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hi! I love your metas and utena is one of my favourite series so I'm so happy you got around to watching it! what are some of your favourites themes/characters from it? are you planning to make some other analysis posts about it? I'd love to hear some more of your thoughts on this wonderful anime!
Hi!
I would love to write more for the series. Feel free to send me asks about what you want me to cover. Asks are truly helpful to motivate analysis ahah. I will warn you that I am slow, so I may take a while before I answer :''')
Anyway, as for your questions.
Favorite themes
All of them honestly. I think RGU succeeds at basically everything it sets up to explore and it is to this day an incredibly powerful and original series for the way it tackles many difficult themes.
My three favorites are probably these:
1- You can't save people, but people save themselves. My favorite twist is that the Prince did not save Utena, but Utena saved herself. This idea is re-affirmed in the ending, when Utena can't save Anthy, but Anthy herself can. It is also something re-affirmed throughout the whole series. You can be helped (and frankly sometimes you need help), but overall you have to grow up and save yourself on your own. Something must click into you. This is why Akio who keeps on relying on others' pain to feel "big" will never grow up.
2- The way growing up is portrayed in general is great. Many times when characters grow up it is portrayed as a triumphant moment. However, RGU shows it for what it is: painful. Sure, Anthy's growth in the final scene is wonderful and inspiring and triumphant. However, Anthy is also a victim of horrid abuse that finally realizes she does not have to be. When it comes to other characters that come from (relatively) less traumatic childhoods the realization is harsh as hell. Like, Nanami grows up when she starts desperately crying and saying that she is just vermin. Utena grows up when she melancholy says she is not a prince. That is because there is pain in giving up on childhood dreams. Children are often a little narcissistic, after all. It is actually natural. However, to grow up means to realize you ain't that special. You are just a person, like others. This can be painful, but it is ultimately also healthy and freeing.
3- Victims. The way the series deals with abuse is JUST GREAT. It is probably one of the best depiction of the cycle of abuse ever. That is because it shows how abuse is often invisible. Akio has been literally manipulating and raping Anthy for years and nobody knows. All people see is that Anthy is SO gloomy and weird, oh my god! Nobody stops to investigate why she is this way. When Nanami and Utena finally see Akio raping Anthy it ultimately changes nothing for Anthy. That is because both Nanami and Utena are lonely kids themselves. They do not have the instruments to fully understand what is going on. They do not have trusty adults they can report Akio to. I think Nanami seeing the whole thing and being traumatized and unable to properly understand it or address it is one of the most powerful scenes of the series. And I love that once Utena sees the same thing she basically reacts just like Nanami. After all, the point is that Utena is a kid too. Akio is in general a WONDERFUL depiction of an abuser. The way he is charming and liked and rapes Utena, but Utena herself does not even understand what is happening. Like, the dude is literally introduced doing sexual activities with a student, but he acts so normal about it Utena immediately normalizes it. After all, Kanae is his fiancee, so it is normal for them to be intimate, right? Ugh. Another great thing is the deconstruction of "good victim" and "bad victim". Anthy and Touga start as the good victim and bad victim only for later on to be revealed they were both accomplices of Akio. They both spend time in the rose garden "grooming roses" (aka manipulating the other kids in the cycle). And yet, they are both shown empathy and both of them are saved. I also personally find heart-breaking the depiction of characters like Utena and Saionji who love Anthy and Touga deeply to the point they re-enter the cycle and put themselves in danger to protect their loved ones. There is something beautiful and heartbreaking about a vulnerable and scared kid being brave for another vulnerable and scared kid.
Favorite Characters
The order keeps on changing, so have them in no particular order.
These two queens. Utena and Anthy are both great because of the deconstruction they go through in the final arc of the anime. Utena starts as the badass prince and Anthy as the victimized poor princess. The final arc shows how much more complex they are.
Utena is not a badass hero, but a groomed victim, which is being manipulated by an adult and by the girl she clearly has feelings for. She is a kid, so she is superficial and naive and struggles to understand others. She sees the world through a simplistic lens. And yet, she never loses her drive nor the desire to help others and this leaves a huge impact on the people around her. The coronation of her arc being her realization she herself has been "using" Anthy to an extent to feel "good" and "noble" is great, as it is her still wanting to help Anthy, despite Anthy's betrayal.
Anthy is a victim, but she is not a helpless princess. She is a girl turned into a witch and forced to do horrible crimes. Everyone mistreats Anthy and Anthy lashes out at everyone. She manipulates all the other kids into Akio's trap, poisons people and plays the part of the princess even if she knows the only person she truly cares about will end up in her same nightmare. Finally, she stabs Utena who has been fighting for her the whole time in the back. And yet, the story tells us she does not deserve abuse. She does not deserve all the pain, she is a victim, she needs help. And at the same time she is her own person and she can save herself.
These two idiots. I have a HUGE soft spot for Saionji and Touga, as disastrous as they are. I love that they are introduced as these two big assholes only to be revealed as two kids, whose desire to be heroes and to help others has been hijacked and twisted by an abuser.
Touga is heartbreaking and another great representation of a bad victim. He is being groomed by Akio to become like him. At the very beginning of the story he is sure he is bound to become like Akio. So, he manipulates and pushes Saionji away. At the same time, he makes use of Nanami's feelings for him in his schemes. He lashes out against his loved ones so badly and... in the end his loved ones still love him deeply. Saionji and Nanami both understand what Touga has been going through to an extent and choose to stay by his side. I love their little trio at the end.
Saionji is great because he is genuinely unbearable when he tries to play "the part of the big bad man". And yet, once he drops the mask he is revealed as very sensitive, childish and sweet. He is able to read through Touga perfectly by the end and chooses to support him, even if it is dangerous. Their relationship warms my heart. Moreover, I love toxic masculine characters that have to integrate their feminine part.
NANAMI IS MY SPECIAL LITTLE GIRL! I genuinely adore her and I have had a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE SOFT SPOT for her since the very beginning (just ask @hamliet :P). She is just kid Regina George, how can I hate her? She is very similar to Cordelia in Buffy in how she is an alpha bitch, but the narrative turns her into a butt-monkey, so she is impossible to dislike.
Anyway, I love very childish characters that by the end become wiser than everyone else. Nanami checks. She starts as Touga's annoying little sister and ends the story as her own person. I love how the series explores her bond with Touga and how she is building her identity on his. I love how it is shown their bond is 100% platonic and how her obsession for her brother stemmed from childishness. I really see Nanami as the 3rd main character tbh (not counting Akio as a MC, but as a villain). She is the only character who completes her growth outside of Anthy and Utena, after all. Moreover, she receives more individual episodes than everyone else. Overall she is just very very complex and I adore characters that are flawed in a not sanitized way and get to face their ugly flaws and overcome them. Plus, let's be real... the girl HAS STYLE... ALL HER CLOTHES ARE 100%. Honestly, if I were to write an individual analysis, I think she is the character I would love to go and make a deep dive into.
If Kanae had remained alive until the end of the series, do you think Akio would have used her as the new Rose Bride after Anthy left? And if that were the case, would Kanae have allowed it?
There's a really interesting theory about Kanae that I've seen from some Tumblr users. The theory suggests that Kanae was a former duelist who was possibly the winner of all the duels before the events shown in the series, and I'd like to know what you think about it.
Here's a short post that gives some hints about this theory: https://www.tumblr.com/anthycoded/745253794824224768/of-course-the-ep13-shadow-play-is-directly-about
Hi!
First of all, I will say I am mostly interested in reading the whole duel system as a metaphor for the cycle of abuse vs the process of growing up. By this I mean I am not super interested in understanding how the powers work or anything too much world-building related 'cause I think that is not the point of the series (everything is willingly left very vague and surreal). All of this to say this is the lens I will use to answer you.
Ask 1 - It may have been possible, but personally I think it would not have happened. The point of Akio and Anthy's relationship is that it is toxic and co-dependent. It is not just Anthy who is initially dependent on Akio, but Akio himself psychologically depends on Anthy. This means that:
Symbolically, Anthy is meant to have for Akio a power nobody else has. This is why only she can be Akio's rose bride.
Psychologically, Akio is parasitic to Anthy and depends on her. He feels strong and wise and adult because he can abuse Anthy and through her other kids. Now, an abuser can definitely find a new victim, but:
A) It would not work thematically - the whole point is that symbolically Anthy leaving means the cycle is broken. Akio won't be able to re-create the system of duels without Anthy as his accomplice. Similarly, the other kids in the student council are all growing up and making themselves more independent from Akio's toxic influence. (Especially Touga aka Akio's other main victim).
B) If Akio were to choose another victim to replace Anthy I am not sure he would choose Kanae. Long story short, Akio is not interested enough in Kanae. Throughout the story Akio focuses mostly on three people: Anthy, Utena and Touga. The implication is that they are his "favorites". His court of Kanae is instead linked to the idea of getting a hold of Ohtori Academy. There is also the fact Kanae is already 18. The implication of Akio getting rid of her when she is becoming an adult ties into him being attracted only by kids.
C) Despite all of this, if for some reason Akio were to choose Kanae as his next "main victim", I think Kanae might not be able to escape him. I say this for the simple reason that in the series she in fact fails to escape him. She stays a victim of her mom and Akio until the very end. Like, it is obvious that she does not really love Akio nor is particularly happy to marry him. Still, she goes along with what her parents tell her, which makes so she is unable to grow up and become her own person.
Ask 2- I think it is an interesting theory, but personally I disagree with it.
1- The "lilies" reference happens in episode 13, while Kanae's episode is 14. So, I don't think it relates to her. The person the shadows are talking about is Utena. Moreover, I read a translator note that explained what the shadows are saying is part of a saying. Here is what that translation note says:
"Standing, she is like a (herbaceous) peony; sitting, she is like a (tree) peony; and walking she is like a lily."
It's a stock phrase to describe such a radiant beauty that every movement adds to her charms.
In context, it means that Utena overcame the first cycle of duels and left them looking as beautiful as a lily. However, she will be asked to come back to the arena to start a new cycle soon. As for why there are lilies in Kanae's duel, I can think of two reasons:
Since Kanae's duel is the very first of the second cycle, the lilies may be a symbol of the new cycle starting. Utena left the first cycle as a lily and she is now starting a second journey.
The lilies may foreshadow Kanae's death since they are flowers very commonly used at funerals. Kanae deep down knows she is in danger, but she can't act on this unconscious realization.
2- I don't think it makes sense thematically (nor plot-wise). The cycle of duels is both "growing up" and "the cycle of abuse". This means that leaving it means to both be done growing up and freeing one-self from abuse. For example, Nanami leaves the moment she grows and realizes she does not want to be a prisoner of the cycle of violence anymore. The same goes for Utena and Anthy. If Kanae truly were a duelist in the cycle started by Akio, but managed to leave, then... why is she still Akio's girlfriend? Why is she still a trapped child? Why isn't she wiser and more conscious of the danger she is in? Like, the more the kids fight, the more they grow up. If Kanae truly was a "previous winner" she should be far ahead than everyone else, but she is one of the most helpless characters. There is also the fact that... there is really no winner of the tournament tbh. That is the point of the series. There are no princes, nor princesses and the whole thing is manufactured by Akio. The point is that the kids can never truly leave the cycle nor Ohtori Academy:
Akio: The students of this academy are all free, have a love of learning, and above all, do not fight. Right?
Utena: I hope it always stays that way.
Kanae: Nothing bad ever happens at Ohtori Academy.
Ohtori Academy is a twisted Neverland. In the conversation above both Utena and Kanae are victims of Akio's lies and illusion.
Sure, you could argue that Kanae is a previous Utena aka she won all the duels and became Akio's "princess" for a while. However, she is now too old and Akio is thinking of discarding her. Still, I doubt it since it is implied nobody before Utena came close to complete the whole process. Moreover, the context around Kanae's relationship with Akio is clear enough. Akio seduced Kanae's mom and charmed her father to become their "heir". Then he and Anthy proceeded to poison Kanae's father and kept preying on Kanae to secure Akio's power at Ohtori.
hi kate! do you have any favorite quotes from btvs? and also do you maybe know of any books similar to peter pan or poems that handle the subject of growing up in general? i've been thinking about it a lot lately and getting pretty emotional. im itching to read something but have no idea where i should start looking! i really enjoyed peter pan. love you & hope you're doing well
Hi! Thank you for your kindness <3
There are a few!
Buffy to Dawn: The hardest thing in this world is to live in it. So be brave. Live. (Season 5, "The Gift")
Love this quote. It's also why Buffy dying in season 5 could never have stayed permanent.
Spike to Buffy: A hundred plus years, and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of. You. Hey, look at me. I'm not asking you for anything. When I say I love you, it's not because I want you, or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity exactly who you are. You're a hell of a woman. You're the one, Buffy (Season 7, Touched)
It's a beautiful declaration of love.
Buffy: Was it sudden?
Tara: What?
Buffy: Your mother.
Tara: No. And yes. It's always sudden. (Season 5, The Body)
Having lost a parent in a way that was theoretically a long illness but also very sudden, this hits home. You're never ready.
Anya: But I don’t understand! I don’t understand how this all happens. How we go through this. I mean, I knew her, and then she’s, there’s just a body, and I don’t understand why she just can’t get back in it and not be dead anymore! It’s stupid! It’s mortal and stupid! And, and Xander’s crying and not talking, and, and I was having fruit punch, and I thought, well Joyce will never have any more fruit punch, ever, and she’ll never have eggs, or yawn or brush her hair, not ever, and no one will explain to me why! (Season 5, The Body)
The Body is honestly one of the best episodes of television ever, and she's getting at the true absurdity that is death, and grief, and how none of it makes any sense. Death is the most natural thing in the world, the only universal human experience (even birth isn't universal as babies die in the process of being born). But it only takes one close experience of death to know how unnatural it is.
Giles: You mean life?
Buffy: Yeah. Does it get easy?
Giles: What do you want me to say?
Buffy: Lie to me.
Giles: Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after.
Buffy: Liar. (Season 3, Lie to Me)
Another great episode with poignant lines that address the reality of growing up, and the way you start to realize it's not so simple.
Giles: To forgive is an act of compassion, Buffy. It's not done because people deserve it, it's done because they need it (Season 2, I Only Have Eyes For You).
In a world where forgiveness is seen as a weapon by both pro and anti forgiveness people, Giles' sentiment here is powerful and needed.
Buffy to Angel: Strong is fighting! It’s hard, and its painful, and it’s every day. It’s what we have to do. And we can do it together. (Season 3, Amends)
I don't even ship Bangel very much but I love their whole conversation in Amends.
Angel: Buffy, you know, I'm still figuring things out. There's a lot I don't understand... But I do know it's important to keep fighting. I learned that from you.
Buffy: But we never...
Angel: We never win.
Buffy: Not completely.
Angel: We never will. That's not why we fight. We do it 'cause there's things worth fighting for. (Season 3, Gingerbread)
Therein lies the message of Buffy, and of growing up. You will never truly "arrive." You will always have to be fighting for something. That's part of being alive.
It's hard, but worth it.
Hmmm, there are a lot of bildungsoramen (coming of age) books... if you liked Peter Pan, thinking more classically, The Secret Garden, Little Women, To Kill a Mockingbird, Anne of Green Gables would be good. And The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and Howl's Moving Castle (the film and the book, which are different but both are great).
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Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Clean It Up! and Bad With Us are at their cores two joke songs. That said, they can be interesting to compare in the context of Charlie and Vox's foiling:
Clean It Up! and Bad With Us are two attempts Charlie and Vox make to win over the public thanks to medias.
On the one hand Charlie does an interview with Katie Killjoy to best VoxTek and clear her reputation:
Charlie: I feel like if I explain myself on live television, then they won't be able to edit it like that video! You know I did not strike Velvette with an open fist.
On the other hand Vox uses newspapers and TV to spread the news about his victory against Alastor, so that he can impress the other Overlords:
So, the two songs convey Charlie and Vox's communication skills and the way they (mis-)use both medias and their loved ones in their respective campaigns.
MEDIAS AND FRIENDS
Medias
Charlie goes on live TV to do some damage control on the Hazbin Hotel's reputation:
Charlie: I'm just trying to clear up the misinformation about the hotel.
Vaggie: There is no point. Those fuckers work for Vox. Katie Killjoy is just gonna do the same thing the Vees did. Don't feed into this crap. Just stay with me today. And the guests, also the guests.
Charlie: I knooow, but I feel like if I explain myself on live television, then they won't be able to edit it like that video! You know I did not strike Velvette with an open fist.
However, she is easily manipulated by Katie Killjoy and ends up making things worse:
Charlie: Well, sure, but, see, he made it look that way. If you take something out of context, you can make someone say anything! It feels like he was just waiting for me to say something awful, like that (in a lower, somewhat silly voice) "I think Sinners deserved the Extermination because they're bad people." (laughs) But I would never actually say that!
Katie: Oh! Did you get that?! Breaking news. Charlie Morningstar claims that Sinners deserved to be exterminated in shocking new statement.
Charlie: No! No. That is not-- Like-- What?! Stop. That is not what I said, it was just an example. Not like I meant it, you know! Please stop quoting everything I'm saying, it is distracting me!
Vox instead uses his powers as the Media Overlord to spread the "good news" about Alastor's defeat:
He has a parade
He organizes an interview
He has his newspapers and TV Channel report the news over and over again
Friends
Charlie has Niffty come with her and eventually lets her friend take the stage and speak in her place in Clean It Up!:
Vox has Val and Velvette take part in his communication strategy, but he keeps monopolizing the screen-time and singing solo parts, which becomes obvious in Bad With Us:
Let's go deeper by analyzing both Clean It Up! and Bad With Us.
CLEAN IT UP!
Niffty = Charlie's Inner Child
Charlie has Niffty come with her to the TV Station, so that she can stay grounded:
The fact Charlie chooses Niffty instead of Vaggi or anyone else speaks of her psychological state. She is acting incredibly childish, so she has herself supported by her inner child, that Niffty symbolizes. This is why Clean It Up! has some similarities with Inside Of Every Demon Is a Rainbow aka Charlie's pilot song.
Clean It Up! and Inside of Every Demon Is a Rainbow
Clean It Up! and Inside of Every Demon Is a Rainbow are sung as a last resort during disastrous interviews with Katie Killjoy and convey similar messages.
Charlie and Niffty strongly believe in the dream to help Sinners:
Charlie: Look, every single one of you has something good, deep down inside. I know you do! ...Maybe I'm not getting through to you.
Niffty: でも私はまだ夢を信じています！(Demo watashi wa mada yume wo shinjite imasu! ) (But I still believe in the dream!)
私は clean it up! (Watashi wa clean it up! ) (I clean it up!)
YESSSSS!
However, their feelings don't come across:
Charlie is too self-focused in her song:
Charlie: I have a dream,
I'm here to tell
About a wonderful, fantastic new hotel
Niffty sings the most positive part in Japanese, so nobody understands her:
Niffty: チャーリーはとても優しい上司です。(Chārī wa totemo yasashī jōshidesu) (Charlie is a very kind boss)
彼女は成功すると信じています。 (Kanojo wa seikō suru to shinjite imasu) (I believe she will succeed)
Charlie: Can anyone understand this?
Niffty: とっても大好きです、いつも！(Totemo daisukidesu itsumo!) (I love it so much, always!)
Charlie: Why?
What people get from their performances is that Charlie and Niffty see Sinners as assholes and that the Hazbin Hotel sucks:
Charlie: So, all you junkies, freaks, and weirdos,
Creepers, fuck-ups, crooks, and zeroes,
And downfallen superheroes, hope is here!
All of you cretins, sluts, and losers,
Sexual deviants and boozers
And prescription drug abusers
Need not fear!
Niffty: 犯罪者は TRASH (Hanzai-sha wa TRASH) (Sinners are TRASH)
そして彼らは ASSHOLES (Soshite karera wa ASSHOLES) (And they are ASSHOLES)
Charlie: Oh no...
So, Clean It Up! marks Charlie's regression in season 2. In season 1, the Princess of Hell is able to get through a crowd of cannibals with a wonderful song. In season 2, she has regressed so much she is unsure of her own voice. She lets her inner child sing, which brings her back to square zero.
Let's now see what this demonic inner child has to say!
Niffty - The Japanese Idol
Clean It Up! is similar to j-rock/j-pop songs, which are referenced also by Niffty imitating Japanese idols:
In the frame above, Cherri, Angel and Vaggi are dressed as fans cheering Idol Niffty on with light sticks.
The Japanese inspiration is key both musically and visually.
Musically, Niffty starts singing in Japanese mid-way.
Niffty's Japanese singing represents Niffty's "true voice". As she sings in this language, she expresses her deepest feelings in the clearest way:
Niffty:The hotel is really nice
Charlie is a very kind boss
I believe she will succeed
I love it so much, always!
Sinners are TRASH
And they are ASSHOLES
But I still believe in the dream
There is only a little problem: nobody understands her!
Niffty's joke song conveys people's inability to communicate, which is why everything is spiralling out of control. In a sense, Clean It Up! is the song associated to the idea of mis-communication.
On the one hand Charlie is unable to understand Niffty:
Charlie: Niffty, what are you doing?
Niffty: Helping!
Charlie: Can you help differently?
Niffty: Okay!
(...)
Charlie: Can anyone understand this?
Niffty loves that the Hazbin Hotel is dirty because she likes cleaning it up. Charlie misses this and insists that Niffty changes her way of "helping". Hilariously this leads to Niffty switching languages, which just makes things worse and leaves Charlie even more confused.
On the other hand the Sinners do not understand Charlie:
The comments on the TV screen say: "Charlie strikes people when they talk shit, so I get why this little bitch ain't saying shit."/"Try all you want bitch you can't manipulate her anymore. She's not afraid of you anymore".
Visually, Niffty gets animated in a way that pays homage to:
Magical girls anime, which comment her character
Studio Ghibli movies, which tie into the themes
1- The Character
A-Puella Magi Niffty Magica
Niffty is compared to traditional magical girls. An example that comes to mind is Ojamajo Doremi:
Ojamajo Doremi is the story of a group of girls that train to become witches. Their magic is linked every season to a different art: music, flowers, confectionery, etc. There is obviously no direct reference, but I think the overall idea fits Niffty, who is an Overlord linked to some form of art. It isn't sure what art Niffty represents, but I would not be surprised if her motif is simply "feminine arts":
Niffty's weapon of choice is a giant needle and her powers look like stylized sewing stitches. This links her to "sewing", but considering Niffty's overall house-keeper motif I think that considering her a master of the "housekeeping art" would fit.
Whatever the case, Niffty's "magical girl vision" turns the Hazbin Hotel into a happy place full of pastel colors, rather than the usual hellish shades of red and black:
This is very fun since for a moment we get to see the world through the "Niffty-filter"! Our girl truly experiences things her own way:
Niffty: I've named all the stains on the carpet. That one's Fred.
An example of Niffty's unique perspective? She has a poodle-stain on her skirt. Considering she names stains, I wonder if she truly considers the poodle as her true pet.
In her mind Niffty is probably the wonderful protagonist of a majokko!
B- Magical Helpers
Niffty's world is full of "magical helpers":
This brings to mind a pretty obvious reference:
The movie Enchanted has Giselle clean the house together with mice, cockroaches and pigeons.
What's interesting is that the idea of Niffty cleaning the hotel up together with "little helpers" strengthens her association with Charlie. After all, our Princess of Hell is a twist of the classical Disney Princess, just like Giselle is. Charlie is a Belle that sings in Hell and Niffty is a magical girl, who likes rats and roaches. Thematically this link makes the metaphor of Niffty as Charlie's inner child more meaningful.
Niffty: And our rats have grown immune to being sprayed by mace
So I gotta take my knife and stab 'em all in the face
And now they treat me like their queen
Because I'm covered in rat blood (Charlie: Niffty, no!)
Katie: It seems Morningstar has no desire to build an army for demons who want to fight back, and instead, wants to create a hostile environment where she forces sinners to change and fit into her restrictive puritanical mold.
Ironically, Niffty as the Rat Queen resembles the caricature of Charlie as the Evil Woke Queen :P. Obviously Charlie isn't a dictator, but she can be so single-minded that she becomes controlling of others, like Speedrun To Redemption shows. In other words, a small and childish part of Charlie really wants to control people like Niffty controls cockroaches. However, this is impossible because people are complex and can't be "trained to redeem themselves".
2- The Theme
As @misstrashchan explains in her beautiful meta, Niffty alludes to several characters in Ghibli movies. For Clean It Up! the important allusion is that of Kiki Delivery Service:
Kiki is a little witch that in order to grow up has to spend one year working alone away from home. Kiki's only power is flight, so she decides to start a delivery service together with her familiar, Jiji the talking cat. Doesn't she remind you of anyone?
Charlie starts her own business while isolated from her family. The only reminder of "home" is her pet-key Kee-Kee that looks like a cat and represents the Hazbin Hotel.
At one point in the movie, Kiki loses her ability to fly (her drive and sense of self) and to talk with Jiji (her inner child). Once again, this is exactly what happens to Charlie in Clean It Up! In this song, Charlie not understanding Niffty is not just her "not listening to her loved ones", but it has a deeper implication. Charlie at the same time regresses into her immature self and is disconnected from the most genuine part of her inner child. Symbolically, Charlie can't understand Niffty as the little Overlord describes the Princess's own dream. At the same time, Charlie misses another important meaning of Niffty's song, which again @misstrashchan pointed out in another banger of a meta:
Charlie: There's a warm, fuzzy feeling
That wafts through the air
Every street so revealing
It's hard not to stare!
It's a realm so appealing it beats anywhеre
If you don't mind the smell...
It's a happy day in Hell!
Niffty: A magical land
Hotel of my dreams
Disgusting-est, ugliest building that I've ever seen!
And I get to clean it up!
Charlie is so obsessed with "fixing" everything that she has lost sight of the ideals that prompted her to create the Hazbin Hotel in the first place. The point isn't to have a perfectly neat hotel, but to give Sinners a place where they can "clean themselves up". It is not easy nor neat, no matter how much Charlie tells herself it will be. It's going to be dirty and ugly 'cause people are complex. However, the important thing is not to lose hope in yourself and others. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder:
Charlie: I can hear all their stories
The lost and displaced
And I know that they're more of an acquired taste
But if I open the door and I give them a place
At my Hazbin Hotel
It'll be a happy day in Hell!
In the frame above, Niffty sees the camera as a giant cockroach which gives her the chance to sing on live TV. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder indeed! Speaking of which, despite Charlie's other failures I love that even as she messes up she still helps Niffty find her inner voice, so that the little demon can finally perform in front of a camera :P
Identity Crisis and Miscommunication
Clean It Up! represents Charlie's identity crisis and inability to communicate. She goes on TV to "clean herself up" :P. She does it not because it is really necessary, but because in her mind she needs to be a great leader without any dirt on her reputation. Just like Lilith:
Charlie: Mom would know what to do. She was always so good at this. Staying calm, being the voice of the people. Being the center of attention with everyone looking to her, to follow her.
Charlie: Alright, Niffty, we've got this, right? I mean, all I gotta do is talk from the heart, for the people. Set the record straight.
However, she is not ready to handle the pressure:
Angel Dust: Aw man, Charlie ain't looking too good under pressure.
She basically has a little break-down and lets her most childish part speak. Still, she is so lost she can't even make sense of her inner child's words. Not only that, but the fact Charlie chooses not to sing shows how much she is struggling. We are talking about Miss Musical Theatre Princess... not singing? That same Charlie who ALWAYS pitches her hotel with a song? Yep, she is definitely spiraling badly :P
Season 2 has Charlie lose her voice as she becomes confused about what she wants to say:
She starts with Hazbin Guarantee, which is not as good as Ready For This, but is still a solid pitching song
She loses it in Speedrun To Redemption, where she sings over Angel and hurts him; here she starts spiraling and losing faith in herself
She chooses not to sing in episode 4 and lets Niffty perform Clean It Up! instead; after this she looks for other voices that can speak for her (the Angels), while refusing to listen to her loved ones
Finally, Charlie escapes her spiral in Easy, where she listens to Vaggi and finds her beautiful singing voice again:
Vaggie: Shut up, you know that I love you
But you're forgettin' who we are
In a pit that doesn't let sun through
Somehow we managed to see stars
Charlie and Vaggie: Your heart, my heart, when I am with you
Two souls, one goal, we'll never lose (Charlie:Woah-oh)
After this, Charlie sings along in Hear My Hope, not as the main vocalist, but as a voice in the choir. Charlie is slowly re-discovering both her voice and how to inspire others to sing.
BAD WITH US
The Power Of Friendship
Bad With Us is a recruitment song, which celebrates the "power of friendship", both when it comes to the macrocosm and to the microcosm.
Macrocosm - Vox sings about how stupid it is to fight among Overlords and how they should all strive for peace:
Vox: What better time to reinforce our crew?
Grab an olive branch, go knock on some door-els
Why should we keep crossing swords?
After all, we're all overlords
Microcosm - The Vees act as best friends forever:
Vox dances together with both Velvette and Valentino and then they form a ring-around-the-rosie. All of this while they sing about how good it is to work together, as they invite other Overlords to join them.
The irony of this is that it is obviously a lie.
Vox doesn't want peace, but war:
Vox: You know you wanna be bad with us (Valentino and Velvette: Bad with us)
Come and make angels mad with us (Valentino and Velvette: So mad with us)
Still, he uses a reassuring tone and peaceful imagery (olive branches) not to scare the Overlords. Moreover, he sells the experience of working together with him as the best thing ever:
Velvette records Vox and Val's dance to show how wonderful the Vees are. Aren't they the greatest team? Look at how much in harmony they all are, especially compared to Charlie and the misfit-team she put together by ABUSING THEM ALL! As a note, I love Velvette has a heart in her hair to fit the power of love theme of the Vees' propaganda song.
Except that the tension is starting to rise among the Vees:
As @hoepunkausta taught me to notice Valentino and Velvette match. They both wear red clothes, have a heart symbol in their hair and on their belts. Finally, both have black and white details in the lower parts of their outfits. Vox is instead an outlier, which marks a difference in hierarchy between him and the other two Vees.
Vox sings of himself with fake humility, as if he is just "one of the people":
Vox: So I've had a stroke of luck, it's true
But I'm not one to rest on my laurels
However, he takes central stage. Specifically Bad With Us has him have all the spoken lyrics. This marks an important difference with both Trust Us:
Velvette: Come on down to V Tower
Where we help talent flower
Valentino: No tellin' how hot you could get
Once you're backed by our power
Velvette: Let's start with a killer fit
Let's get filler in those lips
Valentino: Wax that gooch and pull that strip
Valentino and Velvette: Snip, snip, snip
Ooh-ooh-ooh
And Once We Get Up There:
Vox: Yes! A heavenly host that bows to none but us!
Valentino: I can have hot new angel sluts!
Velvette: Tear off their wings and make 'em dresses!
Vox and Valentino: And what's best is...
Velvette: That dumb princess showed us the way
Valentino: To make those haloed cabrónas pay!
In Bad With Us Vox steals Val and Velvette's screen-time to the point their contribution is just to do some harmonies and the counter-melody during the refrain:
Vox: You know you wanna be bad with us (Valentino and Velvette: Bad with us)
Come and make angels mad with us (Valentino and Velvette: So mad with us)
This building tension even comes up briefly at the very end:
Vox: Cha-cha-cha
Velvette and Valentino: No!/Stop it!
A song about team-play and harmony ironically ends with Valentino and Velvette exploding at Vox's racist ass :P
The Rumor Mill
Bad With Us is a lie, so it fittingly draws its power from rumors and promises.
The Overlords open the song by gossiping about Vox and Alastor's fight:
Zeezi: Holy shit, is this true?
Alastor's been defeated?
Man Meat: By Lucifer?
Zeezi: No!
Man Meat: Then who?
Zeezi: That self-absorbed TV head
They all report exaggerated rumors of how things went down:
Maestro: Word is, he gut him fair and square
Zeezi: I heard Vox fucked him with a chair
Zeezi, Maestro, and Man Meat: Either way
It's seemin' the Radio Demon's off the air
Let's highlight:
Vox does not gut Alastor, but simply re-opens the wound Adam gave him
Vox forces Alastor to stay tied to a chair, but people notice Vox's thirst over Alastor and make voices up
Everyone focuses on Vox and conveniently forgets that Vox, Valentino and Velvette all fought against a weakened Alastor together
Vox answers the Overlords with baseless promises that are often contradictory.
According to Vox, Heaven is both a place perfect for a juvenile club:
Vox: And Zeezi?
I hear that Heaven has some pretty sick venues
Open a club up
Make a hubbub
Drop a beat to amen to
And for spending one's retirement:
Vox: Hey, Zestial
There's old, boring shit up there
Books, tea, elder care
It is a chill realm where to rest:
Vox: Oh, Maestro
I know a tranquil realm where you can rest
And a kingdom to fill with violence and rage:
Vox: Hey, Prick and Hatchet
Best believe your gang fights are gonna be batshit
With exorcist blades
You can fill Heaven with rage
In short, Vox picks the Overlords' interest by promising them what they want without having any idea if Heaven will even fulfill these desires. Moreover he makes sure to sing in their styles, so that he can get through to them:
Club music for Zeezi
Western for Prick and Hatchet
Opera for Maestro
Latina music for Carmilla
In other words, Vox uses each person's language to speak to them.
Empty Words and Empty Self
Vox is a great communicator, but he is deep down empty. He has no ideas, but only slogans ("Trust us", "Bad with us", "Vox populi").
Two thoughts come to mind.
1-The Overlords themselves are conscious of Vox's flaws on some extent:
Prick: I can't remember ever seein' power shift this fast
Prick and Hatchet: With all his smarmy talk
I thought Vox was just gassed up
Still, they are are all tricked by Vox's sweet words and end up repeating Vox's slogan by the end of the song:
Zeezi: It's so much fun to be—
Demons and Overlords: Bad with us
So bad (Demon: So fuckin' bad)
With us!
Even Carmilla, who resists Vox here will repeat Vox's exact words just one episode later:
Vox: It's the dawn of a new regime
Come on, join the winning team!
Carmilla: What matters is, war is coming and I am choosing the winning side.
2- Vox's performance is basically a parody of Charlie:
Vox: Why should we keep crossing swords?
After all, we're all overlords
Charlie: I just know you're gonna love it here!
Charlie and Vaggie: We can live in harmony
Husk: No, I can't make a fucking Mai Tai
Charlie and Vaggie: That's the Hazbin guarantee!
Charlie has been striving since the beginning of the season to unify Hell and to have peace and harmony between Hell and Heaven. Here Vox is using similar cheesy lines about the "power of friendship" to create his own group. This is not an isolated case, as Vox keeps parodying and twisting Charlie's ideals even in VOX POPULI:
Sinners: Every sinner can be a winner
Let's take our fates
To the pearly gates
We can have the keys
If we trust the Vees
Give applause, Hell has cause to rejoice!
Charlie: Come on in, here's your key
Let me take your bag, wait 'til ya see
The hotel, 'cause it's great!
The finale of VOX POPULI calls back to many ideas associated with Charlie. The Sinners sing "happy days are nigh with Vox" ("And then tomorrow it will be a fuckin' happy day in Hell!" from the Finale) and say they can all "save their souls" ("You've made a great choice to save your soul!" from Hazbin Guarantee). Finally they mention the keys to Heaven in juxtaposition with Charlie offering them room-keys.
This happens because of two reasons:
A- Charlie is the one that enables Vox and lets him gain more power. If Charlie had followed Vaggi's advice to ignore Vox's campaign to begin with, things would not have spiraled out of control. After all, Vox has been trying to gain power in Hell with a similar rhetoric since season 1. However, he has failed to make any significant progress. It is only by exploiting Charlie's success and ideas together with the Princess's insecurities and inexperience that he is able to climb up enough. (Yes, of course Lucifer, Alastor, Sera and Carmilla all eventually contribute; still, my point here is that it all starts with Charlie). Because of this, Vox keeps stealing Charlie's ideas, rhetoric and beliefs and twists them for his own goals.
B- Charlie and Vox can be similarly shallow. Sure, Charlie has strong beliefs and original ideas, differently from Vox. However, her approach to things can be very simplistic. For example, Charlie too promises Demons Heaven will fix all their problems, even if she herself has no idea of how Heaven works.
CONCLUSION
Niffty and Vox's joke songs comment on the themes of:
Communication
Identity
Let's wrap things up and synthesize the main points.
Communication - Two Towers of Babel
Season 2 makes use of biblical myths to convey its themes. One of them is The Tower of Babel, which comments on the idea of "communication". The Tower of Babel is the story of how a united humanity decides to build a city with a tower that will reach the sky. God realizes that humans' power comes from unity, so he divides them by creating different languages.
Niffty and Vox loosely tackle this motif in their songs, but in opposite ways.
Niffty sings in Japanese aka her language that nobody understands. She expresses something true and genuine, but her message can't reach others.
Vox sings in all the Overlords' styles, so that he can communicate with them. Still, he does not use his own voice and has no true message to convey.
Niffty is substance without form, while Vox is form without substance. In order to properly communicate one needs both.
Identity - Camera Ready
Niffty and Vox are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to identity, which is shown by the motif of "acting".
Niffty freezes in front of the camera:
Vox is a human TV screen, who is ready to go live by default:
In short, Niffty can't act, while Vox always acts:
Niffty does not play a part, but is simply herself with zero filters, which often makes her misunderstood
Vox plays many different parts, so that he can charm people; he is able to do so because his ego is very frail
Guess who is forcing herself to act without being camera ready in season 2?
In 2x4 Charlie is not "camera ready" and gets blinded by the lights, which confuse her. Her expression here is very similar to Niffty's whenever the little demon steps in front of the camera to emphasize how Charlie is out of her element and forcing herself to play a part that doesn't fit her. She is trying to play Lilith, but she isn't her mom. She is the worst of both Niffty (can't communicate) and Vox (can't be herself).
Charlie In the Middle
Charlie has to both develop her own identity and to learn how to communicate with people. So, she must find a happy medium between Niffty and Vox. Like Niffty, she has to be true to herself. Like Vox, she needs to read others and to understand the best way to get through to them. Is there a way to reconcile these two apparent opposite behaviors? Yes and Charlie has already started doing so in Ready For This.
In this song Charlie puts up a performance, while being conscious that she is indeed acting. And yet, she does not lie nor trick others:
Charlie: For the first time in my life
I might have to be ready for this
Ready to be the one who's leading from the front
Charlie: And although I kinda feel unsteady
Now I need to be ready for this
Charlie: For the first time in my life
Maybe I can be ready for this
I can be the marshal leading the parade
Charlie: When Adam brings the battle here
I must appear like I'm ready for this
Charlie: I really hope that I'm ready for this...
Usually Charlie acts as if she has everything understood and under control, when she clearly doesn't. However in Ready For This she does not say once that she is ready, 'cause she isn't. And yet, this the only song so far where she truly gets through to the people.
Rather she finds the best way to make them understand her goal:
Charlie: Have you ever wanted something
That was so clear in your mind that you could taste it?
Susan: You mean like human flesh?
Charlie: Uhh, sort of..
It's a feeling like a rumbling in your gut
That you could finally be faced with
A billion needy faces, I guess what I mean to say is
For the first time in my life
I might have to be ready for this
Ready to be the one who's leading from the front
Gotta come into my own
Gotta come into my throne
Gotta take charge and defend my only home
Charlie uses rhetorical questions to involve the crowd into her performance and uses metaphors linked to the sense of taste, which is dear to the cannibals.
In Ready For This Charlie faces herself a little bit, which in turns lets her face others more genuinely. This is where her path lies. She must become a performer that expresses herself through her acting and singing, rather than one that negates herself behind a mask.
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