The Symphony of Side Order - Why are the Jelletons named THAT in Splatoon?

[@fiveeyesstreams]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to watch and for all the comments and support! I absolutely LOVE seeing everyone's ideas and contributions so much! Splatoon fans are on another level for real. KEEP THOSE THEORIES COMING and THANKS FOR BEING AWESOME! Also the best way to support me is to follow my twitch! I play Splatoon with viewers every Wednesday! twitch.tv/fiveeyesstreams

[@Splatoonspyro]

I know nothing about music, but this was very interesting. Now I know why the names were, um, a bit hard to pronounce.

[@pedromartins6810]

I want to tell you something about this game's details. Have you ever played salmon run, especifically the mothership event?

[@birdybirdy3251]

Wow,thats interresting,in german they are called harmonie wich they mirror,unlike a harmonie they are rapid,chaotic and uncanny,wich is a cool idea

[@kratangg-arang]

Super excited to see what you do next after such an amazing first video essay!

[@ZizZap4]

"Spectrum Obligato" sounds like an orderly twist on "Anarchy Rainbow" in terms of titling.

[@hy2rochlor1c]

oh my god

[@ImGonnaBeAStarr11]

@@hy2rochlor1cthis changes everything

[@82licious]

Anarchy Rainbow when Spectrum Obligato walks in

[@SquidPartyDude]

@@82licious*OH MY F[squidbag noises]KING GOD, ITS THE SPECTRUM OBLIGATO*

[@doomlord0773]

Considering the feel of when that song is playing, spectrum obligato is probably roughly translating to "perfect randomness" or "needed chaos"

[@DJ_Pyrodox]

"He has a degree, he's tall, and he is deadly skilled with a rifle" Nobilmentes: Profreshionals have standards

[@GoGoForIt]

An additional thought I'd like to add to the title "Spectrum Obligato" is to emphasize the word "Spectrum." You're trying to prevent the "grayscaling" of the world, and Splatoon is all about splashing vibrant colors everywhere. This title emphasizes that the full spectrum of colors and all the chaos that comes with it are *essential* and cannot be modified or taken away from the world.

[@Aless08]

finally someone that doesn't talk about autism spectrum

[@INANNAISHERE]

Would that mean that "spectrum obligato" means "variety is mandatory" or "chaos is indispensable"? An answer to order's worldview?

[@GoGoForIt]

yup, that's the point I'm getting at

[@bluekirby_64]

Something to add about the sprinkler enemy: "capriccioso" translates to "whiny", so the little guy could also be seen as crying all over the place like a kid, the exact opposite to its musical interpretation. -As well as perfectly representing how you'll feel after spending 2 hours on the same Splat Zone floor thanks to them-

[@electro_music_box]

Cruel_Sisyphean_Eight_Shaped_Floor

[@halcyon_exb]

@@electro_music_boxnever speak again 😞

[@electro_music_box]

@@halcyon_exb ??? All because i said the name of a splat zone floor?

[@halcyon_exb]

@@electro_music_box I’m just playing my b.

[@cousinparty7266]

@@electro_music_boxsorry, sir, we need to make room for Coverage Between Crosshairs

[@narwhao]

Fun note about the 3 bosses- they seem to represent deep-rooted Octarian fears, with the panopticon boss's prison motifs making you feel trapped underground (Octo Valley/Canyon), the urchin ball's boss having its body forcibly altered (sanitization/fuzzy goo) and pushed to attack, and the inkling boss being the obvious representation of the enemy army that won the Great Turf War. There could be some fun extra meanings in their names if the symbolism is intentional. I also think the music theming likely ties into Octarian society as a whole, since the music that plays in Octo Valley/Canyon levels can be used to control their soldiers. Overlorder being made from Octarian feelings means music would naturally be synonymous with a controlled, mindless army. And with the lore we got about inkfish having music etched into their DNA, and how their souls can be removed and their bodies reprogrammed, it's possible the musical style of each Jelleton is actually how Order programmed each one's AI behaviors.

[@kratangg-arang]

My first thought was that they also paralleled other bosses/concepts from the first game. Big sphere that rolls towards you, group of enemy soldiers, and rotating tower you need to take out layer by layer. Octostamp gets a lot of love, so maybe this is giving them some recognition?

[@everest5718]

The urchin ball could also represent the Octo weapons in this reading of the bosses. Even Marina comments on it having “perfect defence and unrelenting offence” which would fit the other Octo weapons having only one weak spot and impenetrable everywhere else, as well as powerful attacks meant for warfare. They could be seen as both amazing and terrifying to octarians, since they’re powerful but they’re also scary because they were people made into weapons. I may just be reading into it too much tho lol

[@Dergburger]

I always thought it was supposed to loosely reflect the 8-ball missions. Or more generally, simply just what they were doing when trapped in the octo underground. But I def see these other meanings being presented as a bit more direct and correct sounding

[@syro33]

one note: the "dj octavio" leitmotif is a little more broad than that. It shows up all over the series, but especially anywhere that involves octolings in general. It even made its way into the songs for Pinging Marciale and Asynchronous Rondo if you listen closely!

[@TotherKoala]

Typically it is referred to as the Onward motif as it appears by itself on the level clear screens alongside the phrase 'Onward!!'

[@syro33]

@@TotherKoala yeah! I like to think of it as an octarian theme, or even just one for the whole series, since it appears in so many songs across all three games.

[@kraken3574]

Honestly I see it as the anti- calamari inkantation bc while that breaks octarians free of the life underground and makes them desire more, onward! is like a song to march to, a beat to stay in and to keep the orderly life in the army, so that particular leitmotif is always used by octoling artists to symbolise order and nothing ever changing (think first pass of ebb and flow for example, then marina meeting pearl changed her usual style of music by working as an idol duo)

[@enneh07]

The Onwards motif doesn't appear in Parallel Canon's theme because they're not based off of a Great Octoweapon! Marciale --> Octowhirl, Rondo --> Octonozzle (oven?)

[@syro33]

@@enneh07 hmm.. maybe! I'm not exactly sure why it doesnt appear there. I guess it does have more to do with the Inklings than the octolings, seeing as its based on Agent 4. Maybe that's why it doesn't show up as well? They also dont get to sing/off tunedly scream an off the hook song, sadly :(

[@ninjacrafter2215]

I think a similar interpretation of “Parallel Canon” in the “canonical” sense is that both Agent 4 and Agent 8’s debut story modes happened parallel to one another both in the canon timeline as well as both occurring within the same game.

[@ZizZap4]

Regarding the controllers on Marina's visor: It's specifically a Virtual Boy controller, aka Nintendo's early form of not-a-headset VR headset.

[@fiveeyesstreams]

Nice catch!! Now I've learned something!

[@kratangg-arang]

It’s such a fun detail

[@IridesscentGal254]

I want to mention that the little text above Parallel Canon's name is "Intensifying Harmony", which i believe is a very obvious nod to the fact that the canons come in waves! They intensify each wave due to each wave having more canon's than the last wave and the harmony part could tie into how they're working in unison to try and beat you! y'know like how a team would need harmony in order to win (which is something i hardly ever find in solo queue LOL)

[@fiveeyesstreams]

Yes! I debated including a note about that, but I couldn't think of anything for the other boss titles, so I ended up leaving it out. I think you explained it here perfectly!

[@grugspro]

When you get the splashtag title for defeating 250 portals, the name its given is "Jelletonal Portal" which I think is a perfect full name for it, as it is both Jelleton-al (pertaining to Jelletons as it spawns them) and is Jelle-tonal (pertaining to tones, as tones are the basis of music); as soon as I got it I thought there could be no better name for it

[@fiveeyesstreams]

AH! Excellent detective work. I'd still want to use a different word for portal, but "Jelletonal" is a great first word for its name, I totally missed that it was already in the game!

[@atsukana1704]

That ending did pull it all together. The three pillars of splatoon really are gameplay, theme, and music. And this expansion is like a love letter to the chaotic nature that has somehow organized itself into the music of splatoon. Throughout its entire history the entirety of the splatoon world has been influenced by music. And this expansion is no different

[@fiveeyesstreams]

Thank you for such a thoughtful comment! Couldn't have said it better myself!

[@pishagerudo]

right this is why i cant understand people who like splatoon and not its soundtrack... they are very rare but ive seen them around and its just like, can you even say you really like the game when you dont like one of the most important parts of it >_

[@Sqwivig]

​@@pishagerudoFOR REAL! How can you say you like Splatoon but not like the music!? The music of Splatoon is intrinsic to the gameplay and world building and lore. It's a core part of Splatoon's identity. I can understand not liking a handful of songs, but turning off the music entirely feels like blasphemy. I really wonder about those people. Why even play the game at all if you are going to mute the game or play your own music? Do they even LIKE Splatoon? Do they even appreciate it?

[@comet242]

In regards to asynchronous rondo, rondo may also refer to how there are 3 lit up layers that are required to destory to defeat the boss, separated by a few unlit layers that are optional. The lit up layers could reference the main melodic idea, while the unlit layers could represent the other melodies.

[@joanaguadomedina3060]

That's a good observation too!

[@fiveeyesstreams]

YES! I did consider talking about that, but the pattern doesn't EXACTLY fit into rondo form so I ended up leaving it out. Glad so many people are picking up on it anyways!

[@dani8361]

the pinging marciale's theme song is breakcore which is REALLY funny because that's exactly how you beat the boss

[@mahimeghan]

2:40 okay throwing a suction bomb during “and it stuck” is genius actually

[@JrAnimates]

Omg you’re right, that’s actually a good joke!

[@joanaguadomedina3060]

Damn! Did not notice that XD

[@jaspbcat7903]

I saw that and knew there would be someone saying this.

[@joanaguadomedina3060]

The rondo is also danced in circle, so the Asynchronous Rondo going in circles makes so much sense.

[@verycoolmanSynthos]

21:17 fun fact! If you look at the sections, the curves look like arrows, which actually points to what direction it’s gonna spin to! So it’s kinda like “hey heads up! This sections gonna spin that way”

[@Mad-Goose]

Another fun fact: Splatoon likes to make references to seafood in its character designs. Those same curves can be found in the conveyor belts you find at sushi restaurants which, I think, is a pretty cool detail.

[@verycoolmanSynthos]

@@Mad-Goose *proceeds to realize that*

[@verycoolmanSynthos]

@@Mad-GooseI also noticed, the more layers destroyed, the more inked up the layers at the top get, so you can’t see what the “curves” are pointing to.

[@confused9026]

I give so many props to people who understand music theory and can identify these things. I study medicine, so very stem, in highschool my friend tried to teach me music theory and i felt like my brain was going to explode. It’s so cool to learn about things that I cannot really identify by myself.

[@milesorbet]

I think Pinging Marciale could also tie into the fact that it sends enemies into the battlefield that hunt the player down, like a how military marshal would send out soldiers. The pegs it runs into also causes it to let out an attack similar to the wave breaker, which I would consider a ping based on how it functions it turf and ranked. Whether or not the Jelletons literally ping Eight using echolocation I'm not sure about. Regardless, I've been wondering about a lot of these names but never got around to looking them up. Hopefully this reaches a few others who were wondering too.

[@fiveeyesstreams]

OOOH I like that idea! Gives a little flavor to the attacks it does.

[@enneh07]

Rondo and Canon also send out enemies, but not as much. Canon only sends out Languendos.

[@verycoolmanSynthos]

7:28 speaking of ascending, the homing arpeggio actually ascends in pitch as it gets closer to you

[@DisableYT]

I think it's worth noting that the first words in the boss names seem to relate to computer science, Marina's other passion. In particular, I think the "Parallel" in Parallel Canon is in reference to parallel programming, a process in which a large problem is split up into smaller tasks that can be executed simultaneously. Just like how this boss is split up into smaller, individual enemies, a bunch of which will occupy the battlefield at the same time.

[@Sqwivig]

Woaaahh!! You kinda just blew my mind!

[@joeydestructo]

Wow, I never noticed that! You're absolutely right. Asynchronous Rondo then would be referencing asynchronous execution, referring to how the layers rotate independently of each other, and Pinging Marciale would reference the ping command, alluding to how you push it away but it ends up bouncing back to you. That's awesome!

[@TheRamsWay]

And with the computer science aspect, there's a fun little oxymoron with Parallel Canon's name as well: canon in music is a melody repeated with delay, so you could say it's in sequence, in a serial manner... and serial and parallel communication are kinda opposites of eachother!

[@ethersplatzone]

Yoo what a big brain answer! Yeah all three of them have weirdly specific computer related words!

[@bwminich]

Over the years of playing these games, I've come to view the DJ Octavio motif as generally an Octoling Motif. After all, the band that performs it in the Splatoon single player does it, and Marina uses it for her Ebb and Flow demo, which was either just before or just after she left Octoling society. So I tend to think it represents identification with the way of life under Octavio - striving to further another's goals rather than your own - a kind of way to show that orders are being followed. We don't see Marina use it in any Off the Hook songs . . . but the fact that when she's controlled by Order and feeling her place is in a society fulfilling a role is when she uses it again in music is telling to me. I remember being like "WAIT THERE'S THE MOTIF" when first fighting Marina Agitando. Also, the recent Splatfest featured Big Man making a musical notation joke and I just was like "wait, what? "Every Good Battler Does Fine?" That's . . . That's the Treble Clef line note memory system every piano student learns, at least once you replace battler with "boy".

[@benthic_bones]

this is the type of video essay that you eat bagel bites to

[@oofinator8005]

As a band student I clocked onto the music names as soon as I saw one of the enemies being named andante

[@Ellivers]

One very interesting detail about Asynchronous Rondo is the name of its battle music, 0ct0ptic0n. The title references a panopticon, which is a prison built around the idea that the prisoners never know whether they are being watched or not, building a constant paranoia ("panoptes" meaning "all-seeing" in Greek). This is the main idea behind the boss, with its searchlight that you constantly have to look out for. You can also see prison cells in the background of the stage, with the lighthouse in the center watching over all of them with a huge rotating searchlight.

[@pishagerudo]

i noticed the name of the arpeggio but never actually noticed the sound it was making WAS an arpeggio omg all the observations in this video are so cool and it's awesomely edited too... LOVE IT

[@redtomato4903]

Spoilers for the bosses ahead ‼️ Another fun fact about their naming is that their musical term appears in each boss’s own song! I’m actually not too sure about Asynchronous Rondos one, but parallel canon has a repeating motif of three notes all throughout its song. This one might be kind of a stretch but Pinging Marciale has a heavy focus on drums and breakcore, even featuring the amen break; and marches are similarly rhythmic and very beat focused. If anyone can find if a rondo is used in its bosses song, please let me know, I only just learned that from this video lol

[@fiveeyesstreams]

OMG I can't believe I didn't even think to listen to the bosses themes! I will definitely be taking a look now. Rondo is a little tricky because it has to follow a specific form - ABACABA or ABACA - with each letter representing a section of the music with a different recurring musical theme or "episode." After a quick listen, I think there is some potential for it to fit. It definitely deserves some additional analysis. I actually wanted to talk about the boss's lighted sections forming a pattern of unlit, unlit, lit, but that didn't quite fit the strictness of rondo, but maybe it was just rondo-inspired.

[@shyacross9746]

beautiful battering lento clip at 5:07

[@beigejungle5712]

Amazing video, but wanted to add some extra lore for Marina and the "Onward!" Moteif "Onward" has appeared in every Splatoon game in one way or another, and is seen as a form of march for the Octatians. So assing that to side order not only continues having that moteif in every story game mode so far, but it also makes a lot of sense knowing Marina was one of the highest in terms of her ranking. Its so prevalent its even in her demo for Ebb and Flow, and againe here, showing that no matter what may come, despite her turning back on her past, she will move Onward

[@icyflame716]

Fun thing about asynchronous rondo. Even the tower itself is a rondo. The 9 layers have 3 lit up sections which you need to take down to defeat it. From bottom up it goes dark-dark-light, dark-dark-light, dark-dark-light. Which in itself could be considered a rondo.

[@sagedeen4180]

This is such a high quality video, presenting info in a really fun way on a topic that I didn't think much on before. Springing Spiccato probably has my favorite reasoning behind it's name, bouncy fellas.

[@fiveeyesstreams]

THANK YOU so much aaaaa I've been working on it since Side Order dropped. Glad you enjoyed! The Springing Spiccato is definitely one of my top favs. It really embodies spiccato well!

[@Splatoonspyro]

Splatoon is the king of world building and cleverly hidden puns. Other game communitys look at us as strange, but were to busy loving the design philosophy and the lived in world to care.

[@wtrfrt]

This is so genius omg. I LOVE how you presented all the details here!! Was mindblown throughout the whole video.. Something to add to Parallel Canon: The story of Agent 4 (Splatoon 2 Hero Mode) and Agent 8 (Octo Expansion) take place at the exact same time. They're parallel stories.!

[@creativeusernamehere6854]

Idk if this has already been commented, but it’s still a cool fact The inklings that appear in the Parallel Canon were confirmed in an interview to be copies of Agent 4. It’s unknown where they are now, but it’s still super interesting and opens up more for the names. The Parallel part refers to how it’s literally a parallel of 4, though I’m not sure how or if the Canon part changes at all in this context.

[@TeamAguaChris]

Parallel Canon also seems to be a reference to the Octoling battles you have to fight in the Octo Valley missions. It’s a literal role reversal, with Eight being the one having to fight an Army of Inklings instead of the other way around.

[@TheEggoEffect]

I’m really disappointed that the parallel canon boss music, echo onslaught, isn’t an actual canon. It was a perfect opportunity to have several different voices playing variations of the same melody, with individual voices coming in and out as new units spawn or are defeated. Huge missed potential.

[@cryolitegem]

Could you imagine playing side order shortly after playing Splatoon 2, not knowing anything about it, and recognizing your Agent 4 in Parallel Canon? That would be so haunting.

[@randomsquiddy]

11:47 “They drizzle ink aimlessly and impulsively all over your splatzone”

[@fionali4502]

And here I thought I was the only one who wanted to take the subject of music within the Splatoon series (but in terms of the future of the Splatoon series in regards to music festivals) much further. I already covered the radio and the radio industry within the Pokemon world in my Pokemon Crystal retrospective article for issue 19 of the Pixel Addict magazine, which is now available in digital and in print. I’m not gonna lie, the recent performances of “We’re So Back” and “Colour Pulse 2024” from Off The Hook makes me miss the vibes I tend to get from experiencing real-life music festivals. I’ve already attended Birmingham Pride twice, Brighton + Hove Pride - Fabulosa Pride In The Park and Manchester Pride as a spectator and as press. I’m not just a journalist, I’m also a radio presenter.

[@ayskaripepperooni2770]

Parallel canon is also referred to as intensifying harmony. If you think of the different inklings as notes, the harmony does intensify between phases.

[@sample_text9276]

13:14 Something to note about this; Battering Lentos cannot create their own ink trails, while Marching Andantes usually struggle in your ink for a moment before creating their own ink trail. Swarming Languendos, however, easily ink the ground directly below them, even when they're in your ink, allowing other enemies (Especially Lentos-- They even seem to follow the same path finding) to easily travel when behind at least one Languendo.

[@HeartAce59]

One thing of note (hah) that you didn't talk about: the Pearl Drone. It may have a double meaning too! As I was doing some research about musical terms myself, I came across the term "drone". From Wikipedia : In music, a drone is a harmonic of monophonic effect or accompainment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. And the Pearl Drone does exactly that, she accompanies and supports the player, and never leaves our side ❤

[@THE_FACEツ]

Another name suggestion for the portal: coda A coda is a sign that makes the musician skip to the second coda while playing on the second loop of a song. It is quite litteraly a musical portal!

[@kaisiacor6553]

Interesting video! I have one more idea for the reason behind the name of Pinging Marciale. In the unique boss music for marciale (the song title: c0ld st0rage), there is a very prominent use of the "Onward" motif from the hero modes and octo expansion in splatoon 1, 2, and 3. The Onward motif is used in Octarian military music. It's said that this motif is used to motivate members of the Octarian army to continue onward, and in other words, to continue marching forward. Maybe the Onward marching motif in the music is another reason for why the boss is called Pinging Marciale!

[@kratangg-arang]

Splatoon’s connection to music has always been so distinct. This filled in the gaps and answered pretty much every question I could’ve had! Rad video!

[@glitchingeclipse9850]

Another thing to mention about the asynchronous rhondo just as a side note is that it’s also based off of a panopticon, a greek style prison system where the prison cells surround a large watch tower in the middle, which can be seen in the boss with the background being full of prison cells surrounding the middle of the stage.

[@ultra824]

I did recognize the musical theming of the jelleton's names when I was playing through the expansion and i remember wondering what they all meant, so I really appreciated this video Of course, all of this is secondary to the _main_ message of Side Order, which is that Pearl and Marina are gay for each other and are incapable of resisting the urge to blatantly flirt in any circumstance

[@everest5718]

Parallel Canon also has a third meaning, where it can be read more literally as “similar weapon”. The inkling enemies of this boss will have similar buffs depending on your palette - for example if you have increased range, the parallel canon inklings will have increased range on their weapons too. Which is really really cool!! And more recently, a developer interview confirmed that the main inkling is a copy of agent 4 and the others are copies of that copy, so this boss is “parallel” to agent 4. Splatoon has so much thought out into its lore it’s insane.

[@jnate6095]

Fun fact The asynchronous rondo and the name of its theme are based off the prison system, the panopticon. The prison center is where the guard will stay, with no light to look at the cells which are surrounding it, to give the prisoners a feeling that they’re being watched at all times even when they aren’t

[@binarycat1237]

"the last of your precious lives" meanwhile i've been on the no-hacks grind for so long i forgot you can have more than one

[@ReturnOfTheTiger]

We know via interviews IIRC that Marina created Asynchronous Rondo as a hospitality robot of some kind that Order then corrupted and turned into a boss. So I propose a slightly alternate theory. It's torn and conflicted and confused not between Marina's desires and the other Octoling engineers' desires for the Memverse, but between its original function and its new and aggressive directive as a boss.

[@some_guy925]

i did not know just how much the dlc took music into consideration. i thought they just had a fire sound track. imma be listening for all this in my next run. Thanks for this(the editing was amazing btw)

[@nyuh]

oh wow not even a minute in this is already a cool vid ive never seen anyone make vids with animating the player model with lip syncing like that

[@amuis5409]

The Japanese name for Parallel Canon is "イカイノカノン" [ikai no canon], which means "canon of another world" if it is transcribed with Kanji as "異界のカノン", analogous to its Chinese translation "異界卡農 (Yijie Kanong)". This "another world" "イカイ" = "異界" contains "イカ", which means "squid" or "cuttlefish" in Japanese. Another layer of wordplay before the translation, which was not reflected in the English version nor any other non-Japanese versions.

[@wiredwe1rdexe985]

TY FOR CAPTIONS!!! immediate approval of your channel!

[@asheiou]

18:05 thanks mr skeltal

[@austindavis4708]

Something I noticed about the onward leitmotif is that is has the exact same rhythm and contour and when band members would say “5678” at the beginning of a song to set tempo. It was just an interesting observation, but idk if it’s true.

[@inkspencil2]

THIS IS SO WELL PUT TOGETHER, I CSNT WAIT TO SEE MORE

[@keynanmartinez]

Marina Ida naming these enemies is pretty smart yet sad but I love it.

[@seacoloredsky]

I was hoping to come across a video like this. Love the attention to detail! Thanks for your work, I've learned a lot!

[@fiveeyesstreams]

Thanks so much for the kind words! I appreciate it!

[@nineCryptids]

Pinging Marciale sings the song you hear when you’re fighting a COMMANDER. It just works

[@considerthetubes2864]

Something I’m surprised you didn’t mention is that all of the boss themes actually display their particular musical term! You can hear the main theme of asynchronous rondo repeat again and again throughout the song, and parallel canon has a few canons snuck in there. Pinging marciale is debatable, but I think the amen break is marchy enough.

[@fiveeyesstreams]

I've been taking a closer listen to the boss themes and I don't think that they fit exactly into their namesakes, but I do think the songs may have been heavily inspired by those terms. I hope to address this in a follow-up video eventually.

[@DekuGamer]

This is such a fascinating video! You did such a great job explaining these things and putting it all together. I've always found the witty names in Splatoon so interesting and knowing that the jelletons have meaning attached to their actions makes me appreciate the production of Side Order in a whole other level. Great work!

[@joelsytairo6338]

Wow this is a great video I’ve been watching looking for something like this but didn’t know we’d have something so passionate and thorough

[@koveltskiis8391]

For the portals I was ruminating on “Coda” or “Dal Segno” as they both relate to the concept of moving backwards or repeating in sheet music, often times to save space and paper! Perhaps the first adjective could be “Assembling” or “Jelletonal”.

[@fiveeyesstreams]

I especially like "Jelletonal" because it contains "tonal" as in music being tonal vs atonal (based on a key or not) or an instrument having a certain tone!

[@Nezumiin]

Thank you for making this video essay! I dont know much about musical terms, but Splatoon is my favourite game. so it was fun and insightful to learn about something new in combination with something I love ♥ I've enjoyed every climb of the spire so far, now I can enjoy it with even more appreciation for the development team!

[@cupofapricotjam]

yoko and the gold bazookas art when mentioning splatbands lets gooo, they're my favorite splatband of all time. amazing video, i love splatoon and music and i enjoy seeing people smarter than me talk about it

[@cheebins]

I was hoping someone would make a video on this!! really well done analysis

[@ventixiaa]

deserved every single one of those views, i’m in band and i just now noticed how all enemies are music related and not just a few of them😭

[@MagicalGirlFia]

28:51 About this- something most people would never know for obvious reasons is that even though you can’t see it’s eyes in game the “main” inkling does have eyes- and in fact, if you have save data for Splatoon 2 it copies the eye color of your Agent 4 as well.

[@fiveeyesstreams]

How did you manage to verify this? I'd love to see some footage of their hidden eyes!

[@Octoo88]

Btw the thing that marina is wearing is a Nintendo virtual boy with the controller stuck to the sides. For anyone who doesn’t know (because the virtual boy was pretty much a failure) it was a really old Nintendo console after the game boy that was basically the first VR console.

[@pudgesnextturnaround3112]

Ohh there's might be some hidden lore

[@BoomingStudios1]

I love this in depth review and watched the entire thing. I always think it’s so cool when people who have talents like music creation, pick out cool details in games I love! Great video 👍

[@stormsquid1842]

I had no idea that they had musical meanings, this was really cool

[@farbencut]

25:10 The Design actually references the Virtual Boy, a failed Nintendo Console. The controller specifically, if it wasn’t split in half, would match the Virtual Boy’s perfectly. Since the Virtual Boy resembles a VR headset to some degree, I don’t think it’s unlikely that it’s just a coincidence

[@randomghost6266]

In the Jelleton field guide, Acht said the languendo “ink the ground to ease way for the big guys”. I think it’s really clever that the swarming languendos are paired with itself (stronger together but weak on their own), and commonly the battering lentos, letting them follow at a faster pace behind them! Small spoiler for the jelleton field guide for marina’s dialogue: Marina says that they also get faster if you leave them alone, but I haven’t really noticed since I always splat them pretty fast. I wonder if there’s also a meaning to that?

[@fiveeyesstreams]

If you let them stick around, they will pause, act a bit crazed by swinging their heads around, and a visual effect will manifest around them. It definitely speeds them up and I think it may also increase their damage or at least make them act more aggressive. Since multiple jelletons exhibit this behavior, I think it is a gameplay feature to increase difficulty. It's a cool thing to note for sure.

[@borderlineschiz0480]

Another thing with the new “we’re so back” song that off the hook sings sounds like the boss clear music in side order

[@k-dog6313]

I love this video so much. As a music person myself I was happy to see so many music related terms in the enemy names and the boss names and how it all connects to the memverse

[@desmondruhling]

This is such a good video!!! Thank you for making this, it was really interesting to watch!

[@eeveemaster243]

Fun fact; the arpeggios are reskins on the missile enemies most prominent in the DJ Octavio boss fights of the first two games, and makes a sound very similar to the sound they would make.

[@fourkz]

25:10 not only is the headset parts of a controller, it's specifically the Virtual Boy controller, which continues the theme of a lot of technology in Splatoon referencing Nintendo's hardware, though there could be some deeper meaning. The Virtual Boy displayed in monochrome, though monochrome red and black rather than the typical grayscale, so it could be showing how it's a virtual world that's plain and colorless. The buttons on both sides are gray, while on the real controller one half has red buttons, possibly being a nod to the grayscaling that Order plans to do. Finally, the Virtual Boy is infamous for giving players headaches when playing for too long, which could be referenced in how the headset is mind controlling Marina, and how Order plans to mess with the minds of the outside world. It's also important to note that the visor isn't a Virtual Boy, I think it might be another VR peripheral Nintendo made but I'm not really sure. This is probably because the only color the Virtual Boy was made in was red, which doesn't really fit the color scheme of Side Order.

[@OChunks]

I love that the whole musical theme of the enemies fits really well with Side Order's them of, well... order. After all, If you see a band playing music they are perfectly playing the notes in front of them that are telling them how and what to play. Each of the enemy types does exactly what they are supposed to do with no deviation. (Except for battering lentos playing with the 8 ball) I'm really curious to what the DLC would have been like if order won the final-fest, but I'm mainly just excited for what the Splatoon team has in store for us in the future!.

[@luckfolly1183]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who both noticed and LOVED this detail with the enemies!

[@EdgyArmando]

this is so cool!!! alla mambo i love you even more. i still wont stop inking the entire stage and watch them suffer though 🥰

[@mariiie.3]

I don't know if anyone has said this yet, but thank you SO much for adding subtitles. I have APD and it's often difficult for me to watch video essays, so this helps a lot. Truly, thank you. ❤

[@fiveeyesstreams]

Thank you for the comment. I'm so glad I was able to take the extra hour or so to include them and that they are being put to good use!

[@amysizemore2196]

​@@fiveeyesstreams what's the music at the asynchronous rondo section?

[@WINBcab]

Great video! Learned a lot about music

[@beeIovely]

another thing i didn't see mentioned - during the battle against marina as well as the final boss, if you have lucky bombs activated, they will pointedly explode to the beat of the music. never off-beat. it's such a cool way to weave the music into the stage. just like the pulsing lights in the lobby before you enter the elevator, and the abstract shapes popping and floating through the air outside the building.

[@fiveeyesstreams]

I'm going to look further into this! Thank you!

[@beeIovely]

@@fiveeyesstreams please do! it's really neat (and of course easier to see it) if you get a big string of them going. excited to see your next video if you end up making one :>

[@motis6885]

Thank you for this video ! It was really cool to learn about all the details, I noticed the italian naming convention on my first run but never really figured out what it meant (i thought they were coffee names or something at first). Also, you mentioned how the Spectrum Obligato leitmotif is used in the level clear theme, but I also love that the boss clear theme was a teaser for We're so Back, the new Splatfest song for Inkopolis Square on day 2 of splatfests. It's cool that they left a hint of what it sounded like before we could hear it (also the name of that song is peak).

[@Kevunyx]

Thank you so much for this video. I was really wondering about the name origins of the jelletons but never did any in-depth research. Despite this being your first essay video, it turned out really really good. I can't wait for the next one! c:

[@NeshGallyway]

22:52 “this boss is B A L L”

[@jacobover3933]

Thank you for taking time to share the little things, its nice to know how much effort they put in and that it is appreciated and noticed

[@bluberri.octopiie]

soo much effort was put into this, and it seriously shows!! i especially appreciate the captions!! so underrated for very well done, video, new sub!!

[@sorchamoon]

i can’t believe this is your first video essay ! excellent job, i found it really interesting and your presentation was so well thought out

[@Angel..L]

This was a great video. I was very confused by the names of the enemies when I started playing side order for the first time. I knew what Asynchronous and Rondo meant but I couldn’t figure out the meaning behind why the names were what they were. I actually thought someone forgot to translate the names at first. It seems so simple but whoever came up with the naming convention to relate it to the theme of Order is so smart.

[@BreloomsGarden]

This is such a cool video essay! Yknow, I was upset at how short side order was. We waited quite a while for it, so it felt underwhelming. I didn't realize how much research and detail was packed into the whole overarching theme. After listening this essay I fully understand why side order is what it is. I'm just sad most casual fans won't understand.

[@Kai_Shin3]

This is your first video essay?! For how high quality, humorous and precise you are, I would've thought you've been doing this for years!! Great work!! Thank you for making this! 💖

[@lapsterblaster]

with the pinging marciale marinas dialogue (during the battle not in the log) also mentions its "perfect attack and defense" which i believe could also call back to it being "military-like" !!

[@emmet042]

I personally like to think that "pinging" in Pining Marciale is also a reference to network PING, a method to testing network stability and connectivity by sending information from the user to the network and noting the time it taking to receive that information back. Seeing as Side Order takes place in a digital realm, I think the reference sticks! Fun fact: Apparently "ping" in terms of networking is an acronym! (Packet Inter-Network Groper)

[@4d_sketchez393]

I must say as someone who loves video essays you did great fives!! :D

[@fiveeyesstreams]

Thank you, Sketch!

[@Melspenguin]

Parallel Canon refers to your agent 4 in splatoon 2 it quite literally takes your player data to show the same hairstyle on it

[@shorty-nb5cp]

I really like how the jelletons names fit the music terms bcuz it fits the jelletons & what they do. Also, on 13:45 I played that song before in an orchestra.