Animator Breaks Down 'The Road Not Taken' | Genshin Impact

[@TheRoschi]

Hope you all enjoy my more in-depth look at this animated short. I want to do this kind of thing way more especially now since I found out that Hoyoverse officially has an internal 2D animation unit. Make sure to support the video if you want more of this kind of thing in the future. Thank you! :D

[@So_Viet8032]

Yup. Honkai Star Rail has already quite a few of the animated shorts, for example. Great to see that Genshin is also finally gets them. So hype

[@HannibalYouTube]

Well I don't know what to expect now but if someone can do a 50 minute video about a 3 minute short film, it must be Roschi 😂 I am ready for the big tour...

[@TheRoschi]

I do what I can... To a fault. XD

[@akshyun8920]

I did not see that Lumine's reflection stopped walking. Just as you speculate, she did stumble upon something in sumeru after which she had a big change in perspective. This short has blown me away the more I have looked at it. It just has so many references to events in the game. Even the place where both aether and lumine cry next to the mirror, gets so much added to it when you reach the end of sumeru and realise the reasons why they are crying. There's also a piece of symbolism you didn't point out. When we see the two shooting stars in the desert, they are not the same as the drawing of the shooting stars in the beginning or the shining stars in the end. The stars appear together in the beginning as they are travelling alongside each other, whereas in the desert they appear one after the other depicting that they are separated through time, traveling the same path at different moments. The end might also be foreshadowing for the end of the story, an assurance that they will be reunited. Also, the fact they are not shooting stars at the end might be depicting something as well. Maybe it means that they are no longer travelling and that they have found their place in the night sky. It could also be referencing a line in the game, saying "Home is wherever we are together", so now that they are reunited, they have found their home.

[@akshyun8920]

It's comforting to know that they are putting my money to such good use.

[@TheRoschi]

Man... feels bad when I cut out a thing that apparently could have been relevant. In the raw footage I actually do talk about the shooting stars more, about how they weren't together, but at the time I felt like I stumbled over my words too much so I cut it out. Maybe I'll upload it for members or something at some point. I dunno. Anyway, thanks for watching! I'm very ready for more of these shorts. :)

[@akshyun8920]

@@TheRoschi It's fine to miss one thing. You made a 50 minute video on it and you don't even have any of the information related to her journey yet. I think this was a really well done video.

[@Keiki-kun]

Genshin's main motif is the stars and destiny However, the more you advance in the story, the more you will notice the game's 3 main themes, which are parallels cycles duality and this animation represents these 3 themes very well

[@Keiki-kun]

by this i mean take Mond quest as an example of these themes you team up with a bard(Venti), a Ragnvindr(Diluc) and Gunhildr(Jean) and climb up to the Decarabian tower, just like what happened a thousand years ago in the old Mondstadt rebellion Furthermore the twins walked the same path and this shows how interchangeable they are and that no matter who you choose as the traveler the journey is basically the same

[@anaplaysstuff]

Re: their colors In the beginning cutscene with the Sustainer of Heavenly Prinnciples they both had white. Then, Aether only had black (which I just realized on your last watch-through you can actually see in this video too) before he first touches the first Statue of the Seven and gets Anemo. So yeah, the sibling is interesting for having all white glowy bits. It kind of implies maybe they never lost their power the way the Traveler did. As you alluded to with Dain being not exactly emotionally available I saw someone point out the video really shows the difference in each sibling's respective relationships with their companions. We always see Lumine and Dainsleif in the same area but not near each other but we see Aether and Paimon right by one another. Lastly, I love that you turned a several minute animation into an almost hour long video. :) Your analysis was really impressive, as usual!

[@TheRoschi]

Thanks for watching! Time flew by as I was recording, I had no idea it was going to be this long, but no regrets. XD I think pointing out how the companions act towards their traveler and vice versa is quite interesting. I've seen way too many people write off Dainsleif for being a bad companion for not being emotionally available (although it's not his responsibility to be emotionally available...) when he most likely excelled at other things, or Paimon for being annoying and kinda of useless (I've felt this way myself) However, she is upbeat and some people need that kind of energy. It ultimately comes down to the individual and their preference, and I figured it was a point that I wanted to expand on instead of making a simple joke about it like I did before. ANYWAY! Thanks again. :)

[@Jimjamm7]

That exact spot made me cry my eyes out too. I've watched the animated short at least 10 times now and I still get teary eyed. There is so much pain in Lumines expression. You really start to feel for the twins.

[@TheRoschi]

All of the feels!

[@galaxa13]

Despite knowing less about the story you were able to pick out things I hadn't noticed! So have my appreciative thanks.

[@TheRoschi]

I do what I can. I'm glad you enjoyed! :)

[@saif-gv6gl]

We need more people to hear you yap, this is high quality yapping fr

[@trasamsung3761]

"the road not taken" refer to a poem about chosing one of two road(that are the exact same), and prescribing reason to the chose later on(even if it's false).

[@spieds9994]

47:15 This animation was actually made by newly established internal 2D animation unit for Genshin, with Arlecchino's animation being their debut. Edit: Just saw the pinned comment, kinda blind i guess, though still wanna leave the part of the interview translation for those interested From a post that translated and summarized a bit the interview with the team: "The animation team for “Genshin Impact” comprises directors, animators, animation supervisors, art directors, colorists, cinematographers, and producers. The team recruited seasoned professionals with extensive animation experience, including individuals who have worked abroad. Their production process adheres to systematic guidelines. Beyond the internal team, external collaborators also contributed to “The Song Burning in the Embers.” Throughout the production of the short film, there was close collaboration between the animation team and the game development team. The story was provided by the IP department, and the director worked alongside them to establish storyboards. Original game artists supervised character and scene design, with continuous feedback from game developers to ensure alignment. The song “Emberfire” created specifically for the short film, had visual references provided to the composer during production. The seamless integration of the music and visuals elevated the overall impact of the animation. The animation team is actively recruiting additional staff and has plans for more future works Additionally, it’s interesting to note that miHoYo previously had an animation department called miHoyoAnime, which primarily focused on CG and pre-production stages. However, the current “Genshin Impact” animation team specializes in 2D animation and operates as a comprehensive production unit."

[@KaagKagamine5]

any time there's a sibling mention in the game it's very depressing, personally i consider the Dainsleif quest after we'll be reunited the most important one

[@KitharaAsia-mz6kr]

Hey dear Roshi, another great breakdown of yours about this animated MV! Thank you for sharing your detailed thoughts with us about the siblings journey so far. I could listen to your interpretations alll day long, ha, I very much enjoy your reactions to everything regarding Genshin and HSR! I can't really pick out a favorite part of this animation, because everything is done so beautifully. I grew up with lots of anime series, Sailor Moon being one of my most beloved back in the 90`s, and I'm an illustrator/media designer, so I also had my eyes on every detail and understood the director's/animator's intentions throughout the entire video. I'm happy to see so much love and care given to this popular franchise, that could have been easily just rushed and brushed over superficially, because ultimately they still make a lot of profit with the game anyway. Glad there's a lot of heart in it. 💚 Looking forward to the next portion of your Genshin journey :)! Hope you have a wonderful day! Cheers! Kithara

[@TheRoschi]

I'm very glad that you enjoyed my ramblings. I'm happy that they put in the effort to produce work such as this. There's a lot of cool stuff to look forward too. Thanks for watching :)

[@CC_Seig]

That´s gonna be a feast! 50 minutes! :D - Gonna leave another comment when i have the time to watch it without any interrupts

[@TheRoschi]

I hope you enjoy it when you can. :)

[@zhongven4ever]

50 min video for a 3 min animated short? Banger. Roschi on his way to be a top tier lore player and I'm loving it. We don't have a lot of those.

[@TheRoschi]

It's a work in progress. Thank you for watching!

[@ngocduong264]

Returned to watch your video the second time and found out there're spoilers in the comment. I understand that people are so excited and want to discuss about things with each others, but can you please do it in another comment section? Roschi, please don't continue read the comments until you finish the 'We will be reunited' quest. After finish the quest, you can come back and share thought with people later, I believe you guys will have interesting discussions then. Hope my member priority will help you avoid spoilers. Love your video Roschi and thankyou for your hard work ❤ Also, love your enthusiasm and excitement in your voice when you theory-crafting =))))) I don't know it's just so cute and made me smile a lot XD

[@TheRoschi]

Thank you for your concern. I am being VERY careful right now. There were a couple of close calls but I believe I've avoided everything spoilery thus far. I will unfortunately probably have to do my best to stop looking at the comments for this video due to it getting more risky (unless if made by a member of course).

[@ngocduong264]

@@TheRoschi Majority of the comments is actually spoiler-free, everyone is very nice 😆 Just a couple of them has major spoilers for the 'We will be reunited' quest, that quest was released like long long ago and I think they just missed you saying you haven't do that quest yet at the start of the video =))))

[@ShadowExtremeEX8]

Dainsleif as as guide instead of paimon is a interesting alternate thing I wanna see

[@TheRoschi]

I would love to see more of that adventure

[@stevieveringus3857]

When the anime comes out I'll definitely want to watch it with you!

[@laineysays]

The part that always breaks my heart here is when the frame zooms to Lumine and she was for sure about cry, but cuts into to raindrops to downpour, instead of her tears. I think this is very symbolic of how Lumine has been trying to appear brave and strong and nobody knows how much she too suffers inside. And thus the title of this PV.

[@TheRoschi]

@@laineysays mmhm same. Just got a little chocked up thinking about it.

[@goodisgood153]

Amazing analysis as always ! This is why i'm subbed on your channel by the way !

[@CC_Seig]

Banger video! :D (No spoilers ahead, just Theories) I did ask myself "how much time must have passed, that nobody would have seen lumine in the places Aether visited after her?" Letting the Archons aside, as we know some are kinda sus, we can take a look at other Characters. For example Lisa, around 30ish, Adepti like Xiao, Ganyu, Shenhe are much older; Yae Miko and some other beings too. Then there is still Varka for example. Personally i believe, that he will play a big part either in Natlan or future patches. He has such a big title but so little information is given. What I was also wondering, as there are so many parallels given. Do Paimon and Dainsleif know eachother? Why the choice of Dainsleif and Paimon as they´re so different. Why not give Dainsleif a sister and give her as a companion to Aether? Vice Versa for Lumine. A theory which still has its place around in the Community is that paimon probably knows more than she would like to admit. 38:54 I also think it is pre Natlan. There are deserts in Sumeru for sure, but i think it justs fits the upcoming events better to display Natlan. Also as we saw, it would fit the Natlan environment style for sure. A little bit sad, that there wasn´t any Fontaine footage xD I absolutely freaking love that connection in the beginning with the Stars in the sand and the Stars at the end. They did such a good job with the short. Really great look that Lumine doesn´t wield any Element due to being with Deinsleif. There is a Theory that sooner or later 2 more "Elements" will occur with playable characters. One is the "element" from Dainsleif and the other from the Godess at the beginning i believe. I can´t really write more, as it would go into the Dainsleif/Archon Quest territorys. Other than that, there are some really great comments about the short and your video. Great work!

[@Jehphg]

Hoyoverse says they will upgrade graphics and they have been upgrading animations of some characters in cutscenes during events, one of the things that have always bothered me, though not too much because I understand the limitations, is how little the models interact with each other, it's very rare for them to touch at all, even during cutscenes, but that has been slowly changing and they have been uping their game, personally I hope this upgrade also means an upgrade in this

[@CadisEtramaDiRaizelHexion]

So many details 😊

[@haydrch]

holy... i see its 5 min but actually 50 min!! but anyway amazing analysis as always! 💯

[@TheRoschi]

Thank you :)

[@Evitzeoshowerthoughts]

oh wow I wasn't paying attention to the area in the puddle reflection. Nice you're very good at this. of course no spoilers. Gotta wait for the sumeru dain quest

[@TheRoschi]

Thank you I try. I'm excited to get there!

[@darriantabris1252]

Damn, you made such a great observation at Reflections section! I didn't catch that at all. Can't wait for you to find out why Lumine has stopped at Sumeru

[@notyou9061]

So, (hopefully) without spoiling too much, Lumi and Dain most likely met during an event that made them both depressed (and made Dain hate the gods). There is an entrance to the place where the event happened (not yet accessible) in Sumeru's desert, which is likely why so much of Lumi and Dain's side revolves around Sumeru so much. Basically, after the depressing event, they went on a traveling journey together (i.e. They had a mutual understanding to suffer together for a while). At some point during the journey, Lumi became the Abyss Princess (possibly due to another event in Sumeru, which is where the cracked mirror comes in) and went on separate ways with Dain. We don't know if Lumi hates the gods (or at least, I don't) at this point in the story, but Dain definitely does. However, I don't think Dain is the reason why Lumi doesn't go to the Statues of the 7. It's likely because either she already hates the gods from that certain event mentioned previously, or because she still has her original powers and doesn't need it (she still has white light and her original sword, unlike Aether, who changes color depending on the element and currently uses silver sword canonically), or maybe both.

[@NiramBG]

11:40 Very importantly, you're right, Aether is trying to get food in this situation, emergency food that is! Also fun fact the time of day also has a different significance. You've noticed Aether and Lumine are very often shown as two [shooting] starts. From what I've heard they are both referred to as the Morning Star and the Evening Star (I forget who is which, or if there was even a difference). The fun part about that fact is that both the Morning Star and the Evening Star are ways that Lucifer is referred to, so yeah, we're the devil. Also I would just like to say I really like your analysis, you're a very perceptive person. I cant wait for the day you're all caught up to the story!

[@Jehphg]

Morning and evening star are the same celestial body actually. Venus.

[@tawlney]

38:05 Just putting this timestamp so you can physically see where your, "where is this?" question is 1 minute later. Sumuru's desert has the occasional small oasis, though I find it very curious why they picked what I assume is one of the two ones that aren't dry at the beginning of the game/Sumeru questline. (Not counting Aaru village which is also technically in one.) Also I find it very, uh, sus that it ends in the desert. No particular reason why. One day that door will be opened for Roschi. Edit: there's a 3rd one not counting the newest one they added, I was just thinking of the path they were drawing with that journey.

[@squaremage]

Just Oh Wow. You got lots of juicy stuff in up coming quest. 20:17 Ayaka gonna give you content on that, Can't wait XD

[@TheRoschi]

VERY excited for all the juice.

[@lemonbunny71]

I know we all joke about our sibling having the better companion because Paimon can get annoying sometimes. But after watching the animation I feel really thankful for Paimon's cheerfull attitude. I love Dain as a character and it makes total sense that he can't emotionally support our sibling after all he himself went through but it must have negatively influenced their journey considering they were both grieving. :( Imagine Dain could have given our sibling the same support that Paimon gives us. Maybe things would have turned out a lot different.

[@nopon887]

More crackpot theories! Excellent analysis. I knew that grass was often copied for sanity's sake but didn't know of specific methods. Thanks for the analysis.

[@TheRoschi]

You're welcome! Hopefully I can explain myself better in the future haha

[@NobleLaika]

Let him cook

[@sirtimothy92]

Both siblings suffer from their loses, but their courses of journey change based on their companions. Lumine travels for 500 years cluelessly searching for Aether along with Dainsleif who is also suffers and also not doing anything to lighten up the situation. In this situation, Lumine is basically all by herself. Meanwhile on the other party, Aether travels much later searching for Lumine along with Paimon who is constantly be close and cares for him. Not to mention, Aether finds hints of his sister's journey causing him not to loose hope. These explain the part where Lumine stops walking forward while Aether continues. Paimon might be annoying but she's like a younger sibling that most of us in real life have, annoying sometimes but deep down always cares for us. And this can also be applied in our real lives as well. We experience lives differently depending on the people surrounding us.

[@Inam63]

Cool analysis of this anime. I also have very similar thoughts. Thank you very much!

[@TheRoschi]

Thanks for watching!

[@watchandliveforever]

Good video im watching random videos cause i cry everytime at the same part lol.

[@TheRoschi]

Right?? It's not just me?

[@watchandliveforever]

@@TheRoschi it hits hard.. they knew what they were doing 🥺

[@nellyjellyshelly]

I wonder how long videos if he reacted to other hoyoverse animations

[@TheRoschi]

If you look through my videos you'd see I've made other reactions to official hoyo animated stuff. :) If you're referring to Hoyofair, I haven't watched anything from those as of yet.

[@nellyjellyshelly]

@@TheRoschi I already watched most of your genshin content, thank you for posting them! Hope you make more analysis videos on more star rail/ honkai impact animated content :) I love listening to your perspectives

[@TheRoschi]

@@nellyjellyshelly Thank you for watching I appreciate it! One of these days I'll get around to the other stuff too. :D

[@generaltoszur1036]

" Aether seen Lumine in the mirror " - Who s gonna tell him ?

[@Jehphg]

No one cause people who spoil get STIs

[@willowberecki]

Nobody cause he's gonna find out on his own

[@7872921]

roschiiii , you must responsible to make me crying again TT_TT ............it's just 3 minute length video but people mostly don't know how much effort and time to make this. as animator i want to ask u roschi, if u have a team and gonna make this high quality short video like this from the animation plus the audio direction , how much it gonna take ? and IF the full Anime of genshin by ufotable have quality like this or even more than this, and assume its about 20~25 minute per Episode and total episode is 24. it's 3 years is enough ?

[@TheRoschi]

They have a team now dedicated to animation so I think shorts will keep coming out for the BIG updates. At least I hope. As far as a series done by Ufotable, well... They'll probably have to wrap up their other projects first, and hopefully not pick up more to work on simultaneously. Really depends on the teams involved, their size, budget, and a bunch of other factors to consider that I know I'm not even thinking about at the moment. I would hope we'd get a series before another 3 years goes by.

[@thesmilyguyguy9799]

:,)

[@ingang8817]

21:23 As an INTJ, I understand why Dain wasn't emotional available for Lumine. He had enough trouble for himself already :v He wasn't Lumine's babysitter :v

[@evilspend2690]

He’s not up to that part yet your spoiling Dainsleif story

[@The_original_one]

Hay hay it's spoiler edit it

[@ngocduong264]

Can you delete part of your comment about Dain's backstory please? Roschi haven't done any of Dain's quests yet. He just know Dain is Lumine's traveling companion through the chapter trailer and version trailers, so as short as your summary is about him, it's still a spoiler. Thank you.

[@saif-gv6gl]

It's kinda fucked that Lumine was also there when Khaenriah got destroyed. It's like, imagine if Mondstadt got destroyed as well, Aether would be pissed too

[@kavid8120]

Bro fix your lighting

[@TheRoschi]

Thanks for helping the algorithm :)

[@dansebastiancostin3590]

39:05 if that was the case why skip over Fontaine ? Cause we went Sumeru - Fontaine - Natlan. If it was early Natlan Aether would have a Blue glow cause of Hydro, at least I assume so. So this is probably them venturing from Sumeru to Fontaine and that is where it cuts off cause we haven't met our sibling since reaching Fontaine. But we will (presumably) now in 4.7 with this Dainslieff quest.

[@TheRoschi]

I mean you're right. You wouldn't think that they would skip Fontaine. However, I DID say it could be Sumeru. There's a big 'or' in my sentence. I think my mind only went there because they'd want to start teasing Natlan more in general. Despite the similarities in Sumeru's and Natlan's environment, I don't actually believe that to be the case here.

[@dansebastiancostin3590]

@@TheRoschi I may have missed that ''or" sorry about that. But yes. I looooove the breakdown. Trust Roshi to give you a 50 minute breakdown of a 2-3 minutes video. I like that you go into detail about everything that catches your eye and you talk a lot about the opposing themes in this. Very lovely video. ^-^

[@TheRoschi]

@dansebastiancostin3590 I'm happy that you enjoyed my yapping. Thank you.