Patron Bonus: 'PlaneBae Analysis' SECRET MESSAGES

Howdy. So I think what I might start doing is having the standard 'video release' blog always be public since they're not really "rewards" - I'm basically just casually running down what the vid is and maybe a bit of my thought process going into it. Instead, I think I'll start including a little 'bonus' blog entry exclusive to Patrons, released shortly after each video, where I go in-depth either talking more about the topic or discussing things people might not have noticed in the video. So, that's what this is. Yeah.

This time we're gonna kick things off by elaborating on something not many people picked up on when I released this thing: the soundtrack! That's right, there's a hidden meaning - at least for most of them. Admittedly, the cracking tracks by AniSoc regulars Dekuscrub and snackcube are, for the most part, just there because I really like the sound of their stuff and it fit well with the vibe of the scene (those are, respectively, the opening elude when we initially see Rosey, and the Disco-Pop fun we hear throughout 'The Opportunity Goblin'). For the rest, I had to stretch myself a bit. Without further ado:

"In The Palace" Cover by eeeeko (HUNTERXHUNTER 2011 OST)

If anyone here is familiar with the manga/anime Hunter X Hunter, they might be familiar with this friend. 'Shaiapouf', in simple terms, acts as the guardian for one of the main antagonists of the series. Only, this antagonist turns out to not be such a bad guy, or at least to be a little more complicated than his original purpose as the 'destined ruler of the world' - as he grows and learns from his experiences, he becomes a fuller and more rounded human being, and his obligate role no longer particularly interests him. This infuriates Shaiapouf who, by contrast, finds literally no joy in anything other than serving his guardian role. He does not wish to "help" his king, in terms of actually wanting to assist him with his wants or needs (for instance, helping a friend of the king's who is in need) - instead, he wants only to see the king fulfill the role he believes the king should, as a megalomaniacal warlord. 

I thought it would be interesting to invoke this song, which serves as one of Pouf's 'themes', because in a way I feel similarly about the way 'social media influencers' like Rosey often seem to treat the world around them. It's readily apparent from her "It's like we were in a movie" comments regarding #PlaneBae that, just like Pouf, Rosey fetishizes a certain manufactured idea of the people around her, but doesn't actually particularly care about what those people may want. It's an especially self-serving kind of 'care for others' that I think the two share. Now I'm sure there's more to Rosey, she's not a cartoon character - but there's an emotional root there that I think rings somewhat chillingly true.

Incidentally, watch Hunter X Hunter (the 2011 adaptation). It's really fucking good. Even if you don't watch anime, watch it, it's phenomenal (particularly once you make it past the first ten or so episodes).

“Is it Boring?” by Shoji Meguro (Persona 5 OST) 

This song comes from possibly 2017's best game (alongside Edith Finch and Wolfenstein 2), Persona 5. There's much that can be said about Persona 5 - some might even say a whole video's worth of things! - but the core reason I thought a track from it in here is its theme of commodification. 

In Persona 5, you join a ragtag team of dimension-hopping rad teens as they jump inside people's heads, Psychonauts-style, and for the most part teach them a kind of strange psychic moral lesson by breaking their brains from the inside. Almost invariably, at least at the start, the common theme of these antagonists is that you discover how they use people as tools to serve their own needs - initially, a lecherous gym teacher using schoolgirls to bolster his self-confidence, then anything from a vacuous capitalist to a celebrated artist (who, as it turns out, has been stealing most of his work from his apprentices). In any case, it's easy to see how Rosey's story is reminiscent of this idea. Actually, I wonder what a Rosey Brain Persona 5 level would look like. Somebody call ATLUS, am I right!?.... th-those are the people that made persona 5, by the way.

“Melody of Chroniko” and "The Tree Song" by Kiyoshi Yoshida (Kaiba OST) 

Directed by Masaaki Yuasa, 2008's Kaiba is possibly one of the most heartfelt condemnations of a consumerist society I've yet to see on-screen. In short, it's a 12-episode anime (yeah I like anime what's up) that centers around an amnesiac kid named Warp lost in a weird space-age world, which sees human memories fully downloadable and customizable - for the right price. 

Over the course of Kaiba, Warp ends up body-swapping his brain through multiple people as he finds himself on the run from the Space Police, mostly through circumstance as the used-up bodies of people who've had their memories sold out of their heads litter the streets. There's a strong theme of de-personalisation in capitalism cutting right through the series, exploring the ways that a consumerist society can force people to choose between personal comfort and the well-being of those around them. Demonstrative of this is the character whose theme I play in my video, a young girl who willingly has her body sold off so that her step-mother can live a life free of debt and worry - the catch, however, being a lack of awareness that in fact her memories would just be tossed away in the trash. 

Shows like Kaiba remind me exactly why I so deplore the notion of just mindlessly using the pain and suffering of others for my own personal gain - at the very least, I always want to come at things from a place of empathy, understanding, and a desire to educate, rather than just be some labour-extracting voyeur.

“Virtual Insanity (8-bit cover)” by CitizenErased27 

I used this because nowadays the millenials use their dang computers too much and what if phone, but too much??? really makes ya think, really makes ya think. (in all seriousness, I've just had the song in my head for days and it's vaguely fitting)

So yeah, there ya go. Hope that was at least somewhat interesting - and if not, I hope next time it is! Anyway, that's enough writing for 2AM, time for this cool cat to head on to dream town.

P.S. Next video is going to be on the Fallout series' ACTUAL most interesting moral choice. Turns out it's in Fallout 3. Yeah, I know.