@@n30nrabbit95 impossible. Sol would never commit animal abuse. Tax evasion? Probably. Child endangerment? Definitely. But beating up an innocent gorilla? Never.
The “Forgot about in 2 seconds” in Happy Chaos’s theme could be the classic eldritch horror he faced when he obtained the vast knowledge beyond human understanding from The Backyard. His original quest to find knowledge from The Backyard to better mankind turn out to matter very little in the overall complexity of the universe. Better to forget about the answer since doesn’t matter much overall, like 1+1 compared to the entirety of math.
I think this is a very good take on it. He spent 10 years to find an answer and once he got it he couldnt take it, went crazy and immidiately forgot it
Jack-o’s theme is about her enjoying the little things in life (like popcorn) and learning to lover herself. and even though she’s practically a super computer who knows everything she’s never really experienced anything, and the line “I didn’t know I could see the sky with my eyes closed” show that’s she’s had never used her imagination before kinda similar to superboy’s story in young justice
And that she was scared of being replaced fully by Aria in the future until end of -Strive- when she was told that's never happening. The song takes place before that wanting to live a fun, fulfilled life to ignore what she sees as her impending doom.
I think the part in Faust's theme about no messiah is him basically saying. "There is no person who will save me. Nobody will offer me salvation or forgiveness but myself." He's going to keep struggling on and saving lives in the hopes that he may atone and forgive himself.
if you look at the end of his (Dr. Baldhead's) arcade mode in the first GG game, the crowd cheers "the messiah has come to save us!" or something like that, before he remembers the little girl and disappears to become Faust. I think the lyric is in reference to that.
@@strawberry641yeah so he might be referring to himself when he says that messiah will not come maybe because he feels that he isn't worthy of being called a messiah when he couldn't even save a little girl.
One thing I love about Hellfire is the lore implications behind it. If you are unaware Ky fought a battle in Rome where is entire army got anihilated till Sol and Kliff arrived to save him, this is acually the time Ky wrote "HOPE" on his belt buckle (to remind him that nothing in this world can be done without hope). The fact that Leo went through the same experience but had the complete opposite outcome gives us a lot more of an insite into why Leo is not a fun Ky.
The difference is that Ky was raised in war but found happines and hope in his mature life, while Leo was a more regular person until war ruined his life.
The thing with May and Johnny is, she's the first person he 'adopted' and he wasn't that much older than her at the time. Like 12 versus 18. So in a sense she probably sees herself more as the 'mom' of the group with Johnny as the 'dad.' It's still a bit weird, butsort of understandable. IMO she just needs to meet some other boys. Girl doesn't get out much.
Fairly certain that May's age is 22 in guilty gear strive and yet she has the body of a tween and is capable of wielding an anchor like it's a goddamn inflatable
@@Jack5628 May's an adult who dresses and acts like someone younger. In one way this is very normal and lots of people are like this IRL, on the other hand this is also Japanese freak shit. It is what it is.
@@Jack5628 mays 22-23 she said she was in her twenties is xrd the reason she is so strong is she is japanese they were given super strength due to the japanese event that made a bunch of people gain strength and some become gears. She got super strength.
My favorite detail of Rams theme is that its sung by two different singers one male one female. The female is rational and calm, and the male voice parrots it at the beginning but discovers their own voice later. Basically the female voice represents the universal will and the male voice representing Ram. She breaks out of her control and finds herself and her emotions and her joy in her own existance. Brilliant theme.
there is also a moment at 5 minutes and 3 secondes of her song where both the male and female voice sing toghter for necessary discrepancy what is a nice touch
my favorite bit is "don't take them down to the ground without a face to face. I just want you to hear someone's little voice; that is the voice of life" essentially Ram just screaming in her mother's face "I won't let you kill everyone, you can't even understand them. I will defend the defenseless, like my dog, from you" and it so perfectly encapsulates her rebellion after her sister was enslaved.
@@arthurhill8185 ...No?, more that she was rebelling against her mother, the universal will. And they had two singers in the studio, so why not use them, right?
@@arthurhill8185 Rather if there are two opposing sides in song it is better to have them have different voices or it would be hard to notice. Fun fact: intro is sung in esperanto- artificial language with simple rules and short words to make speaking easy. Just like Ram was made, shallow, and with simple goal: to destroy or buy some time toothers to destroy
I like the fact that even when Daisuke's lyrics are always a mess of wrongly understood English expressions, poetic nonsense with no meaning whatsoever and epic verses that bear the strangest word choices, you can always get something out of them. A message, an insight on the characters mind, story, worries and motivations. This is what makes GG's music different from any other videogame OST: The heart
@@Llunatix13 that "heart and heart" line has a few meanings in-universe too, which is good. "Heart and heart" could simply mean the bonds Ramlethal has formed throughout her limited life, those heartbound people she is connected with. However, it has a deeper meaning. She's young, she's artificial, and if I recall correctly she's never even heard about the concept of a "soul", so this is her way of saying "heart and soul"
An interesting thing to think about with "Let Me Carve Your Way" is that while yes, it is definitely Zato singing about his relationship with Millia, you could also interpret it as Eddie singing about his relationship with Zato.
I like to think that at the end what they mean by "I'm a shadow always with you" is that eddie and zato have achieved a symbiotic relationship and no matter how shitty life gets, eddys always got his back
I remember seeing a comment on one of these songs that described how perfect the name "Strive" is for the game, as each theme is about how each character is striving for something. I love the fact that most of these songs are about hope or determination to continue forward in life and then there's Leo but thats the only exception, mans has been THROUGH it
@@treedude4246 Testament is one of the first characters to get their happy ending. Testament STROVE all the way from X through Xrd timeline-wise, now in this more peaceful world, their reward is that they get to see everything they couldn't when Gears were able to be killed on sight with zero consequence. Testament in Strive is displaying the reward for having already done their striving
It's so fucking tragic that the only person that makes Zato feel anything is the person he hurt the most in his past life, besides maybe the people he killed lol
Even more tragic that after everything Millia still doesn’t want Zato to leave, until everything stops and she falls into flames. In a twisted way he is her lullaby, making what she’s done slightly easier to handle if he’s with her. She stabbed him in the back (rightfully so, mind you, killing a child is not cash money) yet he still forgave her. It’s like she was taking out her self-hatred on him, and he still opened his arms to her. After everything he indirectly tells her to love herself, however full of regret and self-loathing she is.
@@SporadicV2 something I enjoy is that yes, while millia is a “better” person than Zato was (child murder ain’t cash money), she still did a bunch of terrible things in the Assassins guild that she’ll always feel terrible about, and the only person who really understands what she feeling is Zato, who she hates. Kind of a 2 sides of the same coin
@@zacharyyoungblood7013 trully not cash money. but they been properly punished by having been just average to mediocre hackers for the entire campaign of strive, lol
The fact that Guilty Gear, a fighting game franchise, has made one of the most complex relationships I've ever seen in Millia and Zato and has a story/lore that while complex, makes sense, is astonishing. Other devs could learn something from Daisuke
One additional thing to note with Leo is that his theme not only contextualizes his hyper aggro fighting style in game, but it also goes to explain why his back turn stance is his most powerful tool: he literally becomes more dangerous while facing away from his problems
There's something i'm noticing people are forgetting about leo's bakcturn stance in relation to the themes in his song. He can't block while using it. Leo forgoes all safety when he fights, which im sure a lot of leo players can attest have gotten them killed as much as it helps them win. He's the embodiment of pyrrhic victory even in gameplay.
A couple of things! - Goldlewis theme has some more depth to it, namely the idea of turning your brain off as a defense to dealing with the morality of your actions. This goes in reverse when he mocks people who "Have to think about it" unlike "Those who believe". He's not buying his own premise, but it is what is being suggested by him as a coping mechanism. -Jack-O isn't Sols wife, Aria is. A lot of her song (and it is HER song, much of Juno is mixed into it from Xrd) is about coming to terms with the fact that even though she's supposed to be overriden by Aria inside of her, she wants to be happy and also loves Sol. Much of it is wondering about the value and length of her life if it's just a placeholder for Aria.
I love the duality of Goldlewis' theme as opposed to Giovanna. Goldlewis knows there's questionable shit happening. He sees it happening every day. Hell, him pulling out that minigun? Nonmagical weaponry in guilty gear is banned under the geneva convention, making that one move that he does repeatedly effectively equivalent to a **WAR CRIME**. But the thing is, that song is his inner monologue. "It's not a big deal. We can handle it. I don't have to think about it." He's telling himself, over and over, that the things he does are necessary to prevent further bloodshed. Contrast that with Giovanna, who may or may not be a secret forbidden beast experiment. Whereas Golddick struggles with the things he sees and has to keep a running mantra going on in his head, Giovanna doesn't care, doesn't mind, and would much rather just do her job, finish her orders, and move on with her life. It's the contrast between a commander who has trouble accepting the difficult choices and the soldier who loves her job because she's good at it.
Jack-O and Sol at the very least seem to be lovers at the end of strive's story, even if they aren't officially married yet. He treats her as her own person distinct from Aria but the two still seem to have feelings for each other all the same
@@KrissyBlues I mean, from Sol's perspective, Jack-O is just his wife again but slightly different so unless he was being really melodramatic (Which Sol isn't), I don't see why he wouldn't give Jack-O a chance. I can understand the whole "Oh but he sees Aria" but he's had time to move on so it's not unlikely they'd be together.
@@shadow0fx while I def think they're together, sol specifically stated in strives story mode he sees Jacko as her own person ("have I ever called you aria?")
Honestly, I believe there is a lot of sadness hidden within Giovanna's theme that hasn't been explored yet. The background for her character, as far as we know, is that she tries to be considerate of the people around her, but always ends up saying the wrong thing. She always comes across as this uncaring, abrasive person, but she isn't that. Instead, she's adopted that persona, where she's just a "trigger, with a brutish impulse". It's especially sad when you hear the line, "Don't be curious about me, I don't want you to get hurt." She's probably been told her whole life that she's somebody who is hurtful to others, even if she never intends to. Instead of trying to find people who understand her, she just tells people to stay away, because it's easier. Apparently, she's also incredibly kind to animals and children, probably because they aren't as judgmental as other people. As for the line, "Never mind, I'm dirty", I don't believe that's horny posting. I believe that is the line that actually captures her acceptance of the dirty image she has. She spent several verses letting out some thinly veiled call for help, and then follows it up with a dismissal and acceptance as a dirty human. That line never hit me as sexual in nature, but rather her putting on the mask that everyone told her to wear in the first place. It's a beautifully sad moment of self-reflection and withdrawal from other people.
Let's also not forget that Rei might or might be an experimental Forbidden Beast tied to Gio. "Nevermind, I'm dirty" is her acceptance that she's a tainted individual, but I also believe she's choosing to accept that part of herself because Rei's along for the ride with her and she doesn't want Rei feeling any lesser for it. Plus the whole "Splash Splash Splash" immediately after absolutely makes no sense unless it's Gio attempting to clean up her act at least a *little* so Rei doesn't have to feel as bad.
As a soldier myself, I love that some parts of Hellfire sound like a marching cadence. For those that don't know, soldiers "sing" as we march in what's called a cadence, with a call-and-response formula where the formation leader sings the line, and the formation shouts it back as one voice. Some cadences are different, where the formation leader sings one thing and the formation sings something different. Like the gang vocals shouting "Hellfire, hellfire!" and the leader responding "Bring it on, bastards!" and even in the verses with moments like "I faked out, call me out" "Who can say that?" It's also a nice little nod to the entire meaning of the song, since cadences are, to be blunt, us soldiers singing as we march to our potential deaths.
Also: I think there is a bit if a misinterpretation of Goldlewis' theme. Goldlewis' task in the US military is to protect against paranormal threats. If it's something nasty they call on him to sort it out. And he enjoys it. He knows it's the dirty work as sometimes it might border on some black-ops style operation, but he loves the challenge. And he doesn't hesitate when they tell him to pull the trigger because he knows he's dealing with someone who is a potential threat to a whole lot of innocent people. He's hell's janitor, and he's well paid and happy with the job. And he's the goddamn best at what he does. And it ain't pretty.
I actually think he got it pretty spot on. GoldLewis's specials are "Down With the System" and "Burn It Down" In Bridget's ending, he talks about his family leaving him for not being truthful (having to keep secrets) He's someone who "follows" orders, knows it's for the greater good, but hates himself (that's how I interpret the "cat got your tongue" line)
the part missing from the happy chaos section is how in the last section of the song, it’s talking about how he causes struggle to better the world “when the violent storm is over, the blue sky is more beautiful than ever, you see, i want that, i want that, that’s all that i want”
It also reflects how the song is structured, after going through a super weird mix of rock and some jazz at the start ending with what's basically a Disney theme
Happy Chaos also finds value in the idiosyncrasies of humanity, so he doesn’t wish to destroy it although he definitely could. “Can you hear it, the pulses of the living? Ironic, rhythm, is a grand orchestra! It’s never the same tone, who wants to stop this?” Humanity is a vital component to his ideologies, so although he is incredibly pessimistic on the outside, it’s all an act to hide his bleeding optimism for humanity’s beauty. Thinking of him as this game’s villain is so interesting to me, given how contradictory to a villain his way of thinking truly is. The dude just wants to shake things up, making things interesting the best he can.
@@SporadicV2 He also has taken on one half of i-no's godhood -- specially, her "desire." As such, he wants things to happen for the sake of happening, because he is infused with the inherent human desire for constant change
@@SporadicV2 this idea is built upon in the arcade mode when he talks to I-no at the end, specifically the line "Maybe this time I'll play the hero" (or something along those lines) really tells where he's actually coming from. He isn't even a villain, he's definitely an antagonist but he's doing what he believes will better the world through hardship. But if he didn't have to play the role of the villain? He'd gladly look forward to playing the hero instead. This is why I love Happy Chaos, 10/10 character very well done yet again Daisuke
Being that "Crawl" is now being used for Boss Ky's theme in S2 character's final bosses, I think it's safe to say that it is no longer Nago's theme, but instead is what I thought it was from the start: the "Player's" theme. If you think about it, the lyrics say a lot about hopelessness and just wanting to finally find the satisfaction of peace, and how you will keep crawling until you finally get said peace... that is EXACTLY how it feels as someone who spent over 43 tries trying to beat Stage 9 Nago before finally beating him. It feels hopeless and futile to try, but you also know that it is still possible to make it to the end, the light at the end of the tunnel is right there... you just have to crawl a little further before you have finally found peace... the freedom of a calm. That's my take on it.
I definately think Rock Parade is about the relationship between Anji and Baiken but goes a bit deeper than a simple crush: The first portion of the song is definately about them as kids - enjoying life with sweets and loud music, but after the first chorus it's talking about the aftermath of the gear attack that raided their colony and killed the residents which included Baiken's parents which is why she is the way she is now. That night in the colony changed both of them forever, while Baiken became an angry, lost soul who's entire purpose in life is to get revenge on That Man, Anji became "the trickster" - someone who helps her from behind the scenes (like in her Xrd arcade story). The song morso is about Anji's desire to try steer Baiken away from the dark and self destructive path she's going down that will inevitably get her killed while still keepign his promise to help her (keep trying to reach the other side of the unreachable goal - words I want to turn into facts) so that he can get back the girl he loved and lost as a child (a single footstep carries two hearts)
Anji becoming “The Trickster” is also significant when you realize on his official profile, it’s stated he actually hates lies and keeping secrets. But for Baiken’s sake, Anji has been forced to lie or be evasive several times across the GG games; most significant is in Baiken’s Xrd story mode, where he flat-out lies to Baiken regarding the info he had on That Man (which he even states he’s surprised at himself for being able to lie to her). So Anji changed and compromised his own beliefs to better help Baiken; tho he never regrets this.
@@TheSilverazo Lol Anji tries to glomp Baiken in Another Story, strokes her shoulder, and Baiken doesn't question it, implying he's done this before and she's not discouraging him. And she's full-on being tsundere with him now. Rest of the fandom already drawing them as found family of three, some of the highest upvoted fanart of them in fact since Another Story dropped. So either thousands of people feeling the vibe are wrong; or maybe you're just really bad at gauging relationships yeah? Even if they're full on-screen fucking, you'd still try to make a reason they're platonic. It's sad.
Now that we have the new story mode, maybe Baiken's "partner" is Delilah, she wonders what would she tell her, and her answer is "Break up all vexations", "don't follow that same vengeance path as I did". I also love the Anji x Baiken ship but I think this fits the song better, her teaching a younger version of herself to not follow the same path
@@SarahTheBasicBitch I know you're upset but you need to chill. The whole song is about her and Delilah. and there has been 0 chemistry except being Japanese. Fact you're trying to ship her is pretty cringe.
Happy Chaos isn't just about seeing humanity with fresh eyes, but also his idea of being the "villain" for the sake of Humanity. He's an all-powerful wizard who just uses guns because it'd be fun that way, yet his modus operandi is entirely for the benefit of others. This comes to a head in the finale of his song, as the lyrics peel off the insanity and brings you into Chaos' mind. "Can you hear it? The pulses of the Living? The ironic rhythm is a grand orchestra. Its never the same, don't know who wants to stop this. There can be... When the violent storm is over, blue skies will be more beautiful than ever. You see, I like that. I like that. That's ALL I WANT!" He's an utter madman, yet he can't help but perceive humanity as something so great that he is willing to be its evil to bring it together. Through hardship will humanity flourish.
Your point stems from his ability to see humanity “through fresh eyes”. I understand wanting to clarify the subtext, but this isn't per se an in-depth or absolute character study. Definitely good material for people to read up in the comments, still.
Maybe i'm just reinterpreting what you said but "When the violent storm is over, blues skies will be more beautiful than ever" That is encapsulating the worst to the best of humanity facing the worst of life yet to rock it to the top and i just love happy chaos for that Thanks for your comment
That would explain why, in his mirror match dialogue, the player 1 HC calls being the antagonist and the player 2 HC decides that he might as well be the protagonist
As said perfectly by one commenter: "If Sol's theme is "youre in a bar fight and winning" then Leo's theme is "youre fighting the entire bar and pulling the comeback of the century"."
Ehh. Sol's is less big monkey punch and more an explanation of the kind of person he is. He's got his way of doing things, and he knows you have yours. Respect his and he'll respect yours. Either that or get out of his way. He won't be a problem unless you make him one.
I'm pretty sure Testaments theme is about two things, acceptance of oneself and acceptance of the world around them. With lines such us "It's not evil or sacred, it's just life" and especially "She doesn't need a name to distinguish him" makes me think that Testament is fine no matter who they are. Not evil nor good, not male nor female, not gear nor human. Testament is Testament, they are beyond any labels. The second part suggest that they are ok with just existing and being passive, "She just tells them he's there without whispering", while at the same time loving the life for what It is, calling it "Sustenance, Respected, Radiant, Existence". Tbh, I very rarely look into lyrics of songs. I see vocals as just instruments, but Testaments theme really connects with me. It's about pure joy of being alive, of seeing the sun each day, living with nothing special, of just... being there... Like a weed, naturally, as a matter of course.
I'd like to add that, what I also got from their theme is how "he" is the darkness, the part of them influenced by Kliff and all they went through in the Crusades, and "she" is the light, mostly influenced by Dizzy and the new purpose and perspective they got from her. It's a song about their duality, coming together as one. God I love this theme.
I like to interpret the song as Testament taking their newfound love for themself and trying to help others take the same positive steps. They want to be the role model Dizzy was for them
that’s what i thought too. the title especially drove that home for me. a weed could be seen as a negative by some, but when you really stop to think about it weeds have always been there as a part of nature. by themselves, weeds simply exist and there’s nothing wrong with that :)
I actually think that Crawl isn't about Nagoriyuki's conflict with Happy Chaos but is actually about his conflict with his own inner demons and inner weakness specifically blood rage. In Nagoriyuki's arcade mode you discover that "Boss Nagoriyuki" is actually Nagoriyuki's demons physically manifested. When you encounter him during other characters arcades it's while he is still suffering that internal battle.
Potemkin's theme perfectly exemplifies his personal sacrifices. Deep down, Potemkin WISHES for freedom, to achieve "Nirvana", as mentioned in the song. A place where he can be free to achieve enlightenment, to perceive and enjoy life at his own pace. But ultimately, he can't let go of his sense of responsibility. His nation, the whole world, all is flawed and broken, society is collapsing, but he won't give up on his people. So he'll continue fighting, even if it means he has to give up on pleasure and freedom. "I'm a fool. I know nothing." "I may sound like a silly clown." "But I won't turn my back on life." "One day all will rot away." "All I do is embrace the wounded soul" This is all PERFECTLY represented by his super. The "Heavenly Potemkin Buster." Potemkin grabs you, and lifts you up towards the heavens. There, you see divine images of deities, the light of the morning sun. It's a beautiful sight, representing the experience of "transcending" your human self, walking amongst the spiritual in eternal serenity. However, Potemkin knows it's all momentary, it's simply a vision of what could have been. Soon, he brings you down from the heavens, crashing down in flames and destruction, hitting the cold, harsh ground of reality, the devastation brought about by the ignorance of human beings. Potemkin wishes he could look away from the evil and live for himself, but he chooses to live for others, and that's what makes him one of the best characters in Guilty Gear.
Love this breakdown and the connections to his iconic super, never thought about it that way. Somehow, having that in mind, it makes HPB hit even harder when u realize hes letting you see everything amazing and perfect before dragging you back down and away from it to absolutely obliterate your bones
And not only that, but he's banking on the hope of the world being better even if he doesn't get to see the fruits of his efforts, which makes things tragic and yet instills one with great will.
I've been kinda obsessed with reading "Let Me Carve Your Way" as if it was completely divorced from the context of GG lore. Even on its own, it feels like a song about getting so completely and utterly lost in the chaos of life that you don't even realize what you're drowning out, and how to move forward from it when you somehow manage to find a second to reflect on that. The entire song just has this vibe of "it almost doesn't matter what's going on in my life or how good or bad it is, the reality is that it's changing me and it makes it hard to think straight."
Also its interesting how the fighting style changes: while front he is exagerated, big and comical in his attacks while backstanced he is fast, sharp and strong, how he probably was while fighting on the wars.
I like how Jack-O's theme and Happy Chaos' theme are kind of equal and opposite to one another. Both focus on the idea of nothing mattering so everything's amazing, but one takes a poppy feel and the other goes for jazz, metal, and operatic belting.
I like how it shows both their methods of dealing with it. Jack-O is searching for enjoyment in all the little things, whilst Happy Chaos is forcing meaning into his own life, even if it means he has to be the villain of the story
i want to add that narratively, potemkin's loss to bedman weighed on him so heavily not just because he failed his mission, but because he realized just how weak he is in the grand scheme of things. his might, his abnormal strength has always been feared and respected and it's ultimately what he's used to pave his path and right injustices. his power is all he's had since the beginning, but now it's become frighteningly clear that the villains and heroes around him now severely outclass him. he's been relegated to a pawn, no longer able to use the only thing he's had his whole life to be the spearhead against injustice. with that said, i believe the post-chorus has that double meaning-- what you said, but also outlining his creeping insecurity, understanding that on the world stage he can no longer be the strong bastion of hope he's always been, and if it came down to it, he would not be able to protect his justice against the greatest evils no matter how hard he fought. even still, he, a foolish, weak, worthless pawn, will still continue to take orders and fight the good fight, because that's just the kind of person he is. he's just got to hope that those with more power than him can steer the world right in his stead. "I'm a fool, maybe I'm worthless But this world created my faith So all I can do is stay hopeful and pray"
Jack'O's theme IS largely about her just enjoying life with Sol, but it's lyrics are also framed like she's having a conversation with him and we're only hearing her side of it. When you apply them to the tune of Sol's on-the-road lifestyle going from one catastrophe to another and how he has fundamentally changed as a person since they were separated, it makes a lot more sense. Sol, as he is, is a man that has endured hell and become stronger to cope with an unforgiving world. Jack-O is more like all of the purity and life of his old life; perfectly preserved and uncorrupted unlike every other character in the cast. Like he's over here all brass tax and ready to fight the first person to look at him dirty, but here's Jack'O riding shotgun saying let's grab some snacks for the ride and just enjoy the view. EDIT: I have a slightly more... pessimistic take on Baiken's theme. She's someone stuck in the past who literally threw away all other prospects in her life to chase revenge against those who did her wrong. And the world kept moving without her. She's the time exile; a person stuck as who they were in a world that has changed and gone on without her. This is most depressingly remarked IN that final bit about Anji: "If I had a comrade, I wonder what I'd tell them. Yes, yes.. I knew the answer." This is Baiken talking to herself, and everything that follows is implied to be direct ADVICE she is passing along from herself to whoever is listening. "It's never over yesterday" is a line used earlier in the song to represent her unchanging self, and before it was followed up with "I'm the time exile" to solidify that fact. But this time, she breaks away and says "No! Don't stand still!". "The hardest road lies ahead, I will be a mirror of the world". The hardest road is Baiken facing the fact that once her revenge is achieved, she has nothing because that was ALL she ever aspired to achieve. "My vengeance will be sacrificed". So when she says "I will be a mirror of the world", and you stop to think about the empty desolate wasteland the plot of Guilty Gear has turned large portions of it into or the complete annihilation of her family and people, what Baiken is actually saying is that she will be a mirror of THAT: Nothingness. Don't believe me? Why do you think Buddhist mantras were chosen? There is one hopeful bit about the song though: Baiken, while actively disagreeing with the nature of letting go that these mantras suggest, is actively aware of her problems and shows not only an interest in not seeing others walk that same path, but is headstrong enough to push past her worries into whatever the future may hold. Regardless of how she feels in the moment, she's strong enough to proceed, time exile or not.
Anji's theme also in part speaks on both his and baiken's backstory of happy chaos slaughtering their home village, the first verse of anji's theme is about a lively place filled with happiness, second verse, EVERYONE IS DEAD THIS PLACE IS EMPTY
My favorite part of Ram's theme since I'm a music nerd is the use of time signatures. It alternates between 3/4 and 2/4 to represent how she's kind of stumbling between her original purpose of being a valentine and actually finding the beauty in humanity and all the discrepancies they carry. By the end of the song after lot's of crazy time signature changes it eventually evens out to a straight 2/4 where Ram fully embraces her humanity and says that the "foolish world" of humans is just fine and joins it. It's such a beautiful song and is definitely my favorite
Its even greater than that. The female voice is Ariels, imposing her will onto the newly created Valentine, and the male voice echos the female voice until the Valentine gains a will of its own.
Dude thanks for actually figuring out the time signature, I'm a music nerd too but for the life of me I could not discern anything about the flip flopping time signature
I like how not only does Chipp’s theme gives you a glimpse of his character, his backstory, and what he stands for, but it’s a good motivational song to keep going and take things on the chin, tough it all out.
There’s a really cool detail in “What do you fight for”, and that’s in the structure of the second verse. It’s a repeat of the first verse, but quieter and moved to the background, overshadowed by what the fans refer to as “the economy rap”. I think this represents how Nagoriyuki has clung to his classic samurai code and dandyism in spite of the world advancing and abandoning those ideas. It also fits that the repeat of the first verse is stuck in the same pitch throughout, showing how Nagoriyuki is stuck in the past, in a world that has moved past him (also fits with him spending around 100 years in hibernation, making him literally frozen in time).
Fun fact; Nagoriyuki translates from Japanese to English as “Relic Snow”. I think that ties to the opening “The snow, falling in Spring; Moon hangs during the day;” as things that don’t belong.
Yes to tell their village that having twin boys isn't a cursed omen and reveal he's a boy to them all then Bridget will go on their way being the baddest cutest mother effer around.
From what I remember reading or seeing, the line "Messiah will not come" from Faust's theme comes from his original depiction as Dr. Baldhead in one of the classic Guilty Gears and something something winning the tournament through his storyline, he gets called "Messiah". So "Messiah will not come" means that he's suppressing his darker murderous tendencies very hard, and well... as evident it's taking a toll on him to do so. Least... that's what I remember. It's been awhile since I read the thing on it and I'm just generalizing and paraphrasing. I never played the classic guilty gears so I can't really confirm what all goes on Dr. Baldhead's storyline in one of the classic GGs.. Someone else feel free to correct me or fill in the missing details.
you are correct, the reason Faust even looks so different in Strive is BECAUSE after Xrd, he found out the truth, that he did NOT kill his patient, and that it was set up by the Assassins Guild. He then seeks out Chronus for answers about the Japanese colony, but Chronus is unaware about that situation, and the two come to the conclusion that it is the doing of the Universal Will, and so they travel together. Faust having found out the truth no longer presents himself in a false positive manner, hence the scrubs, and feels extreme guilt for the past crimes he committed because he thought he killed his patient (taking out his rage on others). This guilt physically alters him drastically, becoming taller and lankier. tl;dr Faust is rotting on the inside due to his guilt and past crimes, and is therefore also rotting on the outside, becoming a former husk of what he once was
One thing I always appreciate in videogames/movies/shows, is when they put effort for a theme song to fit a character, either their past, present, or because it fits their personality.
Another interesting bit of Leo's character that is shown during Hellfire is the significance of his backturn stance, the song being about survivors guilt and him leaving his soldiers to die shows how be it literally running from battle, or metaphorically 'running' from the battle by not directly being involved. Leo has always survived by turning his back on the fight. Hence why his backturn stance gives you his strongest options, as he's the most powerful when his back is turned, running away.
One problem with this: "but so are those bastards!" Implies he kept fighting to the end...hence why he knows they are all dead. In other words, he never ran from battle
@@kalieffoster4607 it still works with the backstance thing. He turns his back to run, but that's when his strongest moves come out, because he doesn't run and instead keeps fighting.
I didn't find Jack-O's theme to be confusing, it's about how she doesn't want to die. She was supposed to have someone else's soul replace her own, and then she almost sacrificed herself to stop I-No. She felt like it was her duty to die, the song is her saying f*ck that, I want to go as far as I can. Staying alive is presented as a trip/journey, so pack snacks and put on new shoes because she doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon
For the most part Giovanna’s theme emphasizes more so on how emotionally disconnected she is from her profession and in a lot of ways her sometimes cold and solitary nature may stem from a fact that she may be contradictory to her true nature. Which is reflected in how she interacts with her wolf spirit and in certain instances with Leo. The line “Just want to be a Trigger, with a Brutish impulse. Trigger the silent preacher” in such an aggressive tone speaks how she forcefully pushes people away as to how she may see herself as dangerous to others and forces herself to embrace that role. Maybe some shit went down in Igazu, who knows.
Both her and Rei have the "recycling triangle" on their foreheads, but Rei's has a heart. My theory, with the (SPLASH) line that seems out of nowhere makes me think that a job went bad in her past, given the ubiquity of the "shot and thrown in a river" motif in spy and crime movies, she nearly died, and somehow a guardian spirit (Rei) came to her aid.
I LOVE Perfection Can't Please Me. As a machine made to bring back Aria, Jack-O has a clear duty, but after travelling with Sol and experiencing things by herself she found so much joy in every little thing, that this simple happiness is all that she wants now. She realized that doing things as stated by her duty isn't what she wants anymore. "Perfection" feels much less important than those little joys.
9:34 Faust's theme represents his journey when he first was working on the girl that in the end drove him insane with her death. "Checkmate, Informed Consent" means that he got permission to start a treatment to said girl "...It increases words, relation, duration" is Faust and the girl starting to bond with each other as he works to cure her, but this does not last for long. "Build and realize, Messiah will not come" could mean that Faust realizes that the time of the girl is running out, finally saying to himself that a miracle won't ocurr unless he puts his soul into eat. "PARALLAX, PARADOX, PARADYGM WILL ATTACK" could represent his breaking point, Faust asking to himself the many reasons he could've failed. "We got only one sky: blue, red and black paranoia. What is it like to you? No one can see the colors but you" Means the thoughts of Faust about where did the girl go after her death: heaven, also meaning that he's getting paranoid about her watching him from the paradise and judging his actions, also implying that she's the only one that can truly see the beauty of the sky. "Light and darkness, invisible." Could represent his incapability to distinguish the light and dark in his actions, but i'm not sure about that one. "...Your soul disipates..." Could mean Faust telling her patient that she isn't in a very good position due to her condition, but also trying to be cheerful to not make her sad and the "...TOWER OF BABEL!" verse could mean that he would attempt to reach the heavens to find a cure for her or in it's contrapart, see her after she passed away. That's all I could get out of Alone Infection, I hope i'm not wrong, and if I am not, then I hope this little analysis could've helped understand this clusterfuck of a song!
The fact the verse concluded with "Tower of Babel" is fitting too. Unlike in the original story of the tower of babel, Faust managed to find what he was searching for, but once again the agents of a god stopped him from being able to do good with it. He was curing her condition when the assassins, hired by the cabal (who were originally the apostles) killed the girl, which is what led to Faust's mind shattering in the first place, before it became reforged in the stained-glass tapestry it is now. Because in the dlc story, Faust's spirit leaves his body (though we don't know if it's literal or a symbolic thing for the animation), and it's after he uses the full extent of his power, under the risk of shattering his own mind once more from the strain, to save another innocent girl from actions set in place by a divinity (in this case the universal will and i-no). I've always interpreted Faust's story as being one long redemption arc for a character who doesn't think they deserve redemption, and his song exemplifies it perfectly. A headcanon for the bridge before the final chorus is that he's talking to the girl who died under his care, or at least a memory, hallucination or picture of her, leading into the final chorus. It's a lot more energetic, with all the previous voices present in the song partaking. The silly and goofy Doctor Faust, the sadistic Doctor Baldhead, and the good-hearted & noble Doctor. All in agreement that now, now that they've fixed their mistake, they can finally start on their journey to redeeming themselves
Well Rock as a genre is a distopian evolution of Medieval Classical Music, especially the ones shared around bards and taverns Love is a topic as old as music itself in which to base someone's feelings And since Guilty Gear is kind of a Love letter to Rock as a genre even though it is a fighting game, eventually things come full circle
The whole Zato/ Millia and Anji/Baiken plots sold me as a fan, both of the themes in Strive and the overall story. I’d love to actually play the game at some point, even if I’m not all that great at fighting games.
@@SporadicV2 trust me, guilty gear strive is an amazing place to start. It's so fun and it's easy to pick up but hard to fully master. But learning to master this game is so fun I can't explain it in words. Hope you consider picking it up, Its on sale atm on ps store if you play on ps that is.
I always loved how Daisuke also tended to draw the couples together in his earliest concept art for GG and GGX. Anji and Baiken, Ky and Dizzy, and then there were the concept art book.
@@dr.hasdan unfortunately that’s the catch, I do not own a PlayStation, nor is my PC up to snuff to actually play anything but a slideshow of a Guilty Gear game lmao. I’d have to buy a whole new console that I’m unfamiliar with to try it out. I understand the fundamentals, but actually applying them is different. Like on the off-chance I play MK online my brain can’t comprehend optimal punishes, but I’ll know one when I see one.
I think a really big point that wasn’t mentioned in Axl’s and I-no’s songs are the relationship they once had but never actually did have because it was from another timeline. The part in Requiem talking about “going to hill” and none of it being real is how she knows she was Megumi in another time, and the memories she had dont really exist to her because they’re from another reality. In contrast Axl can go back to see megumi but it would cost the current timeline so he chooses to be optimistic about everything.
Regarding Pot not turning on life: He is a pacifist, only fighting because there is no other choice. I always read that as "I will never, ever kill someone. I have suffered enough." And I guess potemkin-bustering isn't killing.
Kiryu Kazama has never killed anyone. Neither has Potemkin. Well, Kiryu mighta killed more people than Potemkin. Even since GG1, Potemkin's Instant Kill has always been making use of his muscles to just brutally stop an opponent, never outright kill. GG1 has him smash them to the ground, then turn away. GGX-XX has him pop them up, punch, then turn away. Xrd has him knock them clear through the world, but even when they pop out the other side of the planet, they're still alive. Potemkin keeps his word.
some of his moves are simply quaking the ground and flicking the opponent. He's the ONLY person with an attack move that does no damage (Chaos' little sphere that he throws is a dodge move), and his gameplan is to get close to someone and "hug it out" (Potempkin bustering lol).
I think Jacko is talking about all the things she wishes she could do, I think she has the understanding we saw ramlethal go through in xrd but without any of the little moments that make it special, no revelation eating a hamburger or special puppy in her life so far, it's just been do your job and now she's free, but her life even with sol is still not normal, it's not what Arya and Frederick had before the war, I think she wants that normal human life that she can't have anymore
Close! Jacko's song is actually kinda the opposite of what you theorized, in Xrd she was two people in one mind, and couldn't really control her personality unless she kept her mask on or ate candy. In strive she is now able to control her two personalities more easily (these two personalities are Aria without any memories of being Aria but still having Aria's feelings for Sol, and Jacko). Jacko is conflicted because she still has Aria's feelings deep down inside and her body is Aria's, but Jacko herself is an entirely different person, and Sol tells her to do what she wants and to not let others choose for her, and that she doesn't have to be with him and can create her own future. Jacko in Strive is basically her being able to be a normal human for once (though she refuses to look like one, as she doesn't want to take her halo off, which is why it is broken in Strive, she is essentially breaking from her role as humanity's savior and being her own person). Her song is about the little things that make her happy and how she WANTS to pursue a relationship with Sol, not as Aria, but as Jacko.
There is something funny about how Jack-O's song is also has elements of Queens Style RB Rock in it even though her main Genre is 2000s Pop Rock cause of Sol's own influence
Baiken's theme around the end is talking mostly about Bedmans sister in how she found a comrade with how they're both seeking out Happy Chaos to exact their revenge on him for taking everything from them
I'd like to mention something. In the Crawl chorus, I'm pretty sure that "The Sky above the clouds, a rainbow that fate has devoured" is referencing I-No. Both of these things are mentioned in her theme. "There is not up or down above the clouds and I can't breathe". "If I am to be swallowed by fate, then I must have fought well".
before this video i thought it was about happy chaos becuase of this part Sanity and insanity Blue heat, black heart Instinct and intellect and because happy chaos is 100% desire so calm could mean becoming one with I-no
I definately think it's possible but I ta lot of the songs reference the sky and clouds in some form or another - so I would guess that since Crawl isn't associated with any one character it's just generally talking about the drive for every character to achieve their goals under dire circumstances. I've always felt like the sky is a representation of the backyard and that "deeper understanding" of how the guilty gear universe works which is why characters like I-No and Happy Chaos have references to seeing past the clouds - the barrier
@@nebulimes2143 if it was just "the sky above the clouds" then yes. But something similar to "that fate has devoured" is only ever referenced in I-No's theme afaik.
@@gearedge I was kinda in the same boat of thinking it was happy chaos because he likes to play different roles judging by his mirror into and some lines from the story. so to me it made sense that he would talk about opposites in his song. idk I might be buggin
Oh no, there’s no other possible interpretation. Rock Parade 100% about him and Baiken. His story mode for 20 years has been literally nothing but him doing stuff for Baiken, finding Baiken, and then following Baiken around. GGX - Meets Baiken, flatters Baiken into somehow not killing him. Baiken then agreeing to letting him tag along with her first time she’s socialising with any other character. GGXX/XX Accent Core/Plus - I keep getting confused abt which story path goes with which game, but basically: - Anji works for That Man, but that causes him to cross paths with Baiken, and she gets angry. He decided to immediately STOP working for That Man, cos he never wants to fight Baiken over this again and promises to protect her. She compromises not killing him for info, and then they go off travelling together again. (Note this is likely the canon ending cos this fits with Baiken’s Xrd ending where Anji is her info broker). - Story path where Anji never crossed paths with Baiken and ends up working for That Man and Raven; BUT it ends on Anji using Zessen to spy on Baiken (she’s on his fan screen which is now acting like a computer) and he’s just sitting cross legged staring VERY INTENSELY at her. He apparently can spy on her anywhere, whenever he wants, which is…creepy ngl. Would explain how he tracked her down so easily in Xrd to send his phone guy. - Pretty sure this is in the first GGXX story mode (before the Plus and other editions), the one with Anji fighting Robo-Ky. It ends with him noticing Robo-Ky saying he and the other robo units are trying to hunt down Japanese people outside the colonies, which causes Anji to immediately go: “Omg, Baiken needs me!” And he dips out of the fight and the ending screen shows he did find a confused/annoyed Baiken, because he’s posing like he’s gonna protect her from something. - The most near tragic one; Baiken is nearly going off the deepend and on the warpath. Anji basically used himself to block her path, and even says “You can hit me, I don’t mind.” And it’s because he’s afraid she’ll get hurt trying to fight That Man, who is above their power levels. After managing to calm her down, they end up travelling together again in the end. I mean, Baiken may not need Anji as much, but Anji’s life definitely revolves around Baiken. And note, there’s the ending where Baiken becomes a serial killer after killing I-No, and it’s the story path if she does not meet Anji. Anji helps to calm her down and take her mind off revenge, and finally in Strive, all the efforts paid off! She’s happier! He did it!
@@kyero8724 To be fair, Anji is the one giving Baiken "the mirror" a.k.a Delilah, with full awareness of who she is and betting on Baiken's conscience after all this journey for the event in Another Story and her development to happen.
Two things I want to mention about potemkin, 1 in the first chorus potemkin says that he "sounds like a silly clown" while in later chorus he says that he "takes the role of the silly clow" fully embracing the fact that he's going to be the optimistic clown that will still be hopeful even in the darkest moment. And 2 the final line in the song is "I'm a fool, maby I'm worthless. But this world created my faith, so all I do is stay hopeful, and prey" where he briefly questions his self worth before realizing that the small hope in the world kept him going, and to fight for that small hope is just what he must do.
Favorite part about Zato's theme is on the last line "I'm a shadow always with you" the singer of Millia's theme sings it in chorus. Further solidifying that even after everything Zato did, she still cares for him. Also, a lot of Faust's song is a retelling of the surgery sabotaged by Zato, on contract for the Conclave (basically the Illuminati). The rest of the song, seems to be Faust dealing with his conflicting personalities as The Good Doctor Faust and the serial killer Dr. Baldhead. Also also, Ram's theme opens in Esperanto. An artificial language that's a composite of European languages. Much like Ramlethal an artificial, composite being. Here's some more quick tidbits since I have zero self control. Millia's chorus is inspired by the song "So Carry On" by Angra. Angra is the namesake of the forbidden beast Angra, which empowers her hair. The bridge in I-No's theme shares a baseline with Axl's, referencing their relationship. The chanting in Baiken' theme is a chant uttered for purification. Leo's theme has bongo drums.
An interesting part of Necessary Discrepancy is that the language they're singing in is Esperanto. An artificial language. Esperanto also literally means hope.
Jack-O's theme is about her discovering being human, kind of like Ram. But while Ram's purpose was to destroy the world, Jack-O's was to be a vessel for Aria, Sol's wife. Her song is about her experiences with Sol and her childlike joy at experiencing the world. A world, mind you, she was expecting to be a temporary guest in, giving up her life either to bring back Aria in full or stop I-No.
Well, i think jacko's theme is about her trying to make herself an actual person. Not aria, not the simple doll that hosts a part of aria. Now jacko is a person of her own, she's finding things she likes, and wants to live like that every day
y'know, you mention that Axl's theme is pretty chill and laid back for someone torn from his partner, and honestly I feel like part of that is because of what Axl went through in Xrd, because he finally knows (or thinks) that he *can't* get her her back, he used his one opportunity to save this world rather than return to his own, which is sort of reflected in the fact that this is really the *only* game in the guilty gear series where Axl's main plot doesn't revolve around trying to get home, Its about him trying to get to I-no, so with no more concern about returning to his fiancée and finally having control over his powers, he becomes more laid back also, I feel like the mantra of light in Baiken's theme is there for more than just a way to tie back to her japanese heritage (though I'm sure that's part of it), I think its also there as a way to try and purify something... purify herself, exorcise her of her demons, and finally move on from the hate-fueled campaign of vengeance that she's been pursuing for the entire franchise (also I know this obviously came out before the second story so there was no way for you to know this, but of course we now know that the companion she was talking about wasn't *just* Anji, it was also Delilah)
JackO and Aria arent the same person, the theme is partly about JackO accepting she can live a life as her own self because Aria never actually came back or something like that
It seems to me that Jack-O and Aria are two different personalities within the Valentine body. This is illustrated through her Japanese VA's two different voices she uses for her. Neither personality is more or less real or important as they're both people
I also think that Ram's multiple time signature changes during the song (going from a 3/4 in the verse to a 2/4 in the "shouting feelings" part to a 4/4 in the main chorus, with a more heavy message) is also a way of representing the multiple changes that Ram had to experience in Xrd: From being "world's villain" to a normal girl trying to understand life to a world's hero that has to confront her "mother" after her sister's kidnapping, all while also trying to decide whether or not Sol and Ky's intentions are really to help her in comparison to the Universal Will's mission of destroying humanity that resides in her hands She can choose, but she's not so sure (Right and wrong are not for sure). But what she knows is that she has to do something because she has the power to do something, and she will do it with the conviction that, even if one of the sides of the story is going to be hurt, she will still pursue to save the hearts of the world I really like the character writing in this game man, I've never seen any other franchise put so much effort into mixing music, story and characters. Truly amazing
Happy Chaos' theme is what it took for me to understand him as a character, and I really enjoy it. Like the story and his character dialogues suggest, he's supposedly beyond morality, with his only concern being the pursuit of conflict for its own sake. He views the meaning of life as purely the moment to moment experiences created by actions, and he doesn't value anything in particular because he's opposed to the idea of resolution itself. Divorced from mortality, he views life as "a show" which he seeks to define by its intensity, and I feel he chooses the name "Happy Chaos" for himself as a summation of his worldview, that he sincerely believes in conflict, struggle, and the act of seeking as an ideal state for life. He "don't want any conclusions" because his goal is to create a constant stream of new experiences and stimuli, dismissing the consequences of his actions and rejecting the existence of any kind of essential nature for himself beyond his ability to make notable things happen. As the breakdown suggests, he doesn't even intend harm or malice by his actions, only wanting to force interesting responses to the situations he engineers and participates in. All he truly wants is to keep doing all of this, forever, along whatever paths the events will follow. This is why it makes sense for Ino to ally with him, as even a violent and unstable future directed by Chaos and his whims is still more promising to her than the lifeless void she has foreseen and is attempting to prevent.
He stole the name happy chaos after overhearing that man saying that it was the name of a prototype Jacko unit for ino. Your reading is still defensible because he could've stolen any name and there must be some reason he picked that one specifically, but just a bit of context
I took a Philosophy class this semester, and while my understanding of Sartre is definitely rudimentary to put it lightly, this whole fucking game and Happy Chaos specifically gives me major Sartre vibes and you put it very well. Sartre's whole thing is that we are nothing trying to be something. We aren't defined by our past because the past is already done, despite anything that happened in the past we still have the freedom to decide a different course, and we aren't defined by our future because the future is yet to be, the future is decided by our actions in the now, but we never live in the future, nor in the past, always in the now. For example, let's say I'm a Guilty Gear fan who wants to be a pro competitive GG player. Well, am I a GG fan? How do you even decide that? By my past? But I can decide not to be a fan anymore right now. We often call each other by titles based on our past, but I'm only a GG fan as long as I love GG, which I decide in the now. And would you call me a pro player when I haven't even started training yet? No, because it's my actions in the now that decide whether I'll be a pro player. But in both instances the "something" that I am is temporary, I can decide to no longer be what the past me was and even if I decide to be what my future me might be I can still decide to abandon that too. I can only be something by my actions in the present, fleeting moment, therefore my "somethingness" is fleeting too, making me nothing. Of course the past and our predictions and plans for the future can influence our choices even if we're nothing, but we, the nothing always in the now, can still decide the future that is never concluded, and it's never concluded because it's always beyond the now. Sartre isn't concerned with telling you a moral right or wrong, what he wants to do point out the most important question: "Here I am, what do I do?". Sound familiar? Something important to note is that Sartre believes that what you value in life can be whatever you choose, but that, to be consistent with yourself, the nothing that is inherently free, is to embrace your freedom and it's conflict, as opposed to a freedom that chooses not to be free, a contradictory position in which one avoids their freedom by claiming it's beyond their control or not their responsibility. At this point it's just redundant to point out how this fits. And to wrap it all together, I'm pretty sure that before entering the backyard, Happy Chaos was a *philosopher.* The dude's an alternate reality Sartre, complete with guns and blue body paint. I just believe that now.
There is a bit more to it. Happy is the Original. The discoverer of the backyard and magic. He gave mankind the tools to reality, infinite energy and resources at everyone's fingertips. All needs satisfied. All wants addressed...And what did mankind do with this magnificent find? nothing. Happy trapped himself in the backyard looking upon his mistakes with the universal will and the introduction of magic and he went insane. In his outside view he came to see that mankind needs to have SOMETHING to fight against in order to progress. His creation of prosperity to humanity has lead to their stagnation and according to Ino eventual downfall. So happy decided to DO something. and the only thing that seems to get mankind off its collective ass is an antagonist. So he presents himself as a demon, a monster, and a crook. a man wielding a black tech warcrime and a smile that is bombastic and loud and cannot be ignored. Mankind has to react to him. Fight, of Flight he acheaves his goal. Mankind changes, its spured into action and does SOMETHING with the vast power he bestowed upon them.
I also think it's important to note that I-No's theme is heavily loaded with themes of depression and like how she's a total outsider to this world (as her not being able to return to the timeline she originated essentially making this world feel fake to her) and I think that's pretty cool
I love Zato's theme in particular because it's implied through the lyrics "drowned in pain I lost my mind... drowned in gain* I lost my mind there's no good or bad in there" that Zato doesn't just feel nothing because he was brought back from the dead. Instead, he felt the highest highs and lowest lows humanity could possibly achieve so much that his ability to feel things was just *completely burnt out.* Chilling to think about.
Something I noticed with Zato's theme is that the actual vocals reflect how his life has gone through three distinct phases throughout the series. First, you can hear the "true him" in the background, muffled under the heavy instrumentals and sounding as if it's distant. This is him before he died, manipulated and corrupted by Eddie into being a monster himself. Eventually this voice disappears and the angrier, more demonic voice (Eddie) takes over, eventually giving way to pure instrumentals. This is when he died, and Eddie started puppeting his corpse around. Eventually he's resurrected and the "true him" comes back louder and clearer than ever, showing how he's finally in control of himself, and finally has something to live for.
Bro that "JOKES ON YOU, YOUR HELPING ME WITH THE ALGORITHM" followed by a mad maniac laugh in the outro with Adachi theme in the background is gold. I guess Adachi's theme had another meaning all this time.
Jack-O's theme, to me at least, has a lot of meaning when contextualised with how Strive ended. Through Strive's story you see her struggling to deal with her reality. She loves Sol, but is made to bring back his dead wife. That's her purpose, and yet she develops a love for Sol on her own, separate from Aria. Eventually, Aria refuses to come back and Jack-O has an issue on her hands. She no longer has a purpose as Aria is refusing to come back. And she still believes Sol only loves Aria. She decides to try and use her life to stop Ino. She tries, Sol stops her by telling her that he loves her and gives her a reason to carry on. Strive ends and now Jack-O is much more free, she wants to do lots of things with Sol and has also grown an appreciation for the little things and life as a whole.
What I find interesting about Leo's theme is that although the meaning presented is about the trauma he faced in the lore, it almost never shows directly in one of the game's story. He's mostly portraited as a loud, cocky, optimistic and even comedic but even though he always talks as if he was the best guy ever, it's when he seriously talks about others. How much he cares for other's well being, how he takes the responsibility of his role as king that can affect inumerous lives and even in more personal examples like when he chose to believe and support Sol in Xrd. It's with these case that you can very safely assume how someone like him developed such psychological problems with the things he had to face during the war. It's these nuanced characters and lore and the care that was obviously put into them that made me love guilty gear in the first place and keeps me coming back even when I don't primarly play fighting games.
It has been an insane amount of time since i last found a vod which made me sub emidiatly. Video was filled with great jokes and you got a good voice to listen to. Loving it man 👍
I feel like the person Baiken is referring to in her theme is Delilah (Bedman's sister) only because she mentioned in her arcade mode how spending time with her changed her. Which would explain when Nago asked Baiken who her teacher was she replied with: "A kid about half my age."
Yeah!! She's said some pretty incredible things about her, adding on to my excitement on finally meeting the lil lady, as well as her thoughts n feeling on losing Bedman and ire towards Happy Chaos, a.k.a "That Man" 👀👀👀
Not to mention we got the slightest glimpse of her in the new story trailer with Baiken so we’re likely to get some actual stuff in that department soon.
Ngl, the sentimental surprise buttsecks Leo's theme gave me definitely makes it one of the best ones out there. And from a musical standpoint it's fucking amazing. It has all of these movements that reflect the multiple facets of Leo's past and present character. The way it starts off with a glorious power-metal anthem worthy of a king and goes into this war flashback accompanied by a heavy riff, followed by a happy go lucky schlager that embodies his naivete going off to war and later to a brutal breakdown showcasing his borderline suicidal tendencies in combat is simply sublime. A lot of the themes have different movements and blend different genres to illustrate the changes in mood, but few are as drastic and shocking as Leo's. Daisuke made it a real rollercoaster of a theme and I love it to bits.
One of my favourite character bits is with Leo. Dude has survivors guilt, he can’t FACE things so he turns his back to them. Don’t care if it’s unintentional it’s so good
I have a theory on what bedmans song is about but I want to see what others think. My personal theory is that the song plays out Romeo (Bedman)’s last moments as he is dying and trying desperately to recode the robot to protect Delilah
I literally know Jack squat about bedman before strive, but it feels like “pitch black, pure white, all the same” makes me feel like he’s describing the emptiness of the afterlife, then at the end, through sheer f***ing will, he’s broken through death to protect his sister… although that comes from the presumption that bedman is possessed by Romeo.
I love how Ky comes from "Be just or be dead" an ominous theme to "Roar of the spark" a hype-filled and optimistic melody. Can't help but sing to it. And as much as Axl looks like Axl Rose, he has grungy themes with melodies of Alice in Chains, Sound Garden and Nirvana, not to mention I'm sure "Out of the Box" is a reference to "Man in a Box" Ram continues the 'Valentine' theme of being a straight up Prog Rock (Dream Theatre, Liquid Tension, Symphony X) theme like Jack-O, Elphelt and Ram's themes in Xrd Jack-O forgoes her Valentine roots and just straight up moved on to being a 'Queen' song probably focusing her ties with Frederick this time
16:32 fun fact, those initial lines in Ram's theme are sung specifically in Esperanto, an entirely artificial "universal language" invented by a Polish eye doctor. Kind of fitting that a manufactured language would be used in the theme of an artificial lifeform, especially if that Esperanto chanting is representing the Universal Will's maddening whispers.
I really love how a lot of these songs for the returning characters have moments referencing their older theme, like how Ky's song has moments of "Holy Orders" or Ram's song referencing "Diva" which is Valentine's theme from GG2 Overture.
I also would like to add that Axl's theme could be refering to his non-stop search for Megumi, so his "frozen time" would be him taking time as if it wasn't moving without her 'cause he "can't move on" and in the second chorus it's the realization that he has thanks to the old man selling apples during the events in Strive's story mode. "No prob even if the world doesn't change" and "My frozen time... moves again!" is him learning to think of life as it is instead of searching for something he won't get, efectively moving on and resuming time. At least that's how I like to think of it
For Jack-O's theme you're pretty much right - it does just sound like a bunch of random "16 year old rom-com" style crap with no deeper meaning but that's because that's exactly what it is. Jack-O was an artificial being created by That Man who's entire purpose in life was to merge with Justice - reuiniting both halves of Aria's soul in order to bring her back and undo the mistake he made so many years ago. That being said she still has a personality and sentience of her own - the maskless version being Aria and the masked version being Jack-O. After the events of Strive's story where Aria decides not to return and Jack-O becomes her own person she gains freedom for the first time - she's no longer just an AI serving a purpose but an actual human being (let's not pretend I don't hear me, try to move on without looking back). The song reflects her simple desires to enjoy life without the burden of fufilling a goal that will see her erased from existence - she wants to eat snacks and go on long car trips and buy shoes and love Sol and discover what the human experience is all about, kind of in a similar way to Ramlethal. The title is "Perfection Can't Please Me" because she doesn't want a perfect life that's simple and dull because life isn't like that - life is messy and confusing and scary but also exciting and fresh and she wants to know what that feels like
this is oot but ur username sounds familiar and ooh, we're mutuals on twitter 😆 also totally agree with ya here. her experience as a human is an endless journey for her, she couldn't careless about perfection as it doesn't please her. living out and enjoying everything in life does
Now we have Sin/The Hourglass: “literally too dumb to be sad” Bridget/The Town Inside Me: “I’m here and I’m queer. No more depression from the closet” Bedman/The Circle: “Death and/or God can suck it, I’ve got a sister to protect”
one of my favorite interpretations of Jack-O's theme is that it's her appreciating the human side of herself and all the things that come with it, which is why she talks about such small things and how they mean so much to her
i always felt like Testament’s theme was about Dizzy and Ky based on how the two people in the song are talked about they saw how Dizzy grew as a person next to Ky as she was able to see and explore the world along his side and Testament admired that so now here they are learning more about the world as Dizzy did with Ky
I'm so glad that someone finally made a video like this. I always loved Roar of the Spark but never thought that it was anything more than a cool motivational song. The idea that his whole worldview was shaken and that he tries to use his new perspective to improve the world is an interesting take. Great video!
there are several layers to Roar of the spark that point to this, it is my favorite song on this game alongside Baiken's song Mirror of the world, but going back to Ky, you can even start seeing the fact that the kingdom where he comes from is a very religious kingdom, even his previous OSTs (Holy Orders: Be Just or Be Dead) is a reference to this, which then brings the first line on Roar of the Spark Chorus "under the Sacred briers, never stop just go" Sacred Briers could be a reference to the Thorn Crown that that Jesus Christ was set up (Ky has a lot of Christian imagery including crosses in his clothing), that could be interpreted as his own crown since he is the King, so gonig past to what he has believed his whole life as a sin (being married to a Gear and having a child that is half gear, his son is literally named SYN Kiske), there are so many layers of self reference to previous lore in this song is amazing on so many levels
With the events of the recently released Another Story, Faust’s theme makes a lot more sense. Spoilers below: At the end of the story, Faust straight up dies. However his body keeps going, seemingly animated solely by Faust’s desire to help others, meaning that Faust this theme is describing is basically a zombie.
A.B.I. Design Shop channel spent a great paragraph about the songs lyrics in the game in his strive review, and i loved it. It's so cool you made an entire video about it thanks
i love that some lyrics are like mashed together and said faster so he can say more. Idk if its bc of not entirely understanding how bs english is but it adds so much i dont even know how to
I hope in keeping with this theme of lyrics that reflect what matters to each character, when/if Sin gets added to the game, 40% of his song will be about reconciling with Ky, 40% will be about finding your own heart like with Ramlethal, and 20% of it is a burger restaurant commercial jingle. With AISHA singing the chorus of the burger jingle.
I thought Sol's theme had a deep philosophical meaning about mashing in the middle of your opponent's blockstrings
Sol's theme is a bar fight and hes winning
@@NameIsDoc more like how he dropped into a gorilla enclosure and won against them
@@n30nrabbit95 impossible. Sol would never commit animal abuse. Tax evasion? Probably. Child endangerment? Definitely. But beating up an innocent gorilla? Never.
@@hithere5553 what about potemkin?
Potemkin would sit outside the cage and draw the gorilla, then let it free for the heck of it. He’s apparently a pacifist in the lore
The “Forgot about in 2 seconds” in Happy Chaos’s theme could be the classic eldritch horror he faced when he obtained the vast knowledge beyond human understanding from The Backyard. His original quest to find knowledge from The Backyard to better mankind turn out to matter very little in the overall complexity of the universe. Better to forget about the answer since doesn’t matter much overall, like 1+1 compared to the entirety of math.
So he’s basically a slightly more coherent version of Arakune from Blazblue?
@@shirshobanerjee7751 in my opinion. He is more of Relius Clover but more chill and less of an ass.
I think this is a very good take on it. He spent 10 years to find an answer and once he got it he couldnt take it, went crazy and immidiately forgot it
You'd be surprised just how fucking useful adding 1 to something is in mathematics.
@@bullethail3875 he didnt mean the usefullnes, he meant the complexity
Jack-o’s theme is about her enjoying the little things in life (like popcorn) and learning to lover herself. and even though she’s practically a super computer who knows everything she’s never really experienced anything, and the line “I didn’t know I could see the sky with my eyes closed” show that’s she’s had never used her imagination before kinda similar to superboy’s story in young justice
She's a creepy wacky robo girl who just wanna be a bit like May an sisters and a glace just their to mess around an be joyance
And that she was scared of being replaced fully by Aria in the future until end of -Strive- when she was told that's never happening. The song takes place before that wanting to live a fun, fulfilled life to ignore what she sees as her impending doom.
sucks that it sucks tho, fitting for the character sure but I mean come on
@@blyat8832 songs are subjective, I think Faust has the worse theme in the game
@@wowitsportal5225 i personally disagree, but we are all entitled to our own opinions so I'll respect yours
Leo's "bring it on, you bastards" line is the only musical thing to give me actual chills
Same with the line "We're going home alive LIAR LIAR". Gives me chills every time.
To me it was all of Millia's theme
We ignoring the final part of Bury the light?
Leo has a unique take on the stages of grief: Depression, Anger, Denial, and finally "all of the above".
@zh5kx30
Virgil doesn't have the emotional weight of a traumatized self hating soldier
“OH GOD THIS LORE’S GOT HANDS!” took me out for a solid minute. I can already tell this is going to be a good video
same lmaoo
See, it's funny, because the track that plays during that is a mix with an Ace Combat track, which also has completely fucked lore
@@muratendmo some lore hits like a freight train or even a nuclear apocalypse
My brotha in Christ, that's not hands, lore got weapons of mass emotional destruction
I think the part in Faust's theme about no messiah is him basically saying. "There is no person who will save me. Nobody will offer me salvation or forgiveness but myself." He's going to keep struggling on and saving lives in the hopes that he may atone and forgive himself.
I thought it was a reference to the achievment "messiah will not come" but your explanation makes more sense.
if you look at the end of his (Dr. Baldhead's) arcade mode in the first GG game, the crowd cheers "the messiah has come to save us!" or something like that, before he remembers the little girl and disappears to become Faust. I think the lyric is in reference to that.
@@strawberry641yeah so he might be referring to himself when he says that messiah will not come maybe because he feels that he isn't worthy of being called a messiah when he couldn't even save a little girl.
@@potatofarmergyro1720that or he's saying Dr Baldhead will not come back
@@Sir_Bucket Or both. Both is good.
One thing I love about Hellfire is the lore implications behind it. If you are unaware Ky fought a battle in Rome where is entire army got anihilated till Sol and Kliff arrived to save him, this is acually the time Ky wrote "HOPE" on his belt buckle (to remind him that nothing in this world can be done without hope). The fact that Leo went through the same experience but had the complete opposite outcome gives us a lot more of an insite into why Leo is not a fun Ky.
Oh my lord of christ almighty that last sentence. hoo boy these emotions I'm feeling. I'm... I'm gonna need a drink.
The difference is that Ky was raised in war but found happines and hope in his mature life, while Leo was a more regular person until war ruined his life.
"not a fun ky"
I see what you did there
@@PseudOni_ I ky n't believe you've done this
fun ky?
The thing with May and Johnny is, she's the first person he 'adopted' and he wasn't that much older than her at the time. Like 12 versus 18. So in a sense she probably sees herself more as the 'mom' of the group with Johnny as the 'dad.' It's still a bit weird, butsort of understandable.
IMO she just needs to meet some other boys. Girl doesn't get out much.
Sometimes we forget that even thought Johnny is the boss of the jellyfish pirates May is their captain
Fairly certain that May's age is 22 in guilty gear strive and yet she has the body of a tween and is capable of wielding an anchor like it's a goddamn inflatable
@@Jack5628 May's an adult who dresses and acts like someone younger. In one way this is very normal and lots of people are like this IRL, on the other hand this is also Japanese freak shit. It is what it is.
@@Jack5628 mays 22-23 she said she was in her twenties is xrd the reason she is so strong is she is japanese they were given super strength due to the japanese event that made a bunch of people gain strength and some become gears. She got super strength.
But also this mean johnny is 30 lol
My favorite detail of Rams theme is that its sung by two different singers one male one female. The female is rational and calm, and the male voice parrots it at the beginning but discovers their own voice later. Basically the female voice represents the universal will and the male voice representing Ram. She breaks out of her control and finds herself and her emotions and her joy in her own existance.
Brilliant theme.
there is also a moment at 5 minutes and 3 secondes of her song where both the male and female voice sing toghter for necessary discrepancy
what is a nice touch
my favorite bit is "don't take them down to the ground without a face to face. I just want you to hear someone's little voice; that is the voice of life" essentially Ram just screaming in her mother's face "I won't let you kill everyone, you can't even understand them. I will defend the defenseless, like my dog, from you" and it so perfectly encapsulates her rebellion after her sister was enslaved.
so what you're saying is Ramlethal is a trans guy?
@@arthurhill8185 ...No?, more that she was rebelling against her mother, the universal will. And they had two singers in the studio, so why not use them, right?
@@arthurhill8185 Rather if there are two opposing sides in song it is better to have them have different voices or it would be hard to notice. Fun fact: intro is sung in esperanto- artificial language with simple rules and short words to make speaking easy. Just like Ram was made, shallow, and with simple goal: to destroy or buy some time toothers to destroy
I like the fact that even when Daisuke's lyrics are always a mess of wrongly understood English expressions, poetic nonsense with no meaning whatsoever and epic verses that bear the strangest word choices, you can always get something out of them. A message, an insight on the characters mind, story, worries and motivations. This is what makes GG's music different from any other videogame OST: The heart
well, all the things are truly made of heart and heart :D
really amazing how the songs are incredibly good and comically bad at the same time
@@Llunatix13 that "heart and heart" line has a few meanings in-universe too, which is good.
"Heart and heart" could simply mean the bonds Ramlethal has formed throughout her limited life, those heartbound people she is connected with.
However, it has a deeper meaning. She's young, she's artificial, and if I recall correctly she's never even heard about the concept of a "soul", so this is her way of saying "heart and soul"
An interesting thing to think about with "Let Me Carve Your Way" is that while yes, it is definitely Zato singing about his relationship with Millia, you could also interpret it as Eddie singing about his relationship with Zato.
Well he has being stuck with him a lot so
shadow buddy aww
I like to think that at the end what they mean by "I'm a shadow always with you" is that eddie and zato have achieved a symbiotic relationship and no matter how shitty life gets, eddys always got his back
so basically the song is just a love triangle? noted
@@nanor4214 that line "im the shadow always with you" co sung by millia's singer. That always gets me
@@Sephiroth391 I'm pretty sure it's just naoki hashimoto but pitched up an octave
I remember seeing a comment on one of these songs that described how perfect the name "Strive" is for the game, as each theme is about how each character is striving for something. I love the fact that most of these songs are about hope or determination to continue forward in life
and then there's Leo but thats the only exception, mans has been THROUGH it
well, he does strive to kill those bastards, thats something at least
Hey, he's still Striving.
He's just Striving for someone to snap his fucking kneck finally.
Leo is striving for something. It’s death.
What is testament striving for? I feel like they are pretty happy with there life rn
@@treedude4246 Testament is one of the first characters to get their happy ending. Testament STROVE all the way from X through Xrd timeline-wise, now in this more peaceful world, their reward is that they get to see everything they couldn't when Gears were able to be killed on sight with zero consequence. Testament in Strive is displaying the reward for having already done their striving
It's so fucking tragic that the only person that makes Zato feel anything is the person he hurt the most in his past life, besides maybe the people he killed lol
Even more tragic that after everything Millia still doesn’t want Zato to leave, until everything stops and she falls into flames. In a twisted way he is her lullaby, making what she’s done slightly easier to handle if he’s with her.
She stabbed him in the back (rightfully so, mind you, killing a child is not cash money) yet he still forgave her. It’s like she was taking out her self-hatred on him, and he still opened his arms to her.
After everything he indirectly tells her to love herself, however full of regret and self-loathing she is.
@@SporadicV2 something I enjoy is that yes, while millia is a “better” person than Zato was (child murder ain’t cash money), she still did a bunch of terrible things in the Assassins guild that she’ll always feel terrible about, and the only person who really understands what she feeling is Zato, who she hates. Kind of a 2 sides of the same coin
@@ralphize5153 I think we can all agree that killing a child ain't cash money
@@zacharyyoungblood7013 trully not cash money. but they been properly punished by having been just average to mediocre hackers for the entire campaign of strive, lol
Killing a child? Not cash money. Verdict is in.
The fact that Guilty Gear, a fighting game franchise, has made one of the most complex relationships I've ever seen in Millia and Zato and has a story/lore that while complex, makes sense, is astonishing. Other devs could learn something from Daisuke
Tekken:
My guy, Pathologic 2 is right there
@@Sir_Bucket but that's... an entirely different kind of game
@@aconfusedlacroix3965 op was talking about relations in game in general. Which is why I used the Patho example.
One additional thing to note with Leo is that his theme not only contextualizes his hyper aggro fighting style in game, but it also goes to explain why his back turn stance is his most powerful tool: he literally becomes more dangerous while facing away from his problems
also he wants people to kill him
DAISUKE YOU FUCKING GENIUS!!!
I mean, didn't he kinda touch on that in the video already?
@@PLATINUM_Rook people are fucking stupid so
There's something i'm noticing people are forgetting about leo's bakcturn stance in relation to the themes in his song. He can't block while using it. Leo forgoes all safety when he fights, which im sure a lot of leo players can attest have gotten them killed as much as it helps them win. He's the embodiment of pyrrhic victory even in gameplay.
Bridget: HOW TF DID THEY FIT A WHOLE ASS TOWN INSIDE HER
A couple of things!
- Goldlewis theme has some more depth to it, namely the idea of turning your brain off as a defense to dealing with the morality of your actions. This goes in reverse when he mocks people who "Have to think about it" unlike "Those who believe". He's not buying his own premise, but it is what is being suggested by him as a coping mechanism.
-Jack-O isn't Sols wife, Aria is. A lot of her song (and it is HER song, much of Juno is mixed into it from Xrd) is about coming to terms with the fact that even though she's supposed to be overriden by Aria inside of her, she wants to be happy and also loves Sol. Much of it is wondering about the value and length of her life if it's just a placeholder for Aria.
leave the chunky man alone emotional issues
I love the duality of Goldlewis' theme as opposed to Giovanna.
Goldlewis knows there's questionable shit happening. He sees it happening every day. Hell, him pulling out that minigun? Nonmagical weaponry in guilty gear is banned under the geneva convention, making that one move that he does repeatedly effectively equivalent to a **WAR CRIME**.
But the thing is, that song is his inner monologue. "It's not a big deal. We can handle it. I don't have to think about it." He's telling himself, over and over, that the things he does are necessary to prevent further bloodshed.
Contrast that with Giovanna, who may or may not be a secret forbidden beast experiment. Whereas Golddick struggles with the things he sees and has to keep a running mantra going on in his head, Giovanna doesn't care, doesn't mind, and would much rather just do her job, finish her orders, and move on with her life.
It's the contrast between a commander who has trouble accepting the difficult choices and the soldier who loves her job because she's good at it.
Jack-O and Sol at the very least seem to be lovers at the end of strive's story, even if they aren't officially married yet. He treats her as her own person distinct from Aria but the two still seem to have feelings for each other all the same
@@KrissyBlues I mean, from Sol's perspective, Jack-O is just his wife again but slightly different so unless he was being really melodramatic (Which Sol isn't), I don't see why he wouldn't give Jack-O a chance. I can understand the whole "Oh but he sees Aria" but he's had time to move on so it's not unlikely they'd be together.
@@shadow0fx while I def think they're together, sol specifically stated in strives story mode he sees Jacko as her own person ("have I ever called you aria?")
Honestly, I believe there is a lot of sadness hidden within Giovanna's theme that hasn't been explored yet. The background for her character, as far as we know, is that she tries to be considerate of the people around her, but always ends up saying the wrong thing. She always comes across as this uncaring, abrasive person, but she isn't that. Instead, she's adopted that persona, where she's just a "trigger, with a brutish impulse". It's especially sad when you hear the line, "Don't be curious about me, I don't want you to get hurt." She's probably been told her whole life that she's somebody who is hurtful to others, even if she never intends to. Instead of trying to find people who understand her, she just tells people to stay away, because it's easier. Apparently, she's also incredibly kind to animals and children, probably because they aren't as judgmental as other people.
As for the line, "Never mind, I'm dirty", I don't believe that's horny posting. I believe that is the line that actually captures her acceptance of the dirty image she has. She spent several verses letting out some thinly veiled call for help, and then follows it up with a dismissal and acceptance as a dirty human. That line never hit me as sexual in nature, but rather her putting on the mask that everyone told her to wear in the first place. It's a beautifully sad moment of self-reflection and withdrawal from other people.
I see now I like this character more
Let's also not forget that Rei might or might be an experimental Forbidden Beast tied to Gio.
"Nevermind, I'm dirty" is her acceptance that she's a tainted individual, but I also believe she's choosing to accept that part of herself because Rei's along for the ride with her and she doesn't want Rei feeling any lesser for it.
Plus the whole "Splash Splash Splash" immediately after absolutely makes no sense unless it's Gio attempting to clean up her act at least a *little* so Rei doesn't have to feel as bad.
As a soldier myself, I love that some parts of Hellfire sound like a marching cadence. For those that don't know, soldiers "sing" as we march in what's called a cadence, with a call-and-response formula where the formation leader sings the line, and the formation shouts it back as one voice. Some cadences are different, where the formation leader sings one thing and the formation sings something different.
Like the gang vocals shouting "Hellfire, hellfire!" and the leader responding "Bring it on, bastards!" and even in the verses with moments like "I faked out, call me out" "Who can say that?"
It's also a nice little nod to the entire meaning of the song, since cadences are, to be blunt, us soldiers singing as we march to our potential deaths.
Damn. I can’t really fathom the conscious uneasiness from you and what is depicted from Leo, but I assume it does stick with you. I respect you, man.
🤣🤣🤣 yeah it sucks
@@nahhhidwin Thanks man, I appreciate it
May you get out of the war machine with as few scars as possible...
@@lvcsslacker Thanks
Also: I think there is a bit if a misinterpretation of Goldlewis' theme.
Goldlewis' task in the US military is to protect against paranormal threats. If it's something nasty they call on him to sort it out. And he enjoys it. He knows it's the dirty work as sometimes it might border on some black-ops style operation, but he loves the challenge. And he doesn't hesitate when they tell him to pull the trigger because he knows he's dealing with someone who is a potential threat to a whole lot of innocent people. He's hell's janitor, and he's well paid and happy with the job. And he's the goddamn best at what he does. And it ain't pretty.
Yeah his reading was completely wrong and i think he hates goldlewis (if he plays gio as much as shown in this video that’s understandable)
I actually think he got it pretty spot on. GoldLewis's specials are "Down With the System" and "Burn It Down"
In Bridget's ending, he talks about his family leaving him for not being truthful (having to keep secrets)
He's someone who "follows" orders, knows it's for the greater good, but hates himself (that's how I interpret the "cat got your tongue" line)
the part missing from the happy chaos section is how in the last section of the song, it’s talking about how he causes struggle to better the world “when the violent storm is over, the blue sky is more beautiful than ever, you see, i want that, i want that, that’s all that i want”
He sees this wacko world and hes like dang how crazy I wanna make it prettier he's like a toddler building a sandcastle but the castle is earth oh dam
It also reflects how the song is structured, after going through a super weird mix of rock and some jazz at the start ending with what's basically a Disney theme
Happy Chaos also finds value in the idiosyncrasies of humanity, so he doesn’t wish to destroy it although he definitely could.
“Can you hear it, the pulses of the living? Ironic, rhythm, is a grand orchestra! It’s never the same tone, who wants to stop this?”
Humanity is a vital component to his ideologies, so although he is incredibly pessimistic on the outside, it’s all an act to hide his bleeding optimism for humanity’s beauty.
Thinking of him as this game’s villain is so interesting to me, given how contradictory to a villain his way of thinking truly is. The dude just wants to shake things up, making things interesting the best he can.
@@SporadicV2 He also has taken on one half of i-no's godhood -- specially, her "desire." As such, he wants things to happen for the sake of happening, because he is infused with the inherent human desire for constant change
@@SporadicV2 this idea is built upon in the arcade mode when he talks to I-no at the end, specifically the line "Maybe this time I'll play the hero" (or something along those lines) really tells where he's actually coming from. He isn't even a villain, he's definitely an antagonist but he's doing what he believes will better the world through hardship. But if he didn't have to play the role of the villain? He'd gladly look forward to playing the hero instead.
This is why I love Happy Chaos, 10/10 character very well done yet again Daisuke
Being that "Crawl" is now being used for Boss Ky's theme in S2 character's final bosses, I think it's safe to say that it is no longer Nago's theme, but instead is what I thought it was from the start: the "Player's" theme.
If you think about it, the lyrics say a lot about hopelessness and just wanting to finally find the satisfaction of peace, and how you will keep crawling until you finally get said peace... that is EXACTLY how it feels as someone who spent over 43 tries trying to beat Stage 9 Nago before finally beating him. It feels hopeless and futile to try, but you also know that it is still possible to make it to the end, the light at the end of the tunnel is right there... you just have to crawl a little further before you have finally found peace... the freedom of a calm.
That's my take on it.
That's a good take, It could be both really.
I definately think Rock Parade is about the relationship between Anji and Baiken but goes a bit deeper than a simple crush:
The first portion of the song is definately about them as kids - enjoying life with sweets and loud music, but after the first chorus it's talking about the aftermath of the gear attack that raided their colony and killed the residents which included Baiken's parents which is why she is the way she is now. That night in the colony changed both of them forever, while Baiken became an angry, lost soul who's entire purpose in life is to get revenge on That Man, Anji became "the trickster" - someone who helps her from behind the scenes (like in her Xrd arcade story).
The song morso is about Anji's desire to try steer Baiken away from the dark and self destructive path she's going down that will inevitably get her killed while still keepign his promise to help her (keep trying to reach the other side of the unreachable goal - words I want to turn into facts) so that he can get back the girl he loved and lost as a child (a single footstep carries two hearts)
Anji becoming “The Trickster” is also significant when you realize on his official profile, it’s stated he actually hates lies and keeping secrets. But for Baiken’s sake, Anji has been forced to lie or be evasive several times across the GG games; most significant is in Baiken’s Xrd story mode, where he flat-out lies to Baiken regarding the info he had on That Man (which he even states he’s surprised at himself for being able to lie to her).
So Anji changed and compromised his own beliefs to better help Baiken; tho he never regrets this.
@@Elementroar damn I actually didn’t even know that, I love little details like that that flesh out the story and relationships so much more!
the Anji and Baiken thing it's all head cannon the song could perfectly be about a fallen comrade or keeping a promise to an old friend
@@TheSilverazo Lol Anji tries to glomp Baiken in Another Story, strokes her shoulder, and Baiken doesn't question it, implying he's done this before and she's not discouraging him. And she's full-on being tsundere with him now. Rest of the fandom already drawing them as found family of three, some of the highest upvoted fanart of them in fact since Another Story dropped.
So either thousands of people feeling the vibe are wrong; or maybe you're just really bad at gauging relationships yeah? Even if they're full on-screen fucking, you'd still try to make a reason they're platonic. It's sad.
@@Elementroar touching shoulder = love relationship
...
Lmao
Now that we have the new story mode, maybe Baiken's "partner" is Delilah, she wonders what would she tell her, and her answer is "Break up all vexations", "don't follow that same vengeance path as I did". I also love the Anji x Baiken ship but I think this fits the song better, her teaching a younger version of herself to not follow the same path
Baiken has 0 Feelings for Anji that way. They are basicly Siblings. nothing more.
Ya it's definitely about Delilah
@@kyero8724Bruh you can't be serious. Siblings? If you can't see the romantic feelings they have for one another then wow
@@SarahTheBasicBitch I know you're upset but you need to chill. The whole song is about her and Delilah. and there has been 0 chemistry except being Japanese. Fact you're trying to ship her is pretty cringe.
Anji: I love you
Baiken: *fistbumps* love you too bro
Happy Chaos isn't just about seeing humanity with fresh eyes, but also his idea of being the "villain" for the sake of Humanity.
He's an all-powerful wizard who just uses guns because it'd be fun that way, yet his modus operandi is entirely for the benefit of others. This comes to a head in the finale of his song, as the lyrics peel off the insanity and brings you into Chaos' mind.
"Can you hear it? The pulses of the Living? The ironic rhythm is a grand orchestra. Its never the same, don't know who wants to stop this. There can be...
When the violent storm is over, blue skies will be more beautiful than ever. You see, I like that. I like that. That's ALL I WANT!"
He's an utter madman, yet he can't help but perceive humanity as something so great that he is willing to be its evil to bring it together. Through hardship will humanity flourish.
Its so cool, in his arcade story mode he even says something about being the story's hero if he is needed which is why he exists
Your point stems from his ability to see humanity “through fresh eyes”. I understand wanting to clarify the subtext, but this isn't per se an in-depth or absolute character study. Definitely good material for people to read up in the comments, still.
Maybe i'm just reinterpreting what you said but "When the violent storm is over, blues skies will be more beautiful than ever"
That is encapsulating the worst to the best of humanity facing the worst of life yet to rock it to the top and i just love happy chaos for that
Thanks for your comment
And the greatest part? His jacket.
That would explain why, in his mirror match dialogue, the player 1 HC calls being the antagonist and the player 2 HC decides that he might as well be the protagonist
All the other themes are deep and philosophical and then there’s sols theme which is “BIG MONKEY PUNCH!”
As said perfectly by one commenter: "If Sol's theme is "youre in a bar fight and winning" then Leo's theme is "youre fighting the entire bar and pulling the comeback of the century"."
@@on_the_inverse_5193 Leo's is more like "im going to kill myself (guitar solo)"
@@SoI_Badguy this comment sounds like some dukem nukem bullshit meme
Trigger: Fucking magikarp
Ehh. Sol's is less big monkey punch and more an explanation of the kind of person he is. He's got his way of doing things, and he knows you have yours. Respect his and he'll respect yours. Either that or get out of his way. He won't be a problem unless you make him one.
I'm pretty sure Testaments theme is about two things, acceptance of oneself and acceptance of the world around them. With lines such us "It's not evil or sacred, it's just life" and especially "She doesn't need a name to distinguish him" makes me think that Testament is fine no matter who they are. Not evil nor good, not male nor female, not gear nor human. Testament is Testament, they are beyond any labels. The second part suggest that they are ok with just existing and being passive, "She just tells them he's there without whispering", while at the same time loving the life for what It is, calling it "Sustenance, Respected, Radiant, Existence". Tbh, I very rarely look into lyrics of songs. I see vocals as just instruments, but Testaments theme really connects with me. It's about pure joy of being alive, of seeing the sun each day, living with nothing special, of just... being there... Like a weed, naturally, as a matter of course.
I'd like to add that, what I also got from their theme is how "he" is the darkness, the part of them influenced by Kliff and all they went through in the Crusades, and "she" is the light, mostly influenced by Dizzy and the new purpose and perspective they got from her.
It's a song about their duality, coming together as one.
God I love this theme.
@@azurepixels truly beautiful , ye I absolutely agree
I like to interpret the song as Testament taking their newfound love for themself and trying to help others take the same positive steps. They want to be the role model Dizzy was for them
No gender, only neutral control
that’s what i thought too. the title especially drove that home for me. a weed could be seen as a negative by some, but when you really stop to think about it weeds have always been there as a part of nature. by themselves, weeds simply exist and there’s nothing wrong with that :)
I actually think that Crawl isn't about Nagoriyuki's conflict with Happy Chaos but is actually about his conflict with his own inner demons and inner weakness specifically blood rage.
In Nagoriyuki's arcade mode you discover that "Boss Nagoriyuki" is actually Nagoriyuki's demons physically manifested. When you encounter him during other characters arcades it's while he is still suffering that internal battle.
Actually crawl isn't a nago's theme. The second season new characters has different boss fight in arcade mode and all of them have crawl as theme.
Potemkin's theme perfectly exemplifies his personal sacrifices. Deep down, Potemkin WISHES for freedom, to achieve "Nirvana", as mentioned in the song. A place where he can be free to achieve enlightenment, to perceive and enjoy life at his own pace. But ultimately, he can't let go of his sense of responsibility. His nation, the whole world, all is flawed and broken, society is collapsing, but he won't give up on his people. So he'll continue fighting, even if it means he has to give up on pleasure and freedom.
"I'm a fool. I know nothing."
"I may sound like a silly clown."
"But I won't turn my back on life."
"One day all will rot away."
"All I do is embrace the wounded soul"
This is all PERFECTLY represented by his super. The "Heavenly Potemkin Buster." Potemkin grabs you, and lifts you up towards the heavens. There, you see divine images of deities, the light of the morning sun. It's a beautiful sight, representing the experience of "transcending" your human self, walking amongst the spiritual in eternal serenity. However, Potemkin knows it's all momentary, it's simply a vision of what could have been. Soon, he brings you down from the heavens, crashing down in flames and destruction, hitting the cold, harsh ground of reality, the devastation brought about by the ignorance of human beings. Potemkin wishes he could look away from the evil and live for himself, but he chooses to live for others, and that's what makes him one of the best characters in Guilty Gear.
Love this breakdown and the connections to his iconic super, never thought about it that way. Somehow, having that in mind, it makes HPB hit even harder when u realize hes letting you see everything amazing and perfect before dragging you back down and away from it to absolutely obliterate your bones
And not only that, but he's banking on the hope of the world being better even if he doesn't get to see the fruits of his efforts, which makes things tragic and yet instills one with great will.
*takes a huff a paint and a shot of glue*
Yeah bro, that's what I've been trying to say
I've been kinda obsessed with reading "Let Me Carve Your Way" as if it was completely divorced from the context of GG lore. Even on its own, it feels like a song about getting so completely and utterly lost in the chaos of life that you don't even realize what you're drowning out, and how to move forward from it when you somehow manage to find a second to reflect on that. The entire song just has this vibe of "it almost doesn't matter what's going on in my life or how good or bad it is, the reality is that it's changing me and it makes it hard to think straight."
neat little thing about leo, his backturn stance is literally him becoming stronger by facing away from his problems
Also its interesting how the fighting style changes: while front he is exagerated, big and comical in his attacks while backstanced he is fast, sharp and strong, how he probably was while fighting on the wars.
I like how Jack-O's theme and Happy Chaos' theme are kind of equal and opposite to one another. Both focus on the idea of nothing mattering so everything's amazing, but one takes a poppy feel and the other goes for jazz, metal, and operatic belting.
I like how it shows both their methods of dealing with it. Jack-O is searching for enjoyment in all the little things, whilst Happy Chaos is forcing meaning into his own life, even if it means he has to be the villain of the story
i want to add that narratively, potemkin's loss to bedman weighed on him so heavily not just because he failed his mission, but because he realized just how weak he is in the grand scheme of things. his might, his abnormal strength has always been feared and respected and it's ultimately what he's used to pave his path and right injustices. his power is all he's had since the beginning, but now it's become frighteningly clear that the villains and heroes around him now severely outclass him. he's been relegated to a pawn, no longer able to use the only thing he's had his whole life to be the spearhead against injustice.
with that said, i believe the post-chorus has that double meaning-- what you said, but also outlining his creeping insecurity, understanding that on the world stage he can no longer be the strong bastion of hope he's always been, and if it came down to it, he would not be able to protect his justice against the greatest evils no matter how hard he fought. even still, he, a foolish, weak, worthless pawn, will still continue to take orders and fight the good fight, because that's just the kind of person he is. he's just got to hope that those with more power than him can steer the world right in his stead.
"I'm a fool, maybe I'm worthless
But this world created my faith
So all I can do is stay hopeful and pray"
P
Yeah right.
Tell that to *POTEMKIN BUSTA!!!*
like frfr tho, bedman is so busted throughout the guilty gear story THEN HE FUCKING DIES
@@strvmpet gabriel gaming
@@strvmpet and now he transitioned into a *demonic robot bed, hellbent on keeping his sister safe from harm.*
Jack'O's theme IS largely about her just enjoying life with Sol, but it's lyrics are also framed like she's having a conversation with him and we're only hearing her side of it.
When you apply them to the tune of Sol's on-the-road lifestyle going from one catastrophe to another and how he has fundamentally changed as a person since they were separated, it makes a lot more sense. Sol, as he is, is a man that has endured hell and become stronger to cope with an unforgiving world. Jack-O is more like all of the purity and life of his old life; perfectly preserved and uncorrupted unlike every other character in the cast.
Like he's over here all brass tax and ready to fight the first person to look at him dirty, but here's Jack'O riding shotgun saying let's grab some snacks for the ride and just enjoy the view.
EDIT:
I have a slightly more... pessimistic take on Baiken's theme.
She's someone stuck in the past who literally threw away all other prospects in her life to chase revenge against those who did her wrong.
And the world kept moving without her. She's the time exile; a person stuck as who they were in a world that has changed and gone on without her.
This is most depressingly remarked IN that final bit about Anji:
"If I had a comrade, I wonder what I'd tell them. Yes, yes.. I knew the answer."
This is Baiken talking to herself, and everything that follows is implied to be direct ADVICE she is passing along from herself to whoever is listening.
"It's never over yesterday" is a line used earlier in the song to represent her unchanging self, and before it was followed up with "I'm the time exile" to solidify that fact.
But this time, she breaks away and says "No! Don't stand still!". "The hardest road lies ahead, I will be a mirror of the world". The hardest road is Baiken facing the fact that once her revenge is achieved, she has nothing because that was ALL she ever aspired to achieve. "My vengeance will be sacrificed". So when she says "I will be a mirror of the world", and you stop to think about the empty desolate wasteland the plot of Guilty Gear has turned large portions of it into or the complete annihilation of her family and people, what Baiken is actually saying is that she will be a mirror of THAT: Nothingness.
Don't believe me? Why do you think Buddhist mantras were chosen?
There is one hopeful bit about the song though: Baiken, while actively disagreeing with the nature of letting go that these mantras suggest, is actively aware of her problems and shows not only an interest in not seeing others walk that same path, but is headstrong enough to push past her worries into whatever the future may hold. Regardless of how she feels in the moment, she's strong enough to proceed, time exile or not.
Anji's theme also in part speaks on both his and baiken's backstory of happy chaos slaughtering their home village, the first verse of anji's theme is about a lively place filled with happiness, second verse, EVERYONE IS DEAD THIS PLACE IS EMPTY
My favorite part of Ram's theme since I'm a music nerd is the use of time signatures. It alternates between 3/4 and 2/4 to represent how she's kind of stumbling between her original purpose of being a valentine and actually finding the beauty in humanity and all the discrepancies they carry. By the end of the song after lot's of crazy time signature changes it eventually evens out to a straight 2/4 where Ram fully embraces her humanity and says that the "foolish world" of humans is just fine and joins it. It's such a beautiful song and is definitely my favorite
Its even greater than that. The female voice is Ariels, imposing her will onto the newly created Valentine, and the male voice echos the female voice until the Valentine gains a will of its own.
Zato’s theme does that too, to represent how he is literally 2 entities, himself and Eddie
Dude thanks for actually figuring out the time signature, I'm a music nerd too but for the life of me I could not discern anything about the flip flopping time signature
Happy chaos's theme also does this, swaping time signatures 6 times and genre 4 times
@@LeFisheboi Yeah that song also slaps
I like how not only does Chipp’s theme gives you a glimpse of his character, his backstory, and what he stands for, but it’s a good motivational song to keep going and take things on the chin, tough it all out.
There’s a really cool detail in “What do you fight for”, and that’s in the structure of the second verse. It’s a repeat of the first verse, but quieter and moved to the background, overshadowed by what the fans refer to as “the economy rap”. I think this represents how Nagoriyuki has clung to his classic samurai code and dandyism in spite of the world advancing and abandoning those ideas. It also fits that the repeat of the first verse is stuck in the same pitch throughout, showing how Nagoriyuki is stuck in the past, in a world that has moved past him (also fits with him spending around 100 years in hibernation, making him literally frozen in time).
Fun fact; Nagoriyuki translates from Japanese to English as “Relic Snow”. I think that ties to the opening “The snow, falling in Spring; Moon hangs during the day;” as things that don’t belong.
and now we have Bridget's which is entirely about her journey for her purpose and her getting the courage to come out and be who she really is.
Yes to tell their village that having twin boys isn't a cursed omen and reveal he's a boy to them all then Bridget will go on their way being the baddest cutest mother effer around.
'he'
@@veroxeon1858 based.
@@user-sd6py4sr8t being a 70iq contrarian doesn't make you based
@@veroxeon1858 she.
From what I remember reading or seeing, the line "Messiah will not come" from Faust's theme comes from his original depiction as Dr. Baldhead in one of the classic Guilty Gears and something something winning the tournament through his storyline, he gets called "Messiah". So "Messiah will not come" means that he's suppressing his darker murderous tendencies very hard, and well... as evident it's taking a toll on him to do so.
Least... that's what I remember. It's been awhile since I read the thing on it and I'm just generalizing and paraphrasing. I never played the classic guilty gears so I can't really confirm what all goes on Dr. Baldhead's storyline in one of the classic GGs.. Someone else feel free to correct me or fill in the missing details.
you are correct, the reason Faust even looks so different in Strive is BECAUSE after Xrd, he found out the truth, that he did NOT kill his patient, and that it was set up by the Assassins Guild. He then seeks out Chronus for answers about the Japanese colony, but Chronus is unaware about that situation, and the two come to the conclusion that it is the doing of the Universal Will, and so they travel together. Faust having found out the truth no longer presents himself in a false positive manner, hence the scrubs, and feels extreme guilt for the past crimes he committed because he thought he killed his patient (taking out his rage on others). This guilt physically alters him drastically, becoming taller and lankier.
tl;dr
Faust is rotting on the inside due to his guilt and past crimes, and is therefore also rotting on the outside, becoming a former husk of what he once was
@@Kawn0 Man, Faust just needs a hug. dude's been through enough
@@mkhcfire9684 he really is. i hope the bonud story we got will also expand his story in the strive and clear a thing or two
If I remember correctly he was close to discovering enternal life or something amazing. Until his patient was assassinated by the guild.
@@elijahcardona1376
He created a medical procedure for the perfect resurrection of the dead, no strings attached.
One thing I always appreciate in videogames/movies/shows, is when they put effort for a theme song to fit a character, either their past, present, or because it fits their personality.
Another interesting bit of Leo's character that is shown during Hellfire is the significance of his backturn stance, the song being about survivors guilt and him leaving his soldiers to die shows how be it literally running from battle, or metaphorically 'running' from the battle by not directly being involved. Leo has always survived by turning his back on the fight. Hence why his backturn stance gives you his strongest options, as he's the most powerful when his back is turned, running away.
Or just be not facing his problems
I wonder if that's a Wizard of Oz allusion
One problem with this: "but so are those bastards!" Implies he kept fighting to the end...hence why he knows they are all dead.
In other words, he never ran from battle
@@kalieffoster4607 it still works with the backstance thing. He turns his back to run, but that's when his strongest moves come out, because he doesn't run and instead keeps fighting.
Backturn stance is more he fights like a berserker
An attack could come from anywhere so he can keep fighting in a horde of enemies
I didn't find Jack-O's theme to be confusing, it's about how she doesn't want to die. She was supposed to have someone else's soul replace her own, and then she almost sacrificed herself to stop I-No. She felt like it was her duty to die, the song is her saying f*ck that, I want to go as far as I can. Staying alive is presented as a trip/journey, so pack snacks and put on new shoes because she doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon
For the most part Giovanna’s theme emphasizes more so on how emotionally disconnected she is from her profession and in a lot of ways her sometimes cold and solitary nature may stem from a fact that she may be contradictory to her true nature. Which is reflected in how she interacts with her wolf spirit and in certain instances with Leo. The line “Just want to be a Trigger, with a Brutish impulse. Trigger the silent preacher” in such an aggressive tone speaks how she forcefully pushes people away as to how she may see herself as dangerous to others and forces herself to embrace that role. Maybe some shit went down in Igazu, who knows.
Both her and Rei have the "recycling triangle" on their foreheads, but Rei's has a heart. My theory, with the (SPLASH) line that seems out of nowhere makes me think that a job went bad in her past, given the ubiquity of the "shot and thrown in a river" motif in spy and crime movies, she nearly died, and somehow a guardian spirit (Rei) came to her aid.
I LOVE Perfection Can't Please Me. As a machine made to bring back Aria, Jack-O has a clear duty, but after travelling with Sol and experiencing things by herself she found so much joy in every little thing, that this simple happiness is all that she wants now. She realized that doing things as stated by her duty isn't what she wants anymore. "Perfection" feels much less important than those little joys.
9:34 Faust's theme represents his journey when he first was working on the girl that in the end drove him insane with her death.
"Checkmate, Informed Consent" means that he got permission to start a treatment to said girl
"...It increases words, relation, duration" is Faust and the girl starting to bond with each other as he works to cure her, but this does not last for long.
"Build and realize, Messiah will not come" could mean that Faust realizes that the time of the girl is running out, finally saying to himself that a miracle won't ocurr unless he puts his soul into eat.
"PARALLAX, PARADOX, PARADYGM WILL ATTACK" could represent his breaking point, Faust asking to himself the many reasons he could've failed.
"We got only one sky: blue, red and black paranoia. What is it like to you? No one can see the colors but you" Means the thoughts of Faust about where did the girl go after her death: heaven, also meaning that he's getting paranoid about her watching him from the paradise and judging his actions, also implying that she's the only one that can truly see the beauty of the sky.
"Light and darkness, invisible." Could represent his incapability to distinguish the light and dark in his actions, but i'm not sure about that one.
"...Your soul disipates..." Could mean Faust telling her patient that she isn't in a very good position due to her condition, but also trying to be cheerful to not make her sad and the "...TOWER OF BABEL!" verse could mean that he would attempt to reach the heavens to find a cure for her or in it's contrapart, see her after she passed away.
That's all I could get out of Alone Infection, I hope i'm not wrong, and if I am not, then I hope this little analysis could've helped understand this clusterfuck of a song!
The fact the verse concluded with "Tower of Babel" is fitting too. Unlike in the original story of the tower of babel, Faust managed to find what he was searching for, but once again the agents of a god stopped him from being able to do good with it.
He was curing her condition when the assassins, hired by the cabal (who were originally the apostles) killed the girl, which is what led to Faust's mind shattering in the first place, before it became reforged in the stained-glass tapestry it is now.
Because in the dlc story, Faust's spirit leaves his body (though we don't know if it's literal or a symbolic thing for the animation), and it's after he uses the full extent of his power, under the risk of shattering his own mind once more from the strain, to save another innocent girl from actions set in place by a divinity (in this case the universal will and i-no).
I've always interpreted Faust's story as being one long redemption arc for a character who doesn't think they deserve redemption, and his song exemplifies it perfectly.
A headcanon for the bridge before the final chorus is that he's talking to the girl who died under his care, or at least a memory, hallucination or picture of her, leading into the final chorus. It's a lot more energetic, with all the previous voices present in the song partaking. The silly and goofy Doctor Faust, the sadistic Doctor Baldhead, and the good-hearted & noble Doctor. All in agreement that now, now that they've fixed their mistake, they can finally start on their journey to redeeming themselves
What do You Fight For: I’m hungry
Crawl: I fucking hate happy chaos
Facts
One thing that stood out to me while following guilty gear lore, there's a lot of romantic undertones. And I'm all for it!
Well Rock as a genre is a distopian evolution of Medieval Classical Music, especially the ones shared around bards and taverns
Love is a topic as old as music itself in which to base someone's feelings
And since Guilty Gear is kind of a Love letter to Rock as a genre even though it is a fighting game, eventually things come full circle
The whole Zato/ Millia and Anji/Baiken plots sold me as a fan, both of the themes in Strive and the overall story.
I’d love to actually play the game at some point, even if I’m not all that great at fighting games.
@@SporadicV2 trust me, guilty gear strive is an amazing place to start. It's so fun and it's easy to pick up but hard to fully master. But learning to master this game is so fun I can't explain it in words. Hope you consider picking it up, Its on sale atm on ps store if you play on ps that is.
I always loved how Daisuke also tended to draw the couples together in his earliest concept art for GG and GGX. Anji and Baiken, Ky and Dizzy, and then there were the concept art book.
@@dr.hasdan unfortunately that’s the catch, I do not own a PlayStation, nor is my PC up to snuff to actually play anything but a slideshow of a Guilty Gear game lmao. I’d have to buy a whole new console that I’m unfamiliar with to try it out.
I understand the fundamentals, but actually applying them is different. Like on the off-chance I play MK online my brain can’t comprehend optimal punishes, but I’ll know one when I see one.
I think a really big point that wasn’t mentioned in Axl’s and I-no’s songs are the relationship they once had but never actually did have because it was from another timeline. The part in Requiem talking about “going to hill” and none of it being real is how she knows she was Megumi in another time, and the memories she had dont really exist to her because they’re from another reality. In contrast Axl can go back to see megumi but it would cost the current timeline so he chooses to be optimistic about everything.
Regarding Pot not turning on life: He is a pacifist, only fighting because there is no other choice. I always read that as "I will never, ever kill someone. I have suffered enough."
And I guess potemkin-bustering isn't killing.
Kiryu Kazama has never killed anyone. Neither has Potemkin.
Well, Kiryu mighta killed more people than Potemkin. Even since GG1, Potemkin's Instant Kill has always been making use of his muscles to just brutally stop an opponent, never outright kill. GG1 has him smash them to the ground, then turn away. GGX-XX has him pop them up, punch, then turn away. Xrd has him knock them clear through the world, but even when they pop out the other side of the planet, they're still alive. Potemkin keeps his word.
Just because he turns your spine into dust, doesn't mean he killed you
It's just his own brand of chiropracty
@@mirzaajah6034 Unless your name is Chipp, in which case you are very dead
some of his moves are simply quaking the ground and flicking the opponent. He's the ONLY person with an attack move that does no damage (Chaos' little sphere that he throws is a dodge move), and his gameplan is to get close to someone and "hug it out" (Potempkin bustering lol).
Can't wait to see a whole new video just for Bridget.
I think Jacko is talking about all the things she wishes she could do, I think she has the understanding we saw ramlethal go through in xrd but without any of the little moments that make it special, no revelation eating a hamburger or special puppy in her life so far, it's just been do your job and now she's free, but her life even with sol is still not normal, it's not what Arya and Frederick had before the war, I think she wants that normal human life that she can't have anymore
Close! Jacko's song is actually kinda the opposite of what you theorized, in Xrd she was two people in one mind, and couldn't really control her personality unless she kept her mask on or ate candy. In strive she is now able to control her two personalities more easily (these two personalities are Aria without any memories of being Aria but still having Aria's feelings for Sol, and Jacko). Jacko is conflicted because she still has Aria's feelings deep down inside and her body is Aria's, but Jacko herself is an entirely different person, and Sol tells her to do what she wants and to not let others choose for her, and that she doesn't have to be with him and can create her own future. Jacko in Strive is basically her being able to be a normal human for once (though she refuses to look like one, as she doesn't want to take her halo off, which is why it is broken in Strive, she is essentially breaking from her role as humanity's savior and being her own person). Her song is about the little things that make her happy and how she WANTS to pursue a relationship with Sol, not as Aria, but as Jacko.
There is something funny about how Jack-O's song is also has elements of Queens Style RB Rock in it even though her main Genre is 2000s Pop Rock cause of Sol's own influence
Baiken's theme around the end is talking mostly about Bedmans sister in how she found a comrade with how they're both seeking out Happy Chaos to exact their revenge on him for taking everything from them
I'd like to mention something.
In the Crawl chorus, I'm pretty sure that "The Sky above the clouds, a rainbow that fate has devoured" is referencing I-No.
Both of these things are mentioned in her theme.
"There is not up or down above the clouds and I can't breathe".
"If I am to be swallowed by fate, then I must have fought well".
before this video i thought it was about happy chaos
becuase of this part
Sanity and insanity
Blue heat, black heart
Instinct and intellect
and because happy chaos is 100% desire so calm could mean becoming one with I-no
I definately think it's possible but I ta lot of the songs reference the sky and clouds in some form or another - so I would guess that since Crawl isn't associated with any one character it's just generally talking about the drive for every character to achieve their goals under dire circumstances. I've always felt like the sky is a representation of the backyard and that "deeper understanding" of how the guilty gear universe works which is why characters like I-No and Happy Chaos have references to seeing past the clouds - the barrier
Not to mention that I-No’s eyes can theoretically be any color of the rainbow.
@@nebulimes2143 if it was just "the sky above the clouds" then yes.
But something similar to "that fate has devoured" is only ever referenced in I-No's theme afaik.
@@gearedge I was kinda in the same boat of thinking it was happy chaos because he likes to play different roles judging by his mirror into and some lines from the story. so to me it made sense that he would talk about opposites in his song. idk I might be buggin
18:51 The editting here man...chills
Oh no, there’s no other possible interpretation. Rock Parade 100% about him and Baiken. His story mode for 20 years has been literally nothing but him doing stuff for Baiken, finding Baiken, and then following Baiken around.
GGX - Meets Baiken, flatters Baiken into somehow not killing him. Baiken then agreeing to letting him tag along with her first time she’s socialising with any other character.
GGXX/XX Accent Core/Plus - I keep getting confused abt which story path goes with which game, but basically:
- Anji works for That Man, but that causes him to cross paths with Baiken, and she gets angry. He decided to immediately STOP working for That Man, cos he never wants to fight Baiken over this again and promises to protect her. She compromises not killing him for info, and then they go off travelling together again. (Note this is likely the canon ending cos this fits with Baiken’s Xrd ending where Anji is her info broker).
- Story path where Anji never crossed paths with Baiken and ends up working for That Man and Raven; BUT it ends on Anji using Zessen to spy on Baiken (she’s on his fan screen which is now acting like a computer) and he’s just sitting cross legged staring VERY INTENSELY at her. He apparently can spy on her anywhere, whenever he wants, which is…creepy ngl. Would explain how he tracked her down so easily in Xrd to send his phone guy.
- Pretty sure this is in the first GGXX story mode (before the Plus and other editions), the one with Anji fighting Robo-Ky. It ends with him noticing Robo-Ky saying he and the other robo units are trying to hunt down Japanese people outside the colonies, which causes Anji to immediately go: “Omg, Baiken needs me!” And he dips out of the fight and the ending screen shows he did find a confused/annoyed Baiken, because he’s posing like he’s gonna protect her from something.
- The most near tragic one; Baiken is nearly going off the deepend and on the warpath. Anji basically used himself to block her path, and even says “You can hit me, I don’t mind.” And it’s because he’s afraid she’ll get hurt trying to fight That Man, who is above their power levels. After managing to calm her down, they end up travelling together again in the end.
I mean, Baiken may not need Anji as much, but Anji’s life definitely revolves around Baiken. And note, there’s the ending where Baiken becomes a serial killer after killing I-No, and it’s the story path if she does not meet Anji. Anji helps to calm her down and take her mind off revenge, and finally in Strive, all the efforts paid off! She’s happier! He did it!
You mean She did it, Delilah.
@@kyero8724 To be fair, Anji is the one giving Baiken "the mirror" a.k.a Delilah, with full awareness of who she is and betting on Baiken's conscience after all this journey for the event in Another Story and her development to happen.
@@neko-love60 ok? That doesnt mean theres a romance there
@@kyero8724 Ok? Did I even mention anything about romance?
@@neko-love60 idk, did you? I had to clear things with a lot of thirsty Simps for people trying to Ship Baiken.
Two things I want to mention about potemkin, 1 in the first chorus potemkin says that he "sounds like a silly clown" while in later chorus he says that he "takes the role of the silly clow" fully embracing the fact that he's going to be the optimistic clown that will still be hopeful even in the darkest moment. And 2 the final line in the song is "I'm a fool, maby I'm worthless. But this world created my faith, so all I do is stay hopeful, and prey" where he briefly questions his self worth before realizing that the small hope in the world kept him going, and to fight for that small hope is just what he must do.
Favorite part about Zato's theme is on the last line "I'm a shadow always with you" the singer of Millia's theme sings it in chorus. Further solidifying that even after everything Zato did, she still cares for him.
Also, a lot of Faust's song is a retelling of the surgery sabotaged by Zato, on contract for the Conclave (basically the Illuminati). The rest of the song, seems to be Faust dealing with his conflicting personalities as The Good Doctor Faust and the serial killer Dr. Baldhead.
Also also, Ram's theme opens in Esperanto. An artificial language that's a composite of European languages. Much like Ramlethal an artificial, composite being.
Here's some more quick tidbits since I have zero self control.
Millia's chorus is inspired by the song "So Carry On" by Angra. Angra is the namesake of the forbidden beast Angra, which empowers her hair.
The bridge in I-No's theme shares a baseline with Axl's, referencing their relationship.
The chanting in Baiken' theme is a chant uttered for purification.
Leo's theme has bongo drums.
That lil thing about Axl and I-No is so cute :)
As if Leo needed more unga OR bunga, you're telling me there's bongo drums in that song? I thought I was supposed to take him seriously!
am i only one who thinks leo's song might of been better with war drums in the backround instead of bongo drums?
Your perception of Anji's theme is delightful and I happily except that into my belief system
An interesting part of Necessary Discrepancy is that the language they're singing in is Esperanto. An artificial language. Esperanto also literally means hope.
That is facinating... I was trying to learn it a few years back... but it never stuck.
@@lvcsslacker I thought it was literally made so anyone that is fluent in a European language could understand it? Unless you mean speak/write it?
Shatner promoted that language and I think he either was going to or did film a movie either in entirely or mostly Esperanto
@@burningcole2538 that was the idea, but many people have found it doesn't work out in practice
Jack-O's theme is about her discovering being human, kind of like Ram. But while Ram's purpose was to destroy the world, Jack-O's was to be a vessel for Aria, Sol's wife. Her song is about her experiences with Sol and her childlike joy at experiencing the world. A world, mind you, she was expecting to be a temporary guest in, giving up her life either to bring back Aria in full or stop I-No.
Well, i think jacko's theme is about her trying to make herself an actual person. Not aria, not the simple doll that hosts a part of aria. Now jacko is a person of her own, she's finding things she likes, and wants to live like that every day
y'know, you mention that Axl's theme is pretty chill and laid back for someone torn from his partner, and honestly I feel like part of that is because of what Axl went through in Xrd, because he finally knows (or thinks) that he *can't* get her her back, he used his one opportunity to save this world rather than return to his own, which is sort of reflected in the fact that this is really the *only* game in the guilty gear series where Axl's main plot doesn't revolve around trying to get home, Its about him trying to get to I-no, so with no more concern about returning to his fiancée and finally having control over his powers, he becomes more laid back
also, I feel like the mantra of light in Baiken's theme is there for more than just a way to tie back to her japanese heritage (though I'm sure that's part of it), I think its also there as a way to try and purify something... purify herself, exorcise her of her demons, and finally move on from the hate-fueled campaign of vengeance that she's been pursuing for the entire franchise (also I know this obviously came out before the second story so there was no way for you to know this, but of course we now know that the companion she was talking about wasn't *just* Anji, it was also Delilah)
JackO and Aria arent the same person, the theme is partly about JackO accepting she can live a life as her own self because Aria never actually came back
or something like that
It seems to me that Jack-O and Aria are two different personalities within the Valentine body. This is illustrated through her Japanese VA's two different voices she uses for her. Neither personality is more or less real or important as they're both people
I also think that Ram's multiple time signature changes during the song (going from a 3/4 in the verse to a 2/4 in the "shouting feelings" part to a 4/4 in the main chorus, with a more heavy message) is also a way of representing the multiple changes that Ram had to experience in Xrd: From being "world's villain" to a normal girl trying to understand life to a world's hero that has to confront her "mother" after her sister's kidnapping, all while also trying to decide whether or not Sol and Ky's intentions are really to help her in comparison to the Universal Will's mission of destroying humanity that resides in her hands
She can choose, but she's not so sure (Right and wrong are not for sure). But what she knows is that she has to do something because she has the power to do something, and she will do it with the conviction that, even if one of the sides of the story is going to be hurt, she will still pursue to save the hearts of the world
I really like the character writing in this game man, I've never seen any other franchise put so much effort into mixing music, story and characters. Truly amazing
Happy Chaos' theme is what it took for me to understand him as a character, and I really enjoy it. Like the story and his character dialogues suggest, he's supposedly beyond morality, with his only concern being the pursuit of conflict for its own sake. He views the meaning of life as purely the moment to moment experiences created by actions, and he doesn't value anything in particular because he's opposed to the idea of resolution itself. Divorced from mortality, he views life as "a show" which he seeks to define by its intensity, and I feel he chooses the name "Happy Chaos" for himself as a summation of his worldview, that he sincerely believes in conflict, struggle, and the act of seeking as an ideal state for life. He "don't want any conclusions" because his goal is to create a constant stream of new experiences and stimuli, dismissing the consequences of his actions and rejecting the existence of any kind of essential nature for himself beyond his ability to make notable things happen. As the breakdown suggests, he doesn't even intend harm or malice by his actions, only wanting to force interesting responses to the situations he engineers and participates in. All he truly wants is to keep doing all of this, forever, along whatever paths the events will follow.
This is why it makes sense for Ino to ally with him, as even a violent and unstable future directed by Chaos and his whims is still more promising to her than the lifeless void she has foreseen and is attempting to prevent.
He stole the name happy chaos after overhearing that man saying that it was the name of a prototype Jacko unit for ino. Your reading is still defensible because he could've stolen any name and there must be some reason he picked that one specifically, but just a bit of context
I took a Philosophy class this semester, and while my understanding of Sartre is definitely rudimentary to put it lightly, this whole fucking game and Happy Chaos specifically gives me major Sartre vibes and you put it very well.
Sartre's whole thing is that we are nothing trying to be something. We aren't defined by our past because the past is already done, despite anything that happened in the past we still have the freedom to decide a different course, and we aren't defined by our future because the future is yet to be, the future is decided by our actions in the now, but we never live in the future, nor in the past, always in the now.
For example, let's say I'm a Guilty Gear fan who wants to be a pro competitive GG player. Well, am I a GG fan? How do you even decide that? By my past? But I can decide not to be a fan anymore right now. We often call each other by titles based on our past, but I'm only a GG fan as long as I love GG, which I decide in the now. And would you call me a pro player when I haven't even started training yet? No, because it's my actions in the now that decide whether I'll be a pro player. But in both instances the "something" that I am is temporary, I can decide to no longer be what the past me was and even if I decide to be what my future me might be I can still decide to abandon that too. I can only be something by my actions in the present, fleeting moment, therefore my "somethingness" is fleeting too, making me nothing.
Of course the past and our predictions and plans for the future can influence our choices even if we're nothing, but we, the nothing always in the now, can still decide the future that is never concluded, and it's never concluded because it's always beyond the now. Sartre isn't concerned with telling you a moral right or wrong, what he wants to do point out the most important question: "Here I am, what do I do?". Sound familiar?
Something important to note is that Sartre believes that what you value in life can be whatever you choose, but that, to be consistent with yourself, the nothing that is inherently free, is to embrace your freedom and it's conflict, as opposed to a freedom that chooses not to be free, a contradictory position in which one avoids their freedom by claiming it's beyond their control or not their responsibility. At this point it's just redundant to point out how this fits.
And to wrap it all together, I'm pretty sure that before entering the backyard, Happy Chaos was a *philosopher.* The dude's an alternate reality Sartre, complete with guns and blue body paint. I just believe that now.
There is a bit more to it. Happy is the Original. The discoverer of the backyard and magic. He gave mankind the tools to reality, infinite energy and resources at everyone's fingertips. All needs satisfied. All wants addressed...And what did mankind do with this magnificent find? nothing.
Happy trapped himself in the backyard looking upon his mistakes with the universal will and the introduction of magic and he went insane. In his outside view he came to see that mankind needs to have SOMETHING to fight against in order to progress. His creation of prosperity to humanity has lead to their stagnation and according to Ino eventual downfall. So happy decided to DO something. and the only thing that seems to get mankind off its collective ass is an antagonist. So he presents himself as a demon, a monster, and a crook. a man wielding a black tech warcrime and a smile that is bombastic and loud and cannot be ignored. Mankind has to react to him. Fight, of Flight he acheaves his goal. Mankind changes, its spured into action and does SOMETHING with the vast power he bestowed upon them.
@@NameIsDoc Holy shit he actually IS the Blue Oni
I also think it's important to note that I-No's theme is heavily loaded with themes of depression and like how she's a total outsider to this world (as her not being able to return to the timeline she originated essentially making this world feel fake to her) and I think that's pretty cool
I love Zato's theme in particular because it's implied through the lyrics "drowned in pain I lost my mind... drowned in gain* I lost my mind there's no good or bad in there" that Zato doesn't just feel nothing because he was brought back from the dead. Instead, he felt the highest highs and lowest lows humanity could possibly achieve so much that his ability to feel things was just *completely burnt out.* Chilling to think about.
Leo's PTSD is METAL AS FUCK
Something I noticed with Zato's theme is that the actual vocals reflect how his life has gone through three distinct phases throughout the series. First, you can hear the "true him" in the background, muffled under the heavy instrumentals and sounding as if it's distant. This is him before he died, manipulated and corrupted by Eddie into being a monster himself. Eventually this voice disappears and the angrier, more demonic voice (Eddie) takes over, eventually giving way to pure instrumentals. This is when he died, and Eddie started puppeting his corpse around. Eventually he's resurrected and the "true him" comes back louder and clearer than ever, showing how he's finally in control of himself, and finally has something to live for.
Even when he comes back all he thinks about is how much he has lost and how he wants to go back to the past
The way I see it, Jack-O's theme is the anime ending while everyone elses is the anime opening, and each equally slap
I want to use crawl as a theme for matches so fucking bad
It's such an ungodly good bop
check out mods bruh, many people feel the same
Bro that "JOKES ON YOU, YOUR HELPING ME WITH THE ALGORITHM" followed by a mad maniac laugh in the outro with Adachi theme in the background is gold. I guess Adachi's theme had another meaning all this time.
Jack-O's theme, to me at least, has a lot of meaning when contextualised with how Strive ended.
Through Strive's story you see her struggling to deal with her reality. She loves Sol, but is made to bring back his dead wife. That's her purpose, and yet she develops a love for Sol on her own, separate from Aria.
Eventually, Aria refuses to come back and Jack-O has an issue on her hands. She no longer has a purpose as Aria is refusing to come back. And she still believes Sol only loves Aria. She decides to try and use her life to stop Ino.
She tries, Sol stops her by telling her that he loves her and gives her a reason to carry on.
Strive ends and now Jack-O is much more free, she wants to do lots of things with Sol and has also grown an appreciation for the little things and life as a whole.
was looking for a context in the comments to relieve me that sol and jack-o are in fact love each other
well I found it. i agree with this.
I absolutely love Zato-1's theme it's so beautiful and says a lot in the last minute and a half
What I find interesting about Leo's theme is that although the meaning presented is about the trauma he faced in the lore, it almost never shows directly in one of the game's story. He's mostly portraited as a loud, cocky, optimistic and even comedic but even though he always talks as if he was the best guy ever, it's when he seriously talks about others. How much he cares for other's well being, how he takes the responsibility of his role as king that can affect inumerous lives and even in more personal examples like when he chose to believe and support Sol in Xrd. It's with these case that you can very safely assume how someone like him developed such psychological problems with the things he had to face during the war.
It's these nuanced characters and lore and the care that was obviously put into them that made me love guilty gear in the first place and keeps me coming back even when I don't primarly play fighting games.
It has been an insane amount of time since i last found a vod which made me sub emidiatly. Video was filled with great jokes and you got a good voice to listen to. Loving it man 👍
I feel like the person Baiken is referring to in her theme is Delilah (Bedman's sister) only because she mentioned in her arcade mode how spending time with her changed her.
Which would explain when Nago asked Baiken who her teacher was she replied with: "A kid about half my age."
Yeah!! She's said some pretty incredible things about her, adding on to my excitement on finally meeting the lil lady, as well as her thoughts n feeling on losing Bedman and ire towards Happy Chaos, a.k.a "That Man" 👀👀👀
Not to mention we got the slightest glimpse of her in the new story trailer with Baiken so we’re likely to get some actual stuff in that department soon.
Guess we'll just to wait until Delilah's theme for everything to come full circle.
Bro for the entirety of today I've been listening to guilty gear tracks and "a fool or a clown" and you used it as your outro, you stalking me
Ngl, the sentimental surprise buttsecks Leo's theme gave me definitely makes it one of the best ones out there. And from a musical standpoint it's fucking amazing. It has all of these movements that reflect the multiple facets of Leo's past and present character. The way it starts off with a glorious power-metal anthem worthy of a king and goes into this war flashback accompanied by a heavy riff, followed by a happy go lucky schlager that embodies his naivete going off to war and later to a brutal breakdown showcasing his borderline suicidal tendencies in combat is simply sublime. A lot of the themes have different movements and blend different genres to illustrate the changes in mood, but few are as drastic and shocking as Leo's. Daisuke made it a real rollercoaster of a theme and I love it to bits.
One of my favourite character bits is with Leo. Dude has survivors guilt, he can’t FACE things so he turns his back to them. Don’t care if it’s unintentional it’s so good
The "Ill take the wasteland but I wont be alone" line in Sols theme is referring to how Sol chose Jack-o over the world at the end of the story.
Jack-O's theme is a reflection of her journeying with Sol after so long, despite being scared, she's optimistic & happy for the journey ahead
This is a video I’ve been looking for ever since the game came out, the meanings behind the songs are just as rad as the music itself.
I have a theory on what bedmans song is about but I want to see what others think. My personal theory is that the song plays out Romeo (Bedman)’s last moments as he is dying and trying desperately to recode the robot to protect Delilah
I literally know Jack squat about bedman before strive, but it feels like “pitch black, pure white, all the same” makes me feel like he’s describing the emptiness of the afterlife, then at the end, through sheer f***ing will, he’s broken through death to protect his sister… although that comes from the presumption that bedman is possessed by Romeo.
I love how Ky comes from "Be just or be dead" an ominous theme to "Roar of the spark" a hype-filled and optimistic melody. Can't help but sing to it.
And as much as Axl looks like Axl Rose, he has grungy themes with melodies of Alice in Chains, Sound Garden and Nirvana, not to mention I'm sure "Out of the Box" is a reference to "Man in a Box"
Ram continues the 'Valentine' theme of being a straight up Prog Rock (Dream Theatre, Liquid Tension, Symphony X) theme like Jack-O, Elphelt and Ram's themes in Xrd
Jack-O forgoes her Valentine roots and just straight up moved on to being a 'Queen' song probably focusing her ties with Frederick this time
16:32 fun fact, those initial lines in Ram's theme are sung specifically in Esperanto, an entirely artificial "universal language" invented by a Polish eye doctor. Kind of fitting that a manufactured language would be used in the theme of an artificial lifeform, especially if that Esperanto chanting is representing the Universal Will's maddening whispers.
I really love how a lot of these songs for the returning characters have moments referencing their older theme, like how Ky's song has moments of "Holy Orders" or Ram's song referencing "Diva" which is Valentine's theme from GG2 Overture.
It's called a leitmotif. Also, let's be honest, kys theme is basically just Holy order + awe of She remixed a bit and given vocals.
Wish you would've talked more about Ino and Happy Chaos but at the same time I really like most of these interpretations. Great video.
I also would like to add that Axl's theme could be refering to his non-stop search for Megumi, so his "frozen time" would be him taking time as if it wasn't moving without her 'cause he "can't move on" and in the second chorus it's the realization that he has thanks to the old man selling apples during the events in Strive's story mode. "No prob even if the world doesn't change" and "My frozen time... moves again!" is him learning to think of life as it is instead of searching for something he won't get, efectively moving on and resuming time. At least that's how I like to think of it
We're really looking forward to you doing more of these for the next characters
For Jack-O's theme you're pretty much right - it does just sound like a bunch of random "16 year old rom-com" style crap with no deeper meaning but that's because that's exactly what it is.
Jack-O was an artificial being created by That Man who's entire purpose in life was to merge with Justice - reuiniting both halves of Aria's soul in order to bring her back and undo the mistake he made so many years ago. That being said she still has a personality and sentience of her own - the maskless version being Aria and the masked version being Jack-O. After the events of Strive's story where Aria decides not to return and Jack-O becomes her own person she gains freedom for the first time - she's no longer just an AI serving a purpose but an actual human being (let's not pretend I don't hear me, try to move on without looking back).
The song reflects her simple desires to enjoy life without the burden of fufilling a goal that will see her erased from existence - she wants to eat snacks and go on long car trips and buy shoes and love Sol and discover what the human experience is all about, kind of in a similar way to Ramlethal. The title is "Perfection Can't Please Me" because she doesn't want a perfect life that's simple and dull because life isn't like that - life is messy and confusing and scary but also exciting and fresh and she wants to know what that feels like
this is oot but ur username sounds familiar and ooh, we're mutuals on twitter 😆
also totally agree with ya here. her experience as a human is an endless journey for her, she couldn't careless about perfection as it doesn't please her. living out and enjoying everything in life does
Now we have
Sin/The Hourglass: “literally too dumb to be sad”
Bridget/The Town Inside Me: “I’m here and I’m queer. No more depression from the closet”
Bedman/The Circle: “Death and/or God can suck it, I’ve got a sister to protect”
one of my favorite interpretations of Jack-O's theme is that it's her appreciating the human side of herself and all the things that come with it, which is why she talks about such small things and how they mean so much to her
i always felt like Testament’s theme was about Dizzy and Ky based on how the two people in the song are talked about
they saw how Dizzy grew as a person next to Ky as she was able to see and explore the world along his side and Testament admired that
so now here they are learning more about the world as Dizzy did with Ky
I'm so glad that someone finally made a video like this. I always loved Roar of the Spark but never thought that it was anything more than a cool motivational song. The idea that his whole worldview was shaken and that he tries to use his new perspective to improve the world is an interesting take. Great video!
there are several layers to Roar of the spark that point to this, it is my favorite song on this game alongside Baiken's song Mirror of the world, but going back to Ky, you can even start seeing the fact that the kingdom where he comes from is a very religious kingdom, even his previous OSTs (Holy Orders: Be Just or Be Dead) is a reference to this, which then brings the first line on Roar of the Spark Chorus "under the Sacred briers, never stop just go" Sacred Briers could be a reference to the Thorn Crown that that Jesus Christ was set up (Ky has a lot of Christian imagery including crosses in his clothing), that could be interpreted as his own crown since he is the King, so gonig past to what he has believed his whole life as a sin (being married to a Gear and having a child that is half gear, his son is literally named SYN Kiske), there are so many layers of self reference to previous lore in this song is amazing on so many levels
With the events of the recently released Another Story, Faust’s theme makes a lot more sense. Spoilers below:
At the end of the story, Faust straight up dies. However his body keeps going, seemingly animated solely by Faust’s desire to help others, meaning that Faust this theme is describing is basically a zombie.
A.B.I. Design Shop channel spent a great paragraph about the songs lyrics in the game in his strive review, and i loved it. It's so cool you made an entire video about it thanks
i love that some lyrics are like mashed together and said faster so he can say more. Idk if its bc of not entirely understanding how bs english is but it adds so much i dont even know how to
I hope in keeping with this theme of lyrics that reflect what matters to each character, when/if Sin gets added to the game, 40% of his song will be about reconciling with Ky, 40% will be about finding your own heart like with Ramlethal, and 20% of it is a burger restaurant commercial jingle. With AISHA singing the chorus of the burger jingle.