A Jack Jeanne Playlist for the Rhodonite First Years
The Rhodonite first years serve looks, attitude, and loyalty. Sassy on the outside, girls girls on the inside.
If you're a Jack Jeanne fan who's ever looked at the Rhodonite first years and thought "they absolutely have a shared playlist," this one's for you.
So I've recently fallen into yet another Jack Jeanne rabbit hole.
This time, instead of focusing on one of the main cast members , I created a playlist for the first year trio of Rhodonite — Mare, Yuki, and Eita. If you've played the game, you know exactly who I mean: the clique that seems mean at first glance but are fiercely loyal to each other underneath all that attitude. One of them doesn't even speak in-game. She doesn't need to. (and yes I'm absolutely going to use female pronouns for them)
The Sound
This playlist screams three things: girlpop, bubblegum maximalist pop, and theater kid energy.
I wanted to make sure you can feel that three different people were involved in curating this playlist. There are distinct sub-genres, favourite artists, and eras woven throughout. I can still imagine them arguing over which songs deserve a spot and which get cut. Yuki fighting for early 2000s Britney ( especially which iconic ones to add). Mare insisting on the musicals, as well as Lady Gaga tracks ( probably insisting to add even more gaga songs). Eita silently airdropping Charli XCX and Marina to the group chat without explanation.
The Vibe
At its core, this playlist is about main character energy.
Confidence. Independence. Unapologetically bold with a theatrical attitude. It's glossy and dominant. Materialism as empowerment. Revenge anthems. Pure feistiness. The kind of energy where you walk into a room and everyone notices.
Think it girl aesthetic. Performative. A social setting where they live like they're the main characters in a movie — because in their minds, they absolutely are.
Diva energy, but make it loyal.
The Queerness
One thing I really wanted to reflect and couldn't leave out is the queerness these characters portray in-game. Jack Jeanne already plays with gender and performance in interesting ways, and these three fit right into that. I tried to capture a certain queer pop sensibility through the artist and song choices — from obvious choices (RuPaul, Chappell Roan, Lady Gaga) to the subtext woven throughout the grand diva pop canon.
The Inspirations
The playlist — especially the cover art — draws from a few key references:
The Heathers : the original mean girl clique with color-coded aesthetics
Mean Girls: obviously 🤭
Legally Blonde: underestimated femininity as power
The Devil Wears Prada: fashion, dominance & standards
The cover art leans heavily into a Y2K/cyber aesthetic: chrome hearts, iridescent elements, dark background with pops of color. It felt right for characters who are simultaneously retro-inspired and effortlessly modern.
The Structure
I organized the playlist like a theatrical performance in several acts
From a dramatic entrance (opening with "Ex-Wives" from SIX felt correct) through confident anthems, squad energy, an electronic edge, iconic diva classics, softer bubblegum moments, and finally a guilty pleasure finale. Because yes, they absolutely have Mamma Mia on their playlist and no, they will not be taking questions.
I hope you enjoy listening and think of them when you press play.
I made a playlist for Mitsuki Shirota and it's too soft for my own good.
It's called "Tresor's Serenade" and it's full of the softest, most achingly tender music I could find
think: crystalline instrumentals, tender vocals, and the kind of melancholy that feels like a gentle hand on your shoulder.
What I wanted to capture was Mitsuki's essence: that specific quality of quiet strength wrapped in gentleness, someone who observes more than they speak, who carries deep feelings beneath a calm surface. The snow-like piano pieces are supposed to reflect Mitsuki's introspective nature, that thoughtful distance he maintains while still being deeply present.
I especially focused on mixing Japanese neoclassical with soft indie folk music because it mirrors how Mitsuki bridges worlds:
traditional and contemporary, reserved yet expressive through performance.
I wanted this playlist to balance the feeling of solitude and longing for closeness. He's someone who exists beautifully in quiet moments but is also learning what it means to let people in, to share space with others (Kisa especially).
For the playlist art, the soft watercolor aesthetic with pale blues and delicate flowers (& Mitsuki gazing towards them) captures that same tender quality as the music.
The words I'd use to describe the feelings of this playlist: vulnerability, connection, the courage to be seen.
Thank you for reading this and hopefully this playlist brings some joy to you too 🥹
a short compilation of thoughts on xlov's 'i'mma be' from conservations we've had with @snchkns
i think that the main idea of the mv is that all strict hierarchical roles (including gender roles): 1) are artificial, 2) cause prejudice and conflict, 3) can be escaped.
there are three main location sets in the video, first we have individual "rooms", where all the members seem to be trapped:
sometimes we see these locations in 4:3 ratio, which adds to the sense of being stuck in a box, limited:
there's also the fact that we can see that these rooms aren't "real". the windows aren't windows, they are just hanging screens, so there are no actual walls. the prison is just an idea, a concept, but the sense of entrapment and frustration that comes with it is real.
the second set is a chessboard classroom:
everyone here is again confined to a grey box, forced to wear a school uniform, conform to a certain identity.
everyone here is just a figure on a chessboard, wearing an identity that they didn't choose, limited by their role and restricted in their movements, controlled by the hands of someone(s) we can't even see.
the third location is this white room with red lines on the floor that lead to exit doors:
if we don't count the individual "rooms", red is the only colour other than black and white in the whole music video. the colour that is outside the chessboard, outside the rules, and the colour of passion and energy, that shows the way outside.
when we see the exit for the first time, it's tilted sideways. we can't go through it, until we change our perspective, think outside the rulebook and the box.
the four members in this game of chess are represented by four white queens (who could've thought), the strongest chess piece on the board, while all the others kids are black:
the key moment of this game is when the black knight captures one of the white queens, wumuti:
throughout the video we can see xlov trying to almost impress, or prove themselves, or just showing who they truly are to all the other kids. but they're unimpressed, put off even. in one of the scenes we can see them with censored faces, which i interpret in two ways: loss of identity, and bullying.
i think it's important to note, that although no one physically controls the kids and pushes them to push out xlov out of the board, they're still just chess pieces in the hands of unknown beings. they're playing their roles, which are dictated by the rules of the game. everyone here is stuck.
except wumuti, who has been captured and moved out of the board. he is the one who shows the other three the direction of the exit door:
so that they can all open it and step through (i'm too lazy to go through all the members individually, and i don't know them that well, but all of them went through some kind of personal growth in their "rooms"):
i'm so fascinated by these scenes, that i believe are from the outside world perspective. we see the school book, the strict and limited identities burning, finally being destroyed. and we see the four white doves, the four members, being stuck in a black and white frame.
but since the members choose to go through the exit door, the school is burnt (and eaten), the rectangular box is gone, replaced the xlov's logo in black with a streak of red running through it:
they're free.
(or are they, i don't know if they're going to develop this story in the future comebacks, who knows)
Breaking Binary: Re-imagining "I'mma Be" Through Color Theory and Visual Metaphor
In the intersection of music video aesthetics and symbolic storytelling lies an intriguing concept: reimagining "I'mma Be" through a deliberate evolution of color, merging period aesthetics with deeper metaphorical meanings.
Or basically: What if I highlight the black/white chess-aspect of the mv further.
My reinterpretation draws inspiration from the haunting atmosphere of psychological horror games like Fran Bow and using color transitions to tell a story about breaking free from binary thinking.
The Power of Black and White
The black-and-white palette in my reimagined video serves dual purposes. First, it captures the 1920s aesthetic, transporting viewers to an era of silent films and art deco glamour. But beneath this nostalgic surface lies something more unsettling. The monochrome creates an uncanny valley effect – a world that's familiar yet distinctly “off.”
This choice isn’t just aesthetic. Black and white represent the ultimate binary: a stark world of absolute contrasts with no middle ground. It’s a visual metaphor for rigid thinking, societal constraints, and the false dichotomies we often find ourselves trapped in.
The Evolution of Color
The true magic happens in the transition from this binary world to full color. Each stage of the progression reflects growth and transformation:
Monochromatic Beginning: Pure black and white establish a stark, confined reality.
Sepia Awakening: Desaturated, sepia tones begin to bridge the gap between eras.
Color Bleeding: Hints of color seep into the edges, like reality itself is starting to crack.
Chromatic Explosion: At emotional peaks, color bursts forth in psychedelic vibrancy, shattering limitations.
These transitions aren’t random – in the original MV as well – but are timed to amplify the music’s emotional highs and lows. When the full spectrum of color finally emerges, it’s a triumph over the earlier restraint.
Beyond Binary Thinking
This color progression is more than a visual flourish; it’s a metaphor for personal and societal transformation. The journey from black and white to vibrant color symbolizes breaking free from rigid binaries, such as:
Right vs. Wrong
Us vs. Them
Traditional vs. Modern
Conformity vs. Rebellion
By embracing the full spectrum of color, the video celebrates complexity and nuance, showing the beauty in the "in-between." Each hue represents new possibilities and ways of seeing the world.
The Horror Element
The horror undertones add a layer of depth to this transformation. Horror often explores the breakdown of reality and the emergence of hidden truths. Here, the unease of the black-and-white world doesn’t disappear with the addition of color – it transforms into something more complex and thought-provoking.
The vintage aesthetic, combined with modern color grading, creates a temporal dissonance that keeps viewers slightly off-balance, much like the best psychological horror does. Breaking free from binary thinking isn’t always comfortable, but it’s ultimately liberating.
Just an addition: This is simply a fun way to reinterpret the visuals of the music video and share my thoughts! It’s not meant to criticize the MV at all – I absolutely love it.
(Also… don’t ask how long I worked on this edit/recolor + interpretation. It took way too long, haha. Furthermore, please excuse any grammar or linguistic mistakes, English is not my first language )
