[ENG SUB] Diga Diga Doo (Star, 1989)
Apr. 13th, 2022 11:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nightless_castle
Summary: An Arthurian legend inspired mafia musical set in the Jazz Age of 1930s New York. Now that the former big boss of the underworld is dead, Arthur (Shion Yuu) is now head of the mob. He begins his plot to take over the city by acquiring his nemesis Red’s (Ban Akira) club and its star, Guinevere (Marimo Eri). When a fight is about to break out between Arthur and Red, a mysterious man named Lot (Hyuuga Kaoru) appears out of nowhere and saves Arthur, claiming to be Arthur's childhood friend. What's more, they find out Guinevere also knew Arthur and Lot as a child. With the three unlikely childhood friends now reunited, what sort of trouble will the trio get themselves into?
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Thank you to matchala, lumitears and mel for helping to proof and edit!
Note: This recording is unfortunately missing some chunks of footage. I have edited in the missing songs “What A Lovely Bodyguard” and “Ever Since I Found Love” which I ripped from my physical album. Thoughts on this show + details of the missing scenes included below.
This is a really fun show. With a pretty easy to follow plot, this mob musical’s got a somewhat light hearted and cartoony vibe set against its hard boiled mafia setting, emphasizing the good ol’ fun of the jazz age. It’s pretty entertaining overall. I think the fact that it was based on Arthurian legend is really fun too. I especially like how the club is called The Camel(ot). But other than their wacky names (Stan Tri… Red Mord…) they didn’t really lean too much on the Arthurian inspiration aside from using its narratives which maybe made it feel a little predictable. It still feels very much like its own thing, though. I can tell the director had a lot of fun with this show. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is the great part about it. It’s like one big Hollywood parody. Also I couldn’t help but pepper in all the South American mob slang I know in these subs, it’s just too much fun. I am also once again making lyrics singable wherever I can unprompted (my problematic trait).
My favorite character and actor in this show is definitely Arthur, played by Shion Yuu. He’s definitely more interesting to me than Lot, who fell a little flat for me unfortunately, but he’s still charming nonetheless. Arthur on the other hand is literally a cartoon villain, he’s hilarious. And the way Shion Yuu plays him so genuinely adds so much to his comical charm and humor. I love it whenever Shion yells あばよ！(So long/Farewell!). She's so unapologetically over the top. But the contrast of Arthur's cartoonishness to when his character actually gets serious and Shion’s acting really gets to shine is what's amazing. I thought Shion was genuinely a little terrifying when she yelled so angrily and so loudly you could hear it echo in the theater during her angry villain song “Those Who Mess With Me". Shion Yuu really does have one of the strongest voices in Takarazuka history. I remember watching an interview of hers (her Sayonara Special shortly after she retired, I believe) where she admitted “vocals was her weakest subject” during her time as a student, and that she thought she wasn’t very good at it. Funnily enough, she now teaches vocals as a teacher at the Takarazuka Music School. I don’t watch skystage programs but it’s been brought to my attention that a program aired recently that featured a rare glimpse into Shion Yuu’s vocal classes at TMS and she talked about how she thinks voice is one of the most important things to an otokoyaku besides a loving musumeyaku partner (aww).
I thought the romance between Lot and Guinevere was sweet but let's be real, it would be a million times better if they were a polycule with Arthur. And you know what, I’ll choose to believe that in my heart. One of my favorite parts in the show is when Arthur and Lot have their gay little “I Don’t Dance” high school musical moment. Goddamn live slug reaction over here. This musical's just about a repressed gay mafia boss and if anything you should watch it for Arthur.
There's also the side pair, Stan and Iseu, the star-crossed couple who unfortunately got caught up in the underworld business. They were cute too. Not much else I have to say about them though. Asaji Saki playing the meek sweetheart is always adorable. I thought Aoyama Yukina was just as sweet. I also really liked Asaji Saki singing Diga Diga Doo. Something about how bright her deep vocals sounded in that song was really nice, I like her voice a lot. It seems there was also an alternate cast for this show in preparation for an American tour in which Asaji Saki replaced Shion Yuu to play Arthur. I’m sure that would’ve been interesting to see!
Missing scenes (MINOR SPOILERS)
We don’t miss an awful lot from the missing scenes, but it would definitely make the show feel less disjointed and rushed if we had them.
During the scene at Red’s quarters, there was more to his discussion with Brannigan about getting Kai to spy for them, Ezra was also in on the plan. After that it’s supposed to cut to “What A Lovely Bodyguard” with Lot and the girls at the salon. After Ezra sees Lot giving Iseu money, Lot smooth talks Ezra into coming back to Arthur’s side.
Right before their rehearsals for the new show at The Camel, Merlin and Arthur are talking about securing a drug dealer. Arthur asks Lot if he thinks they should carry on with the risky operation and Lot advises him not to do it. Merlin, angry that Arthur would ask Lot instead of his own consigliere, grows more suspicious of Lot. He questions his intentions and accuses him of holding the gang back. Merlin and Lot get into a fight, which Lot wins. After that Fay comes back to Arthur, saying she wants to dance as one of the chorus girls. Arthur reluctantly allows it, implying that the two sort of made up.
Thank you!!
Date: 2022-04-29 02:40 pm (UTC)Re: Thank you!!
Date: 2022-05-09 04:17 pm (UTC)