Come To My Garden

I think I've occasionally mentioned that for me N2N is a very very relatable show. Feel ashamed to admit, because that makes me sound like teenage girls being all drama about relating to Eponine, but I just like N2N so much because I totally relate to Natalie and Dan. I've had experience of growing up unstable. I decided that I liked the show the moment I heard Natalie say in the opening, "so it's times like this I wonder how I take it, if other families live the way we do. Do they love each other or if they just fake it, and if other daughters feel like I feel too?" That's exactly what I'd been thinking about this entire time. I spent way too much time of my life, which should have been used for something more productive or simply more pleasant, trying, but always failing, to make sense of this hell of family relationships I got trapped in. All of yes to your questions, Natalie.

Just like the family in the show, my family also had a few topics that were some kind of a taboo. Every time they got mentioned, inadvertently or deliberately, I knew it was the end of the world. All of a sudden amiableness turned into hostility. Guileless conversations became sarcastic. It happened so often that I honestly had a feeling that I was not living with my family members. I was an innocent person caught in the middle of a battle. So much interpersonal relationship politics and power struggle that I never expected in a family.

But what's even worse is that I totally knew that feeling was not true. The fights were really not intentional on anybody's part. In N2N, the death of Gabe was an accident which Diana was never able to get over. Her trauma tormented her and her husband and daughter alike. But it was not her fault. And my family was in the exact same situation. We had some big troubles and everybody had difficulties which were completely out of their own control. Nobody really had the intention to hurt others. On the contrary we did love each other despite everything. But somehow everybody ended up being hurt.

At the beginning I resorted to distancing myself, setting up an invisible barrier between me and my parents. For a long time I was like "whatever you do is none of my business. Please fight somewhere else because I got things to do here". And I succeeded more than necessary. My parents often said that I didn't care about them as much as other children do their parents. I couldn't deny and I felt sorry. I went too far for the sake of self protection. I was grateful to my parents for loving me and providing me with the best of life they could, and I hated myself for not being able to love them back. But my indifference had so long become habitual that I almost lost the ability to receive or provide care. And I tried to redeem myself. I forced myself to exercise that ability, learning from reflecting every time if what I did was caring enough. Like an AI trying its best to impersonate human by learning from big data. But I was never good enough. I wanted to know what I should do, but there was never a definite answer.

As I grew older, I felt like it was irresponsible of me to pose myself as an innocent victim. I was no longer a child. I shouldn't be complaining. As the most educated and most sensible member of the family, I should be providing emotional support to hold the family together. Either by acquiescing their outburst in the form of shouting at me, or trying my best to guess what they wanted to hear or see and speaking or doing exactly that. I tried to give positive interpretations to everything. I told myself that it was better to be shouted at by my parents than by my boss anyway. I told myself that mind-reading was an important social skill. I should be positive about the rehearsals I got which would help build up my emotional tenacity. Most of the time it worked. I was always good at manipulating or downplaying my own emotions. Who cares about your lonely soul indeed, I always told myself. But I knew I'd be lying if I said it didn't matter at all.

And the core of the problem, those big troubles, were so complicated and so personal that I, being a helpless introvert, just couldn't even tell anyone. I tried psychological consultations which didn't help at all. And the account of my family life I gave to all of my friends is that we're a perfect loving family so adoring, because I felt the need to keep up the facade, and I felt bad for accusing anyone of the bad family relationship when it wasn't their fault.

This anime, similar to Shoujo Cosette, is designed as an introduction to classic literature for young kids. It's mainly based on the first (the one we all know) and the last ("Man in the Iron Mask") book in Dumas' original series. Like Shoujo Cosette it uses similar techniques to attract young audience: kid characters are involved in the adventure; people have animal friends and talk to them, etc. I found a Chinese-dubbed version but without subtitles. Because the video was kind of ancient, I couldn't hear the names of the various original characters. So let me just focus on those who we know.

D'Artagnan is pronounced like Tartaglia. The "th" in Athos and Porthos' name is pronounced like in "thanks".

Genshin Impact digression. When I first heard about the video game Genshin Impact, I was indeed quite curious if there was any possibility that the character Tartaglia was based on d'Artagnan. because the Chinese pronunciation of the two names is indeed very similar. Unfortunately he wasn't.

D'Artagnan had a random kid sidekick and a horse friend. At the beginning d'Art and the kid made a living by...providing bath water for the citizens. I had absolutely no idea why. But the job later proved to be quite convenient in revealing Aramis' secret as a girl *cough* ahem *cough* and discovering Buckingham's whereabouts when he was tricked into coming to Paris.

Speaking of Buckingham, he was the only character who died in this "everybody lives" kids adaptation. Poor guy. And he had very questionable IQ. He came across Milady several times but never recognized her, even when she was having a date with him disguised as Anne. That was how she stole the diamonds from him.

Disney princess/Pokemon master Milady trained a parrot and a monkey to work for her. The parrot was given to Anne as a pet, but it was actually a spy for Milady and Richelieu. It reported everything it heard from Anne and Constance to the villains. But later the parrot turned against them and started working for d'Art and his friends.

The task of executing Milady was given to d'Artagnan. Before the execution, Milady told d'Art about her past. She was married not to Athos but to a guy from the convent she grew up in. She successfully escaped the convent where she spent her miserable childhood in, but he didn't. Later she was hunt down by many people who thought that she was a witch. Then she was like "oh so be it, I AM going to be a witch f**k u all" and became the villain. D'Artgnan, moved by her backstory, decided that she deserved a second chance. He told her to start her life anew somewhere else, which of course she didn't.

After released by d'Artagnan, Milady was promptly back in action. EDIT: Milady was working for the man in the iron mask who was the big boss in the story. His identity was never revealed. The anime omitted the time gap between the first and the third book, so Phillippe was Louis XIII's brother not Louis XIV's. Richelieu sided with the heroes after his position was nullified.

Constance MY BABE. She got a much bigger role in the anime. Bonacieux was not her husband, but her dad. Like Athos and all the protagonists, she was made morally impeccable. Her relationship with d'Art was legitimate. They loved each other and helped each other, like what perfect couples in an ideal relationship do. Constance was actively involved in the adventure from the beginning, playing her supporting role extraordinarily. She got a lot of spotlight on how she helped Anne and the musketeers. On the way to a date with d'Art, she was poisoned by Milady. (EDIT: thought this happened after Milady was released by d'Art but actually this happened before.) Fortunately she didn't die, but she woke up losing her memory. She met Milady again after her amnesia when the latter was on a mission with the man in the iron mask. He asked Milady who Constance was, to which Milady replied "a random girl passing by", and thus sparing her life again. Probably the only time Milady ever showed some kindness in the entire story.

Later Constance recovered her memory and resumed her supporting position in upcoming missions. EDIT: guess how she got her memory back? So there was a scene where she was chased by the man in the iron mask. They were on a rooftop. She was so scared that she accidentally fell off. Miraculously she could suddenly remember everything after waking up. D'Art was like "OMG?? Guess we should thank the man in the iron mask then?"

I think because they removed the backstory about Athos and Milady, in the anime Aramis got turned into a girl got a bigger role in the trio. He...she disguised herself as a guy and became a musketeer. But she wasn't really interested in becoming a musketeer. Her ultimate motive was to avenge her fiancé who was killed by a subordinate (I think he was an original character?) of the man in the iron mask. In the end she managed to kill him with her own hands. I was convinced and actually liked the story. From Edmond Dantes to Arya Stark, revenge stories always make me excited. I totally don't mind if Aramis is also added to the list.

In the original novel, Aramis was voluntarily supporting Phillippe as part of his own scheme. In the anime she was temporarily a spy among the villains, but once she gathered enough information from undercover work, she revealed her affiliation to still be with the protagonists.

It was so funny that some old audience who followed the anime as a kid when it first came out said that they honestly thought Aramis was a girl in the original, and were hugely disappointed when they found out that he was a guy in Dumas' novels. 😂😂

Digression 1. Aramis was my favorite character when I read the first book as a kid, because of the "reluctant hero" vibes. Unaware that there was a second and a third book, I'd thought that he was the Combeferre of the musketeers, not really into bloodshed and preferring books to fights. I was so shocked when I discovered the two sequels which disproved my "reluctant hero Aramis" hypothesis. He was not a reluctant hero but a very willing villain. I've been unable to really like him as much as I used to since that, but I still think he's an interesting character. The anime somehow revives my childhood memory of liking the character without really knowing what he's like, by portraying him/her exactly like what child-me thought he was like. I really miss that feeling. :)

Digression 2. Correct me if I'm wrong. I vaguely remember that in the original novel Dumas did kind of describe Aramis as having some feminine traits? But I don't remember anything as blatant as Hugo practically throwing "Enjolras looks like a girl" right at the readers. I was surprised that, first, there was adaptation that actually genderbent characters and made the story so convincing that the audience got surprised reading the original source; and second, of all the literary characters with legitimate reasons, appearance-wise, to be genderbent, it was Aramis who actually got the treatment. Now I'm wondering why nobody ever tried this on Enjolras or Arya Stark. XD

EDIT: guys this is so crazy...Did I say at the beginning of this post that I found the anime better than the BBC adaptation? I'm very tempted to take that back now. o_o

So the anime also has a spin-off episode which expanded on the girl-Aramis' backstory. There was one scene in which Aramis was having a quarrel with Porthos and Athos. Apparently Porthos got very angry and then he slapped her??? Or maybe he punched her in the face. Couldn't see clearly. But whatever it is, it makes absolutely ZERO sense. 😨

Which reminds me of a terrible Les Mis adaptation I heard about in which Valjean slapped Cosette... I just totally don't understand. *shakes head* Honestly I wouldn't feel surprised if book-Aramis got beaten up because he kind of deserved a slap but in the anime I don't think she did anything wrong and besides she was a girl for god's sake

I didn't find any dubbed version or subtitles for this episode so I couldn't understand what exactly was going on. But I'm not so sure if I really want to know.

This concert was advertised as the “original” French version. Seeing that I assumed, though I totally shouldn’t have, that they were referring to the 1980 French concept album and I was like what year is it? I still got a chance to hear that thing?

Apparently I asked too much. It was the, umm, the Les Mis we know but in French.

The way their advertisement went showed that they wanted very badly to attract casual audience who didn’t really know much about musicals but came nonetheless just because of Victor Hugo’s name or something. But the actual show was not newbie friendly at all. I’m pretty sure that first-time audience would definitely be confused by the countless, ridiculous logical flaws there.

The plot where Valjean stole the candlesticks was omitted. So immediately after Valjean was released from the prison, some villagers showed up accusing Valjean vehemently for NOTHING. Then the Bishop appeared and started bishopping him, saying that yeah I believe you’re a good guy etc etc. Like, as in the way you showed this, the villagers were the bad guys here? Valjean actually did nothing wrong?

Everything between “Lovely Ladies” and the runaway cart was deleted. Valjean started “Who am I” with absolutely NO context. I knew what was happening when he talked about the trial on an innocent guy, but first-time audience definitely didn’t.

Valjean: Court, listen…

Audience: What? What court?

Valjean: This guy you’re putting on a trial is innocent

Audience: What guy? What trial?

Little Eponine was cut entirely from the show. She didn’t appear at the Thenardiers’. I was like “were they going to tell the audience that she’s their daughter at all?” Well, they didn’t reveal the information until the robbery scene, where Thenardier, seeing Eponine, asked the most impossible question, “who is this girl?”, and to which Montparnasse answered, “she’s your daughter, did you forget?” I wonder if this was indeed in the French lyrics or if this was some unnecessary directing choice. It did nothing but further confusing the plot and making poor Eponine more miserable.

Going back to little Cosette. In the French lyrics she didn’t sing about “Castle on a Cloud” but about something like “Dolls in a Display Window”. I noticed that unlike in the English version in which she talked about a lady in white, presumably as a vague memory of Fantine, French Cosette didn’t seem to have much recollection of Fantine. Instead, she put herself in the position of a mother wanting to take care of the dolls in the display window. She said something like she’d dress them up in the most beautiful way, make them enjoy the best kind of life, etc. I also liked that actually. Nobody showed any love to her. Nobody told her what love is or how to love. Yet she still wanted to love others. My dear Cosette you’re the most precious little angel I love you so much. *wipes tears*

Which somehow echoes to adult Cosette’s lines in “In My Life” later. She complained that she didn’t know much about her own past which Valjean refused to talk about, while in the English lyrics it was his past that she was curious about.

In Paris Look Down, the scene of Marius and Cosette’s first meeting was cut. Eponine didn’t appear. She wasn’t properly introduced as Gavroche and Marius’ acquaintance. *shakes head*

The lyrics board in the theater was very nice to show character names next to their lines. Probably only for me as I FINALLY knew who’s who in the amis for once. As for first-time audience though, I wonder if that created more confusion than resolved, lol. Very glad to see that it was Courfeyrac who introduced Marius into the café. A nice little detail which probably only I, as a book-Courfeyrac fan, took great pleasure in.

Adult Eponine didn’t appear until IML, which makes the line “Ponine you’re the friend who brought me here thanks to you” so weird. To a first-time audience, she was just a random girl who randomly appeared and randomly fell in love with Marius the first time she saw him.

But, what’s even worse is that it was never explicitly shown where and when Marius and Cosette met each other. All of a sudden Marius was in love with a girl he never met and Cosette with a guy she never met. I bet at that moment first time audience would have had a million questions floating in their mind.

And it was hilarious that Cosette was the one in shadow behind while Marius and Eponine were standing in bright light right in front of the audience. Their positions really looked like Marius and Eponine were meant to be together and Cosette was the one secretly pining.

The plot where Valjean saved Javert from the barricade was cut. Actually, Javert was never in danger to begin with. All of the students left after Javert shared his information. Gavroche then went on stage to reveal Javert’s identity, but only to himself. After their private conversation, Javert chased Gavroche off and that was when Gavroche was last seen in this show.

Now prepare yourself for the most ridiculous, most horrible, most irredeemable directing choice in the history of this show and possibly even in the future and till the end of time.

At this moment I still can’t believe this actually happened.

THEY CUT THE FINAL BATTLE

I was like

WHAT??

They kept “Empty Chairs”. They kept “Turning”. They even kept “Dog Eats Dog”. But they cut FINAL BATTLE.

WHY??

JUST. WHY?????

Trust me bro I’m not making this up. The audience next to me, who was also experienced I could tell, checked the brochure in disbelief as “Dog Eats Dog” followed immediately after “Drink with Me”. We honestly thought it was a big blooper or something. The shock when I realized that Final Battle was indeed not part of the program hit me harder than actually seeing everyone die on stage.

The ONLY good thing is that I could pretend that Gavroche was spared. He disappeared after revealing Javert’s identity.

Marius was not on stage when Valjean and Javert confronted each other in the sewers.

Valjean: This man needs a doctor’s care

Me: *ahem* I have a bad feeling about this

Audience: Who?

Valjean: Look down, Javert, he’s standing in his grave!

Audience: WHO??

And, bro, when you decided to cut Valjean and Javert’s barricade scene, did you ever consider that the cut would make Javert’s suicide logically incoherent?

Javert: Valjean saved my life

Audience: Whoa when?

Javert: He could have killed me but he didn’t

Audience: Like…just now? But wasn’t he pleading to be let go?

One good thing about the Finale is that Javert was allowed to “the garden of the lord” in the end. ;_;

Think of me

(I cried at this of all songs help)

I just really love Christine because she’s my baby girl and she deserves all the love and all the best things in the world and I’m happy as long as she’s happy *wipes tears*

Can you understand how emotional I got as I saw the scene transform from the rehearsal to the performance, with Christine shining like the brightest star, and everybody who she loved and who loved her around her witnessing and applauding for her success? *wipes tears violently* How could anyone not love a talented, aspiring and beautiful girl like her? How could anyone not feel happy for her seeing her dream come true?

My heart aches (in a good way) forever for Character Development content. I wish as the true heroine Christine could get more of that in the show.

Music of the night

...Biggest disappointment in the show. :(

Yes this is Phantom’s solo song, but that doesn’t mean Christine could just stand there doing nothing until it’s time to faint. She stood at the corner of the stage attentively listening to Phantom, like she was the audience not the actress. She didn’t react to anything he said. I understand that this scene could be very difficult to act for Christine. Like how could you act out feelings as abstract as “open up your mind let your fantasies unwind”? But at least you could try moving your head and hands, walking around, etc.

Christine wasn’t afraid at all when the bars shut down at the back. I didn’t get why she was so calm and resigned. Come on, you’re kidnapped, locked up in a prison, threatened by a dangerous killer, and all you do is just standing there appreciating music?

Later I realized that this acting choice was probably intentional. Christine didn’t seem afraid in the slightest at various points I thought she would be. I somehow got the feeling that the entire production team were shipping E/C.

And guess what happened after Christine saw the doll Phantom made and fainted?

London Phantom: Carried her to bed

Broadway Phantom: Tucked her in so she didn’t fall hard on the ground

Chinese Phantom: Watched as she fell on the ground. Put his cloak on her. Left her there on the cold floor till the end of the song.

(*shoves Chinese Phantom really hard* BE A GENTLEMAN AND CARRY HER TO BED PLEASE)

Don’t worry Christine was indeed seen sleeping on the boat next morning. But still. Why. Did. He. Let. Her. Lie. On. The. Floor?

After Christine pulled off his mask, Phantom called her bitch/bastard. When I first heard it I thought it was too much. I then consulted native English speaker what “damn you, curse you” sounded like in terms of insult, and I learned that this line in the original English lyrics was also a really, really severe insult. That was new knowledge to me. And at the beginning I was thinking that the translators didn’t do enough research. Sorry translators, that was my fault. You guys did too much research.

Btw, there was a tiny blooper in the title song. Phantom didn’t get on the boat the moment it appeared in front of the audience. He walked a few steps before stepping on the boat. XD

Notes I/Prima Donna

“Notes” became logically incoherent in this translation. Here’s a few examples. Please correct me if I make any mistakes at any point in this post. It was very difficult for me to follow the lyrics. ;_;

Original: “But Andre have you seen this note? Oh it seems you’ve got one too”. 

Translation: “(Something about box office not the note) Oh it seems you’ve got one too.”

Edit: I misheard the original lyrics lol. It should be “have you seen this queue”. The translation was totally ok.

Original:

Carlotta: “I have a letter, a letter which I rather resent”

Manager: “Raoul did you send it?”

Raoul: “Of course not!”

Carlotta: “You didn’t send it?”

Raoul: “Of course not!”

Translation: 

Carlotta: “Your letter, what was your intention?”

Manager (to Raoul): “How could you be so cruel?”

Raoul: “Of course not!”

Carlotta: “Can you swear?”

Raoul: “Of course not!”

The translation just sounded like they all left half of the sentence unsaid.

On the other hand I also got good translation example

Original:

Raoul: “Here’s the letter you wrote” (Can’t remember the English lyrics here)

Manager: “And what is it that we meant to have wrotten...written”

But in Chinese we don’t have such grammar rules like write-wrote-written. So they turned this joke into

Raoul: “How do you explain the black text written on the white paper?”

Manager: “So let’s look at this idiot...this white paper”.

“Idiot” and “white paper” have similar pronunciations in Chinese. “Black text written on a white paper” is a Chinese idiom meaning very strong, indisputable written proof or regulation.

Caught a tiny blooper there. The manager failed to sync with Phantom's voice at “I shall give you one last chance”. This really shouldn’t happen if Phantom’s voice was pre-recorded. I’ll take that back if they were doing it live.

I really like Prima Donna on the cast album but hearing it live was so painful. So many things were happening at the same time. I simply couldn’t follow the lyrics or the actions on stage. :(

All the Italian lines were kept in Italian. It was interesting hearing Italian and Chinese sung together, as the two languages are vastly different More so than Italian and English, anyway.

All I ask of you

I looooove the translation here! Hearing the song in my native language made it more touching. Not only because the native language elicited emotions more naturally but also because the translators modified the lyrics in a better way, in my own opinion.

And this was probably the most romantic Raoul could get in this show. You’ll see why I’m saying this soon.

Here are some translations I like. Most of these are Raoul’s lines, I just realized. Which probably suggests that the translators are more romantic than Raoul himself, lol. Again you’ll see what I mean soon.

Original: I’m here. Nothing can harm you.

Translation: I’m here. Who can harm you?

Original: Let me be your freedom. Let daylight dry your tears.

Translation: Let me give you freedom. Let me wipe your tears for you.

*Thumbs up at changing “be your freedom” to “give you freedom”*

Original: Let me be your shelter. Let me be your light.

Translation: Let me be your fortress. Let me be your first light of dawn

Original (Raoul): Say you’ll share with me one love one lifetime. 

Translation: Then just love and live with me with courage. 

This is one of my favorite modifications. Made me tear up ;_;. Raoul was not simply giving or leading, but he was encouraging. That was what Christine really needed.

Original: Anywhere you go let me go too

Translation: Let me watch over with you for my entire lifetime

“Watch over” is not a precise translation but I can’t find an English equivalent at the moment. The word here emphasizes a reciprocal action, meaning that Raoul would do “this” for Christine and Christine would also do “this” for Raoul. And “this” most closely resembles “help each other through the years and witness a lot of things together”

Original (Christine): Say you’ll share with me one love one lifetime. Say the word and I will follow you.

Translation:  Say you agree that (couldn’t hear clearly) I’ll love and live with courage. Stay true to (couldn’t hear clearly) this promise every day.

And every time “all I ask of you” was spoken (by both characters) it got translated into “I don’t ask for anything more”

Masquerade

Christine and Raoul were not looking hard enough for each other after they got lost in the crowd.

Raoul, bro, please, stop walking aimlessly. Are you aware that your top priority now is looking for your girlfriend??

Christine seemed a little obsessed with Phantom in this. She was still ruminating the moment Phantom appeared and spoke to her, only snapping out of the trance when Raoul led her away. Not sure if this is common in standard productions.

Notes II

I got a feeling that this Raoul should be playing Enjolras not Raoul, because he was clearly more interested in fighting against the Phantom than being in a relationship with Christine. They were basically like:

Christine: I’m sorry I’m scared I really can’t...

Raoul: (Who cares about your lonely soul) We strive towards a larger goal. Our little lives don’t count at all!

At that line where Raoul concluded his plan (can’t remember the exact lyrics in either language, probably something like “this time I’ll defeat you”?)  He made a pose that reminded me of Enjolras’ “they will come when we call”. His fighting spirit was so pronounced lol. Funny thing is that he wasn’t even half as excited when he was with Christine. 😂

Wishing you were somehow here again

I love this song!! The translation was cool. The acting was impressive. At MOTN I thought this Christine didn’t know how to act. But oh man look at her now. She was amazing in this!

She sounded so helpless and broken at the beginning. But she gradually composed herself as the song went. It even got slightly upbeat towards the end, which to me was new interpretation. In the past I took it for granted that melancholy was the only mood here. Partially credit to the translation I guess.

She was really in high spirit starting from “too many years fighting back tears”. I could feel her willpower building up. She declared her determination to shut down the past and decide her own future like a fighter. *wipes tears* *hugs Christine* My dear Christine you truly have grown up!

Edit: “Wandering child” went like kindergarten kids’ fight, lol

Some translations

Wishing you were somehow here again = How I wish you could come back to my side

Original: Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed, somehow you would be here

Translation: It seemed if I just had a vague dream, you would come back to the world (couldn’t hear clearly) again

Original: Wishing I could hear your voice again, knowing that I never would

Translation: How I wish your singing was still lingering around my ears, knowing that it had already flied away

Original: Passing bells and sculpted angels, cold and monumental. Seem for you the wrong companions. You were warm and gentle

Translation: The angel sculptures here (couldn’t hear clearly), were cold and miserable. Accompanying you, who were like a breeze. Isn’t this a pity?

Original: Wishing you were somehow here again, knowing we must say goodbye

Translation: How I wish you could come back to my side, but for this, it’s impossible not to say goodbye

My interpretation is that here Christine understood that she could only have her father “back” (in the sense that she became a strong person like her father) if she learned to say goodbye to him (to her past).

Original: Try to forgive, teach me to live. Give me the strength to try

Translation: Give me power. Teach me to grow up. To face the long night on my own.

Original: No more memories, no more silent tears. No more gazing across the wasted years. Help me say goodbye.

Translation: Do not try to remember anymore. Do not shed tears anymore. Do not look back at the (couldn’t hear clearly) blood in the past anymore. It’s time to say goodbye.

Point of no return

Christine acted like she knew the black guy was Phantom from the beginning. She was not surprised after pulling off his cloak. She was very compliant when Phantom took her away. She didn’t struggle or panic at all.

Given her tough attitudes in “Wishing”, returning to the resigned, hopeless Christine in this scene didn’t seem like a reasonable acting choice to me. :(

Finale

Raoul wasn’t really excited after seeing Christine. Like he wasn’t anxiously checking her for any injuries, or calming her down, or helping her out as fast as he could. He was just holding her. Given that he was an Enjolras at the bottom of his heart, what he was thinking at the moment was probably not “thank god my girlfriend is not hurt” but “I’ll attack Phantom in this genius way and he’ll be dead”

There was almost no pause between Phantom asking Christine to make a choice and Christine saying “the tears I might have shed for your dark fate grew cold and turned to tears of hate”. The entire show was up-tempo, but I thought necessary pauses like this should have been kept. This sounded like it hadn’t been a difficult choice for Christine at all.

And Christine’s line missed the “hate” part. In this translation Christine only said “my tears turned into ice”. Meaning that she still didn’t hate him.

*inhales* *exhales* Christine I’ll start hating you if you don’t hate him.

Raoul didn’t struggle after being strangled.

I used to hate the almost ubiquitous overacting in POTO, but it was really the first time I’d seen underacting. Raoul wasn’t physically struggling. Christine wasn’t mentally struggling. Phantom wasn’t hysterical. I’d never seen this scene full of conflict acted out in such a peaceful way.

Edit: “Track down this murderer. He must be found” = “Track down this murderer. He must pay for his bloody actions with his blood” o_o

Why was everyone so obsessed with fight, blood and stuff in the lyrics but so collected in the acting?

General

The performance was enchanting but the orchestra was a lamentable mess. 

To be fair not really bad all the time, but there were a few points where the music didn’t sync with the actors, and at the very beginning of the show the tempo sounded messy. And the entire show was uptempo. That combined with the rock n roll vibes the Phantom actor showed somewhat desensitized me. Sometimes I should have had some strong emotions but I just wasn’t given enough time to.

The sound system in the theater though...it was...ugh...probably haunted by the Phantom...

The translation was a bit weird in general but I think they tried their best. Weird because:

The choice of rhyme syllables. For example in Chinese it’s common to have “-an” as rhyme, but using “-e” as rhyme, which they did a lot in the lyrics translation, just sounds weird to me.

They used a mixture of literary and colloquial words.

Weird stress syllables. Lots of Chinese equivalent to “my power over you grow stronGER yet” 

Sometime they stayed too faithful to the original to sound natural in Chinese. Like, the literal translation was perfect but Chinese people just...don’t speak like that in conversations.

My favorite translations are “All I ask of you”, “Wishing you were somehow here again”, “Point of no return”. I guess love songs are more or less comfort zone for lyrics writers? When it comes to story-telling songs like “notes” the translated lyrics sound much worse.

The translation also kept a significant amount of foreign words, like all the Italian lines, the “O.G.” signature and “Opera Ghost”. All other character names were kept in English as well. “Phantom” did get translated into Chinese though. 

I didn’t realize until now that seeing a musical could be so cognitively demanding. Every musical I saw live in the past was already an old friend which I could memorize by heart. When I went to the theater, I could focus entirely on the acting without sparing a fraction of attention on figuring out what was being sung. But seeing POTO in Chinese was a whole new experience. I had difficulty following the new lyrics which I had no prior knowledge of, so I had to peer at the side screens for lyrics from time to time. It got even worse at chorus numbers. So many people were singing at the same time that they had to put half of the lyrics on one screen and another half on the other. I got overwhelmed as I didn’t know where I should look at, the screens or the actors. Could this be one reason why musicals are difficult to promote to ordinary audience?