First Time Hearing "MIRROR OF THE WORLD" | Guilty Gear Strive OST REACTION

[@pingt.squirrel3298]

"I don't want the video to be a half an hour long". Comes in at 29 minutes. Mission succeeded

[@AofCastle]

Fun fact: there's a mod that skips the intro of this song because many matches can end before the song even starts

[@Squid_does_games9638]

Since you mentioned the Japanese lyrics feeling ancient and like a chant, I feel it would be good to tell you that they are actually taken straight from the Buddhist “mantra of light”, which is super cool.

[@chrisbaldwin8570]

One thing to note is the japanese is part of the Mantra of Light, a Buddhist chant normally done to a corpse going to hell, the idea being that the chant will remove the desires through the severing of the senses and allowing the individual to move toward a better place. It's not technically a battle chant, but rather a prayer for deliverance for the dead. Baikan as a character has been seeking revenge for so long that this song is basically saying that Baikan wants to "kill" her former self and leave her pain and desires behind with it. That she hopes she can find salvation through purification and finally find peace and comfort. That she reflects the state of the current world and the current world doesn't need a vengeance fueled murder ronin.

[@zetsumeinaito]

I think the mantra is more about her carrying her sadness of the loss of her loved ones and nation with her while out for vengeance against Happy Chaos. It's the fuel of her rage, and it goes away after the lyrics of talking to a companion.

[@firepuppies4086]

Let's not forget at the end it's not even for her sake alone. "you are not the exile" makes it clear she's trying to help someone on a dark path avoid going awry as well

[@SgtPriad]

@@firepuppies4086 Yeah the theme is about Baiken giving up her quest for vengeance to for the betterment of Delilah and trying to get her from going down the same path Baiken did.

[@aganaom1712]

11:31 it's extremely fitting that you mention the good, the bad and the ugly. that film is what is known as a "Spaghetti Western" which is a type of western cowboy movie that is known for depicting the wild west as much dirtier, grittier and grungier (and in several ways, lonelier) than most contemporary hollywood cowboy movies at the time. they are referred to as "Spaghetti Westerns" as they were predominantly made as well as very popular with Italian cinema at the time and many of these movies happen to draw much of their inspiration and roots (at least in some capacity) to the Japanese Kurosawa samurai films that were made some years before them and baiken shares a lot of design elements with the samurai of the Kurosawa films and by extension the Spaghetti Western movies as well what's old is new again. crazy how things can go full circle like that

[@FalseHerald]

Yep! And the "lone traveller" cowboy he mentioned takes a lot from the wandering ronin tropes of those movies.

[@jayflach3408]

Seven samurai= magnificent seven ECT.

[@Amacalpin]

Baiken story is that she is literally female guts. One eye, one arm, has hidden weapons as prosthetics, watched loved ones died, revenge story that turns to taking care of someone. it just goes on and on

[@aganaom1712]

and she started out conceptually as a sex swap of kenshin himura literally daisuke's kenshin himura rule 63

[@tyrantravealpha]

​@@aganaom1712Which only happened because he thought Kenshin was a woman to begin with lol.

[@zetsumeinaito]

Which is funny cause Tange Sazen was the original one armed, one eyed samurai iirc. There's derivatives from there for both genders, including Zatoichi to Ichi for blind ronin.

[@firepuppies4086]

​@@zetsumeinaitoAnd the fact that you mention Zatoichi... Baiken wouldn't be the first reference to Zatoichi

[@zetsumeinaito]

@@firepuppies4086 heh, it's right there in the name after all.

[@AofCastle]

The beginning of Necessary Discrepancy is sang in Esperanto, so this is not the first time a different language is used

[@julianturner7244]

Seeing the evolution of Baiken's character from her introduction to now in Strive has been a masterclass in writing and I believe her theme here perfectly portrays that growth. Can't wait to see you play the game because her backstory is amazing.

[@FlutterSwag]

i still cant believe they made her samurai showdown cameo canon

[@The_Riss]

@@FlutterSwag wait is it? when do they mention it

[@tyrantravealpha]

The two things that really make this song stand out even more to me are two elements: The use of going totally silent for a second or two leading into the chorus. The not ot stops on sounds so cool, amd the break builds tension and anticipation in a palpable way. And the second aspect is the layering of vocals. In the chorus and ending specifcally thebway the chanting is layered over Naoki's performance adds so much depth to the song as a whole. The only flaw this song has is hecause its length it doesnt gwt to the meat of the song in matches unles you deliberately extend the round count.

[@esper2776]

Yess I love Baikan's theme, great video! Have you done Armour-clad Faith yet? That's another great one from guilty gear strive

[@zetsumeinaito]

The phases represent Baiken's life. The calm part at the start is her childhood. The drop (3:26) and Buddhist chant is the obliteration of Japan. The time exile part represents her stint as a vengeance driven samurai in mourning of the loss of Japan and her family. The change to Noh music at 7:15 is the start of her interactions with Angi and Happy Chaos in GGXX. After that is her enlightenment with Delilah and a change in her life's goal.

[@kaialone]

Baiken's home was not Japan, right? Japan was destroyed in the 2070s, while the main series is in the 2180s, over 100 years later I believe Baiken lived in a Japanese settlement, like a part of one of the Colonies, most likely (I *think* Anji and her are from the same village?)

[@zetsumeinaito]

@@kaialone Probably, been 20 years since I saw her origin in GGX. Though you should read the GG wiki on Baiken. You'll be scratching your head cause it said Baiken and her parents moved to the colonies after Japan was blown up. I think you be right in that Justice magically attacked a JP colony with some magicked up gears that shouldn't exist anymore if the crusades actually got all the known ones. But you know how fighters are typically FULL of plotholes. It took to Xrd to where May, a Japanese, was turning into a gear to have a retcon excuse for the gears in the colony attack. Then again, Happy Chaos could literally magic up anything to fill any and all plotholes, like the assassin's guild turning from Slayer, and the pope, and Faust, etc.

[@Segmented]

I can never get over how good the bass is in this song.

[@crppledizzle9374]

It's worth mentioning that the japanese vocals here are actually buddhist chants. Specifically, the opening is the Mantra Of Light, a sort of atonement chant. This character is driven by vengeance and pain, and needs to learn to let go, hence the extreme way this peaceful mantra is spoken.

[@GrzegorzSobkowicz]

0:03 He's learning

[@Sekainoowaride]

He is.

[@DingusButDead]

Something of note is that the chanting in the song (or at least some of it) is the Mantra of Light, a Buddhist mantra meant to cleanse people of their bad karma so that they can get into heaven. Very fitting for Baiken's character, who lived her life solely for revenge, before eventually giving up on it and using the skills she learned to teach others how to defend themselves.

[@jkchannel3149]

You are correct. A lot of Daisuke's tracks were made by both software and real musicians

[@dark_fusion1288]

Highly recommend “Let Me Carve Your Way” or “Alone Infection” for your next GGS theme vid.

[@wrydfell3932]

Seconding Let Me Carve Your Way, absolute banger. Also What Do You Fight For and Love The Subhuman Self

[@joelsasmad]

Id reccomend examining how this contrasts with "The Circle" in a thematic clash that still ties into Buddist themes

[@Unotuchable]

Also the fact that Baiken's entire character development and the end of the song is specifically about Delilah leading to her forsaking vengeance.

[@maicolito1178]

This is probably the coolest song from strive's OST so far. Great video, keep up the good work!

[@calhoun0763]

I think you should do rock parade next

[@HappyLittleBoozer]

You're picking up on some commonalities across the whole OST that I never really noticed, I'm really enjoying your analysis sections. I'm assuming you're not open to non-game related reactions, so I'm saying it more in terms of a suggestion to listen to in your free time. I can't recommend Streetlight Manifesto enough; The Hands That Thieve is a great first listen, whether the title track of the album or the album itself at large. A Ska Punk band that has earned the title of my all-time favourite, with Guilty Gear OST being a close second. I'm also really hoping you eventually give a listen to older Guilty Gear tracks, in particular Freesia - it is an emotional song that I have had life-changing experiences while listening to.

[@user-ee8ki7zq1t]

In my opinion, not listening strive opening song yet, smell of the game - its crime.

[@ranumahaendra321]

can you do Crawl next?

[@KignofDiggins]

Kermit the frog bridge remains goated. Love this track!

[@mojoboingo1744]

Bacon's theme.

[@aapep92]

While the song is the same, the video you used does show some false lyrics. They are similar enough but just wanted to point that out.

[@Squid_does_games9638]

They were mostly accurate from what I’ve seen of the official lyrics and what agreed upon in the wiki for the song.

[@GrzegorzSobkowicz]

As far as I know, these are the same lyrics as on Guilty Gear wiki, which I'm pretty sure were updated when Necessary Discrepancy CD album was released with official lyrics. The version made by Clouddrop was made before the CD album released.

[@KingOfFools784]

@@GrzegorzSobkowicz the chorus is slightly wrong in the video Edit: Nevermind I misremembered

[@Erblorg]

Harmful consequences of CloudDrop on the Guilty Gear community.

[@toosquare]

These are correct, CloudDrop’s videos often have incorrect lyrics tho