[warning: Enstars brain rot, nerd knowledge]
VALKYRIE - ETERNAL WEAVING
✧・゚: *✧・゚:* Lyric analysis *:・゚✧*:・゚✧
Before I let myself indulge in this nerdy analysis of the song of my favourite Enstars unit, I have to outspeak for the detail and dedication the creators put into Valkyrie and Shu's character. The language, the references in Vakyrie songs portray Shu and his vision spledid. They really worked hard to maintain the image of an art obsessed eccentric, while still morphing his character development into refined shape.
.・゜゜・ ・゜゜・..・゜゜・ ・゜゜・..・゜゜・ ・゜
Now with the actual analysis
(I'm going to use the fanwiki translation as a source)
[Mika] - green
[Shu] - pink
[Mika and Shu] - blue
.・゜゜・ ・゜゜・..・゜゜・ ・゜゜・..・゜゜・ ・゜
"A living soul, veiled with a lump of clay
Is blessed with a miracle. Let us begin here."
Mika is talking about himself, a puppet whose creator and saviour is Shu, the leader of Valkyrie.
"Singing glories of a king carved out of stone
I wonder if our anguish can be heard from afar."
Shu's past self is the king carved out of stone. Glorious and unshakable, untouchable, unchangeable. Unlike clay, which can be easily shaped into form, stone is resilient and hard to sculpt and reshape. It symbolizes Shu's narcissistic and proud persona, but also the fact that people reaching out to him wasn't enough, it was necessary for a humiliating failure to open his eyes and realize his mistakes.
"Fairytales, each distorted by time
Are old myths torn asunder and rewritten."
Valkyrie was going to reborn and for that to happen, the tragic past had to be left behind, Valkyrie to be "torn asunder" (Nazuna had to leave) and "rewritten" not as Shu's scheme, but as Shu and Mika's unit. Notice how "rewritten" is sung by both of them, despite Shu having a strong voice to end the verse. Just like Valkyrie, together, it would just be stronger and more mesmerizing.
[Chorus] "In an eternity that never ends, all things progress without halting."
At first glance, the phrase "eternity that never ends" might seem like a pleonasm, but it is purposefully sung so. The old Valkyrie seemed immortal, eternal, but it came to a crumble and a miserable downfall. Yet, it evolved, it came back stronger than ever, it progressed from the "eternity with an end" people might have assumed about Valkyrie after its tragedy.
"Now please, show me your eyes painted with delight."
Shu is addressing Mika, who has a high insecurity of his heterochromia. Thus, Shu is asking, not demanding, but saying "please" and asking for Mika to trust him. Shu wants to be Mika's comfort zone and be the one to preserve the delight in those eyes, Mika's happiness. In a metaphorical perspective, since the eyes are the gateways to the soul, Shu is asking Mika to be his true self around him, to not act according to Shu's "string pulls" anymore.
"From the cradle of the world tumbles and scatters;
Tears that are nothing but reflections of color,
Used only to weave a
Tapestry"
After the old Valkyrie's fall and inevitable crumble, the members had to endure much sorrow. The "tears" later on became "reflections of color", inspiration for the future reborn Valkyrie and motivation to weave Valkyrie, like a tapestry. We'll later on see the tapestry imagery continue.
Shu is known for being a master at sewing and likes using references into Valkyrie songs, this being the case too. "Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth." The 2 distinct threads, we will later on find one what are they, are used to reconstruct Valkyrie from its remains.
Furthermore, to weave, when it comes to stories, means to make complex connections. Thus, Valkyrie is a story which underwent many struggles and sorrows, many obstacles and much work.
"We adorn glamorous clothing, becoming nobility the moment
this comedy threads through the weft"
"Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may be visible." The old Valkyrie is the warp, as its decay let the current Valkyrie shine in all its might.
Compared to the current Valkyrie, the old Valkyrie has become a comedy, an act of aesthetics at the point of faking its genuinity. But Shu still recognizes the old Valkyrie as the backbone of Valkyrie's tapestry.
"The crumbling eternity of this nightmare entwines
with tragedy, strained into warps."
If for Shu, the old Vakyrie was a masquerade incomparable to the artistic heights of the current Valkyrie, for Mika it was "grotesque", a fuel for both his low self-esteem and his adoration for his unit. The tragedy of the old Valkyrie was a true nightmare, as Valkyrie and Shu were everything to him. Even so, he recognizes that the crumbling of Valkyrie is vital to uphold the present Valkyrie.
"As you submerge into that hot bath, let the vision of
A storyteller’s evanesced reality that we created fly free"
Shu and Mika are now addressing the audience to submerge into Valkyrie's story, one that one day will turn from reality to only a legend. "that we created" is sung together, once again, to portray their unity.
[Chorus] "In an eternity that never comes to an end, ideations evolve."
Same as the last chorus :)
"Let us join our embroidering together, misery cupped in our hands."
Mika is conscious that the current Valkyrie can only be embroidered into shape from the misery of their previous fall. That sorrow is an opportunity to arise, and shares it with both Shu and the audience, pain is nothing to be shameful about. They are willing to turn it into art.
"The ephemeral birth of that palace is
A delightful fever dream."
The old Valkyrie has always been meant to be ephemeral, and Shu knows that. He uses contradictory terms to express his feelings for the unit that once Valkyrie was, "delightful" for the great artistic achievements it has reached and a "fever dream" because he knows the suffering it has brought Nazuna and Mika and he deeply regrets it.
"「I am but a fool that struggles within the sorrow and rapture of this mire.」"
The introduction to the theater style monologue is highlighting the true feelings of the speaker, not through a song, not Mika as an idol, but Mika as himself. Mika has very low self-esteem, can't see his worth, his talent. He thinks himself not even worthy as a human, but as a marionette to be directed around as he suffers in his own sorrows.
"「Nay, your handwoven tales are a beauty desired by Epicurus himself!」"
Continuing with the addressed monologue, Shu displays his true feelings. He is hurt to hear Mika speak so poorly of himself. He wants Mika to know he is worthy, he is desired, by Epicurus himself. But why desired by Epicurus specifically?
"For Epicurus, the purpose of philosophy was to help people attain a happy (eudaimonic), tranquil life characterized by ataraxia (peace and freedom from fear) and aponia (the absence of pain)." Knowing Shu's character, the reason why he became an abuser of power in Ensemble Stars!, we can certainly deduce that when referring to Epicurus, Shu is referring to himself. "Epicurus advocated that people were best able to pursue philosophy by living a self-sufficient life surrounded by friends." By associating himself with Epicurus, Shu wants Mika to know that he is an admirable individual and wants to pursue his art and live his life alongside him.
"「O’Light! Why will you not cease creating!」
「O’Shadow! It is because that is precisely what you demand of me, and it is precisely that which makes you human!」"
Mika can't see his worth, his potential, his beauty. Why would the Light(Shu) keeping casting him(Shadow/Mika)? Shu knows in his heart that Mika wants to be worthy, wants to be in the spotlight and have his art shown to the world. As much as Mika is willing to give up, Shu won't cease to try to achieve their dream together. Because Mika having a dream means that he is his own person, not a marionette.
The shadow can't exist without light. Light can't truly exist without shadow, either.
"「We wish to bestow the beauty of art upon this world!」"
Mika and Shu can now announce their dream, they are ready to uptake the challenge in walking that road together, even if more suffering is yet to come. They now have each other, as equals.
"In this eternity that never ends, let us create that of which the Gods desire,
The reverie of an ever-changing creation."
The two of them are now expecting change, they will reach their mighty artistic goal which cannot be truly eternal, but ever-changing, morphing. As long as they keep themselves true to their hearts, the Valkyrie they are mending will remain truly eternal in its own way.
"The walls of this world’s palace, embellished with tapestries abound,
Displays an endless lineage of weavers."
Shu and Mika recognize that Valkyrie is not the only truly achieved artistic act, but there are many unit and idols also struggling to attain their artistic views and goals.
"Now, let us fall heir to that worth and mend it."
As a conclusion, Shu and Mika are willing to uphold the responsibility of mend Valkyrie into a unit worth its potential. Their true journey towards their dream is just starting.
。・:*:・゚★,。・:*:・゚☆。・:*:・゚★,。・:*:・゚☆。・:*:・゚★,。・:*:・゚☆
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR STAYING TILL THE END, NERD! I wrote it twice cause Tumblr is evil and made me think it got my draft deleted.
Jokes aside, thank you for letting me ramble about this majestic song. Stan Valkyrie for clear skin!!














