Opera Singer Reacts to The Gravity (Asuka R♯'s Theme) || Guilty Gear Strive OST 

for context, Asuka is a really well intentioned guy that fucked up massively and repeatedly. apparently he ultimately decided the best method of helping is to go to the moon and start a podcast or something.

Can you hear the weight of a character 25 years in the making?

I just realized that the lyrics "Does the sun ever defy fate?" is referring to Sol Badguy since y'know Sol literally means the Sun. So in that lyric Asuka is wondering if Sol is ever free'd from his fate of being "The Guilty Gear" and probably harboring deep regret for turning his beloved friend into a gear all those years ago.

Asuka’s final act in the story is literally him flying to the moon to start a podcast about all the good that’s happening in the world in the hopes that the positivity will infect the world and hopefully make the world a better place if that’s not trying to repent in his case I dont know what is

In my opinion, the “do you recognize me?” Is also towards the people in his life that he directly hurt. Long story short, despite good intentions Asuka ended up majorly ruining the lives of his two closest friends and only now *100 years!* later things are starting to get a little better between them. It’s not fixed, far from it. But he’s asking if after all this time if his friends can still see their old friend in him even though they've all changed so deeply. And maybe one day they can truly be as close as they were back then again

Picking up on the duality aspect so quickly was really impressive, considering Asuka actually clones himself and is playable in two versions. R. Kreutz, the original, seems to be more repentant and guilty of what he's done, and R#, the copy, seems to brush aside what he did, and is more optimistic and casual about it.

The man, the myth, the legend, our homeboy Asuka having to carry the weight of hundreds of millions in his head after doing a little experimenting with his friends, then going to the moon to chill while his clone does business on earth. Truly a guilty gear

So, the reason behind him being called "Asuka R♯", is specifically in reference to the German form of the word for the symbol "Doppelkreuz". Of course, this is because his name is Asuka R Kreuz. The "Doppel" refers to two things: literal and a play on words. He "betrayed" Frederick/Sol, thus, "Double Cross" being a play on words. Literally, the Asuka we seem to be playing in Stive is merely a copy, or doppelganger of the real Asuka, a vessel to enact his will while he remains on the Moon.

"WE GETTING OUT OF THE CORNER WITH THIS ONE" 🔥🔥🔥

"The gravity holds all the answers" is the ultimate acceptance of letting go of the illusion of control.

And then he banished himself to the moon to start his podcast, The Asuka R Experience.

The chorus references the story of the game a lot, although a bit subtly. Asuka is beginning to understand his former master’s “Nothing matters, and so everything is beautiful” ideology in STRIVE. “Does ‘meaning’ have meaning?’ being a response to the previous line “Does existence have meaning?” Also, “Did the Sun ever defy fate?” definitely refers to the main character, *Sol* Badguy. One last addition, it may just be how I think of it, but the “Beyond [it] all, do you recognize me?” lyric seems to convey Asuka’s relationship with Sol. Through it all, everything he did, Asuka just wanted to fix what he did wrong and let his friend be happy again, be the friend he once was. (Still idk if that’s the correct words since there are no official lyrics yet.)

WERE MAKING IT TO THE MOON PODCAST WITH THIS ONE 🔥🔥🔥 also great video Asuka has been in the game since the begginning but only now about 25 years later do we actually see him playable and get to hear his inner thoughts and i think this theme song is probably my new favorite

The sheer joy I feel when Marco is stunned for words and cannot contain his excitement ":O"

There’s just no reason a video game should have ALL these good songs and plus they all lasts about 6 minutes. I don’t play the game because I’m garbage but I do get excited when a trailer releases because that’s a new song to add to my playlist😂

WE ABOUT TO DO SOME WAR CRIMES WITH THIS ONE 🔥🔥🔥

That organ is a little reference to Asuka's original theme in Guilty Gear 2: Overture named "The Man" you should give it a listen, as well as all other songs in Overture (which in my opinion is Guilty Gear's best album by far) love you man, keep on rocking ❤

This was made for a character that masterminds strategy so much they even made his gameplay requiring 4D chess player mentality compatability and added the tag of table top card game deck builder for the gameplay style of the fighting game. Also That Man throws around information density cubes which are literally information from The Backyard so dense and unquantifiable that it crushes and disentigrates people on contact. The fact that he attacks with spells revolving around weaponized information that is lethal with the gravity of understanding speaks enough about the song title.

I always heard “the fuck!?” Instead of “the fact” which made sense to me with the tone of voice he sang it in

This song really feels like the end of an era it’s amazing we really have come far with this series and i cant wait for more

The Gravity reminds me of the end of happy chaos' theme and i would love to see you react to it. Another awesome reaction!

holy crap the theme of my favorite podcaster

Funny that you mention all the stuff about Asuka at the end. (a spoiler warning for those that care about the arcade story plots) With what I've gathered from the bits coming out in his Arcade story mode its basically a therapy session with himself where he comes to realization that yeah he's not a great guy and his clone straight up says that he hates himself. So the song being very introspective and Asuka himself being on a redemption path is all in line with where they might potentially be taking him in the future.

I knew you would love this theme, so much to take in just from the theme alone. I surprised and happy with the direction they took with Asuka.

I think this might be most fun you've had with a Strive song so far

Asooka R Croutons my favorite character

It's really interesting that at face value, the lyrics speak to his obsession with knowledge but if you read between the lines, it's all about his self-loathing and his doubts about ever being forgiven by the world he threw into chaos

I absolutely adore this theme, I'm glad they're doing some more prog-style music in this soundtrack. Thanks for covering it!

Could just be me overthinking it but I feel like the line " does the sun defy fate" maybe a reference to Sol defying his fate as a gear that Asuka gave to him?

2:40 his reaction to the organ is my reaction to more characters being added to Strive.

Song suggestion: The game "Struggling" has an opera themed boss encounter, named Amadeus. If you've never heard of Struggling, I won't even spoil the most basic things about it, because it has to be seen to be believed. But I'll let you know the boss' theme music is titled "Flesh Opera, Cries of the Firstborn."

My absolute favorite part of this theme is that the music played in the very beginning before the guitars kick in, is what the song ends on as well. Not only do I love it because that part is very pretty & gives me chills, plus it makes it so this theme has a perfect lopp compared to how other strive songs end, but it potentially connects to the lyrics. "The beginning and end, all the same."

Its interesting that Asuka and His mentor Happy Chaos themes both mention "black universes" Chaos main chorus has a line "I'll just be a black sea" which in the end turns into "I'll just be a vast universe" and while Chaos theme "Drift" has it mainly being about how once you know literally everything in the universe Chaos would rather drift along and see where the Black Sea/Universe takes him. While with Asuka and "The Gravity" has his being more about when you know EVERYTHING he questions it similar to Chaos but "The gravity of all the answers" sounds more like he's accepting of what he's done and if "Beyond it all, do you recognize me" is the correct lyric then he just hopes Sol and Aria can still see their friend past all the crimes he did.

If you haven't listened to it yet already, I definitely think you'd love Like A Weed, Naturally, As A Matter Of Course, which is Testament's theme! I'd recommend giving it a go sometime

Asuka basically decided to take the blame for a bunch of war crimes and do a bunch of heinous shit, but really he was just playing the long con so that pieces would move into place for an ultimately good outcome

It's very impressive how quickly you picked up on the duality of Asuka just from the theme. That's a testament to your insight, but also Daisuke is a genius and is a master of his craft. I think you would enjoy Asuka's theme from Guilty Gear Overture. There aren't vocals, but it's very similar to this song. If you're interested, that song is called "The Man" and I just think it's so neat how The Gravity is similar in a lot of ways with the organ and stuff.

I’m absolutely obsessed with your analysis!!

Man, I'm so glad i found this channel, bc its nice seeing someone figure out the "redemption" and "duality" aspects of his character from basically zero context. You could make an entire video essay about his theme song and how it relates to his story throughout the franchise as a whole and STRIVE specifically, but the gist of it is him trying to come to terms with himself and his actions throughout the series. his Arcade story mode has him use his magic to create multiple clones of himself to embody different "viewpoints" about his actions in an attempt to determine which is the "correct" one. That's why so many of the lines in this song are questions: he's looking inward to try and answer them. Do good intentions change the fact that I've hurt so many people? ("Does meaning have meaning") Is it right that I've basically stripped my best friend of all ability to live his life? ("Did the sun ever defy fate?") Will the world ever forgive me for my actions? ("Has the universe turned black?") Will Sol/Fredrick? ("Beyond it all, do you recognise me?")

Wow. I now totally got to snag this song. I've only ever really played Guilty Gear X which was a blast, but I can't remember to music to it anymore. This song, however, will stick with me. A powerful song that you can feel the internal struggle of Asuka. I also just learned that the name Asuka is not just a feminine name. I was always under the impression it was just for the ladies, but nope. Here he is.

You're really killing it with these interpretations. Bravo.

Guilty Gear loves that Duality. It is also used in the Theme "One Dawn" from Xrd

I'm glad this is one of your favorite pieces because the weight of this composition holds true to just HOW important asuka is as a character over the timeline of all the games, I especially adore the bass hook in the middle to link to the solo but that chorus OH MAN that chorus just the harmonies going into that somber line of the "REALITY OF THE TRUTH" looking forward to more and more guilty gear and always love your coverage on tracks I enjoy 🖤 I also come bearing another suggestion, as your interest in soulsborne tracks makes me want to suggest you take a look into Blasphemous' OST since the sequel is coming out this summer. 2 tracks in particular I think you would VERY much enjoy are Entre Bordados and Cinco Miradas Tiene la Aurora, the game has a HEAVY cultural influence based on the religious traditions of the developers city and it's vibrant in spanish culture which goes for the soundtrack as well.

We gonna fly up to the moon with this theme 🔥

I can't wait to see your other Guilty Gear ost reactions!

This was insightful. Thank you.

Duality is spot on for him. From what I heard his design concept (visually, and characterwise) was "two sides of the same coin". His name is Asuka R Kreutz (R# is a clone he made), so Japanese and German. Then his outfit is a mix of Shinto and Catholic priest. And then that priest aspect is mixed with his floating cloak and his staff and book which brings to mind classic mages. Even further he merged magic with science. On the character front, he's the most reviled man in the world while also being someone who only ever had the best intentions. To my "what facts should we accept" relates to this. It's common knowledge That Man is responsible for untold death and destruction, nearly wiping humanity out. To everyone else, it's a fact. But the real truth is he was always a good guy trying (and failing) to do what he thought was right. And lastly "Hope beyond hope, do you recognize me" I think is about how he sincerely hopes that after a century of hating Asuka, Sol can finally realize he's still his friend and has been doing his best to help him. Which is why I love Guilty Gear lyrics. A lot of people go "well it's just gibberish" but I like how you can try to filter through the metaphor and come to different conclusions about what the lyrics mean, with all of them having the same chance to be right. Which is a great thing about songs like these, everyone can take away something different.

God, every song in Guilty Gear slaps. I'd love to see you react to Ironclad Faith and Mirror of the World, Potemkin and Baiken's themes respectively

The happyness he got when the organ kicked in

Haven't listened yet, but wow that is a fast reaction!

I was waiting for this theme, the man with all the cards in his hands, the man in the moon, as a lot of times you picked the themes really fast, Asuka is really dual

Shadow wizard money gang

Asuka: That man that heard that the road to hell was paved with good intentions and decided to go for the whole god damn Interstate.

I LOVE MUSICIANS So glad we all just make the sounds with our mouths when we talk about parts we like 💜

I just realized the beginning and end of the song are the same. This song just keeps giving me reasons to love it !

This song makes both my guitarist and my drummer brains happy.

I noticed that around the middle of the song there's a line that says the beggining and the end all the same, the song starts and ends very similarly and it's called the gravity, which could be related to the fact that everything that goes up returns to the ground

This is one of the themes of all time

Since we talking Guilty Gear, i recomend Testaments theme " Like a weed, naturally, as a matter of course" , it manages to be super heavy yet super touching at the same time 🥲

I appreciate you look up a brief character synopsis after listening to Guilty Gear songs. Play Strive whenever you can, it's a great game and gives insight to the characters at this point in the series. Asuka's song was the only one to make me tear up near the end. Plus Asuka R. Kreutz's main subtitle is "Atonement of the Gear Maker."

you can tell how much this man loves this music

The military drums contrasted with the alien alarm bells guitar is so compelling both musically and for narrative!

I honestly love how Each Character's Strive theme is essentially a Character and sometimes even a World Study. Leo Whitefang's "Hellfire" is an amazing look into the Psyche of a character for example. Since you have Covered Milia's "Love the Subhuman Self" I would also reccomend Zato-1's "Let me Carve your way" due to the relationship between the characters

Great video and as a suggestion for the next soundtrack, I would love if you did the soundtrack of Othercide. It's a little more niche of a game but it's music is fantastic, using a mix of metal and classic strings. The songs Soulswap or Sacrifice are especially good.

I just watched a video analysing the gameplay of Asuka R#/R Kreutz. My thought in the end is to go watch your vid instead of even attempting to touch the character. ☠☠☠ You always impress me with the stuff you pick up from the music, especially when you're not versed on the game's lore. You picking up on the duality for instance, since you play as either the clone, Asuka R#, or the original, Asuka R Kreutz. Also, Asuka's theme has quickly become my favorite theme in the game.

I am excited to see your reaction to Slayer's new theme!

Nobody talking about the bass / slap bass solo here !? Ah ah like the whole composition, Daisuke went all in for this last theme. The writing, composition and playing level is wicked, like Dream Theater-wicked. I feel we have reached a summit with The Circle and Gravity, insane. Long live Daisuke !

GUILTY GEAR CONTENT RAHHHHHH

A surprise so early, but a welcome one!

*THAT MAN*

I really hope you get to interview Daisuke Ishiwatari and the music team and see you pick their brain, because seem to be on point with a lot of these analytical videos.

You should listend to Drift, It's Happy Chaos theme and it's really good.

Liked your breakdown! I kinda bounced off this theme at first, but it's growing on me. I hope you do Let Me Carve Your Way at some point - in addition to be a wonderful piece of music, it's an excellent piece of storytelling.

While your character analysis and how it relates to the theme is very spot on, there's one major twist to this I think you missed: The lore you read at the end is for Asuka R Kreutz. This theme, however, is for Asuka R#, his clone. R# was made without Kreutz's past guilt and is a bit more curious and optimistic. Currentlt he is trying to not only travel and broaden his own horizons but also help Asuka R Kreutz, who is morose, lacking in social skills, self loathing, and weighed down by guilt, grow a bit more as a person, as Asuka R Kreutz kinda offloaded the process to R#. R# on the other hand is also revealed to have most of Kreutz's flaws... and made his own clone ALSO named Asuka R#. It's a bit funny that Asuka's boss fight can be Asuka and Asuka vs Asuka.

Real awesome.

Had same reaction when organ kicked in :P

God damn you are very quick

someone show this man Freesia

Still waiting for your take on Drift and Kiss of Death, because we all agree that will be a field day with your breakdowns.

You really need to listen to "Drift", the theme of Happy Chaos !!

Marco PLEASE listen to Happy Chaos's theme "Drift"! it's truly one of the best pieces of music i've listened to and communicates tons about the character!

You need to hear THAT MAN theme next

To me, this whole song is about how Asuka, who is literally one of the smartest people in the world, can’t logic his way out of guilt, and has to let go of his rigid, logical view of the world and embrace the teachings of his master, Happy Chaos, and learn to just have fun and stop being a Redditor

What a way to put a whole "redemption arc" (?) in a single song

The way I see it is that it's not Asuka's theme, it's Asuka R, his clone's theme, where he's trying to understand reality and his purpose in it.

Plz more Guilty Gear Strive OST's!

If you're looking for more guilty gear strive songs, we just got a new character with an absolutely amazing song. It's called "symphony" and it's A.B.A's theme. I am really hoping that you'll give your reaction/input on that song, hope you read this.

I'd really enjoy some Deep Rock Galactic analyses, i haven't seen anyone else do them and it's truly a great soundtrack compriswd of mainly atmospheric synthwave

Thank you so much for listening to guilty gear ost now listen to the rest pls

Its not actually just chanting at the beginning before the lyrics play, he's actually saying: all things as they are

Oh the divinity 😁

You gotta listen to rock parade man, it's so good.

I asked chat GPT to choose me a a theme song after describing myself, it chose this I feel epic

I didn't asked to be taken places, but here we are.

TOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO QUICK WHAT

Given how much Luis liked Happy Chaos' theme, you should send this one to him and see what he thinks about it!

2:42 right there Eargasm

Listen to Drift next pls!

Hey Marco, big fan here! I know your channel is mostly videogame-focused, but considering that a lot of the games you review here are anime-style I think it won't be completely out of question if you did an occasional "Opera singer reacts to Anime music". There's a lot of overlap between videogame music and anime music, and a lot of overlap between videogame fans and anime fans. I'm sure your fans will be happy to suggest their favorite pieces and you'll never be short on suggestions :) If that does indeed happen at some point, may I humbly suggest that it would be absolutely criminal to do an "Opera singer reacts to anime music" segment and not feature "Libera Me from Hell" from Gurren Lagann. I don't want to spoil it, but it's probably one of the most well-known "operatic" soundtracks in all of anime. Anyway in case you ever see this - thanks for your videos, and keep up the good work :)

Shadow wizard money gang we love castin spells