Composer reacts: Tsukuyomi's Theme (Wayward Daughter) | Final Fantasy XIV 

Heyya ! @AtlasBenighted Thanks for the reaction and I really am glad to see how you’ve enjoyed it ! Tsukuyomi’s theme plays at an integral part of a storyline of a certain character, though the whole of it is one of my favourite experiences I’ve had with the game overall. I’m sure plenty of others can tell you of their experiences and give an insight to it but again I’m glad to see you’ve enjoyed it and many thanks for the reaction n breakdown ! :D

There is a lot to this song but to give the most general idea, the boss this song attached to is the best example of: "The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth."

This fight is just sad... You are bringing justice to an evil woman but you are also killing a victim.

I really love how the first track, Nightbloom, it's composed by Nobuo Uematsu, that's why it's sounds like an early ff track Lunacy and Wayward Daughter are composed by Soken this is like, an amazing unnoticed collab

This story was actually among my favorites. I hated her, felt sorry for her, and cried when she died. A true victim of a life filled with more hatred than love, and when redeemed she decided to exact vengeance on her brother... who truly deserved it.

Truly one of my favorite tracks in the whole game. The transition between female and male vocals gives me chills every time...

One of my favorite little details is how the second song, Lunacy, combines the theme of Yanxia and the theme associated with Hien and his father Kaien. And then the third track, Wayward Daughter, uses the same two base elements but utilizes the other halves of both songs that were not used in the second track. It’s a very small thing but I love it so much.

One of the best boss fights in the game for the main story honestly.. it’s a moment that may make you cry or tear up it’s quite a sad story

This entire fight is actually amazingly put together, and that includes the music. It's very hard to analyze it fully without context, but you did a good job. One example is this song's title. Final Fantasy 14 uses a lot of leitmotifs and loves to mix them into other songs to evoke certain things and tie story elements together (usually with the main theme of the expansion). The overall composition uses several songs that represent the boss's homeland, Doma, a land that she rule over and oppressed as revenge for her poor treatment as a child. Two of the songs used that represent Doma: A Father's Pride and A Mother's Pride. The song itself is a sort of wayward daughter.

Another thing I love about this is there's really heavy use of leitmotif, the trumpet part in Phase 1 is the main Stormblood theme and the female vocal part is the main Yanxia theme

This boss is particularly tragic, following their actions in the fight gives the feeling of watching a disaster or accident unfold before you. A lot of story significance, music, and even boss mechanics are all working together when you experience it in-game.

Tsukuyomi is a tragedy. The second phase doesn't have the 'sparkle' sounds that you get in the game, where she loses her 'divinity' and you have to protect her from physical manifestations of her suffering. She chose not to be redeemed, felt there was no hope of redemption and all the manifestations are sources of her anguish that you have to dispel, at that moment she is vulnerable she is weakened and you don't attack her, you attack the things that are trying to harm her, like you're trying to give her a way out of the despair she's fallen in to. That's why it's so sudden a change and why that second phase music is so soft imo. She is a victim, who became a monster.

Stormblood had some real gems in the songs. I also loved Suzaku's boss song, Sunrise. Bittersweet song with a great beat.

The fight against Tsukuyomi, as you expected, does take place in multiple phases. Unlike a lot of fights this is one where the enemy is the one who has her anime moment of thinking back on her past and finding the conviction to face you with her full power. With that in mind, there are actually three tracks being performed here. If I've read correctly, the first phase of the confrontation (the bombing mission lol) is Nightbloom. Phase 2 has Lunacy where we and the boss observe the sources of her motivation. Then Wayward Daughter plays for phase 3 when she has fully committed to facing you with everything she has. For players, be warned that spoilers follow (though if you watched this video aren't you spoiled anyway?): The story about this character is probably more of a tragedy than anything. This fight represents a failure on the player's part to save her from her villainous side. The light and dark themes are literal in a sense, and it's the dark side that wins out in the end. Even when we win this fight in the end it's not a moment to celebrate. And some of your commentary on the lyrics are pretty spot on. It wasn't an accident that she fell, she had help from those who would use her for their own ends. There was a brief moment where she might have broken free from that fate but it is lost once and for all when she herself concludes she is beyond salvation. But she does at least commit to going out on her own terms.

Utterly love this fight, character, arc, and song.

Her theme will always have a special place in my heart. Storm blood, not matter what most will say, was an amazing expansion personally. More so then any other expansion 😎

Another thing that's really cool about these tracks, as well as a lot of Soken's music, is that it contains themes and leitmotifs from other tracks. The first track in this video contains variations on Revolutions, which is one of the main themes for Stormblood. Wayward Daughter's female vocals quote the wind part from A Father's Pride, which is Doma's theme (where Tsuyu/Tsukoyomi is from).

This boss battle and the subsequent cut scene brought me to tears...

This fight is heartbreaking, this moment where you are forced to sacrifice a person who in the past has committed unforgivable crimes, who by the chance of fate could become a good person but her past catches up with her and ends up becoming a creature of destruction . This fight is morally hard, as the players are still challenged to put these emotions aside but the musical theme of the first phase does not help, however, the transition serves as a passage to relieve our pain a little, the moment to tell the review before moving on to phase 2 where the theme becomes epic, the sad emotions transform into a determination that is painful but unshakeable, Final Fantasy in all that splendor.

This is the second time I think you’ve liked that kind of choir Ff uses. Someone plz recommend ff16 away

I'm guessing someone already said it, but, Just in case, The sudden change in the music at 4:30, where it goes all quiet and.. solemn? Is actually the intermediary 1.5 phase between Phase 1 and Phase 2. Even in the fight itself it's a very quiet moment where the character Tsuyu (who in the story we had been bonding with had became the boss we were fighting) is being 'attacked' by her memories, and we the WoL and co have to slay those enemies to try and keep her safe. And then later in, the second shift in the theme is the start of Phase 2, which is when Tsuyu decides she is beyond redemption, and gives into the Primal(the boss is what is known as a Primal) urges and the fight resumes in earnest. I love this song, and I enjoyed your reaction. :) Subbed to ya. Edit: And yes, The transition from P1.5->2 is much smoother than the transition from P1->1.5; And it's done on purpose because the dive into Tsuyu's memories is very abrupt and unexpected in the fight, if you'd never done it before. Edit 2: And I enjoyed your speculation on what the song might be about at the end- Interesting take on the song in the vacuum of not knowing the actual meaning. :)

You'll notice another common theme to do with the moon in her design, she's a moon rabbit, which is a common thing in folklore/mythology.

FFXIV has so many great songs, but this one will always be a favourite of mine.

I love when the phase 2 has a radical genre shift

wayward daughter is soooo good, and tsukuyomi is my Beloved forever

hitting up that back catalogue of request you got from the ANSWERS video i see :D

The first time you hear this during your first encounter, it makes you angry (mostly because of story context) and you want to deal with this as fast as you can.... The second and later ones make you fear this encounter because you're never prepared for the emotional damage that comes... Even if you say that you're ready for it. Especially when Phase 3 kicks in.... For me, it's one of the few trials that forces me to go through with it with tears in my eyes.

The Ala Mhigan Anthem motif is easily top 3 in motifs for me in FF14, I'm glad you popped for it like I did when I first played this fight lol

I love it so much ;-;

love this song, especially the male chorus

The Wayward Daughter section reminds me of Yuki Kajiura's music a little bit.

Love your reactions and breakdowns man. You should definitely check out "From The Heavens" which is Omega's savage theme. It's one of the best/ most epic tracks in the game.

Man… what a fight. Is this an example of a leitmotif? Still learning musical theory 101

Soken has that FUNK in him

Okay, as we've got a bit of a language barrier, I believe you've confused "Torn" with "Thorn" A thorn is the thing roses have. Pointy plant spikes. Torn is the past tense of "to tear." Like you would a piece of paper, or a petal from a flower.

Tsukiyomi is a war criminal and monster and one of the most vile characters in the story. And then the game humanizes her and questions how we view "justice" and where it crosses the line into vengeance. At one point, she was a beautiful flower, but due to her circumstances she lost that innocence and became a truly evil tyrant. The male choir represents the one man who was willing to give her a second chance, and how she is now torn between her hatred of the people who ruined her life and the one person who ever showed any love for her. It's a very melodramatic fight and character (and I think this sort of thing was done better with several other characters, such as Gaius, Fordola and Lolorito), but this sort of examination of forgiveness on personal and corporate levels is this game's bread and butter, and it is all done very well here.

1:22 always great to watch atlas have eargasms 4:40 number 2 6:05 the TWIST

I hope you react to more FFXIV music! The raid bosses have a lot to analyze, but i hope you also get to listening to the more common area songs like towns, housing area music, etc. Liking the content though, subscribed :)

This thumbnail though

A character that it hurts to relate to.

This is my favourite theme in FFXIV so far. Of course apart from The twinning theme. This track is 11/10. @Edit: Of course I forgot about Good King Moggle Mog's Theme!

The word that defines Tsukuyomi's story to a tea is tragedy. Her life in Doma was tragic. Her life in Garlemald was tragic. Her end was tragic. I love the woman she could of been, but hate the woman she became.