Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai - View Single Post - [YouTube] Sayonara feat. SpeXial (PV short ver.)
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Old 30th July 2015, 04:45 AM
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orbitalaspect orbitalaspect is offline
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So, the whole video is about Ayu having been put on a throne by someone, basically treated like she was a queen, someone adorned in jewels (you know, diamonds, TONS of them, because whoever it was treated Ayu like a priceless possession). The mask of jewels refers to this person's refusal to see Ayu, the person, that they only saw her as this objectively beautiful possession, but never as an actual person, with emotions, with a heart, with an identity.

Among the animals was an eagle, representing the predatory nature of the person who has done this to Ayu, someone who swooped in and made promises they knew they could never keep. The horses reference the "white knight" stereotype of romance. Horses buck when threatened or in panic, meaning Ayu's persistent attempts to gain this person's love were never really ignored (the memories Ayu has of being consoled when she was sad repeatedly shows that this person at least pretended to be in love) but perceived as a threat. The white horse running into the distance refers to this person's ultimate escape from Ayu. And the castle walls crumbling refer to Ayu's defenses falling to show this person she was being honest with her heart. The knight is noticeably missing, but not so much so... SpeXial represent all the different people this person pretended to be to keep Ayu around. In the cuts, we see the different "personas" reacting as if hurt, and the amalgam of them all in the rotating statute-type poses represents that all of these "different men" are actually just one person, and she's only now realizing this.

Ayu spends most of the video in bed because that's where everyone spends the most time following a hurtful breakup. She never leaves because, like all of us at one time or another, she can't escape the emotions she is experiencing. The desire to relive the memories (the flashbacks we see in the video of her with the guy in very romantic moments) and wonder how this could even be, as it seemed so real that she could close her eyes and relive the truth that turned out to be a lie. It's as if it were happening again at that very moment. But, more so, Ayu is trapped in the exact same place where the romance, the pretend love, all of it happened. And, if you haven't noticed, the person who did this is nowhere to be found, meaning he walked away seemingly unscathed, left the fallout of it all for Ayu to sort through and figure out who she is, who he is, who they were, what happened, why did it happen, how can she stop it from ever happening again, and how can she heal from this while knowing how vulnerable she's made herself. She's angry, but it's a defense tactic, and the reason we see such random sass when she says those two lines in the video is because, in some way, she's in denial that this could happen to her, but that she is also trying to mask that this actually hurt her. It's the only way she thinks she can stop this person from twisting the knife even further, which she now believes they will do if she gives them an opportunity to do so.

Overall, fucking beautiful video, lots of symbolism, and shit actually makes sense here.
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Last edited by orbitalaspect; 30th July 2015 at 04:51 AM.
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