Funeral wreaths were sent to HYBE headquarters by bunnies (Newjeans fandom) to show support for Min Heejin, coinciding with Chaewon's birthday on August 1st, 2024.
Source 1 Source 2
[Daniela]
I'm just tryna stay me, dance a little crazy
Daniela received a lot of hate for overdancing and her facial expressions, especially in the Gnarly era.
MV
ILLIT and especially Iroha I believe received a lot of hate for veneers.
This scene with Lara holding a corn and Katseye being in a cornfield has two possible meanings -
The oversexualized clothes and dance moves and the hate they get for it
AI porn deepfakes of many idols are present in dark corners of the Internet.
Hi guys, Aurae is back at it again at Krispy Kreme, this time with a voacloid song analysis (woah!). So, before we get into this, here's my usual disclaimer! I have been researching psychology for a WHILE and I plan to go into it professionally (:O). HOWEVER, that said, I am NOT a professional, so understand that everything I come to conclusions about has been analyzed with some personal judgement, personal interpretations, and this is just what I have concluded.
This also contains a lot of personal projecting onto this song as art is aways up to interpretations, and I see a lot of my childhood in this song. I will be touching on topics that are implied through lyrics, and you may not see this song the same way that I do, and that is perfectly okay! This is my take on deconstructing some of the messages that this song has.
A TW FOR THIS ANALYSIS INCLUDES: hypnotism, escapism, unhealthy coping mechanisms, suicide, self-harm, depictions of abusive environments (as that is how I interpret this song), manipulation, gaslighting, dehumanization, neon colours.
So, now let's get into the confetti and fun wonderland of MESMERIZER!
I'll be splitting this into three parts: The part where I talk about the song lyrics, the part where I talk about the animation itself, and then I'll explain a few theories I've seen, as well as my own, adding onto the story that I think it is telling.
PART 1: SONG LYRICS ANALYSIS
“No thinking about real feelings
Are you pretending to not notice?
The absolute truths and your own heart
That's how the safe zone is shrinking
Prostituting your wounds
You give a feeble cry, such shameful conduct”
Although the song itself is quite catchy, cheerful, and jubilant, the lyrics are far from those things. We immediately start off with the idea of disregarding one’s own feelings, Miku talking about how people pretend not to not notice their own feelings and the ‘truths’ of their own hearts. However, this is hard to avoid forever, and their ‘safe zones’ (escapism places) are shrinking as reality creeps up on them, so they ‘showcase’ their sorrow to others. I think this is definitely a metaphor for how some people overshare to others and tell others all about the ways that they’ve hurt, which can be used against them, as this gives others easy access to material that could be used to manipulate them. However, there are also undertones of self-shame (which comes with trauma), calling their cries for help ‘shameful’. It should also be noted that some abuse survivors, while being abused, have relatively clear cries for help through their actions that nobody else seems to pick up on, which is also a theme in this song as nobody answers Teto’s cries for help.
“I’ve got a recommendation for you, the ultimate escape
Eventually, you will be saved from being lured into sweet traps
Now that you can no longer live sanely in this world anymore
Perhaps pretending to know nothing
And surrendering yourself is the optimal solution”
This ‘ultimate escape’ that the song talks about is escapism, or imagination. Reality is too hard to deal with, so children turn to their own minds as a way to stop the pain from taking over. It’s much easier to live in a dreamworld rather than a reality where you’re being hurt, right? They say that ‘ignorance is bliss’, and they’re taking it to the next level here by repressing, ignoring, and denying their own true feelings in order to feel happiness. They escape to that ‘safe zone’ mentioned earlier within their minds. However, there is an irony in the second line where they talk about ‘sweet traps’, as it can be interpreted as the imaginary world being ‘sweet traps’, or maybe the harshness and certainty of reality can be considered a ‘sweet trap’ as well, depending on how you look at it.
“If a bunch of flowers dressed up with words
Can steal one's heart, are they real?
To an event where everything will be tainted
I give you an invitation”
This runs even further with the idea of imagination and escapism, because flowers cannot literally dress up and speak in the real world. This is talking about how maybe the characters feel like they can no longer distinguish fiction from reality, talking about how fictional things can make you feel things, so they must be real, too. It’s basically saying that because fiction has such an effect on us, then can fiction and imagination be considered to be another form of reality, as well? However, it is mentioned that the event will be ‘tainted’, possibly referencing the idea of fiction completely overtaking reality.
“Farewell
You're tailor-made for this era
With an appearance of vulnerability
Fooled by this truthful acting
Your heart beats so very loudly
Your extra lives are quickly being lost
Your durability worn away
Dodging matters right in front of you
You got your hands full just living”
This is where we go back to the idea of manipulation, and maybe even conditioning. ‘Tailor-made for this era’ implies that something turned these people into the kinds of people that would be easily manipulated. It is also implied that the two are hurting and explicitly stated that they’re vulnerable and easy to take advantage of. I would consider the theme of hypnosis and brainwashing to tie into this as well. They are more vulnerable to the idea of being manipulated and taken control of due to the fact that they are hurting and want to escape to another reality, and will believe anybody that says that they will make things better because they are hurt too much. They are fooled by the acting of the people that pretend to love them, who are really here to just control them. This is talking about the urge that people have to run away from reality, because just getting up and existing can be such a challenge.
“You’re getting sleepy, a shallow hypnosis
Your head, your body are becoming muddled
No way, so many tricks?
Swinging a coin before your eyes
You'll become completely still
"This is fine," even you can be coaxed into shut down”
This is Miku’s part, and the part where she is completely hypnotized and taken control of. She ‘shuts down’, completely rejecting reality and going into the ‘imagination world’. She does not want to feel pain any longer and takes the opportunity to run from it, turning into a puppet for others to control and manipulate.
“You're getting sleepy, a shallow hypnosis
Your head, your body are becoming muddled
No way, so many tricks?
Swinging a coin before your eyes
You'll become completely still
(coercion cancellation)”
Teto’s part however, in the middle of it, fades out, as she does not completely listen to what the people have to say. She resists the manipulation, and it’s explicitly stated with the part where it goes ‘coercion cancellation’. She is actively fighting the urge to run away into escapism, and resisting the manipulation of whatever is trying to do so to them.
“However you survive today, it's unrewarding everyday
You're already in a bot-like cycle
Continuing from the moment of inertia
If you have no luck, no hope, it's all the more pointless
If you haven't got it then give up
Playing with the leftovers is your fate”
This is just more stuff about giving up on the real world. Inertia means “the inherent property of a body that makes it oppose any force that would cause a change in its motion”, aka: refusing to move, even when force is put upon something. I would say ‘inertia’ is a synonym for birth or consciousness, because it’s talking about how even from the moment that you are born that you are stuck in a cycle of endless pain in reality. This part is basically talking about why you should give up on reality entirely and simply live in the worlds of your own creation, running away into escapism and disregarding the real world in favor of not feeling pain.
“You’re tailor-made for this era
With an appearance of vulnerability
Fooled by this truthful acting
Your heart beats so very loudly
Exaltation has already lost its meaning
A fake charisma
If you stare directly at reality, you’ll end up going blind
So do it in moderation”
Once again, talks about being perfect subjects of manipulation. However, Teto speaks of the fact that the rush of joy that you usually get after originally going into the escapism world has already been lost, and that it is fake. However, she also mentions that if you keep on living in the real world the entire time, it will not do you any good, so she advises everyone else to live in your imagination only sometimes, but to keep an eye on the real world.
PART 2: THE ANIMATION
This is just a lot of things that I have noticed other people saying, but some tidbits about the animation include:
This is a screenshot from the very start, showing how there are themes of hypnosis from the beginning.
I believe it is also mentioned that the 13-pointed star that is shown a lot represents immortality.
Also, can I mention that their outfits seem almost childish in nature? I believe that this is meant to represent that they are ‘vulnerable’, intensifying the idea that they are easily taken advantage of. However, these also look like worker outfits in the way, with the yellow rectangles almost looking like name tags. It almost seems like they’re workers for a children’s amusement park? Which would make the horror aspect of this even worse…
Miku’s shoes are rollerblades, which can be interpreted of her being more carefree and more willing to run away, because wheels are faster, and can also be interpreted of her being less connected to the ground/reality. It can also be shown in the idea that she is the more ‘childish’ of the two of them, being easier to manipulate, which is why she falls to hypnosis first.
In contrast, Teto’s shoes look rather normal. Probably a representation of her being more grounded?
I’ve seen people interpret Miku’s cuffs as like places for strings to hold onto during her later animations, which can tie into her being more of a puppet rather than a human?
Star pupils at the start for both of them when Teto talks about an escape. They are clearly both looking for one.
However, Teto pretty early on also does the ASL sign for “HELP”.
Also, Teto blinks in morse code for “SOS” during the first chorus.
The first letter of all of these spell out “help”, while the fourth letters spell out “SOS”.
“phosphoribosylaminoimidazole succinic carboxamide” is something that helps with energy metabolism, as well as DNA synthesis. I believe this can be a reference to the fact that many abuse survivors go through dehumanization, or it could be a reference to the idea that neither of them feel “real” or “human”.
Also, at the end here, Teto makes another nonverbal sign for help with her hands.
Miku is hypnotized pretty easily, swaying from side to side like following the motions of a coin.
However...
Teto resists hypnosis for ten days, if you count the amount of times the sun rises and sets in this scene. Although, at the end…
Even she falls into hypnosis.
Also, their entire background is green here. Teto looks a little shocked, while Miku finds nothing wrong with this. This may be a green screen, which further emphasizes that the world that they are in is not real, and is only a product of escapism and/or imagination.
Miku has never done this pose before, until after she was hypnotized.
Also, it’s a good time to say that Miku’s movements here look robotic, or like she’s being puppeteered, with how jarring they are.
I didn’t point this out before, but this happens earlier too – they point at the star, and tell you to “focus”, before “MESMERIZER” is spelt out really quickly in the star, at the very start, but not at the second time.
As we start the next chorus, Miku’s face develops into this. It’s also noted that Teto stops bouncing for a few moments in pure shock. Also, I should mention that after you hang yourself, your tongue can protude from your mouth. There’s also a choker around her neck, and her skin seems to pale considerably, which points to the idea of a suicide. However, if she’s dead, what is puppeteering her?
Also, the star at this point is swirling. It’s outright trying to hypnotize you.
However, after this, Miku continues to dance, even after her part is over, and even goes off beat. The amount of confetti in this scene is increased considerably, as if whatever is trying to hypnotize them or control them is trying extra hard to make Teto give in.
At the end, she does.
PART 3: THEORIES
So, what the hell does this all mean?
Let’s recap–
Teto & Miku are going to the unhealthy coping mechanism of escapism to deal with their lives, through one form or another, to run from reality. This much is clear. However, it gets to be too much for them and they are inevitably hypnotized by something or someone, taken control of, and while Teto asks for help, Miku gives in early, leading to the ending. This is all we can take from surface level.
This is where I get into it with my theories.
I like to mention the fact that these two feel immensely like they’re being conditioned by something, or someone, that they are supposed to trust. Maybe an adult figure in their lives. They clearly have faced hard shit during their lives, which explains the need for escapism. Teto is the more grounded one, and Miku just wants to escape from the pain. The first way that I interpret this is:
Childhood abuse. Both of them are being manipulated and coerced by their own parents, and are finding solace in one another. Teto brings up escapism to Miku, and they do it together, creating worlds together and having fun at the start. Teto keeps on trying to ask for help to the people of the outside world in miniscule ways, but even when she directly asks for help dealing with her situation, she is still ignored and pushed aside. So, they then escape whenever they can because it gives them a feeling of control when in fact their own escapism mannerisms are a way to try and control their real lives but it doesn’t matter because it’s better this way. So all of her “SOS”s are for nothing.
However, the longer the abuse goes on, the more they fall into it as their only method to be saved, and Miku eventually cannot handle reality, falling into the imagination world forever – that is, killing herself so that she will never have to deal with reality again, being pushed over by the expectations she had to fulfill in reality. Teto stays afterwards, however, trying to handle life, but is eventually manipulated into being something that she’s not, and kills herself as well due to the pressure. However, this could also be interpreted as a “loss of the self” as they either drown themselves both in the imagination world, or could be interpreted as the fact that they eventually simply turned into the people their parents wanted them to be.
I can also interpret this in a completely opposite way – that the world that is full of colours and whimsy is actually a world that their parents have trapped them in. That they are being pressured to be happy all the time even though they don’t want to be, and that in front of everyone else they have to act like everything is fine even though it isn’t. Maybe they’re being coerced by their parents to never feel sadness, to leave all of those ridiculous things behind, to become perfect – almost like a Coraline situation. They’re pretending like everything is fine even though it isn’t. However, eventually, they get caught up in all of their lies and the fake reality they set up for themselves. They’d rather look at it rather than reality, but at the same time, they are being puppeteered by their surroundings in a harmful manner.
Escapism. :)
Second interpretation: they are working for some studio or something, which could be why there was a green screen at one point. They are promoting the idea of escapism to other people, but unwillingly. Miku falls into the ideals of their director and falls into the headspace entirely, agreeing with the ideals of others while they are forced to continue spreading this message in an almost dystopian manner. They are hypnotized by the person producing this message.
Third: Maybe this is a story about them working in some sort of childhood theme park in order to escape their realities as well, and be children forever? This ties the two previous ideas together. They are overworking themselves to the point where reality and fiction are indistinguishable. Unable to deal with everything that she has to do, Miku dies, and Teto follows suit.
Four: Literal hypnosis. Maybe some sort of horror story of becoming victims of some hypnosis monster? I like this one the most because it makes me think of a story where Mikuy and Teto were struggling, and perhaps made a deal with some eldritch being so that they can escape reality into their own fictional world. However, as more time goes on, the more the world that they’ve entered becomes twisted, and Miku falls to the being’s whims, turning into a mindless puppet in order to reject reality further. Teto, horrified at what has happened, tries to reach out to others, only to have nobody listen to her. She then gives up entirely and joins her friend.
There’s a lot of ways to interpret this, but the general message is that people want to escape from their harsh realities. This is natural, especially if you’re a victim of manipulation or abuse, but this is also a reminder that you can’t go too far from it, and that there are still people waiting for you.
TLDR: Escapism, slay! But don’t slay too hard, unless you want to end up like MESMERIZER Miku!! I love this song so much and I can and will elaborate on ideas. I’m really tired due to my exams so I am so sorry if something doesn’t sound coherent here, but thank you for reading!! <3
"Black Out See Saw" is the Climax Alkaloid Deserved
Top Songs from Enstars 2023 Number 1
I was blown away when the album art for Alkaloid was released a few months ago...
This art is such a sharp contrast from their first album art, that shows how they have grown. The basic military style unit outfits have been replaced with regal commander-style ones. The basic emotions that are shown in the original are now much more refined- in particular, Aira has evolved from someone simply happy to be on a stage to someone who is confident in his place on it, Mayoi is putting himself more in center, and Hiiro's confident smirk has become more stoic, as he now has the experience to go with his skills.
All of this went away, however, when we actually got the Alkaloid Climax song...
Sigh...it was the seasonal Halloween event for the year. Yes, the idea of incorporating hospital/illness and Tatsumi's relationship with it is an interesting story to tell...but Alkaloid deserved so much more, especially as the "Protagonists" for the !! era of Enstars. I was frustrated that the end of this era of Enstars for Alkaloid was wasted on a seasonal event, but was at least able to take solice in that Alkaloid gets 200 chapters of the main story dedicated to them, and we still had solo songs for each character to come from the album. December rolls around, and the album releases. After jumping through hoops to buy it, I throw my headphones on to give the album a listen. The first track, "DiZZineSS" is a weird 30 second preamble with no singing, not something I was expecting. However, it rolls directly into the first new song on the album
Bam
Black Out Sea Saw is a violent wall of sound, unlike anything else that has been done for Enstars before, and I can understand fans not liking it. The reason it sounds so different is because it was produced by TK of Ling Tosite Sigure, a 20+ year going Prog Rock group. I listened to the song 3 times before moving on, and waited for the MV release to come, as is usual with the "B" side track from Albums. And what we got was one of the most well constructed videos for Alkaloid fans, and the climax that I was looking for that wasn't provided by the Halloween song.
The video opens...strangly, especially if you haven't heard the song before. The opening is intentionally choppy and rough, almost like it was an unfinished song that still needed production. There is a weird reverb effect happening- which you can especially hear when Mayoi hits the high note, that led to a friend saying "it sounds like they recorded this in a bathroom or something". The other thing that really jumps out is how robotic and synchronized the movements of all 4 members are. This is a BIG deal. In just about every Alkaloid video, you can find little inconsistencies at various points- Aira is sometimes a bit slow to do something, Hiiro is sometimes a bit too fast, Tatsumi's movements are less athletic, etc. The robotic movements are all in perfect unison, especially at points where characters do things together, like make hand bridges. It's a sign of Alkaloid's growth as a unit- they started as a collection of rejects, and now they haver come together and become a great unit together.
As we go to the first chorus, the intensity of the song ramps up- it becomes FAST, yet every member is in perfect harmony. The dancing becomes more intense- and everyone stays perfect. And then we get to the final line "It's Error-Error", and things start to change- we start to see more finger movement, the motions become more flowing and less robotic (the robots are malfunctioning! error! error!), and more personality is shown by each member.
We then get a wonderful effect of feathers raining from the sky, before, and then we get to see everyone smile, including Hiiro with this soft and expressive look. (that I wish I was able to time slightly better when I took my screenshot!)
Why is this important? Lets take a look at the first Introduction of Hiiro, in his first close-up in Kiss of Life
It's a look of focus, of determination, and NOT one of joy. Hiiro NEVER smiles at any point in Kiss of Life except during the SPP- he maintains a focused look the entire time. Additionally, you can look at just about any Alkaloid video, and Hiiro rarely smiles- if anything, he just physically assaults the camera in every one of them! The final chapter of the main story is titled "Smile", which is a discussion between Hiiro and Rinne on what it means to be an idol, and Rinne telling Hiiro "Whenever I see you smile, it makes me smile too", with Hiiro responding that he will do whatever it takes to make people smile
Hiiro wasn't able to smile in Kiss of Life, as his focus was on putting smiles on the faces of others. It's weird, because when he isn't preforming, a smile is basically plastered on his face permanently. He has a very loud and infectious laugh, and he's just happy to be doing anything at any time. On stage, for him, its different. And Black Out Sea Saw is the first time that Hiiro is able to not just smile, but show kindness in it, as opposed to simple joy or excitement. It's a MASSIVE step forward for him- the kind of thing that, you know, you might build a Climax story around?
And then, we come to the end, where the intensity of the song does not let up, before it all crashes to an end as the lights go dark and Alkaloid go still
To me, this is the Alkaloid Climax, the song that I will remember. They have gone from a group thrown together to a cohesive unit with a sound unlike anyone else in the franchise, and all of whom have had character growth. It's the one that they deserve going into the new era that is upcoming, and even has a level of finality to it, seeing as how it was released right at the end of the year.
Alkaloid deserved better than Undying Holy Love, and boy, did they get it...
Hey! You might not know me that much, as I’m not active in the DRDTheory community, as I’ve dubbed it, but my name is Blanket! Technically, this is a work of collaboration between the majority of DRDT Twitter, but it’s mainly just an analysis of stuff I couldn’t do by myself.
Okay, and now, onto the video!
So we start off with the spoiler warning. Pretty standard stuff, of course.
Many of my theories beginning here will be based on the colors and what I, personally, associate them with. Of course, the actual MV’s contents will be looked at further down the line.
As a bonus, take note of what pops up right after that. It’s a question: Do you want to forgive... someone? We’ll answer this question later on in the theories section.
These are mainly just lyrics, but the “final verdict” part catches my eye, as I believe it isn’t in the lyrics further down the line. Perhaps it’s about the current trial? As many people believe, David did not kill Arei. His reasons for lying about doing so are unknown, but we can assume that the singer is calling the listeners idiots, because of their incorrect final verdict. Whatever David wants to do, it’s certainly not leading them to the right one.
Next, these lyrics. While I believe it’s fairly obvious that the pink is meant to represent the typical Danganronpa-esque color of their blood, the color that the word “game” is in is probably relates to David. After all, his hair clips and star eyes, both prominent features of his “facade”, are in the same color.
Here is where the most prominent part of the MV is, to me. The text that flashes across the screen during transition points. The first one, in white text, is an excerpt from Osamu Dazai’s “The Flowers of Buffoonery.” The book, while I’ll spare you the greater details, greatly describes themes of suicide. The story’s main protagonist, Yozo Oba, can be described as so: “-But the narrator, a self-conscious writer, makes frequent first-person asides, breaking the fourth wall as he comments on the quality or believability of the novel he is writing.”
Something especially telling is this line, from an analysis of Yozo’s character. “Yozo is a person characterized by shame. Although I pretend to be someone who is confident and unabashedly themselves, that is not really true. I have always been ashamed of who I really am. I created a whole persona to interact with others because I believed my true self would never be enough.”
David’s character is someone very similar to that. Someone who has created a false persona to interact with others. Yozo is someone who feels resentful of other people, simply because he is forced to make them happy.
“Yozo Oba is the tortured author and unreliable narrator of the three notebooks that comprise the bulk of No Longer Human. [That is the sequel to The Flowers of Buffoonery.] His appearance is depicted in three photographs examined by an unnamed narrator in the Prologue. These three photographs correspond to his appearance in each of the three notebooks. As a child, Yozo is precocious by design—an impish child who uses his antics to hide his fear, shame, and inability to relate to humanity. These fundamental flaws carry over into young adulthood; in the second notebook, he is a handsome young man whose smiling photograph lacks humanity, betraying the depth of terror and isolation that his comical persona seeks to hide. In the third photograph and notebook, he is only 27, but his gray hair and forgettable appearance prevent him from being labeled an ordinary human being.”
The quotes in yellow are from Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express.” The full quote reads as follows. "If you confront anyone who has lied with the truth, they usually admit it – often out of sheer surprise. It is only necessary to guess right to produce your effect."
I think the relevancy of this line in terms of David can be explained with his actions so far. Fun fact: Similarly to Danganronpa, “Murder on the Orient Express” is a murder mystery.
This is just a rickroll. DRDTDev thinks that they are FUNNY!? (They are.)
The “an archaic personal pronoun rarely used in real life, but popularized in fiction by the book” is most likely referring to thou/thy/etc. I’m not sure what this correlates to, but it’s probably important. I couldn’t find the green text, but from what I can tell, the green text probably relates to David’s nihilistic point of view towards humanity.
Update: Bleuflower on Tumblr has located the source to be I Am A Cat by Natsume Soseki, so go check her out for that! If I had to say anything about that, it’d probably be relating to MonoTV, however, there’s also a continuation of David’s nihilism towards humanity that was also found in the Osamu Dazai references. The book itself is described as a “mordantly comic evocation of Sōseki's deep pessimism about his own humanity and indeed about humankind in general.”
The white text here is an excerpt from Osamu Dazai’s “No Longer Human,” which follows the same protagonist as “The Flowers of Buffoonery.” I’m sure you can all gather what that means in relation to David, but the main point is that he seems detached from his view of “normalcy.”
@shidoutism on Twitter had this to say, as they’ve read the book itself:
“OKOK so basically this first excerpt is from 'no longer human' by osamu dazai (its his last finished work because dazai sadly took his own life after publication of the book) now from the limited knowledge i have of david the meaning and message of the book might help in whatever analysis ur doing?? no longer human is about a man who never felt like he understood humans. like the title suggests, he never felt like a person. its revealed the protag was pretty sheltered and rich in childhood but experienced trauma from the familys housekeepers, but he never reported it. thats basically the start of it all as the protag grows up, he finds fear in communicating with humans. so he ends up either isolating himself and/or destroying all of his relationships with people. he's scared of people seeing the real him, so ever since he was a child he started putting up a happy, cheerful front. but it just creeped some ppl out bc it didn't feel genuine, it was more like a clown wanting to so badly entertain others. the protag starts resorting to bad coping mechanisms such as dr/gs and alc/hol and has many relationships with women to drown his sorrows and feel closer to being 'a human'. aaand the end of the book is kinda unsettling as the protag is sent to a rehab center and then when released, isolated himself somewhere far away without people, stating "everything passes. thats the one thing i learned in this living hell [somewhere along those lines]" and the book ends numbly like it feels like nothing”
I don’t know about you, but this sounds rather similar to our “protagonist.”
This quote is from “The Setting Sun”, by, you guessed it, Osamu Dazai. It tells a similar story, albeit with a different protagonist, but I feel like this ties in more with his facade, and how his inspirational speaking comes off to other people. Considering he is in his facade at this time of the MV, it’s safe to say that that’s what this is referring to.
And now, this all falls into place. These are the names of the Osamu Dazai books referenced in the text beforehand. The (I’m), next to No Longer Human, however, could signify how David views himself. Someone so sunken into depravity that they don’t register themselves as human anymore.
The faded text here is the first sentence of Yasunari Kawabata’s “Snow Country”. I don’t know what this refers to in terms of David, but this also seems important.
David still views himself as manipulative. Even if he does love people, even if he does have a semblance of care for those in his life, he views himself as an evil, irredeemable sack of shit, incapable of any emotion other than selfishness and cruelty.
This part is especially intriguing to me. David still wants to live, as anyone else does, but he can’t bring himself to find a reason to leave. His career is dead. He’s worthless, and nobody needs him around. Where would he go? There’s no room for him anywhere, even if he escaped, he’d just be shunned for good now that his entire life has been thrown away.
The excerpt from “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie, describes someone losing motivation to leave the island. The island is a metaphor for the building, that the students are trapped inside, and David has lost the will to leave in the first place. He doesn’t want to leave, because there’s nowhere else for him to even go. He doesn’t have a home. He doesn’t have a fanbase. There’s nothing left.
The text here reads: “If you’re Hythlodaeus, then I must be Morus.” This refers to the work “Utopia”, written by Thomas More. The book follows Raphael Hythlodaeus, a man who claims to be from Utopia, a perfect place for everyone. His surname quite literally means “Bringer of Nonsense,” or something along those lines. While this may be a stretch, I believe that “Hythlodaeus” is referring to Pre-Reveal David, and “Morus” could possibly be either Post-Reveal David or someone affected by his speeches, for example Xander.
Also, I find it interesting how the girl in this frame, most likely David’s “sister,” Diana, and David himself are both tilting their heads at similar angles. It’s possible that their relation is hinted at through this, but I’m not sure.
The excerpt right here is from Kajii Motojiro’s entry in the Kyoto Journal, entitled “Lemon”. While some of the text has been altered, the main story is about a man who finds himself suffering, and walks through his neighbourhood only to find a greengrocer selling lemons. He goes home, and finds himself happier than before. I’m not sure what this means when it comes to David, however if you’d like, you can analyze for yourself and let me know.
This part doesn’t have any external references, but I believe that the lyrics here reinforce David’s worldview, that no matter what you do and how hard you try, “nobody ever changes.”
The star imagery here is a direct reference to David. Stars are representative of his happy facade, and when he loses the stars, he quits the bullshit.
…And this frame. Alright, let’s start from the top. The electrocution definition is a callback to Xander, who’s referenced quite a few times in the video. The yellow text, which is from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s “The Little Prince”, is possibly a reference to David’s view on other people or himself- That nobody is special unless you were born special. However, the end of the text describes that if the boy were to tame the fox, the speaker, that they would need each other. I’m not sure if this is a description of manipulation, or a codependent relationship, but the David parallels are there. That, and the title of a “little prince” probably refers to David and how he’s idolized by many. The green text is, again, from “The Flowers of Buffoonery.” The full text is as follows.
“A man crushed by reality puts on a show of endurance. If that's beyond your comprehension, dear reader, then you and I will never understand each other. Life's a farce, so we might as well make it a good one. But real life is a realm that I may never reach. The best that I can hope for is to loiter in the memory of these four days, so steeped with empathy. Four days that count more than
five or ten years of my life. Four days that count more than a lifetime.”
In reference to David, this is more representative of his true feelings. Not the asshole persona or the facade, but the genuine feelings he has. He already feels far too gone by his own standards, and constantly puts on a “show” for other people in the form of his speeches.
The red text is possibly a person dealing with depression speaking on one of their symptoms. There’s no way I could find a source for such a short quote. A common symptom of depression is losing interest in things you previously found enjoyable.
The white text on the side describes someone who finds pleasure in solitude as opposed to being bossed around by other people. It’s a reference to David’s backstory, as someone who was pressured into putting on a performance for others, finding comfort in being alone rather than having to play pretend whenever around other people.
The white text at the bottom is a continuation of the white text at the top.
The only theory I can think of for this is that it’s a foreshadowing to either gaps in their memory or the amount of survivors left in the killing game being four. Not sure.
Update: I don’t know how I missed this, but the “11” next to the suspicious gaps refers to this. It’s possible that the suspicious gaps are gaps in their memory now, being as he doesn’t remember having an older sister, but her existence is most likely confirmed, as we saw her.
This part here is referring to “Catch 22,” when the main character realizes that without a soul, humans are just… matter, if you will. Empty husks.
For this part, I had to call upon my not-so-trustworthy old friend, Google Translate! The translation of this from Latin is “I think, therefore I am (not.)” That’s what makes the most sense to me. We’ll refer back to this part later, for I have a different intention for it in my mind than David himself.
The dark blue text is another excerpt from “The Little Prince.” The prince in question is talking to a castaway, and the main takeaway of his words is that only your heart can tell you what you really need. If you were to simply look with your eyes, then what you truly need would be drowned out by the blinding light of superficial desires. I’m pretty sure that’s what that means. David is looking through his eyes, seeing a cruel world where nobody changes unless they were born to.
Now, let’s get into the next big part of the MV: The crossword puzzle. You might be wondering how this relates to David, but its moreso his own commentary on his classmates. Let’s go back to the latin. Pay attention to this reference of the solved crossword by raspbeyes on Tumblr. It will be very important for you to follow along.
Notice how there’s roman numerals in some of David’s lyrics? For example, this that we established earlier meant “I think therefore I am (not.)”
This is referring to Rose. Her photographic memory can be linked to the description of “thinking.” The context of this may become clearer in future parts of the story.
III. That’s Charles. “If you doubt brittle things are broken.” Is, in my mind, referring to his memories. He has a recurring element of not remembering things, but he doesn’t seem to be aware of this until Chapter 2. For example, his secret- “Your older brother died, but you don’t remember him at all.”
IV. Arei. Her breakdown sequence should be all you need to associate this with her.
V. This is Ace. He’s going insane, obviously, because of the paranoia and failed murder attempt against him. That, and he’s become more disheveled as the game progressed.
XIV. Veronika, correct? Substance to the arts relates to her talent as a Horror Fanatic. Naturally, she’d be related to things like that.
XV. Whit’s refusal to accept his mother’s death, staying ignorant to the tragedies around him, is one of the “happiest” members of the cast.
XI. Mai Akasaki is not mentioned in the current story, and all of her quotes hidden amongst the cast members describe her in past tense. She was someone everyone viewed as reliable, trustworthy, and perhaps, if you exaggerated it, as God.
These two walls of text are both from the same source: Hamlet’s Solliloquy of “To Be, or Not to Be?”
This is what the thing actually means, in case you aren’t aware, which even I wasn’t until just now. It represents David’s suicidal ideology, from what we can assume with the way he’s trying to get everyone to vote wrong in the trial for Arei, quite well. Whether he wants to live, or die, is most likely a constant struggle for David to answer.
Which is why he leaves it up to… whoever can answer.
This is an absolute reference to the trial. The class trial rules are overlaid over the death portrait texture, which is “conveniently” covering David’s face. The seventeen here is also telling, considering what the description has to say about it!
This is what I believe is David’s end goal. To get everyone executed as a result of his own hopelessness. By pretending to be the killer and antagonizing the class, he believes he can easily sway the votes by “manipulating the public” as he always believes he’s done. By getting everyone to vote for him, he can end the killing game and his own “pathetic life” in one fell swoop.
After all, it’s not like he believes they have a chance of winning and escaping in the first place.
And here, is where we left off in Episode 11. David completely drops his facade in order to effectively kill himself, along with everyone else. After realizing the hopelessness of his situation, he makes a drastic turn to accept it readily. Someone who self-sabotages continues to do so because they develop a warped perspective of having control.
And again referring to the description, the 12 near the “Tallying Votes” caption refers to this. It’s David’s way of justifying his selfishness, with a diluted form of justice serving as an “ultimately fair verdict to the trial.”
However, David has always wanted to be loved. It’s why he even bothers with his facade, because he’s been putting it up for so long that disregarding his persona would effectively ruin everything he’s worked so hard to maintain in the first place. The repeated imagery of applause could also be a callback to his status as a celebrity, especially with how he reacted to Xander and Arei’s reliance on him.
While this does have a small fade of text pointing out that the “degraded copy” is the cover, which is not true because the MV is amazing, but. I believe this–
Oh. That’s literally it. Well, that makes one mystery solved!
Hey, look, we’re already halfway through! nice!
Eden’s optimistic personality can be referenced here. She wants to live with everyone, together, and make sure that nobody gets hurt.
This is another reference to David’s rambling on about how attempting to change is utterly futile, and that nobody changes.
The yellow text is the definition of a television show, I believe. The blue text is an excerpt from “And Then There Were None,” by Agatha Christie. The full quote is this: “Breakfast was a curious meal. Everyone was very polite…. Six people, all outwardly self-possessed and normal. And within? Thoughts that ran round in a circle like squirrels in a cage…. ‘What next? What next? Who? Which?’...”
…Do you get it? It’s a parallel to the killing game. Or, rather, how David views it. Everyone is terrified and scared for their lives, but they still greet eachother with mock kindness.
The blue text on the side is an excerpt from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.”, and it goes like this: “I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er.”
A critical analysis of the original work reads as follows:
Shakespeare is saying here that Macbeth has involved himself in so many murders that it is as easy for him to carry on than to turn back. Macbeth compares his course of action with wading across a river of blood, creating a vivid image of his bloody reign. The word 'tedious' reveals the hardening of Macbeth's heart.
And now, the moment I’m sure most of you have been waiting for. Xander. Something I took notice of was that the cracks line up directly with his left eye, while his right eye is the one that’s actually missing in the game. Nonetheless, Xander clearly did mean something to David. Whether it be through his idolization of David, or if he inspired David in some way, his death had an impact on him. Manipulative persona or not.
XVI translates to Hu from the crossword puzzle. He’s taunting her, similarly to how he did in the trial, although the ??? makes me wonder if it actually IS David…
XII, that’s Eden. I assume it’s because of her optimistic persona that she is standing in someone’s way, although we’re not sure who.
For the next part, let’s say we take this at face value. It could definitely be referencing David allegedly pushing Arei to commit suicide, although this could also be something he internalizes, with the themes of suicide and wishing to be dead explored previously.
These are all repeats of the previous works included in the MV, like The Little Prince, Ozamu Dazai’s series, Agatha Christie’s works, etc etc.
Now, this is code, I’m assuming, but I tried translating it and couldn’t find anything. It’s a common encryption language. In case you want to translate it, it’s:
3aqxw97pktc8uki458fbdpfoacllex2f07bf8mg24b4mpfx2adc6v3f5yhxjd8i7sf11312zaj5lazet47jod5jczec5mvb6bz2o59r143sf2pe916sczcn7emvbl55ehe9iqb2708tt83482c8tw3c77gn47ojca634gbcfz0016s647wwlakcn46brcle0eam9
NOTE: @glorywelpchild on Twitter says…
“For this, it may have been encrypted multiple times by different engines? I'm not a programmer so I'm not really familiar lmao. Another thing, it could be a type of programming the dev knows/commonly uses.”
The VI here is Arturo, but I don’t know what this means. Perhaps the description can give us some insight?
Hmm… Well, I don’t mind. Whatever you say.
Nico’s number is VIII, and this is referring to the defense they put up when asked about their intentions against Ace’s life. They claim they never thought about it, and “even if they try to think, they don’t know.”
This is Levi’s, as per the IX.
I actually managed to find the original image in the background. It’s a study on Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9’s orbit around Jupiter for several years before crashing into the planet. While the name, Shoemaker Levy, may be a play on Levi’s name, I believe this is also referencing that he may die soon. Maybe this is a stretch, but the symbolism of a comet named “Shoemaker Levy” crashing into Jupiter being right under a symbol that represents Levi, our prime suspect in a game where being caught results in death, is too far to be a coincidence. Part of my theory for Chapter 2 is that Levi is the blackened, after all, but that is in a previous post. Nonetheless, we can move on.
This is “Enterance of the Gladiators.” While it is now associated with silly things like clowns, it was originally a military march song. Hmm, where have I heard this description before?
Ah, that’s right! In the description!
These two are relatively straightforward. The David we meet in the prologue is his facade, and it serves as an introduction. However, we are re-introduced to him with a whole personality change, and that comes delayed from all the others.
This is a direct reference to MonoTV and the throne in the trial room.
The truth bullets. Typical Danganronpa symbolism, and it’s also a neat little reference to Xander’s custom weapon.
References to some of the students. The dresser is Levi, the bowl of fruit is Rose, the gun is Xander, the teapot is Hu, and the candle is maybe J?
The clock is Eden, the portrait, maybe a reference to the game? The stupid kid’s toy might be Whit.
Teruko and Mai. Teruko’s misfortune and Mai’s idealization are both key parts of their characters.
The gavel, another reference. The kitchen knife, Min. The skull, Veronika. The mirror… Possibly Xander because we’ve seen him with broken glass earlier in the MV, but it might be David and his personas making another reference.
The mastermind, sitting atop their comfortable chair.
The noose is Arei, the gas mask is Charles, the mouse is Nico, the theater mask… Perhaps the mastermind again, or Veronika again. The safe is David’s locked away and suppressed emotions. These are all mainly theories based on observation, don’t take it as the wholehearted truth.
David being mentioned again with the hair clips. The lemon has been brought up beforehand, it’s a callback to the journal entry. The dummies represent David’s detachment from his humanity, and the television is a callback to the fact that they’re on a television show.
David views himself as a snake, a liar, a murderer. Snakes are common imagery to use when referring to the Devil as well. The blood is a callback to the killing game itself.
Either a reference to Min, or the fact that all the books are empty could be visual dramatization of David’s feelings. There’s supposed to be something in them, but the books are empty. The “various kinds” could also be how many personas he puts on, if that’s a prominent part of his backstory.
The killing game is being broadcasted, so that counts as terrorist iconography, if nothing else. Dandelions, while beautiful in their own way, don’t belong in a garden. The megaphone is David’s custom weapon, and it’s a way for him to broadcast his speeches to those around the world.
The letters are from the joke comic that the dev released. You know the one, where Xander writes a letter for David and he accidentally throws it away thinking that it’s garbage. The popular toy refers to the commercializing of the Tragedy, as Veronika explained on the first day of Chapter 2. How horror movies will put black-and-white designs in their films to up the fear factor because of the subliminal/primal fear of the design back in the days of the Tragedy. The flowers… No idea.
This is cleverly disguised, but it’s a reference to the debate between continuing to live and killing yourself. To be or not to be, to stop or to keep going, but they’re both lit up. How are you to do both at the same time? You have to make a choice.
Main Roles are David and Xander. It makes sense, considering they both have full-body moments and we know who they are. The crossed out name is Mai Akasaki, but the cut off name is a bit harder to decipher. Thanks to some inspiration and help, I’ve come to my final conclusion regarding this.
They are related to Arei, 100%. The letters match perfectly.
Even in comparison to Arei, the “N” in her name starts only a bit earlier, but that’s because the first word is probably only two or three letters, in comparison to the four letters in Arei.
Originally, I couldn’t translate any of these. All I could make out was that the first hand was Xander and the second hand was Min or Mai. However. @MAHIRUMILGRAM on twitter managed to translate them! They are as follows:
After this point, the truth bullet breaks through David’s words, similarly to how Teruko is fighting against David, despite the truth bullet being in agreement towards David’s idea.
There’s also this, which could be David trying to deflect us from the truth, or that the lyrics genuinely don’t relate to him. I’m leaning towards the former.
The white text at the top here is from a story, entitled “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.” It is about a beautiful city where everyone is happy. However, their city is not as beautiful as it seems. They tell the story of how the townspeople have locked a child in a basement, and left it to suffer. Their happiness, as they’ve been told, requires a sacrifice.
“Inside the room, which is behind a locked door, there are a couple of dirty mops, a bucket, and a young child. The child is ten years old, but looks younger. The child is scared and completely miserable. It is never allowed to leave the room. Occasionally, someone opens the door and kicks the child to make it stand up. The person fills the food bowl halfway with corn meal and grease, fills the water jug, and leaves. The child can remember what the outside world looks like and begs and pleads to be let out. The child is naked and covered in sores, and it wails at night in its misery. The people of Omelas all know about the child in the basement. They all understand that everything good about Omelas, from their abundance of food to the good weather, depends upon the suffering of the child. They all understand this because when children are between the ages of eight and twelve, they are brought to see the child, and this tradeoff is explained to them. During this experience, the children of Omelas are disgusted. They want to help, but they are told they can’t. If anyone helps the child by clothing, feeding, or otherwise caring for it, then the perfect happiness of Omelas and its abundance would die. Therefore, no one may even speak kindly to the child.”
I wanted to include this because it describes David so well. Someone who has been cast away because they’re deemed useless to society, someone who’s happiness would destroy the happiness of anyone else. I find the story truly fascinating, as it might describe David’s suppressed emotions and the depressive tendencies he indulges himself in.
“Their tears at the bitter injustice dry when they begin to perceive the terrible justice of reality, and to accept it. Yet it is their tears and anger, the trying of their generosity and the acceptance of their helplessness, which are perhaps the true source of the splendor of their lives. Theirs is no vapid, irresponsible happiness. They know that they, like the child, are not free.”
“How you have felt, O men of Athens, at hearing the speeches of my accusers, I cannot tell; but I know that their persuasive words almost made me forget who I was—such was the effect of them; and yet they have hardly spoken a word of truth [alēthēs]. But many as their falsehoods were, there was one of them which quite amazed me—I mean when they told you to be upon your guard, and not to let yourselves be deceived by the force of my eloquence. They ought to have been ashamed of saying this, because they were sure to be detected as soon as I opened my lips and displayed my deficiency; they certainly did appear to be most shameless in saying this, unless by the force of eloquence they mean the force of truth [alēthēs]; for then I do indeed admit that I am eloquent. But in how different a way from theirs! Well, as I was saying, they have hardly uttered a word, or not more than a word, of truth [alēthēs]; but you shall hear from me the whole truth [alēthēs]: not, however, delivered after their manner, in a set oration duly ornamented with words and phrases.”
Do you remember, in the prologue, where Xander describes the “rumors” against David’s positive front? This is a direct parallel. Here, Socrates denounces the words of his attackers, similarly to how nobody truly believes the rumors except for the critics themselves. Even Xander was fooled by his charisma.
“Was't Hamlet wrong'd Laertes? Never Hamlet: If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away, And when he's not himself does wrong Laertes, 240 Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it. Who does it, then? His madness: if't be so, Hamlet is of the faction that is wrong'd; His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy.”
Hamlet blames his own insanity for the death of Laertes’ father. Just like David tries to get everyone killed, and blames himself for murdering Arei, because of his own insanity.
This is a line from the poem “Be Not Defeated by The Rain,” by Kenji Miyazawa. It describes a man wishing to become someone strong, someone who cannot be bested. I believe this is exactly what David wants, too. To be as strong and as hopeful as he is forced to pretend to be, instead of a hopeless mess who would rather die than be seen as worthless.
David reaches the height of his insanity, before finally quieting down after being basked in green light. I don’t know if this was intentional, but I believe that it represents how he’s given up on even death after the students manage to vote correctly, hence the green coloring.
And now, number 19.
I severely doubt that David will actually die in Chapter 3. That is not “foreshadowing,” that is just giving out the answer, and DRDTDev is much more careful than that. I believe this is a final representation of David’s suicidal ideologies. He says he will forget, he says guilt will not weigh him down, but he’s lying to himself. That’s why the stars are still behind him, because he’s still lying. He says he is satisfied, he says he’s okay with death, but when has David ever been truthful with us?
And he leaves an empty throne behind. Not because he is dead, but because he has relinquished his career and his reputation for nothing.
Even though he is missing, nothing else has changed. That is how he views his life.
And that concludes the main analysis of David’s MV! It’s such a beautiful thing, really, I don’t know how to phrase any of it properly. Thank you to everyone who’s read this far, and everyone who helped me out. The decoding and puzzles? Ah, I’ll let you all do that… But, maybe I can help a little!
Blanket, out~! See you all next time!
The tightrope he walks. The hall of mirrors that changes his image, depending on your perspective. He’s a strong man, but are those weights legit? Yeah it’s a circus, but it’s fun, he’s having fun!
The metaphors!!! It’s such an incredible insight into another view he has of his fame. Basically the foil of MFASR’s message. So good.
txt makes music that gay people (using as an umbrella term) (myself included) love, so I'm gonna list all the times I can remember their music and music videos being queer-coded off the top of my head.
disclaimer: this is not me assuming anyone's sexualities!! when discussing music videos and using member names, I am referring to the characters they play in the video and not the members themselves.
the 0x1=lovesong music video. holy shit. show this to a queer closeted teenager and they will go absolutely feral. I saw a twitter thread once (when Twitter wasn't locked to people without accounts) about all the queer-coding and it made me lose my mind. I don't have access to Twitter anymore, but from what I can remember, there were a lot of references to Leslie Cheung films. The one example I can remember is the scene for the bridge where Yeonjun dances in front of the other members. also the lyrics??? "I'm not going to get into heaven" oh my god. also again with the bridge, literally everything about the pair dance (and then saying 'girl' as if that would somehow make it seem less gay lmao).
2. the loser = lover mv. Literally everything about Beomgyu's storyline. Gender non-conforming teenager and the only member without a (moa self-insert) girlfriend (but with daddy issues lmao). Also "with you even a fall is beautiful" what if I Cried.
3. poppin star. granted, this is more of a meme than anything else, but if you've ever seen the "txt songs gay as hell so they've got to add a little gendered term to spice things up, because why are the lyrics like "we must keep this a secret our love is illegal in 56 countries- GIRL" tweet, this song is what the tweet was referencing. literally one of the lyrics is "isn't this perhaps something that the country has allowed/something that we have hidden/alright, it's something that's not allowed for just anyone/try popping a whole mouthful" like WHAT? I still have no idea what that means.
4. devil by the window. uhhhhh they're getting tempted by a devil with male pronouns. really the whole temptation album is kind of gay if you look at it through this lens.
5. sugar rush ride. I don't even have any specific examples tbh. everything about the lyrics.
6. crown. a song about feeling like a monster, but meeting someone who's the same as you and learning to accept yourself. shout out to the lyrics "would there be forgiveness?/even for the devils?" and "nobody can understand/but it's you/your life changed my world like magic"
this is all I remember for now, but I'll edit this post or make a new post if I remember more. feel free to add your own in the replies or reblogs!
Music For A Sushi Restaurant is a big FUCK YOU to the Music Industry
Okay okay okay, I watched it and I felt the holy gay spirit overcome me, give me the energy and focus to do what I procrastinate forever on to do for my uni papers: write an analysis. Guess my studies are coming in handy after all! Kindly be reminded that, with all art analysis, this is subjective and your interpretation of it is as valid as mine <3
Let’s take a look at the characters first.
Characters
Squidrry: Harry plays the mermaid version of himself - we don’t know the backstory, but we know he got stranded on a beach and has a squid tail in place of legs. Who does that remind us of? Ah, yes, his mermaid tattoo: that beauty though has her whole vulva out, making her definitively female, which is interesting because mermaids often symbolise genderlessness and genderqueerness (mermaidsuk.org.uk), and in the case of his tattoo it could be interpreted as genderqueerness with special emphasis on femininity. The little mermaid is also clearly referenced - Harry has referenced her before wearing the shirt printed with “But Daddy I love him!” on the front and “this shirt will make you look gay” on the inside. Some elements from the storyline are also picked up in this music video: losing her voice, getting manipulated into contracts...
The Discoverer: it’s the guy who finds Harry on the beach, seizes him up and immediately recognises his worth. He pulls up his phone and calls just the guy who knows how to make this fish into money. Almost like an A&R guy.
The Manager: he seems to be owning Gill’s bar. He is the one who makes the decisions as to what to do with Harry, and he also seems to have a “soft spot” for Harry, or what I would call: a fetish. He obsesses over Harry’s tail, yet he thinks the real selling point is Harry’s voice.
The Handler: he’s the manager’s dogsbody, he does everything to his bidding. He does all the dirty work, from crushing crabs to caring for Harry. He seems to be somewhat disgusted by Harry and his other-ness.
The Woman: she is in the background most of the time, does similar jobs as the Handler, but seems to be higher up than him. She almost seems like a prop, as she does not have a proper characterisation besides being there.
The Boy: is young, handsome and wears shiny clothes.
The Crowd: a diverse group of people that are not necessarily very entertained by Harry’s performance
Let’s go through the music video scene by scene
Shots
When The Discoverer finds Harry, he towers over the viewer, showing he’s in control & he object he looks at is at his mercy. He sees that Harry is something special, but what he sees is only the way he looks, his other-ness, not his talent. He hasn’t heard him sing yet. Interestingly, Harry is fully bearded (lol) when they find him. Is this a reference to him right now? Or is this simply a tool to show he’s been at sea for a long time (Eroda continued)?
Next we see a red crab. Is this a dig at duplishitty and the whole Sebastian drama some months ago? I remember tons of Ariel memes at the time when Harry’s character turned out to be actually called Sebastian and the larries dragged that fic through the mud all over twitter. It was glorious. Ergo a dig at hetharries’ image of him? Don’t ruin my fantasy? Your fantasy is our #1 priority?
Then we see a dirtyass industrial kitchen: it is grimey, stuff happens here that the people who enjoy their meals do not want to know about - just like in the music industry. If the people knew how bad it gets behind the literal curtain - would they still be as happy throwing their money at it? As soon as they get the call, the engine starts: the well oiled machinery of the music industry
everything is documented right from the beginning in flashing snapshots: Harry’s discovery on the beach, where he gets ‘made’ into who he will be the kitchen, closeup of what makes him special (his tail), meeting all the important people in this world. Everyone wants to be in the shot showing off their catch (the Manager at his tail, showing it off, the Woman close to his head (stunting? or maybe AnnMarie from PR who doubled as their mental health counselor, whispering into his ear?)). Is the Kitchen The X-Factor, where he proves himself and wraps them all around his finger with his siren voice? There he sees what they’re doing to the ones that are like him but don’t stand out: they’re violently cut up, produced into quick money. It is a literal competition to survive - almost like the auditions.
The crew is almost scared or weirded out at first but also entranced - Harry distracts them while he surprises them with showing up behind him or next to them, catching them off guard while taking everything in with wide eyes: he’s a quick learner, he soaks up how this world works immediately. Then the handler gets him with a bribe of fish: they dangle it in front of his face, and it’s what he wants.
As soon as he takes the bait it transitions to him performing in the venue itself. We see him with cut hair and a fancy robe, showing the Manager and Handler what he can offer. Is this Harry having to prove himself, again, as a solo artist with HS, now that he’s performing in the actual venue, where there will be eventually an audience? Or is this still proving himself with One Direction?
We see a montage of them making him feel like a star, accommodate his otherness, his tail, in a way that he truly feels like a star, and there’s so much glitter everywhere, making everything sparkly. Very interesting here: the towels they use to hydrate his tail, the thing that makes him so interesting and enticing, to keep it healthy and happy, are blue green = could be that he feels that at first they humoured Larry Stylinson - until 2012 it was not a problem and they even used the “bromance” for marketing - until they don’t anymore. While Harry’s eyes and ears are plugged “for his own good” to relax and be distracted, you can see the handler starting to resent Harry for having to take care of Harry’s weird tail, and if he doesn’t check on him he stops actually taking care of it. In the meantime, the Manager is weirdly obsessed with the tail. Harry starts to wear a pearl necklace - the pearl is a widely recognised symbol of genderquerness (the oyster, that produces the pearl changes its sex at least once in its lifetime, usually start out male and become female).
again, everything is documented in snapshots: Harry and how the people around him feed him and take care of him
Harry becomes accustomed to the lifestyle and acts like a diva - or does he? He asks for tea which he uses to gargle, taking care of the one thing he knows is keeping him alive: his voice. He has the Manager give him a manicure while sitting in the women’s dressing room, a little white women’s chemise hung up behind him on the wall ready for him to slip into. He starts wearing sunglasses: he is shielding himself more, and he wears even more pearls, they’re on the sunglasses too now. He becomes more flamboyantly genderqueer and has the Manager help him express it? There’s even more pearly waiting for him to be worn on the table in front of him. More, more, more pearls!
He doesn’t like the music they want him to sing. But the music video synchronises with the song just in that moment and has Harry say: “whatever you want” - even though he doesn’t like the songs he will sing them, because that’s what the manager wants - and otherwise he might end up dead. In return he wears even bigger feathery gowns and boas. Pearl sunglasses are a thing now. He has glitter confetti in his hair. He is fabulous.
even though it makes it look like he’s treated like a diva, he’s still in the dingy diner with loads of filing boxes. These boxes over boxes are filled with - contracts? He is with The Discoverer in this scene. Is this Simon?
the Manager takes care of him in order to make money off of him, literally grooms him and enjoys lubing up his tail a little too much - there’s a shot that focuses on the wedding band he wears on his finger. The way the mv is shot, there is a broad sexualisation of Harry’s tail, constantly filling the frame, lubed up, glistening, primed = Harry gets sexualised, his most sexual, peculiar features on display all the time to get more people interested and enticed. And although the Handler sees that the Manager fetishises Harry’s tail, he doesn’t say anything, only judges.
soon, Harry has dark circles underneath his eyes that he treats with patches. He is tired? Exhausted? But keeps going while becoming more impatient with everyone around him.
Another round of snapshots: food/seeing what happens to people like him that don’t stay relevant (they get chopped up and eaten), there’s beer & drinks, pretty surroundings like the coral throne for him, and a prawn dangles from string: more bribe? It’s always in front of him, even when performing
then he is finally on stage: he’s happy, wearing a pearl crown and is loaded with pearl necklaces, sings into the microphone and does his iconic whale. It’s where he’s happy. But there’s a close up shot of his birdcage tattoo = he’s still trapped and caged.
There’s a closeup of two cherries in a martini glass: Cherry, Stunts, Alcohol? Both are parts of the world he’s living in: the show biz.
when he’s performing in front of the audience, the people are not super into the performance, the ones the Manager so excitedly wants to sell Harry to don’t care too much about him or his performance, just want to watch the peculiar creature writhe. There’s a disparity between what the Manager thinks the audience want and what the Crowd actually want. The Boy asks to touch his tail (= his most sexualised feature), and Harry slaps him for it. Did people want to have Harry and he never gave himself away like that?
more snapshots: of credit cards in cash machines and cash: the Manager makes a lot of money off of Harry, the way he rejects the Boy, his performance, the musicians, him singing - it all gets documented every step of the way.
At the height of his career, his voice leaves - a nightmare coming true. The lights turn off and it gets cold, as soon as he can’t offer what the Manager thinks is profitable (his voice), his previously praised feature (his tail, his otherness) won’t save him. The Woman gets ready to dice him by sharpening her knife - she’ll take him down, too. The Handler will help cooking him, no questions asked, no emotions shown.
The Manager actually reminisces about him Harry and misses him, even though he gave the go to kill him and make him into sushi: he doesn’t see that he was the one to make the decision and instead blames the market / capitalism. Still fetishises him in retrospect: he doesn’t actually miss Harry, but what value he had for him: profit and getting his fetish satisfied (he’s swirling his fingers in the vaseline).
Even of the process of destroying him they try to squeeze out a last little profit which they document in snapshots
I think it is an incredibly interesting choice of Harry’s to set this whole music industry metaphor in a dingy little diner lounge instead of the flashy, beautiful world that is usually chosen to show just how enticing show biz is. He isn’t trying to justify why he fell for the bait, he is way past that - he wants to remind us that behind all the glitter and beautiful lights, it is a dingy, creepy shithole. He also didn’t choose to have a beautiful, shimmery fish tail, the way we love seeing on mermaids, and have also been sexualised with their curves and the way they move, but a squishy, slimey squid tail - it’s supposed to intrigue the viewer just as much as it did the Crew and the Crowd with a little bit of disgust. Which, again, is incredibly interesting and telling as to how Harry sees his “otherness,” and - let me go out on a limb here - his queerness perceived. It also means that he cannot move around in this world just as he is - he has to be helped, carried, hauled, driven by the people around him: in this case, his Handler and Manager and Discoverer. He is dependent if he wants to survive in that world (the music industry).
Most of the characters in this music video are men - they are all after profit, and the main trait of every single character is that they very evidently just don’t care about anything except money (profit) and sex (fetish).
It is a very clear condemnation of what the music industry is like even if you look only a little closer.
I love that he doesn’t show himself as the Saint Victim, while still (thank god) recognising he was and is indeed a victim of the profit machine - he shows how much he likes getting pampered and enjoys the lifestyle, acting a little diva (although I would take that with a shovel of salt - Harry is known to be unfairly hard on himself and self deprecating). It still seems to be though how he sees himself there.
Another note worthy part is the audience. To me, it shows the disparity between what the Manager character thinks the crowd wants and what the crowd actually wants. And the best (and most sad) part is: neither of them are better. The Manager thinks it’s his voice and performance, while he’s privately fetishising his tail, while the audience just wants to watch something happen, in that moment a weird person with a squid tail singing, the next day said squidperson being chopped up and served to them as sushi. They’re there for the spectacle, not the person. So neither of them are good - and it makes me sad to think that’s how Harry perceives his audiences (is he wrong, though? At least about the majority of his fans?)
I also adore just how fully packed the whole music video is with his genderqueerness. You literally cannot ignore it - from being a trans symbol itself to the accumulation of mountains of pearls to the women’s clothes to him being in the women’s dressing room. If you don’t see it by now I really can’t help you.
To me, this is such a power move - he shows just how horrible these people have been in the name of the profit, the way they see themselves (nostalgic, missing their abuse victim?!) and at the same time show them for who they really are: sad little grimey dingey people in some shithole etablissement.
I cannot tell you with how pleased I am with this music video - Sushi for a Music Restaurant has been one of my faves off the album since the day I heard it at the listening party, and to see it come to life exactly along the lines of how I interpreted it as well as being incredibly surprising and clever is just - chef’s kiss. Thank you Harry for this masterpiece.
CHANYEOL’S FIRST SOLO ALBUM „BLACK OUT” IS OUT. IT IS FINALLY OUT. FUCKING HELL, CAN YOU BELIEVE WE’VE WAITED FOR SO LONG AND NOW IT’S HERE AND IT’S BEAUTIFUL AND I AM SO PROUD OF CHANYEOL I HOPE WE GET TO SEE AND HEAR SO MUCH MORE FROM HIM IN THE FUTURE.
ok. now that that’s out of my system, let’s talk about the mv for black out. in depth. hell yeah.
(on a side note, i really wanted to make a post like this for a long time. like, a long post where i put down thoughts in a kind of structured way, so yey i am excited, let’s go.)
first, i want to point out that personally, i appreciate a lot that the song has no gendered language (as far as i know. i am not fluent in korean tho, i am basing this on the english lyrics supplied with the video!), and in tune with that i will also use gender neutral language in this little analysis here. the only case i will use gendered language is when referring to chanyeol, who i will treat like an actor portraying the protagonist in this video. so when i say “chanyeol” i mean the guy in the video and not the person park chanyeol – just for clarification. ok. now.
overall, to me, the mv feels a lot like a movie, or parts of a movie. it has amazing cinematography – the city at night, the bus ride, the scenes at the window of the apartment, the fish tank, the short scenes relating to boxing – that portrays the feelings around a breakup very beautifully. in the video, i see many symbols that represent specific situations and emotions and that’s what i want to break down here a little bit.
the cassette tape is probably the most obvious of the symbols. the cassette he literally clings to, i think, represents the past relationship itself. is the very first scene he is sitting on a bus full of happy people, people that seem to be in a romantic relationship, that have fun and are laughing – he is alone and surrounded by love. he simply sits there, unmoving between people that are eagerly interacting with each other. he is still while everything else is moving on. but he has the cassette which he doesn’t even listen to (notice how we never see him wearing the headphones he carries around his neck!).
he is not listening to the tape, just keeping it – the relationship might already be over, he is just holding on to the memories. he doesn’t want to think about them (or else he would listen to the tape) but also doesn’t want to lose and let go (that’s why he's keeping it). and that’s why he is very distressed when he loses the tape, why he holds on to it so hard. but in the end, it rips apart and that causes him so much hurt. it was so precious to him and tried to keep it so hard. it’s really painful and heart-breaking to watch.
the bus ride itself is very interesting because it starts out being a space chanyeol is… well, not exactly comfortable in. but it’s a place where he rests, where he sits and lets himself being carried along, unmoving object at a place where everything is moving a lot. he is, mentally, still very entangled in the relationship. that’s why he’s still on top of that bus, alone with all the other people that are so happy and loved. he hasn’t moved on yet. and he doesn’t seem to want to.
until the moment we see the cassette on the ground. then we see him suddenly realizing that he lost it, like snapping out of a trance. he gets up, wants to get it but it falls out of his reach, the tape comes loose, and he tries to hold on to it so much. the moving bus suddenly becomes a trap, it moves too fast and the tape rips in the end. he can’t go back to the relationship and the memories anymore because it has broken and it’s his fault in a way. maybe he stayed to long on the bus. maybe he realized it fell too late. maybe he acted too hastily. maybe he should have kept the cassette safe in a pocket so he wouldn’t have lost it in the first place.
the scenes of him running aimlessly through the cityscape could just be mindless wandering to keep himself moving, but i like to believe that he is not so aimless in his running. i think he is looking for the lost tape. i think that in all the stillness he wants while he still is holding on to his memories, he feels utter restlessness after losing them. everything moves so fast, everything is loud (there even is a fucking plane), there are lights everywhere – he is afraid he won’t find the tape again in the vastness of the city. and maybe he doesn’t.
for me, the scenes with blond chanyeol happen after the bus scenes. he is post-breakup chanyeol (because what do you do after a breakup? right, radically change your hair xD). that’s the chanyeol we see in the apartment with the fishtank and the chanyeol we see boxing (well, kinda. we don’t see too much of the actual boxing, but I think that will change once we get the mv for back again xD). it’s also the chanyeol who is looking at himself in a broken mirror.
mirrors and reflections are symbolically used to reveal the true self of a person, in chanyeol’s case that’s someone who feels very broken inside.
something that really stood out to me was a shot of the fishtank where they filmed the tv in the background of the apartment through the water.
first and foremost, the shot through the water gives the whole scene a very whimsical feel, like looking into a dream world that chanyeol is escaping to from the harsh reality of his broken heart and the end of this relationship that he treasured so much. he is literally pushing his head into that world, into the water, where he can’t breathe.
that’s also a very desperate act of trying to feel alive, or like… anything at all. the same reason he resorts to a painful sport like boxing. the physical pain fills the emptiness that remains and overshadows the emotional numbness, fills the lack of emotion with pain he can control, instead of letting himself feel the emotional pain he can’t control. (and on an important note: both actions are forms of self-harm and that’s a very unhealthy coping mechanism, just… don’t do it)
back to the fish tank. fish can symbolize change and adaptability, as fishes are animals that can survive even in challenging conditions. and that fits very well with the story of the mv as well. chanyeol still needs to figure out how to adapt and how to survive his life right now, but he will figure it out – just listen to the rest of the album, and especially back again! as this is the other song we’ll have an mv too, and one that picks up on the boxing element that was introduced a bit, i treat it like what happens after the black out mv / the breakup.
back again is a crazy song!! it’s very lively, full of sounds and little details, of versatile voice use and a lot of energy! it’s him bouncing back again (see what I did there-), it’s when he is feeling better again and is confident to move forward again. and maybe he’s a bit more enthusiastic than he is actually healed and fails. but he has hope and takes moving on and coming back to life step by step.
musically, black out feels more like being torn apart from the inside. there is a lot of vulnerability in his voice while the beat is very restless when all we see chanyeol do is wanting to hold on for a moment but the beat and the melody, the song itself really, pull him along.
i also noticed to the colour schemes in the video. mainly we see a dark blue being used. in some moments, very prominently the scene where chanyeol looks at the goldfish in the tank, a warm orange is used as contrast.
it feels very comfortable and, well, warming within all the cold blues and greens, so that sort of underlines my interpretation of the fishtank scene(s). i also noted that in scenes from the apartment we see pink lights, usually contrasting a greenish blue light. neither of those are very warm lights and add more to the general vibe and atmosphere of the scenes, i think. one could argue though that pink could symbolize love, which is a pretty obvious although not happy theme of the story.
this mv has so much pain and regret and yearning and so so so much hurt. in all the soft spots. it’s dark and gloomy that make it feel almost brutally real. i like to draw a parallel to tomorrow here (and not only because the two mvs use similar a similar colour sceme, blue and orange), which is very still and very in the moment. it’s also dark and yearning but is gives these feelings room and holds a glimmer of hope. black out is not that calm. its darkness is hurrying the protagonist along, who just wants a moment to hold on and breath. but there is no room for feeling those feelings in black out, but there is no way to outrun the pain. or the hole in your heart that’s left when you lost something you loved a lot.
