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13eyond13 · 2 years

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Do you think death note is dark? It's not that much for me. When I discovered death note I don't expect it to come from shonen jump. The ending broke me actually. Especially yagami family.

I think that it is dark and sad; it's chock full of murder and manipulative characters and cruel irony and grey morality, nothing much positive happens to anybody development-wise because of all they go through, the main character is mostly causing all the calamity rather than fighting against it, and there is a lot more cynical and nihilistic philosophy built into the premise than there is something optimistic and cheerful and light.

HOWEVER, I think it is also very funny and ironic and silly in a deliberate and sneaky way a lot of the time, especially in the manga. It doesn't spend a lot of time ever wallowing in the misery and drama caused by all the chaos, nor slow down the action and suspense for overly long periods of time in order to get really preachy and dry, nor try too hard to force you to sympathize with any of the more ambitious and egotistical characters involved. And despite literally being about a mass murderer and including so many shady characters and situations it is a fairly tame and cerebral story most of the time in terms of what it shows onscreen, and doesn't include much of any gratuitous violence or gore. I think that all makes it a lot more palatable and entertaining to me than many other darker and more cynical sorts of stories, which often can get uncomfortable to me in the things they depict onscreen, or stay completely somber in tone from the beginning to end.

And I think the fact that it doesn't have a big message attached to it other than that the audience should be drawing their own conclusions and asking their own questions about the stuff going on in the story works way better for a story like this than something else would have worked. I like the "cautionary tale" sort of vibe it has, even if it's also pretty bleak. Often times these nihilistic/pessimistic type of stories can get way too self-serious and sneering and eye-rolly for me, and leave nothing sacred in a way I find distasteful, boring, or can't bring myself to actually take seriously. They usually paint such an inaccurately nasty picture of humankind or whatever that they're not really saying anything I feel is very clever, interesting, or that actually rings true to me sometimes about human nature or society in a thought-provoking way... which is unfortunate, since that's exactly what those kinds of stories are setting out to do. But I think DN does a really good job with the level of seriousness and self-awareness it strikes for most of the things it is depicting onscreen, and with providing other points of views and other types of characters for people to hear from and think about occasionally instead of just constantly glorifying and depicting the most edgy and egotistical and nihilistic ones in a positive light and that's it.

And yeah, I haven't actually gotten super familiar with a ton of Shonen manga or anime on a personal level, but it definitely has a different vibe to me than the other ones I do know. Most of the ones I've seen the protagonists are also very ambitious and heroic and optimistic and so on, but I think in Death Note that stuff maybe gets lampooned in a bit of an ironic/dark-humoured way. Light is mostly doing awful and manipulative things to everybody around him in the name of similar types of ideals and optimistic ambitious goals, after all. I feel like it only really works as well as it does because it never really seems like Ohba is actually trying to glorify Light's behaviour and ideals too much, but instead always wanting you to be thinking critically about everything he is and does the entire time you're watching him attempt to create a new world. A lot of what Light does has strong parallels with real-life people who started out aggressively trying to change the world for the better based on their own ideals and frustrations with society and eventually ended up becoming cruel and hypocritical tyrannical dictators who had to be forcefully overthrown. So I am glad it seems like Ohba wasn't ever just sincerely glorifying stuff like that without also adding lots of implications in there too that the audience should definitely be thinking critically about everything going on in the story the entire time. Characters like Ryuk are especially good for prodding the audience into thinking about Light in a different sort of way too; such as when Ryuk points out to the readers that if Light kills everybody who will cause harm to others then he will be the only bad person left himself.

#death note #light yagami #ask #anon #meta #p

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newyorktheater · 5 years

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David Henry Hwang was attacked by an unknown assailant with a knife and nearly died. That experience, along with the playwright’s shock at the results of the 2016 Presidential election and his oft-expressed ambivalence towards the patronizing but gorgeous Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “The King and I,” all make their way into “Soft Power,” an unusual musical by Hwang and composer Jeanine Tesori that inventively and oddly presents the themes of East-West divide that Hwang has long explored in such works as “M Butterfly” and “Chinglish.” “Soft Power” is clever, highly entertaining, hilarious, in places downright inspiring, and chock full of stimulating intellectual, cultural and political argument that forces us to look at American society, and the very nature of democracy, in a different way. “Soft Power” is also, ok, confused….but not confusing.

The heart of “Soft Power” is a spoof of “The King and I” that reverses and updates the story so that the “king” is Hillary Clinton (Alyse Alan Louis) and the “I” is a Chinese musical producer named Xūe Xíng (standout Conrad Ricamora, who was, in a delicious irony, one of the stars in the last Broadway production of “The King and I.”) The reversal reflects Hwang’s irritation at such American musicals “where the white hero goes to some dangerous land and civilizes the backwards natives. The writers get all these details wrong. And the locals somehow speak with stupid accents — in their own country.” At the same time, though, such shows make Hwang cry.

The David Henry Hwang who expresses these views is a character in “Soft Power,” portrayed winningly by Francis Jue. The first half hour of “Soft Power” is a set-up for the musical spoof to follow. Xue Xing meets with David Henry Hwang (called DHH in the program) in 2016 to entice him to write a musical for the Chinese market. His idea is to use it as a vehicle to bring Chinese values to the world, which is what he says “soft power” means, and what the United States has done for decades through such “international products” as Catcher in the Rye and Saturday Night Fever.

DHH is going to a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton, and invites Xue along, where he gets to meet the candidate and get a selfie with her. The two men are both shocked when Hillary loses. Then DHH is stabbed….

“In the moment before I lose consciousness,” he tells us in front of the curtain, “a whole world passes before my eyes. I hear … violins?” – and the curtain opens to offer a musical from China’s point of view – which, like American musicals, shows Xue traveling to the dangerous land of New York, the details are all wrong (the Golden Gate Bridge is in New York), and the locals (Asian-American actors in blond wigs) all have stupid American accents, and carry guns. What follows is a mock razzle-dazzle em musical. At “the most famous American restaurant of all” – a gussied up McDonald’s — rolling-skating chorus boys deliver elegant burgers, while Hillary dances for the voters in a sparkling red tuxedo pantsuit, which she strips off to reveal a skimpy Wonder Woman costume. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court explaining the electoral college system using a suspiciously all-gold ballot box.

Presumably, this has all been DHH’s hallucination brought on by blood loss.

Then , however, Act II begins with a panel by Chinese experts fifty years in the future, during the intermission of the 50thanniversary performance of “Soft Power.” The panelists describe it as a landmark in Chinese art, an example of a new type of theater invented by the Chinese — “’Shūo chàngjù’ — literally ‘spoken and sung drama.’” This very funny scene sharply satirizes Western paternalism towards Asian art by flipping it (“There were no American artists per se. Only native craftspeople.”)

But is this still DHH’s hallucination, or have we dropped that? The context of the musical we’re watching becomes unclear. And when the musical picks up again after the panel discussion, the parallels to “The King and I” seem dropped as well.

Soft Power’s creative team is well versed in the American musical form. Director Leigh Silverman (Tony-nominated for Violet, who has been at the helm of some 30 stellar productions Off-Broadway) has put together a fine production on the relatively small stage at the Public Theater. Tesori, Tony-winning composer of “Fun Home” and “Caroline or Change”, has composed 13 songs that range from beautiful ballad to comic hip-hop, lushly performed by a 22-piece orchestra in full view on multiple tiers above the stage. Choreographer Camille A. Brown (Tony-nominated for Choir Boy) provides some expert moves for the performers, most of whom are Asian-American, many of whom are Broadway veterans, all of whom are first rate.

Yet, for all the experienced talent involved, “Soft Power” doesn’t feel like a fully realized musical (in the manner of, say, “The Book of Mormon,” which also includes a satire of “The King and I.”) I doubt whether even the creative team of “Soft Power” could graph its plot.

This personally strikes me as an almost insignificant complaint in a show that, thanks to Hwang’s passion and sense of urgency, has the potential to change the way we look at the world, and at our own culture. “Soft Power” is at its most powerful when Xūe criticizes American society and democracy in ways that are frankly hard to refute. “Communism in China has raised hundreds of millions out of poverty. “But here in America, you have too much freedom,” he says to DHH in one of many such pointed observations. “You really believe your voting will force the rich to give up their money? Here, you cannot even force your mentally ill to give up their guns. “

Francis Jue as David Henry Hwng

Conrad Ricamora and Kendyl Ito as father and daughter

Conrad Ricamora and Francis Jue

Alyse Alan Louisas Hillary Clinton and company

Conrad Ricamora and Alyse Alan Louis

Alyse Alan Louis and Conrad Ricamora

Soft Power at the Public Theater Play & Lyrics by David Henry Hwang Music & Additional Lyrics by Jeanine Tesori Choreography by Sam Pinkleton Directed by Leigh Silverman. Orchestrations by Danny Troob; music direction and supervision by Chris Fenwick; dance arrangements by John Clancy; scenic design by Clint Ramos; costume design by Anita Yavich; lighting design by Mark Barton; sound design by Kai Harada; sound effects design by Bart Fasbender; video design by Bryce Cutler; hair, wig, and makeup design by Tom Watson; special effects by Lillis Meeh; music contracting by Antoine Silverman; and additional orchestrations by Larry Hochman and John Clancy

Cast: Billy Bustamante (Xue Xing Standby), Jon Hoche (Chief Justice/Hāli Aòhālā/Ensemble), Kendyl Ito (Jing/Prof. Lǐ Bìyù/Ensemble), Francis Jue (DHH), Austin Ku (Bobby Bob/Jū Míng), Raymond J. Lee (Randy Ray/Yáo Tuō/Veep/Ensemble), Alyse Alan Louis (Zoe/Hillary), Jaygee Macapugay (Betsy/Lóng Lín Kūn/Ensemble), Daniel May (Ensemble), Paul HeeSang Miller (Ensemble), Kristen Faith Oei (Ensemble), Geena Quintos (Airport Greeter/Ensemble), Conrad Ricamora (Xue Xing), Trevor Salter (Ensemble), Kyra Smith (Ensemble), Emily Stillings (Swing), Emily Trumble (Zoe/Hillary Standby), and John Yi (Swing). Running time: 2 hours including one intermission Tickets: $105 to $150 Soft Power is on stage through November 10, 2019

Soft Power Review: David Henry Hwang’s Sly Reverse Chinese Musical about America David Henry Hwang was attacked by an unknown assailant with a knife and nearly died. That experience, along with the playwright’s shock at the results of the 2016 Presidential election and his oft-expressed ambivalence towards the patronizing but gorgeous Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “The King and I,” all make their way into “Soft Power,” an unusual musical by Hwang and composer Jeanine Tesori that inventively and oddly presents the themes of East-West divide that Hwang has long explored in such works as “

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