Animation Analysis: Arknights 2024 Special Commemorative Animation PV 

Just to avoid everyone typing out an essay: a Patreon member gave me a very good rundown of both the accuracies and confusions i had with this project. I'm now fairly well versed in the sociopolitical stances of Terra 💀

21:40 very emotional detail that they are in the shadow aka all gone but still following her step

5 years into a 2 min song truly encapsulates everything wrong but also beautiful about this world of ak and our journey as a doctor with Rhodes island. Absolute cinema

5:34 It's just Terran's feature, human with animal characteristics. For anyone curious, races of all the butlers from the 1st to the 3rd from the last of the line: Forte, Elafia, Vulpo/Feline?, Caprine, Perro, Zalak.

17:55 There's no good moment in there, those are people that cause the whole suffering They are people that pushed talulah to do unthinkable, they're villain of this story, They are having fun and having a time of their life with the suffering of everyone else.

I never realized that smile of Frostnova.... Thanks, pal. It gave me a little hurt & smiled at the same time

I will never be able to get over the shot of the Black Snake laughing and having a great time

I cried when you started to talk about FrostNova and the eerie accuracy of what happened in the story.

Do all artists have a degree in philosophy and literature? You made a lot of correct assumptions too, Amiya did toughen up after the Frostnova (white hair rabbit girl) encounter, so much so that I was surprised by how she just shrugged off something that was directly addressing her past and roles- Literally killing the past version of herself questioning the current Amiya in the latest chapter of the story

13:57 that shot was 1:1 referencing some injured woman from ongoing war in Ukraine. I can't give a link, but seen it mentioned on subreddit with exact same pose and bandages. This gives much more deepness in symbolism and hidden message that they are trying to portray in this short animation.

Ugh... Ace, Scout, Outcast, Misha/Skullshatterer, Frostnova, Yeti Squad, Patriot and other fallen operators... 21:39 really hurts... but it's bittersweet because they're gone but they're still with them, following the steps of those still alive.

im amazed at your whole dissection of the scene with frostnova, you got everything that was meant to be conveyed better than a lot of people who experienced that scene first hand in the game, especially what you said starting at 19:58 im really impressed

21:40 you can call them a support cause most people and bosses they fought are their own people With the same ideal and dream, but their methods are opposition of each other and why they crashed They're not enemy of each other They're fighting of friend and comrade that are running out of time Each life gave more push and new perspective Each sacrifice became a backbone of her Also the thing that will continue to push her out of comfort zone, there's no turning back Patriot aside, Frost nova will have a grave inside the Rhoad island. Because that's where she belong

We won...absolute cinema...peak...

im surprised you didnt comment on the frame size! most of the video is confined by the black bars at the top and bottom, but at a few points amiya pops out of it and is outside of the rest of the animation entirely, which really adds to that reflective feel. the first time she leaves the border is in the shot with misha, where she literally falls out of the frame, as she is unable to protect misha (or some other reason!). it happens a few more times over that section, then kind of stops until she summons the sword against talulah and causes the border to completely crumble away. im not smart enough to analyze any deeper meaning to it. maybe its about amiyas increased potential and strength, maybe its about rhodes island itself. but yeah, really cool detail i havent seen talked about that much. wondering if you have any thoughts on it!

One thing love about this video is af 21:40, where the characters are facing in opposite directions of each other, yet they're still walking in the same direction, showing how even though they are no longer with us, they are still supporting us in another form.

18:36 This singing girl is Frostnova, and she had a boss fight with Amiya in the main story. She has her own song too (together with her foster father Patriot), called Requiem, you have reacted to it: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HQL3heT1L1c.htmlsi=5e1T51STBMyYdD-O, a very sad and beautiful song.

Amiya the pinnacle of how to write a strong female protagonist 😌

The woman in 13:04 is inspired from real life, search "A wounded woman stands outside a hospital after the bombing of the eastern Ukraine town of Chuguiv."

Awesome!! This goddamn video gets me every time. Right after Frost Nova the scenes and music just provoke a flood of emotions.

I'm surprised I didn't see anyone else bring this up yet, and I did go looking to avoid being repetitive, but in the shot around 14:30 or so, I think you actually got things a bit in reverse there. That shot shows, first, young Amiya without her coat, then, the Doctor removing their own coat, and then, cuts to Amiya wearing her coat. The implication seems straightforward, the Doctor was with her for a short time, helped her when she was in dire straits, and, quite literally, passed their mantle on to her. After which she struggles to fill their place, ironically, the coat being far too big for her helps with this metaphor even more. So she has to grow and struggle until her efforts, and those of everyone she meets and who helps mould her along the way, finally let her catch up in the end. Not only that, but the shadow of what has been made ends up larger than they alone ever could have been, though that bit is far more iffy than the rest of what I've brought up. I don't know, just wanted to put my own opinion forth and couldn't bring myself to stop at just the mention of that shot having been the Doctor removing their coat and Amiya gaining hers.

I still love how accurate your analysis is for someone who does not know the plot at all! Really impressive.

I love it when you do animation breakdowns It really highlights things that I missed

Excellent breakdown. Just using the shot composition and the scene to scene story telling you got really accurate with your estimations of events.

Every single part of the PV makes me cry holy shit it's so good, especially that bit with Frostnova

goddamn I did not notice her smile there, thanks for the analysis

Amazing breakdown, you really manage to demonstrate an impressive understanding of narrative storytelling through animation with how much you're able to break down the beats without knowing the specifics of the story. This PV was a great commemoration of 5 years of Arknights. The story is full of suffering, struggles, and sorrows yet despite that we continue to persevere in order to find our tomorrow (reminder that the Chinese name for Arknights is 'Ark of Tomorrow'). Thank you for appreciating this and sharing your opinions and expertise.

If you're an arknights player, that 2 minutes is so fucking emotional haha.

I’m very surprised by how you tell the story between Amiya and Frostnova so accurately purely from the animation. Amiya and Frostnova (the white rabbit) was thinking about the same question of “where is the future of the infected” ( I am a CN server player so not sure if this is the translation used by EN server). Both of them reach a similar answer, and Frostnova fight to death for Rhodes Island to prove to her that they will try and can made it to the future in their shared dream, but it is also a future Frostnova cannot reach anymore. I am really amazed by how the animation is so detailed and well made! Thank you for pointing out all the details I missed and sharing your thoughts as someone who doesn’t know the story very well. And happy 5th Anniversary for Arknights!

Amazing work on this! Im horrible at analysis but love seeing everyome else pick apart the details❤!

17:00 Yeah these scenes are the summary of all the chapters. My interpretation of that animation is, you can see everytime something happened, there was a shadow Amiya that fell down or grieving, but another amiya (who is colored) is still moving forward, it's showing her actual emotion and feeling on each tragedies, each losses, so hard that she would give up, but she still stand up, keep moving forward even with all of those hard times.

1m gang, let's go!

By the way every single character in Arknights is some kind of part human part animal. There is no racism in regard to most races, save for the Sarkaz who are very important to the main story. What race some characters belong to remain ambiguous for various unique reasons. However, prejudice is still an integral part as a theme of the story because of a key worldbuilding detail. Originium. It’s the mineral that basically powers society. Electricity is impossible to produce without Originium. On top of being a source of power, Originium is also the conduit in which you channel “Arts”, which is just the word Arknights uses to refer to magic. Arts are employed in all sorts of different ways. Multiple storylines revolve around how different factions and countries utilize Arts in unique ways. The aspect about Originium that drives the majority of conflicts within the story is the fact that Originium is the source of a disease called Oripathy, which people in the community simplifies by referring to it as “rock cancer”. It’s funny, and it’s also a good way to communicate what Oripathy is. Oripathy is 100% deadly, and the disease spreads easily if the corpse isn’t taken care of because the body turns into dust that travels in the air easily. Because of this, people who are “Infected” are overly ostracized because of their perception as essentially being walking time bombs. Essentially, the source of this world’s magic system and power is the main source of an infectious disease that breeds conflict across the world of Terra. It’s a fascinating way to build a magic system (which in Arknights is treated as a sort of half hard half soft magic system since there are technically rules and the system adheres to certain principles, but the affect that Arts can have varies widely depending on various factors)

15:40 You mentioned about "hesitation" here and I think it was a very interesting thought. SPOILER ALERT FOR CHAPTER 14 AND "BABEL" SIDE STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alright, around a month ago, AK community was hit very hard by lore reveal in "Babel" side story. One of the lore bomb that a few years before main story, the Doctor betrayed and essentially murdered Theresa; Sarkaz king, the leader of Babel (predecessor of Rhodes Island), mother figure for Amiya, Kal'tsit's friend. Like, the players had always known that the Doctor had some roles behind Theresa's assassination, but everyone thought "nah, there must be some kind of 5D chess playing here that they plotted together" but then they hit us with "No, the Doctor did betray her. No 5D chess or something, just straight up letting assassins entered because Doctor had different goals and obligations". So, upper echelons of Rhodes Island which consisted of members from Babel's era was reluctant to pull out the Doctor from their cryosleep. No one's really willing to talk about it, including Amiya, that the only suspect was Doctor (and they were correct), and it brought doubts that, would the Doctor really be willing to help R.I., since whatever the reason behind it, Doctor did betray Theresa. In chapter 14, the Revenants, I think? They gave visions of what actually happened back then to Amiya, Kal'tsit, W, and Doctor. This confirmed their suspicions towards Doctor and Amiya confessed that she always had a pretty good idea of what happened back then, but Doctor was her father's figure. She said that there was a stark contrast between Doctor who saved her, took care of her, taught her about many things, to the Doctor who betrayed and killed Theresa. However, despite all doubts and hesistation, Amiya insisted and convinced everyone to pull out the sleeping Doctor from the shitfest Chernobog was. Maybe the unfocused shots of Doctor's back also highlighted how very little that young Amiya know about the Doctor. There was large dissonance between what she knew about Doctor and what happened at the end of civil war. However, she didn't have the chance to find out the truth because Doctor went into coma and had to recover in cryosleep chamber, hence there's only Doctor's back in Amiya's vision.

We got em, soon we can get him to do that 2 minute video of W trying to make a speech

Like the transition of the aspect ratio starting from 2:14.

I've watched this video a number of times now, but seeing you go through it frame by frame I just noticed the name "Phantom Crossbowman" in the background of one shot and that's both hilarious and sad to me (in a good way).

Animation so good he changed his thumbnail pattern

Terra really is a beautiful, broken world

It's kinda funny when you talked about family which to Amiya, that part is VERY COMPLICATE.

If I'm not mistaken, the reference for the wounded woman at 13:00 is from a photo taken from a current conflict which I shall not name.

Now that the story starts unfolding, it got me realize why the Doctor is portrayed alone at the end of the scene... Absolute Cinema

20:48 that's patriot, kinda frostnova, earlier girl's foster father.

I want his reaction for Dagger's Inheritors video.

Off Topic Houseki no Kuni a manga which I adore (absolutely underrated 10/10 should read) just ended recently and so id like to recommend its’ anime adaptation’s OP Kyoumen No Nami . It’s a really well constructed song

yippeeeeee

Wuhuuuuuu

waiting for the arlechinno short reaction. . it will be a great reaction

I have to talk about the image at 13:00. this shot is animated after a picture from a Woman who suffered in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Many people think this is disrespectful to that person and the ongoing conflict. Arknights has always been a game with references and viewpoints related to our world and its history. Question is, is it fine to take images and references from present conflicts and wars instead of the past? Its a very interesting topic in my eyes, as there has to be a line somewhere that dictates interpretations of conflicts. What and when is something allowed to be adapted, and then HOW is it done so? One thing that is also interesting is that Arknights is a chinese game, and yet despite that delves into topics and themes that similar games from that market would never dare to. Just some of my thoughts on this very interesting choice of visuals.

Just here to suggest listening to the song clarion call by cosmograph

OMG I just see that 2:16 the ratio of the animation change form 21:9 to 16:9

Hiromatsu Shuu, since he released that OP ‘Da Wang Rao Ming’ is one of my favourite directors when it comes to intros and music videos, his colours, direction and artistic vision is hypnotic, it's interesting how he uses animation resources, how he recycles animation to present it in different ways, the effects, etc, then he appeared in the Ending 5 of Chainsaw Man which is great, but this is Arknights is the most I've liked about him for the moment, and I know nothing about the game, I don't like that style of games, besides, the downside of seeing how the game is after seeing this is funny.

f bro i just notice the shot in shulshaterer body

Thumbnail looking like you got blasted away 😂

Amazing analysis. Why exactly didn't you play this yet, ha-ha? :D

Just to be clear, all of the characters have some animal traits. The only discrimination is against the people with the rocks on their skin.

They both had the same ideals, emphasis on 'had'

Poor old lady got an incurable deadly disease Catharsis: 13:05

There are a lot of details in this trailer that just cut deep into the feels when you know the story. I almost feel bad that you can’t appreciate the storytelling to its full potential since you haven’t play Arknights yet, WHICH YOU SHOULD, ONE OF THE BEST MOBILE GAMES ON THE MARKET PERIOD! The game isn’t without its flaws though. In terms of game mechanics it is one of the most enthralling and thought provoking in terms of how you approach stages with your own personal strategy. Modern Arknights storytelling is really captivating and all of the nuances regarding the incredibly varied world that Hypergryph made is objectively amazing. However, the game really doesn’t do a good job at showcasing its potential, at least in the early stages of building up your account. It makes sense because the first act is a part of the story that was released years ago, and over time Arknights has improved it’s quality of life both in terms of gameplay and story so you will see a quality disparity between different event and main campaign stories. It’ll definitely put off some people but if that doesn’t bother you you’ll be discovering one of the most rich and deep worlds ever written in human history. I am very passionate about this game since it’s become an important aspect of my life and the way I approach stories in other media, so I hope you’ll be able to find love for this game too besides just the music.

Ahueheuheu yuo did not lie, we eatin' good from you burning the kitchen down cooking

Tell Robert it was worth it.

Hands up, Absolutely cinema. Btw the thing in here 12:01 basically Those soldiers are just defending their city from infects. So it's not fully about racism of people begin half human and animal but begin infected. Every city is mainly composted by one type of people, not every city ofc such as Rhodes island aka the amiya city. Unlike other city, the Rhodes island accept every infect, basically a refugees for infects

Those are not micro expressions you are doing there, those are micro aggressions towards the ak community for bullying you to make those videos

Are you sure you haven't played the game? You're analyzing it too accurately... 🤔

Part of this video is about Elites feeding on suffering of masses.🥲