Part III is finished!
And I'm so happy I'm a revise-as-you-go, because I did a bunch of tightening on the way. Added the Uchuu Senkan Yamato bit, rewrote a chunk of the Sukeban Deka fight to give it more of a try-fail cycle. And so on.
This is a story where Penny is extremely conscious about acting -- even takes some brush-up lessons from a retired Takarasienne. So I guess it makes sense that there's also a lot of music, especially Broadway. Penny mentions a little of her own music background, dropping remarks of both a flute player who chipped her tooth in an accident in a crowded rehearsal room, and a trumpet player she seems to be claiming was the first boy she slept with (while she was still being a self-described band geek.)
But then, the kind of story this is, there are call-outs to everything going on. To movies and games, and to random things. Deacon even name-drops Garth Brooks (after someone calls him "Mr. Blue.")
The first name-drop is Guys and Dolls and a few words from "Sit down you're rocking the boat." The next named music is "Round Midnight" -- it's being played on a shakuhachi -- and both Dexter Gordon and Thelonious Monk get a name-check.
Natsumi briefly quotes "Hotaru no kikari" but she doesn't explain that it is a song, or what it means. (as it turns out...it is sung to the same tune as "Auld lang synge!") Penny also hears the Torayanse but doesn't know the name, just calling it a weird melody the crossing lights are doing.
The two theater people manning a desk at the Toei studio park say "By George, I think she's got it" but My Fair Lady is only implied. They also mention "Beru Bara," aka The Rose of Versailes, but no lyrics are mentioned.
The Yuji Ono Trio is name-checked next, but not the name of what they are playing...or their connection to Lupin III. There's also a mention of Enka but no songs are given.
The Big Bad of this story of course took his name from a Steely Dan song, and Penny references one of the lyrics when she hears this.
Vince DiCola's synth-heavy training montage from Rocky IV is described in some detail next. But Bill Conti actually gets a name-check for his work on Karate Kid at the end of that scene.
She dances to a band playing on the bank of the Kamo river, but there is no name given for the music.
In the final big exercise scene her friend Aki does mix-tape duties, starting her off with Kitaro, selected anime soundtracks including Gunbuster and All-Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku-Nuku, and Phillip Glass gets name-checked for his scores to Mishima and Koyanaquatsi. But the scene concludes with "Yuki no shingun" and that gets several words of lyrics on the page.
(I can do this, because it is out of copyright.)
The Hyatt Bar scene of course opens with "Whatever Lola Wants" from Damn Yankees, and "Ella" is name-checked. In the following scene "Daiku" is brought up, which is what the "Ode to Joy" as arranged for Beethoven's 9th Symphony is called. I think Penny mentioned a sing-along Messiah earlier, too.
The Robot Restaurant show has lots of music but none of it is named, and it is only briefly described; "Screamingly loud techno-pop" followed by "a rather sappy love ballad." But there is also a neko-mimi in sparkly ninja outfit singing Disney Songs, although only "When you Wish Upon a Star" is mentioned by name.
Back to the bar for "Moon River." In the next scene, a small cafe with "eclectic jazz" playing.
Then Akiba. Music is being heard, but not described. There's also a passing reference to Babymetal but Penny doesn't realize it is the name of a group. However, "The Freaks Come Out at Night" is described. And so is the the theme to Space Battleship Yamato. And a LOT of the lyrics to "Daiku" are given in the text.
The next cafe Yuki takes her to is playing show tunes. Penny guesses that they might have started with "Be Our Guest" (from Beauty and the Beast) and perhaps Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. The name of another Takarazuka show, Blood and Snow is given but this one doesn't exist in the real world. These are really likely to get cut. There's enough going on in the scene already.
And finally we're in the Peacock Room, the last big chapter to date. There's a big band playing and, oh my god. I cut the reference to "Snake Eater" from Metal Gear Solid -- but I kept the "James Bond introduction" and Aki is still doing one of Ocelot's lines on the headset. Uncredited.
The band is specifically named as playing a cover of Chariots of Fire, although I didn't name the arranger, there's one version that has a "funky R&B" cover of it. Similar remarks for "Go the Distance," for which I credit Hercules (but don't credit the Lois Dowesdel recording I was thinking of.) I absolutely called out Maynard Ferguson as the arranger for "Gonna Fly Now." Same remarks as above for a "groovy salsa" cover of "Zero to Hero," also from Hercules, and Casino Royale (aka they presumably played an orchestral cover of "You Know My Name.")
Some of these may go away...but I'm willing to keep the lot of them in the big ballroom scene because that's a peculiar scene on it's own.
After this, though, the only music I know I'm going to mention is the opening theme to Abarenbo Shogun, the march from Indiana Jones, and of course "Yuki no Shingun" gets a replay.
Maybe next book I'll make her join a Norse Folk Revival Band.
(I know, I know Paris was on the blocks, but I have all the months from January through April and I can't help thinking...Winter is Coming.)
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