Rambling Hobbyist

Here’s the entire song in English according to both the lyrics on the official music video and the English version (I copied and pasted this from a wiki for convience ^^;, but it does seem to be the official ones and I did make some minor corrections. So let me know if anything is off.):

“Under the sky of nowhere we search for answer to seize our lives Forget the tears and the eyes beyond the lights All the stuff that we care and believe in everyday Could be washed away and disappear in one blink of an eye Countless memories flashing back so clearly And slowly fading into the sky Realities that I wish that I could just forget All the sudden, what happens, if trapped in, the blood into vessels of heart All the damage and ravage breaks my heart I lose control and overflows the feelings That I can't resist Under the sky of nowhere we search for answer to seize our lives Forget the tears and the eyes beyond the lights Zero to countless times of rise and fall we've carried on Resound again, the beat of our heart Yes, No All the stuff that we see and hear and feel everyday Is so complicated and makes me lost below this sky The fast beat of heart and the flicking refrain All the despair repeats in mind Turns into a small hope and brings the light on Under the sky of nowhere we march against the violent wind With all the guards up, the eyes beyond the lights Sometimes it's hard to see the truth but we carry on Again and again, resound again Yes, No Breathe the air deep in, deep out Let 'em all be the way they are Be yourself and stand up tall Without a clue, with broken shoes, walk this way with you Deeply inside the heart we scream and shout to seize our lives As time tries to wash our lives away Zero to countless times of rise and fall we've carried on Under the sky shining so bright All the smallest hope and the largest pain flies through the night As new horizon lighting up the sky Not everything is easy to get but we carry on Again and again, resound again, Answer refrains in beat of our heart Yes, No"

Now, onto how I think this song fits within the context of Mob Pyscho, specifically season 1.

First, I’ll go through a couple of the ones I think could work, but I personally don’t think fully fit then go with the one I feel fits my own personal interpretation.

Let’s start with the one I think is least likely, at least for the full version; Reigen addressing Mob.

That’s not to say I don’t think Reigen’s advice and ideologies don’t come through in the song, quite the opposite actually, but I don’t think it’s Reigen talking to, or about, Mob exclusively. Especially since the song mentions things about overflowing feelings and feelings that can’t be resisted. Two things that are very much Mob. Granted, the animation for the ending is clearly from Reigen’s POV, but I think this fits in a different way than Reigen addressing Mob. Granted, I think the TV version can fit this better, especially since the part about “can’t resist feelings” can do with Reigen’s growing care for Mob, whom he sees as family.

Second; It’s Mob’s POV about himself.

Again, the lyrics mention overflowing feelings, not being able to resist them, but also how there are memories and realities he wishes to forget, possibly in reference to his powers and how he fears hurting people with them (like Ritsu).

“. . .Countless memories flashing back so clearly And slowly fading into the sky Realities that I wish that I could just forget All the sudden, what happens, if trapped in, the blood into vessels of heart All the damage and ravage breaks my heart I lose control and overflows the feelings That I can't resist”

The second verse even says it’s complicated for him to understand things (him not being able to “Get a Clue”) and how bottling up his emotions make it hard; a repeating despair. Yet, it’s also this that makes him decide to change.

“All the stuff that we see and heart and feel everyday Is so complicated and makes me lost below this sky The fast beat of heart and the flicking refrain All the despair repeats in mind

Turns into a small and brings the light on”

Even the chorus parts can very well be talking about, despite Mob’s suffering, he still holds hope and understands that things are going to be hard, but to keep going.

However, this is also where I think it falls short from being from Mob’s POV exclusively. It’s the bridge that complicates it for me, as while it could be Mob talking to himself to pump himself up, a self-motivation, it feels like someone else talking to him, rather than talking to himself.

At this point, you can probably see where I’m going with this.

Personally, I feel this song best represents a kind of “conversation” between Mob and Reigen. Maybe literally, maybe not.

Pretty much the entire first and second verses are using words that best represent Mob’s feelings; how he has to keep his emotions under wraps, how this causes him to have a hard time connecting with his peers, and how his explosions of emotion happen to a point he can no longer control. It definitely fits with the almost pessimistic or even anxiety filled issues and thoughts Mob can have. Especially during season 1, where Mob is probably at his lowest confidence wise.

“All the stuff that we care and believe in everyday Could be washed away and disappear in one blink of an eye Countless memories flashing back so clearly And slowly fading into the sky Realities that I wish that I could just forget

“All the sudden, what happens, if trapped in, the blood into vessels of heart All the damage and ravage breaks my heart I lose control and overflows the feelings That I can't resist”

“All the stuff that we see and hear and feel everyday Is so complicated and makes me lost below this sky The fast beat of heart and the flicking refrain All the despair repeats in mind Turns into a small hope and brings the light on”

Meanwhile the choruses feel like it’s Reigen trying to tell Mob otherwise. He’s too pragmatic and realistic to not understand what Mob’s saying, but there’s no way he won’t try and make him feel better. It also fits Reigen’s ideology of life being complicated, but we still get back up and try anyway.

“Under the sky of nowhere we search for answer to seize our lives Forget the tears and the eyes beyond the lights Zero to countless times of rise and fall we've carried on Resound again, the beat of our heart”

“Under the sky of nowhere we march against the violent wind With all the guards up, the eyes beyond the lights Sometimes it's hard to see the truth but we carry on Again and again, resound again”

As a quick note, part of why this feels like a conversation is how the song progresses. It starts of almost purely pessimistic, with the opening lines coming off in the same manner, like the starting line to a conversation; “You know what I’ve noticed”, “I’ve been thinking”, and “You know, this how I feel about –,”. With the first chorus acting like an answer that says “You’re right, but-,”.

The last line of verse two sounds like Mob is starting to understand Reigen’s words, almost like an echoing overlap into the next chorus; “Turns into a small hope and brings the light on”.

Which brings me to the bridge. It sounds like a direct statement from Reigen to Mob. It sort of reminds me of the last two episodes of season 1 where he tells Mob “It’s okay to run away” or when talking down the Claw grunts. It sounds very much like a statement Reigen could say. Not so much the same message, but the energy of it. Firm, reassuring, and being said as if you’re being directly looked in the eyes. The last line is what sells it to me. It sounds like Reigen telling Mob, that no matter what, he’ll walk beside him through those hardships.

“Breathe the air deep in, deep out Let 'em all be the way they are Be yourself and stand up tall Without a clue, with broken shoes, walk this way with you”

This brings me to the final part. This time, it doesn’t feel like Reigen speaking, at least not on his own anymore. It feels more like Mob has taken over, echoing the advice and feelings that his master helped him to understand. That he’s starting to get it.

“Deeply inside the heart we scream and shout to seize our lives As time tries to wash our lives away Zero to countless times of rise and fall we've carried on Under the sky shining so bright All the smallest hope and the largest pain flies through the night As new horizon lighting up the sky Not everything is easy to get but we carry on Again and again, resound again, Answer refrains in beat of our heart Yes, No"

The one part of this song that I had a hard time understanding, was the “Yes, No”. How did this fit, but maybe it’s just meant to further emphasize how complicated this whole thing is. As well as Mob’s “No” and Reigen’s “Yes”.

Now, the one elephant in the room. The ending animation. I said that while I did mention I think the TV size version does fit better with Reigen’s POV, that I had a different take. Yes, the POV is from Reigen. It’s showing us his daily routine as he gets up for work and, eventually, runs into Mob. It’s also notable how it goes from grays to color when he finally does. How does that fit with this take on the song? Reigen’s parts, if you don’t mind me calling them that, reflect the fact that he does, to some extent, understand Mob. Or rather, that he has his own personal experiences where he knows things get better. Again, the animation is all grays until he meets Mob, showing that Reigen understands that while things can be complicated or dull or hard, there’s always something that makes it worth it. The animation subtly shows how important Mob is to Reigen, and this song could be showing how that importance effects how Reigen would teach and guide Mob. After all, during season 1 we see just how important Reigen’s words are to Mob, not that we don’t see it in other seasons, but the first one is very clearly showing the positive effect those teachings have, like how this song goes from something somber and melancholy, to hopeful.

I did not like Ota. This asshole not only got in my way at every turn, but he also was a complete simp for Iris, who I also have somewhat frutrasted feelings and heavy suspicion towards (but we'll see where it goes).

Anyway, this guy just pissed me off at every turn. A part of me just wanted Date to sock the guy.

But then Mayumi's dementia, something I already had a feeling she had, was finally revealed and everything just snowballed.

It wasn't until Date was interrogating him, and seeing his care for his mom, that my feelings began to change a little. There was no deflection this time, not like when he left Mizuki, just insistence. We could see glimpses of something good in Ota here and there, I can admit that, but for awhile there wasn't anything that overshadowed everything else he'd done, until here.

Then confronting him at the diner, Mayumi's Somnium, everything after that point, just-

I was like Aiba, I believed Ota had conspired with Iris, that he was actually the polar bear. Hell, he might still be for all I know!

But this whole finishing sequence happened and something in me shifted. Not just Ota, but Aiba trusting Date's intuition, finding Sejima's body, this whole thing was a roller coaster.

I still can't say I like Ota very much, but I don't doubt his love for his mother. I was not expecting this game to make me cry over this snot-nosed manchild, but damn if it didn't do a fine job of it.

I have no idea how this game is going to top that ending, but I look forward to seeing it try.

Anyway! Needless to say, yes, I did enjoy my time with this game. I loved how the dungeons were built and how connected they felt to the world. Honestly, it's easier to list my least favorites over my favorites, those ones being Jabu-Jabu's Belly, and the Fire Temple. Yes, I prefer Dodongo's Cavern over Jabu-Jabu adn even the Deku Tree. Normally, I don't care for Desert or Fire areas in games much, but Dodongo's Cavern is an exception, along with the Spirit Temple.

And the infamous Water Temple (yes I know the 3ds version was made easier, but still)? I am proud to say I only got turned around a couple times and only missed one key that I had to run back for. And change the water levels for twice. It was inside the central tower. I didn't grab it the first time I raised the water level to mid. I am so glad this was the only key I missed. Stop laughing >.>;.

If I did have to mention favorites, which is hard, I'd say the Forest and Spirit Temples. I just love the overgrown and decayed look of the Forest Temple, and I like the idea of switching between Adult and Child Link to finish the Spirit Temple, which I also liked the design for. Plus, the light puzzles were pretty neat.

The Bottom of the Well and the Shadow Temple are still freaky as an adult. I wonder how many children got scared by Dead Hand and noped the fuck out of there. (Nintendo got a taste for traumatizing the children early. They were probably laughing their asses off at the thought of it. Fuck them kids, I guess, lol.)

That final fight with Ganondorf, though, that was amazing. I was a bit frustrated how the asshole didn't wanna die in the first phase, bu that second phase with Ganon was worth it. The menace this man had and the look in his eyes as he transformed into Ganon. I was genuinely excited fighting this dude. I can only imagine how it felt being a kid and getting this far. I think Wind Waker beats it out for me, but that's one of my favorite Zeldas so I'm biased, lol. Still, this final sequence was amazing and I'm glad to have finally seen and played it for myself.

Going around and collecting everything, slowly making yourself stronger, was gratifying like most other Zeldas. Fuck hat fishing mini-game though. I hate it. It took way too long to get the biggest fish and my line kept breaking. I swear it sometimes felt like RNG if that fish stayed hooked or not. No, I did not steal the fisherman's hat. Yes, I know that secret. I just wanted to get out of there and never see another fish again. No I did not go after the Hylian Loach. I checked the reward, and Rupees were not worth it. Honestly, money felt pretty useless by the end, but that's something other Zelda games have struggled with as well, this was just one of the earlier iterations of it.

Collecting the Skulltellas wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Honestly, finding the ones out in the field was probably the worst part, but once you have the Sun's Song (which is you can get early as shit), it's not too big a problem. 100 seems like a lot, but really, since all you have to do is kill them and collect the goods they're much more manageable than, say, 120 (-136) shrines like in BotW. Or heaven forbid 999 Moons or 900 to 1000 Korok Seeds 0.0.

I'm just starting to realize Nintendo has a thing for this kind of stuff.

Regardless, most of the rewards were fairly helpful, even Rupees early game. Yes there are some archaic and aged things about the game; such as the Big Poes having very specific spawn points and can sometimes be bit odd with where they spawn from (particularly the one by Kakariko Village by that small cliff, at least for me it was), the movement can be a bit chonky, which can make fighting enemies and bosses a bit of a pain, and the lack of a controllable camera can sometimes get in the way. The Scarecrow's Song can be a bit finicky with where you play it and Hyrule Field a bit empty by today's standards (but was probably amazing back when it first came out). The story is a bit basic (at least on surface level), but also classic with fun moments (Link being afraid of a Goron hug is both hilarious and understandable). Because, yes, while the 3ds did give some QoL updates (like making the Iron Boots and Hover Shoes equipable items instead of gear), you can still feel some of the old, aged elements of the game.

However, despite that, the game has aged surprisingly well, and is still more than playable. Hell, it's still enjoyable even. It's yet another Zelda finally checked off my list, though I should have finished it ages ago, lmao.