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japanesedream_72I'm making this one public so a non-LJ friend or 2, who might find it of interest, can have access to it.
Anybody who knows anything about J-rock (or who's listened to me babble on about it for the past several years) knows that Mana never speaks in public. He hasn't done so for many, many years.
However, there are 2 occasions on which he has publicly allowed his voice to be heard (there may be others, but I think these are the most well-known). And after I checked out that thing for my brother (LJ friends, see previous post), I went & found them!
These are the short versions, clipped from lengthier interviews, since my YouTube access is very, very s l o w.
The first one is from way back in '96, during Malice Mizer's "Voyage" days (their 2nd album, the first they did with Gackt on vocals). During band introductions, Mana...well, introduces himself. It's quick; translated, it comes out to something like, "I'm Mana, guitarist."
The second one's the jackpot. From the "Merveilles" era (that's the 2nd album they did with Gackt), 'round about "Gekka no Yasoukyoku" (Moonlight Nocturne, you can tell from the outfit), the interviewer (you gotta wonder what's going through her mind!) asks Mana why he's sitting on the floor (no, I didn't directly translate this, I read about it). He answers something to the effect of, "Because it's cute." (Listen close, & you can hear him say "kawaii", which means "cute".)
Anywho, I'm off to fight evil...I mean, I'm going to work now.
Anybody who knows anything about J-rock (or who's listened to me babble on about it for the past several years) knows that Mana never speaks in public. He hasn't done so for many, many years.
However, there are 2 occasions on which he has publicly allowed his voice to be heard (there may be others, but I think these are the most well-known). And after I checked out that thing for my brother (LJ friends, see previous post), I went & found them!
These are the short versions, clipped from lengthier interviews, since my YouTube access is very, very s l o w.
The first one is from way back in '96, during Malice Mizer's "Voyage" days (their 2nd album, the first they did with Gackt on vocals). During band introductions, Mana...well, introduces himself. It's quick; translated, it comes out to something like, "I'm Mana, guitarist."
The second one's the jackpot. From the "Merveilles" era (that's the 2nd album they did with Gackt), 'round about "Gekka no Yasoukyoku" (Moonlight Nocturne, you can tell from the outfit), the interviewer (you gotta wonder what's going through her mind!) asks Mana why he's sitting on the floor (no, I didn't directly translate this, I read about it). He answers something to the effect of, "Because it's cute." (Listen close, & you can hear him say "kawaii", which means "cute".)
Anywho, I'm off to fight evil...I mean, I'm going to work now.
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Date: 2009-01-26 06:10 pm (UTC)I was fascinated by Harpo as a child and remember reading in Harpo Speaks, I think it was, that Harpo got a bad review from a critic one day who said his physical comedy was great but the spell was broken anytime Harpo spoke.
He never spoke again, on stage or on film, or in character, despite reportedly having a beautiful voice.
And then, a little mystery makes us all a little more intriguing and interesting, adds a whole new dimension, don't you think?
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Date: 2009-01-27 12:42 am (UTC)Indeed, true!
That's really sad about Harpo. :(
I don't know if it's quite the same as Mana (I certainly hope his story is not a sad one like that), though I'd say Mana's definitely into keeping things mysterious. I read once that he believes, as an artist, that his music speaks for him. I also read that a personal pet peeve of his is public speaking. :P
When I had the good fortune to see Moi dix Mois live in Japan, I found a correlation between Mana & the traditional art form of Kabuki theatre: apart from the possibility of his being a sort of modern-day onnagata (male actor specialising in female roles), when the band members took it in turn to speak, & it was his turn, he mimed action (though only with his head & hands - his lips weren't moving) as vocalist Seth spoke for him. In the Kabuki play I saw a few days prior to the concert, there was a character who did not speak, his speeches were given for him by one of the narrative chorus members, & he was manipulated by the shadow-like stage assistants, much like a Bunraku puppet.