60s feeling to it. The drum pattern of J-pop is heavily influenced by Ringo Star (probably Karen Carpenter also). The sound of the hi-hat is simultaneously played with a tambourine. The Beatles drumming makes it really cute, especially when a moetic girl like Ranka Lee sings to it. Her cute adolescent voice totally matches the mood of the Beatlish tune. And of course, this moodmaker is the great Yoko Kanno. Not Yoko Ono. Though they share the same given name.
Ah, Ranka Lee…, her distinctive green hair. How do you say “Osage” in English? Tied hair? Tail? Anyway, her double Osage is yabai. Yes, like Chiyo-chan from Azumanga Daioh had detachable Osage. I don’t think Ranka’s detachable. Anyway, that part of her hair is cute. When she dances and moves, at the same time, her Osage moves too. Ah, just cute. M…m….mo…moe~!!!!!!
I reckon Ranka Lee is a Chinese. After watching Macross F, I’ve been thinking about visiting Shanghai. I didn’t have a good image about China before, the Tiananmen riot and Dalai Lama and all that stuff, but Ranka Lee has changed my perception a bit. After all, China played a huge role in building the ancient Japanese culture. At first, I thought she might be a descendant of Robert E. Lee because of her family name. But I think she’s much closer to Bruce Lee. Or Blue Three. Her ancestral roots might be from Hong Kong rather than Shanghai? I don’t know. Does she speak Kantonese? Not sure.
Fa Yuiry from Zeta Gandum and Lynn Minmay from first Macross were Chinese too, but they were a turn-off. That huge mushroom bang is just horrendous, the most horrifying stuff of the 80s fashion. They can’t even come close to Ranka’s cuteness.
In turn, Ranka’s CM is really cute. Her China Dress is way too cute. And that Chun-Li head dress on her Osage. Nyan nyan!!! Girl girl. Girl x 2. Ah, that CM really got me. Gorgeous, delicious, deculture! Oishii-nyan! I have to go find this restaurant. Do they have Nyang Nyang in Shanghai?
Live at Nokia
So, the concert started with May’N. But unfortunately, we could only take the footage of the first 20 minutes. I don’t know why they did that. It was totally unfriendly to press. Doesn’t the 1st Amendment guarantee free press? This is America, not Japan. This is the land of free. When in America, do as the Americans do. American revolutionaries spilled their blood to earn free press, the core of the Bill of Rights. Free press is essential to our democracy.
Anyway, May’N was amazing. I thought there was Goddess on the stage. Her outfit was provocatively sexy. And her voice was powerful and sexy! I could see Sheryl Nome descending from the above. It was just fantastic. When she sang Don’t Be Late and Northern Cross, I felt this thrill going up my legs. I felt as if I was experiencing a space travel. I was so lucky to see the live performance of Sheryl Nome. My whole body shivered seismically.
And then, Megumi Nakajima appeared. Her outfit was very fluffy skirt. OMG, it was damn cute! When she swung her body to the rhythm, her fluffy skirt also swung too. Sinfully cute! The entire audience went frantic. Wow, here’s the voice actor, the Seiyuu of Ranka Lee! Nakajima was cute as hell. Compared to May’N, she looked a bit tiny. A contrast to May’N’s sexiness made her cuteness stand out. And when she was singing Seikan Hikou, she did “Kira!” gesture, from which I almost had a heart attack, but my doctrine doesn’t allow to have a moe on 3-D girls. Yet, I thought this way, “She is possessed by Ranka as a medium, so that doesn’t count!” Since the origin of acting was mediumship in Japan. Leeway is life. And my moe reached its peak when Ranka sang that carrot song. I was screaming fanatically, “Kyaaaaa!!!!!”
I didn’t like carrot when I was a kid. Whenever I ate curry rice, I always left carrots on the plate. Carrot has a bitter taste. But after I saw Ranka Lee wearing the carrot costume, it made me want to eat curry rice again, with carrots this time. And she sings “Ninjin (carrot) loves you, yeah!” Just like Christians eat bread to consume Jesus. I eat carrot to have a moe on Ranka Lee. Therefore, carrot is Ranka Lee in that sense. So, when she sings that carrot loves you, that means Ranka Lee loves me! Just like Simon & Garfunkel sings to Mrs. Robinson, “Jesus loves you more than you will know.” And since I’m a vegetarian, carrot with a dip will be my favorite food. Or carrot cake might be better since I’m a fan of Yumeiro Patissiere. Therefore, I eat carrot, so my hair turns green. That is moetic.
And then, they prepared a big surprise. The special guest turned out to be that great Yoko Kanno! The whole Nokia theater roared when Kanno appeared in the middle of Nakajima’s song.
And then, Kanno quietly sat in front of the piano, and by the time Nakajima began to sing Aimo, the audience went completely silent, awed by the divine voice of Ranka. I don’t know what language she sang in. But I felt very therapeutic. It sounded like liturgical Latin. It sounded very sacred. It washed away the defilement of the 3-D world from me. It was a religious experience.
And later on, May’N reappeared and joined Kanno and Nakajima. The trio, the trinity, the trimurti was there! They did an unplugged version of Diamond Crevasse. Kanno on piano, and Nakajima and May’N sang duet…how awesome was that!!! My soul went astral projection to the outer space. I really wish I could take that video footage!
And then, the last song they did was Maya Sakamoto’s Triangular. That was just DECULTURE! My whole body went orgasmic. It was just great. So awesome. I don’t have any word to describe how awesome it was. Sheryl Nome and Ranka Lee. Sexy and cutesy, that balance is really the greatest. Kirei (beautiful) and Kawaii (cute). It worked like the Ying-Yang duality. The emerging underdog and the established successful idol. The best duet ever in the 2-D world!
There were a few parts where the songs were just a bit off, but this was by far my favorite event from AX. The power, passion, and energy was what drove it to become a really awesome experience.
@zzeroparticle
Really? Umm, I was too overwhelmed with the mass excitement.
Since it was rock-oriented music, I wish they had a band with them. It’s not like computer-generated pre-programmed electronics musics like Hip Hop and R&B.
But yeah, the leitmotifs of Macross F were very Wagnarian. Space odyssey epic. In the presence of two divas, Sheryl & Ranka had me experience Macross F’s weltanschuaang. It was awesome!
Thanks for the comment!
Any idea how to go about getting a copy of the concert other than the highlights on AX Live Or at least the part with Yoko and the girs?