pkkiai: (Default)
Craig’s Big Day means so much to me. It’s been referenced throughout DHMIS (it was the main 3’s show in episode 2 of the web series, it was referenced in the TV pilot, and the song was referenced in episode 5 of the TV show..) so I think it’s important to Becky and Joe, too.  

Becky and Joe accept the various meanings people draw from their art, and I think they purposefully leave a lot of room for viewer interpretation. I love that about their stuff; that’s a major part of why I find their art so personal. Most of the subject matter of their art is relatable on its own, but I was given room to make it resonate with me by relating it to my specific experiences.

With that being said, I like to view Craig’s Big Day as an autistic man’s depressive episode running its course. There’s no explanation why Craig (seemingly) snapped out of it. Maybe it was all a fever dream, maybe he actually fucking died. But I like to think that he changed his mind once he was actually given the chance to die with the poison. Like, no matter how suicidal you are, you only realize how dire the verge of death is when you’re close to it. But any depressive episode will eventually run its course; it’s like a flow, and it comes in waves. But when it’s over, you feel big and strong and get cool spikes in your hair.

The poison Craig was going to drink was a gift.. I think that’s an obvious metaphor for suicidal ideation. The poison also manifested itself as the sole gift Craig received on his birthday, which I think represents the view of suicide as the only source of escape (Wacky Pig Worm stopped working after a while :(!!!). Because more than anything, Craig is tired. When you’ve been in an MDE, isolated with nothing but your thoughts, it’s only natural to grow tired of it all. But I like to think Craig pulled himself out of it!!

There is a lot to take away from this little series, but I don’t have it in me to write about all of its intricacies right now. I just want to get this out there since I think the few people willing to read a journal like this can appreciate something like Craig’s Big Day. The clock, the birthday meal, the ending.. please watch it yourself and form your own interpretation:

giygas

Dec. 3rd, 2024 10:13 am
pkkiai: (足立レイi feel fantastic)
Earthbound is fantastic all around, but Giygas alone is enough for me to call it my favorite game.

Giygas is a tragic character. I like to think his feelings are similar to the Cartridges from Made in Abyss: a confusing, cacophonous mix of horror, pain, and ecstasy. I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose yourself like that. but while I love him for being pure evil that’s in constant agony, he’s a lot more than that.

tbh more than any evil Giygas embodies in the game’s universe, I love him for exemplifying the fragility of traumatic childhood memories, how they fog up over time but never fully go away... doesn’t matter that Itoi was mistaken about the movie scene; the horror he felt when he saw it as a kid was true. and the point of Giygas isn't to simply portray the alleged rape scene, it's to represent and communicate how Itoi felt when he was traumatized by it as a child.

And the Giygas fight is a crazy tonal shift from the previously established quirkiness Earthbound used to deal with even its most serious subjects (Happy Happy Village...) because Giygas is personal, he was born due to true, real-life horror experienced firsthand by his creator. That's what he embodies more than anything.

Giygas was the reason I played Earthbound in the first place (he was discussed a lot in the nerdy horror circles I lurked around online). and like, despite being spoiled, he still caught me off-guard. I’ll never forget how blown away I was by that entire fight.

Giygas is cool. His design is cool. His story is cool. But the intricacies of his creation are the biggest selling point for me. Those stories of Itoi reading each character and "dot dot dot" out loud for Giygas's dialogue, driving the person typing to tears… like, this is heavy shit lol

mitty

Jun. 26th, 2024 04:06 am
pkkiai: (Default)

Mitty's plea to let her soul return to Nanachi is grossly overshadowed by her begging to be killed while suffering the sixth layer's curse. I understand why.. watching a little girl melt into a great soft jelly thing is fucking awful, but it's important to remember that Made in Abyss blends its heart-wrenching tragedies with the macabre down to the fucking dot. In an interview with MyAnimeList, series composer Kevin Penkin discusses the elevator scene's music a bit:

 

"Originally, I had thought of suggesting music that was quite aggressive, distorted, and fucked up in nature for that scene—a track called "Crucifixion." Instead, they ended up using a track called "Forest of the Abyss," which is incredibly ambient and just features a solo cello, against what is inherently quite a violent scene. That sort of juxtaposition I find quite interesting, and I thought it was infinitely more effective than just being like "this is scary, let's do scary music." It kind of gave it a bit of depth.”


The contrast between the mellow soundtrack and the brutality happening onscreen helps highlight the scene as a tragedy more than anything. Made in Abyss is big on hard-hitting small details and it's a big reason why I love this series so much. The elevator scene in particular can only hit at its full capacity with a thorough understanding of Nanachi and Mitty's deep bond (i.e. the few scenes they had in that episode before.) Everything between them is shown to absolutely
crush the viewer once they're separated in the worst way imaginable.

I want to talk about one line in particular I rarely see discussed. I'll be using images from the manga to illustrate my next few points here, but please note that the anime articulates the relationship between these two so much better. The manga simply covers the basics necessary for what I want to say
and grabbing bits of a page is easier than taking a ton of anime screenshots with subs lol. If you're bothering to read this, though, then you probably know Made in Abyss and understand how Mitty and Nanachi were each other's everything.

Read more... )

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