꒰୨୧ Project Sekai - Fragment SEKAI Analysis; Yoisaki Kanade
Yo! To make this introduction quick, I’m a huge fan of Project Sekai, especially when it comes to the characters. Project Sekai’s has some of the most realistic characters I’ve ever seen in a rhythm game, and I often find myself identifying with many of the struggles they go through.
That being said, I’ve always thought that the Fragment SEKAIs were a beautifully artistic way of visually representing these struggles, so I thought I’d start a little series where I analyze them! Since all the Fragment SEKAIS haven’t been revealed, I’m going to be going in order of release date.
Note: I only play on the EN server, and while I do try to keep up with what’s going on in the JP server, I wouldn’t say I’m an expert on the recent content. For this reason, there will be little to no discussion of globally unreleased storylines in these posts unless they are absolutely crucial for the analysis.
ˏ°•⁀➷・A First Look At Kanade’s Fragment SEKAI
Debuting during the Half Anniversary Celebration Colorful Festival Gacha, Kanade’s Fragment SEKAI first appeared in her The Dream I Saw Will One Day Card. It consists of a night sky lit by dozens of floating lanterns that breeze through the air. There is a vast field of white carnations that stretch on for a seemingly infinite distance.
Faintly Glowing Elpis, Untrained
If you’re familiar with kanji (or are just an avid Project SEKAI fan who likes to scroll through the wiki in their free time), then you’ll most likely have noticed the connection between the night sky and Kanade’s surname. Her surname, Yoisaki (宵崎), uses the kanji Yoi (宵), which means “night.” Easy, right?
Additionally, this is the time of day when Kanade becomes her unfiltered self. It’s when we get to see her at her most productive, her most vulnerable, her most selfless, etc.. Since Fragment SEKAIs are manifested from an individual’s strong feelings, it makes sense for Kanade’s Fragment SEKAI to have a night-time appearance, since that’s when she seems to feel her emotions the strongest.
The Dream I Saw Will One Day, Untrained
Many cultures use floating lanterns as a symbol of good luck and prosperity, welcoming good fortune by releasing past misfortune. They are also used to mourn deceased loved ones, acting as a guide for ancestral spirits.
The presence of the floating lanterns makes sense given Kanade’s backstory. As we all know, Kanade lost her mother after she succumbed to an illness. Sometime after, Kanade’s father overworked himself to the point of hospitalization. Though he is alive, he has sustained severe psychological damage, rendering it difficult to remember things properly, including Kanade herself.
Kanade is still mourning the loss of her parents and the death of her childhood as she must now carry the burden of living alone at such a young age. At the same time, she is trying to push through her trauma so that she can focus on making music that will save people. Whether she’s able to completely let go of her past is debatable, but she is at least willing to come to terms with it and move forward for the sake of Nightcord.
In a more literal manner, floating lanterns are objects that Kanade holds dear to her memories. In Side Story 1 of The Dream I Saw Will One Day, Kanade mentions that the song played by her mother’s music box was written by Kanade’s father after he went on a trip with her mother.
The Dream I Saw Will One Day, Side Story 1
Later, when Kanade winds up in her Fragment SEKAI. She notices several lights twinkling in the sky. Upon closer inspection, she realizes that they’re lanterns, sparking a memory of a moment shared between her and her mother when her mother was hospitalized. We view a brief flashback of Kanade’s mother showing Kanade a photo of the trip mentioned above, which happened to contain floating lanterns.
The Dream I Saw Will One Day, Side Story 2
This single moment meant so much to Kanade that it took shape in her Fragment SEKAI. While never explicitly stated, the presence of the lanterns implies that Kanade may have wished to visit the lanterns with her parents and is saddened that that day never came. It also shows how deeply Kanade treasures the time she spent with her parents, even if they were small instances like the one displayed here.
Flowerbed of Memories, Untrained
Carnations are flowers with many meanings, varying further depending on their color. White carnations are often associated with a mother’s love since they represent purity, affection, and a prosperous life. They are sometimes given to mothers on special occasions for good fortune. Additionally, white carnations are used as funeral flowers representing remembrance and sympathy for deceased loved ones and new beginnings.
Similar to the lanterns, the carnations are a reference to Kanade’s mother. Her mother loved Kanade deeply, often smiling during her time in the hospital so she wouldn’t make Kanade worried about her. The carnations are a symbol of the pure and unconditional love between Kanade and her mother, a love so strong that Kanade can still feel it after her passing.
Carnations are also a part of Kanade’s background in a physical sense. They are first mentioned in Side Story 2 of The Dream I Saw Will One Day, where we learn that carnations were flowers that Kanade’s mother loved dearly, helping her feel at peace during her time at the hospital.
The Dream I Saw Will One Day, Side Story 2
Their significance is brought up once more in the Carnation Recollection event storyline, this time with more context. In Chapter 5, The Flower Garden of Distant Memories, it is mentioned again that Kanade’s mother adored carnations.
Carnation Recollection 5, The Flower Garden of Distant Memories
As the conversation progresses, Kanade mentions that her father once took her to see a field of flowers. Carnations to be specific.
Carnation Recollection 5, The Flower Garden of Distant Memories
Sound familiar, huh? Exactly like the field of carnations we see in Kanade’s Fragment SEKAI.
After their discussion, Mizuki and Kanade decide to search for the field, giving us another crucial piece of information. In Chapter 6, Forgotten Happiness, we find out that the reason carnations are so important to Kanade isn’t solely because they’re her mother’s favorite, but because they remind her of an outing she had with her parents.
Carnation Recollection 6, Forgotten Happiness
Just like the floating lanterns, her Fragment SEKAI took inspiration from a treasured childhood memory, staying consistent with Kanade’s theme of refusing to let her memories of her parents (especially her mother) disappear. She can’t win back her childhood, but she can keep her memories of it alive by appreciating the moments she was able to experience.
Also, I know that later in the story we find out that the field of carnations was just a flower bed of carnations, but up until that point Kanade had remembered it to be a field, thus it manifested as her child self’s vision of the flower bed.
ˏ°•⁀➷・Interpreting Kanade’s Fragment SEKAI
The Dream I Saw Will One Day, Trained
Kanade’s past has always been a primary aspect of her character, serving as one of her biggest driving forces for creating music, so it makes sense that her Fragment SEKAI would be tailored to her childhood memories, especially with her tendency to cling to the past due to the trauma she experienced from her mother’s death and her father’s ailment.
With the many references to her childhood, one way that I interpret her Fragment SEKAI is that it’s a literal and metaphorical representation of how Kanade is constantly trapping herself in her memories. Kanade is a very guilt-ridden character, feeling as if she doesn’t deserve a moment of peace after (in her own eyes) causing her father to fall into a depression. The pain of losing the two most important people in her life combined with her growing sense of guilt caused her to develop a savior complex, overworking herself to the point of neglecting basic needs and viewing the personal problems of her group members as her own.
On the other hand, it can also represent the "rebirthing" of Kanade's motivations. Carnation Recollection is where she begins to go through some major character development. Originally, it seemed like Kanade was creating music as a punishment for herself, a price she had to pay for her father's hospitalization. She unintentionally viewed Mafuyu as a crux for her goal, feeling that if she saved her, she would be able to make up for what she had done. As she struggles to create a song that will resonate with Mafuyu, she realizes that she hadn't considered what Mafuyu needed to feel most, instead focusing on stopping Mafuyu from disappearing to prevent herself from going through the trauma of losing people in her life all over again.
Carnation Recollection 7, What Lies Beyond The Maze
Kanade realizes that she doesn't want to save Mafuyu so she can feel like she saved someone and alleviate her guilt. She wants to save Mafuyu out of a genuine desire to help her. Kanade truly cares about her and wants her to feel warmth when listening to her music. The carnations and floating lanterns could be seen as representations of the subtle death of her old motive and the birth of her new, authentic one.
The final way I view her Fragment SEKAI is that, in some weird supernatural way, it's trying to comfort Kanade. Whether that means Fragment SEKAIs has some form of sentience or there just so happens to be a little but powerful voice in the back of Kanade's head that's telling her to be kinder toward herself, I don't know, SEKAI lore is weird, but it makes sense given that this was a rare time where we got to see Kanade look so peaceful.
Carnations were flowers that gave Kanade's mother a sense of serenity, making her feel as if Kanade and Kanade's father were in the hospital with her when they weren't physically there. I'd like to think that they serve the same purpose here by reminding Kanade that she isn't alone. She has Nightcord now, along with her parents. Though they can't physically be with her, in her heart, they are still standing by her side.
Flowerbed of Memories, Trained
Doing this little analysis gave me a whole new level of respect for Kanade and the delicate approach the writers have when dealing with her depression and trauma. I hate to admit that when I started playing the game two years ago, I thought she was your typical surface-level sad, slightly quirky shut-in character. I immediately dropped that assumption as I progressed through Nightcord’s main story, but I still hadn’t realized the amount of love and care that was put into her character arc until now. Kanade is a genuinely tragic character whom I deeply sympathize with, and hopefully one day she’ll realize that she deserves to be saved as well (or maybe she already did, idk again I play EN lol).
If you’re still reading, thank you for sticking around for this long! I appreciate it. I hope I did a decent enough job (even though I feel like I was just mindlessly yapping for most of it). It’s my first time writing out a fully coherent analysis that isn’t just me spamming the first few sentences that pop into my head in my “brainrot channel” on my friend’s Discord server, so feel free to let me know if I missed anything or if you have any other interpretations. I’m always open to hearing different perspectives.
Up next will be Mafuyu Asahina, who happens to be my favorite character in the entire game! No idea when I’ll be popping it out, but hopefully it’ll be soon. Anywho, I hope you have a lovely rest of your day!
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