JQ Magazine: Nippon in New York — Babymetal, ‘Promare,’ Joe Hisaishi
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02). Justin has written about Japanese arts and entertainment for JETAA since 2005. For more of his articles, click here.
As the summer winds fade into fall colors, the weeks ahead are shaping up with these exciting events, ready to be enjoyed after Labor Day.
This month’s highlights include:
Sunday, Sept. 15, 8:00 p.m.
Terminal 5, 610 West 56th Street
$59.50
First NYC appearance in three and a half years! Su-metal and Moametal are a genre-smashing duo of teenage girls who perform a fusion of metal and idol music dubbed kawaii (cute) metal. After playing to a capacity crowds at Hammerstein Ballroom in 2014 and PlayStation Theater in 2016, the group returns to support its long-awaited third album Metal Galaxy, coming in October. After opening for bands like Metallica, Guns N’ Roses and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2017, Babymetal is one of the biggest (and widely known abroad) Japanese musical acts today. Featuring support from Swedish metal group Avatar, promoting their recent release The King Live in Paris.
Monday, Sept. 16, 8:00 p.m.
Gramercy Theatre, 127 East 23rd Street
$27.50
Returning to North America for the first time in five years, Man with a Mission are one of the most important and loved rock bands in Asia today, having collaborated with artists ranging from Patrick Stump to milet. Their newest single “Dark Crow” has been selected as the theme song for the second season of NHK’s TV anime series Vinland Saga, and the tour supports the release of their most recent album, Chasing the Horizon. The album is the wolf collective’s fifth in their native Japan but their first brand new album to be released worldwide and has received widespread critical acclaim.
Sept. 17 & 19, 7:00 p.m.
Regal E-Walk 42nd Street 13, 247 West 43nd Street
AMC Empire 25, 234 West 42nd Street
AMC 34th Street 14, 312 West 34th Street
$12.50
The first feature-length film from the acclaimed Studio TRIGGER, creators of the hit series KILL la KILL and Little Witch Academia, and director Hiroyuki Imaishi (GURREN LAGANN, KILL la KILL), Promare uses a bold cel-shaded visual style to tell a blistering action-adventure story, and is the spiritual successor to many of director Imaishi’s former works. Thirty years has passed since the appearance of Burnish, a race of flame-wielding mutant beings, who destroyed half of the world with fire. When a new group of aggressive mutants calling themselves "Mad Burnish" appears, the epic battle between Galo Thymos, a new member of the anti-Burnish rescue team “Burning Rescue,” and Lio Fotia, the leader of “Mad Burnish" begins. The Sept. 17 screening is presented in English. The Sept. 19 screening is presented in Japanese with English subtitles.
Saturday, Sept. 21, 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street
$40, $32 members
Known for its ethereal tones and timbres, gagaku has been the official music of the Japanese imperial court for over a millennium and has become synonymous with the luxurious court life of the Heian period (794—1185). Founded by the late Sukeyasu Shiba, a former member of the gagaku ensemble at the Imperial Household, the distinguished gagaku ensemble Reigakusha presents a full spectrum of the world's oldest surviving orchestral music for this rare U.S. appearance. Reigakusha will perform from the ancient ceremonial repertoire including a bugaku piece (music ensemble with accompanying dancers) as well as contemporary works by Toru Takemitsu and Shiba himself. At press time, the evening performance is sold out. A wait list will begin at the box office at 6:30 p.m., one hour prior to the show's start time. Due to popular demand, a 2:30 p.m. matinee show has been added.
Sept. 25-Oct. 6, various times
Park Avenue Armory (Wade Thompson Drill Hall), 643 Park Avenue
$35-$175
North American premiere! Sophocles created characters with psychological depth and complexity in this universal play that are as resonant now as when it was written nearly 2,500 years ago. Famed Japanese director Satoshi Miyagi creates a new version of this fabled mythology that looks at this ancient play through the prism of Japanese culture. He turns the stage into a flowing river of water, known in many spiritual beliefs to separate the world of the living from that of the dead. This fresh take presents a riveting play about loss and memorialization in a way that is both timeless and timely, mixing the foundational principles of Greek tragedy with Eastern philopsophies, while creating a new theatrical universe of globalized proportions.
Sept. 27-28, 8:00 p.m.
Carnegie Hall, (Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage), 881 Seventh Avenue
$48.59-$299
Legendary Studio Ghibli composer-conductor Joe Hisaishi returns to Carnegie Hall in a performance of three of his orchestral pieces! The first half features the U.S. Premiere of The East Land Symphony (2016). The second half includes the US premiere of the newly arranged Spirited Away Suite as well as mládí for piano and strings, which is comprised of three pieces Hisaishi composed for Takeshi Kitano’s films Kikujijro’s Summer, Hana-bi, and Kid’s Return.
Sept. 29-30, various times
Regal E-Walk 42nd Street 13, 247 West 43nd Street
AMC Empire 25, 234 West 42nd Street
AMC Kips Bay 15, 570 Second Avenue
$12.50
From the creators of Spirited Away and Ponyo and Academy Award-nominated director Hiromasa Yonebayashi, comes a gorgeous and adventure-filled adaptation of The Borrowers, one of the most beloved children's books of all time. In a secret world hidden beneath the floorboards, little people called Borrowers live out of sight of humans. But when brave and tiny Arrietty is out gathering supplies, she is discovered by Shawn, a human boy, and they begin to form a friendship that blossoms into an extraordinary adventure. The Sept. 29 screening is presented in English. The Sept. 30 screening is presented in Japanese with English subtitles.
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