Tanyth has Too Much Time on its Hands

Our place for overanalyzing our blorbos Feel free to request an analysis here

[tanyth-overanalyzing-shit]

Intro

Hello again, 'tis I, Tanyth. This blog shall be for my obsessive over-analyzing of my video games.

Pronouns: He/It/Xe/They

Asks are open feel free to request me analyzing something

Main fixation rn is enstars so I'll be most likely to get requests about them done earliest.

For my main blog, see @whooshtanyth

Will eventually work on some proper blog organization, but for now, I'm trying to organize everything through tags

[boitterfly]

it’s so special to me that so much of fan culture is textual analysis for the love of the game. like thank god there are people in my phone who are also thinking about this thing i love so much that they are writing transformative fiction as character studies and setting clips of the show to music with theme-relevant lyrics and writing long text posts analyzing every line of dialogue like!! yay!!!

[whooshtanyth]

when i tell y'all i think Hoppin' Season is the best song in Ra*bits's entire discography i fucking mean it like musically it's gorgeous but lyrics too

everything they went through early on how often they were ignored and passed on for more popular units having to fight every step of the way but also the joy and happiness they have when they succeed and the way they stick together and ueueueueueueueue

the nazuna and tomoya parallels too especially knowing tomoya takes over as leader the way they both have grown from the belief that they'll never be good enough to be an idol

just the entire chorus like fuck i could go on for hours and hours about how fucking important it is that ra*bits just are themselves and in finding themselves and being themselves and supporting each other they can still find joy in what they do even when they fail time and time again and are constantly used as a fucking plot device

all this to say everybody go listen to Hoppin' Season

[hellallamerican]

[tanyth-overanalyzing-shit]

My Thoughts about HiMERU's Gender

We're gonna go ahead and put it on this blog because it is indeed an overanalysis...

In my new gender headcanon post, I listed Kaname as he/him tmasc and HiMERU as using they/them. However, I also noted that HiMERU continues to use he/him when they speak in the third person. I think that at the very least Crazy:B would eventually learn about HiMERU's pronoun preference, and one of them would probably question them about why they use he in their speech.

Initially the thought is that HiMERU has to use he/him to help them embody Kaname's persona as HiMERU and preserve that image for him. I was just gonna stick with that until I thought about it longer.

HiMERU already has some identity issues in relation to playing Kaname's role for so long, now imagine the issues it would cause to have to constantly misgender themself. It would be really interesting to write about the ramifications of that and how that affects their dysphoria and their identity, because they could very easily end up internalizing something about how they don't get to have their own gender and their own preferences, they have to be what Kaname is.

It's kinda like an even worse version of the thing with the drinks, where HiMERU themself prefers something other than what they say because they say their preference is Kaname's instead.

Just some thoughts.

[tanyth-overanalyzing-shit]

This is more of me yapping than necessarily overanalyzing, but I have a little bit I'd like to say about Mellow Dear Us:

I've seen some people saying Bubble Gum Dance is too cutesy or that they wanted mdu to be more mature. However, maybe I just am the US audience, but I think its important to note their original audience was the US, not Japan.

Mellow Addiction has a lot of video game-y effects in the instrumental, and definitely has the vibes of an old arcade. Arcades are definitely a pretty big thing pulled on in US media when it comes to nostalgia.

Bubble Gum Dance continues this nostalgic vibe with the candy store thing. Candy stores are an attraction, at least here in the midwest, and there's just a vibe to it. Especially when you look at malls, which used to be a big thing to hang out at (back when they weren't over priced garbage and supported loitering-)

Also when you look at the outfits, it's genuinely just very 90s-00s. Neon and mix and match patterns and over accessorizing and just being noticeable.

idk if my point is getting across here but I don't really think Bubble Gum Dance feels that outlandish for mdu since they've been set up to incorporate western culture.

[tanyth-overanalyzing-shit]

Analysis of Sajou no Roukaku

English translation used from the fandom wiki (no credit provided)

To start out, big premise here is that this song had to have been written and practiced by exvalk before they fell apart, otherwise Nazuna couldn't have joined so easily during StarFes. It also has to have been the intended song for Valkyrie in StarFes, even without Nazuna joining them, which is a good signal to Shu's mental health at the time given that he couldn't even create a new song for them.

As for the title, Castle built on the Sand, this is a phrase meaning something grand that wasn't built on something stable. It can easily collapse. The song itself also references that sand being the sand of an hourglass, signifying that it will be swallowed up by time itself. Slightly irrelevant, but I'd also like to mention that in Antique Legend, Madara says he doesn't want to attack Valkyrie like him and Kohaku did because it feels like kicking over a child's castle made of sand, another signal towards Valkyrie's naivete.

Moving on to lyric breakdown:

A doll, adorned with the threads of time, dwells

In a beautiful museum that lies on the sand of an hourglass

Alright this song starts out strong (terribly awfully brutally depressingly). Obviously Mika and Nazuna having these lines is painful itself as they were both the "dolls" for exvalk. Museums is also a pretty common motif with Valkyrie. In fact, there is a reference in the second epilogue of Marionette to Shu wanting to place Nazuna in a museum to protect him. Lots of references to time are in these lines as well, which is a theme throughout the song.

The key to the showcase

Is now covered in rust

And to even the fact that it has broken

It remains oblivious

The way these lines are split apart is of note. In a lot of depictions of exvalk, Mika is commonly called the broken or useless doll, which aligns with the "covered in rust" phrase, Nazuna is the one who broke before any of them realized it, and Shu is the one who refuses to acknowledge the problems arising that threatened and eventually tore them apart.

The time that had been frozen in place falls away, like sand

And the memories that had been sealed away in its grains,

slowly melt away into the sunset

If I had a nickel for every time Valkyrie discusses memory and nostalgia... This line is notable in that Shu's ideal Valkyrie ought to remain perfect and immoveable, as if frozen in time. Time doesn't really freeze though, and it was the movement of time that destroyed them.

Likening the movement of time to grains of sand plays into the theme of being a castle built upon sand. The sand is time, and their downfall was Shu's naive expectation that it would not move.

When the fleeting perfection that had been constructed disappeared

A melody overflowed from within the glass

Shu's line here adds to the idea that his ideal Valkyrie was a brief dream, something easily destroyed. Mika's addition seems to reference the doll locked in a display case mentioned at the start, and that despite the destruction of Shu's ideal Valkyrie, Nazuna and Mika managed to find a way to continue on. For Nazuna, it was the formation of Ra*bits, and for Mika, it was helping Shu return and creating a new Valkyrie where they could be equals.

And though not a single trace of its former self remains

A nostalgic voice

Sings of all its feelings

And resonates through the silence

If you haven't, I highly suggest you read my analysis of Memoire Antique, as that ties a lot into these references to a nostalgia and singing their feelings:

https://www.tumblr.com/tanyth-overanalyzing-shit/810005812219117568?source=share

So for these lines, I wanna focus on Nazuna's part. When Nazuna formed Ra*bits, it was vastly different from any of his prior experience. Not only was he now the unit leader, but the theme and music style was different from both Valkyrie and his experience in a church choir. He changed completely from his former self, and did everything he could to avoid his past with Valkyrie, at least for a while. He also finally began singing and speaking again, breaking his own silence, and I won't lie, those lines make me wanna cry every time I read them.

If the light of the setting sun can allow your glass eyes to shine

Then I shall bid farewell

... To my dream of eternity

In my understanding of the lore, though these lines are shared, I think they pertain particularly to Shu. In Cloth Waltz, he also references glass eyes of a doll. I believe that the setting sun is meant to stand in for Valkyrie's end, and the shining eyes are Nazuna's and Mika's. He loves them irrevocably, and to him, perfection and eternity was how to express that love. However, he has also learned to accept leaving things in the past if it makes those he loves happy. You can see this in Human Comedy as well, where he believes that pushing Mika away is how to make him happy (everybody say thank you Naru-chan for talking some sense into Shu).

Aah... though everything has been shattered to pieces,

Mika & Nazuna: These engravings are not wounds

But all of the feelings that we carried in our hearts

Again building on the doll imagery here, porcelain shatters when put under stress. The idea is that even despite everything falling apart, shattering into pieces, the marks they bear are proof of their humanity, not of becoming a broken doll. Here is the beginning of the real transition into the idea that things have fallen apart, but Mika and Nazuna are shedding the idea of being dolls.

The time that had been frozen in place falls away, like sand

And the memories that had been sealed away in its grains,

remain in my heart

These lines build on the idea that not only was exvalk formed on flawed reasoning (sand), but that the flaw itself was time and time had swallowed their past whole. However, despite all their efforts to move on, they will always remember those times, both the good and the bad.

In the beautiful museum that lies atop the illusion of sand,

The singing voice of a doll without strings

Resonates through the silence

The final lyrics in the song. I like to interpret this as them realizing that their past is not something to feel shame for or to try and bury, but instead remember and learn from. They accept that there were bad times, but they try to remember the good times, the times where their Valkyrie was beautiful. As this at StarFes is the last time exvalk truly performs together, it also implies that this is the exvalk they want to remember, not the pain of their past.

The doll also no longer has its strings, and there's a repetition of "resonates through the silence", this time coming from all three of them, which furthers the idea that Shu has released Mika and Nazuna, and they are adapting to their own humanity and expressing themselves.

In Elio's words, Sajou no Roukaku is my Nebula (double face song). It makes me want to sob violently, and I've wanted to write about it for a while. Hope you enjoyed this breakdown because I cried in public for this.

[whooshtanyth]

Analysis of Memoire Antique

Consider this my contribution to my fellow ValkPs on Valkyrie's tenth anniversary:

All song translations are pulled from the fandom wiki and thus credit for them goes to the translators there. Translators include: Bakemonoremy, raspberryjam

It is my opinion that Memoire Antique is particularly about Valkyrie working through Nazuna leaving the unit and getting over how the War tore them apart.

Strumming these old chords, pulling in this melody

nestling close together in this distant, nostalgic song

This line is interesting considering Memoire Antique particularly shares a few musical things with Sajou no Roukaku, and both songs have a similar tone. I could go on for hours about this, but I would like to note that Sajou no Roukaku is implied to have been a song performed specifically by ex-Valkyrie, and not one made solely for StarFes.

Shu being the singer of this line is also notable as through much of nursing era, he spends his time slinging to what Valkyrie used to be. He finds comfort in remembering how they were rather than facing what they became.

Grieving and yearning for the past

They're fading and can't be grasped

As for Mika's first solo line, this is also notable for his experience of nursing era. Though he didn't fall into such a deep depression as Shu did, he did spend a lot of time grieving Nazuna and wishing for Shu to get better. In Echo of a Star, Mika is shown having focused all his efforts on helping Shu, and he states that he told Shu such an outlandish dream because he wanted Shu to focus on getting better instead of trying to repay Mika for what Mika believed wasn't anything noteworthy.

In fact, in Hoshi no Meidou Hibikishi Toki Ni, there is a line that they both say that is likely directed at his past self:

O, one who longs for bygone days of glory

Search for the miracles that fill both the heaven and the earth

They spent so much of nursing era trying to get past their grief over what was past, and had to learn how to seek out new experiences once more.

Why are you grieving?

The bygone

sadness

and joy, too

Interweave echoes into the future

These lines are notable for both of them as for Shu, he spent much more time after Marionette agonizing over their loss, while Mika was missing the moments of happiness Valkyrie had experienced. By questioning why they are grieving, you can see them transitioning slowly towards the idea that rather than sorrow for the past, they should be looking forward to their growth as a unit and as people.

Losing even the master of the household

With no place to return to

Will we spin it,

that vibrant hope we wish for?

This line is one that sticks with me the most, particularly the official translation's variation of, "The master has been long lost // Nor a place to belong"

This line highlights that time has passed and there is no point to them trying to achieve what they once had in the past. I've always seen the term "master" to be something akin to "puppetmaster", and really emphasizes how Valkyrie begins to move away from the doll and master dynamic, as it is no longer worth pursuing.

If we can reel in God's silk, we'll surely reach it

Above the setting sun that's written in the staff notation

These stacked up sounds, now

The futures we're wishing for

Even if we extend our hands, we won't reach them

These illusions

This one is interesting to me as Mika is the one singing about God rather than Shu. I mentioned previously how Shu holds onto a belief that God is just and will reward those who have worked to earn it. This first line mimics that belief in that Mika wants to believe that If they only try harder they can receive what they're looking for.

In contrast, Shu's lines mimic the opinions he claims to have now, that they will never be understood, and that they will just continue pursuing art as they wish, knowing that their voices won't reach those unwilling to understand. They won't receive the acclaim Shu believes they're due, no matter how hard they try.

Into our empty

Souls that hold nothing

This sadness

And joy

They finally reverberate

This one is interesting particularly for that last line. Despite the depression they both went through, the "emptiness" of their souls, they allow their emotions to finally shine through as they return to their pursuit of art.

Those wandering about in the deepest forest

This guidance that reaches them

It can surely be heard

This... Vibrant hope

Mika singing the first line and Shu singing the second is notable because of how Mika views Shu as his mentor and his idol. To Mika, he was lost before finding Shu, and Shu is the one who gave him hope. In reverse, though, as shown in Echo of a Star and in Raison, Mika is the one who guided Shu when no one else could.

It also shows their own hope for the future that someone out their will be affected by their art and understand their feelings, the hope that even one person will appreciate it, rather than Shu's old ideal that he could force everyone to understand his art.

Now, extend your hand

as though you're entrusting it all

This mostly just goes along with the idea of Shu and Mika guiding each other out of their depressions and being the anchor for each other, but it felt important to add.

Dance, our memories! This turning spinning-wheel

Turning the past into colors, and weaving them into a fabric

Sing, our hopes! As if huddling into this melody

Surely, it'll become audible

This... Our nostalgic hope

"Memoire"

These lines in particular make me want to cry, as it can show the final shift into their new ideals of spreading their art without care for who watches. Rather than continuing to let their past shackle them, they hope to turn it into something to fuel their art. They talk earlier about "vibrant hopes" which is likely symbolic of what they long for now, while in the final chorus they talk about "nostalgic hope", showing their acceptance of their past, but also touching on how Shu's initial dreams were not initially twisted by circumstances. He always wanted to spread his art, but his obsessions and his emotions led him to be controlling and made him try to force people into accepting him, rather than adapting to change or accepting himself that there will always be those who won't understand his message.

The Valkyrie of today is more obvious in understanding that, and they no longer expect everyone to accept their eccentricities. They would rather have people who understand their emotions and the meanings behind their songs. However, you can still see them get defensive of themselves too. They try to distance themselves from their fans, afraid of being misunderstood and turned on, so there’s still a lot to be worked through with this.

Anyways, there’s my caffeinated yapping for the day, I hope y’all enjoyed.

[whooshtanyth]

I have seen so much hate for Alkaloid’s new outfits but I love them and I’m here to defend them:

First and foremost, I gotta establish a couple things. Alkaloid’s shtick is all about being outside the norm, ostracized, and instead embracing their differences instead of continuing to hide. This is especially important for Mayoi, who literally hides himself at every turn. Additionally, the costumes are in a very distinctly punk/grunge style.

Now, first is the significance of punk. Alternative fashion and culture itself is all about embracing differences, rebelling against the standard, and uplifting those who struggle to do it themselves. It is a very accepting community literally built around the outcasts of society, something Mayoi would very easily find a home in. In Japanese representations of punk and grunge in particular, tartan is extremely common, hence the sheer amount of it in their costumes.

It’s also important to acknowledge the general view of punk, grunge, and other alt styles in Japanese culture. They’re viewed as too loud, too rebellious, too scary. I should hope you all know the saying “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down” as it was used against the Eccentrics, Trickstar, and Crazy:B. This saying kind of sums up a lot of the view on alternative culture. Alkaloid’s outfits aren’t going to be easily acceptable, but they are a statement. They’re loud and vibrant and they state very clearly that they aren’t going to change themselves to meet others’ expectations, which has been a common theme this whole time.

Especially for Mayoi, him wearing something so eye catching and noticeable is even more a statement. He’s someone who has always wanted to hide from public view out of fear and anxiety. Wearing this on stage is a way for him to express himself and show everyone who he truly is.

Now, for the colors, I’ll admit they are a bit garish. However, who is the unit most connected to Alkaloid’s lore, and the unit that first assisted in them breaking from what was expected of them during MDM? Crazy:B, whose color happens to be yellow, with Alkaloid’s being teal. The colors are literally both their unit colors

I’d also like to add that the bees also wore teal with yellow in their thanx fes:

To sum this all up: their outfits aren’t about looking perfect or fitting in, it’s about expressing themselves and what’s important to them.

Sincerely, your local ValkP who over analyzes every costume it cares about

[whooshtanyth]

Wait I think i missed something. What's the deal with the blue roses on the fine-o outfits? Is it symbolism? Or are you screaming bc they are ugly (common opinion ive seen tho I think they look fine 😂)

dwdw i think they look great so uh... how to not sound like i'm being obsessive...

blue roses are unnatural they're man made they don't exactly just form so there's a lot of symbolism with that

as a general symbol they stand for mystery, secrets, and unrequited love

factoring in the original fine lore the whole mystery and secrets thing is crazy because of how often they kept secrets from each other and from the rest of the school

the unrequited love definition gets even crazier when you add that there are six roses found on the costume and six roses has the meaning of "i want to be with you"

it can be read platonically or romantically but either or it's really depressing given just how much trust and love tsumugi and hiyori in particular had for eichi only for him to push them away in the end so that only he had to face the consequences of what they did

and finally just the worst part of it from my very biased viewpoint

original fine took valkyrie down first and became the top unit of the school in their place

one of valkyrie's most common symbols is the blue rose

i don't think i did a good job at not sounding obsessive lmao

[whooshtanyth]

Hey chat, it's me... the insane ValkP who counts roses...

Elio just had to sit through me screeching about this so now you do too:

For starters, this song is a fucking ballad. This is their unique song from Blessing Moment.

Next, I would like to say:

4 Roses: as I mentioned in the Koufukuron post, four roses stands for "Nothing will come between us.

1 Rose: stands for love at first sight, especially significant as it's on Mika's side and in Human Comedy, and by extension Blessing Moment, Mika explains how he saw Shu once as a kid and wanted to follow him forever.

3 Roses: simply means "I love you", and on Shu's side, is significant of how Human Comedy/Blessing Moment is where he fully admits to his affection for Mika and how he wishes for him to be himself and to be human.

Anyways, I'm insane, and Elio was wildly gestured at with my penlight as I explained this whole crashout. One day, if I'm feeling especially autistic, I shall identify all the flowers drawn in the background of the earlier parts of the ballad.

[whooshtanyth]

A Very Sane Analysis of the Number of Roses on the New Valkyrie Costumes

Ahem, I’m tired and this is what I bring for you:

Total roses between them both: 25

25 roses symbolize congratulations and celebration, often for an event such as an anniversary. Makes sense considering it’s their Thanx Fest.

Shu’s total: 13

Can symbolize both secret admirer or endless friendship. If you are a qpr or plain platonic shumika lover (Marlo looking at you) then endless friendship is perfect, and is adorable either way. Secret admirer also suits him well due to his difficulties expressing his love for others, especially Mika, and especially during !era and the war.

Mika’s total: 12

We all know this means marriage. Paired with the total on his lapel makes it even cuter though.

Total on Shu’s lapel: 5

5 symbolizes strong love or admiration, which is just generally adorable, and we all know Shu feels emotions very intensely.

Total on Mika’s lapel: 4

“We will never be apart” very fitting for Mika’s attachment issues, as well as fitting the Rewind theme as he was extremely devoted to Shu even during the nursing era.

Total on both lapels: 9

Symbolizes eternal love, which is also a theme referenced in the lyric “our love will dance for eternity in this armoire called reality, and leave behind a singular story la vie en rose”.

Then of course there is the symbolism of the shift from blue roses (unrequited love, mystery, and the pursuit of the impossible) to red roses (love, passion, and devotion)