This Silence Is Mine is Absolutely Gut-wrenching (Drakengard 3 OST) 

If I remember correctly, the singer was actually sick which was why her voice was raspy. She also got emotional singing it too.

"I've never once trusted Michael. He was just an idiot dragon, with a knack for saying things wrong. Why would anyone trust someone like that? We were always screwing with each other, you know? It was a lot of fun..." "..." "But sometimes, Michael would get this one expression on his face..." "And I couldn't tell if it was happy... or sad." "..." "......" "Michael..." "Just hold on, okay?" "...I'll be joining you soon." "..." *"You've grown strong, Mikhail."*

SPOILERS: This song unique. The game is unique (in both good and bad ways), but this closing song is the absolute peak of the game, a perfect closure. It represents perfectly the deep sadness the characters (especially Zero, the protagonist) have to go through. It's full of hopelessness in the appropriately cruel and uncaring universe the game takes place. And yet it's a song about a victory. The title itself represents a victory for Zero (the silence the song refers to is a peaceful death). Despite the absolute terrible fate that the story constantly reinforces for its characters, the rebelling against said fate results in a victory in the form of a peaceful death. It's a sad story with a sad end, but amongst all the terrible possibilities (some of which are explored in the other endings), Zero achieves a semblance of peace in the end. I really can't express with words how much I love this song and how strongly it resonates with me. I feel it in every note and every word.

So, getting into spoilers here, and from the looks of things other people have likely had similar explanations but the context here is just... so powerful and gut wrenching in a way that only games can really capitalize on. This song more than any other is an encapsulation of the character of Zero. She's suffered pretty much every insult, injury and indignity one person can. Used, abused, broken, and thrown out with the trash, and even when on the verge of death and the promise of oblivion is closing in, even that is snatched away from her as a cosmic flower turns her into an undying instrument of destruction. When she attempts to rip it from her body, the flower splits her psyche into her five "sisters" that then go on to quickly subjugate humanity. The entire game is Zero fighting not to save a world that made her life a living hell, but to die on her terms, to remove her sisters from the stage, and end it all. It is an act of defiance, and the song is her requiem, and her triumph. Even if only in one of an infinite web of timelines, she won, and nobody can take that silence from her.

You’re correct about the ‘loneliness’ part, as Zero is a character who had been on her own, consistently chewed up and spat out by everyone around her. SPOILERS: Zero, originally named ‘Rose’ before she became an Intoner, was born to an abusive mother who would beat her so much that she lost all feeling in her back. She was eventually sold into prostitution by her own mother, where she met another prostitute named Indigo, and became very close with. The two decided to steal as much gold as they can carry from the brothel, and run off together to start their lives, however it is revealed that Indigo was only using her to help carry more gold, and had plans to kill her. Zero is then caught by the people at the brothel, where she ended up slaughtering everyone there, taking more gold from them, and leaving on her own. She was then robbed by bandits the moment she escaped town, and was nearly sold into prostitution again had she not escaped. Zero decided that it would be best to take as much gold as she needed from then on, out of survival. Zero managed to reach a city where no one knew who she was, except for a man, who was once a patron at the brothel she used to work at. Rather than kill him, she let the man approach her and the two lived a fairly peaceful life together. This came to an end when Zero contracted a very deadly and highly contagious illness, which frighten the man who ended up abandoning her, but not before trying to sell her into prostitution. Zero ended up killing him, and continued to wander the earth, where she killed anyone that would cross paths with her regardless of age or gender. One day, she broke into a house and slaughtered an entire family for their food, where the only remaining daughter asked her why she killed her family. Zero only noted that there wasn’t any actual reason, but rather it was more of a reflex to her before killing the girl. Eventually Zero’s illness became too much to bear, and was caught and thrown into a cell with five other girls (who had plotted to take down a corrupted lord). Unlike the girls, who were horribly tortured, Zero was given only a few simple lashings, however all of the girls died one by one, leaving Zero as the only remaining girl. Her illness eventually caught up to her, and in her final moments, she gazed upon a beautiful pink flower spouting from the cell floor…

Yoko Taro's works were underrated for the longest time, until NieR: Automata did gangbusters. It was mostly a cult following, even with the original NieR. I've been a fan of Drag-On Dragoon/Drakengard for the longest time, and the stories are...inexplicably impactful. Sometimes they seem complicated, other times so simple that it doesn't seem to make sense why you feel SO MUCH in the moment. But Taro said it best during one of his presentations; he writes in a completely unorthodox fashion. He identifies what he wants the media consumer, in this case the player, to feel or receive from his work, and then builds everything around that, instead of building the story through the normal outline of prologue, body, and epilogue. And the music he gets working with Keiichi Okabe only enforces the messages he wants to present. Yoko Taro is an auteur in the purest sense of the world. He isn't someone who seeks fame or recognition through his art; it's been shown in interviews and his presentations that he's actually a rather introverted individual, somewhat uncomfortable in groups and crowds. The man simply wants people to get the message, to REALLY FEEL what he's trying to convey. And that purity definitely MAKES IT THROUGH all his works.

Alternate title of this song: this depression is mine

Whoever suggested this made an excellent choice. Was not expecting it to show up with everything else thats more recent.

I don't know if you look up the translation of the lyrics of songs, but knowing the story of Drakengard 3 and the translation of the lyrics actually makes the song even more poignant. Song and Silence are important themes to the story and they both represent different things at different parts of the story to different people. Someone has probably commented that Silence here represents a peaceful death, but more importantly the song "This Silence is Mine" is about autonomy as in the philosophical meaning of someone being able to make moral choices over base desires, (minor spoilers) as a gameplay and lore mechanic whenever you die in the game, choosing to continue playing causes Zero to come back to life from the flower on her face. She literally cannot die, or rather a very specific set of circumstances have to happen before she dies and she is trying to fix all of the mistakes in her life (and there's a LOT of them) before this happens. Zero wants to die and she wants it to be on her own terms not by the whims of the flower.

Seriously don't play Drakengard 3 if you don't wanna be hurted for life. The gameplay may not be on par with 2022 standards, but the story.... god it's a story to crush your soul.

Sharing the lyrics here: What I envision before me: The abyss of the far, distant past What I envision before me: Those horrible, terribly frozen eyes What I envision before me: The dream of a gently woken lamb What I envision before me, before me... The space between noise, a cradle No one can reach this skin The space between noice, a cradle, blood-red scars This tattoo This preview This heartbeat Oh, Midst the silence Where is my gear? Where, where are my stairs? Where is heartbeat? This silence is mine This, this silence Silence...Silence... When I pray, I'm overcome with fever When I scream, It, it strips me of my voice When I live, It sets off into a distorted, crazy dance This tattoo This, this screw This heartbeat Oh, light and justice Where is my gear? Where, where is my choir? Where is, where is my heartbeat? This silence, this silence I will throw away my sadness, And lose my heart, Even violate my thoughts, If I can move forward, Ahh, then fine My body whispers, whispers, whispers, whispers, whispers... (your symphony is never-ending) This tattoo This, this preview This heartbeat Oh, Midst the silence Where is my gear? Where, where are my stairs? Where is heartbeat? This silence is mine This, this silence This silence is mine.

This is Zero's song from the game and you've absolutely summed up her character just from listening to it. Which is honestly part of what makes the music from this EXTREMELY WEIRD game so damn appealing.

Onitsuka Chihiro has one of the most raw and emotional voices in the Japanese pop scene, and has an incredible ability to create empathy with her voice. She has a long history of physical and mental illness, and she's able to convey such an emotionally resonant sense of that; it's pain and beauty and sadness and longing and desire all rolled up and you can't help but feel it with her. I first heard her song 'Infection' in the early 2000's, and I was blown away by how it struck my heart. As soon as I heard her voice over the credits for this ending theme I was like "this is the *perfect* choice"

OOOOOH, man. This one hits like a ton of Yoko Taro-laced bricks. Excellent choice!

Chihiro Onitsuka ís my favorite Japanese singer of all time.....she puts so much emotion into every song she sings....and even here with a bad throat.....it worked out masterfully...... This silence is mine is a masterpiece

This has probably been said before but i cant help but be impressed how accurate you are with your descriptions just from listening to the songs. Like you perfectly described Zero here. Goes to show how powerful music is

Zero could not have known that anything she did caused the whole of two worlds to fall apart. The comprehension of this alone is tough to think on. Silence not only in Drakengard, but also on Earth.

for a goddess of song to finally obtain her own silence

I'm always impressed by how accurately you interpret characters from the music alone. Just goes to show how good of a composer Okabe really is.

Spoiler This is the credit song at the VERY end. The main chracter Zero finally did it and can now rest. So yes she is very tired. She was not alone but lonely because the only partner she had died and the one after that did not know everything. She tried to protect him from what he had to do to her.

My girl Zero is very complicated

I recommend Lilium for Elfenlied. It evokes a sad, warm, kinda feeling.

IIRC the singer of this song just finish healing from her throat surgery when they recorded this song. So you can feel the rawness of the voice

I'm planning to play the whole series soon and I'm watching this video with my finger covering the game clips avoiding spoilers 💀

What makes this song extra wrenching is chihiro the singer was battling with domistic violence case against her boyfriend that abused her since 2010 and she recorded this song in the middle of the mess ... to me it just speaks to her and her struggle and happy she's safe now and has her "silence"

Oh, yes, Silence, never played Drakengard 3 however ever since I heard this one it stuck into me like a soul-penetrating thorn. I absolutely love it even though it is probably one of the saddest pieces ever created. Nier soundtrack is superb, still I would argue the 3 songs you mentioned are so unique and powerful, they just beat everything in my opinion and I play games/listen to OST for 25 years now. One part of me hopes Drakengard will get a remake one day the other wishes to never play this game. The music alone is crushing enough.

You should definitely listen to either Growing Wings from Drakengard 1 or Black Song, White Scales from Drakengard 3, my two favorites Drakengard tracks

I'm incredibly happy you reacted to this song! It is hands down the best closing song in Taro-verse games, the only one that comes close to it is End of YoRHa version of Weight of the World, at least in my opinion. It almost always brings me to tears each I listen to it. It's just so hauntingly beautiful and heartwrenching. At the same time, both Zero and you as a player can consider it your reward, after all the hardship you went through trying to reach this ending. Not counting any side-stories you might play after finishing the main story, this is the very last song you hear in the game. Right after the Final Song, that gruelling challenge testing your patience with countless tries. To be honest, I wish more games took the approach of rewarding the player with wonderful music, though I wonder if there would be many who could do it with the same elegance as Yoko Taro and MONACA do each time they work together.

Not even the player understands the character's intentions or what they've had to go through, what their emotions really are, until it's 'too late'.

This song was so emotional. The fact that some people think it sounds bad is insane to me. It's such a beautiful, soul wrenching song ❤❤

Men, you always nail the backstorie of the Game and their characters

it just strikes me as something of profound loss and sadness. a heavy weight that was given that is more than they ever wished to give and a fading of their own death. Nier never seems to disappoint when it comes to their songs.

The song is a perfect piece for the character. It expresses just the raw tiredness of the character after pulling herself thru the events, it’s a song I love listening to when brainstorming characters and stories because it’s so emotionally charged

Drakengard 3's soundtrack definitely rivals the NieR soundtracks. Keiichi Okabe definitely deserved more attention before Automata. I love how the five boss themes have the Intoner Sisters' laughs and screams meld into the music, a concept that was sort of revisited with Simone de Beauvoir's theme (aka A Beautiful Song) in Automata, where the operatic vocals at the very beginning are modulated to sound like an alarm klaxon to highlight that Simone is a machine trying to become human. Just as in that case it reflects the lore of the Intoners.

YYYYEEEESSSSS DRAKENGARD 3! The moment I saw this in my recommended I clicked immediately. All the music in yoko taro games is TOP NOTCH.

Ah! A new Marco video, I'm ready for my daily dose of grown-up man crying over beautiful music, let us souls sing together T-T

There is a song that shares some similarities with "This Silence Is Mine" not sound wise but with the sad tone and how the sadness is transportet. It's Ikue Asazaki - Obokuri-Eeumi, this song was played in an episode of the Anime Samurai Champloo and is related to the Ryukyu Islands, the singer sings it in the Ryukyu language. The character in the show who was from Ryukyu also has some things in common with Zero from Drakengard but Zero is a more tragic character.

I don't like to sound pretentious with video-games, but this game is genuinely art. It's insane that this obscure, goofy hack and slash has left me a sobbing wreck by the time the credits rolled around; never had that happen in a game before. It is just so beautifully tragic and dark. As messed up as it sounds, and as much as I don't approve of the message, Drakengard 3 is a game about a "beautiful" suicide. I don't want to go into spoilers for it, but as dark as that story premise is, they execute it in such a beautiful, emotionally devastating way.

This song is so amazing because it fits the ending scene so well. Zero is a person that had to go through so much carnage and it's fascinating to me how a game that's so violent can also show so much emotion. Of course it's not mindless violence but still.

This vid brought me to tears and I don't even know the story.

Proof that Video games can be just as moving a medium as any other. There are games I've played that left me feeling unmoved, then there are the ones that moved me to tears. And a lot of them were made by that war criminal Yoko Taro. Dude probably never touched a gun in his life and still left everyone who played his games crying on the floor in the fetal position.

The drums are definitely my favorite part of this piece, great as always to get your take.

Yay, more DrakeNier!

Really loved this track. Played NieR and Drakengard 3 at a tough time, the soundtracks and lore really hit me.

A song i would love you to react to is Tsukiru (Exhausted) from this game. Drakengard as a whole has very unique music, and that song in particular is both intriguing and terrifying.

One of my fav ost ever, thanks for giving your thoughts about it!

This is one of my favorite video game related songs. And you nailed the analysis of it.

thank you for reacting my favorite musics and ost so much, love ur contents too!

Idk who tf you are i was jus scrolling but drag on dragoon is slept on and i wanted to give you some props

Finally :D Been waiting for you to hit this, thought I might've missed you do it on a stream !

Hits so much more if you know the lyrics too.

One of my all time favorite musical pieces. So glad you covered it!

Gosh, that abrupt ending. Those poor dragons dying. The passion in the singing ;-; great analysis! I’ve been wanting to play these games for a while. I have tried not to watch anything about them because I want to experience playing them, but this makes me want to just watch cutscenes from the game already.

Well, it's time for a second playthrough. God, this game changed me so much

Hell yeah I love when you do these videos for nier and Drakengard

ohhh, finally this silence is mine. Thanks for the reaction

bless you and your beautiful sensitive heart, Marco 💜

Waiting for someone to mention the singer's throat condition, I'm too tired rn...

I love how much you can pick up from the song how things have been for Zero. I wonder if you'll do the other songs too. The bossbattles are amazing. But also the song Empty Tone.. deep darkness each tells something amazing :) I'm looking forward to your next one be it Drakengard or something else.

My day is always hijacked by anything with Yoko Taro games music in it. The games looks like shit on paper but then you play them and they are utterly stunning with music that crushes and rebuilds. Ah!

I love this song so much, the nier & drakengard series have great tunes

Surprisingly accurate character analyses, really.

One of my favorite songs of all time.

I've never played a Drakengard game, but the music and visuals from the video are going to have me emula- I mean buy the games. Also Day thirty (happy 1 month woo!), two, of recommending Stay Gold from the Arknights OST

I think you may find the soundtrack to the original Drakengard to be rather fascinating. Most of the pieces are a cacophonous mix of famous classical pieces mixed in a chaotic yet somehow coherent mess.

One my my favorite songs I love to listen to! Very emotional and I love listening to it when I draw. If you get the chance, I think you will enjoy the soundtrack of the game, Punishing Gray Raven, the OST: Sie Liebten sich beide

Best song in the draken/nier series, very powerful song that fits Zero perfectly

This song and Pink Floyd's "High Hopes" resonate strongly with me...

All NieR music is so raw! Not game-related, but I recommend Jinn, Ali Project, and Chitose Hajime to listen to something similar to this song in terms of voice. (Also, the VA Megumi Ogata, who has been known for voicing young men bc of her deep register. She did some songs for Danganronpa's Nagito Komaeda, which are awesome.)

Man I really need to track down a copy of Drakengard 3 and a functional PS3 to play it on.

I first heard this randomly on Spotify and was like, this is haunting but beautify, I think a mix of English and Japanese? Some time later I look at the lyrics (on Spotify) and thought, what? These lyrics don't make any sense. So I looked it up on Google, and saw, oh, Drakengard 3, Yoko Taro shit, gotcha, that makes sense. I haven't played any Drakengard, but I have played Nier so I get the vibe.

I would expect to see a reaction to a Nier track these days, so it is awesome to see a reaction to a Drakengard track. This Silence is Mine is so gutwretching in the most beautiful way. Also I see you have Ar tonelico songs in there. Being a name I haven't seen in so, so long, I feel obligated to watch them as well.

If you are interested in drakengard 3, i recommend aethervox and decendeus. IF you are more interested in symphonic, I recommend symphonic poem forbidden prelude from drakengard 2. Gosh it was majestically haunting...

Also, I’m sure there’s someone who already made a comment about this, but the person who sang this song was apparently having issues with their throat (they sang this song before going on to have a surgery which was successful), but was sought out specifically for their voice for this song.

I would never have imagined seeing Drakengard 3 on your channel, very happy to see that :> Also i think this is incredible how you manage to understand the game only through it's final soundtrack, as you seem to not have played it?

I recommend listen to Final Fantasy XIII - Fighting Fate or Final Fantasy XIII-2 - Heart of Caos,ones of the best in FF franchise

I'm sure you already have plenty of recommendations. But a beautiful piece of music I think you'd enjoy is Deep Stone Lullaby from Destiny 2.

Speaking of the other songs from this game, have you seen the final boss fight and the context before it or are you saving it for a future video since you mentioned going back to past songs you've reacted to?

Drakengard songs feels so surreal Also there is another song called empty note from drakengard 3 too that has similar vibe

a Flower Boy: i am to take this girl's whole silence Rose: and i took that personally

"This Silence Is Mine" is a song about finding strength and courage in the silence. It talks about being able to find peace and comfort in the moments of solitude and reflection. The lyrics discuss being able to look back at difficult times, overcoming fear and doubt, and being able to embrace the silence. The song also speaks to being able to embrace the symphony of life, recognizing the ups and downs while searching for courage to keep going. Ultimately, the song encourages the listener to find their own strength and peace in the moments of silence.

I think you'd find the last boss and song interesting since it is a rhythm game. Simon says style where a measure is played and you have to repeat it. Except it's not a beginner level rhythm exercise because the tempo shifts and you have to rely almost entirely on your ears since the visuals are obstructed. Should definitely watch a video of that fight if you can.

I can spend my time ranting by writing essay long on why this game is bad but I just wanna say this, it introduced me to Yoko Taro and what kind of developer he is. It's not an experience I need but I appreciate it. For real this shit is really unhealthy.

I remember playing this game for the first time about 4 years ago using an Emulator and this song k i l l e d me

Man I wanna hear your commentary on Komm Susser Todd in Evangelion

Oh my. Always wanted to play these games. Not too sure if they are linked to nier or not but there just seems something special about them. Seems like that similar special that nier has. Dont know if that makes sense lol but I hope it makes it easier to understand. But omg this song is so sad but also has some epicness to it which is done so well together. To me it just feels like a huge sacrafice in a long and dificult war. Feels like your loosing something forever and everything has built up to this point. Damn it sure hits hard.

Gameplay is meh, but the soundtrack and history are soooo good, that I just fell in love with this game !

Beyond the Bounds from zone of the enders the 2nd runner will blow your mind. I'm curious what your input is on made up musical language or words as a 3rd of the piece is in a made up language.

Something random, Mario + Rabbids from a few years ago, particularly the Phantom of the Bwahpera. XD

👍

hey you did it I knew you had it in you jk jk great video love how your contents growing

This would go great with Himeko’s death in HSR

I recommend As Long as You're Happy / Shiawase nara ii ya (Majima) from Yakuza Kiwami 2. It's a unique song where the singer sings out of tune deliberately, to keep with the character's personality and yet.. it's a great song. I wonder as a professional singer have you ever have an experience to perform a song deliberately off tune ? PS : Yakuza series has an amazing song collection

👍👍👍 :)

how does this guy know the story and conflict of characters just from the music lol

well anything Yoko Taro made game are have Dark/Tragedies stories

Can you react to Cometh the Hour, from Bleach? I think you'll be a big fan.

one last job: the game

Why in god’s name have they not remade Drakengard 1 and 3? They would be amazing but I guess if they can’t just remaster it it’s not worth it unless it’s FFVII? 🙄

Love your videos man, could you please react to Elden Ring beast Clergyman theme?