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[elementalhero]

I have to flail some more about The World Ends with You, oh my god this game seriously.


I just love the way the mechanics and mythology of the universe of the game entwine and complement each other so well. It borrows heavily from Christian influences, yeah, but unlike what the fandom seems to think, I really don't think any specific characters correspond to specific Biblical figures.

Yeah, everyone knows "Joshua" is a different transliteration for "Jesus," but honestly, apart from some very superficial allusions and similarities, I don't think Joshua is an effective Jesus analogue. Same goes for the theory that Mr. Hanekoma is something like Milton's sympathetic Satan - honestly, the closest I can get to that is some kind of Promethean figure. Honestly, I'm reading the Secret Reports right now, and the more I read, the less anyone seems to be a palette-swap for your Biblical figure of choice. The inspiration is there, but the characters, plot, and world-building are all uniquely their own things. Which I love.

I love the use of sound and music as a world-building mechanic. I love explaining different planes of existence as "frequencies," that's just. ngh, that's awesome. And with the Angels and Fallen Angels working behind the scenes, pretty soon you realize that Joshua is just as much a cat's-paw as Neku and Kitaniji. He's merely on a higher level, more "upwardly mobile," in a sense, and more aware of his place and function. Which is funny, because in a way, Joshua is almost less emotionally mature than even Neku (and that's, uh, saying a lot). I really wonder if he sees the residents of the UG and RG as real people. Josh fascinates me.

And then there's Shiki, dshadlsajkl I miss her so much ;; She helped Neku actually caaaare ;;;;;

AND BEAT AND RHYME ;~~~~;

and the moral of the game is that you have to communicate with other people and make connections and celebrate your differences and understand one another and life is wonderful and dhajkdlasklafasjkl seriously this game makes me so happy ;~~~~;

Comments

[sincere]

I agree with everything you said there, the end.

...seriously though. I love the game's message, I know some people were griping about the title change from "It's a Wonderful World," but that was the catch phrase of evil. "The World Ends With You" is such a perfect phrase that captures both the isolation of each person and their ability to expand their own horizons if they choose to do so.

And I agree with you about the Biblical analogies; they're played with, but in the end Joshua has messianic potential that he fails to follow through on. Joshua is a savior who doesn't really believe in or care about people and eventually probably came to this apex of disillusionment where he was completely detached from them and capable of endorsing genocide.

Personally, I read what happened as Joshua destroying Shibuya indirectly, and then directly. We're explicitly told that the city responds to the Composer's will, and I think his cynicism and disaffectedness is in large part what corrupted the city to the point where he thought "Man, we should wipe this thing out." And when Kitaniji goes "sdklfjskg NO, CAN WE NOT?" Joshua chooses someone who has enough potential, enough Soul, to actually show him the errors of his ways. By making Joshua even slightly a better person, Neku showed him that the city could be redeemed.

If anyone is really messianic it's Neku, who endures these trials and by them comes out as a sort of paragon of belief and faith and hope.

It's a wonderful game. ;_; And it's a beautiful game.

[okroginator.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, +1 to this entire comment. You basically managed to put into words what I was having a hard time getting out.

Joshua is a savior who doesn't really believe in or care about people and eventually probably came to this apex of disillusionment where he was completely detached from them and capable of endorsing genocide.

Yes, Josh is a fascinating example of a messiah who refused the call. His growing apathy, yeah, definitely I can see that as the indirect (or even direct) cause of the entire problem. And you can see in the scenes where Neku doesn't Act As Planned, Josh's grip on his own cynicism and disillusionment is shaken.

What's interesting is that he seems to pick Neku at the start of the game just for the hell of it (probably because Neku had all that Soul and Imagination, but was too emotionally junked up/repressed/depressed to do anything on his own with it), but by the end, he actually seems to have grown to care about Neku, in his weird, selfish way. In that sense, Neku is the one who forces Joshua to grow and change as a person, just like Shiki forced Neku to grow and change as a person. It's the whole "Trust your partner" thing again, it goes both ways.

If anyone is really messianic it's Neku, who endures these trials and by them comes out as a sort of paragon of belief and faith and hope.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES THIS FOREVER

god, I need twewy icons


EDIT: AS A SIDE NOTE, not only are the game's message, plot, and in-universe so fantastically imaginative and fun, I have never before found an RPG in which I would make excuses to put off the plot in favor of level-grinding. NEVER. The gameplay is just so addictively fun, oh my god.

[knospi.livejournal.com]

This entry is so beautiful!! I love reading TWEWY analyses, because there is so much in the game you can talk about! TWEWY is an amazing game, I wish more people realized this instead of writing it off because of how heavily its art direction is comic-influenced.