#OP's thoughts about the album's narrative is very similar to my own thoughts

[ravensofskyhold]

I hope you don't mind me add my thoughts about Bananas and how it fits into the narrative, here:

I think Bananas is the perfect middle stage in him figuring out what people want/expect him to do and what he himself wants to do, between s=m (sex sells, but also has a shock factor. He's found out that suddenly people see him as a sex symbol and the expectations that come with it and tried to play along, but also take control of the narrative) and Huhhahhei (a love song (smth he's said before he doesn't make!) that has a light, fun atmosphere with just a hint of bittersweetness).

Bc Bananas is almost exactly the kind of song the critics and haters, but also the wider public in general, have pigeonholed his music into and expect from him. It's very much a fun party song about a drunk night out with friends and having a hangover the morning after. There's no deeper meaning than that and him feeling good about himself.

And it doesn't have to be! Every song doesn't need to have a serious message and deep meaning! But this is exactly the box a whole lot of people have put his music into and promptly then dismissed everything he does as "just simple party music about being drunk and/or hungover, why are you telling me to listen to it to hear the subtext/deeper meaning, there isn't one"

And that IMHO makes adding Bananas to the album a genius move. Not only does it fit into the narrative (he's still trying to figure out what he wants to do as an artist, but moves from the more generic expectation of sex sells to the other end of scale, to people's expectations of him as an individual artist. People keep saying he makes silly party music, so that's what he makes), but it's also kind of a middle finger to the people who have dismissed all of his music as silly party music? It's like he's saying "hey here's what that song concept by me now would actually look like. Also it's explicitly how good and happy I'm feeling about myself and what I do because people keep looking down on those things". It's him finding fun and light-heartedness in this artistry again.

And after Bananas, we get to Huhhahhei, a song that combines the things he's learned from S=M and Bananas. HHH is kinda a fun, light-hearted party song, but with more substance to it. Flirty and sexual, but in a way he is more comfortable with. He has something to say with his music, but he can wrap (hee!) those messages in fun metaphors and party atmosphere most of the time.

I don't know if it has been done here before because I don't look around, but I have thoughts about the album and I need to share them with someone or I'm gonna go INSANE

Put your tinfoil hats on for my analysis of everything around People's Champion under the cut (probably people have talked about it and I'm just gonna repeat stuff, be warned)

So I've been a bit insane about People's Champion and I've started to think super hard about the order of the songs. I think, in my opinion, that the songs are arranged to tell the story of his life and career from right after UMK 2023 until now.

Ready To Go: This is where we start. Just post UMK, people didn't fully believe in him yet. I remember people saying "oh yeah sweden is sending someone who already won esc, but we're sending… Jere from Vantaa????". Hence the chorus, where people want to see him fail. But he's ready, he knows that he can do it. He's gonna go through and give his EVERYTHING. The mood of the song is really hopeful, with big intense guitar.

Cha Cha Cha: Do I need to explain this one here? I'm still not over this hahaha, I don't think I'll ever be. But this is where events take a turn for him, hence why it's so early in the album, even though it's his biggest song. Because he has so much to say after Cha Cha Cha happened.

Takavoltti: This is where things start to fuck up. He doesn't want to stay on his butt now that he has achieved celebrity and starts to take on so many, many gigs. A lot of us were worried for his health when we saw how much he was performing during summer 2023. But in the song, he says that he only saw opportunities and he just had to continue to take them. It takes a toll on his body. It starts to hurt, but he goes through it. That mad man. Also a couple of times in the song, people ask him to do stuff. Like a little circus monkey. And he just ends up hurting himself.

Ruoska: The bad comments start to really get to him. In the video, Erika and Käärijä are both dressed and perform as aliens. They've completely been striped of their humanity. They're just gimmicks that you can insult anonymously on the internet. Who cares anyway, they chose this life for themselves. It's their own fault. While the previous song was still a bit on the funny side, this one digs straight into the hardships that they feel. There is no more humour, only pain.

Kot Kot: He's still doing too much. While everyone has gone home, he's still drunk on the dancefloor, trying to reach out for friends who were wiser and left. He's being dragged out of there against his will, because he's so stubborn. Pushing through isn't working anymore, and people around him aren't letting him hurt himself anymore.

Skit: An appointment with a therapist. Käärijä is being cut off CONSTANTLY by the therapist, who can't see Jere as a patient. He sees Käärijä, the star. Even when he's trying to seek help, he isn't listened to. Because he's not human anymore for people at that point.

Autiomaa: Käärijä is breaking down. In the video, the therapist from the skit is taking a picture of him during the appointment. The feeling of loneliness and emptiness is around him all the time, omnipresent, eating him alive. He just wants someone to see him as a person, to listen to him, to help him with the void.

Sex=Money: At that point, you know, might as well. You're not human anymore, who cares. Why not try to get some money selling your ass. Who's gonna care anyway, sex sells and that's what people want to see, right? He made so much money on onlyfans, the press is acting shocked that he would even do that. The song is back to a bit light-hearted. My interpretation would be that he just finds the situation ridiculous, and that's why we're getting humour back in the lyrics!

Bananas: I'm not sure how this one fits in my theory, but we're SO back for humour. Kääriä is getting better. I think that in this one he found resolve to just continue going on. He's annoyed because people still only see him as an object, but he has to go through and live his life. Show must go on.

Huhhuhhei: Quite interesting to put a love song in this timeline in the story. But I think it's because he wants to live in the present, and not in anxieties from the past and the fear of the future. He doesn't know if the person sharing his bed is still gonna be there in the morning, but whatever, it's not important. Tonight, they're his and that's what matters. Thinking of tomorrow isn't gonna bring anything good.

It's Crazy It's Party: He's still stuck in the parties, they're around him all the time. He's still doing a million gigs in Finland and in europe. And just as the song is quite close to Cha Cha Cha, he's back at the beginning, the situation hasn't changed much. But this time, by the end, he goes to the party again, by his own will. And this time, he has people around to party with him.

People's Champion: We're back babes. This song is a love letter to people who love him. This is a great wrap around for this album. He's just remembering how everything went, from the start, until this point. Going through every point and emotion we've been through with him during the album. But in the end, he IS people's champion. He did it. He made it. And even with all the hardships, he's with us, when our hearts all sing together. The last line of this album that isn't a chorus is "Thank you everybody, I love you".

What a journey

So something that you have noticed that I've talked a lot is how people don't recognize Käärijä's humanity. He has been made into a kind of creature of gimmicks. You can ask him everything, you can say everything to his face. Whatever, he's a celebrity, not a person.

And this is where that cover is a GENIUS move.

On the cover, there are NO gimmicks. No bolero, no bowl cut, no bare chest with a tattoo. Just his face. You HAVE to watch his face, there is nothing else to see. You have to watch his emotion being raw, he's crying. This is not a pleasant cover to see. And I know, I've had spotify open on his face all day friday while I was working, it felt awful. But it makes you do something.

You have to acknowledge his humanity. And there's no way around it.

I love Käärijä

[leapingtitan]

The Final Season - Episode 1 Thoughts

I've watched the first episode around 3 times on my own and over a dozen times from anime-only live reactions on YouTube. Those are always something to have a field day with every season, and are part of the whole enjoyment post-watching the episode on your own.

Obviously I'm only reviewing this based on the first episode, so it's way too early to judge The Final Season as a whole. However, I will say that my strategy to keep my expectations low definitely worked. I was very hyped, don't get me wrong, but after Season 3 Part 2, I realized that production and scheduling has never been this show's strong suite and things behind the scenes were always chaotic. And it was my mistake to realize it this late and have unrealistically high expectations of the manga's adaptation.

But enough about that. I'm just gonna say it right now. I absolutely loved this episode and was completely blown away by it. It was a rollercoaster ride from start to finish and boy, the staff wasn't kidding when they said the first episode was like a movie. It definitely felt like that, and it went by in a flash. Now, on to the individual points.

Story/Adaptation

Flawless. Everything was executed perfectly and went beyond my expectations. The thing that stood out to me the most was how many things were changed from the PV in terms of scene construction, camera angles, and overall storyboards. There was only one shot that we reused from the PV, namely the one with Zeke and Reiner inside the airship where they're referred to as the spear and shield. Everything else was redone, which was a huge surprise. Wit was always very faithful to the original manga panels with how they used them as a big reference for most of their cuts, but this one changes them up a lot. Personally, I am 100% fine with it and as someone who has read these chapters in the manga dozens of times over the past few years, seeing them like this was a pleasant and very welcome surprise.

The anime-only additions here are notable and also quite welcome. Falco's line in the beginning in particular stood out the most in the long-run, but the addition of the Eldians' terror being shown as well as the scene before the ED was very welcome. I would like to assume that this was Isayama's doing as whenever the anime usually adds/changes up things, it's his request to do so. He sort of considers the anime to be the "definitive" version of the story that he, for one reason or another, couldn't do in the manga himself when that particular chapter came out. Season 3 Part 1 (The Uprising Arc) is a prime example for this. Once again, I'm very content with what was done here and I trust MAPPA will do the story justice.

A small but very neat thing is the fact that we got to keep the title cards and the info eyecatches mid-episode. Really added to the whole sense of consistency.

Animation

When the initial trailer came out, many people were concerned about Shigeki Asakawa (Director of Photography)'s odd and excessive usage of blur filters on top of the scenes and were wondering if they would remain in the final product, given her track record with other shows like The God of Highschool. Luckily, that is not the case here as the scenes look very clean and the minimal blur on top adds a bit to the muddy/gritty atmosphere of what's going on. Personally, I don't mind it at all and I barely notice it anyway. MAPPA's biggest strength to me is the usage of effects like blood and explosions. You feel the impact of everything and with such an action-packed episode, it made everything so much better.

The usage of 3D CGI for the Titan Shifters has been the biggest controversy surrounding this first episode. When I first watched it, it didn't bother me at all. Personally I care more about a model fitting in the action sequence rather than how it looks for the most part. Right now I would say I'm neutral. It's not the greatest CG ever conceived in anime but it definitely does not look out of place and is pretty decent. For the Jaw Titan, I couldn't tell what was CG and what wasn't for the most part. For the other Titans it's more obvious, but it's not too jarring. Obviously, if it was up to me and the production committee/NHK didn't push their scheduling shenanigans onto MAPPA, I would have gotten every Titan in 2D, but you can't have everything. If they choose to focus on more important scenes later on and cut corners in this first episode as a result, that's understandable. I can live with it. And again, even then, it's not that bad in my eyes.

Now, the character designs are just absolutely stellar. In multiple interviews, it’s been stated that they wanted to stay true to Kyoji Asano’s designs at Wit while also being consistent with Isayama’s style in the manga. And boy did they absolutely nail it. It’s exactly what as they said. Tomohiro Kishi could not have done a better job with the characters we’ve seen so far and I am beyond impressed with his work. I look forward to seeing the rest of the characters in this arc.

Sound

I've been following Kohta Yamamoto's works for a few years now, ever since he started working with Sawano (and being mentored by him to an extent) in early 2017. Although he's been involved with AoT before, particularly with the character songs in Season 2, whenever those two would collaborate on a project it would usually be because Sawano is too busy to compose a full soundtrack. So what usually happens is, Sawano does one track and variations of it (think ShingekiNoKyojin, ThanksAT and T-KT), and nothing else. Meanwhile, Yamamoto handles the rest of the music for the show. On top of that, Yamamoto's style as a composer is different from Sawano's as he comes from a rock/guitarist background as opposed to Sawano, who is a pianist and is classically trained. My biggest concern for The Final Season was that we would get a similar case as with the other shows where Sawano doesn't put in too much effort, while Yamamoto essentially becomes the main composer. Although it looks like this is in fact the case after this first episode, let me explain why I don't think it's a bad thing.

After the premiere of the first episode, both Sawano and Yamamoto tweeted that it was in fact Yamamoto who is handling the majority of the Marley Arc's music. And after this first episode, I have to say I'm impressed. His initial track that he made for the PV was a bit off-putting to me because it sounded like every epic blockbuster Hollywood trailer background track ever, but after the way it was used in this episode alongside a few other tracks, I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. It fits what's going on, and overall delivers a fresh sound to the show that is very appropriate given the massive change in narrative. Back during S3 Part 1, Sawano stated in an interview that he was already burned out and had trouble coming up with new music for AoT given how many tracks he had already composed for it. Given how few new melodies were in S3 Part 2;s music, I think this should be clear. Especially now that we're going into yet another season. To summarize, I think Yamamoto's work here is a result of three conditions that just happened to line up perfectly. The change in narrative, which the new composer style reflects. Sawano being busy. And Sawano being burned out with AoT. Now personally I still believe we're going to get at least one new original Sawano track with variations of it for the big climax moments this arc, and he may compose more music for the 2nd half of this 16-episode season, since that's technically a new arc. But we'll see. As a whole though, I'm satisfied with what I've heard from Kohta Yamamoto in this first episode.

The last point to make in regards to the sound is Masafumi Mima who, apart from Sawano, the voice cast, and some freelancers, is the only one from the previous seasons' staff members to return here. And once again, his work here is absolutely phenomenal. The mixing and usage of sound effects in this episode was stellar and truly felt like I was watching a war movie. It enhanced the action tenfold and I could not want it any better. Music usage is something that goes through the director (Yuichiro Hayashi), but ultimately the sound director is the one who implements the track (instrument layering/stem editing) and does the mixing. The usage of Kohta Yamamoto's music here was very well done, and although the track from the PV repeated quite a bit, it didn't get repetitive at all. Also, the sound director remaining consistent here means we got to keep things like the titan transformation sound effects, which may be a small thing but was very welcome and added to the whole consistency.

Opening/Ending

I'm gonna wait until Shinsei Kamattechan releases the full version of the opening in a single or album to fully judge the song, but boy do I love this opening. Although I'm not sure if the TV-size version is my favorite AoT opening yet, I have to say that it's without a doubt the most fitting OP this show has had until this point. It perfectly showcases the themes of war that this arc focuses on and has this lowkey disturbing eerie vibe with the dissonant chords and mixing of the vocals that feels just as "mysterious" and "tense" as the show itself. I love it so much, honestly. Now, Isayama was a fan of Shinsei Kamattechan prior to them doing the S2 ED, and was the one who got them on-board to do it. Although that song isn't really my thing it's also a perfect fit, which leads me to believe that Isayama himself most likely chose the band again, namely to do this OP. And it's fantastic. I love the song. The visuals also have a very distinct style with all the colors and white backgrounds and I love how it's more metaphorical and symbolic (I guess "abstract" as well?) rather than flat-out just spoiling everything like the last arc's OP did.

The ED by Yuko Ando is fantastic. The first time I listened to the full song on its own I couldn't stop getting chills. Love the production aspects of the song and it's just really nice altogether. The visuals are quite interesting especially towards the end and I also like them a lot. Not much else to say about the ED. It's amazing. Go listen to it.

Conclusion

As a whole, I kept my expectations extremely low prior to the premiere despite my hype. As a result of that, not only were they exceeded, I was absolutely blown away by this first episode in pretty much every way. It may still be too early to judge, but from what has been shown here so far, I am absolutely looking forward to see MAPPA adapt the rest of this amazing story, or about as far as they can get with 16 episodes.

[primeadv]

SITS DOWN

PULLS OUT 10 GIANT ALBUMS :))) 

(this came out way longer than I intended im so fuckgkdsdf sory)

How I feel about this character: EVERYONE WHO KNOWS ME KNOWS I’M IN LOVE WIHT RATCHET. I love him in all iterations of Transformers because he’s always the tired, pragmatic one of the group. In contrast, he’s also almost tiredly optimistic in some ways. He won’t get out of bed, but if someone gets shot in the head he’ll spend however long and beyond to resuscitate them. There’s 2 halves to this--the me who identifies with the beating exhaustion he exudes, and the me who’s in awe that he’ll still fight his way through life.  I won’t... get into each continuity...because that’s too much, so I’ll stick with probably the most unpopular version of him and that’s IDW (my impression, anyway). IDW Ratchet gets a lot of flack for being way too sour and like, maybe not selfish, but uncaring. He cares! A lot! He’s always thinking about everyone in really surprisingly thoughtful ways. Like when he’s 90% sure he’ll die due to Overlord and his last words are to promote First Aid to CMO (he’s ready!! god that’s sweet), and to give his hands to Whirl (though maybe a bit blindsided, he’s paid attention to some roots of Whirl’s trauma). Or yeah he’s hella mean to Drift in the beginning, but when Drift is dying in his arms he’s scREAMING at him “you’re gonna make it! You’re gonna be fine because I’m gonna make sure you’re gonna be fine”. He can be an asshole, but he knows the time and place. Death isn’t something to play with--he’s seen probably countless friends die, and he doesn’t want that to happen again. Even now, even after the war.  So I feel very confused when ppl act like he’s this mean, cold person. He’s exTREMELY emotional. He’s probably way too invested in everyone’s lives, honestly? He interrupts a round table story for Rung just to reminisce on the veery last time he, OP, and Roller were together in the same room (not even hanging out or anything, just being together one last time. who remembers that after 5+ millions years??). He started an illegal clinic in the bad part of town because he wanted to put his skills to better use! Like! LOL.  ALSO, a point that i think is unfair is that ppl think his atheism is just really mean. IT is! But I think it shows just how much of an emotional and extremely, deeply hurt person he is. It gets aggravating when he’s condescending of religion, because there’s no simple logic to it. He reacts the way he does because he’s a hurt person who’s gone through years of trauma and this is his way of coping. Is it healthy or right? Nah, but it’s humanizing. It’s why when he becomes closer to Drift he occupies this weird between space where he snarks but also tries to indulge more in perspectives outside of his own in his own dumb old tsundere way. He’s a person who believes in justice, ultimately, and religion to him doesn’t fall under justice.  ALSO, can I say that his inability to say good byes is so.. like relatable? I have rly bad social anxiety, and so I’ve definitely ghosted people who’ve been nothing but really supportive for me. It’s not because I wanted to burn them, but it freaks you out needing to, not even say goodbye, but communicate with ppl. And for Ratchet--how many times was he FORCED to say good bye to friends + patients who were dying beyond his help? Maybe, if he could help it, he doesn’t want to say goodbye. And it’s tragic the times he’s just left, these were people who ended up either dying for falling astray into insanity, i.e., beyond his help. But he learns. He chases after Drift, who he actually said, in a way, good bye to (helping him off the floor after being attacked, also I should point out that a very tiny handful of people were comfortable interacting w/ Drift at all, and how much Ratchet just doesn’t give a shit abt how other ppl think abt him. he’ll help drift off the floor bc t’s the right thing to do). He says goodbye in his old dumb way--First Aid calls him out on it. ALSO his trust in First Aid is super cute. ALSO he’s like.. genuinely nice to Ten (he helped him get a date with Minimus!!!). And he’s not afraid to call out on other ppl’s bullshit (telling rodi straight you dont deserve to be captain which, at the time, was really true). He’s also SUPER smart. Also there’s that post on tumblr that pointed out that Ratchet immediately goes to deescalate conflict. He’s willing to put aside pride and anything if it means ultimately coming to a resolution where EVERYONE involved is safe. The only time he doesn’t is FUCKING OVERLORD who he rightfully, immediately, tries to briefly incapacitate to lockdown his medibay (protect patients/information). Ok I gotta stop I can go on forever just going page to page. Also, despite my love, I can totally point out his flaws. He’s grating when it’s unnecessary, he’s abhorrently bad at communicating, he’s privileged, he’s narrow-minded at times, etc. ec. But again what I love about him is that despite all that, he’ll throw his own self out the window for others’s well-being bc he genuinely, genuinellyyy cares about other people. If only he could care for himself //cries All the people I ship romantically with this character OH god... everyone. He’s my bicycle.  ok look, ya’ll know I’m an intense dratchet shipper and I could literally write a god damn essay. ... here’s another essay???!! So, I’ma be real, I wasn’t a super dratchet shipper before. I wasn’t anti (i have no notps), but I was just “yeah they’re cute i guess haha”. But 99.99% the reason why I ship anything is all for super cute adorable fanart. and I kept drawing them because 1) ratchet’s my fav, 2) drift is super popular so I figured I should learn to draw him. And they became the only 2 mechs I could draw. I used to be way more into Scavengers + megarod. I used to only like 1 dratchet fanfic and that’s bc it was less romantic and more plot centric (still a fav tho). Then I kept seeing cute fanart, I would read posts by other dratchet shippers too about what makes them so nice? And I was yeah.. oh yeah. And it doesn’t help that in Lost Light, drift is CONSTANTLY by Ratchet’s side. He’s constantly checking up on him and holding him and touching him, like as if Ratchet is the thing that he needs to make sure, at all costs, is safe.  In Drift’s life, Ratchet is the one who appears to him when he needs support the most but is in the most denial of it. When Drift is at the brink of death, overdosed and about to be broken apart and Orion brings him to Ratchet’s clinic. Ratchet patches him up pro-bono and tells him that he sees something special in him.  like??? can you imagine how that feels? To have no one believe in you--you don’t even believe in yourself, and yet here’s this person who tells you “you’re gonna be great”. And it totally doesn’t hit Drift in anyway, at least in a way that’s tangible to him, until much later in life. Or maybe it does (hey, how do you weave character narratives when it’s been written by like 3 different ppl shrugs). And that statement means 2 different things to them. To Drift, it’s a reminder that he’s worth something, even if it’s a sliver of nearly nothing to hold onto. To Ratchet, it’s a reminder that the greatness he saw led to the deaths of thousands of people.  HEY can you imagine this person you saved, patched up, tried to encourage, ended up being a mass serial killer in the future? (have you ever read Monster by Naoki Urusawa). Ended up killing people you loved?  So it’s no wonder that a good part of Ratchet is absolutely mad at Drift. And I think if that was all, they probably would’ve ended up being amicable. But Drift also ended up being super religious and seeing the hand and primus in everything and oh my god is this person really waxing poetry on the value of life when he, himself, shot several bullets at me at one point?  I also believe they are uncomfortably similar as they are different. The reason why they constantly butt heads is they’re two people trying to escape a past they don’t want and found complete opposite ways to cope with their losses. Drift found religion, Ratchet is gratingly pragmatic, and they see each other and go “how could this guy choose to be this way?”. I’ve heard ppl like to cite the annual as the reason why they could never work out. BUT, can I point out, that they act around each other in a way they don’t with anyone else? Drift gets SO MAD. Ratchet gets extremely talkative and incredibly personal (pulled out an electro slug from someone’s spark, holy shit that fucking traumatized you didn’t it??). They challenge each other emotionally, and it’s so fucking difficult bc they’re both extremely depressed and suffer from PTSD and would probably rather just go on their dumb space adventure and look at stars--take 2 emotionally constipated idiots and you get them. And hell no, don’t tell me Drift is in-tune with his feelings bc he’s 10000% not. He uses religion to cope with a past and life that he doesn’t want to think about. He tries to re-contextualize himself because he hates who he is. OUCHHH. And Ratchet MAKES him confront the parts of himself he hates--bc Ratchet has seen his worst traits and isn’t afraid to make him think about it.  So why do they work out eventually? They realize how important they are to each other. Delphi, Drift saves Ratchet’s life while he’s barely holding onto his own because he probably feels like he owes Ratchet his own life. And that’s a huge turning point in their relationship--Ratchet sees that... Drift tries really really fucking hard. My friend Zig pointed out that post-Delphi, Drift is eating energon w/ chopsticks (what a fucking nerd), and you can see in a later panel that Ratchet (who chose to sit next to Drift) is using those chopsticks too. IT’s such a small thing, but they’re becoming closer by sharing and learning from each other. And then Drift takes the fall and leaves. And Ratchet realizes just how important Drift’s presence is in his life. I mentioned it already lol but the scene where Ratchet helps Drift up off the floor and it’s superimposed with the love message Rewind left for CD. They care about each other so much!! And Ratchet chases after him!! HOLY SHIT. If that isn’t romance, what is?? lol I kid, but it’s obvious just how important Drift’s presence meant to him. IT’s really because they became so so so close in a way that can’t be described as just friends. They deeply understand each other in really uncomfortable ways and bring out the absolute worst and absolute best in each other. And this point is where Ratchet again appears when Drift doesn’t realize he needs someone in his life. Drift thinks he can be a loner and just float aimlessly and voicelessly--hell no! He needs friends, he needs community. He NEEDs belonging, because he wants to belong somewhere. And Ratchet helps bridge him back to friends and found family.  And Ratchet slowly changes the more he’s with Drift. He reads religious text and tries to brag about it bc he’s a dumb tsundere lol but he’s trying to understand Drift’s interests more even if it takes a decade and more to get there. And Drift values him for being his rock. That’s why he’s constantly making sure Ratchet is safe and unharmed, because he owes at least that much to him. And yeah they eventually fall in love because they value each other in a way they haven’t anyone else. IM EMO I CAN GO ONE, this all probably didn’t make a whole lot of sense but yeah. I’m just so soft to the fact that they’re horribly hurt people who don’t know how to redirect their pain, but by being together they come out healthier and more confident. IT’S RLY ROMANTIC IDKKK My non-romantic OTP for this character As much as I also love OpRatch, they are also great best friend platonic ship. They know each other best, they’ve been through SO MUCH together. It’s honestly a shame they barely interact in IDW bc the small tidbits we have, they obviously deeply respect each other’s opinions and deeply value the relationship they’ve had over the past millions of years.  I’m also all for non-romanceOTP for dratchet because I can totally imagine they go to each other to talk about things they feel uncomfortable sharing with others (they’ve seen the absolute worst of each other afterall).  My unpopular opinion about this character I don’t... think I ahve one. Some ppl view my love for his as grating lol.  One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon. Medic spin off.

[advancedpottery217x2]

Tears to Tiara: A Return to One’s Roots

It’s been a year since I finished Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi and I feel that the game (and series) has influenced me quite a bit. In this post I will try to explain why and describe my thoughts on fiction in general.

Update (May 10, 2019): Added some things near the end because it was something I swear I was going to put in but I somehow forgot.

I will say this first: A large part of why I like Tears to Tiara so much is because the compatibility level between me and Marui Takeshi is very high. Only by realizing this after finishing TtT1 and rereading some of his work have I come to accept how much his writing has shaped my interests.

I feel that the Tears to Tiara series in which he is the planner and main writer of embodies many of the ideals written about in past works while opening it up to wider audiences (who will be the hero who reads Routes???).

No matter what anyone says, I believe that the most important theme present in this series is “kindness“.

This is what struck me the most after finishing TtT1. Tears to Tiara is a story built on the willingness to be open and kind towards yourself and others, to have the strength to take action and the responsibility to support the people you care about no matter the situation, to be human and humanistic.

While these may seem like empty words at first glance, I never felt that way about the scenario even once. A large part of that is due to the harmony between the voice acting and the text.

I feel that Marui’s text is very good at bringing out the emotions and inner workings of the characters, and sometimes I’ve felt like emotions were pouring out from the onscreen text itself (don’t ask me how this works I don’t really understand how I get this feeling either). While it does sometimes feel a bit long or indirect, it is not unnecessary text by any means and the specific wording used serves to envelop your mind into the workings of the characters and the world they live in. There is a certain steady, rhythmic pace to the dialogue that makes advancing the text feel very satisfying which kept me wanting to continue the game. The voice acting has just the tempo and amount of emotional weight to match, making it almost sound like a story is being read to you.

The wording of the dialogue combined with the voice acting makes lines that would not be considered quotable (aka 名言 level) in most cases still memorable and riveting nonetheless, which is a big part of why I am so fascinated with Marui as a writer. Here is a scene from the beginning of the game to try to show what I mean:

The story-like nature is heightened by the fact that the game has almost no narration (地の文), with what little there is usually being voiced (in fact, I don’t recall there being any unvoiced narration in TtT2). This leaves the weight of the narrative into the hands of the dialogue, and the performances of each voice actor must be dramatic enough to match. It feels quite dramatic in the theater sense, which is also helped by the fact that the protagonist’s sprite is shown nearly every time they speak. This heightens the sense of being a third person looking into a world as opposed to feeling like being in that world, although I was never really one to self-insert into the protagonist in the first place. Tears to Tiara is the first game I played where I can say that the “protagonist” is my favorite character without hesitation.

These emotions make it feel like the characters are speaking from the depths of their hearts, without any deception or obfuscation. It makes me believe that they will see everything through to the end, that none of it is for show. It is a bit hard to describe in words, but there is no mistaking the fact that I feel sincerity radiating from the characters. This sincerity is one of the main reasons why I like pretty much every character, which doesn’t happen to me that much (I also feel this way about Routes).

The text is also good at conveying just the right amount of information at the right time. There were some lines that I could tell were foreshadowing the first time around, but I was surprised to see just how many there were when looking at some scenes for a second (or third, or fourth...) time.

I feel that this 構成力 is best exhibited in Kusakabe Yuuki’s route in ToHeart2. It took me one and a half hour to clear from start to finish when I replayed it recently, but each event presents information about Yuuki, her relationship with Takaaki, and/or the plot of the route that reveals itself at the end. Discovering how much was shown right from the very first meeting with her was interesting, and going through each scene thinking “So this is what that was referring to...“ was very fun. I had a similar experience with Kajiwara Yuuna’s route in Routes (coincidentally or not, both of these characters are voiced by Satou Rina).

All of these factors also pair well with the other aural element, the music. As briefly touched upon in my previous post, the use of the soundtrack in TtT1 made me conscious of this aspect in other games, although I think the only other works that have approached this level from what I’ve played are the Dai Gyakuten Saiban series from Capcom. It has long been my conviction that Aquaplus’s strongest suit is music and sound (the music in Routes is what actually got me into Aquaplus as a whole) and there is little that would convince me that Tears to Tiara is not the pinnacle of those abilities. The interplay between the BGM, vocal songs, and the scenario is a sight (or sound) to behold, and this only improves in TtT2. My hours with the series have formed deep emotional attachments to the music within me and to this day can get me to cry the most consistently.

The amount of emotion found in the music is truly a strange thing, as I found out for myself a few months after finishing TtT1. It was when I decided to listen to the PC/Gaiden OP song Tears to Tiara. I felt a wave of nostalgia which I thought to be very strange. After all I had just completed the game and it was too early to become an old favorite or anything. Nonetheless, I felt like I had returned home and was filled with a sense of peace and comfort (or maybe this is my Nakayama Arisa bias from Routes). This made me listen to the soundtrack through the lens of “nostalgia” which ended up bringing out more emotion than I thought possible.

Revisiting scenes only serves to remind me how all of these elements work together to get the story’s messages and themes across as a coherent experience. I enjoyed myself immensely, with engaging and important scenes happening throughout the story from the very beginning to the end, although of course most of them are at the end. It blends both 燃え and 萌え (of the male characters for both properties tbh) making it easy for me to recommend to other people actually.

The amount of research done into the names and historical background of the setting is also something I really like, making it feel more inclined towards history than fantasy (historical fantasy?) at times. Marui is a self-proclaimed 設定オタク (seen in the 05.03.30 entry here) and it shows, mainly by my many trips to Wikipedia to see why something is a certain name and what historical events mirror those in the game. He’s even written about one of the trips he’s taken to Europe/Africa and how it influenced some of the locations in TtT2. This kind of attention to detail makes my own research all the more worthwhile (TtT made me realize that I did the same thing in Routes for the Heian/Kamakura periods in Japan...).

In the past year, I’ve been thinking about why and how this series means so much to me and I think I’ve finally found the words to explain these feelings.

To put it simply, I found what I have been looking for in fiction in Tears to Tiara. My foray into visual novels started with a friend recommending me Umineko, but the first one that I chose to start myself was White Album 2 (Skip the next paragraph if you don’t want my backstory).

Part of the reason why I chose this is tied to how I started learning Japanese. It was the summer between middle school and high school and I figured it might be useful in the future. I taught myself kana, read some of the Tae Kim grammar guide, and installed Rikaichan on the suggestion of a friend. Soon I was able to navigate webpages and search results with a bit of confidence. At that time I was beginning to run out of English fan art/fiction of a certain fictional couple that was not very popular. This led to me going through Japanese search results and finding fanfiction in a language that I was not quite used to reading yet, but was willing to try with Rikaichan. I rapidly consumed what I could find leading to my reading skills greatly improving, but that was not the only thing that increased. I had already sensed at the time that I was not interested much in real world romance and so looked to fictional romance instead. This led to me looking for fiction focused on the romantic (Romantic) and emotional elements. While White Album 2 satisfied this desire, I continued to search (and will continue) for something more.

To me, Tears to Tiara is a work of fiction I’ve always wanted; it is unapologetically emotional, unapologetically passionate, and above all, unapologetically positive. There were times where I could only sheepishly grin at a character’s idealistic goals, but I could rest assured that their companions would help them ensure a future where they could be realized. There were times where a character’s despair would wring out the pathos within me, but I could rest assured that someone would be there to hear and validate their worries, to support them when they get the courage to face their problems, and to share the happiness when things get resolved.

Negative feelings are treated as a natural part of being human, as something that must be given equal attention to as positive feelings. To be human is to both give and receive, and to possess the insight to discern how much energy one should spend in each category.

These might seem like obvious things, but Tears to Tiara made me seriously think about these concepts and how they could apply to my life. It is a game that gives importance to feelings that are easy to pass off as “weak” or “cliché” (this is also a reason why I like Kitto, Sumiwataru Asairo Yori mo, a lot).

This made me reevaluate what kind of 感動 I want to experience in fiction. It is not that I want to cry. In reality, I did not cry much while playing the games themselves. It was after I had enough time to think about the consequences of each event and how they connected to each other that I could not hold back the urge to shed tears. It feels much better to cry for the accumulation of a character’s growth and the happiness they acquire over an event that takes those things away. This is the secret behind how the soundtrack can get me to cry consistently: the happiness I feel brings me to an emotional high that has a high probability of being accompanied by tears. When I revisit a scene, the parts I feel emotionally overwhelmed by are usually “slice of life” ones. The nature of the text (described above) combined with the knowledge of future events make the characters all the more precious.

In the end, Tears to Tiara to me a work that is about nostalgia: for the past, present, and future. It is about the joy of being alive and living in a world that possesses beauty all around if you care to look. It is a series whose music and characters I can reliably gain motivation from, and I sincerely hope that more people get their own meanings from it.

それは決して 悲しい物じゃなく 強くて優しい

―― Until (Nakayama Arisa)

3はよ