MUSIC DIRECTOR REACTS | Guilty Gear Strive - Symphony (A.B.A.'s Theme) 

This song was suggested in my discord a few times 🎶 Wow!!

Can't wait until he eventually gets to "Let me carve your way"

“This song must take forever to transcribe” my brother in Christ, covering the guitar part alone took me 12 hours by itself 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

The giant key is actually a shape-shifting magic weapon and she's in love with him

"Change your view, Change the meaning" You hit the nail on the head. What I love about the song is that it really hits on the mechanics of the character. She transitions back and forth from a slower methodical phase where she is dragging the large key around to a fast phase where the key transforms and she takes on a more aggressive approach. I couldnt wait to hear this full song as soon as I heard the licks in her announcement trailer.

I was blown away by this song randomly having the leitmotif of The Wall by Pink Floyd at the halfway mark xdd

Ok so bit of lore dump: Aba is a homunculus and was made in an isolated lab. She collected keys in her town because to her they represent freedom (ie the freedom of opening doors to new paths). Hence the key in her hair. The big stick she’s holding is actually a giant sentient axe in the shape of a key that’s her husband. And if you couldn’t tell from the rest of the message, she is not mentally sane Edit: also as you mentioned with “shifty” her entire gimmick is how she can enter “rage mode” where she goes absolutely insane and is insanely aggressive. Comparatively, in her normal mode, she is much weaker and much less confident

At 9:52 is ABAs old theme song "keep in gates" Old guilty gear characters tend to have a nod to their old theme songs slap in the middle of the songs

Daisuke just doesn’t miss fr

I feel like the drummer goes absolutely nuts in this song.

I really flipped out when the organs came on! To anyone who's never played Guilty Gear before, that's a sample from her original theme from Guilty Gear AC. I love that the team remembers and respects their older songs!

I'M SO GLAD I WASN'T CRAZY FOR HEARING THE WALL RIFF! It's so interesting to see the riff of a song about "being another brick in the wall" in a song about not fitting in and just wanting to make a difference. I wonder if this was a coincidence, but it'd be genius if it weren't

12:10 yes, A.B.A's gameplay mostly involves around getting into a temporary enraged/jealous state, making her pretty strong in that transformed state.

A.B.A is a homunculus (an artificial human), and the key she carries with her is sentient, and she's in love with him 🤔 Bit of a rundown on A.B.A and how it relates to her theme- A.B.A's creator was taken away by authorities right before she was "born", and thus she was all alone. She feared going outside because she knew she was "incomplete". Thus, she spent the first 10 years of her life in total isolation, passing her time collecting keys, which to her represented the freedom she might be brave enough to pursue one day. Eventually, she did dare to venture outside just a bit, and came across a discarded magical demon axe, Flament Nagel. Now, Flament Nagel was a sentient weapon, and would previously drive all his wielders to death because of his thirst for carnage. But, when A.B.A saw him, she thought he looked just like a key, and decided to take him with her. Since he was pretty much the first "person" she ever met, she grew deeply attached to him, deciding to make him her husband, and even renaming him "Paracelsus" to fit her taste. Through A.B.A's influence, Paracelsus became much more relaxed and less violent, slowly taking the form of an actual key- however, he also wasn't really on board with the whole "marriage" thing, and would frequently try to get away from her somehow. Despite this, it's also been shown that he does care about A.B.A in his own way, too. So with A.B.A and Paracelsus it's kinda this delicate balance of the two simultaneously each other's freedom (courage to explore the outside world, being able to become more than just a weapon) but also imprisonment (unhealthy attachment, inability to leave without extremely negative emotional outbursts) In turn, I think the track to a degree reflects the journey of finding oneself, finding comfort in another, and learning to keep the balance between one another, too And yes, gameplay-wise, this character is all about "flip-flopping", which the track also alludes to with its style- in the older games, A.B.A could feed Paracelsus blood to turn him into a frenzied state where his bloodlust returned, in the latest game (6 years later in-universe) the frenzy state is all A.B.A being overcome with her jealously and fear that Paracelsus will leave her

You're absolutely correct about the vibe of the song correlating with the character. The character is a artificial human who was abandon by her creater and isolated for many years. She then finds and falls in love with a living demon axe that looks like a key. The relationship was very one sided with her being madly in love with him and him really seeing her as just a partner and even manipulates her at times. But in the new game strive they have a more mutual feeling towards each other though still a bit one sided on her part. In game she has two modes one were she is generally pretty slow and underwhelming then a mode she goes batshit and is super fast, does a lot of damage and is basically the best character in the game. So the theme kinda emulations the revolving spectrum but it's all based in emotion.

To keep it really short, a.b.a (pronounced as abba) is a homunculus that lived alone for 10 years, she fell in love with keys because they symbolize freedom, the giant key is paracelcus, he is her "husband". Aba has two forms, a normal calm form and a berserk/jealous form During the song, there is also a reference to one of her previous themes "keep in the gates"

surprise you didnt mentiont the fact that the final part of teh song ( and some earlier parts) are full on rocking Pink Floyd's "the wall" leitmotif

I saw the community post from yesterday and though “hmm I wonder if he’s done abas theme yet” just to see it happening in literally 5 minutes after clicking his channel lmao

y'know it's killer when even tony starts playing air guitar @7:17 😂

Been an A.B.A. fan for like 15+ years now it's amazing to finally see her back in a modern Guilty Gear. And the fact that her theme is so amazing too (that organ callback to her Accent Core theme almost brought tears to my ears) is so cool.

You need to react to Elphelt's theme

12:05 nailed how she works and hasn't even played her A.B.A is kind of a Gear. that was made in a lab and she finds that big yellow key shaped battle axe. and names him Paracelsus. She basically forces him to marry her. But in how she plays in the game she has two forms a slow and defensive form and a fast high damage very offensive form bothe play pretty differently. But that's a simple run down of her. There's more to learn about her if you're interested.

The fact that you were questioning but still completely understood the character is a hundred percent accurate

Would absolutely love to see you talk about Elphelt's theme

Aba is a homunculus who is obsessed with keys who uses a giant sentient murderous relic originally called Flament Nagel, aba named it Paracelsus(reference to alchemy) and fell in love with it

fun fact, that organ part is a throwback to her old theme from an older guilty gear game called Keepin' Gates

The organ part is a reference to A.B.A's old theme's intro back in the previous games. The theme is Keep in gates. check it out if you are interested.

4:32 This was so funny to me "Strange is not the word... unusual" you mean he's using **QUIRKY NOTES?!** in this song?

YES. I am currently obsessed with this song. Thank you for covering this😊

These breakdowns with you are so fun, man. It's so informative, but also watching you have a great time listening to the music makes me smile.

It would be cool if he checked out the character trailer after to get a sense of their personality in a visual sense, although i know he is more focused on the music side. To answer his question about the character, A.B.A is a homunculus (an artificial human) that was created by a scientist, but her creator got forcibly taken away by the military to help them with their secret operations. When she woke up, she found herself alone in his laboratory and mansion home in the mountains, where she stayed in isolation for 10 years. During that time, she was torn between her growing longing for freedom and her fear of the outside world due to knowing nothing about it, so she found a hobby in collecting keys - since keys to her symbolized open doors and freedom, which is visually represented by the one in her head. She finally gathered the courage to leave her home one day, and as she aimlessly wandered, she stumbled upon a dead battlefield, and found "Paracelsus" (real name Flament Nagel) - the giant "key" she holds... see, Flament Nagel only looked like a key - it was actually a cursed, sentient, shape-shifting axe that drove anyone that held it into a beserker rage to satiate its own bloodlust. He had used his shape-shifting power to look more like a key in order to lure A.B.A into picking him up so he could use her as a host to continue his history of violence and carnage, but hadn't counted on A.B.A being someone who was already mentally unstable, as she fell in love at first sight with him and renamed him to "Paracelsus", proclaiming him as her "love". Unable to control her due to her complex personality, he ended up stuck with her despite finding her romantic obsession with him creepy, as A.B.A, due to her homunculus nature, was significantly stronger, faster, and more durable than the average human and would fly into a jealous rage whenever someone tried to take "Paracelsus from her. As of the latest game, he has mellowed significantly, to the point of trying to stop A.B.A from getting into unecessary fights. Oh, and he's technically her husband now.

Symphony is so good it didn’t take Tony months to listen to it lol, I love hearing you discuss these songs even if I’ve heard them a thousand times you always bring something fresh that I didn’t think about before 💚

Aba does have two diff forms you play as, so you were pretty spot on lol

The Guilty Gear Strive soundtrack is just incredible, iconic, and unpredictable.

The key in her hair isnt just a hairband, it's through her head. A.B.A is a homunculus created in a lab and was locked away there for the first 10 years of her life, during which time she developed a love for keys as they represented her freedom. Eventually she got out and started wandering, and came across the giant key she's holding. He's a sentient demon axe named Flament Nagel, but she fell in love with him at first sight and renamed him Paracelsus after the alchemist who created her. Since then she's been trying to find a suitable body to move his soul into, fighting almost everyone she comes across as she's incredibly possessive and jealous when it comes to Paracelsus, to the point where she misinterprets most interactions as people trying to take him away from her. Edit: Yes the shifty feeling is representative of how she's played. A.B.A is a mode change character who starts off with poor movement and slow attacks which usually don't reach far, and then shifts to a much more mobile mode with faster and more aggressive attacks.

You should totally listen to "extras" which is another of the newer ggst themes for a character called elphelt

Aaaand another one of them going to the playlist lol. Great analysis Tony!

I did not expect this to drop so soon

9:53 the organ is taken from her old theme Keep in Gates, just like Ky's theme

Missed Guilty Gear on the channel, lets goo.

more gear is always appreciated! hoping you get around to rock parade or extras at some point, or just more gear in general

Very excited to hear your take on this song. I've been obsessed with it ever since it was released last week, I'm hoping to see more Guilty Gear music in the future! There are a *ton* of songs worth listening to in terms of artistry and creativity.

"Its all over the place" yes sir this is guilty gear, thats why we are here! Love your stuff tony

The piano flourishes are fantastic!

YESSSSSSS IM SO HAPPY U MADE A VID ON THIS SONG IT SLAPSSSSSSS

I love that just yesterday I found the channel thanks to guilty gear and the next day there is a new video, wow

Nailed it with the character being one in different states of self. Both story and game mechanics wise. Fantastic to learn that comes across in her theme too.

one of my reading about the songs of guilty gear is they not only encapsulate a bit about the characters story or mechanics but often are a bit of the characters view or lens of the world, pointing from where they've come from and where they are now in the current game, would suggest "extras" from guilty gear as-well for a every adventurous song

Was hoping for this one, a wild track for sure

Personal opinion, I genuinely think this song is Daisuke's magnum opus so far. Every bit of this song, each note and each lyric, are tied in with the character so intimately. And from a composition standpoint it shows a ridiculous amount of skill. Amazing. Thanks for covering it, I loved what you had to say about it!

4:30 when you said that its a weird note to have in the the lyric says "we're just one quirky note in the symphony" and then when you actually mention it it extends to say "quirky note".

the constantly shifting tone reminds me of something like bohemian rhapsody in composition

Awesome video brother ❤

These guilty gear songs are always such a crazy fun ride to listen to, I'd not listened to the guilty gear music before I watched Tony's vids, but yeah I love this stuff

Naoki and Daisuke played a lot of GG songs live recently for the Arc World Tour it was really cool!

Now he REALLY needs to react to Elphelt's theme. I really want to see his reaction to Extras

Never noticed that the start of the song is a homage to Tubular Bells. Only realized because he slowed it down lol

Also, fun fact, my man Tony: If you listen closely to the chorus before the ending of that song, you'll notice something very interesting - in the first half, it was all double bass, but during the second "Break out, break out..." to "We're just quirky note...", it's actually single bass; Daisuke is a master of music, and he always finds some way to throw people off guard with his song...😁🤩🤟👌

I appreciate Tony sharing gems of experience like where certain sounds may have derived from. I hadn't listened to Alice in Chains before he mentioned but I can hear some similarities! Andi wanna give Al Di Meola a listen as well!

Tony hasn't reacted to Drakengard 3 themes before, but the first few seconds really feel like how the Intoner themes start I love this. Some songs I only like certain parts of the song, but I like the composition as a whole. The switch back and forth between slower and faster bpm reflects her gameplay and makes this feel like a smooth rollercoaster

"Are there multiple ways to play them" is an incredible deduction. Yes! There is.

The choir part towards the end reminds me of the choir section of "another brick in the wall" by pink floyd

LETS GOOO

Curious if you caught the “another brick in the wall” homage in the slower part of the song.

btw If you hold shift and press < or > you slow or speed down the video faster than going through the menu

You should do a small look at character trailers after the song is done so you can do a mini talk comparing the character to their song

I love that Daisuke brought ABA back; if you liked this, you might find their original theme Keep in Gates to be an interesting listen - i also never would have though of Al Di Meola being a comparison to anything Daisuke composed; damn, your musical flavour range is inspirational, Tony!

Can't wait your reaction to Elphelt's theme too. You will like it very much.

Have you ever listened to “My Soul, your beats” it’s from an anime called angel beats and it’s definitely one of my favorite songs of all time!

12:10 correctly guessing that the character plays in two different ways, a 'Stance' character as its commonly referred to, just by their theme song is so cool actually. impressive analysis.

You should react to “ Shangri-La Frontier” openings 1 and 2 the show is great and both openings have caught me off guard as being really good

including this theme, you've done a total of 11 guilty gear songs, all of which being vocal tracks, maybe more if i missed some.

LET'S GOOO!

It would be cool if you listened to some of the older Guilty Gear tracks. They are more straightforward and most of them don’t have lyrics, but they are certified gaming classics. Plus a lot of the character’s old themes are referenced in the new ones, so you may gain some additional context. Some suggestions: Holy Orders Pillars of The Underworld A Fixed Idea Awe of She Marionette

You should also do esphelts theme extra!! It rocks just like her haha

This theme, and this character, can ABSOLUTELY be described as strange. This is the first time this character has appeared in over a decade and it has people really excited cuz there were times where you could argue about whether or not she was considered canon, and there's also debate about who designed her. Daisuke Ishiwatari designs all the characters in this series but there's a rumor Toshimichi Mori, the creator of BlazBlue, another fighting game series developed by ArcSys, designed her. Either way it's exciting to see her back. Her name (pronounced Ahbah) is likely a reference to blood types since blood used to be part of her gimmick, but ALSO she's named after ABBA the band! She's a humonculus made by an alchemist named Paracelsus, but when she awoke in the lab she was made in there was nobody else to be found. She spent the first 10 years of her life living there collecting keys, before she discovered a sentient, humongous demonic key shaped battle axe called Flament Nagel that Paracelsus had come across and brought back to his lab at some point. For whatever reason she became obsessed with it, made it her HUSBAND, and renamed him Paracelsus after her creator, and then went on a journey with him to find a way to make him a human body, ALL without actually consulting the poor thing about any of it. Elaborating more about the nature of the weapon, back during the war between humans and Gears, Flament Nagel would constantly hop from wielder to wielder, and wielding him caused him to essentially take over them, turning them into a raging berserker and usually that would lead to their death from the physical strain. However A.B.A's biology made her more resilient to its effects which made them a surprisingly good pair. A.B.A isn't very socially adept, and she gets extremely jealous of any other warriors she meets who take an interest in Paracelsus since that's her man. Paracelsus isn't totally innocent either, as his whole goal as a battle axe is to spill blood and consume it, and he used A.B.A for that purpose, but eventually he mellowed out. Between the last time we saw them and now they did a lot of traveling, A.B.A did not get any more socially adept but she did take an interest in fashion so she's more stylish in this game and she even dyed her hair blue (originally red). The whole thing about finding Paracelsus a body has also been seemingly dropped, which is good for him cuz he's perfectly content being an axe lol. The ending of her arcade mode in Strive has them both addressing their toxic relationship, and instead of breaking up they vow to both do better by eachother because A.B.A seriously loves him, and Paracelsus grew fond of her too throughout the years. The final scene in her arcade mode is a suprisingly human conversation between them it's just really hilarious how good this series's writing is considering how wacky it all is in concept. Gameplay wise, Paracelsus is HEAVY. A.B.A has to tug him around meaning her mobility is normally really sluggish. In this state she's probably the weakest characters in the game. But through certain conditions she can enter a mode where she gains the strength to wield him effortly, while gaining some of the fastest mobility and strongest attacks in the whole game to boot! It's all a game about managing her bad mode carefully, and maximizing amount of time you spend in the good mode, which is on a timer, and is dependant on a meter that you have to fill up by landing certain attacks in the bad mode, and you also have manually activate the good mode using a couple of different methods meaning you need either buy a quick second to change, or land one of two attacks of hers which toggle her modes. It's really fun I've been having a good time playing as her, and I'm probably gonna end up using her as one of my mains.

you should react to the video that goes over all of the various musical references within guilty gear

All the songs in Strive are very Character Specific and say so much about the characters themselves. IMO the songs are amplified once you know the story and the character's backgrounds and theory craft what the music could be referencing.

A.B.A is a very strange character, both story and development wise being originally from a spinoff. She's a humunculos created through mysterious means who obtained an obsession with keys before falling in love with a living key shaped battleax, who she has a very... unhealthy relationship with. In previous games she could power him up through blood sacrifices, whether they be blood bags, blood from the enemy, or from herself, with her being incredibly slow and weak when not powered up and a MONSTER when she is. In the newest game though her powered up state is instead a Jealous Rage she flies into at the presence of other people, her being afraid they'll somehow take her beloved "husband" away. She's a bit of an anomaly in the story and lore, not really fitting with a bunch of other elements in the series. I notice the GG songs you've reacted to have all been from Strive and all been either the main theme or character themes, which are primarily meant for battle in gameplay. There's definitely more to the series musical library though, and I'd suggest checking them out. Name of Heaven and Talk About You, the two credits songs, are quite a bit different from the battle themes, and if drawing from previous games there's classics like Lily, Wanna Be Crazy, Freesia, and Coming Home. If you think the battle themes are great, these ones might give you a whole new perspective on the series musical identity!

Idk if you have in your videos. But have you done yugioh openings? Both the english and japanese idk to like compare see what you think

I saw a game mod that turned A.B.A. into Marcille from Delicious in Dungeon.

Wisdom, patience, empathy, kindness ,serenity, clarity. BREAK OUT BREAK OUT, Turn the key to a world untold! Life is a maze woven with words! Blah blah, blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah! Sick and tired, normal or not, no big deal, I'm just a quirky note in the symphony! (Quirky note) (Quirky note) change your view, change the meaning. Creepiness! It's it's it's worthwhile! Bothersome! At times its kindness. Depressed, sickness! THOSE ARE VIRTUES OF MINE! Courage, integrity, purpose, humility, respect, loyalty responsibility. Forges the armor! Liberty, curiosity, compassion and affection, WORDS, weave a stealthy chain. BREAKOUT BREAKOUT, turn the key to a world untold! life is a maze woven with words! Blah blah, blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah! Sick and tired, normal or not ,no big deal, I'm just a quirky note in the symphony! (quirky note) (quirky note) Change your view, change the meaning. Creepiness! It's it's it's worthwhile. Bothersome! At times its kindness. Depressed, Sickness! THOSE ARE VIRTUES OF MINE! I'm not here to fit in this world, I just want to make a difference. The armor of words, it's fine I found my fit. Freedom, Freedom! Turn the key to a world untold! Love is a maze woven with words! Let's shout shout, let's shout shout, let's shout shout shout! Let's journey together! Normal or not no big deal, we're just quirky note's in the symphony! (quirky notes) That's why its beautiful. I'm not here to fit in this world, I just want to make a difference. I'm not here to fit in this world, I just want to make a difference. Breakout, breakout, turn the key to a world untold. (la la la la, la la la) Breakout, breakout. life is a maze woven with words. We're just quirky notes in the symphony! I'm not here to fit in this world, I just want to make a difference. I'm not here to fit in this world, I just want to make a difference. (lyrics posted by NAOKI)

Tony you should totally react to some songs from Port Sulpher Band

Of course, it's not as good as this theme, but i would still recommend giving her previous theme a listen.

We need more guilty gear reactions

Please react to Big Mama’s killing voice!!! Professional and older Korean girl group

Please take a look at Link Click's Vortex! I dunno if its as amazing as i think but definitely worth a listen!

We love Prog Rock!!!

In the fighting game spirit please react to "Viator" Ryu's theme from Street Fighter 6!

Ok I've been trying to find what he's talking about at 10:27 but I can't find anything for aldin yolo anyone have an idea of what album or song he's talking about?

I waiting for DrumRollTony to react to the Extract but we skipped it and went to A.B.A theme instead

I think he likes it

You gotta do ''Alone infection'' by Naoki next (its a guilty gear strive song)

omg fastest reaction for ggst

You should do Legend of Zelda:Twilight Princess Orchestra piece #2

Has Tony ever listened to Broken Games by FZMZ? I think he'll have a blast.

Compared to the other two amazing songs with great variety you listened, this theme song does not hit the spot quite the same. I recommend the Theme Songs of Baiken & The Theme Song of Zato of even the Theme of Faust for "variety songs" and the Theme Songs of Ky & Goldlewis for a more toned version of guilty gear strive music

nah he should listen to extras, elphelt theme

🥑

Listen to Axl lows theme it fireee