It's notable that even in Chinese Yun Jin has two voice actors, with one voice actor ONLY playing the sung parts. Not sure if it's because the singer's time is too valuable or just that she isn't really trained for "normal" voice work. Also Chinese news media was lit up for a while with stories about how Genshin was causing international interest in Peking Opera. It's a little funny to me because the game did inspire me to look into Peking Opera, something I had only briefly encountered on youtube years earlier, but it was way before Yun was released, because I recognised _Xiangling's_ combat animations as being a combination of movements from opera dances and from wushu stage combat. That in turn made me realise how much the Peking Opera influences Genshin's Liyue costume designs.
@@alexgainsborough4921 Who said it was about that? Moreover YOU'RE probably playing a chinese game and listening to the music. Plus you're here just to hate on something, how about getting your ass outta here?
The amount of hate that this character and singer got when this character was first teased/released was fucking disgusting. This kind of music is not something I am going to jam to on a playlist, but I really appreciate that they added something like this to the game and understand that singing like this is a skill. YunJin is one of my favorite characters and I love when she sings during idle animations.
I think most people changed their mind after listening to the whole song, I certainly did. The finished song was beautiful. The first trailer she was in just had a very small random bit of singing with no music or context so it sounded out of place, and even then most people were not being rude or hating the character, it was more of "I guess I don't like that style of music." Just like I don't like country music, it doesn't mean I hate county singers, it's just not my preferred style of music.
youtube, twitter and twitch comment is not a good representation of the population =) the dumbest are the loudest on the internet, we just have to get use to it and ignore the noise. they are a far smaller number than we think. it just that everyone else is busy vibing to life and not commenting...kekekek
I am glad you didn't add them there. I listened to it really well and was moved the first time in game, but listening to it again here without being distracted by subtitles, it really 'washed over me' more significantly. I'm also glad that I get to listen to some chinese.
There is a whole story arc behind this Cutscene that describes the past, present and future of the character while the Black haired woman writes an opera about it. It's about Shenhe who was tricked by her own father to get sacrificed by a mythological creature so he can get his beloved wife back who died. The little Shenhe stepped into the cave and actually fought against the creature and survived although in an incredibly bad shape. Another beneficial mythological creature sensed the evil there and picked up the girl to raise her. Shenhe learned to fight, survive and control her emotions and powers from the crane like individuals we see in one picture. Then she meets the protagonist and other people from Liyue harbor and tries to fit in society. During this periods she helps defeat a huge sea monster and gets accepted into the city although it is not clear if she stays since the whole story basically ends with the victory party.
For those who don't play Genshin: The crane and the deer like creature are called Cloud Retainer and Moon Carver, they are an adeptus, some sort of ancient Gods in Liyue. In genshin impact, Liyue is a nation that worship the Geo Archon, Rex Lapis Morax (Zhongli). Liyue is deeply inspired by and associated with China.
Yeah definitely there were some complaints when they first teased that there'd be Chinese opera in genshin with how it sounded, but when we actually got it in game, man it was beautiful to the point of bringing people to tears
i think part of that was actually just a big screw up on their part. everyone's first experience and exposure to it was in the live-stream where they introduced the character, it came out of no where while on the characters introduction page that they normally read on screen... people literally thought it was a mess up and they used a clip from the Chinese livestream of her reading her bio instead of the English one... people didn't even have time to consider it because they thought it was a mistake. i personally tuned out of the stream at the time, partly out of shock and partly because i wanted to try and find a live stream with the english for the character cause i wanted to know what was being said, not realizing that it was chinese opera. and i don't think i've seen a single person's reaction to that live stream, no matter if they were respectful or not, that wasn't basically "wtf what am i hearing what's wrong" because it was so sudden and unexpected. there was no music, no related visuals, no setup or explanation or anything, they were just dropped into the deep end, suddenly not only hearing Chinese but Chinese opera in the middle of the english live stream. i don't believe there was even proper translation on the stream originally, i think the translations on there now are either reupload or done in post. if anything, there being no complaints would be a surprise.
same thing happened with signora theme when it was leaked, the internal track was hum by the music producer himself and not a trained opera performer just as a test track for the various performer to understand what sound they are looking for. and people diss it for being boring and complaint about it. the composer when on social media to tell people not to share those leak as it doesn't represent the final product. and of course the final product was loved by everyone. it goes in to show how much care goes into the entire arrangement and performance of these track and how different the product from their initial track. it the work of the composer, producer, arrangement, conductor, singer, instrument performer, sound engineer, and sound designer. month of work is put in practise to get the track to be excellent.
@@xXzman9000Xx I had arrived late for the livestream at the time, but the only livestream I find is in Chinese and at that, none of the VAs are presenting it. In Chinese livestream, it should have a tea party with the voice director. There wasn't any, even as I search on Bilibili. I think they just arranged it in a very simple way
HoYo really proves "make it appealing to western audiance" doesn't mean "copy western things" but introduce them to new things and make them with love. There's this music track in Honkai Impact called "Domineer" and it's AMAZING, best part is that during the concert for this game most of it was played live with traditional Chinese instruments mixed with modern electronic sounds. It's mesmerizing.
@@bababooey7418 if you actually did some research you'd have known that Kusanali's design is inspired by an Indian mythological fairy, who is white as a paper sheet. Also they have no obligation to put every single type of human being in their game. As long as we have fun with it, that's enough.
Not gonna lie, when I first heard this, or whenever I hear chinese opera music really, I find it jarring and it was so easy for me to cut the music and move on. But because of the beautiful way this piece was integrated into the game's story, this now triggers emotions from me and I am always close to tears whenever I hear it. I'm so glad I am learning to appreciate this type of music now.
I kind of had the same feeling when I first heard it, though not to the point where I considered it jarring. That said, after listening to it about twenty more times it really grew on me.
@@babyjiren9676 What's jarring to me is just the obvious VA switch. Even in Chinese her normal speaking lines are voiced by a completely different person, which I guess they thought wouldn't be as obvious or jarring since the singer is modulating her voice anyway? But it takes me out of it every time she sings a line. This song is still beautiful and she's still my favourite character though.
The chinese government and media even acknowledge and appriciate this "in-game" story video as a way to introduce chinese culture to the rest of the world.
@@livingreverie5951 actually it not really moved out of the country, it's just that it is separated into two parts ( China and the rest of the countries). Due to some gaming restrictions in China, the company have no choice but to differentiate hoyoverse and mihoyo.
@@livingreverie5951 the worker is still in shanghai though. The one outside is mostly development unrelated (for example financial, advertisement etc).
@@livingreverie5951 Nah alot of the workers r still in China Bcz they simply can't change the place they live in due to a game Only a few things r done outside China
FYI: The singing is done by a very famous Chinese opera singer regardless of what language the player has selected for the game. miHoYo wanted to make sure that the only version was faithful to the culture.
as someone who is chinese and grew up watching peking opera yearly as a tradition, it definitely disappointed me to see people make disgusted (and disgusting) comments about something that literally raised me as a child, but i also really really appreciate the turnaround that has occurred since the initial release and people who know better stepping up for us as an ethnicity. i really appreciate this!!
Until Genshin, I was completely oblivious to anything related to Chinese opera. In fact, I never even wondered if the Chinese had opera or how it sounded. Then, a couple of months back, I got to this part in the game and I have to say, my mind was blown. It took me a whole 5 seconds to fall in love with it, and it got me really emotional, even though a small part of me found it very unfamiliar. I can't understand why on God's green Earth would people be so reluctant and so hateful towards something like this, but I am very happy that things turned around and so many people got to experience such a treat and a piece of Chinese culture.
I remember hearing people be difficult on her earlier on because of voice lines I think, and it was honestly a pretty awful situation. I’m not gonna say I was a big fan, because it was definitely new to me and I needed to get used to it but I still found it interesting to hear different kinds of sounds in music so it was pretty incredible, but people saying it sucked was just… so wrong. This song alone is just… incredible. I remember tearing up the first time hearing this, and I really think this song is going to stick with me for along time. I just hope people learn to not just trash on something they don’t understand. Just because it’s not your style or you can’t relate doesn’t make it bad either, and it just hurts me when people think that way… Sorry, this got long! I tend to ramble.
@@alexgainsborough4921 Don’t know what you’re hearing but if chinese sounds like cats squealing to you I think that might just be your racism that you need to work out 😃
@@alexgainsborough4921 If you're purposely gonna be hateful and not respect a different type of singing, get off his page. Nobody wants that type of negativity here. Chinese Opera is a beautiful culture.
for me it was my friends talking about Genshin all the time in our group chat, of course I wasn't informed of the things they are talking about. I had zero clue to what they are talking about then I got excited like "oh, they talk about this game all the time, I wonder if it's good" then I see all these ads and stuff and that Is when I started
@@sureindubitably3771 I fkin hated the TH-camrs who made fun of Genshin because of the Gacha system I swear when I play it and being a f2p, It is a damn good game, even if it's Gacha that's a lof of efforts. Because of the bad things TH-camrs made about it, I started late... My friends don't play this game is a sad part, when I told them about it, they always replied with "oh that gacha game?, you are playing too much gacha dude", yeah of course, I know what they are thinking, they think they are superior for not playing a gacha game like I do (they play L-O-L, Pubg and random shits tho). Even I quitted playing it, It was a good game, I have no regret.
@@Lilia·Liuu well yeah, considering the fact that a vast majority of the game is plagued with bad design and boring quest lines, it would make these moments shine more. But the trade off is that the game sucks overall, despite its good moments.
I love how you watched and studied some chinese opera before and/or after the video. Thank you for appreciating this art form and being open-minded about it 🥰
The first time I listened to this in game I cried because Shenhes story was so sad and knowing that Yun Jin changed the original opera that her father wrote because it wasn’t true to the facts of Shenhes life experience with her father sacrificing her to an evil monster… and then she added onto the story by adding that Shenhe helped defend Liyue despite her feeling like she wouldn’t be able to fit in and that she found friends and a home that she can go to I cried so hard lol. Shenhe was born with homicidal instincts and she is to bear the curse of calamity. The red ropes, which you see in the video, are to bind her soul to keep her homicidal instincts at bay and make her calmer. They also dampened some of her emotions making her kind of emotionless. I would really love to see you react or even play the quest to get the full impact of Shenhes story. It’s really amazing and one of the best story quests in my opinion.
Like you, I hadn't heard any Chinese opera before this. Naturally, this piece pushed every single "this ain't familiar" button in my head. But no matter how different the sound, no matter how strange the words - music is still music, and music is beautiful. To me, this clearly shows the power of music to unite very different people in shared emotion. Now I too must google more Chinese opera stuff.
5:10 That remark is so true. As a matter of fact, traditoinal culture is simply out of fashion. Genshin managed to "reconnect" that traditional art style with a modern audience. Not saying I'm going to be interesting in Chinese opera after listening to this but it certainly showed noobs like me "how cool it could be".
Never played it, but this is great. I always found Chinese Opera depressing, here in Singapore they pop up with traveling stages twice a year all over the island (around Chinese New Year and of course during Hungry Ghost month). It's always only a couple of old people showing up, and every year it is getting less. Now with covid measures gone, let's see if they ever come back this July. It is literally the sound of a dying art so I always associate it with transience. Very cool that a popular game is advocating it to a more modern audience.
it is great piece and the region Liyue, from where the char singing it coming from, is chinese based and has like old traditions, so I guess it fits just perfectly. Also the char Yun Jin has 2 voice actor, one for the char itself and a real opera singer for this (and maybe there will be more in the future). It is really amazing the effort they put into this.
yes, and when you realize Yun Jin is such a small part of the whole story it makes the whole effort even more remarkable, but they knew this needed to be special and it was, quite possibily one of the highlights of Genshin so far. I'd love to watch a new Yun Jin performance, hope they bring her back with a new song in the future.
I was actually surprised to hear this kind of music… growing up in the philippines ive heard of this kind of music before (we have a huge chinese influence in our county) but this is burried behind my mind and forgots its existence, when they show this it immediately reminded me that this form or art exist! I think hoyoverse did a good job uplifting a cultural traditon from thier county into a modern audience, i bet we have people who got introduced to this for the first time.
I have ZERO knowledge about music en general, but this piece makes me cry everytime I heard it. Also I don't know Chinese, I'm a handicap dad from South America, but I showed this song to my daughter and told her "this is what art means to me, making you feel something" (She is 7yo, and we paint a lot together). Thanks for your hard work 🙇🏻♂️🙇🏻♂️🙇🏻♂️
Hey I just want to say that I have listened to a lot of “Person reacts to an OST” videos but I REALLY like your videos. You are bringing a whole new perspective in these videos and I really appreciate the emotion you are bringing to your reactions to these videos. Keep up the good work and I’m a huge fan now, I feel really inspired after listening to tracks like this and bloodborne and Genshin to appreciate more classical music and opera and like the raw emotion I feel to music like Clair de Lune is profound
@@MarcoMeatball of the top of my head there’s a great song with heavy operatic vocals called The One they call Witch + Daughter of the Dark God from Octopath Traveler. I feel that would be perfect for someone with talents such as yours to give a listen
that face right after the song finishes is exactly how i felt when i first heard the song in game. its just- goosebumps everywhere :"D rlly fun to see you react to it nwn
As a Korean who studied Chinese for 6 years I have to say Chinese culture is one of my favorite things especially its music and seeing Chinese opera showcased in genshin was such an amazing surprise
Hearing and seeing The Divine Damsel of Devastation when I was playing Genshin Impact made me cry. It is a beautiful piece that deserves appreciation. I haven't heard of Chinese Opera (Or even Beijing Opera) that much but hearing The Divine Damsel of Devastation was definitely a treat.
The culmination of the story, the good heart of each characters, the tragic events that gets finally seen and recognized, it really is beautiful. I was so happy for Shenhe, so glad for Yun Jin to have found the inspiration, and for us to have the chance to bear witness. Definitely impressive.
Chinese opera use a lot of throat singing technique it's very different from Western opera they use falsetto and chest voice more often. When i was a kid, I grew up watching chinese opera every chinese lunar new year and it's part of my family culture and when i got older i discover a lot of western opera and i like it. Handel,Debussy,Ravel,Schubert,Schumann,Berg,Bizet, Delibes,Mozart,Verdi,tchailovsky,rachmaninoff,etc they are such an amazing composers and i love their works about opera and classical music. My voice itself is Baritone so usually i'm watching a lot of german lieders they are so good singing those lovely poems
I was surprised at how much watching this without subtitles enhanced the experience. Just being able to absorb the beautiful imagery of the video and see how it intertwined with the music to tell a story was absolutely breathtaking. Instead of reading and getting a precise meaning I just watch and absorb the images. I'm feeling rather than thinking. Absolutely beautiful.
When this song played it was so unlike anything I'd heard before, but about halfway through I literally was brought to tears for a reason I cant explain. It just sounds so strong and beautiful, and I really felt it on some deep level.
I just wanna say this song makes me emotional, but your words did aswell, I just feel good knowing we are all pretty much connected by the power of music, no matter the context
Being chinese and growing up listening to my grandparents watching chinese opera I damn near cried when I saw this for the first time, such a good piece of music and a lovely way of introducing chinese opera to the world.
Initially there were some very negative reactions to the teasers with the Chinese opera singing style, and it made me a bit upset. I grew up having fond memories of the technique so you can understand why it hurt to see people being so repulsed by it. I appreciate you making this video and sharing your thoughts on this performance.
7:41 Meanwhile I'm like ''guys stop hitting me for a sec I wanna hear this new combat theme'' Then there's certain areas like the Chinju Forest where I always just have to take it in for at least one loop
The moment the performance ended, we can see your true reaction of this piece. You were moved by it, and it showed in your eyes, and when your voice broke when you started to speak.
At first Yun Jins singing got me by surprise. Especially when they showed her teaser. My ears simply are not used to such pitches. But when I heard the full song I was completely captivated by its beauty. It provokes emotions all of a sudden that I couldn't even fully grasp why but they were there. And every time I hear it it makes me emotional again. Hoyoverse doesn't do just some good 'game' music. No they do fantastic music. period!
Now, Chinese opera isn't my favorite type of music, but I definitely appreciate it as an art form and have massive respect for its role in Chinese culture. I love, love, LOVE Divine Damsel of Devastation, and every time I see someone react, I have to click. Love your vids, Marco!
as someone who was classically trained vocally, but also learned peking opera for a while as a chinese person, im so glad there are people who dont just say that it's a "wrong way" to utilize your voice. sure, you cant use the same vocal tone across genres; it's culture and it's rich and beautiful
I can't watch this without crying anymore. Shenhe's story is very sad, and very optimistic as well. And Yun Jin's telling of her story is done so well. I hope you end up rewatching this with subtitles so you can understand what's going on. haha Oh, and there's a live action version of this where the singer for Yun Jin performs it live. That would be an interesting reaction if you wanted to do it.
You know... funny thing. I had a similar experience to this. Before playing Genshin, I had no idea that commedia dell'arte was a thing that existed. It's just something that never touched my corner of the world. Now thanks to this silly little game, I've learned something new. And now it's happened again. I've learned a whole lot more about Chinese opera. Not something I thought I would like but I do. I really enjoy learning about other cultures despite not knowing much on my own. I wish more media took more diverse inspiration in this way.
i defenitely agree.. and even if the inspiration comes from somewhere else it is often just taken away and westernized because instead of teaching the kids about another culture they want to make it familiar instead.. i remember as a child watching pokemon and other media that weren't western and often wondering what some of the imagery shown really ment.. because i knew for sure that those rice balls weren't jelly filled donuts.. and some of the more religion based elements were also completely taken away where as i would have loved it if they had instead educated on it somehow.. even now curiosity has always been a big part of who i am so even back then i'd ask people what that truly was and they wouldn't have an answer because they didn't know either. The fact that no matter what voiceover version of the game you play this is still the piece that plays is beautiful to me because for once they show a part that i wouldn't have seen otherwise but would have loved to see either way
This night i need to see and hear this awesome voice again (i did it 1000 times)... it made me emotional... no words after i heard it, simply a huge silence and a long and calm breath from me... wow, THIS IS ART❤
Trying to understand something comes from a different civilization is important,knows eachother and understand eachother can make this world peaceful.So this is really a goodjob you did,thank you.
I literally get chills every time I watch/listen to The Divine Damsel of Devastation. How music reaches me personally is when you integrate a story into it, and then make small connections from parts of the music (such as maybe a harp was played here, but you wouldn't notice easily unless you listened) with the scenes of the story. It really makes me feel excited and alive and it's one of the most exhilarating experiences. I literally do this whenever I'm listening to any of my many favorite songs. I'll make up a story in my head and match it up with the music, especially looking for those smaller details. It really makes you appreciate how much work goes into some songs.
This one was really impactful to me too. I actually took a long break from Genshin half a year ago, and just came back. So I've been doing a lot of catch up. But the whole time I was like, trying to rekindle that flame. Then this moment. This played, and I felt a bit teary and just blown away. That moment, as well as highlighting what you said about how amazing it is that a game can draw this sort of culture, it blew me away. That moment I knew "I'm glad I'm back."
The fact that i cried Uncontrollably when listening,and watching this is so beautiful and i love it. Really shows how it touches you as a person that has an ear to music.
Not sure if you already know, or seen it, but the official Genshin channel has a bunch of live recordings of their OSTs including this Opera performance which might offer a different experience than an in game scene. As always love your videos and appreciate that you took your time for this piece :D
This is easily one of my favourite reactions to this; I really really appreciate just how much care and authenticity you put in your reactions and all the more so with this! I think a lot of people who initially react to Yun Jin as a character don't like her "tinny" or "Nasal" tone and immediately write it off. I know watching this initially, as a Chinese-Canadian made me cry. Growing up I had a white dad who pretty much said "no chinese speaking" in the house since he didn't know it. So I have been disconnected from that part of my heritage. And seeing this so mainstream and the overwhelming majority of people loving it gets me emotional every time. Thank you for such an amazing reaction and for your thoughts!
I got threw back to my childhood, everytime I watched this performance. It is so nostalgic to me since I am a Chinese descendant who was born and raised in Thaliland. My parents always brought me along to watched Chinese opera with my grandparents. It was such a good memory to be thrown into since both of my paternal grandparents passed away and watching/listening to this performance has helped me reconnect with them...
In all honesty, I completely understood the apprehension when people first heard Chinese opera was gonna be in Genshin as a lot of us only know the bad parts of Chinese culture given how little they share the good parts of it and how much politics get thrown into everything. However, many if not almost all players took a full step back and were in awe at what the actual result of adding this piece into the game did. The visuals, the storytelling and the music perfectly represented a modern version of Chinese opera and it was the first time I actually got exposed to their culture fully without propaganda from either side. A beautiful masterpiece in my eyes and I only hope they treat other regions in the game with the same amount of cultural respect because this was incredible when it first came out and still is now looking back on it
They did the Japanese region in Genshin Impact a lot of justice too. So I am really looking forward to Sumero that will be a blend of South Asian and Arabian culture.
“A lot of us only know the bad parts of Chinese culture” - I find this comment puzzling, especially given the prevalence of Chinese food and martial arts, both things that westerners tend to positively love and can’t have enough of. I’m not sure how either would be effected by propaganda.
I'm so happy you're doing more genshin impact m\videos I absolutely love the music in this game and I love how you talk about music. Also really love how you respect culture.
I'm half chinese, and although it doesn't bother me much anymore, my culture often get shit on for a multitude of reasons. This beijing opera style was mocked by so many people when the song and corresponding character first came out. It feels good to see people from other cultures and backgrounds respect and appreciate other cultures. Thank you!
@@chips14 Why is Chinese music usually bashed on? I'm from the US and don't have much experience with music communities but I don't notice anything they could even use as a centerpiece to bash on it since it seems fine.
@@razier5299 For music, I specifically was talking about the Beijing opera style of singing. Many genshin streamers, and just payers on the internet in general would make unnecessary comments like how the singing sounds so stupid or funny or comments like like “why is she singing like that💀.” just a lot of media and culture that comes from china oftentimes becomes something foreigners see as funny and dumb and weird.
Before this song and character came out, I honestly had no idea this kind of opera existed, I went into more research after The Divine Damsel of Devistation came out and decided to make a project for my art Gcse focused on this part of chinese culture. This culture is truly beautiful and I look forward to learning more about it.
This is a beautiful tribute, I love music and playing this quest and hearing this song made me very emotional. It’s truly a breath taking piece of music and culture.
@@143cure Right? Lol like it makes me sad when people can't hold in their non constructive criticisms for things. It's like the people who wanted to insult or mock the opera bits in the livestream and the game just... couldn't keep it in. You can have opinions and criticisms but do you really have to say it out loud? lol And I do get that things got a bit heated and both sides were starting to bare their fangs more than they needed too, but I did see a handful of disappointing, mocking comments from the community and even certain content creators didn't handle it as maturely as they could've imo
I feel like this happens a lot cause people don’t know what actual Opera is and thus don’t recognize it’s actual Opera. Most people recognize Opera as Soprano opera and don’t realize their is more types of opera outside of that scope.
@@cozysundew33 EXACTLY!! THATS WHAT IM SAYING anyways i totally agree with you all though ngl i feel like some jsut purposefully stay ignorant too about it :shrug: ig :O but i hope im not rude tho BD i sut agree as well!
Speaking of comedia dell'arte There's a antagonist in genshin impact named fatui, they are heavily inspired by the comedia dell'arte the current fatuis that shown in game is tartaglia scaramouche and la signora (dottore but not in game its on the manga)
This song always makes me tear up... id never heard music like this before, but my first time hearing it during Lantern Rite, then getting to look out at the city below and see all the lanterns... i felt very alive in that moment.
Im chinese and adopted by white parents We still did chinese things like new yr because my parents wanted me and my sister(also adopted) to kno our culture I never heard chinese opera untill i got done with that quest then got that cutscene I legit almost started cryin bc oml then i went on yt to try to find any other kinds of performances of chinese opera Evrytime i re hear it I get chills Its nice to get in touch with my roots
This song definitely gave me goosebumps when I first heard it in game! Even teared up a bit I'm so excited for the next region because it will sort of be based off my culture, and I know they'll do amazing!
My reaction when I first heard this song was similar to yours. Except I cried more. xD I don’t understand opera very well due to my lack of knowledge, but I did understand the sentiment behind the voice and it hit me so hard that I found myself bawling. I still listen to this often and I’m really glad to have found your channel because I didn’t know anyone who felt the way I did. I’m glad someone else hears the absolute beauty of this piece. Thank you for this video!
The first time i watched this scene in Genshin, i teared up. I actually teared up and got sucked into the song. It was one of the most beautiful performances i have ever seen and heard in my life.
Glad you took the suggestion. I appreciate that you immediately mention the importance of how culture IS integrated in music. How Western Style Music does differ from Eastern Style Music but they all share a way of expression and beauty in their own composition. Making music ever changing and beautiful in its own right. It's not about what makes it different but the heart and soul behind the music and all who take part.
I had this video playing in the background while I was working on one of my drawings, and damn the nostalgic feeling and memories of this quest hit me, they hit me soo hard that I started crying and stopped for a minute to think. Thank you Marco, I originally started this game because I heard one of the soundtracks and thought it was beautiful, and I thank you for reminding me that.
Thank you for taking the time to listen to this! It was a new experience for many, myself included since I had never heard Chinese opera. I too found myself looking at some videos not only to hear the opera but to see the clothing styles that were used as reference for the character Yun Jin. I like how you did not compare Western and Chinese opera, but gave an appreciation towards Chinese culture. Really well done 👏
It makes me cry everytime I hear this song because of what happened to the character tho I don't understand the language I still understand the meaning of the song and it's so beautiful.
This is truly a special moment in Genshin Impact, the story you uncover and go through has so much heart, and it is a special moment in video games in general, I never thought in 2022 I would see something like this in a video game, I can't listen without tearing up.
I'm sooo happy you watched it~ it was such a cool thing to see as part of the story! And this paired with the quests that happened prior and the cool visuals ended up making me tear up! It was beautiful and fantastic conclusion to a super sad character arc. I recommended it in the comments twice. So now I'm a loss for what to recommended next lol but this was a great video! I'll be sure to keep watching more! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
This scene was actually when it hit me that "damn opera is such a beautiful form of storytelling." We got to see and experience the story first hand then saw it made into a short opera made my character we were also getting to know and understand. Really made me appreciate the medium as a whole a lot more and this is from someone that played a classical instrument for close to a decade and have heard opera but never really SEEN it.
Honestly I always forget how much I adore this song until I hear it again, because without fail every time I get teary eyed. Opera itself always sounds beautiful and mesmerizing in my opinion, so hearing Chinese opera and learning more about it and the culture around it makes me want to wax poetically about it. I remember many people being very rude and mean when Yunjin's (the singing character) voice was revealed because it was something western audiences weren't used to. After her character fully came out and the song was fully incorporated though, near everyone fell in love with her and the song itself. Its brought many people to tears and it was very awing to experience when playing. Will forever be one of my favorite game songs, now! Edit: oh, something to add on! In the game story, this song was actually originally written differently. It was changed by Yunjin after meeting Shenhe (the white haired girl in the story) and fully learning her story. Yunjin comes from a family of opera singers, and shes always working to improve her craft. I think the juxtaposition of Yunjin and Shenhe in the storyline really adds to this piece too, as you can tell Yunjin both wanted to heed Shenhe's wish for it to be a happy story and correct it to be more true to life.
Due to how new I am with Genshin, I'm hearing this for the first time. And this literally makes me cry and I don't even know why lol. It's like the singer tapped into a frequency that, once heard, makes me confront emotions I both didn't know I had and can't shy away from.
I’m not sure why, but this piece will always make me cry. It’s so beautiful and mesmerizing, and so amazing! It was the perfect way to end the quest, and a perfect way to tell a tale.
absolutely in love with your reactions to these videos, not just this one but multiple others, they make me think differently about genshin impact that i haven't thought about before (Tartaglia and La Signora videos you made for example) and i know this one is different from the others of course, but i just wanted to also say how you are spot on with those ones as well. but you are right, everyone should let music just wash over them and get immersed into it, especially this one because although i am not Chinese, not Asian either, i could really feel the emotions and impact in the music and i would probably feel the same way even if i did not know the story behind it either. the opera singer, Yang Yang, did a fantastic job in this, as well as the musicians too!
I was hyped when I saw the notification for this one! The music and story are what keep me coming back to Genshin Impact, every one of the songs in the game and promos are seriously good compositions, and this scene (especially being the conclusion to the story in a big event for the Chinese New Year event) gave me goosebumps and really made me appreciate how much love goes into games.
great video as always, your insights are always interesting to listen to And watching this really made me realise how fortunate it is we have Genshin teach us about cultures that are often foreign to the west I remember watching that cutscene ingame and getting chills and even watching it in this video again my eyes teared up a little
This song always makes me tear up especially knowing the story shes telling and growing attached to both her and the character shes singing about and it just overwhelms with so much emotion like wow
Ah I really loved your thoughts on the piece! There is a version which has the translation of the lyrics included, and I think that makes it even more enjoyable when you can know the tale she's singing about. the opera is about Shenhe, who from a young age, has bore the "Curse of Calamity" and was sacrificed by her father, in his desperate attempt to bring back his dead wife. Her father summoned an evil god, who asked for Shenhe as sacrifice. Shenhe fought off the god for days, and was then taken in by an adeptus (the crane. adepti are like, demigods of sorts) and raised and trained by the crane and other adepti. the story is about her tragic past, as well as her journey to re-entering the mortal world and finding friends. it's really lovely and i always find myself so emotional when i listen to it.
Thank you for opening yourself up to a new kind of performance! Your videos are really interesting and insightful and I think this was a great approach to something you were unfamiliar with. It was also my first time hearing Chinese opera, and the more I heard it the more I became enamored with this song. Although it sounded nothing like any kind of music that I've listened to before, there was a bit of a 'raw' feeling to the performance that really touched my heart, and even now whenever I hear it I tear up a little haha. I think Genshin does an amazing job with their music, and it's amazing that they've managed to share something so deeply culturally significant with so many people in a way that transcends language and culture.
After seeing this cutscene in game is when I realized that my most favorite part about Genshin was the fact that it shows many things from throughout the world. Yes, the game is made by Chinese people, but they take the time to understand other traditions of other places. Like the Fatui Harbingers being based off of Commedia Dell’arte. Looking forward to other traditions being seen in this game.
Fun fact: Even the voice actor for Yunjin who did the opera singing parts was surprised by how Genshin made Chinese opera popular out of a sudden.
see you everywhere😃
To be more precise, viral.
It's notable that even in Chinese Yun Jin has two voice actors, with one voice actor ONLY playing the sung parts. Not sure if it's because the singer's time is too valuable or just that she isn't really trained for "normal" voice work.
Also Chinese news media was lit up for a while with stories about how Genshin was causing international interest in Peking Opera. It's a little funny to me because the game did inspire me to look into Peking Opera, something I had only briefly encountered on youtube years earlier, but it was way before Yun was released, because I recognised _Xiangling's_ combat animations as being a combination of movements from opera dances and from wushu stage combat. That in turn made me realise how much the Peking Opera influences Genshin's Liyue costume designs.
Popular with those who love the squeal of cats in pain?
@@alexgainsborough4921 Who said it was about that? Moreover YOU'RE probably playing a chinese game and listening to the music. Plus you're here just to hate on something, how about getting your ass outta here?
The amount of hate that this character and singer got when this character was first teased/released was fucking disgusting. This kind of music is not something I am going to jam to on a playlist, but I really appreciate that they added something like this to the game and understand that singing like this is a skill. YunJin is one of my favorite characters and I love when she sings during idle animations.
Agreed, since it was only the vocal warmups
I think most people changed their mind after listening to the whole song, I certainly did. The finished song was beautiful.
The first trailer she was in just had a very small random bit of singing with no music or context so it sounded out of place, and even then most people were not being rude or hating the character, it was more of "I guess I don't like that style of music."
Just like I don't like country music, it doesn't mean I hate county singers, it's just not my preferred style of music.
@@kx2174 same
Some people in fandoms are stupid and can be the most disgusting humans beings
youtube, twitter and twitch comment is not a good representation of the population =) the dumbest are the loudest on the internet, we just have to get use to it and ignore the noise. they are a far smaller number than we think. it just that everyone else is busy vibing to life and not commenting...kekekek
I watched this with subtitles for the record.
I am glad you didn't add them there. I listened to it really well and was moved the first time in game, but listening to it again here without being distracted by subtitles, it really 'washed over me' more significantly. I'm also glad that I get to listen to some chinese.
Ah good to know! I really wanted you to understand the context of the story as well as the music.
The actual content differs a bit from the translation
There is a whole story arc behind this Cutscene that describes the past, present and future of the character while the Black haired woman writes an opera about it. It's about Shenhe who was tricked by her own father to get sacrificed by a mythological creature so he can get his beloved wife back who died. The little Shenhe stepped into the cave and actually fought against the creature and survived although in an incredibly bad shape. Another beneficial mythological creature sensed the evil there and picked up the girl to raise her. Shenhe learned to fight, survive and control her emotions and powers from the crane like individuals we see in one picture. Then she meets the protagonist and other people from Liyue harbor and tries to fit in society. During this periods she helps defeat a huge sea monster and gets accepted into the city although it is not clear if she stays since the whole story basically ends with the victory party.
wait, I thought she had purple hair ?
And after we discover the real story Paimon is like "Oh no, there's no ores here!"
For those who don't play Genshin:
The crane and the deer like creature are called Cloud Retainer and Moon Carver, they are an adeptus, some sort of ancient Gods in Liyue. In genshin impact, Liyue is a nation that worship the Geo Archon, Rex Lapis Morax (Zhongli). Liyue is deeply inspired by and associated with China.
Good summary
you just nearly spoiled who's not play genshin '-'
Yeah definitely there were some complaints when they first teased that there'd be Chinese opera in genshin with how it sounded, but when we actually got it in game, man it was beautiful to the point of bringing people to tears
i think part of that was actually just a big screw up on their part. everyone's first experience and exposure to it was in the live-stream where they introduced the character, it came out of no where while on the characters introduction page that they normally read on screen... people literally thought it was a mess up and they used a clip from the Chinese livestream of her reading her bio instead of the English one... people didn't even have time to consider it because they thought it was a mistake. i personally tuned out of the stream at the time, partly out of shock and partly because i wanted to try and find a live stream with the english for the character cause i wanted to know what was being said, not realizing that it was chinese opera.
and i don't think i've seen a single person's reaction to that live stream, no matter if they were respectful or not, that wasn't basically "wtf what am i hearing what's wrong" because it was so sudden and unexpected.
there was no music, no related visuals, no setup or explanation or anything, they were just dropped into the deep end, suddenly not only hearing Chinese but Chinese opera in the middle of the english live stream. i don't believe there was even proper translation on the stream originally, i think the translations on there now are either reupload or done in post.
if anything, there being no complaints would be a surprise.
same thing happened with signora theme when it was leaked, the internal track was hum by the music producer himself and not a trained opera performer just as a test track for the various performer to understand what sound they are looking for. and people diss it for being boring and complaint about it. the composer when on social media to tell people not to share those leak as it doesn't represent the final product. and of course the final product was loved by everyone. it goes in to show how much care goes into the entire arrangement and performance of these track and how different the product from their initial track. it the work of the composer, producer, arrangement, conductor, singer, instrument performer, sound engineer, and sound designer. month of work is put in practise to get the track to be excellent.
@@xXzman9000Xx I had arrived late for the livestream at the time, but the only livestream I find is in Chinese and at that, none of the VAs are presenting it. In Chinese livestream, it should have a tea party with the voice director. There wasn't any, even as I search on Bilibili. I think they just arranged it in a very simple way
@@xXzman9000Xx There were subs but most ppl had their subs in german lol
I also teared
HoYo really proves "make it appealing to western audiance" doesn't mean "copy western things" but introduce them to new things and make them with love.
There's this music track in Honkai Impact called "Domineer" and it's AMAZING, best part is that during the concert for this game most of it was played live with traditional Chinese instruments mixed with modern electronic sounds. It's mesmerizing.
The music director does SUCH a good job of mixing in traditional instruments in each area, it really makes for such an amazing soundtrack
is it available in Spotify?
yeah but they make a nation inspired by south asia especially India but makes their God white lmao
@@bababooey7418 what does it have to do with Chinese opera or Genshin music in general? Please don't bring up unrelated topics
@@bababooey7418 if you actually did some research you'd have known that Kusanali's design is inspired by an Indian mythological fairy, who is white as a paper sheet. Also they have no obligation to put every single type of human being in their game. As long as we have fun with it, that's enough.
Not gonna lie, when I first heard this, or whenever I hear chinese opera music really, I find it jarring and it was so easy for me to cut the music and move on. But because of the beautiful way this piece was integrated into the game's story, this now triggers emotions from me and I am always close to tears whenever I hear it. I'm so glad I am learning to appreciate this type of music now.
I like the music itself, and even the vocal melody. I just think the vowels are so bright that it kinda jars against the English/Romantic ears.
It makes me cry every time, unironically. Shenhe has both the darkest and most developed story in the game to date.
I kind of had the same feeling when I first heard it, though not to the point where I considered it jarring. That said, after listening to it about twenty more times it really grew on me.
@@babyjiren9676 What's jarring to me is just the obvious VA switch. Even in Chinese her normal speaking lines are voiced by a completely different person, which I guess they thought wouldn't be as obvious or jarring since the singer is modulating her voice anyway? But it takes me out of it every time she sings a line. This song is still beautiful and she's still my favourite character though.
Maybe some ancient operas need a more modern way to be accepted by modern people
The chinese government and media even acknowledge and appriciate this "in-game" story video as a way to introduce chinese culture to the rest of the world.
well, cultural appreciation ok? This game is made in China which is my country
@@leomingen8805 the company moved out of the country so in a way not really but your still right tho
@@livingreverie5951 actually it not really moved out of the country, it's just that it is separated into two parts ( China and the rest of the countries). Due to some gaming restrictions in China, the company have no choice but to differentiate hoyoverse and mihoyo.
@@livingreverie5951 the worker is still in shanghai though. The one outside is mostly development unrelated (for example financial, advertisement etc).
@@livingreverie5951
Nah alot of the workers r still in China
Bcz they simply can't change the place they live in due to a game
Only a few things r done outside China
FYI: The singing is done by a very famous Chinese opera singer regardless of what language the player has selected for the game. miHoYo wanted to make sure that the only version was faithful to the culture.
as someone who is chinese and grew up watching peking opera yearly as a tradition, it definitely disappointed me to see people make disgusted (and disgusting) comments about something that literally raised me as a child, but i also really really appreciate the turnaround that has occurred since the initial release and people who know better stepping up for us as an ethnicity. i really appreciate this!!
❤️❤️
Until Genshin, I was completely oblivious to anything related to Chinese opera. In fact, I never even wondered if the Chinese had opera or how it sounded. Then, a couple of months back, I got to this part in the game and I have to say, my mind was blown. It took me a whole 5 seconds to fall in love with it, and it got me really emotional, even though a small part of me found it very unfamiliar. I can't understand why on God's green Earth would people be so reluctant and so hateful towards something like this, but I am very happy that things turned around and so many people got to experience such a treat and a piece of Chinese culture.
I remember hearing people be difficult on her earlier on because of voice lines I think, and it was honestly a pretty awful situation. I’m not gonna say I was a big fan, because it was definitely new to me and I needed to get used to it but I still found it interesting to hear different kinds of sounds in music so it was pretty incredible, but people saying it sucked was just… so wrong. This song alone is just… incredible. I remember tearing up the first time hearing this, and I really think this song is going to stick with me for along time.
I just hope people learn to not just trash on something they don’t understand. Just because it’s not your style or you can’t relate doesn’t make it bad either, and it just hurts me when people think that way…
Sorry, this got long! I tend to ramble.
Ngl I disliked peking opera as a kid but it still disgusted me about how subtly racist some people can be
This is such a respectful and cultured response from Marco. Really appreciate the positivity and openness demonstrated here. Thank you Marco! =)
it's my pleasure.
@@MarcoMeatball But to me, the squeals of cats suffering from pain are unpleasant :(
@@alexgainsborough4921 I'm didn't hear anything that sound like cat's squeals but if it's unpleasant feel free to not listen to it.
@@alexgainsborough4921 Don’t know what you’re hearing but if chinese sounds like cats squealing to you I think that might just be your racism that you need to work out 😃
@@alexgainsborough4921 If you're purposely gonna be hateful and not respect a different type of singing, get off his page. Nobody wants that type of negativity here. Chinese Opera is a beautiful culture.
This was the song that got me into Genshin, I saw the cutscene of the opera and I thought “Damn, I’m seriously missing out.”
for me it was my friends talking about Genshin all the time in our group chat, of course I wasn't informed of the things they are talking about. I had zero clue to what they are talking about then I got excited like "oh, they talk about this game all the time, I wonder if it's good" then I see all these ads and stuff and that Is when I started
@@sureindubitably3771 I fkin hated the TH-camrs who made fun of Genshin because of the Gacha system
I swear when I play it and being a f2p, It is a damn good game, even if it's Gacha that's a lof of efforts.
Because of the bad things TH-camrs made about it, I started late...
My friends don't play this game is a sad part, when I told them about it, they always replied with "oh that gacha game?, you are playing too much gacha dude", yeah of course, I know what they are thinking, they think they are superior for not playing a gacha game like I do (they play L-O-L, Pubg and random shits tho). Even I quitted playing it, It was a good game, I have no regret.
If only these moments made up more than 0.0001% of the game
@@herb2110 That what makes the game special.
If every part is special then nothing is special.
@@Lilia·Liuu well yeah, considering the fact that a vast majority of the game is plagued with bad design and boring quest lines, it would make these moments shine more. But the trade off is that the game sucks overall, despite its good moments.
I love how you watched and studied some chinese opera before and/or after the video. Thank you for appreciating this art form and being open-minded about it 🥰
not as much as I could have but I felt I should do it
The game is literally a world tour
@@MarcoMeatball very professional
The first time I listened to this in game I cried because Shenhes story was so sad and knowing that Yun Jin changed the original opera that her father wrote because it wasn’t true to the facts of Shenhes life experience with her father sacrificing her to an evil monster… and then she added onto the story by adding that Shenhe helped defend Liyue despite her feeling like she wouldn’t be able to fit in and that she found friends and a home that she can go to I cried so hard lol.
Shenhe was born with homicidal instincts and she is to bear the curse of calamity. The red ropes, which you see in the video, are to bind her soul to keep her homicidal instincts at bay and make her calmer. They also dampened some of her emotions making her kind of emotionless. I would really love to see you react or even play the quest to get the full impact of Shenhes story. It’s really amazing and one of the best story quests in my opinion.
same. i still cry everytime i watch/listen to this. How could anyone do that do his own daughter?
I still cry everytime ;-;
She didn't change the story though. Shenhe asked her not to.
@@horizon146 she added in the last part to make it more accurate
@@LadyMeladee fair enough, personally can't speak Chinese but I thought shenhe asked her to keep it that way
Like you, I hadn't heard any Chinese opera before this.
Naturally, this piece pushed every single "this ain't familiar" button in my head.
But no matter how different the sound, no matter how strange the words - music is still music, and music is beautiful.
To me, this clearly shows the power of music to unite very different people in shared emotion.
Now I too must google more Chinese opera stuff.
5:10 That remark is so true. As a matter of fact, traditoinal culture is simply out of fashion. Genshin managed to "reconnect" that traditional art style with a modern audience. Not saying I'm going to be interesting in Chinese opera after listening to this but it certainly showed noobs like me "how cool it could be".
Never played it, but this is great. I always found Chinese Opera depressing, here in Singapore they pop up with traveling stages twice a year all over the island (around Chinese New Year and of course during Hungry Ghost month). It's always only a couple of old people showing up, and every year it is getting less. Now with covid measures gone, let's see if they ever come back this July. It is literally the sound of a dying art so I always associate it with transience. Very cool that a popular game is advocating it to a more modern audience.
it is great piece and the region Liyue, from where the char singing it coming from, is chinese based and has like old traditions, so I guess it fits just perfectly. Also the char Yun Jin has 2 voice actor, one for the char itself and a real opera singer for this (and maybe there will be more in the future). It is really amazing the effort they put into this.
yes, and when you realize Yun Jin is such a small part of the whole story it makes the whole effort even more remarkable, but they knew this needed to be special and it was, quite possibily one of the highlights of Genshin so far. I'd love to watch a new Yun Jin performance, hope they bring her back with a new song in the future.
I was actually surprised to hear this kind of music… growing up in the philippines ive heard of this kind of music before (we have a huge chinese influence in our county) but this is burried behind my mind and forgots its existence, when they show this it immediately reminded me that this form or art exist! I think hoyoverse did a good job uplifting a cultural traditon from thier county into a modern audience, i bet we have people who got introduced to this for the first time.
I have ZERO knowledge about music en general, but this piece makes me cry everytime I heard it. Also I don't know Chinese, I'm a handicap dad from South America, but I showed this song to my daughter and told her "this is what art means to me, making you feel something" (She is 7yo, and we paint a lot together). Thanks for your hard work 🙇🏻♂️🙇🏻♂️🙇🏻♂️
Thank you for sharing ❤️ art is important - you’re doing a good thing sharing it.
加油，希望你的生活越来越好！
Hey I just want to say that I have listened to a lot of “Person reacts to an OST” videos but I REALLY like your videos. You are bringing a whole new perspective in these videos and I really appreciate the emotion you are bringing to your reactions to these videos. Keep up the good work and I’m a huge fan now, I feel really inspired after listening to tracks like this and bloodborne and Genshin to appreciate more classical music and opera and like the raw emotion I feel to music like Clair de Lune is profound
So grateful to read this. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
@@MarcoMeatball of the top of my head there’s a great song with heavy operatic vocals called The One they call Witch + Daughter of the Dark God from Octopath Traveler. I feel that would be perfect for someone with talents such as yours to give a listen
that face right after the song finishes is exactly how i felt when i first heard the song in game. its just- goosebumps everywhere :"D rlly fun to see you react to it nwn
As a Korean who studied Chinese for 6 years I have to say Chinese culture is one of my favorite things especially its music and seeing Chinese opera showcased in genshin was such an amazing surprise
Hearing and seeing The Divine Damsel of Devastation when I was playing Genshin Impact made me cry. It is a beautiful piece that deserves appreciation. I haven't heard of Chinese Opera (Or even Beijing Opera) that much but hearing The Divine Damsel of Devastation was definitely a treat.
The culmination of the story, the good heart of each characters, the tragic events that gets finally seen and recognized, it really is beautiful. I was so happy for Shenhe, so glad for Yun Jin to have found the inspiration, and for us to have the chance to bear witness. Definitely impressive.
Chinese opera use a lot of throat singing technique it's very different from Western opera they use falsetto and chest voice more often. When i was a kid, I grew up watching chinese opera every chinese lunar new year and it's part of my family culture and when i got older i discover a lot of western opera and i like it. Handel,Debussy,Ravel,Schubert,Schumann,Berg,Bizet, Delibes,Mozart,Verdi,tchailovsky,rachmaninoff,etc they are such an amazing composers and i love their works about opera and classical music. My voice itself is Baritone so usually i'm watching a lot of german lieders they are so good singing those lovely poems
This is something that needs to be said. "Appreciation" and "Respect" are something you rarely hear mentioned these days, regardless of the topic.
The singer is amazing
And I don't know how Yu-Peng Chen is still able to surprise me with all the musics he makes
The guy is omnipotent
I was surprised at how much watching this without subtitles enhanced the experience. Just being able to absorb the beautiful imagery of the video and see how it intertwined with the music to tell a story was absolutely breathtaking. Instead of reading and getting a precise meaning I just watch and absorb the images. I'm feeling rather than thinking.
Absolutely beautiful.
❤️
this i don't understand a word they are saying with my brain.. but my heart feels it.. it feels the meaning behind the words
When this song played it was so unlike anything I'd heard before, but about halfway through I literally was brought to tears for a reason I cant explain.
It just sounds so strong and beautiful, and I really felt it on some deep level.
I love the level of respect you give to Chinese culture and opera. I really admire that.
It’s deserved
listening to this again after so many times still gives me goosebumps
I actually cried while hearing that part of the story, it just transmitted so many emotions I was overwhelmed.
I just wanna say this song makes me emotional, but your words did aswell, I just feel good knowing we are all pretty much connected by the power of music, no matter the context
Glad for it, Jonny.
Being chinese and growing up listening to my grandparents watching chinese opera I damn near cried when I saw this for the first time, such a good piece of music and a lovely way of introducing chinese opera to the world.
Initially there were some very negative reactions to the teasers with the Chinese opera singing style, and it made me a bit upset. I grew up having fond memories of the technique so you can understand why it hurt to see people being so repulsed by it. I appreciate you making this video and sharing your thoughts on this performance.
To be fair, Yujin's opera voice lines are jarring to hear if you aren't used to it. I really loved the opera scene though.
7:41 Meanwhile I'm like ''guys stop hitting me for a sec I wanna hear this new combat theme''
Then there's certain areas like the Chinju Forest where I always just have to take it in for at least one loop
Chinju forest is so magical!!
Eyyyy chinju forest listener!
When I was farming Sakura for Ayaka, I always let the song finished before moving to other area,
It mutes some of the sounds, but if you go into your inventory, you can hear the music, especially the core themes of the music
The moment the performance ended, we can see your true reaction of this piece. You were moved by it, and it showed in your eyes, and when your voice broke when you started to speak.
At first Yun Jins singing got me by surprise. Especially when they showed her teaser. My ears simply are not used to such pitches. But when I heard the full song I was completely captivated by its beauty. It provokes emotions all of a sudden that I couldn't even fully grasp why but they were there. And every time I hear it it makes me emotional again.
Hoyoverse doesn't do just some good 'game' music. No they do fantastic music. period!
Ah this song makes me cry everytime I hear it, nice to see you react to it! You missed out on the subtitles that explain her story though
I saw them while watching it.
Now, Chinese opera isn't my favorite type of music, but I definitely appreciate it as an art form and have massive respect for its role in Chinese culture. I love, love, LOVE Divine Damsel of Devastation, and every time I see someone react, I have to click.
Love your vids, Marco!
❤️❤️❤️❤️
as someone who was classically trained vocally, but also learned peking opera for a while as a chinese person, im so glad there are people who dont just say that it's a "wrong way" to utilize your voice. sure, you cant use the same vocal tone across genres; it's culture and it's rich and beautiful
👋👋👋 no such thing as wrong. ❤️
I can't watch this without crying anymore. Shenhe's story is very sad, and very optimistic as well. And Yun Jin's telling of her story is done so well. I hope you end up rewatching this with subtitles so you can understand what's going on. haha
Oh, and there's a live action version of this where the singer for Yun Jin performs it live. That would be an interesting reaction if you wanted to do it.
I love how much music can touch us,I was bawling by the second watch.
You know... funny thing. I had a similar experience to this. Before playing Genshin, I had no idea that commedia dell'arte was a thing that existed. It's just something that never touched my corner of the world. Now thanks to this silly little game, I've learned something new.
And now it's happened again. I've learned a whole lot more about Chinese opera. Not something I thought I would like but I do. I really enjoy learning about other cultures despite not knowing much on my own. I wish more media took more diverse inspiration in this way.
i defenitely agree.. and even if the inspiration comes from somewhere else it is often just taken away and westernized because instead of teaching the kids about another culture they want to make it familiar instead.. i remember as a child watching pokemon and other media that weren't western and often wondering what some of the imagery shown really ment.. because i knew for sure that those rice balls weren't jelly filled donuts.. and some of the more religion based elements were also completely taken away where as i would have loved it if they had instead educated on it somehow.. even now curiosity has always been a big part of who i am so even back then i'd ask people what that truly was and they wouldn't have an answer because they didn't know either.
The fact that no matter what voiceover version of the game you play this is still the piece that plays is beautiful to me because for once they show a part that i wouldn't have seen otherwise but would have loved to see either way
@@litchtheshinigami8936 That's a really lovely take! I have agree, I think you hit the nail on the head
even without the translation this song always makes me cry. its so powerful. i dont know how else to describe it.
I cried when I first listened to it. And every time afterwards
This night i need to see and hear this awesome voice again (i did it 1000 times)... it made me emotional... no words after i heard it, simply a huge silence and a long and calm breath from me... wow, THIS IS ART❤
Trying to understand something comes from a different civilization is important,knows eachother and understand eachother can make this world peaceful.So this is really a goodjob you did,thank you.
I literally get chills every time I watch/listen to The Divine Damsel of Devastation. How music reaches me personally is when you integrate a story into it, and then make small connections from parts of the music (such as maybe a harp was played here, but you wouldn't notice easily unless you listened) with the scenes of the story. It really makes me feel excited and alive and it's one of the most exhilarating experiences. I literally do this whenever I'm listening to any of my many favorite songs. I'll make up a story in my head and match it up with the music, especially looking for those smaller details. It really makes you appreciate how much work goes into some songs.
This one was really impactful to me too.
I actually took a long break from Genshin half a year ago, and just came back. So I've been doing a lot of catch up. But the whole time I was like, trying to rekindle that flame.
Then this moment. This played, and I felt a bit teary and just blown away. That moment, as well as highlighting what you said about how amazing it is that a game can draw this sort of culture, it blew me away. That moment I knew "I'm glad I'm back."
The fact that i cried Uncontrollably when listening,and watching this is so beautiful and i love it. Really shows how it touches you as a person that has an ear to music.
Every time I listen to this song, it’s so powerful it brings me to tears. It’s just such a moving, emotional piece that breaks me down every time
i almost crying for this beautiful musical. really appreciate it.
Not sure if you already know, or seen it, but the official Genshin channel has a bunch of live recordings of their OSTs including this Opera performance which might offer a different experience than an in game scene. As always love your videos and appreciate that you took your time for this piece :D
I can never listen to this song without tearing up, it's SO BEAUTIFUL
This is easily one of my favourite reactions to this; I really really appreciate just how much care and authenticity you put in your reactions and all the more so with this! I think a lot of people who initially react to Yun Jin as a character don't like her "tinny" or "Nasal" tone and immediately write it off. I know watching this initially, as a Chinese-Canadian made me cry. Growing up I had a white dad who pretty much said "no chinese speaking" in the house since he didn't know it. So I have been disconnected from that part of my heritage. And seeing this so mainstream and the overwhelming majority of people loving it gets me emotional every time. Thank you for such an amazing reaction and for your thoughts!
I appreciate this gentle and kind response. Thanks for sharing your brief story.
I got threw back to my childhood, everytime I watched this performance. It is so nostalgic to me since I am a Chinese descendant who was born and raised in Thaliland. My parents always brought me along to watched Chinese opera with my grandparents. It was such a good memory to be thrown into since both of my paternal grandparents passed away and watching/listening to this performance has helped me reconnect with them...
In all honesty, I completely understood the apprehension when people first heard Chinese opera was gonna be in Genshin as a lot of us only know the bad parts of Chinese culture given how little they share the good parts of it and how much politics get thrown into everything. However, many if not almost all players took a full step back and were in awe at what the actual result of adding this piece into the game did. The visuals, the storytelling and the music perfectly represented a modern version of Chinese opera and it was the first time I actually got exposed to their culture fully without propaganda from either side. A beautiful masterpiece in my eyes and I only hope they treat other regions in the game with the same amount of cultural respect because this was incredible when it first came out and still is now looking back on it
They did the Japanese region in Genshin Impact a lot of justice too. So I am really looking forward to Sumero that will be a blend of South Asian and Arabian culture.
“A lot of us only know the bad parts of Chinese culture” - I find this comment puzzling, especially given the prevalence of Chinese food and martial arts, both things that westerners tend to positively love and can’t have enough of. I’m not sure how either would be effected by propaganda.
When this song dropped in the game, I literally cried. It was unique, beautiful, and powerful.
I'm so happy you're doing more genshin impact m\videos I absolutely love the music in this game and I love how you talk about music. Also really love how you respect culture.
I'm half chinese, and although it doesn't bother me much anymore, my culture often get shit on for a multitude of reasons. This beijing opera style was mocked by so many people when the song and corresponding character first came out. It feels good to see people from other cultures and backgrounds respect and appreciate other cultures. Thank you!
@@chips14 Why is Chinese music usually bashed on? I'm from the US and don't have much experience with music communities but I don't notice anything they could even use as a centerpiece to bash on it since it seems fine.
@@razier5299 For music, I specifically was talking about the Beijing opera style of singing. Many genshin streamers, and just payers on the internet in general would make unnecessary comments like how the singing sounds so stupid or funny or comments like like “why is she singing like that💀.” just a lot of media and culture that comes from china oftentimes becomes something foreigners see as funny and dumb and weird.
Man I really love his reactions, I just found this channel and keeps watching his videos
I'm crying when I hear this song, it's beautiful how it can reach us
Before this song and character came out, I honestly had no idea this kind of opera existed, I went into more research after The Divine Damsel of Devistation came out and decided to make a project for my art Gcse focused on this part of chinese culture. This culture is truly beautiful and I look forward to learning more about it.
This is a beautiful tribute, I love music and playing this quest and hearing this song made me very emotional. It’s truly a breath taking piece of music and culture.
All of this is so well said and I’m so happy so many people are growing to love this game’s music and it’s cultural influences.
this is how you react to this piece, not like that one person who called chinese opera "not even an opera"
Who said what?! 😅🔪
@@143cure forgot his name. i cant find his vid anymore. all i can remeber was that he said tha t she sounds like a goat
@@143cure Right? Lol like it makes me sad when people can't hold in their non constructive criticisms for things. It's like the people who wanted to insult or mock the opera bits in the livestream and the game just... couldn't keep it in. You can have opinions and criticisms but do you really have to say it out loud? lol
And I do get that things got a bit heated and both sides were starting to bare their fangs more than they needed too, but I did see a handful of disappointing, mocking comments from the community and even certain content creators didn't handle it as maturely as they could've imo
I feel like this happens a lot cause people don’t know what actual Opera is and thus don’t recognize it’s actual Opera. Most people recognize Opera as Soprano opera and don’t realize their is more types of opera outside of that scope.
@@cozysundew33 EXACTLY!! THATS WHAT IM SAYING anyways i totally agree with you all though
ngl i feel like some jsut purposefully stay ignorant too about it :shrug: ig :O but i hope im not rude tho BD i sut agree as well!
Speaking of comedia dell'arte
There's a antagonist in genshin impact named fatui, they are heavily inspired by the comedia dell'arte the current fatuis that shown in game is tartaglia scaramouche and la signora (dottore but not in game its on the manga)
IT’S HERE! WOOHOO!!
Thank you again Marco for existing! :)
You’re really fun to watch and I’m looking forward to more content of yours!
This song always makes me tear up... id never heard music like this before, but my first time hearing it during Lantern Rite, then getting to look out at the city below and see all the lanterns... i felt very alive in that moment.
Im chinese and adopted by white parents
We still did chinese things like new yr because my parents wanted me and my sister(also adopted) to kno our culture
I never heard chinese opera untill i got done with that quest then got that cutscene
I legit almost started cryin bc oml then i went on yt to try to find any other kinds of performances of chinese opera
Evrytime i re hear it
I get chills
Its nice to get in touch with my roots
This song definitely gave me goosebumps when I first heard it in game! Even teared up a bit
I'm so excited for the next region because it will sort of be based off my culture, and I know they'll do amazing!
My reaction when I first heard this song was similar to yours. Except I cried more. xD I don’t understand opera very well due to my lack of knowledge, but I did understand the sentiment behind the voice and it hit me so hard that I found myself bawling. I still listen to this often and I’m really glad to have found your channel because I didn’t know anyone who felt the way I did. I’m glad someone else hears the absolute beauty of this piece. Thank you for this video!
The first time i watched this scene in Genshin, i teared up. I actually teared up and got sucked into the song. It was one of the most beautiful performances i have ever seen and heard in my life.
I get teary eyes every time I listen to this song, So beautiful.
hm, i like it, it sends chill down my back, cheeks etc. i like it much
also his voice whe literally singing, like thats crazyy sounds nice
Glad you took the suggestion. I appreciate that you immediately mention the importance of how culture IS integrated in music.
How Western Style Music does differ from Eastern Style Music but they all share a way of expression and beauty in their own composition. Making music ever changing and beautiful in its own right. It's not about what makes it different but the heart and soul behind the music and all who take part.
I had this video playing in the background while I was working on one of my drawings, and damn the nostalgic feeling and memories of this quest hit me, they hit me soo hard that I started crying and stopped for a minute to think. Thank you Marco, I originally started this game because I heard one of the soundtracks and thought it was beautiful, and I thank you for reminding me that.
Thank you so much for saying so. 🙏❤️
Thank you for taking the time to listen to this! It was a new experience for many, myself included since I had never heard Chinese opera. I too found myself looking at some videos not only to hear the opera but to see the clothing styles that were used as reference for the character Yun Jin. I like how you did not compare Western and Chinese opera, but gave an appreciation towards Chinese culture. Really well done 👏
Damn the performance still gives me chills. I hope you rewatched it using subtitles when you're not recording, the lyrics told the backstory so well
It makes me cry everytime I hear this song because of what happened to the character tho I don't understand the language I still understand the meaning of the song and it's so beautiful.
this piece always brings me to tears. so happy you are able to appreciate it
Yang yangs voice never fails to give me goosebumps.
This is truly a special moment in Genshin Impact, the story you uncover and go through has so much heart, and it is a special moment in video games in general, I never thought in 2022 I would see something like this in a video game, I can't listen without tearing up.
This piece always brings me to tears because of how well made it is. It's amazing how video game music transcends genres and culture.
i love how respectful and nice and caring and thoughtful this guy is all while there's a buff pikachu in the background
😂😂😂
I'm sooo happy you watched it~ it was such a cool thing to see as part of the story! And this paired with the quests that happened prior and the cool visuals ended up making me tear up! It was beautiful and fantastic conclusion to a super sad character arc.
I recommended it in the comments twice. So now I'm a loss for what to recommended next lol but this was a great video! I'll be sure to keep watching more! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
This scene was actually when it hit me that "damn opera is such a beautiful form of storytelling." We got to see and experience the story first hand then saw it made into a short opera made my character we were also getting to know and understand. Really made me appreciate the medium as a whole a lot more and this is from someone that played a classical instrument for close to a decade and have heard opera but never really SEEN it.
Honestly I always forget how much I adore this song until I hear it again, because without fail every time I get teary eyed.
Opera itself always sounds beautiful and mesmerizing in my opinion, so hearing Chinese opera and learning more about it and the culture around it makes me want to wax poetically about it.
I remember many people being very rude and mean when Yunjin's (the singing character) voice was revealed because it was something western audiences weren't used to. After her character fully came out and the song was fully incorporated though, near everyone fell in love with her and the song itself. Its brought many people to tears and it was very awing to experience when playing.
Will forever be one of my favorite game songs, now!
Edit: oh, something to add on! In the game story, this song was actually originally written differently. It was changed by Yunjin after meeting Shenhe (the white haired girl in the story) and fully learning her story. Yunjin comes from a family of opera singers, and shes always working to improve her craft. I think the juxtaposition of Yunjin and Shenhe in the storyline really adds to this piece too, as you can tell Yunjin both wanted to heed Shenhe's wish for it to be a happy story and correct it to be more true to life.
Due to how new I am with Genshin, I'm hearing this for the first time. And this literally makes me cry and I don't even know why lol. It's like the singer tapped into a frequency that, once heard, makes me confront emotions I both didn't know I had and can't shy away from.
When i first heard this in the quest, I cried on the first seconds. It was, and is, just so beautiful
I’m not sure why, but this piece will always make me cry. It’s so beautiful and mesmerizing, and so amazing! It was the perfect way to end the quest, and a perfect way to tell a tale.
this beautiful opera still gives me goosebumps. its truly astounding
This scene/song brings tears to my eyes every goddamn time.
glad seeing your channel keeps getting the traction it gets! you totally deserve it !
absolutely in love with your reactions to these videos, not just this one but multiple others, they make me think differently about genshin impact that i haven't thought about before (Tartaglia and La Signora videos you made for example) and i know this one is different from the others of course, but i just wanted to also say how you are spot on with those ones as well. but you are right, everyone should let music just wash over them and get immersed into it, especially this one because although i am not Chinese, not Asian either, i could really feel the emotions and impact in the music and i would probably feel the same way even if i did not know the story behind it either. the opera singer, Yang Yang, did a fantastic job in this, as well as the musicians too!
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ grateful for this comment
I was hyped when I saw the notification for this one! The music and story are what keep me coming back to Genshin Impact, every one of the songs in the game and promos are seriously good compositions, and this scene (especially being the conclusion to the story in a big event for the Chinese New Year event) gave me goosebumps and really made me appreciate how much love goes into games.
great video as always, your insights are always interesting to listen to
And watching this really made me realise how fortunate it is we have Genshin teach us about cultures that are often foreign to the west
I remember watching that cutscene ingame and getting chills and even watching it in this video again my eyes teared up a little
This song always makes me tear up especially knowing the story shes telling and growing attached to both her and the character shes singing about and it just overwhelms with so much emotion like wow
Ah I really loved your thoughts on the piece! There is a version which has the translation of the lyrics included, and I think that makes it even more enjoyable when you can know the tale she's singing about.
the opera is about Shenhe, who from a young age, has bore the "Curse of Calamity" and was sacrificed by her father, in his desperate attempt to bring back his dead wife. Her father summoned an evil god, who asked for Shenhe as sacrifice. Shenhe fought off the god for days, and was then taken in by an adeptus (the crane. adepti are like, demigods of sorts) and raised and trained by the crane and other adepti. the story is about her tragic past, as well as her journey to re-entering the mortal world and finding friends. it's really lovely and i always find myself so emotional when i listen to it.
Thank you! I watched it subtitles just couldn’t bring them to the video sadly ❤️❤️
Thank you for opening yourself up to a new kind of performance! Your videos are really interesting and insightful and I think this was a great approach to something you were unfamiliar with.
It was also my first time hearing Chinese opera, and the more I heard it the more I became enamored with this song. Although it sounded nothing like any kind of music that I've listened to before, there was a bit of a 'raw' feeling to the performance that really touched my heart, and even now whenever I hear it I tear up a little haha. I think Genshin does an amazing job with their music, and it's amazing that they've managed to share something so deeply culturally significant with so many people in a way that transcends language and culture.
After seeing this cutscene in game is when I realized that my most favorite part about Genshin was the fact that it shows many things from throughout the world. Yes, the game is made by Chinese people, but they take the time to understand other traditions of other places. Like the Fatui Harbingers being based off of Commedia Dell’arte. Looking forward to other traditions being seen in this game.
ive listened to this song so many times, and everytime it brings chills down my spine