However, there is a lot of songs in Sailor Moon about precious stones and jewels. It was a hard choice to choose only one. But eventually, I picked one that was from the Sailor Moon musical series which asked the question: What is more precious than jewels?
(This is part of a #SongLyricsSunday challenge, which is hosted by Jim at An Unique Title For Me. Anyone can join! Details on how to participate are found at the end of this post!)
Sera Myu: Sailor Moon Musicals
If you haven’t heard of Sailor Moon before, you are missing out. It is one of the most popular 90s Japanese anime that is about a team of teenage girls who don sailor uniform-like battle suits to save the world from evil. This show has millions of fans all over the world. I became a fan myself when I first saw it in 1998 on Cartoon Network. I loooooooooooove Sailor Moon!
Over the years, Sailor Moon has become more a brand as various products have been inspired by the show. If you look at any stores in Japan or the US, you will see that there are various Sailor Moon-related clothing, make-up, eyeglasses, and such. There are also various adaptions as well. Started off a manga (or comic book) series, this magical girl series has been adapted into two TV anime series, theatrical movies, a live-action show, and musicals.
The musicals — often called Sera Myu by fans — started in 1993 by the toy (and entertainment) company Bandai. The first run (or series) lasted 12 years before it ended in the winter of 2005. The musical saw a revival in 2012 by a different company producing it and a whole new cast. In recent years, members of the pop group Nogizaka46 have been involved with the production.
Today’s song, “Ai Yori Houseki Kaguya Shima”, is taken from the musical Kaguya Shima Densetsu that was performed in 1999. Kaguya Shima Densetsu is unique as it was the first original story for Sera Myu. Usually, the musicals follow plots and arcs from the original manga. However, Kaguya Shima Densetsu was different. This musical would kick off two years within the musical’s first run that would feature original storylines.
Jewels Over Love, Kaguya Island
Behind the ScenesKayoko Fuyumori
“Ai Yori Houseki Kaguya Shima” (愛より宝石かぐや島: Jewels Over Love, Kaguya Island) was written by Kayoko Fuyumori and composed by Akiko Kosaka. Kayoko Fuyumori wrote most of the lyrics for the Sailor Moon musicals until her death in 2003. She also wrote the lyrics for anime and tokusatsu shows in the late 80s and 90s. Some shows were Space Sheriff Sharivan, Dr. Slump Arere-chan, Mobile Police Patlabor, and Ninja Sentai Kakuranger.Akiko Kosaka
Like Fuyumori, composer Akiko Kosaka wrote many songs for the Sailor Moon musicals until the 2005 hiatus. She holds special concerts from time to time in Tokyo, reuniting with several actresses and actors from the original run of the musicals. Kosaka also had a solo career in the 70s and 80s as well as composed many songs for other artists and anime series.
Behind the Lyrics
“Ai Yori Houseki Kaguya Shima” is a cute song that introduces us to the Sailor Guardians and other cast members. It was performed in the first act, right after three songs that introduced the audience to the villains. It is also the first tune of the musical that is sung by all ten Sailor Guardians.
The tune introduces us to the Sailor Guardians in a way: learning about their birthstones. Based on the order presented midway in the song, Ami/Sailor Mercury’s birthstone is sapphire, Makoto/Sailor Jupiter’s is turquoise, Minako/Sailor Venus’s and Setsuna/Sailor Pluto’s is opal, Usagi/Sailor Moon’s is pearl, Rei/Sailor Mars’s and Michiru/Sailor Neptune’s is diamond, and Haruka/Sailor Uranus’ and Hotaru/Sailor Saturn’s is garnet.
Although “Ai Yori Houseki Kaguya Shima” is a simple introduction tune, it is very cute and fun to listen to! It doesn’t feel important, but it is! It helps those who don’t know the Sailor Guardians by establishing characters in a fun way.
Listen to the various version of the songs below Let me know what you think of the song in the comments below! Also, what is your birthstone? Mine is emerald!
The original run of the Sailor Moon musicals had two versions, an original and a revision. The revision had some changes to the original musical in terms of characters, plots, songs, and actresses/actors. This version of the song is taken from the revision:
Here is a version of the song performed at a Fan Event for the musicals in 2001. Fan Events were special events that introduced new casts and had actors/actresses singing their favorite songs.
The cast in the video below is my ultimate favorite with many of my favorite Sera Myu actresses and actors:
When Kaguya Shima Densetsu was revived in 2004, “Ai Yori Houseki Kaguya Shima” was omitted in the first version. However, it was bought back in 2005 in the revised version:
Translation of the Lyrics
Here is the English translation of the lyrics, provided by Sasha at Miss Dream:
Love is precious, even more than jewels
If you say just that, it’s cute, cute
But if rubies and sapphires
Are dangled before our eyes,
Our hearts will tremble, probably, no, definitely!
We’re attracted to jewels
You’ll even throw away love?
We also want love, but jewels are also nice
If we can have both, we’ll be happy, happy
This is a trip to find that kind of life
We’ll follow around
Romance and jewelry
So, a ring is the proof of a vow of love
Is that so? Is that really so!
My birthstone is a sapphire,
The cool blue is good for the mind
If you want an amulet, if you wear a turquoise,
It’s a dependable bodyguard
October is opal, a little universe
Various colors crowd together and burn
My birthstone is “of course, a pearl”
A moon tear of love and justice
The king the jewels, the diamond
The ocean waters embraced “love’s aquamarine”
[Haruka]My, and [Hotaru]my [both]fiery garnet
Shines in darkness and guides lost children
Sapphire, turquoise, opal, pearl, diamond
Aquamarine, garnet, peridot
Each of the stones’ powers is great
If you wear them and make a wish, it’ll come true
No matter which gem you want,
We’ll carve one out on the island of gems, Kaguya Island!
If you want to participate, here are the rules:
- Post the lyrics to the song of your choice, whether it fits the theme or not.
- Please try to include the songwriter(s) – it’s a good idea to give credit where credit is due.
- Make sure you also credit the singer/band and if you desire you can provide a link to where you found the lyrics.
- Link to the YouTube video, or pull it into your post so others can listen to the song.
- Ping back to this post will eventually work, as long as you are being patient, but you can also place your link in the comments if you don’t like to wait.
- Read at least one other person’s blog, so we can all share new and fantastic music and create amazing new blogging friends in the process.
- Feel free to suggest future prompts.
- Have fun and enjoy the music.
