Saya no Uta (my thoughts on it, open to discuss)

This is my second time writing this whole thing cuz the first time, when i closed spacehey the app reset...so everything was gone.... 😭 Also i have no idea how to copy and paste on mobile...༎ຶ⁠‿⁠༎ຶ

I recently finished playing Song of Saya (Saya no Uta). I gotta say its as good if not better as people say. I highly recommend it if you're into psychological games with horror themes, but make sure to check the warnings before playing it. Also, it's only 6-10 hours to finish the whole thing!! That's pretty short imo

Spoiler zone!! Also TRIGGER WARNING if u dont care abt spoilers 

I played the game pirated (dont support nitro+), so i SADLY had seen the h-scenes. I think that not only were they done poorly (they are clearly framed to be enjoyable/pleasurable to the viewer, aka fanservice), but also that they were completely unnecessary. I think that they could have been done in a way that adds a little bit to the plot/characters, but the way it was done was not it.

If you don't know why the h-scenes are bad, there's about 2 reasons. First of all, all of them involve Saya, who looks and speaks like a child, so its lolicon(CP). Second of all, there are rape scenes that are also framed in a way that the viewer is meant to enjoy. So, its bad. Also, ethics aside, these are such a huge shift in vibes, that in my opinion they take away from the game (not enough to ruin my experience though).

Bigger spoilers ahead!

If anyone is wondering, my favorite character is Ryoko Tanbo. I just find her story the most interesting out of everyone. One thing that I really liked about the game is that the characters were all extremely human and realistic, even the simpler ones, like Yoh and Omi. I think it was extremely important how they also drew Fuminori. I think its good before the axe fight with Fuji, his face looks like any other person. Normal. Sane. "A good person, probably". So did Fuji. None of the characters are portrayed or clearly shoved in your face to be "the good guys" or "the bad guys". All of them suffer, all of them have emotions, all of them have goals. Also, when a character is complex, its well done, and nothing unnecessary is added.

One of the best things about this game is the questions it makes you ask, and the moral dilemmas that appear sometimes. Its a great psychology horror. It's also really nice that you get to see from different characters perspectives, people who might not wanna use their empathy skills will be kind of forced to gut down the other characters perspectives even if they don't wanna.

I think Fuminori was very well written. He's obviously a bad person, but I'm not here to really talk about the obvious stuff. Even though he's a murderer, rapist, cannibal, and pedophile, he's never shown to just be "evil". No, his actions are not justified, but I like how much we get to see from his perspective. He lost his parents, was all alone, and he survived just to live hell. The game does show and describe it, but when you put some effort to imagine that everyday, especially the smell, sounds, and feeling, its not hard to understand how horrible that is. That's why, when he meets Saya, the only "human" he's seen in a long time, of course he'll get attached. No, his doesn't justify him being a pedophile at all. He lusts after Saya's body. I'll talk about him and Saya more later.

Fuminori obviously starts losing his sanity. Its bad that he's a cannibal, but in his world, what being a cannibal is actually the closest he will to being human (did you guys ever think about that? When he eats normal food, its much closer to cannibalism for him than eating actual human flesh).

I believe that the stuff with Yoh has no feelings or reason that could really make you see from his side empathetically, but the closest is that she's the 2nd and only other human he sees, that she was one of his friends, and he was already losing his marbles.

His design is simple and thats fine. He looks like a guy of his age, and thats good. I like that they didn't give him an "evil" face or anything. You're not supposed to be able to tell he's insane.

Now I'll talk about Saya. (Not talking about the 2 of them yet). Saya, i think everyone can agree, is one of if not the most interesting and well written characters in the game. She's not a human, everyone already knows that, but something people might not consider is that we don't know if she has any empathy or can even comprehend human suffering. Her species only purpose is to reproduce, and because of that they can change the biology of others. Her character being a specie that learnt to "love" even though they supposedly have no emotions is a really smart plot idea. It even leads to an ending where she abandons her entire purpose, just out of heartbreak. Saya is also a bit of a scientist, just from how curious she is. She loves learning about things.

I'm not totally sure why Fuminori sees her as a little girl, or if she has control over that (I'm sure there's an explanation i just dont know it), but i also think her human design is really good. Idunno whats up with the gacha life wolf ears, but they're iconic and work, so I have no complaints about that. The ONLY thing I'll ""complain"" about is her forehead. This isn't a real complaint, I just think its funny, but its not actually a part of her design.

Saya and Fuminori thoughts (just my interpretation!)

These two have an interesting dynamic. Fuminori is a pedophile, and arguably a worse person than Saya since he is more emotionally intelligent and empathetic than her but continues his actions, and yet he still is the one who relies on her more. They don't seem to destruct each other, in fact, Fuminori would probably be dead or miserable without her, but they ruin everything and everyone around them.

I think these two are a great duo(in terms of story), and you know who they remind me of a lot? Romeo and Juliet.

One thing a lot of people don't realize, or may never realize, is that Romeo and Juliet was NEVER A LOVE STORY. it was never meant to be one either. It was a story about 2 hormonal teenagers who found each other, and decided they're in love because of contextual reasons/convinience. I'll talk about Romeo and Juliet for a bit, before coming back to Saya and Fuminori.

Romeo and Juliet met at one of Juliet's family's things...(I'm retelling from memory, feel free to correct me). Romeo attended because he was trying to get over a girl, and Juliet was there...probably because it was her family, but anyway, her mother was trying to marry her off to Paris since she was single, and she wasn't totally AGAINST the idea, but also didn't really want to. They meet each other and get along quickly. Of course, it didn't literally happen like this, but Romeo's brain was probably like "a pretty girl! I'm so in love, don't care about that other one at all!!", and Juliet's brain was probably like "a guy my age who I get along with! I'm totally in love, we'll marry!"

Romeo and Juliet trying to be together caused much suffering. Of course, they weren't responsible, and it wasn't their fault. The story is about how the people around them failed them. In the end, both of them die because of the people around them, not because of their love.

Why does this story remind me of Saya and Fuminori? Well, I have a couple reasons...and a couple I can't really put into words, but that doesn't matter.

The first reason is their "love" for each other. Obviously, Fuminori and Saya aren't hormonal teenagers, but there's still some clear similarities. Saya loves Fuminori not as an individual, but because of how he treated her. He wasn't afraid of her when he saw her, he said she's pretty, and eventually said he loves her, and also gave her his sperm (gross, but this is about everything she wanted). Fuminori could have been anyone.

Fuminori loves Saya, also not for who she is. He loves the human Saya for being human. Because she looks like a human. He doesn't love her. She was the first and only human he saw when he awakened, and this brought him great comfort, so he got attached. She could have been anyone.

One thing people may point out is that as they got to know each other, they stayed together. But lets think about that... First of all, Fuminori never sees Saya's true form. In a part of the game, he also says that he doesn't see humans as "human", because to them they look like monsters. You can argue that Saya wanted to be seen as a human, but this is never suggested. Saya just wanted to be loved and to love. Her true form will never change the fact she is not a human. To Saya, does it really matter who Fuminori is? Lets see.... He doesn't abuse her(like Yosuke did), he "spoils" her with kind words(i dont even know if she cares), he gives her his sperm(still gross to say༎ຶ⁠‿⁠༎ຶ), he lets her do what she wants(like killing people), and he "loves" her(her want). You can argue that this counts as love, and I agree that it could, but just saying, it doesn't seem like she really cares about him. He's just convinient and gives her what she wants/needs.

One thing that might make it look more like a romantic love is how compatible their lives are, and lust. They have sex very often, and that could absolutely keep up the fantasy, especially since Fuminori is basically a pedophile about Saya. Their lives are compatible because Fuminori provides Saya with a lot (including shelter/protection and freedom), and Saya provides Fuminori with a lot (comfort and food). This does not mean they love each other. Especially Fuminori, they have learnt to rely on each other.

Remember why Romeo and Juliet 'loved' each other? It was convinient.

One thing I feel is important to note is that we never see either of these long-term. In every ending, they either leave each other or die. It could be true love, but it doesn't look like that to me.

These are just my thoughts. Feel free to discuss(if you've played the game/seen a playthrough, I've left out quite a few details I think)!! I love talking about things.

Thats all I could think about right now. One thing I wanna like, give kudos to, is the art and music. Both of these are like a 10/10. They're really well done.

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