Overblot Character Song Analysis #2: “Abyss”
This will be the second part of my analysis series on the Twisted Wonderland’s overblot character songs. As a small disclaimer, I do not actually speak or read Japanese so I will be primarily using translations by @mysteryshoptls as well as a Japanese to English dictionary website called Jisho to help me along. This post will be covering Azul’s “Abyss” song. The rest of the analysis will be under the cut due to length. Please read at your own risk because there will likely be spoilers within the song with regard to the character’s development and story.
I would like to start this analysis with a small tidbit. Where the lyrics talk about ‘pledges’ seems to also be a possible translation for ‘contracts,’ so please keep that in mind throughout this analysis. Furthermore, and as an aside, Azul’s song being named “Abyss” is intriguing since that word is not used within the lyrics. With that said though, the name “Abyss” could be a head nod to the fact that, as a merman, Azul is from the abyss-like oceans or that Azul’s emotional and/or mental state as well as his greed in relation to his overblot experience are abysslike or bottomless.
This song interestingly starts out discussing other people’s wishes before jumping over to show us Azul’s thoughts on such things:
“I want to be happy”
“I want the right answers”
Each time yet another desire is granted…
It just makes me want to crush them under my heel,
It makes me want to take it all away.
Just give your poor unfortunate soul (potentially translated as heart) over to me.
So Azul essentially is kind of disgusted by the desires of others and it really makes him look down on said others. Interestingly, this is something we see in game too, though it is usually displayed by Jade and/or Floyd when one or both of them talk about how everyone wants to get something for free and aren’t willing to put in the hard work (I’m fairly certain this is mentioned in the 3rd book which deals with the Octavinelle story/characters). Azul is basically saying that everyone who comes to him looking for what amounts to a get-out-of-jail-free card to life or a given situation should just hand themselves over to him since they aren’t going to put any effort anyway. Notably, these lyrics also, simultaneously, display Azul’s disgust with these people and their implied or indicated lack of willingness to put the effort in to gain success in a more fair manner. As such, one could infer that Azul views any unpleasant backlash from signing a contract with him as a form of karma for those who fail to uphold their end of the deal.
I never want to see that painful past again,
But the more I cry not to let it show,
The more it sears into my mind.
This section is pretty obvious. This is about Azul’s past, and is surprisingly relatable. Pretty much everyone has an unpleasant or embarrassing memory they don’t like to think about but that haunts them anyway at random varying intervals (i.e. when you’re trying to fall asleep and you suddenly remember something embarrassing from your childhood). For Azul, though, these are deeply painful memories that he tries desperately to hide. Based on what we see of his overblot and backstory in-game, these memories most likely have to do with his experience with being bullied. Nonetheless, the more he tries to hide his past and the scars that came with it, the more it burns itself into his mind, making it inescapable. Azul is quite likely often questioning whether he really is all the things his bullies called him (i.e. a silly little octo-twerp), and these things all haunt him.
Again and again,
I’ll shed my weaknesses, let it go, and dress myself up
I want to be someone stronger than everyone else
I want everything, I want it now, anything and everything
This I pledge so as to paint a perfect picture of myself
Now this section is interesting. The first part is rather inspirational. Azul wants to improve himself and become bigger than his weaknesses by letting them go and dressing to fill his chosen part until he really is someone stronger than everyone else. But past that point in the lyrics, we spiral directly into his overblot where he wants everything. His greed has become immense, and it now goes beyond merely improving himself. In many ways, this is a representation of a toxic level of perfectionism in that Azul is so desperate to perfect himself that he has taken it to mean he must have everything. I think the key here, and to Azul’s overblot, is the note that he wants to be ‘someone stronger than everyone else.’ In Azul’s mind, bettering himself means outdoing others. But somehow, in some way, Azul knows he can’t actually outdo everyone at everything, so he results in taking it all. Be it talents, magic, or anything else. All so he can become his own perfect image of himself. The sad thing is, Azul doesn’t seem to realize that by doing things this way, he loses sight of his own virtues and skills by becoming the very thing he detests. Because he doesn’t actually put any effort in when he does this. Rather, he just cherry-picks what he wants and doesn’t actually develop such skills.
“One day I want that person to love me back”
Whenever there is a desire as sweet as that
Before it can successfully bloom,
It makes me want to pluck it.
Every single person is just a pitiful flower
This section calls Ariel’s wish from “The Little Mermaid” to mind, and what's funny about this section is that it somewhat implies Azul is a bit of a romantic. Which, to be fair, has been somewhat implied before now. However, this verse really just serves to drive the point home Azul looks down on others and, even if their wish is a sweet one, he will pluck it/take it. He’s greedy, and he wants it all. So even if he somewhat admires someone's wish or views it as sweet, he’ll still take it. That’s how far he’s fallen. He wants it all, so darling little wishes like reciprocated love become a weapon for him to use against others.
The past clings to my legs
The more I struggle not to drown,
The more I can’t move at all.
This section is fun because Azul is a merman, and yet the lyrics here talk about drowning. This imagery is very powerful though and rather notable in that, by the time he’s in NRC and overblots, he has gained legs rather than tentacles. However, this too can serve as a weakness. In many ways, this tidbit serves to remind us that Azul has his unfortunate history that haunts him and that he is a merman on land, which puts him at a slight disadvantage in many ways, even though he does not let it hold him back. He’s had to give up some strengths to gain new ones, but that also leads to new weaknesses. This can also be viewed as somewhat indicating part of Azul’s issues. He doesn’t recognize his own talents and notable skills (i.e. the way he perseveres and puts the effort in so that his study guides are flawless and that his contracts are both legal and binding). While he’s busy amassing other’s skills and/or talents, he’s ignoring those that he already has.
With mere illusions,
Their enchanting dreams shine bright deceptively.
Every one of them is mine to devour.
I want more, still even more, as much as possible.
Before my overwhelming might,
If you bend a knee, now, I’ll show mercy,
So pledge yourself to me in supplication.
This is the final section of the song, of course, and unlike the previous chorus it does not have the positive opening lines. Instead, this chorus seems to fully reflect the mentality of an overblotted Azul. He’s fully lost control and does not care what happens anymore, so long as his greed is satisfied.
Nonetheless, the final three lines are interesting in that they show that he still entertains the idea of merciful, if in a mocking way. It’s as if he views this as a perk of power. He can crush people, but if you beg and pledge yourself to him, then he’ll show mercy. The only question is, who is this aimed at? Anyone he makes a contract with, or perhaps the player character whom Azul is doubtlessly more intrigued by since they caught his interest by beating him at his own game? It might also be a warning though. If you’re on his side, it’d be best to stay there because he’lll show mercy so long as you show supplication. Sort of a ‘don’t pretend you’re better than me, or I’ll crush you’ kind of thing.