Lea Salonga and Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle
My wife and I went to see a Lea Salonga concert at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. My wife is a huge fan of hers, and I am familiar with her being the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Aladdin (1992). The venue really had no bad seats, and we sat at the top balcony. Despite our seating, we could see the stage just fine and enjoy the show. There was a full band with two keyboard players, a pianist, a drummer, a bass guitar player, a lead guitar player and two background singers. The performances from Lea Salonga consisted of songs from movies, Disney, one Filipino song and other songs. I’ve been to hip hop shows and smaller concerts, but this one felt more professional, sophisticated and elegant. My wife loved it, as it was her first time seeing Lea Salonga performing live. I enjoyed it much more than I thought that I would, and it helps that I was familiar with a majority of the songs that were performed.
We also watched the Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle anime movie, and it quite honestly was one of the best movies that I have seen all year. Visually, this movie is just amazing with so much movement and kinetic energy on screen. I own and have read the whole manga series and am up-to-date with the anime series, but this movie just takes the existing manga material and elevates it with the colors, visuals, fight choreography, music and whatnot. The Infinity Castle setting is already a character in itself, and every one of the good guys from the low-level swordsmen to the Hashira were fighting for their lives. The first part of the movie where Tanjiro and the Hashira freefalling was quite a visual. The last part of the movie spent a lot of time on the backstory of the Upper Level three demon, Akaza, which makes him much more human and sympathetic. Overall, I could not recommend this movie enough, but only for those who watch Demon Slayer or have read the manga.
The Lea Salonga concert and the Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle movie were the top of their forms of entertainment. Both were well worth the price of admission, and I am glad that my wife and I got to see them both.