It's just like a performance in theater. The first performance the actor is playing the character and portraying the character. By the 99th performance they have become the character. By the 990th performance the character has become something all it's own and the actor is just left on the stage performing but isn't actually doing anything for the character since it's already become it's own thing.
The more she wears the mask the more the mask sticks to her, notice that on the third time the mask has skin on it Almost like it was fused to the face 🤔 So what I interpret from it is that mask or no mask, she's fake and the fake is real, and reality is entertainment for her. So no wonder she's following the God of entertainment and laughter *_AHA_*
Paralel, doesnt that also applies very well on vtubing/content creation a lot too? Keeping the character until you fully become the character and finally the character becomes its own thing.
@@Succubus_L0li I mean we all more of less saying the same thing. To me this isn't just limited to the stage, we all put on a mask everyday. We think about the image that we'd like to present ourselves to the world. Initially, we focus on that image and try to act a certain way no matter how we feel inside. As we mature, we start to learn how to make the image seem more authentic, we fuse more of our real selves into the image to make it more believable. Eventually, we do it for so long and we forget if it was an image that we were presenting or if that was our real selves to begin with.
Notice the black dots below her eyes. At first it' only there when she's playing as Sparkle. At the end, it's permanently there even if she's offstage. And you could also see the dots on the mask, meaning she became Sparkle on or offstage.
I think its like those method actors. Method actors are those who basically *become* the characters they act as and there are some instances where some actors wouldn't be able to differentiate between their real selves and the character they're acting as. I believe thats basically what happened with sparkle.
My First Interpretation is as follwos: She was a Star, an Actress of some sorts and had to keep a smile all the time, then she found out the path of Elation and thought of life as meaningless, no point in hiding your emotions to please a group of people who ignore their reallity, hense the mask reflecting her. But later is her sadistic side, as we know all Masked Fools brake the 4th world and Aha's is basicallt self aware, with his Ideal being "Life is meaningless either way, why not have fun instead", so who care if the NPC get hurt as long as it makes this meaningles life fun, the mask being maybe like the distorted version she percives of the world, "When she is Happy people are screaming" (her enjoyment on playing with people), "When she is angry people is crying" (she mistreats/punish those who make her mad), "When she is sad people is happy" (she is just terrible, so if she suffers people are happy). And I thought that because first and secod mask are her, they still look Kitsune, but the third mask is Human and the trailer show Plenty of them, as if they were people. The Other one still related to her being Masked Fool: No one is real, neither is she, she is a character created by someone else, not really her, but that's also who she actually is. "She IS as much as she ISN'T" That adds to her "Doesn't matter who I am Off Stage, because when I'm on Stage, I'm just Sparkle", because we only know the Saprkle we see when the story wants us to see her, when she is "On Stage" as Sparkle. If the Creators wants us to see her hide her Emotions, We get that (First Mask), if the creators want us to see her being honest and showing herself, We get that (Second mask), if the creators wants us to see her insanity, We get that (third mask). All can also be why she call it "Beloved Mask" in each version, buecause she has to be the way she "Is Told" or "Created" and love that role because that's who she is suppouse to be, but is she really that? If you question you existence to that extent I understand becoming insane 😂 It feels like Some another level of meta sh*t I love! Or maybe I'm just overthinking, who knows.
"When she is sad people is happy" (she is just terrible, so if she suffers people are happy). I don't know if that would be the only reason. People putting others before themselves also make others happy at the cost of their own happiness. Plus I think it's pretty messed up for a person to be happy at another's genuine suffering though it is another aspect of being human.
@@MrYamiBakura Yeah, but we are talking charcters here, How many times, when an Awfull and hated villain gets punish or killed, people feel great satisfaction from it? I say it in reference to that. You think all the people who genuinly hate her for what we saw in the 2.0 story wouldn't feel happy is something bad happens to her? I think the hate is stupid, but those who hate her that much, I can see them being like "Yeah! Deserved!"
@@sofialu226 There is hate and there is sadism. People don‘t realise how big the gap between the two is. I could get very philosophical about this tbh. If it just comes down to feelings, it doesn‘t really matter whether the person they are directed to is real or not.
Something I find interesting is that during the trailer, we always see Sparkle’s expression before we see the mask’s. But at the very end, with Sparkle on the rooftop, we see her mask before we see her face. And when she takes off the mask, her face and the mask are making the exact same expression. Almost like the mask has now become part of her, unable to be fully removed.
You have a very impressive eye for details! enjoyed this reaction. I'm a cinematographer and don't play Honkai Star Rail but have had a friend recently introduce me to these Cinematics. I personally really enjoy the Myriad Celestia trailers as they are FULL of Symbolism. The team behind these trailers are extremely talented in encapsulating an ideology, theme or story in only a matter of minutes. Here are few pieces of symbolism I picked out that may have gone unnoticed to most! I'll break it down into the three "performances" - The Premiere Performance - The 99th Showing - The 990th Showing. 1. The Premiere Performance - The cherry blossoms that this actress sits under during this first performance symbolize the transience of life. Life is ever-changing and in this case, metaphorically, ever-fleeting. As it goes on to portray that she's losing her sense of self in the next to performances 2. The 99th performance - The mirrors and reflections symbolism are used perfectly in this trailer. In cinema, mirrors or reflections can symbolize lies and deceit, aging and death, or in this case madness and corruption. This actress is being corrupted by the character she has been portraying for so long, which is solidified further when she says "the one in the mirror, that's Sparkle" she's slowly losing her sense of self. Another little nod I saw were the Kitsune statues that were next to the actress at the end of this showing. Kitsune have plenty of supernatural powers but the most prevalent in this scene is the power of metamorphosis, to become something else entirely. Her kitsune mask also represents this as well but the statues really sell it here as this is the actresses' transitionary point into the character she is portraying on stage. 3. The 990th performance - The Red Spider lilies are extremely relevant here as they represent Death and Rebirth. This actress has experienced her ego-death, or to put it simply "death of self" and the character she is performing as, Sparkle, has completely taken control (rebirth). All in all this is absolutely incredible story telling from the cinematography to music design. I did not expect this level of depth to come from a mobile game trailer. I continue to look forward to more of these trailers as they are a blast to dissect scene by scene and sometimes even frame by frame. This one was, by far, my favorite trailer to break down out of the Celestia trailers. P.S. I'm very enticed by lore heavy games. Would this game be a good one to pick up for good lore? From my some research it is a gacha game. Could I play it without paying money and still enjoy the story? thank you!
Yes, definitely, so long as you’re willing to read. The writing is incredible, and the pantheon is incredible. Sparkle, for example, is following the path of the cosmic deity of Elation - she’s essentially a paladin of a trickster god. And these gods are active participants in shaping the cosmos. There’s an entire game mode dedicated to unraveling the mystery of these deities, and it is some of the coolest writing I have ever seen. Just an absolutely masterful blend of sci-fi and fantasy. I was recommended the game by a writer who knows how much I hate gacha games. And if you love digging into lore, I cannot recommend the game enough to you.
@@possum8865 Might have to pick it up then! Yeah sci-fi fantasy sounds like something I will enjoy. Thank you for writing this out. Helps me understand this character more too!
So as many have firgured out already sparkle loses herself in the character the longer she portrays it. But what you might have missed is that the mask slowly becomes more human throughout the trailer and, That's because this is a 4th wall break, and Sparkle realized we are playing her, and she isn't in control of anything. "Because offstage is an even bigger stage!" Really cool twist
I feel like this is definitely trying to hint that the masks change the wearer over time. I think that could be why Sampo hasn't wanted his mask back until now.
Yeah agreed. The power of the mask seems great, but overtime it seemed to drive her crazy. It makes sense Sampo doesnt want to use his anymore, but it makes u wonder what catastrophe is coming to Jarillo VI that he needs to bring it out
I realize there are massive differences between the two characters, but she gives off strong "what if Furina just went over the deep end" vibes. I like seeing an implicit connection between her and her mask, how it seems to have become the personification of the character she was portraying. I wonder if any of the other Masked Fools have similar connections to their masks. Sampo clearly has a reason for wanting his mask back from Sparkle, so there must be some reason beyond just decoration.
Yeah, I definitely got the Furina vibes. They're certainly both very distinct characters, but the composition of this and the theme remind me of Furina as well! I'm also very curious about the other Masked Fools and what the connection to their masks looks like. Perhaps it manifests differently depending on the person. What a fascinating concept they've created!
I think the fact that she's clearly got Mirai Nikki Yuko and Oshi no ko Ai vibes and the "premiere performance" and "Showing:xx", would mean that while she was once an actress, at some point she began pushing her emotions down and confusing them with the "Mask: Sparkle/Hanabi" and found joy in "Elation", with the spider lillies in the trailer depicting her full separation/disassociation into her new identity as "Hanabi"(more easily seen in JP where she refers to herself as Hanabi aka her name). The cosplays at the end def muddles thing, but I think the fact that it's showing a play stage on a world we've never seen is showing that there is def a hint of truth to what we can see in the trailer, like how we can see that Sampo is not a good guy, but he ain't a "bad guy".
The whole trailer is about Sparkle being taken over by her stage persona. There are 3 acts basically. Act 1: The mask always smiles no matter what the real Sparkle feels. And the real Sparkle is the one hiding behind the mask. Act 2: The mask starts reflecting her emotions. And the real Sparkle is the one reflected in the mirror. Act 3: There's a complete break between what Sparkle feels and the Mask shows. She completely lost control of it. And now, the real Sparkle isn't the one behind the mask but the mask itself. The epilogue is The Mask walking out of the studio. Notice that at the very beginning of the trailer she doesn't have the butterfly motif in her eyes and the dots under them are makeup. But at the end she was wearing both even though she was in casual clothes. The normal girl named Sparkle is no more.
@@himetsukich That is the progress of how sparkle born She is she ( hanabi) , the mask is the mask ( sparkle) She is she, but she live under the mask She is the mask, the mask is she The mask is she, but she isn’t the mask Only the mask remain, she become a fake indentity
You asked "why is she facing away from the audience" for the 2nd run. If sparkle is the reflection, then the woman underneath is facing the audience, but her reflection is opposing that. As for what that means? No idea haha. Another reason why this trailer is so great is that you can close your eyes and almost get the same info. Her voice says it all. In run #3 she has some genuine statemwnts that mirror run #1, befire returning to her voice from the 2nd run. In the story, she does the samw thing when shes speaking to sampo at the bar. She's genuine when she tells sampo she could be a friend, but hes like NOPE. Theres also a lot of imagery with the fish, ao im sure that has some significance, but im nog a fishologist. At the end, when it shows all ther other sparmles on the tv, could that bd people shes impersonated? If so...we could have a aus herta and Sushang at some point.
That is the progress of how sparkle born She is she ( hanabi) , the mask is the mask ( sparkle) She is she, but she live under the mask She is the mask, the mask is she The mask is she, but she isn’t the mask Only the mask remain, she become a fake indentity
I liked and appreciate the breakdown! Definitely the most interesting character to me so far Edit: I came back after watching more reactions and yours was indeed the best one along with Mina's, thank you
Lots of flower motifs in this one, and in her design overall. Cherry blossoms, water lilies, and spider lilies in the background also follow a pattern of Spring, Summer, and Fall. Think she has plum flowers on her clothes as well, which would be Winter? There are others on her clothes that I can't figure out.
Furina had a framework for her role that she could not go beyond, Hanabi can do whatever her heart desires and at the same time enjoy the moment of the game. Furina suffered from this
@ora3040 you don't know for sure if Hanabi can do whatever she wants or not it can easily have a tragic story. The part about leaving the "stage" when she realized the life is one feels suicidal to me in a way. Also I feel Sparkle story is an evolution/alternative to Furina story.
@@karmac0nf1g43let’s not get things twisted, Furina did go insane and her current personality is very much a result of her 500 year performance. She’s doesn’t have the same personality as before her masquerade. I think what separates her from sparkle was that there was a purpose and goal to Furina’s performance. Sparkle seems to have just lost herself to Aha
If i wasn’t already pulling for her i would do it now. What’s even more crazy that this is not even her character trailer would be interesting to know if she really was an actress before - if yes it would explain why she is soo good in disguising other people. and the question remains is the mask Sparkle on it own or just her role she is playing
Since she isn't officially out yet this may contain spoilers about Sparkles story that can be read on her profile when you own her (it's already online so not sure how many read it) The story on her profile in game mentions that Sparkle is an orphan and got the mask from "Sparkle" which was just a character role name of a woman (which also looked exactly like the Sparkle we know since it's really a costume). That woman gave Sparkle the mask and let her play the role once then after she gifted it to her for being fascinated that she even came to see their show a lot. From that she learned to imitate humans since she factually has no identity herself never given a name never having parents. There technically really isn't a real Sparkle when the name alone originally comes from a character of a theater. That mask also seems to have a will of its own so it may possess people making them essentially a puppet.
I think there are many Sparkles, she, the main puppetter Sparkle controlls them all forcing emotions on them, she is just off stage, she is that powerfull, probably blessed by Aha, because she does not care about how those Sparkles feel, she is that chaotic. That is what I think. She might be an emanator of Elation after all.
It's interesting how much this reflects how people mask their true self even in day-to-day life, and how much that devolves as we get older and more used to hiding our emotions and feelings. I feel like at a young age we're trained not to be open and genuine with our true selves for fear of rejection. At first that's just a mask and we can distinguish our own selves between being in public and being alone. Over time we start to integrate part of ourselves into that performance, mirroring our own true emotions and feelings whenever we're around those close to us. It still isn't truly who we are, but it's a reflection of our true self. But eventually it may get to the point where that mask becomes a part of who we are, to where we kind of lose ourselves to the performance we're taking part in. Which definitely stays true to the whole "the world is a stage" theme that Sparkle presents.
I think the shot that says "no I'm sparkle" is supposed to be the memetic idea of sparkle is the only real thing. It doesn't matter who the human is or where the mask is anymore
Well, in her descriptions in game it looks like Sparkle is not her actual name - but the name of a character in Theatre play, which she started playing when main actress dissapeared. So we do not know her actual name, because Sparkle is the name of the role of another actress, which became main role of Sparkle, which gave her some meaning in life.
Obvserve behind the mask Join the stage Watch the play All of it is Sparkles path of Elation. Very confient on that because of the end part where she becomes the eyes watching Sparkle, the character she played on stage.
Such an interesting trailer. Missed your breakdowns of the trailers when you took your star rail sabbatical :D My thoughts are completely disjoint (maybe because I am yet to play the side quests and companion quests). 1) The whole thing feels like puppets on a string. Over time, ventriloquists are known to embrace a tiny bit of madness, really believing that their puppets are alive, as they sit there on stage, waiting for their puppet to "say their line" like they were sentient. Sparkle seems to have embraced that tiny bit of madness via elation. Albeit, she's her own puppet in this scenario. 2) The red strings are so reminiscent of Kafka's domination ability, in both the colour (even the colour of her eyes when she's using her abilities), as well as the strings. She did put us to sleep. Is the ability somewhat similar to Kafka's? Or is she the one being controlled already by the end? Even phase 3's colour scheme and violins reminds me of Jepella rebellion's theme. 3) The callback to 3 phases like Nahida's demo. Starts off bright, and then grows darker and ominous by the phase. Wonder if it is the same artists who worked on this. Excellent work in the art!
It's a REALLY cool trailer! Very visually interesting. That's a good comparison with the puppets and ventriloquists. I think Sparkle has certainly embraced a bit of that madness for sure. The red strings are really neat. I like the aesthetic of them, and it's interesting that you liken it to Kafka because Kafka has a spider theme, and towards the end, Sparkle looks almost as if she's been caught in a spider web. I agree! Excellent art, and I also enjoyed the way it progressively got darker and darker.
@@himetsukichHSR has been making me feel like Argenti... Extolling the beauty of the art, the music, the characters, the story...the gameplay might as well be a potted plant at this point and I'd still call it beautiful.
I wonder if this is a play on the Japanese proverb about how everybody has 3 faces. One you show to the world, one you show to your friends and family, and one you show to yourself and is the truest form to yourself.
7:16 it’s a slow dissociation, The person under the vale (her) his sparkle, the person in the mirror (could both mean the person being reflected or the reflection itself), to a clear she is not sparkle it is. 9:40 it is literally just the mask, “it’s a face staring at me”, the mask face morphs and says “I’m Sparkle” it is literally that simple.
Sparkle reminds me a lot about The Fool Pathway from the Lord of the Mysteries. I guess their themes overlap. Red threads usually mean threads of destiny which reminded me of the acting method for Sequence 8: Clown - "Although being capable of knowing a little about fate, one remains helpless towards fate; therefore, one might as well use a smiling face to hide all the pain, sorrow, confusion, and depression." And her abilities also overap. Sequence 6 - Faceless has the ability to change appearance, Sequence 7 - Magician has different tricks up his sleeve including illusions just like Sparkle, Sequence 5 - Marionettist has the ability to turn people into his marionettes by invisible threads only he can see. I don't know if it has any relation to the last scene. But also acting methods of sequences 8 to 5 have some resemblance to Sparkle's doings.
She says "The one wearing the veil...that's Sparkle", and she's always holding the mask covered by a veil. Hmm Also, @ 2:04 you can see the silhouette of the mask behind her.
At the end, when she talked about "when I found out life was just a play, I wanted to leave the stage" is MEGA important to understanding her 3 stage transformation. As the performances racked up from 1-99-990 she got caught up in acting to the point she extended that to life itself, so the mask not longer being synonymous shows she is "acting" herself "acting" for the audience. I disagree with others who think the mask itself is magical or corrupting. I think its a regular mask. If you truly think life is just a play, then wouldn't you like to be "the force behind the scenes" or "the puppeteer"? So what happens if you detached your perspective (symbolized by the physical mask) to the point you become your own puppeteer? Are you still the puppet if you become the puppeteer? I think that is what this shows. LASTLY: remember her story quest? It was all about "who is Sparkle" and Sparkle declared it was "Sparkles Body". This shows that she considers the "body" (which was supposed to be pretend dead) is still a "character", because to her no matter what the situation with the body, it is all still her playing a character, whereas most people who have assumed she stopped being a character once she was "killed" onscreen even if the body was still there.
Her character profile kind of proves those masks are special and corrupting. They aren't just masks they are masks from Aha the Aeon of Elation. No reason for them to be just masks. The profile story mentions the puppet clan who consists of people without their own understanding of emotions following the order of the masks therefore becoming more like puppets than actual humans. They imitate humans. Don't know why this shouldn't be taken literally when there is no reason not to.
@@flooby-wu6st nope, the mask is not from aha But who aha approve as his follower is the mask not who wear it ( original personality ) The mask is the new personality was created by the original and replace it The mask is the represent of the new personality
In sparkle companion mission, there's a line where sampo said to black swan that even he's not sure "sparkle" is her real name. I think even "sparkle" body in penacony is not her "real" body, so yeah "sparkle" can be anyone and anywhere, we will never know.
Maybe the mask steal her identity but can also be that all of this it's only a costume that they are showing us like a personality she uses in that world to do the performance as sparkle, because at the end they are more than one mask
She is 100% possessed by a kitsune, the kitsune mask makes so much sense, also how the relationship between the mask changes. If you notice it the eyes change like a kitsune. This is extremely well done and deep.
I think is pretty cool how every masked fool has something about plays and writing. Sampo is abou diversion.(smoke bombs) Sparkle is about acting.(impersonating robin)
It seems that at first, the mask hides her, then the mask sympathizes with her, then the mask dominates her, and in the end, she dominates the mask or Sparkle is present in both.
She is the girl in the first stage, that is the original personality But after sparkle ( the mask) become her, it see that girl is just a fake identity
@@comfywormm to her , it all fake But we known she used to have a real indentity and that is who we see in the first stage The one we see in the first stage is her real indentity But when sparkle become she, sparkle consider that indentity is just fake like other identity so she confuse about who is sparkle, because sparkle not limit itself in only one indentity
the way I see it is sparkle never existed. She was always a mask that was used even before she found elation. so all these tweaks of character, all these weird mismatches of personality all of them are sparkle because sparkle was always fake. at the beginning it says it doesn't matter who she is off the stage anymore and that's probably because she found out that the whole world is a stage regardless if you're on or off, so why be your "real self" when you can just be a stage name. and the main question "who is the real sparkle" is a unanswerable question disguised as an answerable one to confuse the audience and make them play the worthless guessing game. and the mask getting more and more chaotic is her embracing elation deeper as time moves forward.
Keep in mind, that this background story is just one of many, that Sparkle may tell us. She likes her past with multiple choice. I just wonder, if she knows about Acheron before that woman become an Emanator. Just one thing I realized: If Sparkle asks one more time "Why so serious?", I hope another character calls her out for being the most serious fool we met so far.
Sparkle feels almost like a foil to Furina in some way, but where Furina managed to maintain her sense of self throughout all the plays, Sparkle lost herself in it until only the character itself remained.
At first she was hiding behind the mask. Next she was hiding herself in the mirror - she is no longer the person on stage at all... Finally she's no longer even herself... The mask is now Sparkle.
Wait, is Sparkle _dead?!_ 'Life is a stage' and she said she wanted to 'leave the stage' so is she like a force ghost? Or I guess she's actually be like Black Swan since I think she's also dead but she became some sort of memory ghost?
The original personality is dead ( or sleep deep under the conscious world) Who we see is the mask ( sparkle) the new personality Black swan not dead ( not in the way how we define dead is) but changing herself to a new life form
The first time around, the mask is “Sparkle”, and she is playing the role behind that mask; the second time around her inner self became Sparkle, the reflection of her is Sparkle; the third time around, the audience became “Sparkle”, everyone is Sparkle, and sparkle is everyone. That’s probably why she is so into turning into other people.
That is the progress of how sparkle born She is she ( hanabi) , the mask is the mask ( sparkle) She is she, but she live under the mask She is the mask, the mask is she The mask is she, but she isn’t the mask Only the mask remain, she become a fake indentity
It's just like a performance in theater. The first performance the actor is playing the character and portraying the character. By the 99th performance they have become the character. By the 990th performance the character has become something all it's own and the actor is just left on the stage performing but isn't actually doing anything for the character since it's already become it's own thing.
Wholeheartedly agree.
The more she wears the mask the more the mask sticks to her, notice that on the third time the mask has skin on it
Almost like it was fused to the face 🤔
So what I interpret from it is that mask or no mask, she's fake and the fake is real, and reality is entertainment for her. So no wonder she's following the God of entertainment and laughter *_AHA_*
Paralel, doesnt that also applies very well on vtubing/content creation a lot too? Keeping the character until you fully become the character and finally the character becomes its own thing.
@@Succubus_L0li I mean we all more of less saying the same thing. To me this isn't just limited to the stage, we all put on a mask everyday. We think about the image that we'd like to present ourselves to the world. Initially, we focus on that image and try to act a certain way no matter how we feel inside. As we mature, we start to learn how to make the image seem more authentic, we fuse more of our real selves into the image to make it more believable. Eventually, we do it for so long and we forget if it was an image that we were presenting or if that was our real selves to begin with.
I’m so confused
"Who's the real Sparkle? The human, the human and the mask, or the mask itself?"
She's very complex, and very Joker Harley Quinn esque,, I love her
Maybe Aha did something to the mask. Just for "lol" of it. And since she probably as an star had her own mental problems ... BANG
Pela is the real Sparkle.
Notice the black dots below her eyes. At first it' only there when she's playing as Sparkle. At the end, it's permanently there even if she's offstage. And you could also see the dots on the mask, meaning she became Sparkle on or offstage.
I think its like those method actors. Method actors are those who basically *become* the characters they act as and there are some instances where some actors wouldn't be able to differentiate between their real selves and the character they're acting as. I believe thats basically what happened with sparkle.
At first, the mask is just a mask.
Later, the mask reflects her.
At the end, the mask takes over.
It's not the girl, it's the mask that is Sparkle.
bingo which means hanabi is probably her real name, and Sparkle is the one thats taken over.
@@RanmaEX no, in jp version her name is Hanabi, in cn version her name is Huahuo. Hanabi is just the jp version name of Sparkle.
Best summary pretty much
My First Interpretation is as follwos:
She was a Star, an Actress of some sorts and had to keep a smile all the time, then she found out the path of Elation and thought of life as meaningless, no point in hiding your emotions to please a group of people who ignore their reallity, hense the mask reflecting her. But later is her sadistic side, as we know all Masked Fools brake the 4th world and Aha's is basicallt self aware, with his Ideal being "Life is meaningless either way, why not have fun instead", so who care if the NPC get hurt as long as it makes this meaningles life fun, the mask being maybe like the distorted version she percives of the world, "When she is Happy people are screaming" (her enjoyment on playing with people), "When she is angry people is crying" (she mistreats/punish those who make her mad), "When she is sad people is happy" (she is just terrible, so if she suffers people are happy). And I thought that because first and secod mask are her, they still look Kitsune, but the third mask is Human and the trailer show Plenty of them, as if they were people.
The Other one still related to her being Masked Fool:
No one is real, neither is she, she is a character created by someone else, not really her, but that's also who she actually is. "She IS as much as she ISN'T" That adds to her "Doesn't matter who I am Off Stage, because when I'm on Stage, I'm just Sparkle", because we only know the Saprkle we see when the story wants us to see her, when she is "On Stage" as Sparkle. If the Creators wants us to see her hide her Emotions, We get that (First Mask), if the creators want us to see her being honest and showing herself, We get that (Second mask), if the creators wants us to see her insanity, We get that (third mask). All can also be why she call it "Beloved Mask" in each version, buecause she has to be the way she "Is Told" or "Created" and love that role because that's who she is suppouse to be, but is she really that? If you question you existence to that extent I understand becoming insane 😂
It feels like Some another level of meta sh*t I love!
Or maybe I'm just overthinking, who knows.
"When she is sad people is happy" (she is just terrible, so if she suffers people are happy).
I don't know if that would be the only reason. People putting others before themselves also make others happy at the cost of their own happiness.
Plus I think it's pretty messed up for a person to be happy at another's genuine suffering though it is another aspect of being human.
@@MrYamiBakura Yeah, but we are talking charcters here, How many times, when an Awfull and hated villain gets punish or killed, people feel great satisfaction from it? I say it in reference to that.
You think all the people who genuinly hate her for what we saw in the 2.0 story wouldn't feel happy is something bad happens to her? I think the hate is stupid, but those who hate her that much, I can see them being like "Yeah! Deserved!"
@@sofialu226 There is hate and there is sadism. People don‘t realise how big the gap between the two is. I could get very philosophical about this tbh. If it just comes down to feelings, it doesn‘t really matter whether the person they are directed to is real or not.
Something I find interesting is that during the trailer, we always see Sparkle’s expression before we see the mask’s. But at the very end, with Sparkle on the rooftop, we see her mask before we see her face. And when she takes off the mask, her face and the mask are making the exact same expression. Almost like the mask has now become part of her, unable to be fully removed.
In the end, the one puppeteering the persona of Sparkle became nothing more than a puppet herself.
You have a very impressive eye for details! enjoyed this reaction.
I'm a cinematographer and don't play Honkai Star Rail but have had a friend recently introduce me to these Cinematics. I personally really enjoy the Myriad Celestia trailers as they are FULL of Symbolism. The team behind these trailers are extremely talented in encapsulating an ideology, theme or story in only a matter of minutes.
Here are few pieces of symbolism I picked out that may have gone unnoticed to most! I'll break it down into the three "performances" - The Premiere Performance - The 99th Showing - The 990th Showing.
1. The Premiere Performance - The cherry blossoms that this actress sits under during this first performance symbolize the transience of life. Life is ever-changing and in this case, metaphorically, ever-fleeting. As it goes on to portray that she's losing her sense of self in the next to performances
2. The 99th performance - The mirrors and reflections symbolism are used perfectly in this trailer. In cinema, mirrors or reflections can symbolize lies and deceit, aging and death, or in this case madness and corruption. This actress is being corrupted by the character she has been portraying for so long, which is solidified further when she says "the one in the mirror, that's Sparkle" she's slowly losing her sense of self. Another little nod I saw were the Kitsune statues that were next to the actress at the end of this showing. Kitsune have plenty of supernatural powers but the most prevalent in this scene is the power of metamorphosis, to become something else entirely. Her kitsune mask also represents this as well but the statues really sell it here as this is the actresses' transitionary point into the character she is portraying on stage.
3. The 990th performance - The Red Spider lilies are extremely relevant here as they represent Death and Rebirth. This actress has experienced her ego-death, or to put it simply "death of self" and the character she is performing as, Sparkle, has completely taken control (rebirth).
All in all this is absolutely incredible story telling from the cinematography to music design. I did not expect this level of depth to come from a mobile game trailer. I continue to look forward to more of these trailers as they are a blast to dissect scene by scene and sometimes even frame by frame. This one was, by far, my favorite trailer to break down out of the Celestia trailers.
P.S. I'm very enticed by lore heavy games. Would this game be a good one to pick up for good lore? From my some research it is a gacha game. Could I play it without paying money and still enjoy the story? thank you!
Yes, definitely, so long as you’re willing to read. The writing is incredible, and the pantheon is incredible. Sparkle, for example, is following the path of the cosmic deity of Elation - she’s essentially a paladin of a trickster god. And these gods are active participants in shaping the cosmos. There’s an entire game mode dedicated to unraveling the mystery of these deities, and it is some of the coolest writing I have ever seen. Just an absolutely masterful blend of sci-fi and fantasy.
I was recommended the game by a writer who knows how much I hate gacha games. And if you love digging into lore, I cannot recommend the game enough to you.
@@possum8865 Might have to pick it up then! Yeah sci-fi fantasy sounds like something I will enjoy. Thank you for writing this out. Helps me understand this character more too!
@@punk3885 Of course! Have fun :)
So as many have firgured out already sparkle loses herself in the character the longer she portrays it. But what you might have missed is that the mask slowly becomes more human throughout the trailer and, That's because this is a 4th wall break, and Sparkle realized we are playing her, and she isn't in control of anything. "Because offstage is an even bigger stage!" Really cool twist
I feel like this is definitely trying to hint that the masks change the wearer over time. I think that could be why Sampo hasn't wanted his mask back until now.
Yeah agreed. The power of the mask seems great, but overtime it seemed to drive her crazy. It makes sense Sampo doesnt want to use his anymore, but it makes u wonder what catastrophe is coming to Jarillo VI that he needs to bring it out
@@deftabyss280 Bronya can't catch a break
When sampo was the sanest person in the masked fools faction we need more characters from this faction and 5 star sampo is what I am.excited
@@Cat_Sidhe bronya probably has a few bald spots from stress rn
I realize there are massive differences between the two characters, but she gives off strong "what if Furina just went over the deep end" vibes.
I like seeing an implicit connection between her and her mask, how it seems to have become the personification of the character she was portraying. I wonder if any of the other Masked Fools have similar connections to their masks. Sampo clearly has a reason for wanting his mask back from Sparkle, so there must be some reason beyond just decoration.
Yeah, I definitely got the Furina vibes. They're certainly both very distinct characters, but the composition of this and the theme remind me of Furina as well!
I'm also very curious about the other Masked Fools and what the connection to their masks looks like. Perhaps it manifests differently depending on the person. What a fascinating concept they've created!
I think the fact that she's clearly got Mirai Nikki Yuko and Oshi no ko Ai vibes and the "premiere performance" and "Showing:xx", would mean that while she was once an actress, at some point she began pushing her emotions down and confusing them with the "Mask: Sparkle/Hanabi" and found joy in "Elation", with the spider lillies in the trailer depicting her full separation/disassociation into her new identity as "Hanabi"(more easily seen in JP where she refers to herself as Hanabi aka her name).
The cosplays at the end def muddles thing, but I think the fact that it's showing a play stage on a world we've never seen is showing that there is def a hint of truth to what we can see in the trailer, like how we can see that Sampo is not a good guy, but he ain't a "bad guy".
The whole trailer is about Sparkle being taken over by her stage persona.
There are 3 acts basically.
Act 1: The mask always smiles no matter what the real Sparkle feels. And the real Sparkle is the one hiding behind the mask.
Act 2: The mask starts reflecting her emotions. And the real Sparkle is the one reflected in the mirror.
Act 3: There's a complete break between what Sparkle feels and the Mask shows. She completely lost control of it. And now, the real Sparkle isn't the one behind the mask but the mask itself.
The epilogue is The Mask walking out of the studio. Notice that at the very beginning of the trailer she doesn't have the butterfly motif in her eyes and the dots under them are makeup. But at the end she was wearing both even though she was in casual clothes. The normal girl named Sparkle is no more.
So, basically, Sparkle is Sparkle, except Sparkle isn't Sparkle, and it's actually Sparkle that's Sparkle...
Damn, bro. Thank you for this breakdown. It all makes sense now 🙏
@@himetsukich That is the progress of how sparkle born
She is she ( hanabi) , the mask is the mask ( sparkle)
She is she, but she live under the mask
She is the mask, the mask is she
The mask is she, but she isn’t the mask
Only the mask remain, she become a fake indentity
You asked "why is she facing away from the audience" for the 2nd run. If sparkle is the reflection, then the woman underneath is facing the audience, but her reflection is opposing that.
As for what that means? No idea haha.
Another reason why this trailer is so great is that you can close your eyes and almost get the same info. Her voice says it all. In run #3 she has some genuine statemwnts that mirror run #1, befire returning to her voice from the 2nd run.
In the story, she does the samw thing when shes speaking to sampo at the bar. She's genuine when she tells sampo she could be a friend, but hes like NOPE.
Theres also a lot of imagery with the fish, ao im sure that has some significance, but im nog a fishologist.
At the end, when it shows all ther other sparmles on the tv, could that bd people shes impersonated? If so...we could have a aus herta and Sushang at some point.
That is the progress of how sparkle born
She is she ( hanabi) , the mask is the mask ( sparkle)
She is she, but she live under the mask
She is the mask, the mask is she
The mask is she, but she isn’t the mask
Only the mask remain, she become a fake indentity
I think she might have multiple personalities thanks to the “mask”
I liked and appreciate the breakdown! Definitely the most interesting character to me so far
Edit: I came back after watching more reactions and yours was indeed the best one along with Mina's, thank you
Agreed - I was waiting for someone to watch it more than once and really look into it because it has a few layers to it worth looking back at.
Lots of flower motifs in this one, and in her design overall. Cherry blossoms, water lilies, and spider lilies in the background also follow a pattern of Spring, Summer, and Fall. Think she has plum flowers on her clothes as well, which would be Winter? There are others on her clothes that I can't figure out.
I feel Sparkle has a similar fate to Furina. I compare those performing numbers like Furina scenes.
Furina had a framework for her role that she could not go beyond, Hanabi can do whatever her heart desires and at the same time enjoy the moment of the game. Furina suffered from this
@ora3040 you don't know for sure if Hanabi can do whatever she wants or not it can easily have a tragic story. The part about leaving the "stage" when she realized the life is one feels suicidal to me in a way. Also I feel Sparkle story is an evolution/alternative to Furina story.
This is basically what would've happened if Furina went insane and lost her original personality during those 500 years
@@karmac0nf1g43 someone who got my point
@@karmac0nf1g43let’s not get things twisted, Furina did go insane and her current personality is very much a result of her 500 year performance. She’s doesn’t have the same personality as before her masquerade. I think what separates her from sparkle was that there was a purpose and goal to Furina’s performance. Sparkle seems to have just lost herself to Aha
If i wasn’t already pulling for her i would do it now.
What’s even more crazy that this is not even her character trailer
would be interesting to know if she really was an actress before - if yes it would explain why she is soo good in disguising other people.
and the question remains is the mask Sparkle on it own or just her role she is playing
This reminds me of Nahida's Teaser so much because it goes more happy to dark.
Since she isn't officially out yet this may contain spoilers about Sparkles story that can be read on her profile when you own her (it's already online so not sure how many read it)
The story on her profile in game mentions that Sparkle is an orphan and got the mask from "Sparkle" which was just a character role name of a woman (which also looked exactly like the Sparkle we know since it's really a costume). That woman gave Sparkle the mask and let her play the role once then after she gifted it to her for being fascinated that she even came to see their show a lot. From that she learned to imitate humans since she factually has no identity herself never given a name never having parents. There technically really isn't a real Sparkle when the name alone originally comes from a character of a theater.
That mask also seems to have a will of its own so it may possess people making them essentially a puppet.
That was just another one of her many personas she was playing as just like this trailer was showing.
I think there are many Sparkles, she, the main puppetter Sparkle controlls them all forcing emotions on them, she is just off stage, she is that powerfull, probably blessed by Aha, because she does not care about how those Sparkles feel, she is that chaotic. That is what I think. She might be an emanator of Elation after all.
It's interesting how much this reflects how people mask their true self even in day-to-day life, and how much that devolves as we get older and more used to hiding our emotions and feelings.
I feel like at a young age we're trained not to be open and genuine with our true selves for fear of rejection. At first that's just a mask and we can distinguish our own selves between being in public and being alone.
Over time we start to integrate part of ourselves into that performance, mirroring our own true emotions and feelings whenever we're around those close to us. It still isn't truly who we are, but it's a reflection of our true self.
But eventually it may get to the point where that mask becomes a part of who we are, to where we kind of lose ourselves to the performance we're taking part in. Which definitely stays true to the whole "the world is a stage" theme that Sparkle presents.
really love the discussion part of the video!🥳
I think the shot that says "no I'm sparkle" is supposed to be the memetic idea of sparkle is the only real thing. It doesn't matter who the human is or where the mask is anymore
Well, in her descriptions in game it looks like Sparkle is not her actual name - but the name of a character in Theatre play, which she started playing when main actress dissapeared. So we do not know her actual name, because Sparkle is the name of the role of another actress, which became main role of Sparkle, which gave her some meaning in life.
I like how they tease Space Japan.
Omg yesss I need that place asap! Looks so good and reminds me of a combination of Blade Runner and Entertainment District from Demon Slayer
my brain hurts but i don’t care because i love her
There's definitely a lot to digest in this trailer, but I agree! She's such a cool character , and I LOVE her design 🤩
The World is a stage gave me chuckels because its also Furinas character demo name. Them playing roles is similar
Now I'm going to say what I want to say, black hair, red eyes, psychotic is a vibe and is my type
Obvserve behind the mask
Join the stage
Watch the play
All of it is Sparkles path of Elation. Very confient on that because of the end part where she becomes the eyes watching Sparkle, the character she played on stage.
Such an interesting trailer. Missed your breakdowns of the trailers when you took your star rail sabbatical :D My thoughts are completely disjoint (maybe because I am yet to play the side quests and companion quests).
1) The whole thing feels like puppets on a string. Over time, ventriloquists are known to embrace a tiny bit of madness, really believing that their puppets are alive, as they sit there on stage, waiting for their puppet to "say their line" like they were sentient. Sparkle seems to have embraced that tiny bit of madness via elation. Albeit, she's her own puppet in this scenario.
2) The red strings are so reminiscent of Kafka's domination ability, in both the colour (even the colour of her eyes when she's using her abilities), as well as the strings. She did put us to sleep. Is the ability somewhat similar to Kafka's? Or is she the one being controlled already by the end? Even phase 3's colour scheme and violins reminds me of Jepella rebellion's theme.
3) The callback to 3 phases like Nahida's demo. Starts off bright, and then grows darker and ominous by the phase. Wonder if it is the same artists who worked on this. Excellent work in the art!
It's a REALLY cool trailer! Very visually interesting.
That's a good comparison with the puppets and ventriloquists. I think Sparkle has certainly embraced a bit of that madness for sure.
The red strings are really neat. I like the aesthetic of them, and it's interesting that you liken it to Kafka because Kafka has a spider theme, and towards the end, Sparkle looks almost as if she's been caught in a spider web.
I agree! Excellent art, and I also enjoyed the way it progressively got darker and darker.
@@himetsukichHSR has been making me feel like Argenti... Extolling the beauty of the art, the music, the characters, the story...the gameplay might as well be a potted plant at this point and I'd still call it beautiful.
I like her nail Polish
I wonder if this is a play on the Japanese proverb about how everybody has 3 faces. One you show to the world, one you show to your friends and family, and one you show to yourself and is the truest form to yourself.
7:16 it’s a slow dissociation, The person under the vale (her) his sparkle, the person in the mirror (could both mean the person being reflected or the reflection itself), to a clear she is not sparkle it is.
9:40 it is literally just the mask, “it’s a face staring at me”, the mask face morphs and says “I’m Sparkle” it is literally that simple.
She reminds me alot of the Noppera-bō also known as the 100 face demon it steals faces and tricks people which fits sparkle perfectly
Sparkle reminds me a lot about The Fool Pathway from the Lord of the Mysteries. I guess their themes overlap. Red threads usually mean threads of destiny which reminded me of the acting method for Sequence 8: Clown - "Although being capable of knowing a little about fate, one remains helpless towards fate; therefore, one might as well use a smiling face to hide all the pain, sorrow, confusion, and depression." And her abilities also overap. Sequence 6 - Faceless has the ability to change appearance, Sequence 7 - Magician has different tricks up his sleeve including illusions just like Sparkle, Sequence 5 - Marionettist has the ability to turn people into his marionettes by invisible threads only he can see. I don't know if it has any relation to the last scene.
But also acting methods of sequences 8 to 5 have some resemblance to Sparkle's doings.
I will watch the universe burn. And I will smile while doing it.
In the screen under her hair you can see what looks like Constance's skirt and if you look at her art she has the same dots under her eyes 🤯
She says "The one wearing the veil...that's Sparkle", and she's always holding the mask covered by a veil. Hmm
Also, @ 2:04 you can see the silhouette of the mask behind her.
on the opposite thumbnail to where she is Herta I think she's supposed to be Kafka? cause the same elevator like in Kafka's trailer
esse final "Quem é a verdadeira sparkle?" pqp arrepiou até os pelo do boga
At the end, when she talked about "when I found out life was just a play, I wanted to leave the stage" is MEGA important to understanding her 3 stage transformation. As the performances racked up from 1-99-990 she got caught up in acting to the point she extended that to life itself, so the mask not longer being synonymous shows she is "acting" herself "acting" for the audience. I disagree with others who think the mask itself is magical or corrupting. I think its a regular mask. If you truly think life is just a play, then wouldn't you like to be "the force behind the scenes" or "the puppeteer"? So what happens if you detached your perspective (symbolized by the physical mask) to the point you become your own puppeteer? Are you still the puppet if you become the puppeteer? I think that is what this shows.
LASTLY: remember her story quest? It was all about "who is Sparkle" and Sparkle declared it was "Sparkles Body". This shows that she considers the "body" (which was supposed to be pretend dead) is still a "character", because to her no matter what the situation with the body, it is all still her playing a character, whereas most people who have assumed she stopped being a character once she was "killed" onscreen even if the body was still there.
Her character profile kind of proves those masks are special and corrupting. They aren't just masks they are masks from Aha the Aeon of Elation. No reason for them to be just masks.
The profile story mentions the puppet clan who consists of people without their own understanding of emotions following the order of the masks therefore becoming more like puppets than actual humans. They imitate humans. Don't know why this shouldn't be taken literally when there is no reason not to.
@@flooby-wu6st nope, the mask is not from aha
But who aha approve as his follower is the mask not who wear it ( original personality )
The mask is the new personality was created by the original and replace it
The mask is the represent of the new personality
We're all Sparkle
I think the first two are the original talking about Sparkle, the third one is Sparkle talking about the original
She constantly fabricates her past like the Joker 💀
In sparkle companion mission, there's a line where sampo said to black swan that even he's not sure "sparkle" is her real name. I think even "sparkle" body in penacony is not her "real" body, so yeah "sparkle" can be anyone and anywhere, we will never know.
Maybe the mask steal her identity but can also be that all of this it's only a costume that they are showing us like a personality she uses in that world to do the performance as sparkle, because at the end they are more than one mask
She is 100% possessed by a kitsune, the kitsune mask makes so much sense, also how the relationship between the mask changes. If you notice it the eyes change like a kitsune. This is extremely well done and deep.
Idk why i thought of jim carrey the mask because of this trailer the mask taking over i guess
7:29 She is also crying, I think. I think that she is trying to hide the fact that she is crying.
I wonder if her mask can change expressions bcs she can shape shift too
I think is pretty cool how every masked fool has something about plays and writing.
Sampo is abou diversion.(smoke bombs)
Sparkle is about acting.(impersonating robin)
It seems that at first, the mask hides her, then the mask sympathizes with her, then the mask dominates her, and in the end, she dominates the mask or Sparkle is present in both.
the real sparkle is my beloved
I think the whole point of the ending is to show that this was all another elaborate lie puppeteered by Sparkle and we still don’t know who she is
She is the girl in the first stage, that is the original personality
But after sparkle ( the mask) become her, it see that girl is just a fake identity
@@vietcuongnguyenle8530 sure but then you see her long haired original self at the end as another personality out of many
@@comfywormm yes because at that point, sparkle see herself having many indetity and the original one is just one of it
@@vietcuongnguyenle8530 she says “Who’s the real Sparkle?” showing that most, if not all of the puppet shows she’s doing are fake.
@@comfywormm to her , it all fake
But we known she used to have a real indentity and that is who we see in the first stage
The one we see in the first stage is her real indentity
But when sparkle become she, sparkle consider that indentity is just fake like other identity so she confuse about who is sparkle, because sparkle not limit itself in only one indentity
the way I see it is sparkle never existed. She was always a mask that was used even before she found elation. so all these tweaks of character, all these weird mismatches of personality all of them are sparkle because sparkle was always fake. at the beginning it says it doesn't matter who she is off the stage anymore and that's probably because she found out that the whole world is a stage regardless if you're on or off, so why be your "real self" when you can just be a stage name. and the main question "who is the real sparkle" is a unanswerable question disguised as an answerable one to confuse the audience and make them play the worthless guessing game. and the mask getting more and more chaotic is her embracing elation deeper as time moves forward.
the whole trailer is so creepy
It is, and I love it haha such great visuals 👏
She's clearly the Jonkler
She ain't Herta, she's the DOG xD
A Girl who want to Find the Pleasure
It’s giving Nahida’s teaser samsara.
Keep in mind, that this background story is just one of many, that Sparkle may tell us. She likes her past with multiple choice.
I just wonder, if she knows about Acheron before that woman become an Emanator.
Just one thing I realized: If Sparkle asks one more time "Why so serious?", I hope another character calls her out for being the most serious fool we met so far.
Sparkle feels almost like a foil to Furina in some way, but where Furina managed to maintain her sense of self throughout all the plays, Sparkle lost herself in it until only the character itself remained.
At first she was hiding behind the mask. Next she was hiding herself in the mirror - she is no longer the person on stage at all... Finally she's no longer even herself... The mask is now Sparkle.
in Chinese the voice actress gives you goosebumps
This is my toxic trait speaking
I CAN FIX HER
She's giving Furina vibes but if Furina managed to reached the point of insanity.
Wait, is Sparkle _dead?!_ 'Life is a stage' and she said she wanted to 'leave the stage' so is she like a force ghost?
Or I guess she's actually be like Black Swan since I think she's also dead but she became some sort of memory ghost?
The original personality is dead ( or sleep deep under the conscious world)
Who we see is the mask ( sparkle) the new personality
Black swan not dead ( not in the way how we define dead is) but changing herself to a new life form
y'all got it wrong, Hime Tsukisaur is the real sparkel.
interesting
WHO'S THE REAL SPARKLE???????????
hey Dear Tsuki plz make reaction video on genshin impact light in the abyss i am looking forward to it
As much as everyone is saving for acheron, i think i need a sparkle in my life.
If you have time just check on jp version. Hers seiyuu is on another level depicting the insanity.
The first time around, the mask is “Sparkle”, and she is playing the role behind that mask;
the second time around her inner self became Sparkle, the reflection of her is Sparkle;
the third time around, the audience became “Sparkle”, everyone is Sparkle, and sparkle is everyone.
That’s probably why she is so into turning into other people.
That is the progress of how sparkle born
She is she ( hanabi) , the mask is the mask ( sparkle)
She is she, but she live under the mask
She is the mask, the mask is she
The mask is she, but she isn’t the mask
Only the mask remain, she become a fake indentity
@@vietcuongnguyenle8530 hanabi is Japanese meaning “Flower Fire”; which is also her name in Chinese 花火; and is the same as Sparkle.
🙂 'promosm'
nahida ass trailer but better 😢😢
She was cuter with glasses, what a waste. I and caelus dont trust her 🔥
Ee mejor eb japones
honkai impact 3 ok
jp one is so good
pls also check out other language. Especially the CN and JP one
This is someone who lost her sense of reality
Dislike to everyone who ignores the JP version!