I'm listening to the Alice by heart soundtrack and I just want to comment on how fucking SHUAKE coded every song in this is. ESPECIALLY as a NG+ au. So here's my reasoning on every song.
West Of Words- this entire song reminds me of the popular HC that akechi would also remember the past playthroughs, and holy shit. So many of the lyrics match this. "There's a world we knew as we, before before, a story entered, a tiny key we turned, West of words" feels so accurate to it, but like the whole SONG is them. All of the different people of wonderland being the different palace leaders (specifically "there's a gold and silver song in the afternoon" being madarame) but I just. Yes. And Alfred being sick is so akechi and Akira both knowing what akechi has to do for the story to go correctly. UGHH.
Down The Hole- this one is a little harder to connect, but hear me out. Going "down the hole" is clearly Momentos, given they are going down, and it's a tunnel, and yada yada. But this song being the joy akechi and joker get from being in Momentos again and being able to fight there again? Then in their outfits just smiling together and dashing through Momentos, and it's only then, and they are "down the hole, and really on a roll"? YESS. And the other phantom thieves are so confused bc like this place is scary... And why tf do these two ppl already know it... Also ryuji saying "shoulda brought the cat" to Mona would be REALLY FUNNY. And "what happens if I can't get out of wonderland"? That's so marukis palace coded.
Still- akechi just wants to get through what's going to happen, because what else can they do? But Akira is just so... Happy to see him again, he kinda can't think about anything else for a bit. This song just being Akira trying to get akechi to slow down and appreciate what they have... UGHHHH. GOOODDDD. And the entire thing about not having enough time? And akechi's fate? And THATS why akechi is rushing?? UGHHHHH. And "walk with me still, linger on with me still." Akira saying this to akechi? And the bit following it where he's trying to reason with Akira that people already know who they are? AARRGGHHH.
Chillin' The Regrets- I'm imagining this song to be akechi getting back to his mercenary job, knowing he has to, and initially he's against it, but fuck, he forgot just how nice it felt to kill these jackasses, whether it's by shido's command or not. The entire song is him fighting between Robin Hood and Loki (his sense of self-improvement and his sense of desire). And the whole "just as sweet as rain"? To everyone else, this song is about the status affects. But Akira and akechi know what's happening in akechi's mind, whether he like it or not. GODDD.
The Key Is- the entire song being Akira talking to the phantom thieves (and indirectly to akechi who he secretly has on call during the meetings he cannot attend) and him being like "I WILL save you all, however long it takes, I won't let you suffer." Also "let them play their ghostly fraud, wound us in the name of God, to see us to dream within you" is 100% Akira hinting towards yaldaboath to akechi, but as just a general statement to everyone else. GOODDD THIS MUSICAL IS SO THEM.
Those Long Eyes- this song being someone like Kawasaki or sojiro (someone parental) talking to Akira when Akira is like "I feel like I'm losing this... Person I like." And the song is their response, but it's in like a flashback format that cuts back to akechi and Akira dancing together at jazz jinn while the parental person watches them from a booth and spying on them IK ITS A REACH BUT I LOVE AUS OKAY
Manage Your Flamingo- okay this one was hard to figure out ngl, but I'm going off of the line "why don't they ask why?" For most of it, but I'm imagining this is them at the bottom of Momentos, when they see the holy grail and listening to people praise it, or the same but with the phantom thieves wondering why the cognitions don't question the rulers of the palaces. And if this is in shido's palace then it's shido's cognition of akechi doing the "will God save, the queen?"
Sick To Death Of Aliceness- I imagine they encounter a part of a side palace where each thief experiences their innermost deepest fear. The one we see is Akira's, and it's all of the thieves 'realizing' that their leader is selfish, and at the head of it all (the hatter) is akechi. The "I'm sick to death" that Alfred screams at Alice at the end is 100% this fake akechi trying to prod at Akira's fear of losing akechi.
Brillig Braellig- Akira talking to shadow shido during that one part of his battle where it's just the two of them, and the backround singers are the people on the throne shido sits on, except now theyre separate and in the backround. End of note. But fr, this song being shadow!shido telling Akira how he planned on letting akechi essentially "sign up to die"? And the line "spine up you icky sickies, line up to die" is the crowd of people knowing what's going to happen to akechi, and Akira fighting all of them while fighting shido as well? MMMMM YESSS.
Some Things Fall Away.- Morgana, just now realizing just how much Akira truly cared for akechi post-shidos palace, trying to comfort him about the fact that akechi was going to die anyhow. Also the line "shadows pause at the window, meet their gaze- their grief is yours." Being Morgana knowing that Akira is overly sympathetic, and just... UGHTFJFJR. KILL MEEE. And on the "someone strays from the window on their way, their grief is yours." At the end it's Akira sitting with his legs crossed, a shadow sitting exactly the same, and on "the grief is yours" it flickers to akechi sitting across from him, in his casual outfit with that slutty sweater vest? YESS. GAWDDDDD.
Your Shell Of Grief- just from the name alone, I want you to guess what I'm gonna say. NOPE, it's not Akira grieving akechi, now it's the OPPOSITE! This happens post interrogation room, right after his meeting with shido. He goes into Momentos, and one of the shadows try to reason with him, and for the first time ever, he freezes. More shadows join in, and they are feeding off of his apathy. I imagine they put a status ailment on him (the one where I makes you sad I forgot what it's called). The entire thing is him essentially letting himself grief for once, before rememebering that the shadows want him to grieve forever, and he pushes against them (off screen though). And at some of the turtles parts it shows how akechi views the phantom thieves way of going about grief
Another Room In Your Head- omg, this is the one that made me start all of this. This feels VERY marukis palace coded, when Akira pulls akechi to the side when he somehow notices akechi's been even more quiet than usual, and akechi has a soft moment where he wonders what Akira did, and what he will do, after losing akechi. And it's them knowing they will have to go through all of this again, and they will grieve every time, because that time might be the one where it actually sticks around. This also gives me a reason to imagine them gently cupping eachothers cheeks and crying, before ryuji walks in and is like. "🧍♂️."
Isn't It A Trial?- imagine for a moment; what if the shadows don't forget what happened in the last playthrough? What if they remember? Now hear me out- this song, but it's shadow akechi talking to Akira about the actual akechi, and essentially calling akechi immature and a bad person, and that he isn't ready to face his actions as a mercenary now that he's an adult, and omg. Uhhrhrhfhfhf. I'll be so fr, this one was a little harder to assign.
Do You Think We think You're Alice?- Akira having to face kamoshida palace again, but somehow the shadows can smell the confidence coming off of joker, and they realize that- given if they still remember everything- this is the joker they remember killing them, and think they need to knock him down a few legs during the final fight. Again, a harder one to connect.
I've Shrunk Enough- if akechi came back during another NG+ at kamoshidas palace, and he's helping the thieves against the big boss, and it's just akechi being like "c'mon you nerds, you know you can do better, so do better." And essentially just hyping them up.
Afternoon- akira and akechi reflecting on how they feel about the thieves and... And eachother. At "like a sister," it shows sumire and futaba (the younger siblings) and at the "like a brother" it shows Akira and Kasumi (with her face blocked by a book on gymnastics). And the song is just them reminiscing, and akechi realizing that he maybe kind of cares for the thieves. Just a smidge.
Winter Blooms- the start of another NG+, but Akira knows that he will be okay, no matter if this is the last loop or not. "Nothing comes or goes without a shadow" and it's him thinking on everyone and their personas. "Let the sorrow go, it's half the battle" it shows all of the thieves bonding at Leblanc with whoever they are grievings ghost standing behind them as if they aren't invisible. "Down the hole you go to where you are" is Akira acknowledging Momentos in his every day, just holding a to-go coffee, and breathing in the spring air.
I hope this convinces you to listen to Alice by heart because when I tell you this musical is LIFE CHANGING. and it's so shuake coded. Please for the love of God someone listen to Alice by heart while trying to connect it to persona 5 and tell me what you come up with PLEASEWKWKEJDJ I NEED MORE PPL TO BE AUTISTIC OVER ABH × P5
vaporwave
izzy806
germansingergirl
andulkaphoto
kaledo-art
jbbartram-illu
