What Does Each Strive Season 3 Theme Mean? 

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"Ive waited an eternity for this"

Elphelt really went from near world destroyer to government soldier to runaway to epiphany having metal screamo singer in like 3 weeks

Talk About You being on the tier list but Name of Heaven NOT being on the tier list is criminal and I hope you know that Gekko

Finally, Just Lean

I've always thought that Just Lean is like a folk song from every characters point of view. Like there all singing in a bar with all there differing opinions. Yet they all agree he always hated by the god of failure. Cause he's just too damn lucky!

My interpretation is that Ups and Downs is effectively a summarization of Slayer's outlook on having such a long life. He's lived so long that sometimes he physically can't experience certain things that he loved, like being unable to see the morning sun. But, eventually, he realized that's okay. All things are temporary, and he's just glad to have seen it at all. Aiming for a happy ending isn't gonna work, especially when you're immortal, because it's just a single moment in time that will eventually come and go. The things he finds enjoyment in are the small things, not any grand adventures that're important enough to become the stuff of bedtime stories. He realized that if he's focused on the material and where he's gonna end up, he'll potentially become jaded and cold. So that's why, even when he's retired, he refuses to stagnate.

My favorite part about Symphony is that at the start, the song is about ABA only caring about herself ("I'm just a quirky note in the symphony"), but once ABA realizes she needs to care about Paracelus's feelings, it changes to include them both ("We're just a quirky note in the symphony"). However, the lines "I'm not here to fit in this world / I just want to make a difference" never change from using singular pronouns. That's because that part IS just about ABA. Only she can define who she wants to be, and while Paracelsus can support her and be there to help, it is ultimately something ABA needs to figure out for herself.

The Gravity in C is a crime

Extras is peak 🙏

The way i screamed when i saw Ram’s theme in D tier, and Jack-O’s theme being the literal worst, the Valentine Council will remember this

i love how relatively simple slayers song is compared to basically all other characters, this coming from a major enjoyer of the circle and symphony, HES OVER 600 Years old, he already dealt with his problems hundreds of years ago and now he’s here to mentor the little young zato 1s and 2s

2:18 put alone infection is S tier right now or else the Geneva convention is gonna be a Geneva suggestion

Ive always viewed ups and downs as slayer basically talking about “here are how I’ve AVOIDED these problems” and the idea that its framed as his advice to nag and zato is cool. Also ups and downs uses similar music to jack-a-dandy which is unfathomably based

I personally think the god of failure line is referring to how, if jhonny were to fail in some way, then the consequences would be very big, as the leader snd essentially face of the jellyfish pirates, the god of failure hates him so whenever he fails, they are magnified by a LOT

I interpret Ups and Downs as a younger Slayer coming to his current philosophy. In Slayer's Arcade Mode, when talking to Nagoriyuki about when he bit him, he says that he wasn't very responsible in his youth. Perhaps he tried achieving everything he could, only to find that surrounded by precious things, his heart turned into stone. Eventually coming to the idea that playing the supporting role in other people's lives was what he should strive for.

From Gambling to Girlypop to Jealousy and Dandyism. This truly was a Guilty Gear Pride Month!

After seeing The gravity in C, YOU'VE ACTIVATED MY TRAP CARD! C U B E

I just realised that for the last 10 or so months I've been singing along to Just Lean with the wrong lyrics... Oh shit... Ah whatever, there's barely a difference to count it as a mistake

I woke up today and the darkness was pierced by the morning sun and I looked around and I was surrounded by precious things! I decided I was going to enjoy the ride and went from up to down as I fell out of bed and out of a 10-story high window

Honestly as a trans girl I fucking love Aba’s theme. Mostly because I fully relate to the main bridge. I genuinely just want to make a difference in this world, to make it better, which isn’t something I can do by fitting in.

i just noticed that Let Me Carve Your Way isn’t in S Tier. my lawyers will be in touch

A detail I'm surprised you didn't bring up for Elphelt's theme is how part of the second verse is a reference to "All I want for Christmas is You" in terms of the melody. Oddly enough, this aspect might be significant to her in one of two ways. One: it could show that she has specific songs she's inspired by. Two: the fact that Elphelt's birthday is on Christmas. Also, that interpretation on Slayer's theme is really interesting and I kinda agree now. In the second verse, "Holding a platinum knife with some fine glow" could be interpreted towards Nagoryuki and his want for honorable combat. "But his eyes did not shine" can be viewed in multiple ways. It could refer to Nago's losing his will to fight due to the fact that he can never lose, the fact that you literally can't see Nago's eyes most of the time in a fight since he wears that mask, or the fact that you literally can't see Zato's eyes AT ALL. It most likely refers to Nago's drive for fighting, but thinking about it in a more literal sense is pretty funny.

Haven’t seen a lot of people talk about it but the way I see ABA’s theme is something more personal. I see it as an allegory for Autism, a lot of the lines resonate way too hard for me, as a person who is constantly has to work hard to feel like I’m apart of the world

Honestly same on the slayer theme. Slayer seems quite happy with his life right now. So I saw it as giving advice to somebody else on how to live like that

Wow, just missing the whole Xrd Sign character arc with Elphelt realizing the persona she’d been faking the whole time is the most real thing in her life and it’s not a mistake to call that her true self and her newfound resolve to connect to humanity and put value in the abstract, hence the “extras of life”.

I particularly really love the "Ups and Downs" interpretation. When you stretch the message of that song to being about his students and not just him, it makes it lot more impactful to me.

On a bit of a personal note, Elphelt (and by extension, "Extras") came out right around the time I was fired from my last job, after three years of stable but mentally draining work. I was exhausted and wondering if I should consider switching careers to something else. That's when I listened to the song and read the lyrics for the first time and the chorus, which talks about enjoying the little things in life, really got to me. This was the second Guilty Gear song to make me cry, after The Circle. Extras reminded me that yes, having a job is important for keeping myself sheltered and fed, but that my life should be more about what I do out of it. I'm still lost but I'm on this path of trying to enjoy the little extras of life. In the end, I decided to use some of the money I had saved up and take a break to cool my head, see family and friends, and dedicate more time to doing things that I like, rather than just things I need to do.

8:00 I always misheard this line as "I'm still lost, but I like this place" Which I think is also a pretty good line. She doesn't know where she is or what shes doing in life, but shes having a good time so she doesn't really care to figure out whats going on, shes happy and thats it.

I agree with Slayer as well, literally in his arcade mode he says something along the lines of "Living forever isn't that bad" showing that he's not tired of the sun or his life but he's talking to his students and teaching them the ways.

I like how everyone music tier list looks completely different

This was definitely worth the wait! I loved hearing your interpretations of the previous songs in GG and now it’s great to hear your take on S3’s, especially my favs A.B.A and Elphelt. A.B.A’s theme is my absolute favorite out of S3 with her character intriguing me with this song touching on the ideas of not being normal and wanting to make a difference in the world with her relationship helping her for the better(after addressing the bad parts of course in arcade mode 😅). Also I like your interpretation of Ups and Downs, I didn’t realize the idea of it being about Zato and Nago before until now. It does actually fit the two pretty well and ties into the arcade mode well(before I thought it was like a young Slayer going through all of this before reaching this conclusion of enjoying life for what it is).

The way he interpreted Ups and Downs about him mentoring Zato and Nago makes me understand the song even more, awesome vid btw

6:09 You better put what do you fight for higher up on this tier list As a matter of fact where is what do you fight for!?!?

Elphelts theme is my favorite, the juxtaposition of mollys great pop voice and her metal scream is hilarious to me and it’s just a banger

Im glad your back with this because the way you told about there meanings about there songs are fun to watch 👍

I like to think that slayer theme is about him just enjoying life, that's It, he just really likes being alive

I always thought of "ABA's theme to be saying "breakout" moreso to describe her emotions, like when she has an emotional breakout over Paracelsus. Turning the key to a world untold could be her trying to break that habit while navigating through the "maze woven with words"

Elphelt’s theme is so relatable. I love her theme so much.

I think this season of Strive has been the most positively recieved so far music-wise. I've seen so much love for Symphony, and Ups and Downs is an easy song to just blast out when you're feeling great. Just Lean is the song used the most to post memes, but I kinda love that it has that potential.

Johnny so cool and succesful, even the god of failure hates him

the town inside be being low is gonna cause a riot sooner rather than layer

i love the idea of just lean being made by people in gg universe

Gekko youre my inspiration to get ggst ive been craving over this game for years but i never had the money for it until this week and omg im so happy i love you so much

When the songs dropped, each one seemed to perfectly fit for other games and characters I've been playing. Maybe it's just a horoscope thing, picking random parts and making patterns with other things.

Johnny second is definitely "she was told". It would fit the third line which is "that it's the word of the man who hated by the god of failure". The song is kinda like a parent or and old folk telling stories of johnny to the younglings

The Gravity in c tier hurts my soul but I love your analyses. Also congrats on parsing whatever the heck Naoki is singing in Just Lean

Maybe "Hated by the god of Failure" isnt about Johnny, but perhaps commentary of people who play life safe, like Giovanna who actively mentions shes happy with her stable job and doesn't plan on changing. Maybe "Just lean its anyones call" is told by a person who wants to play it safe, and leans in the winners direction, not embracing failure and thus being hated by the God of Failure, as not taking any risks will decrease failure, oppossed to Johnny who is a gambler at heart and takes plenty of risks in his life, being that hes a normal human using inhuman sword techniques againts strong characters like Bedman

Season 3’s songs have been absolutely brilliant. I got the game right before Johnny released so to have my first around-year of the game was 4 cool and really fun characters releasing and 4 absolute bangers of songs. Especially Slayer for both of those Ups and Downs is just absolutely perfect for me

COMING HOME, COMING HOME, I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE!

To this day U can't believe daisuke managed to put two belts on a key design

When GekkoSquirrel uses a Dracula Flow bar... I am here for it.

Nice. I was waiting for this

Gekko uploaded another theme meanings video. My mood has improved, IMMENSELY.

A colleague of mine likes metal music and I recommended her Extras, where I described the song being about not knowing what you want to do with life, but that it’s fine and you’re having fun despite it all. I took it a bit broader than just Elphelts emotional state 😅

Not sure if anyone else has added this yet, but Paracelcus (the key) originally had a body, but it was destroyed by Slayer during a fight between the two of them, and Slayer figured that Paracelcus posed no real threat without a body. He left him there in the ruins of their battlefield for A.B.A to find some time later

necessary discrepancy in c tier Ok Buddy

I forgot who did the video but someone did a cover of bridge of symphony to make it fit more like a wedding song and it's such a banger. it's what I imagine the bridge of symphony is everytime I listen to it

Slayer’s just spying Zato 1 and Milia dating while also checking on Nago being beat by everyone

Gekko: let’s not dilly dally Also gekko: but first todays sponser

I’ve waited for this.

I've stumbled many times / I might get hurt / But I keep on running Who would walk out on the street bothered about / Bumps in the road? Big fan of these lines in Extras.

I should listen to the entire ost

Perfection can't please me and the gravity being so low is ridiculous im banning you from the kitchen

Awesome, well done

Ngl I thought "Hardly the stuff of" was "Heartbeat stopper" for Slayers theme.

Elphelt's one is S TIER HANDS DOWN

I hope raven makes a return, because his song will probs be his perspective on immortality. We also might be able to learn what he's been doing during strive and what he thinks/feels about being on his own after he stopped being Asuka's right hand man. Besides the song I hope he gets some lines with Jack-o, Happy Chaos, Asuka, and Ram, it'd be cool to see an interaction of raven and ram talking about how he saved her in Xrd or ram thanking him once again.

Truly a dandy moment

FINNALY

My interpretation of Ups and Downs is more positive. I think Slayer's just saying to appreciate life despite difficulties and to just enjoy the ride, good and bad.

FINALLY. thanks broski

I saw a comment on a lyric video about Just Lean that mentioned that the "hated by the god of failure" meant he was just really lucky. Like, if you're hated by the god of success, you're gonna lose a lot, right? But he's hated by failure, so he's gonna win a lot. Also, I think it's notable that in Symphony, the blah-blah-blahing comes right after the line "life is a maze woven by words."

We personally find Symphony to have a lot of implications for the themes of the lyrics in Guilty Gear games going way way back. "I'm not here to fit in this world, I just want to make a difference" very cleanly sums up the philosophy of Guilty Gear's story as a whole. (At least in our eyes.)

That's a great take on Slayer's theme, it definitely helps that his arcade mode is about him giving pretty similar advice to those two

My problem with your tierlist of the songs is that they're not all in S

Extra's reads more to me like Elphelts struggle with finding her place in the world as a creative. "Are you brave enough to be a fool" sounds like a (really awesomely worded) way to invoke stage fright or showing off your art to others. Until you are brave enough to show your stuff, you typically don't know how the audience might react, so you have to be brave enough and face the possibility that you might suck or give the audience an entirely different experience from what you expected, so you might turn out to be a fool. It's only at the start of the song, so it's never brought up as Elphelt is clearly brave enough to be a fool. She is very clutzy after all, so it fits. A.B.A is actually from GG Isuka (a strange, super janky 4 player 2v2 fighting game without a tag system) and was imported back into GGXX via one of the update games. Since Isuka already used the sprites from XX for the other characters, she blended right back in. She's one of the few GG characters that Daisuke didn't create himself or had a very little hand in her creation. Which is why she has so little lore. My interpretation of the lyrics is very meta and heavily based on this and how she's still in Strive because Daisuke (and the rest of the dev team, let's be honest) still likes her enough to include her in spite him not having made her. She's a quirky character/note in the world/symphony. Entirely agreed with the interpretation of Just Lean and more or less with the second Ups and Downs one (I don't think it's really about Slayers students though), so no notes there.

Your tier list should be in the D tier of a tier list of tier lists.

There's a theory that Ram wrote every single song in universe

How many years until the next season? ...I'll be waiting patiently.

Still think that Elphelt existence in Strive is the reason why EVERY CHARACTER GOT LYRICS NOW, cuz before strive 0 lyrics besides Raven and DI Sol had not an inch of voice in them, but now EVERYONE HAS

Johnny's theme is just legit self-glazing and i love it

Ive waited a year just for Johnny's alone 🙏

Yesterday I was obsesed with figuring out if you were hated by the god of failure, would you never fail or only fail. And today you drop this video as if to answer my question.

"I've been waiting for this!"

I was literally looking for a vid like this a few hours ago😂

elphelts theme is basically "lifes hard, but im harder"

uhhhh as akihiko sanada from the hit game persona 3 once said: I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS 🔥🔥🔥

Its still crazy how all of the season 3 Character themes are Top tier, 3 of them are in my top 5 and Symphony isn't far behind!

Im pretty sure that extrasis actually one of her songs because in her arcade it plays briefly

Good to see that i'm not the only one with that interpretation of slayer's theme

We're so back

lol “Gilly Gear War”

Imo Extras not being S tier if not on of the best Strive songs should be criminal it’s just SOOOOOOO GOOD!!!! I respect most of your tier choices though so not bad.

I'm glad Rock Parade is in the Top 3

YEAH BABY THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THATS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT WOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Theres another interpretation for Extras that goes beyond El talking about her band. It's more likely she's talking about herself, specifically her nature. Elphelt is a Valentine, a clone of Aria/Justice who was created by Ariels to be a sleeper agent embedded in the human population. All the emotions she has, every good thing about her and her love of everything and everyone, was preprogrammed into her to help her blend in, not something she developed. In other words, everything about her isn't natural. She doesn’t actually know what she wants in life because all her desires, her want for marriage and meaningful connections, were preprogrammed, but she doesn't care. She'll keep pushing forward, trying to find her place in the world, even if she doesn’t know what that is exactly, and having a great time while doing it, enjoying all the little extras that life has to offer along the way, which is honestly a beautiful thing.

Time to wait another year for the season 4 themes

I was watching s2 theme meanings and was about to comment about it being a year

What I previously thought Ups and Downs chorus said "Heartbeat stopper bedtime story happy ending is just a special detour life is journey another destination enjoy the ride With Ups and Downs" I solely clicked on the video because I wanted to know what the fuck that meant