My Grades:

Story: C
Starring Performances: B
Supporting Cast Performances: C
Music: B
Staging: B+

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Overall Grade: B-


The cat skit was a very odd little play. It was incredibly cute, somewhat reminiscent of the Broadway musical "Cats", but because it was a two-person show, and because Maki had so much monologue at the beginning, it really felt like the pace was dragging. However, the camaraderie between Maki and Hana was easy to sense; they both really looked like they were having a lot of fun with their characters.


Maki is a beautiful woman, with a highly animated facial expressions and a wonderful singing voice, so she's always a joy to watch. Hana demonstrates her natural, fluid dancing talent with some simple cat-like choreography during the skit; I was very impressed at how adorable and feline her movements were. Unfortunately, the supporting performers recieved very little stage time so there wasn't much to evaluate them on; I was just tickled to see those two now-familiar faces (Ayabuki Mao and Kiriya Hiromu) as baby 'siennes!


The music during the cat skit, while energetic, was too little and too far between for my taste; I would have liked much less dialogue and more singing and dancing. I loved the medleys during the second half of the show; it was fun to hear so many familiar melodies and lyrics in quick succession. However, most of the music choices were slow, ballad-type songs, which really seemed to drag after a while.


The set was fairly simple, with a rising scaffold at the back, some cardboard boxes as props, a couch and a plastic trash can. The costumes were more interesting; Maki had on a ragged rainbow-colored sweater and scarf, with a shaggy wig and fuzzy cat ears; Hana wore an almost ballet-like white outfit with a short white wig and white cat ears. During the second half of the show, Maki donned a formal tuxedo, complete with dramatic cape and top hat, which was definitely a treat; she also had a sequined jacket so sparkly that the camera almost couldn't handle it (she looked a little like a dancing, singing firework) and at the end of the show they put her in a couple of big, ridiculously fluffy-collared jackets.

My biggest complaint is that, especially in the second half of the show, they rarely seemed to really *do* anything besides stand at a microphone and sing, or stroll around and sing. Occasionally there was a bit of a dance interlude, which was a nice change of pace, but it would have been more interesting if they'd fit a little more of that into more of the songs.


I think I'd have to say that while this show is cute, it also drags in a lot of places. Maki Ichiro's considerable good looks just aren't enough to hold interest in the slow, uneventful string of songs she performs. The cat skit was also very cute, though after fifteen minutes of monologue it was also getting a little boring. So overall I'd say if you're a Maki/Mari fan it's worth looking at, but it's probably not something you'll want to watch over and over again.