#jin additional memory

What We Know: Okay, so what we know is that Ayano sacrificed herself to save her friends and the family she loved and cherished. The MV Toumei Answer and Ayano’s Theory of Happiness do a great job of depicting and showing Ayano’s personality. Her quirkiness, cheerfulness, and stubborn determination. Once she has decided something, you can’t really change her mind on it. That is all clearly shown through the MVs. But Toumei Answer isn’t from Ayano’s perspective; and Ayano’s Theory of Happiness shows her relationship with her family and friends. We don’t really know the feelings she held for Shintaro. She’s been depicted as this selfless person who always wears a smile, and that’s when this MV comes into play.

What The MV Is About: So the MV starts off with a bang and shows a TV (one I assume to be from Ayano’s Theory of Happiness). It’s held up by these books and in the TV it shows Ayano falling off the roof. The MV seems to show Ayano while she is in the void. The song then truly starts when Ayano opens her eyes (Note 1).

Throughout the song, it shows wind moving through Ayano’s clothes, hair and scarf (Note 2). She looks at the screen and reminisces the scene from Lost Time Memory, where she tries and holds Shintaro’s hand (Note 3).

From then on during the chorus, Ayano splits in half and the colors on the screen smear (Note 4). 

Before the second chorus breakdown starts it shows Ayano with the attire movement and the background around her is changing. (Note 7)

Then we get this scene when she is lying in the void full of flowers. She looks up and is surprised to she the world is upside down (Note 5). 

She smears again for the second chorus, and the song ends where it started (Note 6). The TV standing on the stacks of books showing an image on screen. And then Ayano falls off the roof.

What It Means:

Note 1:  By no means does it feel like Ayano when she opens her eyes. The person we see on the screen seems so much more uninterested and emotionless compared to the cheerful Ayano in other MVs. This sets the tone immediately and tells us that we’ll see a different side of Ayano and a different side of the story.

Note 2: I believe the movement in her attire is imitating the movement of when mind hits it... So it’s imitating the movement of the wind through her clothes when she fell off the roof.

Note 3: A line appears on the screen, “Let’s hold hand so we don’t end up on the wrong path”. Ayano then calls herself a coward for not reaching the hand and holding on tightly, which could be a sign of her dissatisfaction with how things have turned out. She even takes a large breath at the end when she reaches out to Shintaro.

Note 4: It could be totally forward again, and it is her literally splattering on the ground. 

Note 5: Perhaps the fact the world is upside down is an indication or a sign that something is wrong. Ayano died in hopes that it would set things right for those she loved. And yet she finds herself in this place and everything still is upside down (and/or wrong).

Note 6: The song ended where it started, and it gives off the vibe that despite all the realizations Ayano has made, in the end she really wouldn’t change anything. Ayano even smiles before the scenes of the school fade us to the TV. It could be shown to imitate that she still pretends to be fine with it or that there really is nothing she can do about it.

Note 7: I forgot this note so I am adding it here. It is a literal depiction of Ayano’s fall off the school roof. It looks like the school from the anime, therefore it is their school.

A Takeaway: This entire song shows the mind frame of Ayano as she goes into the void, decides to take her own life, and most importantly her regrets and grief during that process. Mostly, it poses her regret for not being more honest with Shintaro about her feelings. Ayano seems so lifeless throughout the entire MV and that is such a contrast from her bubbly self in the other parts of the series. Despite the fact that she made the decision to take her life and saved others, and despite pretending to always be fine; in the end she isn’t happy or okay with it all. She still finds that things are all wrong.

What It Adds: What this adds to the story or rather the character of Ayano is humanity. The entire series overall has depicted Ayano to be this selfless hero who is willing to make the hard choices so others don’t have to. That’s all fine to try and be a hero, but the problem was Ayano showed sorrow and maybe even determination. But never disdain. The entire MV seemed like she was unhappy and baffled by the outcome of her fate. The reason it’s so perplexing to me is because Ayano thus far has been depicted as someone bubbly and happy, though time and time again in the series that was debunked.

In short, it adds to Ayano’s character. Aside from her regrets, she asks for them to remember her feelings and to not forget them. Even if she hid them away, she doesn’t want them to go away or disappear. Even if she herself isn’t there, she hopes that her feelings managed to get across. She regrets not being able to say them for herself, but she hopes anyway that they got there.

If you managed to make any sort of sense or understood any of what I have said, kudos to you. Have a lovely morning/afternoon/evening/night wherever in the world and whenever in time you may be and I hope you keep your head up and enjoy life. Bye bye!

Edit: I realize after watching this video that my idea isn’t that uncommon. So, if you want someone who does a really good job with deep analysis of the Kagerou Project, I would recommend going to the video link!