I’ll just explain the general physics/philosophy behind this
game. So there are different planes of existence, each with it’s own vibe. By
increasing or decreasing the vibe of a person, they can pass to different
planes. More power generally means a higher vibe. That’s why the Angels are so
powerful and therefore live on a higher plane. It’s also how Joshua travels
around, as the Composer he has a lot of power on his hands and therefore can travel
a lot. And that power is then restricted when he has to lower his vibe to get
into the UG or the RG. The game also goes with the multi-verse theory which is
that there isn’t one master storyline of events, each choice creates a new
universe of events. So there’s a world where Shibuya really is destroyed, just
as there’s one where Tin Pin Slammer reigns supreme. Then there’s Soul, or
Imagination (I think the two are interchangeable). Soul is what makes each
person unique and is their power. Neku has a lot of Soul, that’s why he can use
all of the pins whereas Shiki only has Mr. Mew. Soul can be bound in different
forms, like Rhyme’s was put into a pin and then her Noise called from it. Once
you are erased, your Soul is then forced to roam free, you essentially become
Noise. I think that’s all of the important points covered.
One pretty basic aspect of this game that I think is really
intricate is how the different brands correspond to the animals of the zodiac.
There’s D+B (which stands for Dangerous Buffalo) for the ox, Natural Puppy for
the dog, Pavo Real (which means peacock in Spanish) for the rooster, Mus Rattus
for the rat, Jupiter of the Monkey for the monkey, Hip Snake for the snake,
Sheep Heavenly for the goat, Tigre Punks for the tiger, Dragon Couture for the
dragon, Lapin Angelique (rabbit in French) for the rabbit, Pegaso for the
horse, Wild Boar for the pig, and Gatito for the cat who was left out of the
zodiac. (There are various stories about that.) Each brand also tries to
capture the essence of the characteristics of the zodiac, which I think is
pretty cool.
Another interesting tidbit is that the Gatito pins often
have images of graffiti on them that can be seen around Shibuya. The Over the
Top set (righty brainy lefty cat pins) can be seen at Udagawa and Towa Records.
The Eden set is in a mural before the Room of Reckoning (looks like a cat). The
Darklit Planets are in various places: Jupiter is in Udagawa in Joshua’s memory
and before the Room of Reckoning, Venus and Saturn are in the Miyashita
underpass. I haven’t been able to find the others or the Nexus Ray set (Big
Bang and Crunch) or the Irregular Note set (wind wood flame mount). The
Irregular Note set does portray see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil, and
do no evil though.
There’s a lot of symbolism in this game. One of the more
obvious ones is that Joshua is a Jesus figure (which are always debatable). I
mean he sacrifices himself for Neku, turns out to be running the whole show,
and he way he fights has been nicknamed “Jesus beams”. In addition to all that,
Jesus’ actual non-Anglican name is Joshua, so the writers were probably trying
to evoke him in some way.
There’s also a ton of music parallels. Which I really like.
The whole hierarchy of the Reapers is based on music and music production. The
Composer is the top leader, he essentially makes all decisions. Then there’s
the Conductor, who carries them out and does the real work. There’s also the
Producer, who helps them both (not sure what his real duties include though…).
In the Noise Report, the Reapers are also referred to as tenor, bari, bass, so
they are the musicians performing the work. And then there’s the Noise,
disrupting the music and needing to be taken care of. I really love this whole
system, as a musician.
One of the most symbolic parts is the path to the Room of
Reckoning and the Shibuya River. It starts with the Trail of the Sinner, then
the Rubicon where the Shibuya River actually is. The Rubicon is often referred
to as the point of no return (it gets this from the river Ceasar crossed, but
that’s unrelated) and is the last point to turn back in Beat, Day 7. In Another
Day, Joshua compares it to the Styx or Archeron (which is from Dante’s Inferno) since it basically leads to the
Underworld of Shibuya (which here means where souls are judged since dead
people are all over Shibuya in the UG). It’s funny, Neku’s response to this is
“Does this look like Greece to you?” and the real Rubicon river is in Italy.
From there, it’s the Trail of the Bygone (I take to mean, past the point of
return) and into the Dead God’s Pad. I’m not sure who the Dead God is, could be
the Composer, or it’s also suggested that it’s CAT. I could see it going either
way. People seem to assume that it’s Joshua, since he’s dead and the Composer
is basically God (and the CAT comment could be part of that trail of red
herrings saying the same thing). But I’m not so sure since it’s never confirmed
either way. Then there’s Trail of the Judged, which has CAT art all over it.
The name indicates that the judging took place in the Dead God’s pad, which
means that the Reaper meetings to decide the end of the Game take place there.
Then finally there’s the Room of Reckoning, where the Composer sits and rules
Shibuya. Names indicate that this is where the punishment is handed out, and
the end of the game rewards/punishment given (which is consistent with the
scenes in the game). What I find interesting is that the Eden set of pins refer
to a boy defeating 5 kings and a “chamber of reckoning” where a goddess rewards
him with her Light. I guess this refers to Neku defeating the 3 Game Masters
plus the Conductor and the Composer? But then who is this goddess? And does
that make the Room of Reckoning Eden?
There’s so much complexity to this game that it can’t be
summed up in a few blog posts. And there’s so many questions remaining about
the world that it takes place in. What we really need is a sequel providing
more answers to these questions!
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