Jaru Reacts to and Analyzes "The Greatest Living Show"
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- Content Warning: The Greatest Living Show, while certainly a gorgeous work of art, contains imagery of a young, innocent girl being manipulated, brutalized, dismembered, and killed.
I found this highly disturbing.
I will not be showing any of that scene on screen, but if you do choose to watch the original music video, and you are potentially upset by such a scenario, please use caution, especially near the end.
In this episode of Jaru Reacts, I spent far too long pondering and analyzing this music video! I didn't intend to break it down frame-by-frame, but that is how it turned out. Hope you enjoy! xD
Original Video:
• The Greatest Living Sh...
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33:14 Regarding the Butterfly: In Japanese culture, butterflies are a symbol of death and rebirth, as well as transformation. Metamorphosis. It seems that in this case, our little girl is being irreversibly changed as she joins the performers of the living show.
Ah! Makes sense.
@@JaruJaruJ Btw, Toby himself used Japanese butterfly symbolism several times in his work. The most obvious one is King's cape in DR.
Also, butterflies are related whit the soul
Jaru: I'm not a fan of hopeless stories. There's no hint of this ever ending, there's no hope of a better future, ...
Also Jaru: Deltarune is a time loop and nothing you can do will ever get a happy ending
Yeah, but there IS a silver lining to DELTARUNE. It's a story about appreciating the journey even if you can't change the destination. xP
Toby tortures us with pink ribbons and four pointed stars.
Flesh ribbons!
*"Furby!? What are YOU doing here??"*
Have you seen me somewhere before? [google translate]
1:16 OK I'm pretty sure the Spamton Sweepstakes needed to be confirmed to be non canon PRECISELY because it had Dr content that could be confused for canon (like some of the jokes)
Yeah I agree it's not a very fair comparison lol. I love Jaru's content but like by the same logic, I'd expect him to defend the Sans is Ness theory since Toby Fox has created an Earthbound project in the past. It doesn't feel right ignoring Itoki Hana/Bani-Chan or Omocat either, esp since iirc the latter was the brain behind the actual music video for Skies Forever Blue
Yeah man, but still I think that you have the liberty to analyze any kind of media in terms of another media of the same author or others. You can disagree about it, but it really is not bad overall. Toby sometimes can be mysterious and I think that he tends to encourage this kind of tendency in the fandom, for example Gaster announcing the game on twitter and those kinds of 4 wall breaks... In the end people will end looking for clues everywhere because they have found them outside the game before.
...Wasn't he saying that the _finale_ wasn't canon?
I don't think he said that the rest of the Sweepstakes wasn't, just the finale. Because the rest of it has some _important_ lore implications that would be weird to just toss aside...
Potentially relevant: Toby Fox (on his FwugRadiation account) has posted the original English lyrics in a comment. The Japanese lyrics were based on the English lyrics, and the animation was based mostly on the Japanese lyrics. I'm pretty sure I remember them right, but definitely go check for yourself:
Silent blue
So cried the somber moon
Above the oaken forest starving in the cold
There lay a carnival
With a showman's hall
The Greatest Living Show
Never been told
So I go
Bring the stage alight
Was the amber writing plain across the door
Glinting bright
Drawing figures from the night
Bring the stage alight
Went the opal-beaked dancers' chanting plight
Casting shadows that reek of cologne
Braving through the sight
To the seats replete with shaking heat and fright
High he stands
Twisting puppets on his throne
Let him raise his arms in might
To the greatest show that's ever never known
Falling curtains that shine
Like a bone
Soaring round above the ground
With threads so brightly blaring
Mouth apart
A smile twisting like a plaything on a string
Lions roar
With force
For what is in store
As the trumpets are bleating
Like broken violins
The last curtain is calling
For the show tonight
The last curtain is calling
For the show tonight
The last curtain is calling
For it's time for all little children
To take their daily
Then to the lonely middle time
Where the star-painted dancers take the lights off
Out go the tired middlemen
Who retire in dirty lines
Then to the ending time again
Where the haze heavy room is cold and empty
Trotting across the middle when
A new light colors in my mind
If I love the show
Shall I waltz onstage and be a dancer in the glow
For all to know
And then the watchers' eyes
Will be my glaring prize
Here in The Greatest Living Show
Never been told
So I go
Bring the stage alight
As I slip into the corset of the night
In the wings
When he traps me in his sight
Bring the stage alight
Was the candied whisper made to take my fright
"Can't you hear them all calling your name?"
Bring the stage alight
With a sequined dress to draw my breath in white
Cheers the crowd
Screaming black into the light
Bring the stage alight
But the poems I've been praying don't seem right
Falling curtains that shine
On a doll
Soaring round above the ground
With threads so tight they tear my
Head apart
My body twisting like a plaything on a string
Men in masks
They laugh
In brandy and glass
Through their spectacled grins as
I'm falling limb from limb
The last curtain is calling
For the show to end
The last curtain is calling
For the show to end
The last curtain is calling
For the show to end
End
End
End
End
Veeeery interesting
Ohh thanks! That is such a cool find
Very relevant! And very helpful to post it here
It's Jaruing time
My favorite part of Jarus videos is when he says “it’s Jaruing time”
Same
@@hannahbrown5465and then preceeded to JaruJ Everywhere
-the ceo of 💀
Loved the part when he started jarujarubeling all over the place
I definitely agree with the beginning of the video that harassing people who try to connect all of Toby Fox's work to Deltarune/Undertale is absolutely not right-people can enjoy and consume media however they want! I might think something is completely unrelated to Deltarune, while someone else might think it is related, and that's totally okay. Nobody should harass anybody over that.
However, in this specific case, I do think there's a valid point to people saying it doesn't need to be connected to Deltarune (not harassing, just people disagreeing with the idea that there might be Deltarune lore hidden in the video) in that it sort of underplays the work the other artists put into creating this. Viewing the piece solely as part of Toby's master plan to hide secrets in everything misses the fact that the other artists put their own perspectives into it. The singer, Itoki Hana, translated Toby's English lyrics into Japanese, but also had to do so in a way that was singable with the music, so I'm sure she must have put some of her own interpretation in there. And the artist behind the video, Bani-Chan, created all of the visuals. I'm sure Toby had input, but the visuals are mainly Bani's work and vision. I think this idea of the video being a synthesis of three incredible artists is actually shown best by the video itself, at the end credits. I'm pretty certain the three little characters are meant to represent the three main artists behind the work: ofc there's Toby as the Annoying Dog, but the flower is likely meant to represent Itoki Hana (Hana = "flower") and the bunny character in the trash can is probably a self-deprecating representation of herself by Bani. I think the image of the three of them together is a really cute way to represent how they're presenting this project as a team, not as *mostly* one person's work over the others.
Again, I think it's totally okay to try to connect the video to Deltarune! I just don't see a lot of credit or thought going towards the other artists when people are discussing possible Deltarune connections, and I think they deserve just as much recognition as Toby does.
2:15 This really is it. Even if people disagree with someone regarding ANYTHING, there is absolutely NO valid reason to start harassing them over it. I wish more people understood this but apparently they can't.
Its mainly on Twitter so of course that would happen.
@@simplymax1337 This is why Elon Musk acquiring Twitter was actually a good thing! (It's going to die faster) /hj
It isn't really fair to attack them back in this way though; many people are legitimately attempting to voice their perspective, rather than to harass, not that I necessarily agree with the viewpoint.
@@trondordoesstuff I know, but there are people who are being unnecessarily rude about it rather than trying to start a discussion.
I think the point you noticed of the sad audience is something I never would've noticed tho. I think they are human too, just not beautiful. And that means this is a show meant to oppress them if it leaves them mortified. However I may be wrong slightly. Like, the girl wants to leave an impact on the audience as well possibly, judging by how the sign was a beacon in the dark to her. Or perhaps it just caught her attention. But those with morbid curiosity, speaking for myself, conform more easily because of their shock. Shock as their eyes are wide open absorbing everything, hypnotized. By what shocks them. Then they seek more of it. Trauma is recursive. If a parent uses fear to make their child learn or obey. This might be what happens. Ironically, it makes them more victimizable because their parent already conditioned them into compliance. Like Noelle. And thus..
What’s interesting in this story is that the showman does indeed puppet the main character, much like we might be puppeting kris or puppeting noelle. The difference here, though, is that the girl protagonist gets seemingly tricked into becoming a puppet due to the puppeteer’s charisma, which I wouldn’t say is the case in Deltarune.
We haven’t made a conscious deception, but we are in a position of power. It’s a really really interesting dynamic I hope we have explored in depth later on
I mean, you say it's horror for the sake of horror, but I still think it has messages in it. The most obvious one is a commentary on the exploitation and sexual harrasment in the showbiz industry. How people can enjoy entertainment without aknowledging the dark parts behind it, or the humanity and feelings of people who work in it. Also, how in pursuits of fame and attention you might lose your identity and lose control over your life.
Sure, there's messages, but it's not saying anything good about those things. It's not saying "Here's these bad things in the world, we should do something about it." It says, "There's these bad things in the world, there always has been, and there always will be."
Whether evil will always exist is a matter of opinion. If you're a pessimist, yes, it will. If you're an optimist, no, it won't. And no, this video was not made for children and it's not intended for children. It even says so in the description. You protect kids from dangerous strangers by telling them how dangerous strangers are. You don't give them a nightmarish and traumatizing video featuring horrific gore to watch.
It has nothing to do with me underestimating children or my audience. It has to do with ME being deeply and profoundly upset at being forced to see such disturbing imagery. And if I'M upset by it then OTHERS will be too. Thus, it is my responsibility to protect my audience from the thing I wasn't protected from. Children liking dark stuff is irrelevant and also isn't true. Some kids might like dark stuff, but plenty others don't, and also there is a MASSIVE difference between liking an edgy, tragic character as a teen and wanting to see GORE. Those are not the same thing at all and it's absurd to conflate the two.
As for parents taking care of their kids, that's beside the point. Obviously a parent SHOULD take care of their kids, but plenty don't, and that's a fact that the rest of us have to deal with. Is it the parents' fault that their kid is playing in the middle of the street? Yes. But it's still on YOU to avoid hitting them with your car! You, as a sane, ethical person, have a responsibility to avoid hurting people! Period! Pretending otherwise is DEEPLY and DIRECTLY harmful. Also, nobody said Toby Fox had to avoid making horror. All I wanted was a proper content warning. Toby Fox can make whatever he pleases as long as he takes proper precautions to keep it out of the hands of those who could be hurt by it.
And yes, obviously not every story has to have a happy ending. I'm just saying that I hate needlessly tragic stories that offer no semblance of hope for a better tomorrow. You don't have to agree with that, but that's your business, not mine.
@@JaruJaruJ
You sound insane. Art should not have to conform to your specific needs, it should challenge you. And I think you are approaching this subject in a very narrow-minded way, that you ironically won't listen to people telling you the video has meaning in it where you saw none.
@@DementedDuskull he has some problems dealing with anything he dosent like. He’s gonna have a rough time with delta rune once the story comes out and challenges what he needs it to be about, but in the end we’re here for his unique perspective
The spades being the only suit on the cards stood out to me. Good job catching that. The thing is Toby has worked on adult media before. In the webcomic "Homestuck" which Toby composed music for, spades have romantic connotations representing "calignous" relationships, (love or lust fueled exclusively by HATE) soo... that seems relevant! Make of this what you will. And thanks for the video!
Interesting! And thank you! :D
I think this story is about media and entertainment industry which might sound weird at first but it makes sense to me at least the girl just appering represent someone who just got into industry just watching show not realising what's happening just thinking it's beautiful not understanding pain of them which is why when we see them get destroyed it's not as grusome as when girl gets destroyed and so she tries to join this industry because it looked interesting and she had a bit of crush on the puppeteer and so the string on her symbolises basically a contract industrys like this made with people who work with them not able to escape anywhere so the girl just dies
Imo, an artistically restrictive contract, while shitty, isn’t as body-and-soul-destroying as like. Harvey Weinstein’s chokehold on young people in the industry at his height, or the abusive way Britney Spears’ father used the law to make her his property without the right to vote, withdraw money she had earned, live where she wanted, date who she wanted or see her children.
Other interesting things to note:
Toby seemingly reused part of the verse melody for a song in one of Temmie's games, Dweller's Empty Path. The song is called "Breath of the Dragon".
The Showman speaks lines in English in the background of the music towards the end, repeating the line, "The last curtain is calling for the show to end." And then repeats the word "End" until the song finishes.
At this point I could probably hand this guy a meme Toby made twelve years ago and explain how it ties in to Asriel being dead and also being Ralsei who is also Kris' fursona, who is also Descember Holiday
And I will enjoy every moment of it
Yep. xD
"Toby Fox has had multiple opportunities to distance this video from Deltarune"
He explicitly states in the newsletter that it is not related to Deltarune. This is not harassment, I am simply pointing out it is odd that you would intentionally ignore that. None the less, I'm still excited to see your video from the perspective of analyzing toby's writing style, and you are completely valid to do so. I am all for your insane theories hehehaha
That newsletter was far from explicit in distancing the music video from DR, but agree to disagree. Hope you enjoy the video. x)
@@JaruJaruJ oh my god, what do you want? Toby literally making a video and telling "HEY GUYS THIS IS TOBY FOX, THIS THINGS ISNT RELATED TO UNDERTALE/DELTARUNE, THANKS FOR WATCHING" it states that its a thing apart from deltarune, its not the opinion of someone.
Also before you say anything, im not telling you that you cant make connections between things, im just saying that your point in there is wrong.
Yeah, you're right. I should have phrased that better.
38:12 painting the roses red.
Red means primal, white means innocence. Blood means anxious, the symbolism means oppression of the masses. It means she is nervous experiencing this primacy for the first time, like a virgin, mistaking fear and excitement before but sees the fear now. The necklace and ribbon were mere strings used to control her.
While i do disagree with your first reasoning for why this could be connected to Deltarune (i think Toby wanted to single out the Spamton Sweepstakes since it contained Deltarune characters so it would've been easy for a viewer to mistake it as canon as opposed to Skies Forever Blue and The Greatest Living Show which do not feature any DR/UT elements) i do agree that looking at these works with Deltarune in mind is helpful. A lot of artists have themes they enjoy exploring repeatedly and examining themes present in one work can give you a new perspective on their other work. These music videos are especially helpful because Toby has not worked on a lot of projects. Before he started working on these videos he'd only worked on UT/DR and the unfinished Earthbound Halloween hack. Plus maybe a few others that are so small i can't remember them. Before Toby released them we had very few options of other work made by Toby that could be compared back to DR, and these could contain very interesting concepts and ideas that we can cross-reference with the game and give us ideas of what might happen in the future
i feel like also bringing homestuck on the table might be beneficial - even though he didn't particularly have a hand in the writing of the story, he created a lot of the soundtracks in the many albums the comic has... also not to mention, considering he worked on undertale in andrew hussie's basement yet deltarune was conceptualized first (and even had a cheeky hs bucket reference in), the possibility of inspiration from the comic is worth considering. (even if this is just about as much of a stretch as say, the sans = ness theory because toby fox is an earthbound fan but yanno)
My personal theory on women with triangle faces is that they were destroyed like other girls on strings and the show master shaped them like he wanted, that's also why they are willingly participating and not on strings anymore
That has interesting Deltarune implications... I think.
Somehow I got a really similar impression
Would make sense especially if the heads were a different shape specifically because they had been decapitated like our protagonist was before the showmaster moulded them anew.
That theory would make it a much worse fate, the idea that the dancers all started out as victims that the Ringmaster found so interesting that he remade them, even with their minds and bodies intact they still have no agency since they can't leave the show and cannot defy the Ringmaster without being torn apart, so knowing that his victims could end up like them, the only thing they can do is just dance and forget.
33:35 ah, about the flowers, those are blue roses, which up until a while ago a believe were a symbol of impossible dreams, and they're still used like that in symbolism, despite the fact that a blue rose has been created in a lab. I don't know, feels kind of relevant.
33:01 The first Japanese symbolism to come to mind for me is their association with recently departed spirits. (It's why there are butterflies all over the place during certain parts of Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice)
Something everyone missed is that, those "big nose ladies" make some [[VERY]] good salesmen
Kicking my feet and screaming every time jaru posts
Could not have explained it better myself.
I disagree with any of the original songs Toby has worked on being tied at all to Deltarune besides them both being worked on by the same guy, due to various things like GLS being under the "Non Undertale/Deltarune related news" section of the newsletter and the description of the Super and higher ranks of the newsletter subscriptions.
However, I do still think that it could be fun to make theories connecting them to the game even if they are unrelated.
Something similar I can think of is the "Sans is Ness" theory from MatPat which was made in good fun that people took too seriously and harassed MatPat over.
Yeah, I haven’t been on the Twitter corner where this harassment is taking place, and don’t really care to look for it!
So all I see is these sort of.. vaguepost type disclaimers in Deltatuber’s intros that make me feel like I’m part of some mob if I disagree with the theories put forward there. Misty Sparkles put it best- “all fandoms are bad” but that shouldn’t colour our perspective of a whole community I think are generally cool, if dotted with some inexcusable arseholes, some self-important teens and some gatekeeping “real gamer”/ “theory-crafter” types.
Damn, never put it into words before, but that's exactly how I always imagined a fey court to be. Bizarre, chaotic, otherworldly, disregarding of humanity and fascinated with nature in all its brutality.
Genuinely surprised you never connected the panning shots to the beginning of Undertale, looking up from the human fallen onto flowers. Gnarly analysis, nonetheless 🤙
Thanks!
@@JaruJaruJ I look forward to whatever you work on next ☺️
i think people forget that artists like... tend to have themes to their work? like fox clearly tells stories about control - who has it, what you can do with it, the harm it can cause. thats *normal*. shakespeare wrote about communication, neruda wrote about seductive love, kafka wrote about would you still love me if i was a bug, etc. even if i personally dont think that fox's independent works have anything to do with ud/dr its still valuable to analyze the greater themes present.
Indeed!
Sooo, Jaru's bottom line: "Thanks, I hate it."
What interests me about it is, well, if Toby is a pacifist showing a lack of hope in that way, that such things simply can't be stopped, it shows the peculiar pessimism of such a mindset.
That is precisely my bottom line. xD
But yeah, you make an interesting point. I suppose some people are pacifists with the mentality of "Pacifism is the only way to make the world better," while others are pacifists with the mentality of "Pacifism is the only way to avoid making the world worse." Both believe pacifism is the only ethical path, but one views the future with hope while the other does not. That's...interesting to me. I wonder which one Toby is.
As an aspiring webcomic artist, your analysis videos are so informative (and entertaining ofc). The way you dissect symbolism and point out the little details that most would look over help me get ideas and inspiration for my art and story ^^ keep up the great work!
Wow, thank you! I’m really happy to hear you enjoyed! :D
Idk if you mentioned this on the video because i haven't finished watching yet but The line "i'm drawn to fear" reminds me of Noelle, maybe she is going to be badly hurt or even die in the future, or maybe she is going to be abused by a new character, or maybe that line references the snowgrave route.
I feel that is more that both of those scenes are inspired into how easier is to control someone through fear and ending destroying them. Maybe at the end Noelle will destroy our connection to Kris and Kris ooor we (the entity) will end destroying both Kris and Noelle and absorbing that power.
I hope not, but some of Noelle’s dialogue does suggest an unhealthy interest in violent bullies. I’d much rather her have a pubescent fascination with S&M type dynamics she’s not fully aware of or doesn’t understand yet.
I would be worried to see a masochistic tendency that led her into abusive relationships, which is so far from the ways consensual relationships can play with that dynamic.
Theres stuff you missed already tho. Like, near the very start, she sees the sign, pitch black, a light in the dark. Hope. Like a moth to the flame.
don't care bout yall, this dude's a legend at coming up with crazy theories, I'm all for it
Its fun to see crazy theories
@@GwainSagaFanChannel yessir
Same it's so much fun
I will say that while I don’t think Toby’s other works are directly tied to Deltarune, that there are some interesting comparisons and analysis to be made, and I enjoyed this type of content from you, even if it’s just to tied people over.
I think Toby Fox did distance The Greatest Living Show from Deltarune though. It's put under the "Non-Undertale/Deltarune News" section in the Spring Newsletter. I do see the argument saying you can connect it to his writing style, though.
I didn't even know this existed. Zetsubou ridden animations and songs aren't my cup of tea, but I can understand why people would be upset to see Toby lending a hand in productions like this.
1:05:38 Jaru: "My theories are innocent little beany babies"
Also Jaru: Kris accidentally killed his own brother and his remains got reanimated into Ralsei.
Yeah Jaru, very innocent indeed...
I still love your theories though, keep up the good work
Was definitely not expecting a full 1 hour analysis of this show but here we are!
I totally get it tho! This song is incredible the art it its video is stunning, The sound and vocals are Incredible! You can really tell all the passion and effort put into song and its video its just Incredible!
I love listen to this show so much! Itoki Hana and Toby Fox did an amazing job! :D
@0:57-.-The Spamton sweepstakes was literally screamed around a Deltarune character, so specifying was necessary. Meanwhile, The Greatest Living Show has nothing about it explicitly connecting it to Deltarune, so there shouldn’t be a need to specify that it is unconnected to another thing he happens to be also working on. it’s not unreasonable that someone can be working on a project that is unrelated to another thing they’re working on.
Also, in the news, toby Fox explicitly categorize the news about The Greatest Living Show as “non-Undertale/Deltarune content”, so he’s pretty clearly stating it’s not related.
Maybe so.
You know, it is actually funny you bring up the connection the video has to Spamton considering how graphic it is, since Toby was once a little hesitant about putting Spamton in the game cuz he thought he might be "too scary," since his character touches on similar themes of freedom and strings.
Pointy noses, a character finding success in a field, lying tattered on the floor, being betrayed... STRINGS.
This is about spamton isn't it?
44:39 "This doesn't look monetizable"
Uh, you realize that the video you're watching is ON UA-cam, right? And that it has ads on it? As in it is monetized? Right?
Jaru I say this with utmost jocularity: Pray Toby never does work with any of Disney’s franchises. You will spontaneously combust.
'I'm drawn to fear' Me too.
Theres suggestions of blood with the loose borders that don't fully contain the red, and on the left armrest some. 20:37
The art in this music video is so reminiscent of the art covers from final fantasy.
True!
In Japan butterflies represent death so take that as you will...
Jaru look at this!!
I got to know this when I was a little midget playing the Mansion of Hidden Souls game 😅
Interesting! That makes sense! xD
One thing I find really interesting about this music video is the use of blood. If you notice, multiple people get dismembered throughout the video, but only the main character bleeds. If we look at this from a Deltarune perspective, it lines up eerily similar to the whole only lightners have blood theory.
My personal theory is that this music video picks up right after the end of Skies Forever Blue and shows an analogy for what happened to Dess after falling into the dark world. I already mentioned the blood piece of evidence, but you can also see blobs of dark liquid floating around the tent (which could be an analogy for a dark fountain). The lyrics also mention the carnival being found in a snowy forest (which is where Dess disappeared). The ringmaster is likely the one mentioned in the lyrics to Big Shot “It pulls the strings and makes them ring until your heart gets ripped up” as this literally happens in the music video. I don’t think this is saying Dess is dead, but rather she has been brainwashed/controlled by the mysterious puppetmaster. One more piece of evidence is the ribbon seen on the snowy tree in the final shot of the music video which is reminds me of how Dess is related to ribbons.
Interesting theory!
To some of the people who find it hard to imagine there's a genuinely explicit Deltrarune connection, let me offer this thought: there are a lot of symbols that can't be explained as unrelated coincidences - e.g. artists don't just independently draw 'sparkles' or 'stars' the exact same way all the time, i.e. as four pointed stars with the same orientation. That's an example of art direction. That is a scripted note from the writer to the artist to include things in that exact way, in those exact places. The hearts appearing in all kinds of places and ways all of a sudden in the clip has no place in the animation except as specific art direction from the writer.
The same symbols, with core roles in UT/DR, appearing in both recent music clips just isn't an accident or a vague stylistic choice. It's purposeful written direction. Why? That's anyone's guess. It could literally just be as a red herring to get us all excited. But truly, truly, I find it hard to conceive of how these are intended as purely independent art projects.
Yeah I uh ... Doubt this? Toby says in the news letter that he just gave Bani a rough story outline and lyrics and she did every single other thing by herself. By the way Toby talks about it, it genuinely seems he didn't play much of a role in the art at all.
@@quackerjackss Maybe, but something like this could still be a part of a rough story outline. It’s not storyboarding per se but just noting what elements to include.
tbh I disagree with you on that style of drawing sparkles/stars being too similar to be a coincidence. It really is just a really common way of illustrating shines - you can see it in a lot of animation and works of art & stuff that existed long before UT/DR. I personally often draw stars like that because it's a simple & easy way to illustrate them and I never really thought of either game while doing it. I think it's very possible (and more likely imo) that bani-chan just decided to draw that way with no explicit request or direction from toby fox
The showman gives real strong griffith/femto vibes
Definitely see that.
He does and it's terrifying.
Really fascinating! Appreciate your frame by frame analysis, I think it's the only way to catch a lot of that. Some really good observations I wouldn't have ever noticed!
I definitely feel there are a LOT of connections with Deltarune thematically. (And this is just wondering aloud to the comments generally)
There are a lot of allusions to the dark world of the first game - circus and card themes (esp spades), forest, specifically trees with fruits, and royalty. The light themes, the girl as light, light/dark throughout the lyrics, the stage of light (bright light cutting across her as she faces the opening curtains). I haven't checked, but it feels that as the men in the audience are revealed, we see frequent little heart (soul) symbols in almost every scene - on some of the men, in the shape of the beaded string, or as shapes drifting around or from her/projected onto her. Plus the stars everywhere exactly like the save states (frequent symbols in SFB too). Extremely purposeful symbolic allusions to Deltarune.
At the end, it feels like the showman's circus persona is revealed to be only a reflection of sorts of his/her "real" self, in the room with book which contains the "story" we've just seen, so a "real" world persona manipulating stories within a controlled universe. We see a lamp nearby that looks like a circus tent, again implying it's all a creation/reflection of his/her real world. It has some classic Wizard of Oz vibes. The circus collapses into red smoke/flame that seems very much like a fountain, which seems to break/snap apart itself as the book closes...? Seems suggested by the lyrics it's the "last chapter" and it's all being closed up/finished.
A few things I'm wondering, but with the caveat that it really is so abstract that you could interpret these things in so, so many different ways:
Showman + girl dancing while flowers bloom and die cyclically = Gastor + Dess in the darkness together after she disappears into the code?? "Dancing" through the timeloops.
Maybe this is a bit much but I just can't help thinking: The strings with beads = the dice bracelet?? To go with the ribbon symbols.
The blue butterfly = ... Kris?? A -lot- of things have that colour association in Deltarune but for characters, it is definitely Kris' colour at least. Others have pointed out that yes, association with death/rebirth/transformation in Japanese culture. I wonder if it's both broadly symbolic like that but also has a more direct reference. That blue colour is extremely unusual in the clip, it is definitely important. I don't know why, but I'm sure it matters. They could easily have used other colours from the clip's palette to make it stand out but they've used this very stand out colour for an important reason.
Re: the darkness of the clip, I agree it's very explicitly disturbing but it's really on par with so many of the themes of exploitation throughout UT and DR (such as UT's Asriel exploited/abused by Chara, or DR's Noelle in Snowgrave). Not saying at all you shouldn't feel how you feel, but just that for me, while this is more visually explicit, it's thematically as dark as a lot of stuff in the games for me so as I've rewatched it, much like how we've all gotten more used to the ideas in Genocide route (I still can't play it, but I can watch clips of it, and think about it), I've come to just see this as playing the same ideas while perhaps doing a successful job of making us realise the disturbing stakes of what we experience more passively/obtusely in the games.
I was thinking that the roses wilting away and losing their petals could be a symbolism for sexual abuse, because flowers losing their petals is often used as a metaphor for r*pe or loss of innocence. Also I absolutely agree that while the story does criticize the show industry, it might as well also allude to prostitution, especially because those were exclusively dubious looking men who were amused. Also the puppeteer does kinda look like a pimp with that outfit.
Btw, Toby Fox also worked for Omori, so it's actually not that surprising that he also worked on this video. Omori does look cute and wholesome at the first glance, but it's also very dark and depressing.
53:20 Naw they didnt want to tie it in because, its an artist not associated to deltarune, it'd be rude to impose connections. Is how they see it. Theres clearly some symbology overlap tho. But, I do consider there may be a photoshop flowey equivalent in deltarune.
There's nothing rude about imposing connections. It's just a silly hobby.
Didnt expect it to be an hour,figured this would be like half an hour lol.
Oh! sorry if my comment in the community post about releasing this video or not was annoying to you, it was about analyzing the video in relation to DR being unnecesary. Honestly I think that the music videos are not teasing anything about the game exactly buuuut evaluating the general themes of them can result in finding parallelisms, common ideas or something between the themes of the videos and the themes inside Deltarune. So, analyzing them is those terms is something very optional, but not totally wrong, and what I tried to say in the comment was more that you were not forced to upload the video, because of the indirect relationshio of this with the game. At the end, analyzing them in terms of the game could lead to interesting conclusions nonetheless... Sooo, I am glad that at the end you decided to upload the video! Honestly the video has more connections to DR that I thought, specially with the same theme of control and the destruction and harm that can happen because of that control. The girl is very parallel to Noelle.
Honestly I don´t think that the comment was directed to me precisely, but I didn´t knew that the annoyance of the people complaining about analyzing the music videos for theories was as bad for you to say this. Sorry that you have to go through that.
No worries. I'm glad you enjoyed the video. x)
Has Jaru ever analyzed the song 74?
Its motif has been actually used in Deltarune Chapter 2, and the lyrics are also pretty... interesting
I have not! If there's demand for it, I could give 74 a look. x)
35:46 if we find a blue ribbon in the next chapter Jaru is going to go wild
Oh Christ. xD
1:03:21
"the closest we get is chara in the genocide route"
what are you on about?
like, genuinely, what are you on about?
chara jumpscares you, red 9s appear across the screen, and thats IT
no graphic harm caused by an evil person is shown there-- no physical bodily harm at all unless you count chara's face melting
1) literally everything YOU do in the genocide route (which might not count), from undyne melting and such to sans bleeding-- nothing too extreme though
still blatant bodily harm caused by an evil person, not very graphic though
2) flowey murders asgore in front of you thats a main plot point in literally every route-- which is pretty direct, albeit censored by the whole "monsters turn to dust" think
so not graphic
3) you, or frisk, or chara whatever beats flowey to death, there's no dust, it shows his body being brutalized, and his corpse left on the ground as a beaten and battered once sentient flower with an eye popping out
definitely VERY graphic
this one statement hurt my brain im sorry just
wow
The fact that you needed such a long preamble it's kind of sad good video listened to it while drawing
Glad you liked it!
The string symbolism feels connected to deltarune
It really does.
I've said a lot on twitter and such about how this could be strongly symbolic of Toby's relationship to his art and audience, given his strong anxiety towards Undertale's success, Deltarune's pressure to live up to its predecessor, and how clearly guarded and careful Toby is in communicating with the fanbase-how captivation by being artistically beloved can destroy people. There's also been some suggestions that this could be symbolic of abusive relationships, and perhaps a feminist look at the vulnerability of women in cyclical relationships with abusive men (I hadn't clued into the fact that all the audience members were women during the dolls' dance but men during the girl's dance-good catch).
However what I find more interesting from a moral/pacifistic standpoint is what you said about the existence of "untouchably evil" people and how difficult that is to stomach as a pacifist, and you even mentioned Chara. I've long since felt that Chara's role in Undertale IS to be that untouchable evil-that the True Pacifist and Neutral Routes have that moral greyness and humanity in their antagonists, but the Genocide Route is the "exception route". It's the route where you go too far, the world treats you like an inhuman monster without a soul, you get your autonomy stolen by a "demon", and you face permanent consequences. The mere existence of the Genocide Route and a vaguely-defined demon child who contradicts every rule behind Undertale's mythos and mechanics has always struck me as Toby basically admitting that some people are too far gone, their cruelty is too great to be justified, or perhaps a belief that some people are incapable of feeling empathy or compassion for anyone, or regret for their actions. (I've made comparisons between Chara's obsession with increasing game stats and hyper-capitalists' obsession with increasing wealth and power but we don't have to talk about that-). It's interesting how Toby portrays a demon in this story, and Chara describes themselves as a demon in Undertale, something that is never mentioned in its mythos ever. Perhaps the man truly doesn't have universal hope for all people. I do agree though that, even if Chara is an untouchable evil, they more strongly symbolize what that might be for (i.e. greed and "numbers addiction") than the Showman, who seems to just enjoy it in a way few real people do.
I do disagree that pure downer stories have no artistic point. You're right that we have hope in the face of, or in spite of, evil, but I think it's probably not helpful to ignore the existence or evil or pretend that it is easy to be optimistic about, or overcome. If there are truly wicked people out there who will hurt you or do inhuman war crimes for unbelievably selfish, avaricious reasons (and there are), it's worth at least keeping it in mind so that you can be wary of them and exercise caution, to avoid meeting a bad fate. After all, the girl in Greatest Living Show DID watch the dolls get torn apart-she had the choice to ignore the Showmaster and leave-but she was seduced anyway. We live in a scary world and we gotta be real careful, I think.
Anyway, excellent analysis, I found this deeply enjoyable, although it's a shame it affected you so negatively.
I feel bad for laughing at this because i imagined the girl as spamton for a second
20:22 The addisons have pointed noses, if your looking for connections
So iirc, butterflies are symbols of death in Japan... Also I think the Showman could be representative of either the Player or Gaster?? And the puppets could be Jevil or Spamton? Honestly Idk. It feels like a representation of the player and Noelle's relationship IF it's related to Deltarune.
Interesting.
when i first saw that ribbon at the end i went "its the FUCKIN RIBBON AGAIN"
also probably not relevent but i found a old video called revenge of spankor. some sort of music show. the very last second ends with like a.... blue screening sound? again, probably not relevent but the song is about 'dualities'
I think theres a significance of the lions like, they are *hungry* for the show, predators.
12:45 definite foreshadowing. Its like they are keeping tabs on the newcomer to bait her.
(This is just a guess not facts) So a few things to point out this could be a roaring since it shows the lions roaring. The people with the long noses might be puppets kinda like Spamton's nose. The showman has a glass which we know that in the game when taking a shadow crystal to the light world it becomes a glass. The showman when snapping his fingers shows a yellow light hinting at the use of determination.The girls when they break apart could be meaning to how darkners turn into stone when the roaring starts.Maybe it is trying to tell us that this event has happen once again and somehow this devil was defeated by being sealed (perhaps in Kris explaining the red eyes). (just speculation).
Feet symbolism, them dissintegrating means, to lose your foundation, to lose your roots, like a tree put into a different place, or yes its confirmation of being 'lost'.
34:20
My personally theory is that the Flowers growing, wilting, and dying over and over again is to symbolize the cycle of an abusive relationship.
You fall in love, realize your partner is abusive, fall out of love, but are dragged back into love by false promises, new excitement, or other circumstances to repeat the cycle all over again, until eventually they consume, and break you.
While I don't think any of Itoki Hana's songs have any lore connections to Deltarune, I think speculation is harmless, and can be fun.
I listen to her work regularly, and one thing that is a direct connection to Deltarune is her song "74". While I couldn't tell you whether or not it has lore connotations, it does have Welcome to the City's leitmotif in it, which I think is pretty neat since the song came out before Deltarune Chapter 1 even released. Really shocked me when I heard it for the first time.
I haven't seen hardly any of this video yet but I must say seeing Dark Jaru come out at the beginning and saying what needs to be said regarding harassers was a treat in itself lmfao, god bless
Glad you enjoyed. xD
2:15
YES! This..THIS is what was needed beforehand. Round of applause for being the one to stand up and talk about it, especially with how you approached it! Good for you 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻😁
Thanks fam!
I like your content a lot! A bit of a small suggestion, but it might be a good idea to get some advice about art style from artists, I think it can help for better analysis. Or at the very least check out the artist that worked on the animation to know which aspects of the visual design are unique to the vid, and what is this artist's go to way of depicting stuff 🤔
I followed Bani chan for at least a year before this vid came out, and I think it kinda helps with understanding their vision. Though I know these analyses take a while as is, so I understand if it's not a plausible angle to work with for you
I'm back with more thoughts, actually. Again, I will reiterate that this isn't what happens in Deltarune and it isn't what will happen either but uuuh -- is this not comparable to what we do on Snowgrave? Especially considering that it gets grim after the starlight of the save. I know your main theory goes along the line that snowgrave will be required to do anything against the roaring -- but what if it isn't? What if it is just destructive, what if we're just messing up Noelle for no reason but our own self-satisfaction. Sure that thought is very unrewarding, but maybe the moral might be "you either die a hero or PROCEED long enough to become a demon"
Oh I never argued that Snowgrave was us trying to go against the Roaring. That was other theorists. I personally believe Snowgrave will be just as ineffective, only substantially more heartbreaking. xD
2:15 *NO, THIS IS NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT TYING THESE COLLABORATIVE WORKS TO DELTARUNE.* Read before replying.
"Many of us, myself included, would never have watched these music videos AT ALL if Toby Fox didn't have a hand in them. I would never have even made this reaction video if Toby Fox specifically hadn't written this story."
I am saying this as eloquently and politely as I can, and am not criticizing you in regards to analyzing these songs for DeltaRune references. *In this video, you have directly, willingly admitted that the only reason you- no, "Many of us", care about this content is because of Toby Fox's involvement.* I am genuinely confused about how you can say that you aren't being disrespectful to the creators, while ALSO telling us that the only reason you care about these songs is because Toby Fox worked on them.
"Toby Fox doesn't care how we enjoy these videos. He's just glad we're watching them at all. I know that's true, because if he DID care, he would say so."
The mindset of "If they don't do anything to stop it, then they're fine with it" does not sit right with me. I feel, in any given situation, it's a coin toss regarding whether or not it is true. I personally believe that Toby Fox doesn't mind people analyzing SFB and GLS from a DeltaRune lens, but I can't imagine him not feeling bad when people give him all of the credit, despite him contributing just as much to these projects as Itoki Hana and Bani-Chan.
You told it all right, i completely agree.
It's not insulting to the artists to simply acknowledge reality. UT/DR fans, by and large, would not have flocked to this music video if it wasn't connected to Toby Fox. That's just the truth. There's no reason for the artists to be offended by the fact that an influential man used his influence to direct his followers to the video. It's not disrespectful to say "I don't care about One Piece." It's disrespectful to mock, deride, and tear down One Piece. Simply saying that I don't generally care about music videos is not disrespectful.
More importantly, the point I'm making, and the point you're missing, is that these artists got far more attention and far more fans thanks to Toby Fox using his influence to direct his followers towards them. They have benefited MASSIVELY, both in attention and in revenue, from his involvement. To act like they are somehow hurt by the fact that some people checked it out who weren't really interested in it, while at the same time ignoring the ENORMOUS benefits these artists have already received, is very imbalanced. These artists are fully aware that some of the people watching the video are just there because of Toby Fox and aren't going to be life-long fans as a result. And you know what? They're OK with that! This is just how collabs work.
Do you think I'm angry that some people checked out my channel purely because I did a collab with other DELTARUNE theorists? Of course not! I would never have even dreamed of being offended by that. I was glad I had a fun time doing a cool collab, was pleased with whatever attention it brought my channel, and got on with my day. That's more than enough benefits for me. I'd have to be really petty to argue that me getting money, attention, and subscribers, but NOT getting a 100% devoted audience from someone else's channel, isn't good enough. It's an even more imbalanced when you remember that these music videos were commissioned BY Toby Fox, so not only was this a super beneficial collab for these artists, but they were also paid handsomely to participate. They will not shed any tears over some of us not being interesting in this genre of content.
You can head-canon Toby Fox however you like, but it's ultimately just your opinion of his mindset. Also, I only watched either of these videos because Toby wrote the STORY. If he had just done the music or the animation, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to analyze it. I might have watched it, but I wouldn't have made videos about it. It's only on my radar because it gives me a chance to analyze Toby as a writer. I fully acknowledge that he didn't do the animation or certain parts of the performance. I understand that. But I only focus on the story because that's the only part I care about. I'm not giving him all the credit, as you put it.
@@JaruJaruJ You literally dont know if the people who made that feels that way, stop assuming all XD.
Y'all are the ones assuming their hearts are broken. I'm simply saying that, if they are rational adults, they have no reason to be offended. Also I've spoken to some of them and they didn't even remotely suggest they were offended by my activities.
@@JaruJaruJ if you talked to them and nobody feels nothing at it, my apologies.
I hadn't even read the English lyrics and I could tell that this song is definitely about the p*rn industry. Don't know if I'll explain how or not though, there's just a lot of imagery through the video that gives it that vibe.
Really? I think that this song was about a relationship between a person to another person/industry, especially the entertainment industry, not just the porn industry.
At first it looks pretty, and lures you in, you see the signs that people might be getting hurt (the puppets on the strings) but you ignore it, thinking that you're truly different then the rest of them.
At the start you feel accepted, happy and welcomed by the person/industry. They dance with you and you feel like you truly are different then the rest of the "puppets" (manipulation)
Slowly however it sinks in that you are no different then the rest of the puppets who were toyed with and destroyed, disposed of, as if the person/industry had enough of you.
And at the end they are killed and dismembered, showing how people just think of you as a toy, destroying you, and moving on with the next puppet to play with. All the while, the shadowy monsters watch this happening, not interfering, for it is their entertainment.
This is my analysis, and I'm pretty sure it's very close to yours, but it just accommodates other jobs and professions that seem to be more appealing than pornography, but in the end do the same thing to a person.
On the smoke and those weird crown things at the beginning you were wondering about- I think the crown things held on sticks are thuribles, and the incense smoke coming from them is what makes the rooms at intermission smoky when nobody is smoking (i.e. before the male patrons arrive). Thuribles and incense are used this way as a part of some Christian esp Catholic worship, particularly on very holy days like Easter and in funerals, where the incense is shaken around a coffin. Obviously that tool could be a distribution method of some kind of drug for the actors and audience too, but I feel sure the tool for spreading the smoke is meant to be a thurible.
Also the pointy faces look like plague masks, which also often were stuffed with incense and other strong smelling things bc the Bubonic Plague was thought to be transmitted through the bad smells or “miasma” of the patients who suffered from it and later their dead bodies prior to the work of Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister on what causes and what prevents the spread of disease.
its jaru time
the triangle ladies remind me of toringen from yume nikki!! pardon my misspelling
The unknown you is the Jungian Shadow.
While on that topic.
Because of the Anima: This animation can refer to males in a way, as well, with the female protagonist here. So it can refer even more broadly to society than you would expect.
"I wonder if these lions are girls too"
Does he know?
That disclaimer was so needed I've seen people loosing their shit and acting completely out of pocket for something they can literally just ignore!! It's okay to enjoy things differently
1:00 I don't understand this
1. He didn't "distance" the Spamton Sweepstakes from Deltarune or Undertale. The only thing he did, was say it wasn't canon (The Sweepstake video). How is it possible for him to distance Deltarune Characters from Deltarune?
2. He did "distance" the songs from Deltarune. It's called the Deltarune Newspaper. Quote for the normal rank: "I want to subscribe to the seasonal UNDERTALE newsletter. Also update me on new info concerning the games and events! (ex. new chapters, Spamton Sweepstakes.) Toby's and co songs info was not on this rank. They were on the rank called SUPER, quote from the SUPER rank: "GIVE ME INSTANT UPDATES ON ANY PROJECTS TOBY FOX WORKED ON! EVEN IF IT'S NOT RELATED TO UT/DR. (Ex. Original Songs) It's right there. The songs are not related to Undertale and Deltarune
3. You don't know how much input is by the song makers and by Toby himself
What don't you understand?
@@JaruJaruJ bruh moment when you write a long text filled (instead of doing literally anything else) with a more relaxed rebutal since I saw that the creator felt insulted by my first piece of critisme and he replies with "what don't you understand" like do you wanna have a TL;DR? Fine, gimme a few minutes.
I'm sorry, it just sounds to me like you disagree with me, not that you don't understand, so I was confused why you opened with that line. You can disagree with me if you like, of course. Just making sure we're on the same page regarding what we're talking about.
@@JaruJaruJ The reason I still made this, was because of what you said at the beginning about people enjoying the music video how they want to. I still published the original comment, because I wanted to show that the musi video was a weak piece of evidence. It's a fact that evidence has weight. One piece of evidence is heavier or stronger than another one. I wanted you to know this, because I thought it would be benefical for you to see that the evidence you may make out from the video would be weak. TL;DR I wanted to help you, if you don't want my help, then fine. Skip this
@@swiftly_produced2694 The help you provided was very difficult to understand due to the poor grammar. I barely understood what you were saying. But thanks for the attempt at helping me regardless. I appreciate it. x)
To be honest, her design makes me think of Shiva from girl on otherside.
Omg a new Jaru video on my birthday, this is the best present ever 😭😭
Happy Birthday! :D
@@JaruJaruJ thank you!!!
One hand: oh no.
But on another: lore.
Say what you want about Toby, but everyone can agree that Toby is a musical genius… someone who can break literally all of music theory and still make something sound good
1:07:00
Not everyone can be saved.
Not everyone can have a ""good"" ending.
Sometimes, you can't save everyone or redeem someone's wrongdoing.
Pacifism is not the only solution.
There is no solution. Pacifism is just a way to avoid adding to the problem.
If your gonna conflate all the content Toby makes as being connected to Deltarune I think I’d be a cool to see a series of video’s of it.
Part 3 Y2K was Deltarune all along!~
Am i the only one who didn't find the Video disturbing whatsoever?
Hey Jaru, just wanted to say I absolutely love your content and referring to the little message at 2:15 you are absolutely right. I personally disagree and I believe that SFB and TGLS are not connected to deltarune but I still love your videos on them because it's not only promoting Toby's work but it's also taking something I love (deltarune theorizing) and connecting it with something else Toby has created.
Altogether although I do disagree with you I love that you're making these videos and the fact you are getting hate for them is despicable because like I said before even though I disagree with you like you said I still enjoy SFB and TGLS not only just for the music video but also for connecting them to deltarune even if I don't think there is actually a connection other than the fact that Toby made both (which is a valid thing to look into and another reason I love these videos)
Tldr: I disagree with you that these videos are connected to deltarune but the hate you're getting for connecting them is wrongful and I still absolutely love your content on the videos because it's entertaining and bringing publicity to Toby's other works.
Thanks. And as I said, it's less about them being canonically connected, and more about them being still worth analyzing, so it's fine if you don't think they're canonically tied to DELTARUNE. Thank you for the kind words and I hope you enjoy the video. x)
Im surprised you didnt say anything about the flowers in the trash, possibly a reference to the ones of deltarune?🤔
yellow sparkle at 41:40 seems weird like all deltarune save points are white i think but undertales are yellow
23:35 Ah yes, cracking. Like a dream I had. Killing ninjas and stuff, they would crack like a mug.
Well i didnt know there were captions now I gotta watch the whole video again hype
The captions are auto-generated, so not super accurate.
There are some sparkles in the video, kinda looks like save points (specifically the white ones from deltarune) also game developer or show- man controlling everything?
33:23 Jojo and especially the part with Jolyne Kujo are heavily inspired by american and western culture; I am not sure that author tried to connect any Japanese symbolism through Jolyne's tattoo
True.
2:15 THIS??? ATE OMG
so here's my thoughts: I don't believe this happened in Deltarune, of course, but I think it's job as much as anything is to build up suspension. Toby wants us to think "but what if it did" just to keep us on the edge for the eventual recovery of Dess.
Hey, jarujaru, you left a Yu-Gi-Oh video in your deltarune theory playlist
Thanks for the heads up!
Its hard to breath in the corset. And if your breathing is poor, it reduces bloodflow to your brain, which reduces logical thinking. Which makes you act more rashly. It represents anxiety, shallow breath. Butterfly can mean nervousness. 'I have butterflies in my stomach' Butterflies also try to have a design to instill fear(large face) to repel predators. Also symbolizes frailty. The flowers all symbolize attraction to the butterfly, it doesn't seem like a flame to the moth, it seems like flowers. And it thinks its a butterfly because of the glamour.