Shao Pai Long
Chris knew that he and his family were going to get LucasTV the moment it was announced. Not because for the chance to see Star Wars at any time they wished without needing to pay for movie tickets, nor because of the announcements for some of the coolest series he'd seen when they were shown in the promotion space (his younger sister still squeed over the chance to continue watching that Miraculous show), but it was something even more basic than that.
His father had simply said "We're getting it" and that was that. Chris wished he could say it was because he'd seen something in it that had resonated with everyone in the living room that day, but more than likely it was because of the $1.00 per month price for subscription that did it for him.
Not that he would complain, he wanted to watch Luke Cage.
And the experience, though chaotic at first, eventually settled into a pattern when everyone in the family recognized an unofficial schedule; he and his older brother preferred to watch the more mature series like Gundam, Pacific Rim and Luke Cage, his sister loved Miraculous and Atomic Betty, his mother enjoyed both Cupid and Lawyer's Dozen, and finally, his father loved just watching whatever he could see whenever he came home from work.
Hey, at $1.00 per year you're not complaining about what you get.
Still, Chris had to admit to a guilty pleasure whenever he turned on the TV to watch Macross. The series was good, no question about it, the designs were some of the coolest he'd ever seen, the fights had nearly the same impact as the ones in Gundam, and the transforming Veritechs from plans to robots? Freaking awesome! he could not, and he did not think he ever would, get enough of watching the transformation sequence of a Veritech fighter, and if he had the money he would have bought one of those like the rest of his friends at school.
No, the guilty aspect was watching at the series hoping that this was an episode that heavily featured Lin Minmei. Chris was not embarrassed (okay, perhaps he was a bit embarrassed) to say that she was the main reason that he watched the series at all. It had been during one of those days when he had the TV all to himself and had thought to see if there was anything interesting at the time, when he first saw her.
And he was entranced by both her looks and how she moved. He knew from experience, having to accompany her sister more than once on seeing her Miraculous "Anime" on how Lucasfilm's cartoons were just different from anything else that he'd seen before. In both looks and movements they always blew every other cartoon out of the water, almost as if they could jump right out of the screen and dance all around the living room.
But this time, it was like Minmei (as he soon learned her name was) had something special around her in every frame she was in, to the point that he could not take his eyes from her whenever she appeared on the screen, watching the rest of the episode just for the chance that she may appear again. But what truly sealed the deal for him, was when later on in the episode something truly magical happened, what enraptured him and kept him forever after watching each and every episode just for the chance to experience it once more...
She sang.
Shao Pai Long...Shao Pai Long...
The movements, the dancing, the colors, the music, it was all together...amazing. From that moment on, he watched the series religiously if only for the chance to hear her sing again. He came to love the show in time as well, but the main reason he watched it never changed. It was a guilty pleasure that he'd carried with him, though one that inadvertedly helped him break the ice whenever he went to school; he was not the only fan of the show there, and the talks around recess about which of the girls was the best was one of the highlights for the day. He'd met so many who agree with him about Lin Minmei's song and how amazing it was.
Enough for them to try something bold.
Chris was not sure who it was that suggested it at first, at times it seemed like something he would do, but at the same time he could not be completely sure as they had been in the zone that day when they had been complaining about how hard it was to wait or know when one of the episodes when the songs would show during the series. Sometimes needing to wait over three months just for the one chance. The suggestion to try and write to Lucasfilms had been greeted with laughs at first, until soon arguments started dropping in, each more serious than the last.
By the end of that recess, each had a mission; write a letter, then find someone else to do the same, ad nauseum.
It was a harrowing month to be sure. Making sure to write the letter was not the main problem, it was then having to find someone else that could also do it what would prove a challenge; convincing his mother was an exercise in futility that brought perhaps some of the most embarrassing moments in his life (to the point that he would bring those with him to the grave), he never tried asking his father (he would be too busy to even try anyways) and as for his siblings... his older brother was cool with it, but his sister, oh did he have to pay for her help through it all.
The waiting for the answer was the hardest part, one that kept him both in expectation and hopelessness, sometimes sleeping and others not. By the second week he was feeling exhausted, and by the third he was sure that there was not going to be any answer at all, and that perhaps he should just try to adjust to learn when the songs would once more make an appearance during the show.
That is until one of his friends from school called him to tell him the news; the answer was in the comics! One of the page adds in nearly all of the new editions where they announced the chance to have a soundtrack from the show, a limited offer to buy through mail!
And if he thought that the last month had been difficult, having to find any and all kind of chores and small jobs to be able to get the money on time was the most anxiety inducing period of time in his life. On the other hand, his relationship with his father actually improved when they had something to talk about that was in common between them. He actually showed pride at the fact that Chris was looking for his own money.
He tried to not let his smile show that much.
When he finally got his soundtrack though, he nearly drove everyone at home nuts when he played it at all times of the day, eventually having to compromise on when he could listen to it, but at the very least he now could hear his favorite songs as much as he liked. Not that it stopped him from watching Macross in order to see Minmei though, not when he found in that very add something that he hadn't noticed the first time around; the actress who'd voiced her was not the one who'd sang. That honor was reserved for someone else...
Mari Iijima.
He'd known that the song was clearly not English from the beginning, but it had not truly hit him until that moment that he'd been listening to a Japanese song. Not that it stopped him though, but it did expand his horizons when that very add also came with some information about her releasing a new album this year.
One talk later with his friends, the information about the album delivered, and they were once more going back to writing letters, once more trying to find more people who'll help them in their mission, and once more going back to working at odd jobs to get more money to buy said album when the time comes.
But hey, at least he'll keep his father's respect, along with a brand-new music album when all it's done.
Now, if only he could find a way to get an autograph...
A.N.: I've had the idea for having a fan of Macross be such a fan of Minmei that they become fans of the actual singer, thus creating a fanbase for her in the U.S. just because of that one role that she had in Japan (and Kawamori's decision to keep the Japanese songs instead of trying to use different ones).
