I believe guilt plays a strong part in Emir's character. As a young assassin he tries to commit suicide on the roof of the Union after killing the Smiths. He likely prepared for that assignment and looked up to the Smiths as higher caliber assassins. Killing them all put a great weight on him and he, despite the success, couldn't handle what he had done and wanted to end his own life. He put the Smiths on such a high pedestal as fellow assassins that he couldn't imagine them being truly gone after having killed them and even imagined superhero-like abilities for them. But he failed to kill himself. He created all of the personalities for the now dead Smiths, but in failing to kill himself he gave himself brain damage and amnesia. He remembered the Smiths, but not that they were dead. He entirely forgot who he was and what he had done and in order to hold on to some form of sanity his mind created the personality "Garcian." When Garcian found out the truth on the roof of the Union he isn't just upset by the fact that he killed them all, but also that of all the people involved in the entire story he is the only one who doesn't actually exist. When he gives up the vision ring in the 2nd part of the Smile chapter he loses the ability to scan and see smiles....the ring symbolizing his guilt and in losing it making the final step to remembering Emir and being able to live with himself as Emir. You can see how guilt plays a part in Garcian's life thru who he kills and who he blames himself for the deaths of. Whenever he recognizes someone as a person and he kills them or believes their death was because of him, they haunt him as remnant psyches. If they are people he has great admiration for, he becomes them. He recognizes the Smiles as monsters, so he can kill them freely, but once he gives up the vision ring he no longer even recognizes the Smiles as anything at all....and once he becomes Emir again he is no longer haunted by remnants. Also lots of cool theory opportunity when comparing the creation of Smiles to the MassPro systems used in The Silver Case and Flower, Sun, and Rain.
I think you've hit upon something with Emir's guilt, and in feeling guilty idolising the Smiths in creating the Killer7. That's why Mask keeps upgrading as the game goes on. Is the Masspro system the killer creation program from The Silver Case?
The Masspros are sort of ways of mass producing the ideal citizen. Ones that are conditioned to act and react in society in certain ways, but are also sleeper agents of sorts who, when awakened, can act as assassins, terrorists, or murderers if needed.
"He is a sweet man who would not hurt a fly."-Extract from the character description of Garcian. Source: Hand in Killer7 Garcian is easily the most human character of the game: from the way he comforted Mills at the end of Sunset, scoffed at the "Republic Party" once as part of the message Mills send him to let him know of a new job (most likely very aware and bitter of the atrocities his country commited), the way he lamented the death of those children in the intro of the second part of Encounter and, of course, the way he was utterly horrified when he found the truth at the end of Smile shows that he is far more emphatic and kind for what you would expect from an assassin, he just puts a cold front to do his job to the best of his abilities, probably motivated by the idea that killing few people, as wrong as killing is in general, for the sake of world peace is a fair trade and a necessary evil. Wether he still believes that or not by the end of the game depends if you kill Matsuoka at the end of Lion Garcian's humanity is ironic though when you consider that _he is definitely one of the least ACTUALLY human characters in the game_ up there with Kun Lan and Harman, but maybe this is just a way to show how magnanimity can be one trait that can lift a human from their mortality to reach divinity.
I always see killer7 as the story of Emir reconciling who he is and what he has done and freeing himself from Harman and Kun's games and becoming his own powerful entity adjacent to Harman and Kun Lan.
Order and Chaos makes sense. Something representing Order would very well use discrete assassinations to create and maintain control. Chaos would very well use terrorism.
What if the chess game they were playing wasn't actually a traditional chess game? Specifically, Kun Lan wasn't actually playing the same rule-set as Harman Smith, the way he has Emir in his control could interpret he was playing a shogi rule-set. shogi and chess have similar rule-sets and pieces, however, the shogi rule-set allows pieces to not only be captured by the enemy but can also be returned to the board by the capturing player under their control. This rule has been invented by the practice of mercenaries (or in this case assassins) switching loyalties when captured instead of being killed.
That's a great interpretation. Especially because certain characters (like Dan and Harman) have been killed more than once. Makes sense with the east vs west conflict too. Thanks for this :D
I just wanted to point out something I've just discovered about the Union Hotel in Kurayami Dance: s6.mkklcdnv6.com/mangakakalot/k2/kurayami_dance/vol2_chapter_8/31.jpg s6.mkklcdnv6.com/mangakakalot/k2/kurayami_dance/vol2_chapter_8/32.jpg this might explain why Emir found himself in the Union Hotel at the end, and why he had to face his repressed past, as well as why Bad Man is found there in the intro of Travis Strikes Again. The concepts of hope and despair have been a staple in Suda's work ever since Moonlight Syndrome.
You know one theory I had about the general universe of Killer 7 was after America won world war 2. Japan became a territory of the United States, and had its culture effectively erased. Ever notice every Japanese character speaks English in this game (Of course that is likely so we understand what they are saying but roll with me here.) even when they aren't talking to English speakers, why would they do that? Also notice characters like Toru Fukushima has an accent but Kenjiro Matsuoka doesn't? Simple after erasing Japanese culture only the elderly would remember the Japanese language and thus have an accent when speaking, Kenjiro on the other hand likely spoke English from birth. That is part of the reason the Japanese are so pissed off in this game, America took there nation as a war trophy stripped it of everything that made Japan Japan, and then even when it was in critical danger simply left it to die.
Excellent video! I just finished killer 7 and nothing really made any sense to me. It's great seeing analyses like these be able to put everything together and help me see what important details I myself forgot or didn't pay attention to during my playthrough
Fantastic video! Lots of great ideas and interpretations I hadn't considered. I love Suda's games for just how interesting they are to talk about, every time I replay them I learn something new.
It's fantastic both the video and finding some content about it on youtube which is something beyond trailers or reviews. I really appreaciate content like this, thanks. However, I do have one question. How is young Harman able to kill the old Harman? How are they two separate entities or where did he come from?
It could be the old Hartman being in Emir’s head or this is a new Harman wanting to kill Harman and Kun who are engaged in their game of conflict. It depends on who young Harman is and his motivations. In the world of Killer7, people can be more than one thing, often literally.
I believe guilt plays a strong part in Emir's character. As a young assassin he tries to commit suicide on the roof of the Union after killing the Smiths. He likely prepared for that assignment and looked up to the Smiths as higher caliber assassins. Killing them all put a great weight on him and he, despite the success, couldn't handle what he had done and wanted to end his own life. He put the Smiths on such a high pedestal as fellow assassins that he couldn't imagine them being truly gone after having killed them and even imagined superhero-like abilities for them.
But he failed to kill himself. He created all of the personalities for the now dead Smiths, but in failing to kill himself he gave himself brain damage and amnesia. He remembered the Smiths, but not that they were dead. He entirely forgot who he was and what he had done and in order to hold on to some form of sanity his mind created the personality "Garcian." When Garcian found out the truth on the roof of the Union he isn't just upset by the fact that he killed them all, but also that of all the people involved in the entire story he is the only one who doesn't actually exist. When he gives up the vision ring in the 2nd part of the Smile chapter he loses the ability to scan and see smiles....the ring symbolizing his guilt and in losing it making the final step to remembering Emir and being able to live with himself as Emir.
You can see how guilt plays a part in Garcian's life thru who he kills and who he blames himself for the deaths of. Whenever he recognizes someone as a person and he kills them or believes their death was because of him, they haunt him as remnant psyches. If they are people he has great admiration for, he becomes them. He recognizes the Smiles as monsters, so he can kill them freely, but once he gives up the vision ring he no longer even recognizes the Smiles as anything at all....and once he becomes Emir again he is no longer haunted by remnants.
Also lots of cool theory opportunity when comparing the creation of Smiles to the MassPro systems used in The Silver Case and Flower, Sun, and Rain.
I think you've hit upon something with Emir's guilt, and in feeling guilty idolising the Smiths in creating the Killer7. That's why Mask keeps upgrading as the game goes on.
Is the Masspro system the killer creation program from The Silver Case?
The Masspros are sort of ways of mass producing the ideal citizen. Ones that are conditioned to act and react in society in certain ways, but are also sleeper agents of sorts who, when awakened, can act as assassins, terrorists, or murderers if needed.
"He is a sweet man who would not hurt a fly."-Extract from the character description of Garcian. Source: Hand in Killer7
Garcian is easily the most human character of the game: from the way he comforted Mills at the end of Sunset, scoffed at the "Republic Party" once as part of the message Mills send him to let him know of a new job (most likely very aware and bitter of the atrocities his country commited), the way he lamented the death of those children in the intro of the second part of Encounter and, of course, the way he was utterly horrified when he found the truth at the end of Smile shows that he is far more emphatic and kind for what you would expect from an assassin, he just puts a cold front to do his job to the best of his abilities, probably motivated by the idea that killing few people, as wrong as killing is in general, for the sake of world peace is a fair trade and a necessary evil. Wether he still believes that or not by the end of the game depends if you kill Matsuoka at the end of Lion
Garcian's humanity is ironic though when you consider that _he is definitely one of the least ACTUALLY human characters in the game_ up there with Kun Lan and Harman, but maybe this is just a way to show how magnanimity can be one trait that can lift a human from their mortality to reach divinity.
I LOVE killer7, but I love fan content like this even more. Keep it up my friend
I'm glad you liked the video. Thank you for the support! :D
I always see killer7 as the story of Emir reconciling who he is and what he has done and freeing himself from Harman and Kun's games and becoming his own powerful entity adjacent to Harman and Kun Lan.
Order and Chaos makes sense. Something representing Order would very well use discrete assassinations to create and maintain control. Chaos would very well use terrorism.
What if the chess game they were playing wasn't actually a traditional chess game? Specifically, Kun Lan wasn't actually playing the same rule-set as Harman Smith, the way he has Emir in his control could interpret he was playing a shogi rule-set. shogi and chess have similar rule-sets and pieces, however, the shogi rule-set allows pieces to not only be captured by the enemy but can also be returned to the board by the capturing player under their control. This rule has been invented by the practice of mercenaries (or in this case assassins) switching loyalties when captured instead of being killed.
That's a great interpretation. Especially because certain characters (like Dan and Harman) have been killed more than once. Makes sense with the east vs west conflict too. Thanks for this :D
I just wanted to point out something I've just discovered about the Union Hotel in Kurayami Dance: s6.mkklcdnv6.com/mangakakalot/k2/kurayami_dance/vol2_chapter_8/31.jpg
s6.mkklcdnv6.com/mangakakalot/k2/kurayami_dance/vol2_chapter_8/32.jpg
this might explain why Emir found himself in the Union Hotel at the end, and why he had to face his repressed past, as well as why Bad Man is found there in the intro of Travis Strikes Again. The concepts of hope and despair have been a staple in Suda's work ever since Moonlight Syndrome.
Wow. Reusing a location for its symbolism throughout multiple projects. That's fantastic!
Ive always wanted to do a video talking about K7 for a long time now. This gave me some motivation. Great insight, I learned/realized alot!
Go for it! 😃
You know one theory I had about the general universe of Killer 7 was after America won world war 2. Japan became a territory of the United States, and had its culture effectively erased. Ever notice every Japanese character speaks English in this game (Of course that is likely so we understand what they are saying but roll with me here.) even when they aren't talking to English speakers, why would they do that? Also notice characters like Toru Fukushima has an accent but Kenjiro Matsuoka doesn't? Simple after erasing Japanese culture only the elderly would remember the Japanese language and thus have an accent when speaking, Kenjiro on the other hand likely spoke English from birth. That is part of the reason the Japanese are so pissed off in this game, America took there nation as a war trophy stripped it of everything that made Japan Japan, and then even when it was in critical danger simply left it to die.
And yet more motivation for their shadow control of the US. I like this theory :)
Great video! It's always good to see smart essays about Killer7.
Thank you :)
The chess scene:
Emir≠garcian.
In both scenes you can see one of kun's pieces is on harman's side. Did he promote a peon or is it a tower?
Excellent video! I just finished killer 7 and nothing really made any sense to me. It's great seeing analyses like these be able to put everything together and help me see what important details I myself forgot or didn't pay attention to during my playthrough
Fantastic video! Lots of great ideas and interpretations I hadn't considered. I love Suda's games for just how interesting they are to talk about, every time I replay them I learn something new.
One reason I love the game so much too. It seems there’s always something new to uncover.
Aw this was such an awesome interpretation! Good job dude! Real interesting ideas that made me understand things a bit more, keep it up!
I'm glad you enjoyed it. Researching and putting together my thoughts was on this game was probably the most fun I had making a video this year.
Thanks a lot for the video!
Good work!
Thank you. 🙂
i love this
Thank you :D
It's fantastic both the video and finding some content about it on youtube which is something beyond trailers or reviews. I really appreaciate content like this, thanks.
However, I do have one question. How is young Harman able to kill the old Harman? How are they two separate entities or where did he come from?
It could be the old Hartman being in Emir’s head or this is a new Harman wanting to kill Harman and Kun who are engaged in their game of conflict. It depends on who young Harman is and his motivations. In the world of Killer7, people can be more than one thing, often literally.
eeby deeby