Why the title "Sweet Pool"? A little bit on the symbology of water
In another “why the title* series episode: Sweet Pool! haha Not spoiler free
I think that the immediate image that comes to mind when someone says "pool”, is the big water container where we have fun swimming in the summer, like the very literal pool that appears at the end of the game. But a pool isn’t necessarily a swimming pool, we can also use expressions such as “a pool of water” to refer to a body of water of other sorts.
Sweet Pool has a plot that heavily relies on biblical references, and with that in mind, the first thing that I think of when I hear the title is water as the origin of life: according to the bible, before anything else, the earth was a big pool of water. Also, according to science, life as we know it originated from the seas.
Water is a symbol of life. I think the game “Sweet Pool” tells us about life as a whole: birth and death. It addresses these matters through the tale of the Sodomites that are trying to be born again through Youji, and through Youji’s journey itself (our journey) throughout the game.
When still a child, Youji was involved in a car crash and his life was saved by his father’s sacrifice, his father died so he could live. Now, Youji faces the same dilemma: should he sacrifice his own life to give birth to the pure breed, and let the Sodomites assume human form to live? Life and death is a theme that permeates the entire story: besides Youji, we have Zenya that lives in a dying body, Tetsuo who must also give up on his life for the sake of the pure breed, Makoto, that ultimately kills his loved one and Kitani, who had gave up on living when Kunihito rescued him and gave him back his life.
Still on the subject of water as a life symbol, water is and element that makes the soil fertile, and talking about fertility, Tetsuo and Youji have sex for the first time under heavy rain.
Lastly, there are two endings involving an actual swimming pool: Miracles May and the True Ending. In both endings, Tetsuo and Youji decide to kill themselves by diving in the pool from the rooftop, but while diving, Youji sacrifices life for Tetsuo, the same way his father did for him. In both endings they are “reborn” in one way or another (even if shortly after Youji dies, like in Miracles May, or if they come back drifted apart like in the true ending) and life originates from their “suicide attempt” in the pool.
So, why the tile Sweet Pool? I think the title refers to life in it’s entirety (birth, living and loving, death) and it’s never-ending cycle. There is something really sweet about life renewing itself, be it in the birth of a child like in “The Red Road” or in a more literal, phantasy way like in “Miracles May”
ps: A curiosity, Sodom’s location corresponds to the north area of modern-day Dead-Sea (or so Wiki says LOL)
More on Alice’s Sweet Pool babbles: Walkthroughs / Review
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