[2024.05.15] Ice Jewels Vol. 19 : Toby Fox - "RE_PRAY" is the freedom to try new things
Hello everyone! I am Toby Fox, the developer of the game "UNDERTALE" and the composer of all the original soundtracks in the game. This time, Yuzuru Hanyu used the music I composed, "MEGALOVANIA", "Bergentruckung" and "ASGORE" in the "RE PRAY" performance. I am really honoured and I still can't believe it. In fact, although this is my first time to watch an ice show live, I am still amazed by Hanyu's superb skating skills. I think every move Hanyu showed must be extremely difficult, but the smoothness of his moves makes people completely unaware of the difficulty... I don't know much about figure skating, and if I were to give an evaluation of the performance, I'm afraid it would be "super awesome, so awesome", so this time please allow me to write my thoughts on other elements of the ice show.
Inspiration from my "UNDERTALE"? Having said that, a special warning! What I'm going to talk about next is not only "UNDERTALE", but there will also be spoilers for the "RE PRAY" performance, so please be careful... I heard that the story outline and some scenes of the "RE PRAY" performance (especially the first half) seem to be inspired by "UNDERTALE", right? I actually watched it and I think there are indeed some similarities. For example... First, about the "replay" structure of the story. As we all know, "UNDERTALE" has two quite extreme routes. One is the killing route where you defeat all enemies to gain experience points and sacrifice everything except yourself to become stronger. The other is the pacifist route where you advance in the game world without hurting anyone. Although the content of the second half of "RE PRAY" is not quite the same as the pacifist route of "UNDERTALE", the "destructive" route in the first half is very similar to the killing route of "UNDERTALE". Defeating all the enemies he encountered, gaining strength and making sacrifices, and finally reaching the incredibly difficult level, this journey made Hanyu-san suffer a lot. This part really reminds people of the final battle in "UNDERTALE" when you choose to defeat all enemies. After that, just like the plot in "UNDERTALE", Hanyu-san's game save was deleted and he had to start from the beginning. The title "RE PRAY" also means to perform "re-prepare" (start over) in order to change the ending of the story. There are also very similar parts in the expression of the image. The scene of a red heart appearing in the middle of the black screen appears several times, which is the symbolic picture of "UNDERTALE". As a game character, Hanyu-san's eyes are also like hyphens, which is also very similar to the protagonist of "UNDERTALE". Also, the scene where Hanyu-san, the game character, finds a flower that looks like it is illuminated by a spotlight is also reminiscent of a scene in the beginning of the game "UNDERTALE". In addition, the corridor that serves as the stage for the scene “where Hanyu-san is in agony when reaching a difficult level" mentioned earlier is exactly the same as the location where the boss battle that "tortured" most of the players of "UNDERTALE" took place. The "final boss" that Hanyu-san fights looks very similar to the final boss in "UNDERTALE". In this way, I found many similarities and was extremely excited to watch. When I was at the venue, I thought, "Eh? Could this be the one from "UNDERTALE"!?", and in a positive sense, I smiled (laughs).
What is the meaning of the story...? Based on this, there are many things in the first half that remind people of "UNDERTALE", but I think the story of this performance can also be explained in another way. Of course, what Hanyu-san meant by "gaining experience points" and "making sacrifices" was not just about defeating the enemy literally. The enemy to be defeated was probably the tournaments he had participated in so far, and the scene of him struggling in the corridor probably symbolized the long years of hard training to achieve a perfect performance. In other words, this was a route that sacrificed all of his private life in order to become the world's number one. However, his time as a competitor ended, and that route also came to an end. Then began the second route. Every performance began with being locked behind a fence, and Hanyu-san realized that his way of survival had trapped him in a small space. He walked out of the cycle of tournaments and refused to play this game over and over again. In this way, he would reach a space where there was nothing. But even so, he was still not free. He was still controlled and trapped by some existence. However, he didn't know what that existence was. So he began to pray. To gain freedom, he prayed to the "god". But who exactly was this "god"? In my opinion, isn't "God" Hanyu's audience? He is just a game character, a puppet controlled to please the audience. He cannot live a normal life and is often forced to play the role of "Hanyu Yuzuru". Then, Hanyu, who began to doubt that he was just a game character, stood on the stage and began to pray in a literal sense in front of the audience. Finally, he found a place he had never seen before. It was an unknown and incredibly beautiful place. "God", that is, the audience, has always regarded Hanyu as a "character". But it is also thanks to the grace of "God" that Hanyu has found new freedom. That is the freedom to challenge new things and keep trying (just like this performance). In addition, Hanyu also used this opportunity to call on the audience to cherish and protect their own freedom and daily life. Of course, this is just my own interpretation, and it is not the result of in-depth research. However, I think the wonderful thing about this performance is that it can be interpreted freely in any way. So, it would be great if everyone could come up with their own interpretations!
The power I felt through his performance What moved me the most was that I could feel the power of his performance even when he wasn't performing any difficult moves. Here are some scenes that left a deep impression on me: ■ In "A Fleeting Dream" program of "Final Fantasy X" that appeared in the beginning of the ice show, there was a scene where he skated along the curve extending from the huge trees drawn by lights on the ice. That performance instantly moved my heart... Although he was just skating, I felt a sense of nostalgia. The moment I saw it, I thought "This is the best thing I have ever seen in my life" (sorry for the exaggeration). ■ Before "MEGALOVANIA" started, the venue went dark and silent, and Hanyu-san took his time to slowly enter the ice. The only sound echoing in the venue was the sound of his skates, raising anticipation for the next program. ■ As a fanservice, he put his face close to the camera and covered it with his hand. Everyone couldn't help but cheer and scream. I did the same. The audience around me was mostly female, and I was the only foreign male voice. This development seemed a little strange... ■ He took a tissue from the Pooh tissue box and blew his nose several times. After blowing, he checked his snot for a while (no, this kind of thing doesn't matter at all, I'm so sorry...). Anyway, it was a really wonderful performance. It would be great if we could see the recording someday... If so, I hope everyone will watch it! But... maybe you can hear my cheers from the audience... I'm sorry everyone!
Source: https://weibo.com/1746783312/OgzomvYei Info: https://www.kazi.co.jp/icejewels/backnumber/vol19/vo19.html
