I've got 2 degrees in music composition and gosh DARNIT I'm gonna use them! I also love all things animation, so in Cel-Shaded Music Theory I dig into the music of some of the best animated films and TV shows out there. Hope you'll come along for the ride! Character art by Sarah Cruz @trisarahtops_cruz 🖌 Banner art by Elisabeth Mkheidze @eliartmkh 🎨
Hi. I loved this so music. Not only have I watched this multiple times. That in my video on my channel I made breaking down the storytelling of The Boy and the Heron when I did my music section it was a very brief section because I say in it to go watch this video because it's brilliant. I also linked this video in my description to my video. I've now just watched your earliest two videos also. Keep up the great work.
REALLY need to check out this film. I've never really seen a Gilby movie before, but this one always looked particularly entrancing (and in some ways, the premise feels like it was tailored made for me). Excellent analysis!
This comment is going to be a little off-topic, but: Remember when James Cameron hired a bunch of specialist in different kinds of traditional music for the Avatar soundtrack but decided the result sounded "too weird" and opted for just a generic orchestral action film soundtrack??? well he could have archieved something as iconic as Akira's soundtrack. What a work of art, specially considering the cultural background on which it's based on.
Arcane is a freaking master class in everything. Because yes this analysis is great and already quite deep but there is another layer behind it. As you can analyze every part separately or together and get each time a different meaning and perspective on the show. From the story beats the songs underscore you think about the A and B plot of Arcane from Vis/Jayces perspective (Undercity/Topsider). When you look at when and who the song is for and about you get the story of the Undercity (as all songs are about or for our Zaun cast except for Viktor as he is more Topside than Undercity). When you look at the text you get the events from Powders perspective as from last/first note goes perfectly together (only Goodbye and What could have been break this pattern as they are important songs about Powder for Vi and a breaking point). Finally if you look at their structure separately you get a deep dive into the emotions of each character. E.g. First part of What could have been symbolizes the sadness and the longing for her sister Powder feels because she realizes Vi doesn’t understand her (I believe as Silcos shoot went of the gun wasn’t loaded). Then after her decision to be free, to be Jinx, to be perfect the theme shifts into this epic triumphant crescendo just to miss the previous peak of the sad part by half a note. This is possibly a hint that Powder isn’t completely gone as I also believe that Silco misunderstood her as he asked her for her name. His reaction against the mentioning of Powder doesn’t sound like someone who taunts a sister or is fearful of loosing her because of a name (only when Vi starts to mention the sisters past he reacts fearful as his suspicion that he didn’t even knew Powders name starts to bug him). He raised Powder as this perfect version of himself. The spirit of his Zaun. And because he didn’t care enough he is going to lose her. Btw the way this would have played out behind the scenes could very well be as follows: Powder in Silcos arms, one of Silcos guards interrupting the silence. Silco looks to him angrily. „What should we do Silco?“ „Leaf this place“. Nobody moves. „This wasn’t a suggestion“. Guards back down. Powder totally unfazed by all of that. Silco: „What happened back there little girl?“ Powder crying/sobbing: I just wanted to help… Just wanted to help. But [insert Monkey name] didn’t work. Now she is gone. She hurt me. Silco: Can you show me…? […] What is your name? Powder filled with self hatred: „She called me a Jinx“ However what Silco understood was: „She calls me Jinx“ So him using the name Jinx was him trying to connect to Powder. As Powder saw herself as just that she adopted the name (meaning her Decision to be Jinx is an active choice to freedom for her and a huge win in terms of character growth). But this also means Powder is still Jinx (I mean at the end of her fight with Ekko she tries to kill herself what actually might have worked for the most part [Ekko just kicked away her bomb to protect himself preserving her body for Singe to experiment a bit more with Shimmer). So Powder knows what she has done and tries to achieve her goal (aka validation and freedom). She just got at the wrong people at the wrong time. And that is why I still root for her and believe either that she will die together with Vi or flee out of Piltover having Caitlin close after them plotting the next revenge act or letting Jinx in the past and freeing Vi from any obligations whatsoever. Would be a powerful end to her arc. And thats what I love about Arcane: You can talk about the minorest of details (one half tone difference in a song) connect it to Silco, Powder, Vi and ending on Caitlin deep in predictions about the series and reframing Silco which in turn reframes the entire cast. For example I could rant on about Vis LoL design showing the Atlas Gauntlets Powder drew on and how this ties in with everything. I don’t believe there is a show or a series out there where this is possible. If it is please tell me about it (already watched Blue Eyed Samurai). Anyways Have a nice day AEther
Vi and Powder's "sister theme" gave me CHILLS the first time I heard it when Vi says "someday this city is gonna respect us". I loved hearing you breaking it down!!
Tetsuo's theme haunt me since the movie releases, I was way too young the first time I watched it. And this music makes me feel very mixed feelings, it's comfortable, peaceful but also distorted, unhealthy. If I could see this music, it would be the visual representation of DNA, complex and beautiful.
Finally saw it in theatre! I really know nothing about music theory so seeing that there's plenty to dig into even there deepens my enjoyment of the film as a Gesamtkunstwerk!
Forever grateful to the team that created the 2003 FMA anime. This show changed and affected me so much growing up in important ways, and was a huge bonding experience with my friends both then and now. It's a gorgeous show and I'm not shy about considering it a masterpiece. The visual style, the cinematography, the artwork, the animation, the music and sound design, the writing and storytelling: it's all fantastic and comes together to create a wonderful adaptation that stands on its own by its own merits, both amongst its contemporaries, the source material, and even in contrast to the animated shows of today. Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 deserves its flowers, then, now, and forever 💐
Great video! In isolation Tetsuo's theme sounds a fairy tale or a children's tale - one that deceives you into thinking you are aware of the ending, before shifting abruptly, eventually turning into something ominous. This mirrors the innocence of Tetsuo, turning from a young boy into something much more powerful.
Watched the complete version on Vimeo. Wonderful video! I like the reveal that Mamoru Fujisawa and Joe Hisaishi are the same person, but most importantly I like all your explanations especially how specific track details represent different parts of the story, symbolism and characters.
Even after all these years, I'm still not over just how sinister Dante's theme is. It seems to creep into everything. "Hommunculus", "Dante" and "Dancing" aren't even as far as it goes. "Deep Forest" and "Precautionary Rules" also have the melody.
This is a fantastic video and I've watched it multiple times. I also find Hisaishi's music for the Boy and the Heron to be a little Rachmaninoff for this film. I was listening to Opus 29 and the cover for that album is the Isle of the Dead which evokes the graveyard in the oceanic part of the netherworld.
I hate to say this, since the connection you make between the woody marimba tone and Mahito's comment about blocks made of wood rather than stone is beautiful, but I'm 95% sure that the percussion instrument we hear in unison with the piano in The Great Collapse is actually a vibraphone. I've only seen this part listed as marimba in unofficial transcriptions, and both the tone and the attack/release of the notes sound an awful lot like a vibraphone with pedal to my ears. This is especially obvious at 1:38 of The Great Collapse when the orchestra begins to fall away-- the mallet percussion note rings out one last time and then abruptly cuts out in a way that sounds a hell of a lot like a vibraphone pedal being engaged. Add to all this the fact that Hisaishi definitely uses the vibraphone in other tracks (see for instance the first rendition of Ask Me Why) and the use of that instrument in The Great Collapse becomes even likelier to me. I suppose the instrument playing in unison with the piano COULD be a marimba with harder mallets and a digitally altered sound, but that's about the only way you can convince me that the mallet instrument in this track is a marimba. Source: am a percussionist who's played both instruments a good deal in orchestral settings.
Sorry if I'm misremembering, but I think you may have commented about this on the previous upload. I have to say you make a compelling case and I've definitely put a lot of thought into it. Hisaishi uses both vibes and marimba throughout the score so it's possible I was conflating the two when transcribing the Granduncle tracks by ear. I've also seen that same unofficial transcription you're referring to (and found other errors in it). I think there's also potential meaning behind the vibraphone's use since it appears in the very first cue of the film as well! But it does regretfully undercut the connection I made to the marimba. Thanks for taking such a close look here, I appreciate your feedback.
I don't *think* I made a comment on the last video (though I definitely had this thought at the time), but it's possible that I dashed something off briefly and then forgot about it. If my recollection is correct and I didn't say anything at the time then it's good to see that other percussionists are coming to similar conclusions! Listening to the track again I definitely see how it's tricky to distinguish between marimba and vibraphone given how versatile both instruments can be with different mallets/digital manipulation and given how short the sample is, so the 95% confidence figure I gave earlier may be a bit on the high side. I also agree that either instrument would be meaningful here given the associations that they both take on throughout the film, so I don't think the use of a vibraphone here would undermine your broader point about the significance and symbolism of various instruments in the score. That (very minor) quibble aside-- this video is wonderful! It's rare to see someone this knowledgeable about music theory, music history, AND film analysis on RU-vid who can use that combined set of skills to explain how the music of a film works together with its script and cinematography to create meaning. This video definitely led me to give you a sub and I hope that this re-upload manages to avoid RU-vid's wrath so that more people can discover your excellent work.
It may indeed have been another commenter, sorry for the confusion, I can't look back at the comments anymore u_u. But yes they brought up the same point and had me listening more closely to those cues. If anything I'd be interested to explore how the vibes (made of metal/"stone") could relate to a similar concept. And thank you for your support! I've taken some steps that will hopefully keep this video up, even if I may have to mute more of it in the future.🤞 Whatever happens, thanks for subbing and hope to see you in the comments of a future, less tumultuous upload!
Okay! Time to re-leave my comment as best as I remember it! Uhhh... Finally! A Cel-Shaded video on something I've already seen! I can watch this one! Thank you for putting into words what I loved so much about this movie's score. Ever since I started to get into theory I fell in love with minimalism and this movie's soundtrack is no exception. P.S., something something im not I'm, something something German vs English
This video is a reupload of my previously released video that was copyright stricken, as such, some sections have been muted. To watch the full unmuted version please visit the complete video on Vimeo: vimeo.com/905884353?share=copy
@@CelShadedMusicTheory actually, at .07 ! I can't remember. Also your video on boy and the heron was amazing, I watched it twice before it got taken down... Sorry man
I loved your previous GHIBLI video essay so much. It was so well written and wanted to ask you if I could make a Japanese ver out of yours. It’s so sad that the video was banned but hope you could re-upload it after re-edit! Cheers from Japan 🙌🗼
