MONOTRONA: Nakadai

“Nakadai the Samurai” was the last Monotrona character and was put together quickly in December 2002 for The Bubblegum Music Festival at the Magic Castle in Los Angeles organized by Miss Kelly Kuvo (show above). I had been interested in European armour for along time, but when I found Japanese armour, I became enamored with its beautiful craftsmanship. I am also a big fan of yurei, yokai, and kaiju in Japanese visual culture. The songs and performance were oriented for kids, though no kids ever saw it! The character was named after the great Japanese actor Tatsuya Nakadai.

I ended up performing this show a few times into 2003 before giving birth in April. The performance below was taken when I was +7 months pregnant, which is quite obvious. It was very hard to breathe! I nearly slipped off the stage at one point — thanks to a kind young’s woman bosom, I did not die. The character also made an appearance in the film Slumberland by Jarek Kupść. Two songs featured music (and lyrics) by the band Mr. Pacman and another by Palsecam. Thank you Mr Pacman for letting me sing your songs. Thank you Mariko for helping me with the Japanese. Thank you Palsecam for letting me use your cool music.