Love this! Stunning! For those confused, here's an explanation on the story based on what I can understand from the brief flashbacks scattered through the video: the images in the museum at 0:47 show that the sirens, apparently an all-female species, were native to the island but were wiped out by human settlers 0:23 One of the settlers, the man in the blue shirt (who I'll just call the Sailor) hunts down two sirens at 0:30 who hide in a cabin, killing one and slitting the throat of the protagonist. But the protagonist survives, and is now the last of her species. She swears revenge against the humans, especially the Sailor. She hides herself in a cave, and to disguise herself as a human she cuts off her fangs 2:20 and carves a human mask 2:25. She discovers that her milk 2:32 can drive humans mad with lust (which she tests on a kidnapped human 2:12). She sneaks onto the Sailor's ship and laces the wine with her milk, which drives everyone on the ship mad 1:51 (except the Sailor) and they follow her boat, crashing near her cave. When the Sailor washes up on the shore, the siren pretends to be a human woman and lets him rest in her cave. She feeds him her milk and he goes mad, until she takes off her disguise and he realizes that she's a siren. She crucifies him (like the humans crucified the sirens) and cuts off the heads of the corpses hanging from the ceiling, covering him in their blood. At 4:22 she walks toward him with a sword, about to kill him. This is such a cool story, and I love how you re-contextualized the song into a story not just about violence towards women, but about colonization and genocide as well!
At 3:13 she reveals the gash on her neck and he remembers trying to kill her. That's the evidence for 0:30 Also pretty sure she painted him red with the blood to resemble her people
(No hablo ingles pero espero que lo tradusca google) y creo que las sirenas al ser seres solamente femeninos se reproducen o reproducian asexualmente osea que podrian ser seres hermafroditos o puden autoembarazarse
@@marcelamorales4200Oh yeahhhhhh, that means the lone survivor of the mermaid species could live on, on the island, and maybe TAKE OVER THE WORLD MWUAHAHAHAHA
Please no one take my word as disrespectful, it's only my view and personal take on the video, but as someone who stands by the side of the indigenous people of my country and as well as someone who was a victim of sexual assault. This video is indeed really really comforting and empowering 😊 plus the song is a banger
@@Piriguin_aweonekewhy is that offensive you literally said that you were a victim of some variety and that you cared for a group of people?? nothing about what you said is offensive! You're a good person!
@@crystallight808 thank you for saying that ^^, I've been accused before of having a "white savior complex" when I'm not even white and people calling me out for "hating all man and that not all of them are the same" when i talk about it to any extent, so i was just trying to make it clear i wasn't trying to say anything bad in case anyone would misinterpret anything i said again ┐(￣ヮ￣)┌
I've always wanted more movies and series from the perspective of the "monsters"/"Bad guys". Not with every antagonist ofcourse. (because some villains are just badly written and have bad motives) But just like this animation, some "villains" did not just do what they did because of their past or past experiences. (I'd also like to add that this is not "bad" for creating a villain characters backstory, it was just a example.) But because of everything that happened, they broke and snapped. And those are my favourite type of villains, and aspecially with this context.
It’s been done by a French animator called Michel Ocelot, who made a 2009 animation called Kirikou. The movie shows partially naked women and children, but it teaches you how common and NATURAL it is to be naked in day to day life. In my opinion, it teaches you how to see your body in a positive and light way
i remember watching that movie when i was younger. i was told to write an essay about it and i remember pointing out how gentle and reassuring it was to just see bodies as they naturally are. thank you for bringing that memory back. 🖤
@@sagpilehpapaOH I’m so happy!!! I loved that music, helps break this mental tabu against nudity. It’s such a beautiful movie too, I love Karaba! Have you watched other movies of his?
YES i so agree. there's a different yt vid getting really popular called "a woman's anger" or something and has lots of beautifully edited clips of furious women movie characters but i noticed they're _ALL_ just kinda "ugly yelling" through tears - And while that has its place I couldn't help up think: sometimes rage is quiet. sometimes rage is cunning, divisive. sometimes rage is broken, insane, unhinged... almost joyous ... and women feel these things powerfully and are often typecasted as witches _for that reason._ And I literally thought to myself while watching this animation "THIS is feminine fury"
Edit: So I rewatched at a slower speed and realized the sailor _us_ younger, but it's clear he's the one who slit her throat. Overall a very good representation of the cycle of war, too. I also kinda like how the sailor she tied to the cross at the end was implied to maybe have been too young to have partaken in the eradication of her people years ago. She waits to see how he reacts to her, both as a woman and a "monster," and when she sees he treats her as any of the other men would, she carries out her revenge, choosing to prolong the pain of the only one innocent of the crime of genocide among them, as they did to her.
@TheQuashingoftheTubhaha yeah I've watched it at slower speeds and caught that too. i think you're right he's "too young" though - in fact i think it's suggested they're around the same age, and thus they were both what looks to be tweens/young teens when his horrible attack on her happened. which i think works off the line "strangle the fear of deciding which ones deserving to drown" bc she COULD think "well he was a child too" and she absolutely does not (rightly so imo) and she in fact centers a lot of her revenge around him, he might even be the big finale... who knows for what she does next. But it clearly traumatized him too because he gestures to his throat just like she does, he was triggered by the scarf she teased him with and when he realized who she was he held his throat and sobbed instead of becoming angry/defensive. It haunted him too, he knew what he'd done was irreversible and unforgivable
@skybug1706 This act of violence doesn't just affect the victims, but also causes the witnesses and those forced into it to be traumatized as well. He might too young by _our_ standards, but I could easily see every able-bodied "man" in that population being forced into the hunt.
If no one else is gonna say it, thank you for animating the female body with such care. I’m glad this wasn’t made by anyone else, where they would have the perfect areola size, no pubic hair, and be skinny and beautiful- like a sailor wants a siren to be. in truth, the objectively scary nature of the siren is what makes this so beautiful. if men can treat women like they’re ugly, horrid monsters, why not be one anyways? It’s very subtle, but the female body is much more natural on the sirens- I love their designs, and the naked form is so beautiful, and i thank you for not making the sirens classic beauty queens. It actually helps a lot, story wise.
So skinny just isn’t natural anymore? I see what you’re saying But so many people like to call being skinny as not natural anymore, which I find to just be offensive at this point.
No, honestly, because... is it just me or have ruthless comments been taking up more of the spotlight than usual for the past few months on youtube and insta?
I think hate commenters would be too uncomfortable to even look at the video to leave any hate 😭😭 yk the saying: to disturb the comforted and comfort the disturbed
3:54 This really shows the anger and insanity the siren has. As well as the personal hatred she has for the sailor. Screaming as she holds her head, smearing a sailors blood on herself. It's absolutely beautiful from a symbolic standpoint.
I think one of the strongest visuals that has stuck with me in this video is of her cutting her fangs off. She armed herself by DISarming herself. she knew the perception of the woman they wanted. A weak temptress who could never hurt them. Something made for play. Soft, covered, playful. Near catlike in movement- but no claws or fangs. She adapted forms to create a weapon of weakness and it just *SLAYS me*
YESSS this is an amazing connection!! They ambushed and destroyed the women they felt threatened by- independent, fierce and capable of fighting back. Her long white stockings, full length gloves and dress made her non-threatening to them, concealing her claws and scales. She learned from the genocide that defencelessness is what appeals to them, which is why they were treated like monsters.
damn- just went frame by frame and realized that at 0:52 or 0:53 the statue of the "savage" siren fighting the human with the sword flickers to show the human man assaulting the siren :( but a very poetic portrayal of the tendency of men to assault women and then blame the women for it
I love this whole video, but the fact that the siren's human disguise mask barely moves while singing as opposed to her expresiveness with the mask off is brilliant, not only it conveys the idea that her face is a mask she made and therefore she can't move it as freely as her own face, but i feel like it also portrays how being a woman might sometimes feel like performing, don't make ugly faces, don't scream, etc. Wonderful video all in all and i can't imagine how much love you put into it ❤
this is the type of video that would make 7 year old me traumatized but then slowly understand the meaning and appreciate it on a rewatch 7 years later
I don't know if anybody noticed or talked about it, but when the siren goes crazy and the water becomes red, the girl with red hair didn't seem to be bother or horrified. My theory for this is at the beginning, you can see her seemingly being harassed/forcefully kissed by a sailor. Beautiful animation!
Second time watching the video, seems like that's the case exactly. The sailor kissing her at the 0:10 mark is holder her wrists up against the door, so she can't stop him.
+ 1:49 a little detail: did you notice that after the Siren get off the ship and point there, she looks at us? like she knows we're seeing or..maybe we're a character in the story, maybe a Siren, who knows?
I love how you can just FEEL all of the emotions of the siren, her pain of losing her family and friends and the satisfaction of getting a small bit of revenge ❤️
i can low key image a young asf melanie fan watching this unassuming and having nightmares for days (like maybe the mlp gore vids from a few years ago) 💀 the visuals were just too cool
Lol my sister watched a MLP gore video back when we were kids and she got so scared she had to sleep in my bed for a week. It was a video of pinkie pie torturing fluttershy MLP gore videos walked to Elsagate could run fr
My god. The amount of detail put into this is breathtaking. The small snarl when she bows to the armor, the way the sailors eyes become blown out when they taste her milk, how she based her mask around aspects of all the women in town (the lips of the ginger, the eyebrows of the brown dress, the nose of the green dress, and the skin of the purple dress), and my favorite detail, how her disguise makes her fully clothed with an outfit that had no “alluring” properties, and yet men still give her perverted looks; an amazing critique of those who say “she was asking for it, look at what she was wearing.” I wish I could put this in a museum, it deserves to be preserved for ages to come and studied in classrooms.
Something I noticed, at 4:09 there’s a flash of the siren in place of the sailor. To me, it’s signifying that he’s now in the position she and her people once were, very much hunter becomes the hunted vibe.
I also noticed the animator had him crying and panicking a lot too. I thought that was kind of strange since the typical depiction is to make him scream and be angry, but I think they did that because that's how the sirens felt when they were killed, and now he is feeling the same way. He *knows* he deserves this, that's why he's so upset. The sirens also don't have the same facial expressions humans do, so I believe the animator also used the sailor to show us how horrible they felt.
I’ve been watching your animated videos for a while now and this is by far one of the most powerful things you’ve ever created. The story, the visuals, the meaning is all so innovative and you’re able to do so much in only 4 minutes and 27 seconds. Like ur literally a god
Has anyone noticed the lore behind the red-haired woman? She was forcibly kissed by the sailor and then appeared pregnant, in the end she wasn't worried about the water turning to blood.
The way she looks right at us and sings to us the saddest, darkest and most enraged lines, all while we, enraptured, watch her beautifully dance through her revenge - a siren for us, too
According my knowledge from internet our hair is soo magical before shampo is a thing (we only need water and according to Chinese history the poor only need water and really Tiny gap comb to clean their hair) (correct me if i wrong)
3:17 I think this moment shows that patriarchy affects men too, making them do things (like this guy’s younger self had to cut siren’s throat) and becoming monsters. That boy didn’t look happy, just traumatized. Not that I’m trying to excuse them, of course not. I think patriarchy just isn’t good for anybody, beneficial for men , but not even for all of them. And they should suffer the consequences.
@@HysterietteIt’s wrong to blame modern men for the creation of patriarchy when they themselves didn’t establish it(it was made like 5000 years ago), it has been pushed for so many years that they themselves are forced to conform into it. The people you should be concerned are those who run the government/industry owners, so we should really be blaming the influential people who actually set patriarchal systems in place, not men as a whole. Also I think it’s ignorant to just blame an entire gender. Sorry if this comes off as rude.
@pippikaoo while I see your point about "modern men didn't build this structure," they sure as fuck ARE maintaining it. It is wrong to absolve them of it and brush it off to "governments and celebrities." Men are not innocent children incapable of critical thinking, recognition of wrongdoing, and change. Most heterosexual couples STILL have the woman in a position where she has to do everything. All the housework. All the cooking. All the child care. All the kin keeping, the shopping, cleaning, managing, organizing, planning, scheduling, on and fucking on. All while also typically having a full time job of her own OR being *expected* to give up her career on demand so he can pursue his. And this barely begins to scratch the surface of all the ways modern men are stomping on women just as hard as the men who built the fucking structure. And men know it. They're damn well capable of seeing how they overwork, under appreciate, and devalue their female partners. They can see themselves sitting on the couch playing videogames while she's doing all the heavy lifting around the house. They can see it right up to the point she lays the divorce papers in front of him. They can see it and still choose not to change. Men are adults and should be held accountable for their actions and choices. Especially when their actions and choices hurt the women around them. These men make their choice every damn day and shouldn't be surprised that it results in women not liking them much and not wanting to be with them anymore.
A sad thing I thought about What is the siren that was murdered by the sailor was the protagonists daughter. That explains why she could lactate and wanted revenge not only for her people but her child too
i actually thought of her as her mother/caregiver, since you can see the siren was very young when the raid happened. the milk production is a lunar cycle for the sirens, like a period of sorts (you can see her tracking her cycle on the wall), hence why she had to wait a couple years to execute her revenge plan.
@@sagpilehpapadude i never noticed that and i found this today, ive rewatched this so many times bc i cannot stop thinking about it. i love how powerful this is, i feel so much for this song and this animation just made it 1000x better. please do not stop, your talent is unexplainable, unmatched and beautiful.
@@dlg_solus5460 I think it makes them fall deeply in love with her, but not normally,it's more like a crazy obsession. That man she brought to the cave started crying when she showed him her scar because he knew he hurt her and it cause him like emotional damage and he fainted
As a woman, thank you. The way she cuts her fangs and produces a mask to be "polite" as expected of her hurts me, It hurts me because it's the truth, she is forced to hide this dangerous and horrible side of her, but which THEY (the man) see as horrible. The human body well represented, she is not the stereotype of what a man would love to see in a mermaid, she is the feminine fury. And thank you for really making a woman without all the mermaid stereotype, because even so she is still beautiful and has this charming way of moving! It's spectacular. I would love to tattoo her
um, no? you got the story wrong my dude. she disguises herself to take revenge on the sailor and his men for slicing her throat and killing a lot of her species. Not to seem "polite" or "the man see as horrible" as you say. The last one, I think you mean the part where she reveals herself and the man looks at her in disgust and all scared. Well, its because he recognized her by her scar on her throat, not because she was horrendous or some.
@@vascotabasco5179 No, buddy, you just don't understand how this work lines up with other people's lived experiences. Her time spent blending in with human society was no doubt painful for her. Ripping her fangs out wasn't easy and it wasn't done purely for revenge, but out of a need to protect herself if she was going to stay disguised. This is how women are treated. We are told to hide the sharpest and most dangerous parts of ourselves to blend into a world that sees us as less.
I am obsessed and i like how the towns people killed the sirens bc they thought that they were evil and when she got revenge, she was acting evil like they thought they would.
It's so rare that a fanmade piece like this is literally so perfect for a song. You absolutely fucking nailed this, the style in the art, the animation, the timing, the colour palette, expressions, character designs, sfx, it's literally all perfect for this song. Stunning job, you're immediately one of my favourite artists by this alone
This was a true delight. I absolutely adored the use of an old "evil because woman" monster like the Siren as a vehicle for expressing feminine rage. It works on so many different levels!
i’m literally so obsessed with this animation, it honestly hypnotized me, i feel like everytime i replay it i find something new, i didn’t even notice the background the first time!!! the expressions are so wonderful and ITS SO GOOD
I confess that I was a little disappointed because this animation should have already been sent to several animation festivals, you have the chance to win several awards for it, don't waste thsi chance, please, this is incredible :I.
@@Bloomix_winx1 I’ve never met you in my life more than a profile picture on a screen. And your telling me I haven’t used firealpaca, krita, and FlipaClip to not make my own animations??? Where are you going with this?? 💀
So I watched this at least three times, but I just noticed the woman getting assaulted by a sailor at 0:10 looks like the same woman at 4:03 who gives absolutely no fucks about the blood in the water. Love that she got some justice, too.
The way she wrapped the cloth around that sailors neck which is red representing the way her throat was cut when the men invaded long ago. This was her way of marking him and going “he’s the one who I will choose to have revenge and him suffer the same way I and my sisters did.” Such a small detail along with how a few people notice her and seem to have a feeling something is off but turn away since they see the mask she has on both literally and figuratively being seen as a “small and soft woman”. And the biggest detail was her specifically using white clothes to hide in the “light” of “purity” that she shows others around her while her red scales are her true self which is the “sinful and impure” that people have always seen of her once revealed.
The fact that the siren faces are unable to show expression from a lack of human facial structure yet still are able to show such anger, pain and fear... Even vengeful malice (valid tbh) is just so amazing to me... I'm an animation student and trust me I know how hard it is to show expression in animation but to be able to do it with nothing but body movement and color is such an amazing feat for an animator... This is an amazing piece, it deserves all the attention it gets
My personal headcanon is that at least one of the human women is pregnant and the child is born a snake woman, meaning that the land is trying to heal itself
this is one of the videos that most accurately describes my feelings as a woman and SA survivor. thank you so much for making this, every detail is flawless, you are an amazing artist.
A nice little detail I noticed is that at 3:16 it shows the guy who, at first glance for me, didn't have anything to do with what happened to the siren, but at his feet is the siren with her throat cut, by him, so he was the one who not only did that to her but murdered someone dear to to her, AKA the other siren, so this is personal, well planned revenge.
Oh that's beautiful. I didn't even see that in particular. But those are his eyes & face right there & about the right amount of hair growth, if hair length is an accurate measurement of time for these 2.
@@the8gang732 If you watch the little flashbacks during her reveal as a siren, it implies he may have been a kid when the genocide of the sirens happened. She aducts the one sailor on that boat who was innocent. It could very well be she was planning to conpletely spare him until he started chasing after her just like all the other men would lol
Okay, I know we are supposed to focusing on the siren, but I can't help but notice how incredibly well animated and expressive the sailor was. For example, him crawling through the tunnel at 3:00 was so captivating! I can't help but think that was intentional, because women/sirens were not allowed to be expressive, so once she shows him her true self and her true feelings, he is terrified. Truly amazing work!
I think the coolest detail was how the sailor on the cross at the end had the exact same pain and expression the siren did when the same thing happened to her people. Makes me believe, now that he's in her position, he's going to have the same burning desire for revenge, and the cycle of war and violence repeats itself.
I love how they have hair grow on other natural spots besides the head. Like the armpits and pubic hair. It isn't something you see usually even on human characters, it's refreshing to see it portrayed and not made a big deal either
I really appreciate the fact that when she’s wearing the mask she’s more expressionless because it’s a mask, it really adds to the unnerving of it and kind of amplifies her emotions when we see her without the mask.
Even with the mask... you see hints of her disdain slip through. The slite quirk to her lips, the sneer as she says the word 'polite'... GOD every time I watch this, I appreciate it all over again. The emotion. The feminine RAGE in every line... perfect.
4:09 When he’s screaming then it flashes to one of the others Screaming showing that she’s putting him through hell like they did to her and her sisters and mothers just comforted me so much this video is a masterpiece❤️
Fun Fact: This wasn’t your first time watching this masterpiece. Edit: I know there’s people who’s watching it for the first time, you don’t have to tell me
This is so beautiful. Pure feminine rage being displayed. Her body drawn with care and the animation style is so unique and smooth like?! THE FACIAL EXPRESSIONS AND THE MOVEMENTS ARE SO IMPRESSIVE, JUST THE STORYBOARD AND THE CREATIVE SPIN ON THIS ALONE IS ALREADY SO GOOD. I love this so much❤❤ no words are enough to describe how much I love thiss
This is genuinely one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen on so many levels. It also attracts such a spacific type of person having a deeper level of understanding of art and emotional intelligence. The small attention to deatail is breath taking and such are the comments. This is somthing that will always stay with me, thank you. And to think I wasnt going to click on it.
This animation is like one of those ideas you get in your head when listening to music that would be world changing as an animation but would be impossible to animate, but this looks like one of those ideas animated good job!!!!💕💕💕
“HoW wAs ThIs NoT DeMoNiZeD?!” “HoW dId YoUTUbE nOt AgE rEsTrIcTeD tHiS?!” Please just enjoy how the creator just put all of their effort into this. Nudity shouldn’t always be seen as a sexual thing, like how this has nudity and naked people in it but it wasn’t too sexual. In fact, not a lot of people used nudity for other things beside pornography and NSFW. I really love this animation and I feel like this has a meaningful message for womanhood/girlhood and how society can treat it. I think using a Siren for a metaphor to describe the pain and suffering that women and girls can go through like this is very creative to me. Men/boys can also feel their pain too but it mostly happens to women/girls. This is fucking epic to me so much you just got me motivation to draw something. I really like how the artist wasn’t afraid to add pubic hair on the siren instead of trying to make her look “more beautiful”. I love the story and art they’ve put into this. I wish and hope more people see this violent and horrifying but beautiful and creative animation.
@@gorefieldluvr69210:24 the beats, the deep voice, the mermaids being beheaded, crucified, the flashes changing scenes... this animation was very well done
THIS IS JUST INSANE???? I love the designs, the moves of the Siren are so harsh and yet so flowy, it creates an awesome contrast between her true self and her mask that she uses to averenge those people. The storytelling and colors are also beautiful I love this so much
…This is absolute art. Dark yet beautiful…it has actual accuracy to a woman’s body and didnt sexualize it. So many secret little meanings in this too. Her teeth being less sharp showing how men see women as innocent and helpless. It shows how truly terrifying a woman can be and brings light to sexism and over sexualization of women. The ending shows women fighting back against harassment and sexism. This is just BEAUTIFUL.
0:35 had to rewatch to see that she had an injury to the neck but survived, and that it was referenced with the red bandana around the one sailor's neck. (a lot of the animation runs so fast it's hard to catch everything at first watch. like the redhaired girl at the other end of a handsy sailor in the beginning, pressed against a door)
I think the bit at 0:35 was a visual representation for "engraved in our memory" line, but I can't say for sure. I assume this only because it transitions to it so quickly. But I do think the bandana is definitely a visual metaphor.
I think the mask of the siren is a metaphor of keeping a composure when your ready to explode in rage, when the siren removes the mask that means she's showing her true colors by now and it's red in her skin. The red may symbolize danger and sacrafice, The Danger is seducing a men deeper and deeper to show her true colors in private and the sacrafice is where the men is tied up in a cross like the siren nailed to the cross. And killed all of it's pirate partners.
The way his pupils blow after she feeds him the milk at 2:47 is only a detail i caught after watching this for the FOURTH time thank you for your service ❤
THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL The fact that she's(The siren)is torturing the guy like they(The people)tortured her kind, and how you used body hair on the siren and made her have a bit of a tummy is so beautiful and pretty
3:05 I like how he blesses himself before going after her, it's like he's acknowledging that what he's doing is wrong by doing the quick prayer anyways yk (I'm bad with explanations)
I think that part was representing her family’s throat getting cut of bc of the hair and stuff u could tell it wasent the protagonist so everything u said is basically correct just that little mistake lol
00:35 I really love the interpretation here, when the music goes silent like someone's head been pushed into the water, you chose to make the siren been "silenced", not only means the threat to her life, but also to depower her (to took her voice)
I don't know how many times I've watched this. It's so powerful. The emotion behind it is so strong. I love your use of the human form- not sexualized, only powerful. If Melanie was directing this video, I don't think she would've changed a single thing. Thank you for adding more beauty to an already amazing piece of art.
3:40 the way she dances and moves is so haunting and addicting i mean i'm amazed and completely in love with the animation 10/10 It deserves more recognition tbh well done!
The sense of time passing is very well executed. You can easily tell how long it's been based on the length of her hair. It's been years at least since the eradication of her people, and it's even evident by how long her hair is in the second chorus and bridge compared to its length before the first shipwreck. That sailor was under her "care" for a while. Also cool to see her first victim at 2:40 show up as a skeleton at 4:14
I keep coming back to this!!! The official music video has to be this exact thing just with a much higher budget supported by melanie’s team, it would get all the awards…
The composition of this animation is so amazing, the facial expressions, the rhythum and perfect symbolism. I love how smooth and abstract it looks despite the fast frameworks. The part where theyre dancing really shows how much power the siren holds to hypnotise the boy. I had chills watching this
