(Disclaimer: This analysis is based on what I get out of looking into the character descriptions we have of the splatband characters. If you disagree with what I say, that is fine, we are all beheld to our opinions. Just don’t be a jerk about it.)
Whoa! It’s H2Whoa! Just like Crash Bandicoot’s iconic catchphrase, except fruitier and themed around marine life. We were introduced to these two in September of 2023, and like all the other Splatbands, it took over a whole year for us to know anything about them, especially since the US Twitter didn’t even bother translating their description.
But they did still get some love, especially in Grand Fest! They got an entire second, crusty jpg of a poster and a name cameo in the Lobby song (Soak and Stomp ft. Cory). That’s the equivalent of a celebrity guest starring role by Splatband standards. What an honor.
Now, on the two year anniversary of their debut (oh god), let’s see what’s Whoa worthy from these H2 molecules. That was terrible. I'm sorry.
The Band
As mentioned, the US twitter didn’t bother translating their end of the intro, so we only had the japanese version to go over until Splatoon Base updated. Even then it doesn’t necessarily describe them so much as it describes the public opinion on them. They’re considered pretentious sounding and a contrast to the loud rock that’s currently the big thing in the public mainstream, with them being described as an “Inkopolitan Retort” to the Splatland’s style. That’s kind of their appeal to most, in fact, since they became popular anyway. They’re said to have not been together long, but as Bancala revealed that they’re childhood friends, it's obviously meant in regard to their time as a music duo, being a recent debut compared to the other bands.
Their lyrics and visuals are described as pretentious, which says something about the two, but mostly about Lionel, since they’re the one who compose the music, and likely are the source of the direction it goes. We’ll go more into that in their section.
Finally, their Wet Floor inspiration is practically worn on their sleeves, since many people managed to guess that aspect before it was officially confirmed. Considering the somewhat hipsterish qualities of that band, the pretension clearly has its source in fact.
Lionel/Shima
Lionel is the Mimic Octopus vocalist and keyboardist of the band. They’re an octoling from the surface, having attended an international school with Cory, which is where the two met, as well as having a sister who is a contemporary dancer and a major source of influence for them wanting to play music. That pretension I mentioned above is all but confirmed to be theirs, as they’re noted to have their own aesthetic sensibilities and a noted refusal to ever compromise on the particulars.
Those areas are noted to be exceptions, though, as they otherwise have a flippant personality, which is best shown off in how their main method of composing music is to hum stuff into voice memos and offloading the work on Cory. It sounds like a crappy partnership, but Cory is never willing to complain, so maybe there’s more to them than it seems?
Cory
The guitarist of the band, and likely the one making sure things actually run smoothly. We get the rather cute tidbit that they were planning to become a nursery teacher before Lionel asked them to for the band, implying a willingness and desire to work with children, though they chose to prioritize their friendship with Lionel instead. They seem to value that a lot, as no matter how much they annoy them with their requests, they never bother to bring them up. A non-confrontational personality type, it seems. Multi-talented with instruments and arranging music, which may be why Shima trusts them with that much work. It can also be assumed by the existence of the Soak and Stomp collab that they also do music on their own. Either present time or at some point in the past, they enrolled into a music school run by Nishida of Hightide Era. Outside of confirming that Hightide Era is in fact still alive (bummer), it also shows a genuine interest in music and a willingness to learn.
The last thing of note is that they’re groggy and cranky in the mornings due to the flickering lights of their own hair, which is more of a general lore building and biology fact more than anything. They either don’t control it or unconsciously flicker lights when asleep, and that some species can find themselves annoyed by their physical abilities. How nifty.
---
This one was guaranteed shorter thanks to just dealing with two characters. Of course it also took longer due to procrastination and other crap, but at least it got out on the exact date of their anniversary!
Next time, it's gonna be Riot Act. Let's see if it comes out before the year ends.
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.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
(Disclaimer: This analysis is based on what I get out of looking into the character descriptions we have of the splatband characters. If you disagree with what I say, that is fine, we are all beheld to our opinions. Just don't be a jerk about it.)
After three years of knowing these dumbasses, from their music to the Beika tweets to the name reveals to obsessing every single day with them and falling in love with them, Bancala Walker has finally told us about the Splatlands band, C-Side, and its membership of cool fish! About damn time. Now, to finally do the Splatband Analysis we’ve all been waiting for!
Big thank you to my moot and friend @fishhjuice for helping me (read: obsessing over every detail of these dumbasses). I suggest you guys check out their own essays on C-Side when you’re done with this one. They’re way better than me at the character extraction thing. I just catalogue the details.
Anyways, from the very beginning, we knew that C-Side was the fronting band of Splatoon 3, repping the Splatlands with their hard, garage rock style music. They come from low income and lack musical training (though one of them puts it into question), but make up for it with sheer determination and innate talent to get to where they are. They’re a rowdy bunch, known for being troublemakers who’ve gone out of their way of stealing songs and claiming it as their own according to Splatoon Base (of course, the only instance we know of is Splattack, and it is likely it’s just exaggerating this aspect).
That closeness can generally be seen in a lot of things. All of C-Side’s songs are duets between Beika and Kikura. The band has stuck together despite Kikura leaving on one occasion. All three seem to have known each other since at least high school (more on that later), and have been performing for a long time according to Deep Cut. And despite Beika being the one to have started the “Now or Never” debacle (explained in her section), the whole band is down with doing things like performing Splattack, and are included whenever the song is discussed, as if they’re all actively participating in the whole thing.
Now, without further ado, let us finally meet the team that reps the Splatlands.
Beika
Beika over here was, for a time, the only one we knew anything about thanks to the Beika Tweets (3600frames has the most up to date version here). We’ve gone over it before, but let’s start with her description in Bancala before going over the tweets again.
We’re told that as a student, she once tried to join a sports club but failed to cut it and got absorbed into music instead. Music wasn’t really an interest for her, but that failure drove her to discover and become obsessed with making music. After that she meets Kikura during a performance, apparently skulking around in the back for whatever reason, while the former was trying to sneak out. Then she graduates and gets a job as a mechanic for Tower Control. It’s mentioned that she “couldn’t abandon her love for music”, implying she was trying to distance herself from it for unknown reasons. It might have something to do with working during Squid Squad’s rise to fame? I’m sure having to hear their music while working didn’t help matters. Regardless, she failed to do it and stuck to her band.
Speaking of, it seems the band didn’t receive its name up until one day when, during work while watching kids play turf, she had an epiphany that made her declare herself to be a C-Side squid, viewing herself as “on another level” than them in an affirmative way. It gives off the vibe of someone very confident and full of themselves… buuuut, considering that it mentions her failing to make it into a club at all (a sports club, too, which probably had turf war as part of the activities), there might be something more going on than she lets on. Maybe this is just a coping mechanism for isolation disguised as self-confidence? Either way, that epiphany inspires the name of the band, C-Side.
The description for the band also makes mention of her flaming hot music takes online, specifically against Inkopolis music and Squid Squad. She has both fans and haters (count me a fan) as a result. She’s very vocal about her music opinions, but as we segue into the Beika Tweets™, we see that it’s a bit more complicated than that.
We’ve gone over this before on both my end and Fishhjuice’s many times, so I’ll keep this semi-short. We see more of that closeness with the band, as she starts out complaining about Kikura at first before noting she welcomed them back with open arms despite leaving C-Side. She brings up the songs they’ve made, including Paintscraper where she says she wants to share Uotora’s demo just cause, even if she thinks it’s limp and funny sounding (the fact it became an actual song means she liked it enough to use it anyway), and the creation of Clickbait coming up because of the trio goofing with each other.
Then we get to the Now or Never bit. We see that she’s gotten drunk, late at night on her own while eating dinner, once again talking about how Now or Never was stolen from her. It seems to be a pretty heavy topic for her if she ends up like this, drunkenly tweeting things. And then she reveals that she used to know Ichiya, something she’s apparently never mentioned before judging by the surge in attention. She apparently kept an eye on him and even deliberately listened to his music, but refuses to expand on it any further. She has a prior relationship to Ichiya, unknown in nature but clearly close enough that this supposed betrayal still has an effect on her.
Once she sobers up, she clears things up by saying that she doesn’t hate Inkopolis, despite what she might come off as, and just wants to share her music with the world. She even brings up being a fan of Bottom Feeders and wanting to collaborate with Finn (Kikura listened). It sounds a lot like she’s trying to do damage control over her behaviour, which says that she’s very particular about how people view her. That’s supported by the fact that she never revealed her connection to Ichiya before, despite how vocal she is about Now or Never being stolen, like she’s selective of what people should and shouldn’t know about her.
One final thing to note comes from the music itself, in both the fact she writes the songs, and her position in the band as a whole. Despite being the leader and effectively the band’s Face, she’s got the role of bassist. Bassists don’t usually stand out unless you pay close attention to the song, but you notice their absence. Their main job is to support the music, and that meshes well with Beika’s supportive role with her bandmates. She writes the songs, but she doesn’t really give herself any standout moments that aren’t without Kikura. In fact, the one song that isn’t a duet between the two, Triple Dip, is almost exclusively Kikura’s, with Beika simply providing supporting vocals. She even wants to share Uotora’s demo of Paintscraper because she likes it and wants people to hear. She’s very supportive of her bandmates.
Kikura
Kikura’s found herself to have become a controversial figure in her own band with all the new information we got from her. In Beika’s tweets, we hear of her as apparently being frequently late to band practice, and at one point having outright left the band for mysterious reasons, coming back later and being welcomed back with open arms by Beika. After that, she came back into the spotlight with a brand new band, a side-project called Riot Act, and even managed to steal Beika’s idea to collaborate with Finn! It’s through her two descriptions in Bancala (greed only spoken of in the bible) that we get some details that explains anything.
As it turns out, unlike the other two, she was born to a father who was the director of a large company, a position that outright guarantees a rich, affluent background for her. She got her love of music by sneaking into the audio room of the company, which implies it was music related in some way. Either way it seems her father didn’t have any direct influence on her love of music, not to mention how sneaking in paints her as a rebellious kid. During her student days, she formed a band called Ornamental Fish, which was promptly disbanded in her freshman year. It isn’t said why, but the fact that she skipped out and flaked on the band during a live performance doesn’t paint the strongest relationship. That’s how she met Beika by the way. Combine that with the fact they nearly did the same for C-Side, having left them for a metal band, and it paints her as something of an inconsiderate flake. It's acknowledged that she’s prone to wanderlust, so she likely hates sitting still and sticking to one spot, but it's also clear that she kinda just does things without caring for the consequences. Also something noted in Uotora’s section, she has a taste for dark comedy, never being impressed with the dark jokes he tries to share since she’s already heard of all of them.
And continuing that lack of care, she went ahead and got herself a second description for Riot Act. What a prick! It’s said that she formed the band as a way to prove that she could perform in two bands at once, probably in response to the last two times she ditched a band. According to the band’s proper description, she also wanted to explore music that was “more complex and showy” than C-Side’s. She personally recruited the band members too, so at least she’s got some sense of commitment to do the work on something.
Elaborating on that Finn thing, the text of Bancala implies she may have done it to “stay one step ahead of Beika”, as if it was done specifically to show her up. It isn’t really a confirmed motif, and we don’t really know what Beika’s opinion on this debacle actually is, so who knows what the real reason was for stealing the collab idea. Whatever the case, the behaviour at least didn’t go unnoticed by their respective fanbases, sparking a fight between the two of them that went ignored by Kikura, as she was snowboarding at the time.
All of this does not paint a flattering picture of Kikura. She’s a flake, she’s inconsiderate of others feelings, she outright stole one of Beika’s ideas, and then ignored the fallout by engaging in rich people's hobbies (is snowboarding a rich person hobby?). But, despite that, she returned to C-Side of her own volition. Most of C-Side’s music is duets between her and Beika. And Beika’s tweets implies that despite this, she gets on well with the other two. She does care for the band, enough that despite forming a second band, she didn’t do it by flaking on them like she did before, instead having it be a side project (one that was meant to be small time too). So she does have her good qualities underneath all the bad.
Uotora
Uotora, because he’s not greedy, doesn’t have as much to him, getting the short end of the stick in terms of content. At least there’s plenty that can be inferred from both the tweets and Bancala. Let’s start with the tweet and work our way up.
The first thing we know is that, unlike Kikura, he didn’t leave C-Side. Unlike the bass, he hasn’t up and left the band for any reason and stuck together with Beika the entire time. We only know how Beika felt about Kiku leaving (read: annoyed), and that like Beika, he welcomed Kikura back with open arms. He also was the one who wrote the Paintscraper demo, the original version of the song, showing off his surprisingly squeaky voice. He has a fair amount of musical talent to go along with being a drummer, and even though Beika found the song silly, she still loved it enough to work it into a proper song.
Bancala gives us more on him. He worked as a janitor at Kikura’s school (which is probably how they got Uotora into the band), and is stated to be slightly older than Kikura and Beika. Keyword here is “slightly”, he’s probably meant to be like a year or two older than them. As well it implies that Beika and Kikura are closer in age. There’s some timeline shenanigans to figure out here, but that’s Dottie’s problem, not mine. It seems to imply that Kiku and Uoto met each other and bonded in some way, enough that when it came time to form C-Side, it was she who invited him to the band. The fact that he was working a janitorial job also ties in to the “low income” background the band shares. He’s also got a taste for dark comedy, and likes to share jokes with Kikura that never impress her. It paints him as a little dorky, despite his unusual tastes.
That’s all in regards to text, but there’s also something to be said about his design. For those who don’t know, he’s a long spine porcupinefish, whose signature spines appear when they puff up to ward off danger. And as one can see in his design, his spines are just out like that. There are multiple ways to read this design choice. Maybe he’s simply puffing up as a way to look intimidating for the camera (hiding the fact he’s a dork), or maybe he’s the type that’s easily stressed out and has his spines out all the time due to anxiety. This one’s kind of a reach, but it’s something to account for when inferring character from him. You decide what it means, we just agree that he’s anxious.
---
And after all that time, that's C-Side. Infecting my brain like the parasites that they are. I sure hope we'll get more info and artwork in the near future, right guys? Eh?
...
Doing H2Whoa next cause it's only two people and that's easier for me. Byeeee.
Splatband Analysis: Team Past vs Present vs Future
As you all know, we all got our latest crumb of Splatband lore in the form of their signatures outside of the Grand Festival Area. The thing about these signatures, though, is that they are written on colored banners denoting the different Splatfest Teams! Red for Past, Purple for Present, and Green for Future, Plus a fourth banner for what can be assumed is Neutral.
After going insane with my friends in figuring out who's who, I now come to you guys with my theories as to why each band chose what they chose! Are yall ready? Then letsa go!
Go Team Present by the way.
Team Past here, recognizable by the Red and the fact Callie and Marie signed, has Wet Floor, Diss-Pair and SashiMori (and perhaps a certain someone). I view those who chose Team Past as those who value their beginnings. They owe what they have to their own Past. But also there might be a sense of longing for what they used to have. You'll see why in a second.
Wet Floor: Kagi formed the band to "restore some Indie dignity", disliking the current state of things. Mizole is a fan of vintage music while Ryan is a fan of the now defunct Squid Squad. Most of them are influenced by things of the past, and that probably influenced their choices.
Diss-Pair: It generally seems that, despite Ikkan's forward moving character, he still misses Squid Squad. The Ink Theory valentine's day picture did show he still carries stickers of them on his equipment. Warabi themselves probably feel they owe to their past how they got here now. They were exposed to a lot of music thanks to their childhood, and if they never traveled the world, they wouldn't have met Ikkan.
SashiMori: They all met each other long before SashiMori, coming from their old band with who we think might be Pearl, and then reforming into SashiMori thanks to Taichi. And they didn't become the way they are if they had never found Paul, you know? As for him, we've learned from Side Order that most Octarians are still nostalgic for the domes, and still view it as an important part of their lives. Its easy to know because of the Octarian we happened to adventure with.
Acht: They're here too after all (look at the little squiggle above Paul's signature. That wasn't part of his old signature). We get to learn a lot about Acht's past, and even if they've started moving on into the future, they still hold some value in it at the end of the day. That, or they simply signed the banner to be next to Paul.
Team Present, as seen by the Purple and Pearl's huge ass signature. Dork. These people are focused on the now, whether its the people they are with, or making changes in the now with the world or with oneself. Yoko's polycule of Ink Theory and the Gold Bazookas dominate the whole thing.
Ink Theory: It's a bit hard to parse, but none of them have expressed desires to change the music industry or any such grand goal. Karen cites Hightide Era as an inspiration for the band, but they do their own thing despite that. They all seem to just be content doing what they do and getting better at it.
Yoko and the Gold Bazookas: We don't know these ladies (and guy), but Yoko formed it while on a journey to reinvent herself, to become someone knew (likely after a breakup with Karen, research still pending till Bankara Walker releases). Like Ink Theory, they don't seem to have any grandiose goals beyond just playing music for its sake.
Team Future, presented in Green with Deep Cut in the corner. These people look to the future, wanting to make a change, sometimes taking the old to make something new with it. Hightide Era, Bottom Feeders and H2Whoa are here.
Hightide Era: (They still live, booo.) It comes of as strange considering we know Taka is a shallow poser who uses music to get fame and fortune, with Kuze and Nishida seemingly just along for the ride. But there is one thing about the future they care about; nature. They named themselves Hightide Era to reflect the current reality of ecology, so it seems they do care about environmental awareness and the future of their world. Neat!
Bottom Feeders: Finn Bottom wants to show the goodness of traditional music to a changing world, while Tangle dislikes the current state of music and wants to return to more straightforward styles. It sounds like they'd be more Team Past material, but they do seem to focus more on the changing aspect of their craft rather than the past part, unlike Wet Floor.
H2Whoa: They're harder to parse since we have no idea of their personalities. They're described as Topical, meaning they're very current with trends, but that seems to be in a sort of paradoxical disregard for what is actually big at the moment, with all the punk rock and jazz. They play music their own way without a care for the present or past.
And this is the Neutral zone. Chaos vs Order did have a few people who were neutral in the battle, so it seems here is the same deal. These bands didn't make a choice, perhaps because they couldn't decide due to finding all three choices important, or all three choices unimportant. Chirpy Chips, Front Roe, C-Side, Riot Act and Damp Socks are our final bands to see.
Chirpy Chips: I imagine they're a case where they see all three choices as important. The main thing about the Chips is that they are all close to each other and go at their own pace regardless of whats going on. They had a breakup in the past that was quickly resolved, and they haven't broken up since, meaning they're all very close to each other. Past, Present or Future, the Chirpy Chips are forever.
Front Roe: Well clearly they're still hiding their identities from the public with new signatures, though it seems Ichiya is the only one trying to hide. I think they're in the unsure category. Front Roe is literally them trying to distance themselves from Squid Squad, but they owe their lives to it no matter how hard they run. Their present i feel kinda sucks what with C-Side being on their assess. And I think they don't even know what their future holds for them.
C-Side: They're kind of a no brainer to me since their description gives evidence for each choice. They value the Splatlands and the lives they live there (Past), they care deeply for each other and are very close (Present), and Beika wants to gift his music to a world of shifting chaos (Future). They all see each choice as equally valuable to them.
Riot Act: I feel they share the same opinions as C-Side (in fact I think they came with them to the venue, considering they share a Kikura). Plus their collab with Bottom Feeders show they appreciate the music of now and are happy with making it with other bands.
Damp Socks: We don't really know much about them, but I feel they fall in the indifferent category. Yeah, I got nothing for them
Back to the Fest
Like I say often, these are my interpretations as to what this information could mean. Feel free to share what your ideas are about their Splatfest choices. And happy Splatting!
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.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
To finalize this little series (till the Side Order artbook comes out and gives us info on the new bands (please)), we end it with my favorite band, ω-3! These fishy foes are the ones providing the tunes in Salmon Run, and I’ll be real with you and say they’re one of the Splatbands that I think has a big chance of showing up in the games. The games gotta focus on the Salmonids at some point, and they’re the most well known individuals as of now, so the chances are pretty good for them to be used to expand salmonid lore.
But enough about that. Time to see just how tasty these guys are.
The Band
In Salmonid lore, musicians hold an important role in Salmon Run as morale boosters. Individuals that show off talent in performance will unite to form bands, with ω-3 here being the best among them. In fact the Omega symbol is actually a title itself that is only bestowed to said “fattiest” bands, meaning their skill is without question. I assume this title also comes with ownership of the big venue in Jammin’ Salmon Junction, since it’s decorated with their logo, what appears to be a stylized version of the ω symbol. (Since it’s stated to be a title given to the best bands, I’m assuming the same thing applies to the building.)
There isn’t anything said about their relationship with each other, at least not directly. Considering their personality quirks, it’s safe to say they butt heads a lot (one forgets to take in others feelings, one is disrespectful to everyone, and one never listens to anyone). But I think we can infer a bit out of the way they play music. Specifically, there’s a lot of Call and Response in the songs, where one member plays a tune, and then another plays it back. It happens a lot between the cellist and the timpanist, but the DJ occasionally plays a part in it too. Each member also gets a solo in a song, where their instrument gains more prominence over others. Deluge Dirge, Fishing Frenzy, Frothy Waters. I’m no music scientist, but considering their personalities, it feels like they’re constantly competing for attention, despite being able to work together otherwise. Like, one of them just randomly breaks into a solo before dialing back and rejoining the group.
The Valiant Green Flame Born in Jigokudani
The timpanist here is, uh, the timpanist.Odd fellow in his late 20’s with an eyepatch made out of a colander, no reason given, though the eye underneath does look dilated. He’s got a lot of passion for drumming, playing with all of his heart and soul, as well as being determined and always striving towards his goals. Doesn’t do well with picking up other people's feelings, but very good at inspiring other salmonids with his rhythms. Compared to the others, who are said to be intentionally rude, this one feels more well intentioned, as it just says they fail to pick up on other people's emotions. Like they aren’t deliberately rude to people, they just don’t notice.
Salmonid fact, the titles they’re referred to with are mainly earned by having done something in regards to their tribe. We can infer some things from these titles as a result. The Valiant Green Flame here is pretty clear, he did something of great bravery at some point, which tracks with him being determined and goal oriented. What that thing was, we don’t know. He’s called a Green Flame, so maybe that has something to do with it? Salmonids have green on them by default, so, that’s something? Eh, we’ll move on now.
The Faithful Servant of the True Salmon Emperor Hizunamasu
The DJ here is the youngest member of the band, young adult or teenager, with plenty of tongue piercings and a personality that reflects that. A contrarian who opposes anyone and everything, and shows no respect to their fellow members. A damn good DJ though, which is probably why they’re still on the band. Basically a rebel with zero respect for authority, and who just seems to dislike everything. Well, all but one thing, it seems.
Their title is “The Faithful Servant of the True Salmon Emperor Hizunamasu”. Now, someone stated to be disrespectful to everyone being a “faithful servant” is definitely contradictory. Who is this “True” Salmon Emperor? Why would they be loyal to them? The questions are mounting here. Maybe a future Salmonid themed story mode will explain? Who knows.
The Firstborn Child of Alkyne, the Hidden Blade of Yakiharas
The leader of the band, cellist, composer, and number one old man. 50 years old and counting, a surprising age for a species that doesn’t fear death. He’s very stubborn, with no respect for anyone or anything that isn’t the most radical of works. Incredibly high standards that, as it turns out, C-Side was able to meet. They made two covers of Clickbait, after all. I guess he’s a fan? Or at least C-Side has earned his respects.
Emotionally clumsy, he’s got a delicate site with a strong appreciation for atmosphere, but struggles to express himself outside of his music. Surprisingly awkward sounding for a salmonid, but he’s got finer tastes, for sure.
Onto his title, he’s “The Firstborn Child of Alkyne.” Alkyne is likely a tribe or settlement of sorts, probably the latter, and he was the first born there. And “Hidden Blade”. Now that’s something. I assume he’s got some fighting skill, since the blade part implies he basically acted as a secret weapon of sorts.
—
And that’s every band in Splatoon and Splatoon 2. ω-3 doesn’t have much content on them, but I love them all the same. God I hope they show up soon.
As I said, this is the end for the bands, but I am gonna do a “What I Missed” type thing later to compile any details I missed out on. Things like the Hotlantis wall of signatures, in which I’ve noticed some fun details. There’s one more thing too, but I’ll explain that in a separate post.
Also, if you guys have your own observations, share ‘em with me in the tags or a reblog, or send me an ask. I’d appreciate it.
(Disclaimer: This analysis is based on what I get out of looking into the character descriptions we have of the splatband characters. If you disagree with what I say, that is fine, we are all beheld to our opinions. Just don't be a jerk about it.)
Splatband Analysis - Chirpy Chips
It’s the autism and ADHD squad! The chiptune chippers, Marie’s and Nintendo’s favorite band and the only one to survive Nine years together without drama (bar that one time), it’s the Chirpy Chips! Love these dudes.
Now, before we go into this, let’s address the Harmony in the room. Specifically that she has a room, in-game, where she exists in the polygonal flesh to interact with as a shopkeeper. Her autistic swag made her popular enough to be the first Splatband character to show up in the games, which means we actually know her and how she behaves. So, I’m gonna leave her for last and go about her like this: First, I’ll look into what we used to know before Splatoon 3 about her, and then we’ll compare that to her appearance in-game to see if it matches up. See if she was done right by the game. Now let’s meet these chips!
The Band
The Chirpy Chips debuted after Squid Squad all the way back in Splatoon 1, nine years ago (God). Dominating the charts thanks to their chiptune rock style, made with the help of multiple Nintendo machines (Gamers), this band has managed to outlast Squid Squad without disbanding all the way to Splatoon 3!.. Ok, actually that’s not true. According to a Famitsu Interview for Splatoon 2, the Chirpy Chips actually disbanded ever so briefly! No word as to why, but they reformed shortly after and wrote and performed Blitz It during the high of joining back. After that they’ve stuck together ever since, only really going on break because Harmony started working at Hotlantis.
Don’t site that NoA post for Chirpy Chips Splat 3 that said there was drama by the way. The band was just on break, they are fine and NoA is just trying to stir up fake drama. It’s just like real life!
All of these guys are autistic. Like, that’s not a theory, but a fact. None of their descriptions make them sound neurotypical, that’s for sure. The band just seems to vibe perfectly with each other despite some of their issues, and they all go at their own pace. Turns out the secret to surviving in the music industry all along was to make neurodivergent friends.
One of their performance tricks that they do is to glow in sync during songs. It’s a super cool visual to imagine, though probably done through artificial means, at least for Orion and Sid. As far as I know, there aren’t any bioluminescent crabs or flapjack octopi. Anemone and squid on the other hand do have glowing members, but it doesn’t confirm if they do it naturally or are using artificial means too. Either way these guys are a colorful bunch. And also none of them know how to dance, emphasizing further that these four are all dorks.
Noiji
Noiji is the hyperactive guitarist of the band, a stark contrast to the significantly less energetic rest of the band. He’s described as uncontrollable and bright, with a sunny disposition and an irresistible urge to run up and down slopes. He sounds overwhelming, and maybe impulsive if that slope running thing can be applied to other actions, but somehow he manages to get along well with the others. What is his secret? Also to keep with the neurodivergenceness, he has a special interest for vending machines. He would have loved them in Side Order, that’s for sure. Honestly I love vending machines too, they’re really cool, but just too expensive for someone of my income level (for now, anyway).
He used to be a part of a punk band called BariBari before he joined the Chirpy Chips.Surprising considering his colorfulness, but he seems to either formerly be, or still is, a punk. No word why he left the band though or what happened to it, but during that point he met and befriended Orion and formed the Chirpy Chips with them. They’re described to be on good terms with each other, which makes sense since, again, they knew each other before the rest joined up.
Orion
The band's bassist and composer, a shy flapjack octopus. Yeah, despite being an octopus, they’re not an octoling, likely because of the fact the flapjack doesn’t naturally produce ink. They must be classified as something different to the inkfish, but what that is is something I don’t know. They’re an introvert, they don’t enjoy standing out or performing in front of crowds, and the compositions they upload independent of the band are done quietly. Makes one wonder how exactly someone like them made friends with Noiji. They’re an intellectual, geeky type, with a taste for outdated and strange subjects, as well as a preference for chiptune that they ensure the bands music keeps to.
Surprising us all, Orion also got actual dialogue of sorts in the Splatoon 3 Chill Season 2023 update! Specifically in the form of Harmony reading a letter written by them. As Harmony herself describes, they talk the way they play the bass, EXTRA. Mostly in the form of excited statements and jokes about the band's lack of dancing ability. Kind of a stark difference from what we know of them, either because they’re doing this via text without having to face anyone, or because they’ve become more outgoing over the years. Either way an honor. Also canon they/them! Good for they.
Sid
The band's drummer, and the eldest among them. They’ve been drumming for a while, having performed for several other bands before joining the Chips, and they have a strong reputation in the community because of it. It seems that because of this, they’ve taken something of a silent mentor role to the others, supporting them in the background without ever taking the lead. Sort of a big brother style relationship going on.
They’re described as easygoing, but with a hidden temper that only ever surfaces once a year, where they become way crabbier. To me it says that they don’t really express their frustrations often, just letting them simmer before they snap and vent it out. And even then they don’t draw a lot of attention that way.
Harmony (and fish)
The anemone of the hour, the band’s vocalist and visual designer. As said above, I’ll first go over the info we knew of her before her appearance in Splatoon 3, and then compare it to what we’ve learned now to see if it was faithful to her character.
She’s described as relaxed and going at her own pace, but to the point of being unmotivated. She’s frequently late for practice, and considering the state of her fish, who is “dying” of neglect (quote marks there cause the little guy is still alive somehow), it sounds a lot like executive dysfunction. I would know, I’m like her sometimes. Her singing voice is mentioned to also have been pretty flat and listless, but it seems years of performance has made it change to a much livelier tone in the intervening two years. She talks loosely and moves peculiarly, something the fans secretly enjoy. Why secretly? Is there a stigma against it? Her listless singing is mentioned to be a hot topic, so it might be the case.
We see in the bands’ album art for Splatoon 2 that she’s the one who mixes the chiptune music on nintendo consoles. Easy to say that she’s the pre-requisite in-universe Nintendo fan for this game. There’s one in pretty much every franchise. Skipping to “3” a bit, we can also assume she’s the one who edited the trailer, which shows off a lot of fun visuals and jokes, as well as her just goofing off like the dork that she is. For how reserved she comes off, she’s got an eccentric, goofy side hidden under there.
But now we’ve actually met her as Hotlantis’ shopkeeper! She’s a fan of the place, so despite the threat of having to work retail, she’s staying in the area in the actual manager’s place while he’s gone. She’s a fan of the store and all its useless knick knacks. As for herself as a person, it’s safe to say it all matches what we used to know of her. She’s pretty self-paced and blunt, commenting on your achievements out loud no matter how rude it sounds. She admits to it too if she beats you at tableturf, she doesn’t really know how else to talk. Her lack of motivation shows up anytime she needs to recite something Barry told her to do. She just plain doesn’t want to do any of it. She still does the work she’s willingly doing, she’s just going at her own pace.
The fish is a fish, no telling what is up with them. Though according to some artbook information in “3” (correct me if I’m wrong), the reason they’re so sick is actually because Harmony’s hair isn’t protecting it very well. They’re still sticking around anyway, granted we’re not sure how clownfish do without an anemone, but it still seems like they’re staying of their own volition.
—
Harmony’s, and later Dedf1shes inclusion, gives us all hope we can see more of our favorite obscure characters in the games themselves. And looking at Harmony, we don’t have to worry too much about them being out of character, since she’s pretty accurate to the info we know.
I love these weird goobers. They should continue showing up. But now we are in the finale. Ω-3 is all that’s left now. See ya next time!
So I was eating breakfast the other day when I found on the back of my milk carton this picture about a band being missing? Now, I think they’re exaggerating a bit on the “M.I.A.” thing. Sure, they haven’t been mentioned since Splatoon 2, where they got to cameo in the White Day artwork and are involved in the backstory for Ink Theory, but you know who else hasn’t been mentioned since Splatoon 2? SashiMori. And I don’t see anyone making a big deal about that (other than me, Nintendo, please), but I digress. Let’s talk about these losers.
The Band
Hightide Era is an indie band that developed a strong enough fanbase to get their music into the Turf War scene. The band started life with Taka performing on the street, before later being joined by Kuze, and then Nishida, in that order. One of the first things we learned is the meaning of the band's name, which refers to both the nature of the band's sound, brimming and full… and also the ecological realities of the world. Seems the band has environmental concerns they wanna draw attention to, enough to make it a part of their name.
Taka
The band's pianist and vocalist, and the overall center of attention of the band, which is exactly what they want. They’re an incredibly talented musician, having practiced piano since the age of Four, and attended the same prestigious academy that Karen did, having been her senior while she was attending. After that, though, they grew tired of all this academic music nonsense and took to the streets to perform, which is where they met Kuze and Nishida.
The most obvious thing to know about Taka, outright told to us in their own description, is that Taka is a shallow poser. Their main motivation for making music isn’t for any artistic merit, but just because it gets them attention and adoration. Which, considering they’ve been at it since the age of Four, is pretty concerning. Also very superficial beneath the surface. It’s an Ichiya situation, with a lot of surface level charisma concealing a superficial personality. It must be pretty effective too considering they have a dedicated fan in Karen. That desire for attention also keeps them from adding a bassist to the band, it draws attention away from the low notes they hit. What an ass.
White Day art time, we see our stinker leaning back on their chair, clearly spectating the epic battle between Tangle and Finn like a weirdo. They must get a lot of enjoyment out of seeing chaos going on around them. Or maybe they’re trying to peek at Finn? In which case they probably didn’t get to stay as a spectator for long.
Kuze
Kuze is the drummer and a stone fish. He plays on cheap drums because it provides a very messy but powerful sound that compliments the other members trying to look cool. He probably just likes the way the drum sounds and thinks it looks cool. He’s also a fashion designer, he made the uniforms the band wears. Probably has a lot of talents in that area, too.
He’s the third and final member of Underpass Bass Drum, so he’s an active turf player. It’d be cool if one day we got an idea as to what their weapon preferences are. Maybe they even wear a uniform too, what with him being a part of the team? Ah, I’m speculating.
White Day has him sitting with Paul and Jawn. He’s not playing the game, so he’s probably just hanging with them and watching, perhaps waiting for his turn. But there’s one thing you can see him do, and that’s giving Taka the side-eye. It gives the vibe that he knows about Taka and their shenanigans and doesn’t tolerate them too much. Or he’s just keeping an eye on them in case Finn notices and takes it as a challenge.
Nishida
Nishida is a herring and a guitarist. They don’t like being in the spotlight, despite the stereotype revolving around guitarists. May or may not have something to do with the fact they are the youngest of 247 siblings. Like, yeah, that’s a huge ratio of sibling teasing, bullying and fawning, especially since they’re the youngest. Still, they don’t hate attention, they’ve apparently been featured in a serialized magazine that talks about their guitar skills. And apparently people they’re trying to “put on airs” (it means they act like they’re better than others, to be snobbish), when really they don’t do that… most of the time. Is it trying to say that they’re only occasionally snobbish and act egotistical?
In the White Day artwork, they are shown engaged in conversation with Taichi in the back of the bar. They’re more social than they appear, at least, but we may never know what the nature of their conversation is. #Nishida x Taichi Romance. They also brought their guitar for some reason, despite absolutely no one else bringing anything. Wonder what that’s about.
—
And that’s Hightide Era. I never cared about them until today, but I’m glad to say I’ve gained an appreciation for them as of this analysis. There’s something to love about everyone, even if some of them could probably use a little less attention (*cought* Taka *cough*).
We are down two bands. The Chips that Chirp, the neurodivergence squad Chirpy Chips, and everyone’s favorite band of fish freaks ω-3. I’ll go with the Chips first, and then finish with the Salmons. This is fun.
