ItalianoDEAR MY G-LOVERS
My voice can be heard
on GACKT Blomaga so,
those who want to read it all, check out the Blomaga
※This article is an excerpt from the
“GACKT’s Trashy Stories” corner in the Blomaga.
【Delivered thrice a month】
http://ch.nicovideo.jp/channel/gackt
For the first time in awhile,
I met up with a couple of members from The Secret of Yoshitsune 2.
I did meet them but it was only two of them…
One of them
is one of Camui♂Gakuen’s regular members Kimisawa Yuuk,i and the other
in The Secret of Yoshitsune 2,
is Yumi Hiro who splendidly performed as Noritsune.
The both of them were involved in the same play
and since it was good timing, I went to watch it.
I was in the midst of recording in KL.
They were doing their overseas performances in some of the Asian countries and
it was a really interesting story.
The play was based on a famous manga, that was turned into an anime too
and has become the stage play “NARUTO”.
Honestly,
I have never seen
that manga or anime before but,
I heard from my niece MAI that it is extremely popular.
Apparently, compared to Dragon Ball
it is now even more popular than that worldwide.
I had no idea…
My studies are still insufficient…
According to what I found online,
the best cosplay around the world is done for NARUTO
and amongst all the anime in Japan now,
there is none more popular than NARUTO.
After watching the stage play
I wonder if I should get the whole series read all of it…
The venue of the stage play is
awhile away from KL’s central area,
at a resort called Mines,
it appears to be in the area of a high-class residential area.
The hall was pretty big too,
honestly, I was wondering
whether they could really fill up the hall…
However,
MAI said that considering the popularity of NARUTO overseas
it wouldn’t be strange for the hall to be filled to the brim…
I was sceptical but,
keeping my expectations within me, I went to the venue.
When I arrived at the venue,
there were a few people in cosplay…
Amazing… without noticing I said that aloud.
However,
when I entered the hall
in actuality slightly more than half the space of the hall was dead.
In other words, full capacity wasn’t utilised.
As I headed for my seat
various questions kept running through my mind
like why they didn’t put in more chairs…
When the play was about to start
the build-up by the audience was amazing.
The audience number wasn’t big but in fact
they really showed wonderful support for the play.
The stage play was presented in Japanese only.
None of the actors used English.
On both sides of the stage,
a system was in place to show the subtitles concurrently.
However,
instead of looking at the subtitles
the audiences’ gazes were pinned on the actors on stage,
and cheering with every move.
The content of the stage play definitely wasn’t bad.
Of course,
even though you couldn’t say that the script was perfect,
the ideas that were incorporated into it were great…
Without thinking, I said it aloud.
Speaking from the conclusion,
if they could stay true to the book’s contents
and deliver it without cutting on the original story
wouldn’t it become a stage play with a high level of completeness…?
Although that scepticism lingered,
there are probably various reasons as to why
they couldn’t do anime style expressions in a stage play.
Overall I thought that it was a pretty good play.
Despite that,
what’s a pity, and could not be helped was
this stage play’s advertising was not done well at all.
In other words,
promotional content was completely unutilised.
I believe somewhere there was advertising done but,
even a few days after that I asked my friends around me
if anyone knew that this stage play was held in KL,
they didn’t even know that it was advertised.
Things like this,
although it’s a pity, unfortunately it is something that happens often.
Although the work was really good,
just because the advertising was insufficient,
or the partners they worked with were bad,
or it could because of many other reasons,
in the end, tons of productions just end like that
because not enough people came to watch it.
Recently,
among the large decrease in Japanese productions being brought overseas,
I feel that there is value in a big round of applause
for all the related staff and actors
who use this approach to bring their plays overseas.
To deliver this play, both the staff and the actors work hard with all their might.
Just as long as the can touch the hearts of the people overseas with this Japanese production just a little…
To convey those thoughts to be it one or many people
it takes a lot of cooperation.
It is important for them to have true cooperation.
Here’s an example.
Using a Korean artiste as an example,
artistes whose Korean name you’re not even sure of
come to Malaysia for a performance.
As to when the artistes are gathering, let’s say,
in 3 days,
a venue for 50,000 people will be filled to the brim.
This is,
generally, rather than due to the ability of these artistes,
it is the government and the private sectors coming together
for the sake of making their native country’s products flow overseas,
they convey their culture overseas and spread it there,
and after that export their products out
thus successfully carrying out their plan.
Right now, Japan
is too late in doing this.
It has been left behind in Asia.
This fact is obvious the moment you set foot overseas,
the export volume of Japanese products is falling across the board.
In other words,
it is a case where the national power is severely degrading.
The Japanese Government is using the catchphrase Cool Japan
to start a new attempt but,
although a lot of budget has been raised for this
without knowing at all how it can be utilised
the tax money is just wastefully flowing into businesses they don’t know well,
it is a situation where it wouldn’t be
an exaggeration to call it a vicious cycle.
Even if you put them 100 steps ahead,
even if it is alright
for funds to flow into business they don’t know well,
in any case there is just about no possibility for us to reach any result
which ends with the effective spreading of Japanese culture overseas.
It can’t be helped
that the ministry is accused of not knowing
exactly what to do with the budget.
In the new Terminator movie
Lee Byung Hun has finally been casted as one of the villains
displaying the continuing efforts
of Korea as a country and their private sector promoting themselves.
Right now,
how many actors are there representing Japan internationally?
Watanabe Ken-san managed to be a hit with the Last Samurai
but despite having activities overseas,
the sad truth is that there has been no backing what so ever from the government
and he is only ever involved in private productions.
Following Ken-san,
until now, there hasn’t been any other Japanese
who has appeared to prevail as an actor on the global stage.
This is not only a problem with the individual.
It’s only expected that it would be quite costly
if one were to conduct activities overseas.
And unfortunately, in this country
there is no such system to back anyone up.
Yet the budget for Cool Japan is floating mid-air…
Exactly who on earth is this budget for?
In fact, to the people living in Japan
do they have any understanding at all
as to what on earth Cool Japan is?
In the first place, what on earth is Cool Japan?
Exactly how many people can explain it clearly?
It’s a sad situation.
I can’t help but feel desolate when I think that its my own country
that does not have its government and private sectors working together despite it being a developed country.
Isn’t there anything that can be done about it…
If we continue on like this we may not be able to bring up the next generation.
Could I be wrong
thinking like this?
Even if just a little, if I could be a bridge for the next generation…
Only things like these cross my mind.
Do what you can.
Change what you can.
Try going as far as you can.
In other words,
staying like this, Japan will get nowhere.
I think about
things like this
in the middle of the night at the hotel’s deserted cafe.
My name is GACKT.
My motto is『Mr. BRIDGE』
To become the bridge of the future
is also one of the missions that have been entrusted to me I guess.
Alright,
I guess I still have to do it…
GACKT
My voice can be heard
on GACKT Blomaga so,
those who want to read it all, check out the Blomaga
※This article is an excerpt from the
“GACKT’s Trashy Stories” corner in the Blomaga.
【Delivered thrice a month】
http://ch.nicovideo.jp/channel/gackt
Source: GACKT Blog
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
© GACKT ITALIA