Studio Musician | Guilty Gear Strive OST: Character Themes #3 Reaction & Analysis

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All Guilty Gear Strive OST videos:
• Guilty Gear Strive OST...
Today's video is sponsored and request by my Patron DOT TXT in Patreon.
Third video reacting to Guilty Gear Strive surprisingly wonderful and DEEP soundtrack, it is normal to love progressively more this OST?
0:00 - intro
2:36 - What do you fight for (Nagoriyuki Theme)
10:29 - Crawl (Nagoriyuki Boss Arcade Theme)
19:32 - Like a Weed, Naturally, as a Matter of Course (Testament Theme)
30:28 - The circle (Bedman? Theme)
40:18 - The Town Inside Me (Bridget Theme)
Credits to CloudDrop, the maker of the videos I reacted to today:
/ @clouddropll
This is merely for review, analysis, breakdown and constructive criticism purpose, I do not claim the audiovisual product I reacted to as my own.
#guiltygearstrive #ost #jhulianrmusic #jhulianr #reaction

[@alexandersze49]

I think musician react to guilty gear music really help us non musicians appreciate the music SO much more. The fact you can guess to a decent accuracy of character background with just the song shows us how well the songs are written

[@DexDavican]

One thing I really appreciate about The Town Inside Me is the non-sequiturs-the parts about “stress,” “vegetables,” and “alarm clock.” they’re parts where Bridget avoids thinking about her real problems, putting the listener into that same dissatisfied mindset. It’s really clever.

[@Adam-lw9il]

To give a bit more context for The Circle, the original Bedman who built the robot bed had the overall goal of helping find a cure of sorts for his sister Delilah. He ended up dying in the previous game's story, but now his robot bed is obsessively focused on protecting his sister, implying he's influencing it somehow from beyond the grave. The song itself is almost certainly from the original Bedman's perspective, with the Circle probably referring to the Circle of Life.

[@kuroganekaze]

Minor correction, it was in this game's story, not the previous.

[@TheArcadeLord]

@@kuroganekaze Robo Ky and Venom killed him in Revelator Im p sure

[@kuroganekaze]

@@TheArcadeLord ah, wasn't aware of that. Thought he died in strive. Iirc you even see his body break apart.

[@vincentpey3929]

​@@kuroganekaze nah thats revalator, hes only breefly mentioned in strive.

[@andreadicastro8525]

The circle could easily refer to the circle of hell, he is suffering in hell after his sins, sins that he was doing only to make the world a better place, would make sense with pitch black, pure white all the same, as well as endless finite, hell its basically an endless pain that never ends

[@Breidablik06]

Nagoriyuki was an African man trained in the art of the samurai. But that was many years before the events of the game, as he was turned into a vampire and is now immortal with immense power. Because he is a vampire, he requires blood to survive, but that goes against his noble and honorable nature, so he fights to contain the bloodlust. His sword allows him to drain blood from those he fights to provide him sustenance, and he can use his vampire abilities to enhance it, but the usage of the abilities can lead to him losing control and his mask coming off as his true vampiric nature comes out. He’s a serious badass who may actually have been inspired by the real life African samurai Yasuke, who was a retainer of Oda Nobunaga.

[@nairdacnalbel]

Nobunaga is also known as Kazusanosuke, who Nago mentions during an intro.

[@patientnr.0409]

Also he seems to have some connection to Chipp but that is still mostly a mystery.

[@yp.m1534]

​@@patientnr.0409Chipp is quite the weeb so dont be surprised that out of everyone in the cast he would know more than everyone else about the existence of nagoriyuki and his backstory or actions in the past.

[@david85111]

@@yp.m1534 i mean isnt chipp speading his days in africa teaching the locals broken japenese? he mightve ran into him dik

[@yp.m1534]

@@david85111 well i dont remember any info on chipp going to any other country other than his own within Africa, its a possibility tho, and Nago seems in general like the type of guy to just go around doing whatever it can sort of be seen in testament's arcade mode.

[@bonk150]

the reason testament's theme brings up both good and evil and switches between using "he" and "she" in the lyrics is to represent their ambiguity of their life ("just existing" like you described it) with them being so ambiguous that its even reflected in their gender

[@yagirldiana365]

Also, something I thought of just now was "what if 'he' and 'she' refers to Kliff, their adoptive father, and Dizzy, the daughter of Justice?"

[@Nikowo1610]

​@@yagirldiana365 I don't think so, considering at multiple times in the song it clearly uses he and she in the same line, to describe the same person

[@AHylianWarrior]

@@yagirldiana365 There's a lot of inconsistencies in the lyrics when it comes to referring to Kliff in the song so people dropped that theory altogether if that helps

[@doremiancleff1508]

Daisuke, the man himself, has stated: "They've transcended human existence. Just like me."

[@medicfdumbo]

@@yagirldiana365 Definitely a possibility. Theres no real set individual that naoki is talking about in the song sicne as someone else mentioned theres a lot of inconsistencies so it could be vaguely talking about kliff or someone else.

[@TalesNT]

Background info for the characters: Nagoriyuki - What do you fight for: He's an immortal vampire that was literally dug inside a building for centuries. The character is extremely stoic and honorable, but being a vampire he literally has to feast, as the song says. So he has that clash inside him. Boss Nagoriyuki - Crawl: Part of the story is that he's bound to do what Happy Chaos tells him, so he can't just do as he wants. That's why he's shown as fighting Sol and Giovanna during the cutscenes, HC forced him to. But even when he gave up hope, he's gonna crawl for freedom. Testament - Like a Weed, Naturally, As a matter of course: Testament story is really complicated, but the gist of it is: He died young, and the only way to revive her was to make him a gear. But with Justice's uprising (GG1 story) all gear fell into Justice's control. So she ended up becoming the enemy of humanity, and trascending human existence. Now some 10 years later, they're ready to come back into the world, and they're happy to just be a simple person. Bedman? - The Circle: Bedman basically was able to enter and control dreams, just like her sister Delilah, but due to the immense power she had she wasn't able to wake up. He ended up partnering with some bad guys that lied to him about allowing Delilah to awaken and died at the end of the last game, so only the Bed remains. We don't really know if the Bed is working now because of algorhitms made to defend Delilah or if Bedman was actually able to trascend reality and is now in full control of the bed, and we'll likely never have an official answer on that. Bridget - The Town inside me: Bridget's a bounty hunter. Born the smallest of two boys on a village that had tremendous superstitions about having two sons, as the second one was supposed to bring bad luck so the family had to either give her up for adoption or raise her as a daughter. So by the time she appeared on the old guilty gear, she was obsessed to show that she was "a man" so she wanted to catch Dizzy but got there too late, so she had to search for any action that would show her village that having two sons is okay. But afterwards in a conversation with Goldlewis she realized that she was truly herself and didn't need to do anything for other people, a true cowgirl.

[@liljon042]

For bridget specifically, I won't deny that she's become transgender, but all the other endings seem to leave the answer somewhat ambiguous, hence the ambiguity symbol on Bridget's hat. To be fair to Bridget though, this was probably meant to show the struggle of what Bridget wanted. I just wish we saw more of the struggle in Strive, because the arcade mode is so bad, it kinda makes the whole "I've become a bounty hunter that is proud to be male" from XX to "confused about their gender identity" in Strive if you get what I mean.

[@brony4869]

@@liljon042 actually, in japan, the symbol isnt ambiguity, its just the transgender symbol

[@that_dwayneee]

It’s worth noting that the news reading segment of nago’s theme is about him watching the world go by and the events of the gg story while stuck under the building

[@CRTLemonzz]

@@liljon042 while that is true that the different ending leave it ambiguous they are only meant to explore the character further and later in the future they pick and choose which things to be canon but in this case in the 11th developers backyard daisuke ishiwatari himself confirmed that bridget does in fact use she her pronound canonically now

[@0hadd]

Nago is one of the coolest characters ever introduced in the series, a samurai vampire that sucks blood with his swords (and the occasional chomp to the neck in one of his moves)

[@erichbauer3991]

and he's based on yasuke which makes it even doper

[@mydrillasanjay5397]

i want him to interact with slayer so badly man

[@orangecrisis8568]

48:10 „I almost lost my testicles singing that“ fits so much with the song I’m dying 😂

[@Nikowo1610]

I wish I could do that 😭

[@Oscar97o]

@@Nikowo1610 You can!

[@josuedanielsandi710]

I am extremely surprised that almost nobody has recommended "Alone infection". It´s my favorite Guilty Gear song and I believe it´s one of the fan favorites too, so It´s pretty surprising that it has not been reccomended yet.

[@MattHazard95]

My fav in Strive as well

[@pinksywedarnoc8017]

Same 😭

[@Koalexa]

the faust nation shall rise again

[@luisfilipebonafim4515]

Same thoughts here

[@TBAunknown]

​@Koalexa yes we will!

[@MarakamiSG]

Funny thing about Testament's theme. It just grows on you the more you listen to it. Like a weed Naturally As a matter of course.

[@HVKAlex]

Definitely recommend Sin’s theme “The Hourglass” Faust’s theme “Alone infection” Anji’s theme “Rock Parade” and Goldlewis’s theme “The Kiss of Death” next

[@Eyeray_]

Most def, need this to be the next video.

[@d0ttxt]

In a month I can suggest those, after that I want to break into xrd maybe

[@tuskact.4632]

BARK AND BARK, IT'S A VACANT URGE

[@Rycel2001]

Testament is agender (possessing/identifying as no definitive gender), which is why their song uses interchangeable pronouns. This actually extends to the game itself, as Testament has both masculine and feminine voice actors recording all their dialogue.

[@Oscar97o]

But Guilty Gear characters have two body types. Men are super shredded and women have huge thighs. Testament has huge thighs and the earlier concepts had them being super shredded, so I guess they can't avoid that.

[@TheAssOfEternity]

@@Oscar97o In the first game Testament was male, I believe the transcendence of gender identity happened after they were revived as a Gear.

[@Oscar97o]

@@TheAssOfEternity I'm talking about concept art for Strive, not the previous games.

[@greenarchetype]

​@@Oscar97o I wish they had both tbh

[@Jo_youwhatmate]

@@Oscar97o Asuka laughs in the face of this theory

[@jackthatistheripper]

I like how he just guesses the character's lore just by listening to their themes. Especially with Bridget, like man you got the spirit you actually cracked that song, and the only thing that you couldn't possibly guess is that the whole song was about her transgender problems, doubts about accepting herself and being accepted

[@PackKanashijo]

The singer of these song, Naoki, has his own band, called Outrage. His band does some really cool metal stuff. If possible, I'd like you to react to Outrage's songs as well.

[@tartipouss]

There's also NAOKI Both are performing all the song in Strive. It's always one of them... or even both like for Ramlethal's theme) NAOKI even did some for Xrd REV 2

[@PackKanashijo]

@@tartipouss There are 2 main singers of the Guilty Gear series, Naoki Hashimoto and AISHA, with Naoki singing in a male voice and AISHA singing a female voice such as "Disaster of passion", "The town inside me", but there are some songs with both Naoki and AISHA in one song that is "Necessary Discrepancy" and also singers other than these two sing in some songs as well, for example in "Love the subhuman self" there is a male singer in the song, that voice is Jamison Boaz, not Naoki.

[@alexfoster8110]

@@tartipouss Is NAOKI a different person or smth?

[@PackKanashijo]

@@alexfoster8110 There are many artists using the name "Naoki" and sometimes youtube confuses them and puts them under the same title. I don't know if NAOKI or Naoki Hashimoto refer to the same person. But if you see the name Naoki in a Guilty Gear-related thread, it's definitely Naoki Hashimoto.

[@Void-rj3sq]

In Testament's music, the "he" refers to testament, and the "she" refers to also testament Also, the two fairies, one become the crow and the other become the scythe's blade that testament fights with. Yeah the animation is kinda confusing

[@Jhulian_R]

While editing I thought that "What do you fight for" had a familiar verse, after thinking about it I found out that it's 2 first phrases are really similar to the verse of Come Together (From The Beatles) rhythm and melody wise 😰. 3:43 Another one of Daisuke's winks!

[@nairdacnalbel]

don't worry, i was gonna point it out if you didn't notice.

[@Maxtextrequired]

Another similar sounding verse What do you fight for had was it's chorus, it sounds very similar to Junkyard Dog by Winger

[@-Joker-745]

find your one way {sol theme} kzbin.info/www/bejne/lajGpYykor6boJo

[@dreadfulcarrot5609]

Also reminds me of Love Me Do by the Beatles

[@mobblesgaming]

Youre quite right about Testament, It's largely about going through so much shit and then learning to love your own life and to just exist through it. In the character bios in game they list characters hobbies and Testament's is about a paragraph long, they live theyre life trying everything and enjoying themself.

[@victorfarofabr]

Also Nagoriuky technically has 2 theme songs cause he's the main boss of the arcade so the song "Crawl" is also his theme song

[@Arcavi0us]

we both didn't watch the video all the way through haha, he does go over it

[@victorfarofabr]

@@Arcavi0us yeah lmao

[@deathwish-fs1ib]

Something that I've only noticed recently with Bridget's theme is that the line "I'm the one to blame" steadily gets quieter as the song progresses, almost as though representing her coming to terms with who she is and not feeling guilty about it anymore.

[@kurocomics]

Definitely, small details like that help The Town Inside Me to be my favorite song in the game

[@RasenCore]

The other "entity" you mention in The Circle is actually Delilah's brother, the original Bedman and the one that built the bed robot. He died in the previous game while trying to save/resurrect Delilah and it's implied he's now trapped in the afterlife (the "circle"), but still either controls the bed in some way or has put some part of himself in it to protect his sister. During Bedman?'s arcade story the robot roams in search of powerful opponents to try and be destroyed, probably to find someone stronger than it and that is willing to protect Delilah in it's place presumably so Bedman can finally pass on. It's not 100% confirmed lore but it is in my heart

[@zetsumeinaito]

I think it more implies that Bedman just said no to "the circle"(circle of life and/or reincarnation) and controls the bed from another dimension that holds his bodiless mind. The rest of your theory I can get behind.

[@Rd0Lg]

Some context for The Town Inside Me/Bridget: Her theme is about her fears about being herself as she is a transgender woman. For a long time she presented as a man with feminine dress, and like the lyrics said, she just put up with it and lived in a gray haze. The song evolves into a more lively rendition with every verse and chorus as she realizes that the best way for her to live is to be honest with herself and others and open about her identity as a woman. She painted the gray haze sky blue. The expectation of her being who she was before is almost meta-commentary to how the Guilty Gear community received her, with most people celebrating having transgender representation in a high profile fighting game like Strive, and others being in denial and wanting nothing to change. Some went so far as to say it was an American decision to make her trans, or saying it's a retcon and ruins her character entirely. Daisuke had to come out twice confirming that Bridget is a transgender woman and there are still people who refuse to accept it. It was a bold decision to take such a fan favorite character, who had been missing from the franchise for close to two decades, making her transition such a central point to her progressing story in Strive. Guilty Gear storytelling has always been a bit wonky and strange so it's not perfect but the idea and feelings come across. With Goldlewis's and Ky's support, she comes out of her shell and realizes even if every single person doesn't accept who she is, it's better to be unacceptable and honest than acceptable and dishonest.

[@BoostedBonobo101]

To add on to this Information the main reason Bridget was raised as a female was cause she is from a town that believes if you have twin sons you would bring absolute misfortune upon the town. So to avoid having to kill or abandon one of their sons her parents raised Bridget as a female. Later on down the line Bridget wanted to bring an end to that belief proving it wrong by bringing riches and fame to her family. The way she would do this is by leaving the town (reference to the lyrics) and becoming a bounty hunter and going after one of the biggest bounties at the time. A gear named Dizzy. She would then plan on finishing this bounty and revealing that she was indeed male the whole time to her town ultimately crushing the superstition. However sadly Bridget failed in actually killing Dizzy, having found Dizzy already defeated by another person. She doesn't give up however and continues bounty hunting. Throughout one game all of her "successful" hunts ended up being false bounties placed on people who were actually innocent to which for her skills shown in some of these false hunts she was still compensated for trying. Thus going about her hard journey at becoming a successful bounty hunter. At some point her failed bounties leads her to Dizzy who joined a group named the Jellyfish Pirates. Upon finally defeating Dizzy Bridget finds out that Dizzy is not a bad person either and ends up befriending her in the process. She then decided to return home only to find out her brother left the town to look for her fearing for her safety. Fast forward to the current game she is a famous bounty hunter who then decides to accept the idea of being female entirely and is aided in doing so by Sin (Dizzy's son) and Goldlewis (secretary of defense of the United States). As for some of the hate and backlash for Bridget's transition some of it definitely comes from a place of hate. However surprisingly and honestly understandably some of it came from fans who thought it was kinda a bad way to end her story considering the start of it all was her proving having two sons in the first place wasn't an omen and shouldn't be something people in her town should be afraid of. People felt cheated of a better more (in your face) ending and understandable as to some of the debating in terms of Bridget's overall story. Not to mention a lot of people who felt the overall idea of her story was kinda dictated by her parents forcing her into the life of a female rather than it being naturally explored by said character. To which Bridget's retaliation overall makes no sense if she was ok in the life of a girl. I personally don't mind the change and I don't see a lot of the people who debated it at the time as hate but as genuine care and contemplation about her lore overall.

[@walterhartwellwhite2162]

Too bad it’s the worst song in the game

[@KitsyX]

It's hard to tell what's really going on with Bridget... The shift from wanting to be able to come out as male to deciding that they were female isn't impossible, but it's pretty unusual and hard to tell if it's real dysphoria or they are dealing with how they were brought up and that being what they know... It's possible it was something they just decided to do in order to keep the character being their female appearance with the female name for the sake of fans of the character... Although it's not like they haven't changed these things for other potentially popular characters... Oh well, it's not the end of the world and a Japanese person probably wouldn't be pushing it as an agenda, like they have been in the west... But yeah, it does seem a weird writing decision to make... But then so does a lot of the story lol. I am a little concerned that it's kinda suggesting that things will just work out if you force your child to live as the opposite gender, although that probably isn't what was intended... Oh well... As long as Bridget is happy now.

[@BoostedBonobo101]

@@walterhartwellwhite2162 Personally I think this song has a more memorable hook than Rams theme. If I had to rate all of the strive themes rams would probably be at the bottom imo.

[@BoostedBonobo101]

@@KitsyX Exactly this is the reason a lot of people were actually upset about the whole Bridget thing. But rather than actually understanding where long time fans were coming from a lot of new people just assumed transphobia. And while it may have been the case for some of it for sure as far as I could see it was genuine confusion in terms of the original thought process Bridget had to now which kinda' goes against the origin point of Bridgets adventure. This would also make the action of transitioning seem like an external decision overall and not an internal one seeing as how this would probably not be a problem if she wasn't raised as a girl in the first place rather than someone who was born male and struggled to come to terms with being so.

[@solocup118]

Nagoriyuki is actually a samurai vampire trying to find peace and become the best version of himself. His sword flashes red when he uses his blood to attack, which gives him a thirst for blood - becoming more savage, and eventually entering "blood rage" where he becomes much more powerful but blinded by anger.

[@minmodulation]

Town Inside Me still gets me tearing up lol. such a triumphant song

[@kurocomics]

The finale is what gets me lol

[@RealHumanVT]

Ok so with Nagoriyuki’s theme some of the lines (“when he’ll freezes over sayonara” and “I will fight until the day I die”) only make sense with a few things so Nago is a Vampire and in Guilty Gear vampires are basically immortal With Bridget’s theme in the previous game Bridget was in they identified as a male however through Bridget’s story in strive they start getting a weird feeling that by the end Bridget realizes she’s actually trans and the metaphors such as “I hate the alarm clock I chose” is them before realizing how they actually are just blaming their weird feeling on the little inconsequential things and at the end of the theme she finally accepts it

[@hylia8347]

the nonbinary [testament] and trans [bridget[ representation in the game is hella nice. i absolutely love their themes so damn much you cannot believe

[@alvinvalentino5797]

I'm just giving my 2 cent, but this might come as disrespectful, Bridget being Trans made it so that his Bad Ending Canon no? His entire storyline is proving that he can be manly while still liking girly things, the bad ending is him losing and is forced to be a Girl like his village wanted

[@hylia8347]

@@alvinvalentino5797 i'm going off of the song lyrics alongside strive. how she's trying to find her true self through the events of the game. she did try to live as a man, but that style didnt fit well with her. finally, in another, she confirms with herself and the others that she is, in fact, a girl.

[@tartipouss]

​@@alvinvalentino5797 The bad ending doesn't even exist It was made up by transphobe and there's no mention of "bad ending" before Bridget was released and Daisuke confirmed himself that Bridget IS trans and there is no bad or good ending in the arcade mode and everything being said in all routes is canon. So if a character says something in one route, but says something else in another route, both of these thing being said are canon, the only thing that change is that in one route you lost a fight and in the other you didn't. So Bridget *is* a girl in Strive. I know her lore is weird af, but in the end when she was given the chance of being a girl or a boy, she went with being a girl because that's what she prefered to be. So yeah, hope that clears it up because honestly Dridget lore + useless drama over the gender of a fictional character are a mess and I can't say Daisuke made is easier, but I guess it wasn't planned to make Bridget trans when she was first made in earlier game so that's probably why. (and the song is about transitioning or something, I dunno, I'm not really sure, it just feels like it's about that)

[@alvinvalentino5797]

@@tartipouss Maybe it's just me, but idk how to feel about Bridget in Strive, Maybe I'm being negative but it just feels like it invalidate his motivation in the previous game, if they were turning points in the story for it, I think it being shown would be better I think some people being upset is pretty justified, because of how drastic it is, and because woke things are very mainstream in the media rn and most people dislike that, like how marvel and netflix are doing

[@tartipouss]

​@@alvinvalentino5797 I get being mad at writing of "arguably could have been way better" quality But I think most people's reaction of it is just completly insane. They don't even care about the character, they just see trans and immediatly goes monke brain and spits out the most hateful and nonsensical things. I hate those people pretending to be fan of something only to then blame "agenda" to critic something with the worst argument they could have possibly used when there's way more other argument they could have made to say this particuliar desicion was something they thought was bad. They clearly don't actually care about making a critic of the character/story, they just care about insulting something they hate for no reason. ...Oh yeah Bridget, that was the topic. Ye I don't really like the way Daisuke just pulled up a "now she's trans" even tho it looks kinda bad for trans representation to have your trans character with a lore like this. Now I know a lot of people really love just the fact that it is trans representation and that's something great. But just, it could have been done so much better than this way. It almost feels like a retcon I mean, Bridget was created because they wanted a cute girl character stereotype but they thought it would be funny if it was a guy, literally 0 bad thought behind it, and no more depth than that (at least until lore was added). You can see where they're coming from for that transition... if you ignore Bridget lore. Because without it then hell yeah that's great, well made, no problem-wait no there is a problem, for it to works fine you need to ignore *who* she is and only care about *what* she is. It's a mess, it had good intention but man, was it done weirdly

[@xlandedit7639]

Alone infection and rock parade are def my next choices

[@fireenderboy]

he did crawl in this vid

[@xlandedit7639]

@@fireenderboy comment doesn’t mention crawl?

[@jessquiatchon2204]

And totsugeki pls

[@lizabeth529]

@@xlandedit7639 he did it in this video

[@xlandedit7639]

@@lizabeth529 it’s not even In the comment?

[@zetta8277]

Testament's themes is my favorite in this soundtrack. Been dying to play with them for so long and then Daisuke gives them this goosebumps inducing theme. I love your reactions and appreciate all your insights for them.

[@fireenderboy]

I really love that you analyze both the music and the lyrics, most other people who do this kind of stuff only analyze the music itself and ignore the beautiful lyrics in them. Keep doing what you're doing! Also for the next one I have some to suggest. Smell of the Game (Main theme) Alone Infection (Faust's theme) and Disaster of Passion (May's theme) These would be the last of my personal favorites since you've already listened to the rest Hope you have a good day :)

[@raviolican9627]

What about storyteller?

[@fireenderboy]

@@raviolican9627 who?

[@zanzaklaus2496]

An interpretation of Like A Weed, Naturally, As A Matter of Course, is that it's poetically about the night and day, chasing after each other. In a more literal sense, I think it's about Testament forgiving themselves after being the main villain of the first Guilty Gear game. Since then they've been trying to live a good life and protect people, and in this song they resolve that the light and dark within them are both aspects of themselves. Their resolution in the end is that even if they've done bad, they have the right to keep living, "like a weed, naturally, as a matter of course". Even if we don't like weeds, they are a natural part of the cycle and will exist. And depending on who you ask, dandelions can be beautiful in their own way. There's also the obvious stuff with their gender. Throughout the piece they will sometimes use he and she to refer to the same entity. Like "he did not reject the light herself". Testament has been confirmed by the developers as non-binary, and all the text in the game only uses they/them instead of he like in previous games. So in that sense they've also accepted that more feminine or GNC aspect of themselves and have come out the other end of their introspection reborn.

[@RoseSennin]

I swear Crawl is so slept on. Nagoriyuki wanting "the freedom of calm" is so fitting too. Love this song no matter how bullshit that Stage 9 boss is 😭.

[@TempuraFriedJoystick]

Nagoriyuki is an African man who became a samurai in Japan in the mid 1500s before becoming a vampire, so already he's a man who's been around a long time. He strives to live up to the samurai code, and fights with honor, dignity, and respect, but as a vampire, he still must drink blood, something that he is constantly at war with himself about. Further, as of the plot of the latest game, he's been trapped in a building for a few hundred years, so he's an immortal creature watching the centuries pass by him - that's the point of the radio filter interlude, him watching all of the scientific and magic advancements as he simply continues to live, and to fight... for what? The beast inside him is constantly raging, telling him that his attempts to hold himself to honor and a code are pointless - the world is passing him by, rejecting him due to his vampire status, so why not simply give in and allow himself to feast as he likes? But his will is so strong that he simply tells the beast inside of him that he will give in "when hell freezes over", and then says "sayonara" to it, essentially telling it "No, now fuck off please." For Crawl, Nagoriyuki has been under the mind control of Happy Chaos, forced to fight against his will, and this song once again talks about his resilience and will in face of despair - even if it seems like all chances of a happy future have been devoured, like he is doomed to a future of endless bloodshed, even if he knows that he cannot possibly last forever and will, someday, succumb to the beast - he will STILL fight. He will STILL hold to his values, and even if that means he has to crawl towards the future, he will do it. He will fight for as long as he can, to uphold what he believes is just and right. "I know the time of darkness will come someday, but I will fight it til the day I die." God I fucking love Nagoriyuki so much. His gameplay is a blast, too, and ties into his lore: played right, with patience and caution, looking for the right opportunities and knowing your limits, you can cause someone to absolutely explode. But if you get reckless, if you rush in too headlong and let yourself be tempted by the bloodlust... Then you WILL die. Playing Nagoriyuki requires constantly balancing the need for powerful offense tempered with patience and knowing how to pick your battles.

[@yatsurart]

This "progression" you felt in Bridget's song is what a lot of people interpret as Bridget slowly building confidence accepting herself as a woman, you can feel it a bit more in the last phrases in the song "no matter what changes, will no longer change me".

[@Oscar97o]

And the hard rock part starts when she feels like a woman completely. Coincidence? I think not.

[@KingZolem]

"Perfection Can't Please Me" is a personal favorite that is sadly underrated in my opinion. "The Disaster of Passion" is also one I really like that isn't popular. Yeah for some reason all my faves are mid or low in the fandom.

[@ModernAegis]

Just in case no one dropped it yet, Bridget is somewhere between 18 and 20 in Strive.

[@Frater073]

So glad to have found this channel, so enjoyable to watch you dissect one of my favourite soundtrack ever!

[@BreedableVaporeon0978]

Bedman? And Bridget are easily my favorite guilty gear songs

[@guywithcringycontent3307]

the most based comment ever

[@marvintg2002]

The Circle just breaks my heart and makes me sad. The Town Inside Me doesn't really hit for me, because I've haven't really had the kind of experience the song is about. My favorite depends on my mood, but overall I adore Requiem the most. It's so tragic and emotionally powerful to me. The guitar is literally weeping in the solo.

[@walterhartwellwhite2162]

Bedman’s is great and Bridget’s is trash

[@lsc8216]

My recommendation for the next reaction is The smell of the game Alone infection Find your one way Rock parade Out of the box

[@MattHazard95]

That was a great watch! Thanks a lot! Would love you to react to: Alone Infection (Faust Theme) Trigger (Giovanna Theme) The Kiss of Death (Goldlewis Theme) And there is not so much left, like May, Axl, Anji, Jack`O and Sin themes I believe for the main characters.

[@josiadorthestrong1031]

Testament uses they/them pronouns! Between them and Bridget being trans, the queer rep in this game makes me so happy.

[@flyingoctopus4304]

Your reactions to the GG OST area really cool, it's great that you analyze the lyrics aswell as the music.

[@ErmitanoGames]

Siii, estaba esperando a que hagas la tercera parte de guilty gear! dejo mi like :D

[@wasab1364]

The next ones would have to be Rock Parade The Kiss of Death Find Your One Way Alone Infection and least important to me, but still very important, Trigger

[@SSJ22Terris]

Trigger's awesome! same with Alone Infection, I hope they're covered in the next one

[@cobaltobject1855]

Fun fact, Nagoriyuki is at least partly inspired by Yasuke, the real life historical black samurai who was brought to Japan as a slave by portugese missionaries but ended up becoming retainer to Oda Nobunaga, the daimyo who unified Japan in the warring states period

[@filthy.kasual]

Great video as always. I’m glad my comment on the last video helped at least a little bit for the circle. For the next video I’d love to see your reaction to Smell of the Game (the entire game’s theme) and Find your one way (Sol Badguy, the main character’s theme)

[@dnplayz8410]

FINALLY!! Have been waiting for this for a long time!

[@Xeroxthebeautiful]

The town inside me is about Bridget realizing and accepting that she's a trans woman. At first she talks about how some feels wrong but can't quite place it even blaming herself but eventually she realizes it and stops running away from herself. The song really helped me realize a lot about myself when I first listened to it and it will always hold a special place in my heart because of that.

[@foNy_]

I don’t know a lot about the lore but i also heard that she was forced to be trans young because in the town she lived in it was illegal to have multiple children of the same gender, so she had to be trans. after she moved away at some point she was able to be a male again, but chose to stay female

[@compadrecacodemon7455]

@@foNy_ Dasuke essentially confirmed Bridget was supposed to be a trans allegory, as he wasn’t allowed to make her explicitly trans, so he’s just rectifying it. Also, having girlhood forced upon you and accepting your own girlhood is a very different thing, especially in “traditional” places

[@koirone]

@@foNy_ "forced" is a poor way of putting it, she was always happy living that way, but it was her parents that felt guilty about it and thought they were forcing her, bridget knowing this felt that she had to prove herself as a man to dispel the town superstition to relieve her parents guilt. which is why she became a bounty hunter and all. then theres the whole internal conflict after dispelling the superstition and being able to live as a male but realizing she still wasnt happy and eventually realizing she was happy living as a female

[@user-zi8xd8ev2k]

And I think Like a weed, Naturally, as a matter of corse is anthem of the non-binary.

[@Jack_Ss]

@@compadrecacodemon7455idk about this it’s a really weird situation and only western. The Japanese do not consider Bridget trans. Saying it’s just western people adding their own ideology to it

[@delinquentxia]

i'm just here to boost the algorithm for ya and also agree with everyone saying what the lyrics of "the town inside me" are about from the perspective of a fellow trans woman. the song is about her gender dysphoria and subsequent acceptance of herself. lots of trans people, myself included, feel the lyrics in the first half to be really accurate to what it can be like, and i find it really neat! and the final section where she begins to rekindle her motivation is really powerful for someone like me. so yeah, that's what that's about. also, it was mentioned here before, but testament is neither a man nor a woman and uses they/them pronouns, signified also by the interchanging pronoun use in the song! it's neat

[@NukeDaHippies]

It's awesome we've had 3 of these now. It's been very fun seeing your reaction and thoughts on the song. You would be surprised how close you are with interoperating the character through song, which shows the songs are achieving what they're set out to do. Find Your One way, The Kiss of Death, Out of The Box and Trigger are some of my favorites still left. Find Your one way is the Protagonists song, which they made an actual music video for, you should check it out.

[@SgtSushi-YEHW]

I feel like everyone has that one GGST track that resonates with them, and for me, its Like A Weed. Something about the chorus just hits so hard for me. Also you should really do The Kiss of Death, its another favorite of mine.

[@kostis1023]

You are an underrated creator. Thank you for your videos

[@maurovazquez7043]

Nice, you covered my 4 favourite themes from this game in this one video. EDIT: oh, actually my 5 favourites, Crawl is amazing too.

[@yolod.gachagamer]

Yo I haven’t heard lots of these, and they keep getting better and better XD

[@Mazerwolf]

Heck yes i was looking forward to this so much

[@nenaiko]

he totally nails bedman/romeo's love for his sister in this 😭 love this

[@manga_accurate_angel]

This is by FAR my favorite OST and one of my favorite albums in general.

[@d0ttxt]

TY for the video!

[@cosmc23]

Alone infection next! my favorite track in the game

[@gbtygfvyg]

That strange instrument you were hearing in The Circle is a Sitar. It's an Indian stringed intrument that you pluck.

[@DMan_AA]

You saying that Naoki is a voice actor aside from being a singer makes so much sense to me. He's playing multiple "roles" in some themes and he does a great job with it that I never even thought of it like that. Thank you for pointing that out! I hope you do "Alone Infection" next. It's a very strange song but it tells an entire story during it and I love it for that. Cheers!

[@Sapizanza]

"Too many comments" Dude... People are welcoming you to the Daisuke cult of music. You have no idea how strong the fanbase even is. All the love for music,talent and story will hit you like a masive Tyrant Rave in your face

[@lunathick]

you HAVE to listen to Smell of the Game!!!!! its the main theme of strive and one of the best things daisuke ever made, and might deserve its own video

[@dhdurhueur-qe5pn]

As the Bridget theme goes on, it shows her growing confidence in her identity.

[@user-sy8fd2xk9p]

The circle is the best , this sad song moved me so much. J-rock and J-metal have unique ways to express sad feelings.

[@Squid_does_games9638]

I have been waiting for this. I can’t wait to see your reaction to the rest of the soundtrack. Another game soundtrack I think you will like are the sonic frontiers titan themes. The first one is called Undefeatable.

[@El_Legante]

Nothing has quite described gender dysphoria as accurately as “I taste like vegetables I don’t like” 🤢

[@ModernAegis]

Bridget sounding like it's 6AM and she just woke up is just I love it

[@grimstruck5300]

Fun fact Bridget was forced to be trans by her parents over a superstition

[@alamizuki]

quite perfect (i am a tgirl)

[@inuken4309]

@@grimstruck5300 Sure, buddy

[@grimstruck5300]

its on the wiki my guy also she came into her own in strive literally saying fuck what others think I'm gonna be a girl cause that's who I am@@inuken4309

[@TheOrangeBottleCap]

Nagoriyuki is a vampire, I forget most of his lore but he literally doesn't even want to be there through most of the game and he's fighting against his will, and the weird news read bit is talking about how magic tech advances ever forward and into medical science (true technology was disgraced and abandoned decades ago in lore) but most of what his songs lyrics are about is his traditional way of thinking as a pseudo samurai (funnily enough he feels weaker than baiken seeing her as a superior samurai and as a true master who'd be able to kill him without breaking a sweat if he disrespected her in some way Crawl is literally just him being pissed the hell off because him being controlled is torture, he just wants to be left alone so he can feel at peace for once since his release Testament is both genders at once whilst not being either at the same time, they're talking about themselves it's why each line about them says both he and she

[@thepunisherxxx6804]

I LOVE Guilty Gear because its just so freaking creative and a complete artistic vision from the design, sounds, gameplay, music, story. Its anime, rock, and gameplay turned up to 11. You can feel the PASSION in every aspect of the game.

[@m0002856]

Testament is my main character in Strive, and I love their theme. My interpretation of who they are as a character is basically that they’ve gone through so much shit that they’re just happy to exist. They’re technically born a male but they are non-binary now. They also became a Gear after they were born, and Gears have the ability to shapeshift a little bit. So their appearance can change between masculine and feminine which is fine. It’s basically like whatever suits them that day. They chose feminine this time around. There’s a line that Testament says something along the lines of, “what might be a sacred area to you is just a walking path to me,” referring to all things in life are equal and they hold nothing in reverence over anything else. They’re just glad to take in the scenery. I also think they wouldn’t care about what pronouns you called them. That’s why the song changes between so many “he’s” and “she’s” and even contradicts itself be saying something like “she believed in himself” She did believe in himself. She and he are just Testament. My opinion is that, if this character were real, they wouldn’t care how you referred to them (he, she, they) so long as you’re recognizing them as existing. I love this character so much LOL

[@thecoffeeshrine2062]

The town inside me, harmonizing reminded me of some kind of chamber choir harmony mixed with pop. Fits since the character looks like a nun but also idol, very similar and opposite where purity is a mixed theme.

[@bread4881]

I can’t wait for smell of the game!

[@Void-rj3sq]

In the Circle, bedman (the one who originally build the robot bed, but is dead non) is dead, the chorus part is here to show that there's no heaven for him, and he now exists outside of the circle of life as he fights from beyond the grave to protect his sister

[@KeGLoB]

Goldlewis' theme The Kiss of Death is an absolute banger with sick guitar solos and really fucking heavy riff, you really should try that one out. Trigger By Giovanna is also my personal favorite. It sounds very similar to Sabotage by Beastie Boys, and it has its own unique style compared to other themes just like Drift or Testament's theme.

[@FreshSakuya]

Nagoriyuki is one of my absolute favourite character designs in GGST. He's a vampire samurai and that's reflected in gameplay. He has a Blood Gauge that fills when using certain moves, powering the speed and range and his sword. If the Blood Gauge reaches full, he enters Blood Rage. This powers him up even more, but he loses 50% of his health and access to his 'technical' moves (if mistimed, you can get killed for going into Blood Rage). It's a great way to tie his Vampiric Thirst and Samurai Focus into gameplay. You're at your strongest teetering between sanity and insanity, balancing at the edge of your blade.

[@KangMu]

I can’t wait to hear your reactions to Giovanna, Axl, and Faust’s theme songs! All of the themes are certified bangers though tbh 😂

[@XX-zj6xw]

you should read a description of the character after listening to the song so that you can see if your thoughts were correct or not

[@wake-up720o4]

Glad we got a reaction to The Circle. I'm dying to hear a reaction to Alone Infection, the theme of Faust, though.

[@Shinius]

My fav part of bridget theme is how it gets more and more layers as s the song goes on.

[@DLdg21]

Lets gooooo i get to listen to bridgets ost again

[@DLdg21]

Well im a may main now

[@SoDun-SoDone]

Other songs I would suggest from Guilty Gear Strive are: Find your one way, Out of the box, Trigger, The kiss of death, and rock parade. Love your vibe by the way❤

[@SleeplessFailure]

For the character Bedman?, there was once an original bedman before the little girl which was her brother but he passed away during the last 2 games but he woke his sister up before he died allowing her to live and the person singing is the brother and time to time within the song he is singing to his sister especially the last part

[@Temporal72]

Here I am leaving my comment early af hahah, I will edit as I'm seeing the video

[@raidenmei9064]

I'd love to see your reaction to Rock Parade, Alone Infection, and Trigger. They're my favorites you haven't looked at yet.

[@fireenderboy]

he did crawl in this video

[@jeffshittles3664]

Please listen to Drumhead Pulsation. It's an old stage theme for anji, chipp and baiken. Also, about your comments on Nago not fitting in, he's also a vampire.

[@mrlee3412]

another thing even I sometimes forget is that all of these songs are sung by one of 2 different singers, Daisuke is the guy and Aisha is the woman.

[@AidenR19]

The guy is actually Naoki, daisuke is the composer

[@mrlee3412]

@@AidenR19 that's what I meant whoops

[@dogeweeb3779]

It’s Sad that he didn’t react to Faust Theme “Alone Infection” 😔

[@Ninjafrog301]

34:25 Yeah, He's sealed in another dimension It's called heaven!

[@trustypatchy2720]

I got no recommendations this video and the last one covered all my favs

[@gyonafra7686]

He's so good at analyzing the lyrcis geez especially at Bridget's Theme 49:03

[@chiefwalks-with-legs9843]

Bedman is just trying to protect his sister from beyond the grave 😭 edit: also "The Circle" is likely referring to the circle of Saṃsāra, the Indian belief of rebirth, or in other cultural contexts, reincarnation

[@shadowdragon7347]

Next songs i would recommend are: alone infection, rock parade, disaster of passion, find your one way, and trigger

[@chroniclej2439]

In Testament’s theme I swear the vocalist Naoki is trying his best Dave Mustaine impression lol

[@_bigmfgoblin]

Bro he def has to do these songs Alone infection The hourglass The kiss of death Out of the box And rock parade

[@zaubergurke5468]

around 23:20 i at first understood "She is a beautiful man" which i thought was funny because it fits with the lyrics and the lore

[@Kramer_.]

You should check out more fear and loathing in las vegas. I recommend Virtue and vice or crossover. it's one of their heaviest songs👍

[@yesman6100]

If you want to know more about the character behind themes I recommend Gekkosquirrels theme meaning video

[@_Kettenkrat]

Testament is nonbinary. So, if you replace "his/her" with "their" the song make a lot of sense. Ps. You should check out Arknights osts. They've a lot of variety there. My recommendation would be Operation Pyrite, Eternal Flame, Ständchen, Sentenced and Wlfmster.

[@tsugu9146]

Bedman is the brother of the little girl in that video. He died and is implied to now be inside the Bed robot thingy that accompanies his sister.

[@mariuszbitny2832]

Alone infection is a brilliant track, you gotta listen to this one

[@catrianheir]

I don't think I've seen anyone else point out that Nagoryuki is also based on Yasuke the obsidian samurai. One of the first foreigners to learn Bushido, and one of Nobunaga Oda's closest allies.

[@maskeraid1000]

Whenever you get to sols theme, Find your one way, please also do Ride the fire from guilty gear xrd. It’s not from strive but it’s as much part of the character as the other song.

[@walterhartwellwhite2162]

Ride the fire is beautful