That’s a mood, friend. Usually I get bogged down starting things, rather than in the middle but see figure a: this delay, and figure b: the fact that I’m two episodes from the s6 finale of Adventure Time and haven’t picked it back up in months.
Symphogear is on the list! There isn’t a poll yet, but there will be in probably about a week; I’ve just been asking for suggestions so far.
I love this ask. I love you. Let’s do this.
Maya and Claudine as Hades and Persephone respectively is god-tier (ha ha), I’m all for that. Maya’s voice could take on Hades really well; despite the role being written for a bass there have been some great soprano covers (not least Anaïs herself singing Why We Build the Wall on her album Xoa. Actually, the first time I heard that song, she was singing it on the radio to promote the concept album.) And I’d love for Claudine to get the limelight as Persephone; that’s a meaty role and she’d be fantastic at it.
Karen as Orpheus is... interesting. I’m not sure how I feel about it. I mean, she definitely has a similar sweet and optimistic nature; I think it’s a great fit for character. My issue with it is voice. Karen’s voice is charming, but it also has a definite childlike stylization that suits her but isn’t to my personal tastes. Orpheus, as the son of a muse, is supposed to have that godly perfection in his voice, to such a degree that even Reeve Carney (Broadway Orpheus), who is a fantastic singer, didn’t quite hit that mark for me even though he was really wonderful in the role. I love how it’s done on the concept album, with Justin Vernon semi-subtly multitracked to give him an ethereal sound, but obviously that’s not a go for live theatre.
So we could go the Carney route and have Karen as Orpheus, emphasizing personality and openness over muse-level singing, or we could put Junna or Nana in the role of Orpheus, both of whom have voices that really work for me.
Despite the fact that Nana has a more obvious (though fake) cute optimist exterior, I think I’d rather have her as Eurydice and Junna as Orpheus. The depth of loneliness and despair in Nana means, I think, that she’d have plenty to draw from for Eurydice’s desperation, and I can see her really doing a fantastic job. Junna, then, gets to be the charmingly earnest Tenor Boy role, and she could dip Nana at some point during Come Home With Me and it would be great.
Just for ‘they’re a trio now’ reasons, I’d say Karen, Mahiru, and Hikari as the Fates, and then maybe Futaba as Hermes because she has a great ferocity to her and also a teeny weeny Hermes would be adorable. And then I have filled up all the main roles and there’s nowhere for Kaoruko. Whoops. Maybe she alternates nights as Hermes? Or maybe they write in a random solo for her as a sad once-noble spirit in Hadestown who was reduced to working on the wall when her family’s lands all died in the harsh winters, because takarazuka does things like that sometimes.
Thank you for this ask I have genuinely been thinking about it on and off for weeks.
