Phantom Jack...

[fajrdrako]

gigs_83 on torch_wood pointed me to this clip on YouTube, which has John Barrowman singing "All I Ask of You" from Phantom of the Opera. I like the Phantom music, I love Barrowman's singing, of course I watched it. It shows visuals from "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" - but what I really enjoyed is at the end, a trailer for "The Doctor Dances" in Japanese. I get a kick out of seeing Captain Jack be so... omnilingual.

Comments

[vervassal.livejournal.com]

You know, I blame you for my headlong plunge back into Phantom fandom.

Not that that's a bad thing.

Still.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

All my fault, hmm? I would think it might have something to do with the beautiful music and the superb singing.

In any case, I am proud to take full credit.

[myfavouriteplum.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting about this. I dream about hearing JB's version of "All I ask of you" for a long time...
I recognized the name of Rose's voice actress in the Japanese trailer; isn't she Maaya Sagamato? She's a singer, too. Heard her voice a lot in Japanese animations. Must be wonderful for Rose.
Less familiar with the Doctor's. But the guy once has dubbed the superior officer of my all-time favourite manga character(the interaction between those two are very interesting in the eyes of a slasher).
Not very impressed by Jack's Japanese voice actor though. (I know why I'm so picky...)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I dream about hearing JB's version of "All I ask of you" for a long time...

And isn't it lovely? I wish I could have seen that show. I wish there were recordings of all Barrowman's musicals, especially that and Anything Goes. Even Miss Saigon, which I am not, in general, so fond of.

I wouldn't recognize the voices of the Japanese voice actors, but it's fun to know the names. Yes, the voice for Rose sounded good.

Who is your all-time favourite manga character?

It would be hard for any voice actor to do justice to John Barrowman's voice!

[myfavouriteplum.livejournal.com]

Yeah, "All I ask of you" is such a comfort song to hear...I wish I can get hold of some of his CDs, especially the Cole Porter one.

My favourite manga character...you won't know it. It's Marshal Tenpou in Minekura Kazuya's "Saiyuki Gaiden"(sorry for all these strange-sounding names). A mastermind, bibliophile, and...slut. He has such interesting interactions with both of his superior officers. The manga isn't officially slash, but the author herself is an even bigger slasher than me, I'd think. Yeah, he's immortal, too(though more of a "if nobody kills me I'll live forever" immortal, like in Highlander). His biggest issue is having to see one of his own mans dying in his younger days. He'd die protecting the innocence--he'd die protecting his subordinates, too, though in a way, he also views them as nothing. He'd like to make everybody including his best friend believe he's a Machiavellian, which, in fact, he isn't black-hearted enough to be.
There's something sounds familiar? Yeah, sometimes he reminds me of Methos...and sometimes even Jack. All the fictional characters I love have some same blood in their veins...
The manga itself is about paradise lost, about the end of innocence. The plot comes from a old Chinese novel/legend, but the whole notion and style of the manga are very existentialist.

Yeah, it must be hard to do justice to JB's voice.(And in the case of Japaneses, JB's voice doesn't seem to be really compatible with any of the archetypes of Japanese voice actors.) I remember watching him in "Empty Child", hearing him telling sweet little lies in Rose's ears while dancing, voice as smooth as velvet or violin or more things whose names begin with "v":) No wonder Rose didn't understand a word of what he was saying...she wasn't listening to the words, but to the voice.
The biggest problem with Jack's Japanese voice actor? When he wants to act angry(thinking he's misunderstood by the angry Doctor), he sounds threating and only threating. But there isn't so much threating in JB's voice in that confrontation scene; Jack is seducting, which is an important part of the basic self-protecting skills of Captain Jack Harkness. Or I should say, the basic social skills.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I wish more of John Barrowman's singing had been released on CDs. So much that I'd want to hear.

Thanks for the description of Marshal Tenpou - the story sounds good, and he sounds like the kind of hero I like, too. There's that certain style of hero - ! There might be a single word that describes them, though I'm not sure what it would be. Paradoxical? Ambiguous?

I remember watching him in "Empty Child", hearing him telling sweet little lies in Rose's ears while dancing, voice as smooth as velvet or violin or more things whose names begin with "v":) No wonder Rose didn't understand a word of what he was saying...she wasn't listening to the words, but to the voice.

He was hypnotizing her, not so much with words as with motions and sound.

But there isn't so much threating in JB's voice in that confrontation scene; Jack is seducting, which is an important part of the basic self-protecting skills of Captain Jack Harkness. Or I should say, the basic social skills.

Very good point! For Jack, 'social' and 'self-protection' are pretty much the same thing; he uses charm and seductive technique as this most effective weapon - even when hunting Weevils.

[myfavouriteplum.livejournal.com]

Paradoxical? Ambiguous?
I agree. And that's why some of these heroes even have identity problems themselves.

Yes, 'social' and 'self protection' are pretty much the same thing for him. Even now in Torchwood. He doesn't have to worry about his life now, but he has to worry a lot more about his secrets.
And he went to war when he was a boy. His last teenage years or first twenties years got to be very violent. After the death of his friend, he had no one to trust, and only himself to blame. No wonder his self-defence switch is always fully on.
All this reminds me how happy it is to see him and everyone else act all silly like some kids in 'Boomtown'...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

that's why some of these heroes even have identity problems themselves.

I always think heroes with identity problems are more fun than those without identity problems.

His last teenage years or first twenties years got to be very violent.

Even the way he spoke of the enemy as "the worst creatures" implies that he still lives with that trauma. Whoever they were. I'd guess Daleks, except that evidence in "The Parting of the Ways" would contradict that.

No wonder his self-defence switch is always fully on.

A permanent state for him.

All this reminds me how happy it is to see him and everyone else act all silly like some kids in 'Boomtown'...

I love those scenes so much: Jack is so entirely and completely happy with Rose and the Doctor. It's good to see, and such a contrast to what follows.

[myfavouriteplum.livejournal.com]

What's a hero without identity problems?
Identity card...
Seriously, I don't think moderne humans are comfortable being hero any more. We're far, far away from Homer's days. That's why we now have bunches of anti-heroes instead. That's why we've got Hamlet earlier in the day.

I don't see Daleks as interested enough in humans to play mind games with them...are there any other alien villains who are likely to do so in the old Who universe?

I miss DW!Jack so much. I mean, now we have lots and lots of angst heroes and angst anti-heroes all over our TV screen. It's getting even harder to see a human being to be actually happy in TV world than in real world(except in flashbacks, that's to say). In real life, if happiness can make someone boring, he/she must have been boring all along before happiness came upon. In TV world, happiness=boring=bad script. DW!Jack is convincingly happy, and sometimes silly, but not boring at all. It's such a rare occasion to see a TV character who gets to be hero and anti-hero and gets his redemption and has got all his joie de vivre in the same time. It's like watching fireworks...
I come to loving TW!Jack though. As far as I love DW!Jack, I would never sigh 'O Captain my captain' while looking at him. He hasn't earned the title yet. No, not even in POTW. Acting like a hero out of love, out of deep belief in someone he/she loves, isn't this more traditional heroine work than hero work? In my opinion, the real hero is someone who knows he/she may not succeed in doing good even if he/she tries hard, but won't quit trying, because someone has to do about it and something has to be done. (Isn't this the tragedy factor that a hero's qualities require?) DW!Jack has got the Doctor to believe in. Now in Torchwood he's on his own. His desperateness in the final episodes of Torchwood is different from his desperateness in his final episodes of DW. In POTW it's about buying time for the Doctor to do his work. That's the only thing he cares about. The people around him are only faces. Now he really has his own ones to protect. He doesn't have the Doctor to save the day. Has lost the belief. Has to rely on himself. He becomes a real captain who can talk about duty with another real captain. Yes, there's no rank like 'captain' in RAF. The title is about bravado('flight lieutenant' or even 'group captain' isn't going to sound as great as simply 'captain')...and about heroism, too. Like 'a captain dies with his ship'. And o captain, my captain.
And yes, to live every day to no ends knowing himself and his job as some kind of a failure and still keeping trying and doing his job can be harder than a heroic death, in a couple of ways.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I don't think moderne humans are comfortable being hero any more.... That's why we've got Hamlet earlier in the day.

Yes, well, no surprise that Hamlet is another one of my favourites. Heroes whose problems are not simple and whose solutions are hard to define.

I don't see Daleks as interested enough in humans to play mind games with them...

Not even the Cult of Skaro? Maybe not... I'm sure whatever Russell T. Davies had in mind, it is, was, and will be interesting and scary.

are there any other alien villains who are likely to do so in the old Who universe?

I have no idea! Hmm...

I miss DW!Jack so much.

So do I. Not that I don't love Torchwood-Jack, but DW!Jack had more of a spark of brilliance. He was unique.

In TV world, happiness=boring=bad script. DW!Jack is convincingly happy, and sometimes silly, but not boring at all.

Part of it was that he could be happy within conflict. Even fighting the Daleks... he did whatever he did with such heart that he made it a part of him, and put everything into it. Even if "it" was telling a silly story or making a pass at someone. But even the bigger things, the life-and-death situations, he brought a joy and enthusiasm to them.

That's still there, but dampened. And changed. In convincing ways, but... pity the change had to happen.

It's such a rare occasion to see a TV character who gets to be hero and anti-hero and gets his redemption and has got all his joie de vivre in the same time.

I can't think of another example.

It's like watching fireworks...

Yes - breathtaking! And brighter than reality - even when real.

Has to rely on himself.

Yes. Which is one reason he jokes to Tosh about not understanding how 'real bosses' act - he's so used to playing roles, now he has to be something in real life with no one to tell him how. Using his own judgement.

The title is about bravado

I love the jokes in the show - and I've used variations in fiction - about what he might be Captain of, like the Innuendo Squad. This is so typical of Jack, to take a made-up rank and a nebulous identity and reify it, so that it becomes something significant and unique to him.

No wonder I love the character. There is a whole class of stories (and variations on them) in which a lie becomes the truth, and in doing so the protagonist becomes a hero. David Brin's novel "The Postman" is an example. So is Lois McMaster Bujold's "The Warrior's Apprentice". This is one of my favourite themes. And it's so much the story of Jack: the con man who becomes the figure he made up out of whole cloth, creating first an image for himself, and then becoming that image.

And further on the redemption theme, he goes from being the guy who almost accidentally destroyed the world with his nanogenes, to the guy who is defending the world against whatever is coming that we have to be ready for.

DW!Jack has got the Doctor to believe in.

TW!Jack still believes in the Doctor, he just doesn't have him around for inspiration and help, least of all for the self-doubt and the guilt and the uncertainties. He's lonely and frightened and making it up as he goes. But he's become a hero and he isn't going to give up. Perhaps he learned something from the Doctor about hope?

Even while saying that... I don't think hope is what sustains him. Faith in the future and in the Doctor, maybe, or faith that what he is doing needs to be done.

[myfavouriteplum.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I believe he's learned something about hope from the Doctor.
Now I remember 'all human wisdom is summed up in these two words--Wait and hope' from 'Count of Monte Cristo'...

Yes, Jack's story is about how our masks sometimes end up becoming our real faces. Our lies are in our truth, and our truth is also in our lies. (The Doctor must find this fascinating.) Maybe this is what we're. Maybe it's only coincidence. Maybe it's karma.
Name is about identity. It can be glory and it can be a curse. And a false name can even be more significant than a real one, because we get to choose it, so it can be consciously/subconsciously meaningful to us.
I can see this being a brilliant book theme.
Some of my favourite books share some same themes with TW and Jack, too. Like the theme 'out of time'. I used to read everything written by this French novelist called Patrick Modiano. Though Modiano himself was born after the World War Two, his heroes always have a strange obession about 1940s(not in a Blitz London though, but in a Paris under German Occupation). In one of his novel, the hero is a man who tries to retrieve his memory, which was lost due to unknown incidents in 1941. In another one, the hero goes back to 1942 to his Jewish father, who abandoned him when he was a teenager. His novels are always about nostalgia and identity.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

"Wait and hope"

Interesting quote! It does seem to fit Jack.

Jack's story is about how our masks sometimes end up becoming our real faces. Our lies are in our truth, and our truth is also in our lies.

And lying about ourselves is another way of changing ourselves.

Maybe it's only coincidence. Maybe it's karma.

Or a way for people to grow. Sort of - evolution driven by making mistakes.

Name is about identity. It can be glory and it can be a curse. And a false name can even be more significant than a real one, because we get to choose it, so it can be consciously/subconsciously meaningful to us.

And there are so many name-resonances in Doctor Who and Torchwood. The Doctor himself has no name, which means the topic of a name comes up frequently. When the Doctor and Captain Jack met, each had a false name - the Doctor was introduced to him as Mr. Spock. Rose's name is used frequently, over and over, often the Doctor calling her name, or people repeating her name, sometimes as Rose, sometimes as Rose Tyler. Look at that great moment at the end of "The Runaway Bride", when the Doctor says, "Rose. Her name is Rose." She's gone, but her name still has power.

In Torchwood we have another hero without a name, because we know Captain Jack Harkness isn't his name, and yet he's adopted it and wears it with such a certainty of identity that it's become his name. "Torchwood" itselt is an interesting name, a chameleon-like thing, based on the anagram of "Doctor Who" as a sort of secondary identity - reinforcing the theme of Jack as a surrogate version of the Doctor. And Torchwood Three has a nebulous identity and relationship with regard to Torchwood One.

[myfavouriteplum.livejournal.com]

Yes, when you have your name, you have a footing. You have something solid on you--a clear sense of identity. Rose has a name and the Doctor none.
(In Highlander, it's the other way round. The hero has a real name and the sidekick has a nebulous identity.)
Jack has earned his name, by using it longer than using his real name, by doing things the original owner of the name would approve. He doesn't seem to miss very much the 51st Century or his earlier life before TARDIS, when he had his own name with him--the only things we know from this period are the dead friend and the memory loss. Two things he'd like to get rid of, for his own peace. And he's not that satisfied with himself the first time we met him, when he told the Doctor it was a con.
What we see repetitively is that he loves 1940s a lot. If people and place can be home, then time can be home, too.
Torchwood 3 is everything that Torchwood 1 isn't. I doubted Jack would like Torchwood 1 when I first saw it in DW. Torchwood 1 is in a tower when Torchwood 3 is in a...cave? Then TW 1 has a female boss and TW 3 has a male one. I know I've lost my mind every time the name Freud comes to mind...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Jack has earned his name, by using it longer than using his real name, by doing things the original owner of the name would approve.

As Tosh points out. Also by living under that name during what was probably the most significant period of his life, when he was on the TARDIS. It's the name with good connotations for him.

What we see repetitively is that he loves 1940s a lot. If people and place can be home, then time can be home, too.

Rather endearingly. Again, a time and place with good connotations for him - I like to think it's at least partly becaue he met the Doctor and Rose then, the event which changed his life for the better. Obviously he likes the music and style of the era. Memories of Estelle too, perhaps?

I know I've lost my mind every time the name Freud comes to mind...


I prefer to gravitate to Jung, and I have a few ideas on this one, but they're not clear enough to articulate yet.

[myfavouriteplum.livejournal.com]

Thanks to Youtube, I've just seen the first ten minutes of POTW in Japanese version. Now I'm sure I 'm not being picky about Jack's voice actor: his tone is very different from JB, and he's just so...mediocre. Jack/JB's everything but mediocre!
And yay for the voice actor of the 10th Doctor！It's such a big surprise. Seki Toshihiko, who's one of the most shining stars in the profession(which is highly idolized and commercialized in Japan) and has countless fangirls in Japan and in China as well, is famous for his flamboyant and chameleon-like dubbing style. I'd say he makes a great ten. And the first season of the New Who must have good ratings in Japan, because it costs money to hire someone like him.
Honestly, the Doctor is even more omnilingual than Jack...
(Now I begin to feel awful. Because Seki Toshihiko would have made a great Jack, too. I so don't want JB's wonderful voice to be wasted...I'm not reasonable any more...)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thanks to Youtube, I've just seen the first ten minutes of POTW in Japanese version.

What fun! I love YouTube - you can find anything. Well, almost anything. They took down the shower scene from Shark Attack 3 before I had a chance to copy it.

Jack/JB's everything but mediocre!

Yes. Especially his voice. Actually I can't think of anything mediocre about him.

famous for his flamboyant and chameleon-like dubbing style.

Perfect, then! Because Ten is truly flamboyant and chameleon-like.

I so don't want JB's wonderful voice to be wasted...I'm not reasonable any more...

Just imagine how good it could be.

[myfavouriteplum.livejournal.com]

You didn't have a chance to copy it...I didn't even get a chance to see...poor me.

Yeah, Seki Toshihiko has dubbed at least 3 manga/animation character I've written fanfics about, all three very flamboyant: a pistol-waving, foul-tempered, good-looking Messianic leader, a nameless, mysterious antique shop owner who calls himself Count and seems to have some unhuman powers, and a seemingly callous warrior who's both a playboy and a great friend. And all three have some Jackish things about them. His style can be so heroic and flamboyant and enchanting all at once.
Now I really feel awful...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I didn't even get a chance to see...poor me.

I'm sure it will reappear somewhere, somehow. It isn't as if Shark Attack 3 is the kind of movie one would actually want to watch, you understand. Or that I would. But the shower scene - at least in the YouTube clip I saw - immediately follows the infamous moment when John Barrowman says to the leading lady (the one who can't act), "Why don't I take you home and eat your pussy?" He said on Jonathan Ross that he ad-libbed that as a joke to make the actress laugh, and he was horrified (but clearly amused) when they left it in the finished movie. Since the whole thing was dubbed, they must have put it back in with the dubbing.

Anyway, this is followed by the shower scene, which isn't particularly exciting as shower scenes go, it's mostly Barrowman kissing her neck, shoulders and breasts and they're both all wet and dripping under the water ... nice but not spectacular. Then somewhere towards the end of the clip Barrowman flicks his tongue against the girl's neck and suddenly it's amazing - there's such sexual electricity in that moment that it makes you sit up and gasp. I don't know how he did that.

And I really wouldn't mind seeing it again. I'm not sure I'm willing to watch that whole terrible movie all the way through to see it again, though. Maybe.

Seki Toshihiko's dubbing roles sound wonderful - and perfect for Jack.

[myfavouriteplum.livejournal.com]

Well, I haven't downloaded 'Shark Attack 3' because I don't know whether I 'll laugh too hard or be deeply embarrassed: neither sounds very fair for the poor people involved with it...
Anyway, everyone has been in embarrassingly bad things. (one of my favourite Hong Kong actors, even had made porn at the beginning of his career. And it's even hetero porn, while the actor himself was gay.) So I guess after all this I won't be embarrassed by something as normal as 'Shark Attack 3' at all...Maybe I should go download it:)
And yes, something like sexual electricity can come all of a sudden, and how it happens can never be explained.
And do you know where one can find the transcript of that Jonathan Ross show? I've watched it once on YouTube, but I didn't get everything right.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I don't know whether I 'll laugh too hard or be deeply embarrassed

I think I'd want to hide under the sofa cushions or something.

So I guess after all this I won't be embarrassed by something as normal as 'Shark Attack 3' at all...

Odd definition of normal (subnormal?) but I see what you mean!

do you know where one can find the transcript of that Jonathan Ross show?

I had a transcript... I'll try to see if I can find it again for you.

[myfavouriteplum.livejournal.com]

Thank you! If you have transcripts of his any talk shows, just let me know. My e-mail adress is jade200020022003@yahoo.com.cn

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I hope I didn't throw it away after I read it! I don't think I would have, I enjoyed it too much... I'll try to find it for you as soon as possible.