Youve probably been intrigued by this review because you didnt recognize the name of the anime or the banner image. Thats because its not an anime thats a song review You probably know the japanese female singer Minami or youre at the very least familiar with her song on Domestic no kanojo openning Kawaki wo Ameku or Crying for Rain a bloody masterpiece https://www..com/watch?v=0YF8vecQWYs Today Im here to talk about another song of hers Hollowness or more particularly its lyrics. If you havent listen to this song yet do that right now its a BANGER and then comeback on this review : I recommend you to go on so you can read the subtitles and give a like https://www..com/watch?v=HIRiduzNLzQ https://www..com/watch?v=HIRiduzNLzQ This song is about persona well at least in my interpretation and I think it does a great job potraying the dualism of using one in your everyday life. Were gonna take each line and analyze it with the clear subject in mind The dualism of a persona Quick reminder of a persona : the aspect of someones character that is presented to or perceived by others. Disclaimer : of course everything I say is my interpretation Im not saying that my analysis is exactly what Minami had in mind writting the song thanks to useryd2hg2tn1d on the comment section Imma use his translation 600https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/815968088075665418/1078973850966048818/Screenshot2023022510363176f9ee0578fe1cc94de7482bd41accb329.jpg You said to me Finally you can live comfortably There Minami is talking to her persona. Minamis persona MP tricked Minami into thinking that using her would benefit Minami. Looking back on it now I realize what you said was a sweet trap. This is a sweet trap because it is comfortable to rely on a persona but its still a trap because later on itll cause problems. Why is it so comfortable to have a persona ? Because you dont expose your true self thus you cant be hurt. Being honest and open with your feelings with others make you vulnerable because it puts you in a place where you can be judged directly for who you are. No problems of the sort with a persona. Today I am still shaped by peoples ideals. One of the problem with a persona : you base your fake personnality off other people expectations. To me to socialize is to disappoint your interlocutor. He doesnt know you yet still he already has prejudices about you. Based on how you look and how you act it reminds him of certain mental images that hell associate with you. When you talk to the interlocutor for the first time he excpects you to act a certain way because of his prejudices. As people are usually self aware I think its easy to imagine the mental images you produce for people around you and what you look like from an outisde perspective. If you quicly pick up on what the interlocutor excpects of you you can easily act that way. Its a convenient method to be easily liked at the cost of blending in being part of a mob and never disappoint the excpectations of your interlocutor. But as I said to me its precisely disappointing the expectations of your interlocutor that is the essence of socializing. Even if hes lowkey right on the money about you its impossible to completely guess a whole persons personnality just like that. By disappointing the interlocutor you just show who you really are and THEN he may appreciate you for what you are rather than a convenient image he already had that was never broken by fear of rejection. You must betray those expectations people have on you and having a distinct persona is the exact contrary of doing that. This is even truer knowing that Minami is a singer but well get on that below. For example I am formed by fiction false words false images false minds. Japan. Like any other country the public has A LOT of expectations on the stars even truer for idols. They have to maintain a good image and female celebrities have the pressure of being cute. This must be breathtaking and stressful to always live up to your fans ideals. In my mother tongues translation these lines sound more brutal but I think the way she dissociate her persona from herself is shocking. She clearly establishes that she says fake words she doesnt mean she creates a fake images that her persona is an absolute fake in french it even says that she pretends to be more openminded than in reality but I dont know about the truthfulness of translations. It shows how much her persona is fake and different from her. I dont usually see singers openly dissociate their persona from themsleves that much so it was a surprise. Someone who looks like honest is a wolf in sheeps clothing. The liar will now pretend to be the victim and start crying. To me she says there that people who look all perfect and clean hide the worst things. Perfect people dont exist they just pretend to be perfect and the fact that they absolutely want to make you think theyre prefect should scare you. Oh I want to escape from this miserable world of 3D. You think so too dont you? Minami is tired of this world of pretending she would like to just escape it for a moment. Which is also the same reason she wanted to let her persona rule in the first place. When she says you think so too dont you? to me she either expects the viewer to relate because everyone has a persona or shes talking to MP Minamis persona like shes an actual person just like her. this will get very intersting in the later lines To virtualize a lie It doesnt matter if its an unscientific current situation or a fictitious statement give me love love me. This right here hits HARD to me its the most touching part of the song. It is so hard to create self worth without the validation of people. You try to be satisfied by yourself and for yourself but its so hard to think of yourself as sufficient to validate yourself. Humans feel the need to be recognized and validated. To me its really sad how shes just like I dont care how even if its a lie I dont give a fuck just give me love please. Your persona is a way to recieve love and appreciation even if its fake without the danger of being hurt. Shes at the point where she just needs love. Another backflash of having a strong persona is that you lose your own value Imagine : youe never been liked by people but when you put on a mask people start to appreciate you. Uncousiously you can start to think way less of yourself and that you are undeserving of love unlike your persona. But you still want your true self to be loved which is the whole issue. Truthtelling words can no longer heal me. Just stay by my side for a little while longer. I dont have enough love. The proof of my life is wounds wounds. To me Minami wants love because as we disscused earlier it would validate and be the proof of her life. But since the love she receives is MPs love the only proof of her life is wounds due to the sadness of not being loved for who she truly is. Thats basically the song up to now : Minami begs MP to give her the love she receives but its only palliative she wants the true her to be loved. 600https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/815968088075665418/1078974412562366465/Screenshot2023022510385160f9ee0578fe1cc94de7482bd41accb329.jpg Doppelganger in the mirror please take my place. The mirror is an easy symbolism but GODDAMN does it works on so many layers. Through a mirror you see a an imperfect inacurrate reflection of yourself. But its the only way you can see yourself because you cant get a look at yourself with your bare eyes. You use the mirror to see if you look good. Brushing your teeths doing your hair even using make up or whatever symbolically you use your reflection to cover up your true self and use products to modify your natural self. Ill talk aout the other layers later and get ready itll give the song a whole new meaning A doppelganger is an apparition or double of a living person. There was no more ephemeral word than forever . If it hurts my heart this much I dont care if its fiction. Of course I want to close my eyes. You think so too dont you? Hey hey there isnt it weird how it reflects the lines Oh I want to escape from this miserable world of 3D.You think so too dont you? But this time shes also answering Of course I want to close my eyes.. Same for you right ? Makes you wonder whos talking right now.... La La La... Great vocalizing I love her voice. You laughed at me next to the tilted balance and said There is no place for you anymore. MP is getting such an important place in Minamis life that..where does she get to be MInami? Is there still a place for her ? No. To put in back in context she is a celebrity with a lot of pressure on on her shoulders when does she get to be Minami. Whats interesting is that in the french translation she doesnt you she says I and me. The line is getting thinner and thinner... I wanted to go back to reality but I cant go back anymore. I didnt even know the weight of a single word. You said to me Be my sacrifice. and I said to you Be my sacrifice. HERE WE ARE. The big plot twist that changes everything I teased you about is explicitely revealed. There is no MP and MInami theyre the same person strictly dissociating her persona from herself is wrong as there is no true you. Who knows if we were seeing the right reflection the mirror since the beginning of the song? From the other side your reflection also looks at you and see an imperfect version of themsleves that they want to change. I exaggerated when I said that there was no true you but my point is that if all you ever are in your life is a fake persona then how is that not you ? The real you is the fake you knowing that it was thereal you who created the persona. Its Minami saying lies not MP MP is a lie and Minami is the orchestror. I love Minamis critical judgment and I think we needed both versions of her dissociating herself from MP and her dissociating MP from her to arrive to the point where we realise its the same person. Minami wishes she was just MP all the time sacrificing Minami and MP wishes she was Minami all the time so that Minami can finally receive love and be herself. Both personas said to the other Be my sacrifice theyve said to themselves Be my sacrifice. Genius writting. It is very reletable to me who had a huge persona in my life. My persona was unintersting and I was a mob person like. Once I tried to be the real me I realized how utterly uninteresting I was. Was it that I erased myself so much that there was nothing left of me and that I became like my persona by dint of pretending or was my persona just a convenient excuse to dump all these traits? My utopia has disappeared somewhere. and My ideal mirror has disappeared somewhere. Shes only left with herself and who is she really ? What was once a comfortable situation became hell. You revealed your true personality and gave me a fake smile. You suck in lies over and over again and then come up with new lies right? Is it Minami talking about how MP is a disgusting fake or is it MP talking about Minami being a liar pretending she isnt the one lying? Ill skip some lines because I dont have anything new to add. I cant become you who is just a vessel. All of place is created by my ideal. and My current situation is all because of my ideal mirror. I wanted to break this situation but I couldnt. Because my utopia was only here. and Because my ideal mirror was only here. I reached out my hand for no reason into the mirror. To virtualize a lie An unrealistic reality and a nonexistent mirror image. Give me back the fading boundaries. Please give me back. Please give me a chance to try again. The real me is here thats not me thats my fake. Dont love the fake me. Please dont forget the real me. I swear. I wont lie to you again. You have my word Godtier singing she is incredible. You feel the raw emotion trrough her voice its heartbreaking and captivating. Lyrics wise were back at Minami longing to be loved. Its kinda ironic I used the name Minami to talk about the real her knowing Minami is a pseudo and that its precisely her personas name. There she realizes that if everybody loves her as Minami then...who wants the real her? We see her as Minami an artist but thats it obvisouly we do not know the real person and we dont know her real name just like anyone I can only see her reflection but to me thats her yknow? Imagine if you discover someone is the complete opposite of what you thought they were. At first you wouldnt believe it. The real would seem fake to you. To us fans the real Minami is the fake. CONCLUSION As bad as it can sounds after this review I love Minami. Her songs are always a blast to listen to and even if its limited Im glad I get to know a little of the real her through her songs and through her persona. Hopefully this fake her as she describes it will be able to free the real her through via their genuine songs. Ill finish with the illustrator images that perfetcly retranscribe the lyrics. Minami strangling MP but then its MP strangling Minami and you realise its just Minami strangling herself or MP doing so.... 600https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/815968088075665418/1078988553188548648/Screenshot2023022511343197f9ee0578fe1cc94de7482bd41accb329.jpg 600https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/815968088075665418/1078988553477951528/Screenshot2023022511342647f9ee0578fe1cc94de7482bd41accb329.jpg 600https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/815968088075665418/1078988554090324038/Screenshot2023022511350098f9ee0578fe1cc94de7482bd41accb329.jpg 600https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/815968088075665418/1078988553767374848/Screenshot2023022511345440f9ee0578fe1cc94de7482bd41accb329.jpg if you want to disscuss this review you can go on my profile :