

Examining the mirroring between Xenogears and Xenosaga



For most mirroring analysis I put the chart of Xenosaga on the left side and the chart of Xenogears on the right. Although the two works are not attached, the Xenosaga trilogy is set in an earlier point in the "Xenoverse" timeline. So this is how the chart tends to be displayed in my articles. Here it is also the result of a need to compare their story structures to discover how Xenosaga was originally intended to be written, and so the focus tend to be on Xenosaga's story structure rather than Xenogears since we learn more about Xenosaga this way than we learn about Xenogears.



One purpose of this analysis is to show how Xenosaga follows the direction and style of Xenogears, and thus why it is the only worthy sequel to the legendary Xenogears (at least in terms of story) thus far. Among Xeno fans there will often be a difference of opinion which of the two is the better series. Or that some other series altogether is more similar to one of the two than they are each other. But is one of the two really superior or all that different to the other? Or is this merely the subjective, biased and emotional opinions of passionate fans lacking solid arguments to back it up?



* This article will obviously contain spoilers if you have not played through both Xenogears and the Xenosaga series.



Both stories begin by kicking things off in a compelling way by posing questions that compel answers. What you first see after firing up your "New Game" is an intriguing promise of a special and rewarding experience ahead.



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: Opening movie - the "hook" Opening movie - the "hook" The discovery of Zohar before Earth was abandoned.



Opens on Earth while the main story takes place outside in outer space. The dark dawn when mankind fell to Earth.





Opens in space while the main story takes place on an Earth-like planet.

Both stories begin with a cinematic movie that takes place thousands of years in the past. Note the inverted mirroring: Xenogears opens in space while the main story takes place on an Earth-like planet; Xenosaga opens on Earth while the main story takes place out in the vast universe.



Then, the mirroring between Xenosaga and Xenogears' opening movie continues further into Xenosaga's set-up:





While they corrected 'You' and changed it to 'Ye' in the U.S. localization, in the Japanese version it says 'You shall be as gods' just like in Xenogears. However, this is not a reference to Xenogears. Just as the phrase alluded to Genesis in Xenogears, so does the phrase allude to Genesis in Xenosaga.



"A brand-new network is being created within the KOS-MOS mainframe. I've never seen a Net grow so fast! Portions of the Encephalon map are evolving!" "Alpha 1 Genome...restructuring."



"Confirming exon replacement... Base code 85 million... A 100 million! Its speed is overwhelming!"

This bit shows how Mary's consciousness inside KOS-MOS starts to manifest. Similar to this, "exon replacement" is stated in Xenogears: Perfect Works to be the same phenomenon as that of the 'Original Elhaym' awakening into 'Miang'. Nephilim, who is a "remake" of Elly, shows up inside KOS-MOS' Encephalon just as Elly and Miang are two separate consciousnesses inside Persona. The music when KOS-MOS later awakens during the Inciting Incident is also very similar to the music playing when Deus awakens during these scenes.



The first Act - Introducing the hero

As with any classic narrative the hero enters the story early, long before the arrival of the Inciting Incident, as we need to see the hero in his/her pre-Incident life. This is Act I, also known as the set-up. A notable difference is how Xenosaga is all cinematic with credits of the staff in the intro for Act I, while Xenogears has four pages of prologue text as if it were a novel.



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: Act I - set-up Act I - set-up Woglinde.



Introducing the Hero.



Ends with the place being annihilated. Lahan.



Introducing the Hero.



Ends with the place being annihilated.

Woglinde and Lahan are both the starting stages of the story, manipulated by forces to be caught in the middle of a conflict, and are ultimately annihilated. They are both situated far from the major capitals of their respective settings - Solaris and Fifth Jerusalem - which are also mirrored early in what I refer to as Act III. Other settings are also mirrored like this. It can further be said that the hero is the one who is ultimately responsible for the phenomenon that led these places to destruction: Fei unleashed Id unknowingly, and Shion unleashed the Gnosis into the real domain unknowingly in the past.



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: Main character: Shion Uzuki



This is what hero is doing before the story begins.



Serve as the main character in this story arc. Has a painful past that she repressed and was responsible for horrific things happening to the world in the past that people continue to suffer from. Main character: Fei Fong Wong



This is what hero is doing before the story begins.



Serve as the main character in this story arc. Has a painful past that he repressed and was responsible for horrific things happening to the world in the past that people continue to suffer from. Flashback of Shion's lover, who later shows up masked. Flashback of Fei's father, who later shows up masked. Second main (playable) character is also introduced with hero in Act I - KOS-MOS.



Protects main character throughout the story. Second main (playable) character is also introduced with hero in Act I - Shitan.



Protects main character throughout the story. Foreshadowing Events to Come



A storm is coming: Gnosis arrives Foreshadowing Events to Come



A storm is coming: Kislev Gears arrive

Note that both KOS-MOS and Shitan take orders from masked person: Red Testament and Emperor Cain.



Allen is in love with hero. Aruru is in love with hero.



Allen and Aruru

For the most part, Allen doesn't really mirror any Xenogears characters. He is a unique element to Xenosaga. However, the inspiration for his character was clearly Aruru (Alice). Although Aruru ended up being an early casualty in Xenogears, she was originally considered to be part of the story, following Fei around after he leaves Lahan. Allen follows Shion around for their entire story arc. So, in that respect, I guess Allen mirrors Aruru. Their names are also similar, especially if you read their names in Japanese.



Foreshadowing:

In both Xenogears' and Xenosaga's set-up there is a sense of impending change. In fact, it isn't just the Inciting Incident that is foreshadowed, major events of the story to come are also foreshadowed and, like some of the best foreshadowing in literature or cinema, it is not always recognized as foreshadowing when it occurs. The scene where Shitan shows the music box to Fei has so much foreshadowing in it that it almost tells the entire story right there. Although I don't know if it was intentional, the decoration inside the box resembles the Zohar, and the angel in front of it is later in Shevat heavily implied to be a statue of Sophia. You see the same statue outside Aphel Aura and a woman in Shevat's dungeon says to Elly:

Excuse me... Miss... You resemble the girl who was like an angel, and was sacrificed in the great war... I can picture Zephyr and the followers' confusion.



The imagery is fitting, since Elly was created inside the Kadomony inside Zohar and advented to the Earth from there. In Xenosaga we have the dream/vision Shion has of Rennes-Le-Château on Lost Jerusalem, with the silhouette of chaos making an appearance in addition to Nephilim and the Original Zohar. Like the music box scene in Xenogears this scene also foreshadows the entire story of the hero; such as her being "the Maiden," as well as her link to Zohar (and also U-DO behind "the door" or window that is Zohar).



Xenogears has a thematic imagery of "broken shards," as the poem about a broken mirror alludes to in-game (if you play the music box tune "Distant Promise" in Shevat and talk to the man in the bar you'll understand this) and you'll notice how shards start flying by when the music box starts playing here. So Xenogears has a thematic imagery of "broken shards," while Xenosaga has a thematic imagery of waves and ripples, and both relates to humanity.



Xenosaga



When entering a battle with an enemy the screen turns into a wave. Xenogears



When entering a battle with an enemy the screen turns into broken shards.

A storm is coming

The pace and focus of the scenes in both works at this point are beginning to unfold in context to - and pointed at - the Inciting Incident. There's a sense of foreboding and shifting winds that starts to accelerate to the point at which everything suddenly changes. In Xenosaga this happens as KOS-MOS starts to activate and the Gnosis appear, and in Xenogears this happens as night falls, the ground starts shaking, and Fei watches as "Giants" head for Lahan village.



Inciting Incident

The Inciting Incident is the point where the story really begins. It is the moment when something enters the story in a manner that affects the hero's status and plans and beliefs, forcing her or him to take action in response, and inherent to that moment is the call for the hero to do something they weren't doing before. For Xenogears and Xenosaga I have chosen to cover the entire scenario up to leaving Lahan and Woglinde behind as the first plot point, even though it is actually just the hero's unforeseen entanglement with Weltall and KOS-MOS respectively that is the actual Inciting Incident or first plot point since Gears and Gnosis are already known to exist in the world, so their arrival does not come totally unexpected.



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: Inciting Incident / Plot point one Inciting Incident / Plot point one KOS-MOS / Gnosis

Story's primary conflict makes its initial center-stage appearance.



Shion begins her long relationship with the android KOS-MOS from this point up until the end. What the rest of the story will be about is defined here. Weltall / Gears (Grahf)

Story's primary conflict makes its initial center-stage appearance.



Fei begins his long relationship with the machine Weltall from this point up until the end. What the rest of the story will be about is defined here. Virgil dies from being gunned down by antagonistic force; KOS-MOS. Hero's importance is central to this action (protect Shion). Timothy dies from being gunned down by antagonistic force; Gears/Grahf. Hero's importance is central to this action (awaken Fei).

Antagonistic force

Although KOS-MOS is technically an ally (as is the role of Weltall), I apply the term "antagonistic force" to KOS-MOS the same way Weltall serves as an antagonistic force (after destroying the village) in the beginning of the story. From the point of view of the hero, nothing is the same from that moment forward. Their world has been turned upside down by KOS-MOS/Weltall, and they are not happy about that. So, in that sense, I apply the term "antagonistic force" to KOS-MOS and Weltall, even though Grahf and the Gnosis are regarded as the primary antagonistic forces.



Anyway, this is the bridge between Act I and Act II, meaning everything that came before this incident was a set-up for it, and everything that comes after is a response to it. Even though KOS-MOS was already in the story during the set-up, what happens here makes her darker and more deadly, thus forcing Shion to take action. Because something important to Shion is now out of her control. This is classic story architecture in full glory.



There's no turning back now. The story has opened a dramatic can of worms, and our protagonists are in the thick of it. We're now entering Act II, where the fun really begins. The dramatic destination of Act II is the Mid-point, where once again something new will enter the story and change the nature of the game for the hero that will act as a catalyst for him or her to make the transition to a proactive "warrior."



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: Act II - response Act II - response Hero is now a wanderer, staggering through a forest of options and risks, not sure where to go or what to do next.

Ambivalent towards KOS-MOS.



Shion's reaction to the new journey that's just been launched for them, and reluctance to accept it. Hero is now a wanderer, staggering through a forest of options and risks, not sure where to go or what to do next.

Ambivalent towards Weltall.



Fei's reaction to the new journey that's just been launched for him, and reluctance to accept it. Shion gets involved with a mysterious character, Andrew, who knows more about the incident and recent events than he lets on.

This person almost gets killed by a Gnosis but is saved thanks to an unexpected power. Fei gets involved with a mysterious character, Elhaym, who knows more about the incident and recent events than she lets on.

This person almost gets killed by a Rankar but is saved thanks to an unexpected power.

Andrew Cherenkov and Elhaym van Houten:

Many people have noted the mirroring of these two characters in their later "spotlight" scenes, but they are actually mirrored in more scenes and characteristics. Both are soldiers who perhaps aren't suited to it, but feel that is all they can do and where they belong. They also point a gun at a main character: Andrew points a gun at KOS-MOS but never fires, and also at Shion for a second when she surprises him, while Elly points a gun at Fei.



Here the Elsa and the Blackmoon forest are mirrored, as the heroes take shelter and starts to form a camraderie with other characters that will become important. You also get a couple of memorable lines such as chaos' line about everyone having at least one skill that they excel in over all others and Shitan's line about using power or being used by power. Actually, both chaos and Shitan are similar in the fact that both are holding back their knowledge and abilities during the story: chaos is a god-like being who has existed since ancient times but never bothers to reveal this until Wilhelm tells the protagonists, and Shitan is a "Guardian Angel" class Solarian, who has access to his own Omnigear, to Shevat and even Solaris, but keeps it to himself until the Gazel Ministry reveals it to Fei and the others.



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: Third main (playable) character is introduced in the beginning of Act II (mysterious introduction) - chaos.



This character has the "body of God" (Anima) as referred to by an "antagonist" later.



Third main (playable) character is introduced in the beginning of Act II (mysterious introduction) - Elly.



This character has the "body of God" (Deus/Persona) as referred to by an "antagonist" later.

chaos and Elly:

Both are Takahashi's characters and both characters have actually met/known the main character in a previous life. We can also draw comparisons between KOS-MOS and Elly in the story, but as their introduction does not sync up, I won't do it now.



Dazil

Perhaps we can think of Dazil as an extension of the Blackmoon Forest part. Since the set-up took longer in Xenosaga it is fitting that Xenogears stretches on a little further here before we have more mirroring. Then, Fei heads out into the desert of Aveh to look for Shitan, and soon Fei will have his encounter with Grahf who was in the mysterious Gear at Lahan, while Xenosaga introduces you to Wilhelm and the Red Testament. However, the scene that Wilhelm mirrors from Xenogears is the scene with Shitan and the Emperor, which happens after the scene with Grahf.



Thus Xenogears and Xenosaga do not mirror one another at every point in the screenplay. In fact, some scenes at the beginning of Xenogears are mirrored first near the end of the Xenosaga trilogy, and even some other events and especially mirrored dialogue and characters will appear "out of sync" with each other in an analysis such as this - which is only natural, since it would be pretty boring and predictable to use the exact same template for both stories. Some deviation begins here, and from now on I will examine and compare scenes slightly out of order for those that appear later in their respective story.



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: Wilhelm and the Red Testament.



Foreshadowing and cryptic dialogue. Shitan and the Emperor.



Foreshadowing and cryptic dialogue.

The scene between Shitan and the Emperor here occurs after the introduction of Grahf. I will now examine the scenes that introduces Margulis and Grahf, even though Grahf's introduction occurs before Shitan's conversation with the Emperor.



A central antagonist, already foreshadowed in the set-up, is introduced; Margulis.



Pellegri: "They're innocents! Surely they deserve more respect."



Margulis: "Respect? For what? Save your philanthropy for someone that cares." A central antagonist, already foreshadowed in the set-up, is introduced; Grahf.



Fei: "Why!? Why did the villagers have to die...?"



Grahf: "Who cares why! It does not matter how many of them died... [...]"

While Margulis is often compared to Grahf, I think this is actually the only time the two are mirrored. And it is not through more than the fact that they are both the first real antagonist to appear and dismiss the death of an entire population, which they were partly responsible for, as something that doesn't matter to them. Grahf's scene is also much longer and is actually mainly mirrored with a completely different character from Xenosaga that we will soon examine.



Margulis is the first of the "transcended men" antagonists to appear (that opposes the heroes in Xenosaga), and Grahf is the first of the "broken-hearted" antagonists to appear (that opposes the heroes in Xenogears). Moreover, it can be said that those who aim to transcend their human existence are driven by fear and self-preservation, and those with a broken heart are driven by grief while looking to ameliorate the condition of suffering. Perhaps this is why Xenogears is sometimes regarded as "being more human" compared to Xenosaga, as "grief" appears to be a more noble and sympathetic driving force compared to fear. But in reality not everyone is going to be driven by grief, since that emotion is not the only one that antagonize human beings. And there are many people who will identify more with the drive for self-preservation and safety.



However, let us examine what scene, character, dialogue and cinematography from Xenosaga really is mirrored with Grahf's introduction scene...



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: A main antagonist, thematically expressing the story's main theme, fear, has turned it into a source of power, while himself being an allusion to the devil; Yuriev.



Yuriev: "Fear drives evolution. Human beings have used their intelligence to conquer their fears and to obtain power. Oh yes, and this is that power that I speak of!"



"Your fear will soon become a new source of power for me!" A main antagonist, thematically expressing the story's main theme, grief, has turned it into a source of power, while himself being an allusion to the devil; Grahf.



Grahf: "That's right. The death of your loved ones... And you powerless against it happening... The grief, the screams from your heart born out of the tragedy... There! That was the catalyst for triggering your power."



"Your power is still beneath that needed for my purposes."

Dmitri Yuriev and Grahf:

I will examine the mirroring between Grahf and Dmitri Yuriev here, even though Yuriev's scene, in contrast to Grahf's scene, occurs during the last encounter with Yuriev far ahead in Xenosaga III.



Yuriev is probably the character most closely mirrored with Grahf as a whole, even though both characters are mirrored with several others as well during the course of the story, and apart from these scenes there is the obvious "soul transfer" ability parallel and their statement that they will not ever die until their goal is accomplished. There is also the allusion to the devil, with Yuriev placing the number 666 on Rubedo (the "Red Dragon") and wanting to challenge "God," and with Grahf once destroying all of the world with the army of "Diabolos." Diabolus or Diavolus is a Greek word that means "accuser" and is the origin of the word "Devil."



Also, in the mirroring of these scenes, there is the conversation between Grahf/Fei and Yuriev/Jr. that have a very similar tone to it. Both characters have quite the theme music dedicated to them as well; "Grahf -Ruler of Darkness-" and "Godsibb" respectively.



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: Fourth main (playable) character is introduced in his own cutscene, before our hero encounters him -

Ziggurat 8.



Will do a stealthy infiltration mission to rescue a girl in Pleroma. Fourth main (playable) character is introduced in his own cutscene, before our hero encounters him - Bartholomew Fatima.



Will do a stealthy infiltration mission to rescue a girl in Bledavik.

Technically Bart and Ziggy's introductions may not seem all that similar, but they do sync up and both are Soraya's characters. Bart and his crew of the Yggdrasil are, as many people will notice, also mirrored with Jr. and the crew of the Durandal as both are the Young/Little Master supporting character in their respective story. But Jr. and the Durandal aren't introduced until later, and because that mirroring is too obvious I won't bother examining it. On the other hand, the rescueing scenario of Margie and MOMO is mirrored, and that scenario is part of the introduction of Bart and Ziggy's character.



From here on I will examine the events slightly out of order until we get to the first 'Pinch Point.' Between the introduction of Bart and Margie to being safely returned to Nisan, Xenogears covers more scenes than between the introduction of Ziggy and him and MOMO finding safe refuge onboard the Elsa. However, I feel this makes up for the set-up in Xenosaga which was considerably longer than Lahan Village, so neither story is ahead of the other.



There is somewhat of a mirroring here between Balthasar's dislike of Weltall and Andrew Cherenkov's dislike of KOS-MOS, but overall I think the mirroring is stronger between Ramsus and Andrew and I will focus on a comparison between them instead. The rest of the mirroring during the Margie and MOMO rescuing scenario looks like the following. Note however that the scenes from Xenosaga are out-of-order in the chart, and Ramsus' dream/flashback takes place long after the Margie rescuing scenario:



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: Shion and Allen eats lunch with the crew of the Elsa. Fei, Citan and Bart drinks Maison's tea in the desert pirates' hideout. MOMO is visited by Margulis while imprisoned. Margie is visited by Ramsus while imprisoned. Ziggy and MOMO are confronted by Commander Margulis during their escape. Margulis throws around derogatory terms like "dog" and "vermin" to describe intruders. Bart and Margie are confronted by Commander Ramsus during their escape. Ramsus throws around derogatory terms like "rats" to describe intruders.



KOS-MOS was meant to be some form of asset to U-TIC.



Andrew has a flashback of KOS-MOS running out-of-control which has made him anxious and uneasy.KOS-MOS was meant to be some form of asset to U-TIC.



Id/Weltall was meant to be some form of asset to Solaris. Ramsus has a flashback of Weltall running out-of-control which has made him anxious and uneasy.Id/Weltall was meant to be some form of asset to Solaris.

Xenosaga's Miltia flashbacks. The similarity between Shitan and Jin is more than just "mirroring," easter egg, or cameo though. It's more like a "reboot" of the character, similar to what Nephilim and Abel are to Elly and Fei. For this reason, one can also point out similarities between Virgil/Bart, Richard/Karellen, the Vanderkam's and the Hammer's, etc. But I will not do that much during this coverage. What is a "spiritual" connection between the characters rather than mirroring I will mainly explore in the character page.



Pleroma

There is one part of the interior of Pleroma that resembles the enterior of the Church headquarters (the 'Ethos' headquarters in the U.S. version) in Xenogears. Both have a bridge with the organization's crest visible in the background. So there's also mirroring in the gameplay segments as well as the gameplay design in many cases. But I will not bother with the gameplay related mirroring for this analysis.



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: MOMO. Fifth main (playable) character is introduced during the rescue mission - Chu-Chu. Fifth main (playable) character is introduced during the rescue mission -





The battle sequence with Bart and Margie against Ramsus and Miang is mirrored in Xenosaga when Ziggy has a boss fight against Margulis and you can put MOMO right behind Ziggy to prevent the knockback attacks, thereby taking her out of actual combat and putting her on healing duty (which is the intended strategy), effectively giving her the same role as Margie. The only thing missing was Pellegri joining the fight to assist Margulis.



Xenosaga: Pied Piper (which at that time went by the name "Abraxas"). The question here is: was this memory always meant to be on Michtam and they just went with the same design for these different places and hoped no one would notice, or was the events of Pied Piper originally set on Old Miltia a 100 years in the past?



"Soraya Saga at [the time of Xenosaga: Pied Piper's release] updates her blog again to mention that she and Takahashi worked on Pied Piper's original story and it was only "mildly adapted" by Monolithsoft. Then as the final chapter is about to be released, she updates with specific scenes Monolithsoft added that weren't in the original script. These are consistant with some pretty random WTF events in XS Ep2 which made fans pretty pissed because of their poor implementation and writing."

- Duckroll (Zenosaga.com forums, 2005)



"There were many major changes [in Xenosaga], but what's done cannot be undone, so there's no looking back on those might-have-beens."

- Soraya Saga (Interview with Siliconera, 2010)



While I have never seen the list of specific scenes that were added by Monolithsoft at the end of Pied Piper, there is only one event that truly left a "WTF" impression on me, and surely also on a lot of other Xenogears fans at the time, and that was the renaming of Planet Abraxas to Planet Michtam that felt very random and tacted on at the end. Having thought about this for a while now, originally feeling that the etymology of the names Abraxas and Michtam fit the current scenario, I have now changed my stance and believe that Ormus' homeland was originally Old Miltia and that Miltia a 100 years ago was the original setting of Pied Piper when it was still a part of the main games, possibly called Abraxas like Michtam was in the current scenario. Pied Piper was meant to fit into the main scenario, and there is mirroring with Xenogears as much as any other scenes from the main episodes.



So, for this mirroring coverage I'm going to examine and speculate on what the original scenario could've been, and make hypothetical speculation. And the theory is that Miltia a 100 years ago was the original setting for Ziggy's background and that it was largely mirrored with Xenogears' Zeboim flashbacks and "Protect Nisan/Gate 1 - Margie" from Xenogears. The Episode III database refers to Miltia as "Site of the Miltian Conflict and birthplace of many other incidents and tragedies, it was sealed away for fourteen years when its region of space was blocked off from the U.M.N." which could indicate Takahashi's original scenario still being left like an ambiguous shadow in this entry. The explanation for why Abraxas changed name to Michtam is also poorly explained in the database, stating "The real reason why the planet was named after a celestial body is unknown, but the prevailing theory claims it was due to the fourth planet in the Michtam system being the only one habitable by humanity. [...] The planet became recognized as a planet-state under Federation law; and at the same time, an official declaration decreed that its official name was now Michtam, taken from the star system."



Pied Piper though (although it could've been a choice purely to keep up some consistency), so the design of the yard ultimately isn't evidence of anything. But I am still going to suggest that Abraxas=Michtam was a retcon to easier get Ziggy's background out of the main games, at least for now.



Andrew Cherenkov and Kahran Ramsus:

Ramsus and Cherenkov are often compared but they are actually not mirrored all that much in their stories. Ramsus is mostly mirrored with Margulis while Cherenkov is mostly mirrored with Elly. The only time Ramsus and Cherenkov are properly mirrored are when they have anxiety regarding KOS-MOS and Weltall-Id respectively, and both are called "garbage/trash" in the story. They do look a bit alike though, so that probably is the main catalyst for their comparison.



The scene where Cherenkov is starting to turn into a Gnosis (becoming invisible) on the Elsa has a very eerie feel to it that is in line with Xenosaga's theme of fear, in contrast with the often sentimental scenes in Xenogears that ties into the theme of grief. I think this basic difference in theme is what produced such a difference in atmosphere that they seem very different despite much of the mirroring and the similar direction. Personally I enjoy the atmosphere of both, but for different reasons.



The sequence of Cherenkov flashbacks must be the most abstract directing Takahashi has ever done. The only thing from Xenogears that was directed similar was Fei's view of Id inside Weltall in Lahan and Fei's dream/memory of watching Id, Kahn and Grahf during that stormy night he was injured and brought to Lahan.



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: Cathedral Ship. Nisan and the desperate counterattack. Flashback of Andrew Cherenkov under spotlight. Psychological issues. Drama.

Symbolic imagery with the two Angel statues in Nisan's cathedral that relates to the theme of the story. Symbolic imagery with the two Angel statues in Nisan's cathedral that relates to the theme of the story.

Symbolic imagery with the beach of nothingness during Andrew's death that relates to the theme of the story. Symbolic imagery with the beach of nothingness during Andrew's death that relates to the theme of the story. Flashback of Elly Van Houten under spotlight. Psychological issues. Drama.

Imagery: one-winged angels and the shore of nothingness

The single-winged angels in Nisan's cathedral are a central visual representation of Xenogears' 'broken shards' theme, and the ash-colored white beach is a central visual representation of Xenosaga's 'waves and ripples' theme. Technically, while we get our first glimse of this beach in Xenosaga here, the metaphor and relation to humanity doesn't truly come across until Episode III, but I'll quote those lines here as they mirror what's said about the statues in Xenogears:



Margie: "Did you notice that the two great angels only have one wing each...? According to a legend handed down in Nisan... God could have created humans perfectly... But then, humans would not have helped each other... So that is what these great single-winged angels symbolizes... In order to fly, they are dependent on one another."



Here, the 'broken shards' are represented as angels with only one wing each, and this is a metaphor for humans as being imperfect, fragmented and 'broken', but with an altruistic hope of giving and receiving love by helping one another.



Joachim: "Don't you think waves resemble the relationships between people? They ebb and flow, as if feeling the distance between them, and repeat that process eternally. Young lady, do you love your father? Parents and children, too, could be said to be like waves."



Here Joachim Mizrahi (although it is from Episode III) gives us an equally true metaphor for humanity: a desire for independence and secure distance from one another, with the 'waves' theme represented as a shore on an ash-colored beach as a visualization of the Collective Unconscious that is beginning to scatter due to this. This beach is actually a subjective image, but most characters in Xenosaga, including Cherenkov, Shion, Sakura and Joachim, visualize it as a beach. It is an excellent metaphor, although perhaps not as iconic as the symbolism in Xenogears. But I still found it to be beautifully poetic, and makes me curious what kind of imagery Takahashi had in mind for the third and final story arc...



Cherenkov and Elhaym's flashbacks:

Although not obvious at first, which shows how good Takahashi has generally been in keeping scenes mirrored yet give them a distinctly different feel that it slips past your attention, many fans have recently noted this mirroring. I only noticed it recently as well. In both Cherenkov's and Elly's flashbacks there are interrogators who wants to use them as a test subject, finding them "valuable" even after Cherenkov and Elly have killed people. "But, we can't use her as a test subject in front of Erich. It's a pity we can't manage it... since there is so much potential." Elly is never used as a test subject like Cherenkov, although Sigurd was.







Elly uses AERODs (Animum Ether Response Offensive Drones) with Vierge, which is mirrored in Xenosaga with E.S. Simeon's Aird E attack later. In fact, Aird is what AERODs are called in the Japanese version if I am not mistaken.







Pinch Point

Now Act II reaches its first real Pinch Point, which is a reminder of the nature and intention of the antagonistic force - a return of the same thing that appeared at the Inciting Incident. And there are several of these during Act II and III.



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: Pinch point Pinch point Gnosis Despair



Reminder of the nature and intention of the antagonistic force; Gnosis, KOS-MOS "blue eye mode". Desert Despair



Reminder of the nature and intention of the antagonistic force; Grahf, Weltall, and Fei blacking out.

While it's too early for the heroes to win a significant victory, a good narrative allows its protagonists to try, failing in the process, only to learn something from that failure. This is what the desperate counterattack (Recapture Aveh) is in Xenogears. In Xenosaga the protagonists are still on their journey to Second Miltia, but we do get a reminder of the antagonistic force from the Inciting Incident when KOS-MOS' mysterious behavior and the Gnosis are once more brought to our protagonist's attention at the end of the Cathedral Ship arc.



KOS-MOS and Weltall

As previously established, KOS-MOS and Weltall are mirrored in their respective stories (I'm sure most people noted that both have a bunch of black box components, both names mean "cosmos," etc) and this scene at the Pinch Point is one of the most memorable scenes involving them, though most of us didn't know we were watching Weltall at the time. For some reason a lot of people seem to think that KOS-MOS is a "re-imagining" of Weltall because of their similarity, which makes me think they do not fully comprehend the concept of mirroring, directing and style. Directing and style in Xenosaga were even stated to be similar to Xenogears by the developers. Overall I'd say Xenosaga moves at a faster pace after the set-up in terms of the scenes mirrored, but that's probably because on the journey to Second Miltia they have less to do than the characters in Xenogears. The desperate counterattack contains more action and drama than the relatively short pinch point in Xenosaga, though Xenosaga's Pinch Point is memorable because you immediately recognize the mystery of KOS-MOS while Weltall might be mistaken for a random foe that appears out of nowhere the first time. One can perhaps also think of Jr. coming to the rescue as being mirrored with Maison coming to the rescue.



Xenosaga's Vanderkam doesn't give you his fight until you reach Old Miltia. However, I'll mention it here so I can get it out of the way. There's also the Dora fight mirroring with the Proto-Dora fight in Xenosaga I-II for the DS.





XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS:



Sub-story: Prisoners of the Federation. Quest for freedom. Encephalon Dive. Change of scenery: Kukai Foundation.Sub-story: Prisoners of the Federation. Quest for freedom. Encephalon Dive.



Sub-story: Prisoners of Kislev in D-Block. Quest for freedom. Gear Battling. Change of scenery: Kislev Capital.Sub-story: Prisoners of Kislev in D-Block. Quest for freedom. Gear Battling.



Flashbacks, dreams and nightmares

We start out with a mirroring here between Fei and Jr. before they wake up distressed. Both are having a memory take on the form of a dream, though, in Fei's case it's more psychological. Well it is a thematic moment of fear (Xenosaga) and grief/sorrow (Xenogears) again.



From here on up until the next Pinch Point we get a lot of politics, a new substory, introduce new characters, and have the protagonists trying to win their freedom. I will point out the mirroring when they first appear in whichever game they first appear, as the mirroring will be out of sync until the next Pinch Point. Overall I don't think it is hard to tell that the Kukai Foundation and Nortune, Capital of Kislev, are mirrored. Even the area map of these that you are limited to explore in-game look similar, and both places are run by a 'Kaiser.'



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: Gaignun Kukai Jr.



Influential character in Kukai Foundation arc, and is referred to as a "monster" by a family member. Sixth main (playable) character is introduced and gets a story arc -Influential character in Kukai Foundation arc, and is referred to as a "monster" by a family member. Ricardo Banderas



Influential character in Kislev Empire arc, and is referred to as a "monster" by a family member. Sixth main (playable) character is introduced and gets a story arc -Influential character in Kislev Empire arc, and is referred to as a "monster" by a family member.

The mirroring between Jr. and Rico is very subtle, especially since Jr. seems to be more a mix of Bart (because of his crew) and Billy (because of his guns). But there's actually quite a bit of Rico in him as well: both are red-haired characters who are referred to as "monsters" by family members (Rico by his father Sigmund and by kids in flashback, and Jr. by his brother Albedo and by the standard U.R.T.V.'s later in flashback). Both are influential and famous characters where they live, and they can be quick to anger. Note that Jr. has green pants.







Xenosaga's world.



Xenogears with cryptic dialogue, often referring to the past, and the antagonists taking action with "Plan 401" and "the Purge" respectively. Now that I think about it, I do get a bit of a Gazel vibe from Sellers hovering around in that chair. Never thought about that before. Also 'Sellers' and 'SOL-9000' are both references to cinema: actor Peter Sellers (Dr. Strangelove) and HAL-9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey). Both were films by Stanley Kubrick.



Next up we have two mysterious characters interfering and manipulating circumstances to get a certain desired result:









Wilhelm: "It's a calculated risk. From our point of view, the more real-world data we get, the better." Wilhelm tells Helmer that Vector, the developer of KOS-MOS, is lending KOS-MOS to Gaignun to use as they see fit.Wilhelm:



Masked woman: "I've told you before. I simply wish to observe what is in store for the world." Masked woman, representative of Grahf who developed Weltall, tells Kaiser Sigmund that they want Weltall and its pilot transfered to D Block.Masked woman:

It is interesting to note that Shion ends up in the playground from Old Miltia that was identical to the one Ziggy's son Joaquin played around in with his artificial dog a 100 years ago in the Encephalon, but Ziggy doesn't end up there. Instead Ziggy ends up with MOMO and Jr. near Labyrinthos and the events of the Third Descent Operation. The ODM also states that the playground was a creation from Shion's memory, so it couldn't be interference from Ziggy's memory blending things. This further supports that both of them had a memory of the same place individually, and that Pied Piper possibly took place on Miltia in the original scenario. Ziggy's line "All this before me... Is this really Miltia from fourteen years ago...?" sounds like he is confused about something other than them simply seeing the past. I don't want to read too much into that line (since the acting is sometimes awkward), but it is sort of interesting if we consider this theory.



Episode I) eating Febronia, which was retconned into the standard models in Episode III. Since everything else looks consistent here, such as Aoi's room and Suou lying dead on the floor with Asura's in the room, it's strange that they changed the Feb detail. Though I think they did it so that Virgil's hate of the actual standard models made more sense. One can also dismiss this inconsistency in-game by assuming that Shion was confusing her memories of what actually happened a bit. I always thought the scene where the Asura's eat each other and merge was foreshadowing of the Wels concept from Xenogears, but with Xenosaga not having gone past Shion's arc it is hard to tell if there was any particular meaning to this scene. But we can perhaps think of this as mirroring with the Wels eating scenes.



Xenosaga mirrored the scene where Wiseman shows up again in the Blue Testament's first appearance, though in Xenosaga it happens after/during the coming Pinch Point. But even though they are out of sync a little, as usual I'll go ahead and compare them right away.









Blue Testament: "Still spouting that self-righteous crap?"



Shion: "Huh?"



Blue Testament: "The slightest shift, then life and death no longer have any meaning."



Shion: "Huh...?"



Blue Testament: "You don't get it? Well, how about I show you..."



[BATTLE]



Blue Testament: "It's useless. The laws by which we are governed are just too different." Masked man with hidden identity appears seemingly out of nowhere, teleporting in front of hero:Blue Testament:Shion:Blue Testament:Shion:Blue Testament:[BATTLE]Blue Testament:



Wiseman: "As usual, you haven't learned anything have you?"



Fei: "Who's there!?"



Wiseman: "Hmph. No matter how high quality your Gear may be, you won't be able to defeat him."



Fei: "Wh, what're you talking about!?"



Wiseman: "You still do not understand do you? Then let me show you."



[BATTLE]



Wiseman: "I just gave you a good example. That minor difference between you and I had this outcome." Masked man with hidden identity appears seemingly out of nowhere, teleporting in front of hero:Wiseman:Fei:Wiseman:Fei:Wiseman:[BATTLE]Wiseman:

It is interesting to note that Wiseman make use of some type of teleportation ability which is never explained scientifically in the game. I wonder if Takahashi had some idea behind it, something like transference and imaginary domain forms in Xenosaga, or if he simply did it arbitrarily for effect. Even the Zohar's phenomenon alteration abilities are stretching the plausibility of such teleportation. Hammer's reaction is great here though, since it is in character while also pointing out how freaky such an unnatural ability would seem to most people. It further makes me think that Takahashi should've come up with an explanation for it.



I was pleasantly surprised to see Rico's childhood flashback mirrored in Xenosaga. The best part about it is that it is mirrored in Pied Piper, which shows that that story really should've been in the main games. Although I haven't gotten to Pied Piper yet, I'll examine this mirroring here:



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: Jan (Child): Mom, why isn't Dad coming home?



Ingrid: Because his job is to protect the city. He works to protect everyone.



Jan (Child): Then, why are you always crying?



Ingrid: Because Dad isn't coming home.





Time passes.





Jan (Young man): Mom, what did Dad die for?



Ingrid: For the safety of the people, Jan. So that he could carry out his mission. That's what a policeman does.



Jan (Young man): I can't remember his face, Mom. I can't remember what kind of person he was. Because he was never there. Mom? Mom... where are you?





Jan runs into the darkness, chasing after her disappearing figure, when he comes across another person.





Jan (Young man): Uncle Sean...



McCallum: Jan, your father was a brave man.





Time passes.





Jan (Almost present day): I aspire to maintain the public order and serve the people.



McCallum: Jan, do you still feel proud of your father?



Jan: Y-Yes.



McCallum: Your father was a brave man. But sometimes I wonder.



Jan: ...What?



McCallum: He protected the people, but at the expense of his family's happiness. I wish... he had been a more cowardly person. As his friend.





McCallum walks away into the darkness. Confused, Jan chases after him.





Jan: Chief! Please wait! Chief... Mom, why isn't Dad coming home?Because his job is to protect the city. He works to protect everyone.Then, why are you always crying?Because Dad isn't coming home.Mom, what did Dad die for?For the safety of the people, Jan. So that he could carry out his mission. That's what a policeman does.I can't remember his face, Mom. I can't remember what kind of person he was. Because he was never there. Mom? Mom... where are you?Uncle Sean...Jan, your father was a brave man.I aspire to maintain the public order and serve the people.Jan, do you still feel proud of your father?Y-Yes.Your father was a brave man. But sometimes I wonder....What?He protected the people, but at the expense of his family's happiness. I wish... he had been a more cowardly person. As his friend.Chief! Please wait! Chief... Rico (Child): Mother, why does Jenny have a father but I don't?



Anna: "Well that is, your father is... So... that's... why..."



Time passes.



Rico (Child): ... ther.



Rico (Child): ... other. ... You have to rest.



Anna: Now listen to me! Your father is a great man... Someday, you'll follow in his footsteps... ... cough.. cough...



Rico (Child): !! Mother, mother...



Time passes.



Rico (Child): ... ther.



Rico (Child): ... other. Mother...



Rico (Child): ... I'm, different from the other kids.



Rico (Child): ... Even my nails are long and look at my ears...



Anna: ...!! ... No no... It's not... like that...



Rico (Child): ... Miyo from across the road keeps saying I'm not human and that when I get older I'll become a demi-human. I'm... not human? ... Then you're not my mother? ... No, I don't want that...



Anna: Oh god... please... have mercy on this child...



Time passes.



Voices: "... Get out!! Go away you mutant child!"



Anna: Uuuuhhh... Cough cough... cough



Rico (Child): !! Waaaaahh! Mother, mother is...



Time passes.



Anna: Here, listen... carefully... from now on... you're going to be by yourself...



Rico (Child): ... Mother... I'm...



Rico (Child): I'm?



Rico (Child): I am...?





Rico: "Is... that kid... me? My childhood memories... I've forgotten..." Mother, why does Jenny have a father but I don't?"Well that is, your father is... So... that's... why..."... ther.... other. ... You have to rest.Now listen to me! Your father is a great man... Someday, you'll follow in his footsteps... ... cough.. cough...!! Mother, mother...... ther.... other. Mother...... I'm, different from the other kids.... Even my nails are long and look at my ears......!! ... No no... It's not... like that...... Miyo from across the road keeps saying I'm not human and that when I get older I'll become a demi-human. I'm... not human? ... Then you're not my mother? ... No, I don't want that...Oh god... please... have mercy on this child...Voices: "... Get out!! Go away you mutant child!"Uuuuhhh... Cough cough... cough!! Waaaaahh! Mother, mother is...Here, listen... carefully... from now on... you're going to be by yourself...... Mother... I'm...I'm?I am...?"Is... that kid... me? My childhood memories... I've forgotten..."

These scenes are without a doubt two of my favorite scenes from these works. Takahashi went all out with the grief theme here, having a boy take refuge indoors with his mother while the mother is weak and eventually dies, leaving him alone in a world where he is hated, really got to me. So I was delighted to see Takahashi mirror this specific scene while reading through the Pied Piper translation in 2005, and I'm still disappointed that Jan's background was not explored like that in the main games. But at least it was written. Since Xenosaga has a main theme of fear instead of grief, you might notice that the tone in Jan's memory gravitates more towards anxiety and the issue of bravery than grief.



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: Pinch point Pinch point Reminder of the nature and intention of the antagonistic force; Gnosis returns. Albedo takes action.



Evacuating the people of Kukai Foundation.



Song of Nephilim. Reminder of the nature and intention of the antagonistic force; Grahf returns. Gebler takes action.





Gear-dock raid.



Evacuating the people of Nortune.

I wouldn't say that Gear-dock and Song of Nephilim are mirrored in any real capacity, but they are two extra dungeons here that keeps the pace on a pretty even scale between the two works.



Evacuating the people of Nortune and Kukai Foundation

Xenosaga where Albedo spreads his winged cape before abducting MOMO. In that sense, these bits are mirrored because of an antagonist appearing suddenly who has a connection to- and an "obsession" with a particular "girl" in the main cast. The Shakespeare quote also makes him appear a bit like Grahf. But overall Albedo is more often mirrored with Id in that they are both the "wildcard" antagonist who seems to have no rational motivation, and it is further solidified when Jr. refers to Albedo as "My dark half...the part I've tried to hide away..." Both Albedo and Id are the dark half of one of the main characters in their respective story. His line "Weak! They're all so weak!!" while destroying dozens of Gnosis and A.G.W.S.'s also gives the impression of an Id mirroring (Weltall-Id shooting reactive rounds).



Xenogears. The mirroring aspect is mostly visual, but these girls are also mirrored in that they are both artifical girls that contain important data that the antagonists are pursuing. Both girls are also attached to their dead fathers. Similarities with the Kirschwassers also exist. The ability to transform using nanomachines and Ether that Kirschwasser possess seems to mirror Emeralda.



Blue Testament's line "Who? What does it matter? Or...do you need a name to describe me?" seems like a mirroring of Id's later "Names do not matter..." line. To me it also seems like Takahashi has elaborated on the line he previously wrote for Id in Xenogears.



The pullback night shot above Nortune is mirrored in Xenosaga during E.S. Asher's descent upon Old Miltia in the Miltian conflict flashback at the beginning of Episode II. Other than this visual element I can't think of anything else that is mirrored much in these two particular scenarios.





XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS:



Escape Proto-Merkabah / Outer space and arrival at 2nd Miltia. Proto-Merkabah Facility.Escape Proto-Merkabah / Outer space and arrival at 2nd Miltia.



Escape Goliath Factory / Ignas continent and arrival at Aquvy. Goliath Facility.Escape Goliath Factory / Ignas continent and arrival at Aquvy. Episode I Ends

And, we're at the end of Xenosaga Episode I. However, Act II isn't really over, we still haven't arrived at the Mid-Point of these stories, which is the dramatic destination of Act II as I stated previously. However, like a TV series, these stories have a number of sub-plotting, like the Kislev and Kukai Foundation segments, to keep the player hooked for all of the long-running narrative and the huge cast of characters. This makes it possible to end Xenosaga temporarily here, as the developers decided to do, yet it also explains why Episode I feels like a prologue that never gets the chance to translate towards a "middle" in the story. Episode I was no doubt intended to go even further in the original plan, so Episode II, like the Aquvy arc in Xenogears, continues right where we will have left off.





There's a Xenogears easter egg in the form of Proto-Dora in Proto Merkabah. In Xenosaga I-II you actually get to fight Vanderkam in it too, on Old Miltia.







Xenosaga. I guess we could call it mirroring, though it is hardly anything interesting.



I don't know if I should say the Gnosis boss 'Pistis Sophia' (mistranslated Sophie Peithos) is mirrored with the early form of Deus in Mahanon, or the generic boss 'Fis-6' in Goliath. Whatever.



I imagine that if Episode I had been as long as originally planned, the ending here would've been more of a fast transition, possibly involving some kind of action like when the Goliath was shot down over Aquvy. In the DS version, Canaan (who had been introduced along with E.S. Asher at Proto Merkabah) had crashed into the ocean with E.S. Asher.



The Goliath Factory is really dull looking, proving that Xenogears sometimes has as generic and grey designs as Xenosaga does. There's no more mirroring here that I haven't mentioned already, although Grahf's attack on the Goliath and the first battle you have with him could be said to be mirrored with fighting Albedo in the Proto Merkabah. Perhaps, then, we can think of Proto Merkabah burning up as it falls apart in the planet's atmosphere as being mirroring with the Goliath crashing?



If Xenogears had been done on the PS2 in the style of Xenosaga, it would not have gone further than this. I think the events that transpired up to this point are even a bit longer than Xenosaga Episode I. It is also clear that Xenogears has less confusing phenomena and dialogue occur up to this point, but Xenogears is also more silly at times, with the mood switching so often that it can be a bit jarring. I think that's one of the things that makes Xenogears feel less professional, and also more like a typical JRPG. For example, the slapstick humor when Rico smacks Hammer after Hammer says "It should be a piece o' cake with me around" is not something you'd see in Xenosaga at this point, although they did resurrect slapstick humor in Episode III.



Before we continue where we left off, Xenosaga (Episode II) opens with a flashback to the Miltian Conflict 14 years in the past. I'm curious how Takahashi originally planned to present this flashback if Episode I had been longer as planned? The pullback night shot above Old Miltia during E.S. Asher's descent is mirrored with the pullback night shot above Nortune during the Kislev purge in Xenogears, which suggests it was in Takahashi's scenario all along. That's not to say that director Koh Arai and scenario writer Norihiko Yonesaka aren't capable of inventing their own mirroring, but we can tell from Episode I that this is very much Takahashi's style. So, whenever a good mirroring with Xenogears appear, I'm going to assume that Takahashi likely had a hand in it. According to Soraya, while they made changes in the entire Episode II, it seems it was mainly disc 2 that deviated from the original plan:



"The chapters after Momo Encephalon and Disc 2 are his [Norihiko Yonesaka's] style."

- Soraya's FAQ from Fringe (2005), Ver. 2



Q22. Is the new writer responsible to the alteration? (02/19/05)

A22. I don't necessarily think so. In a teamwork environment, every writer must write as directed.

- Soraya's FAQ from Fringe (2005), Ver. 1



Despite how much may have been altered, Episode II is still mirrored a lot with the Aquvy arc from Xenogears, and ultimately the plot threads do manage to wrap themselves up pretty neatly by the end of the series as if they were always meant to wrap up that way. We must remember that the main reason Arai directed Yonesaka to make alterations was to make the story "easier to read" (not using as much high level Japanese symbols) and to add "more explosions." In other words, to make it easier to follow and to add more exciting action. Also to remove Ziggy's past from the main games, which likely tied in to the idea of making the story easier to follow.



Xenogears, though it is mainly superficial because of the antagonist commanders being on the bridge of their ships. It is not the first time Margulis and Ramsus are mirrored though.



From here we have lots of more mirroring, albeit somewhat subtle and they're slightly out of order as they have been often before. It looks like the following...



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: Episode II U-TIC makes a move; subordinates of Margulis (Pellegri, Richard, and Hermann) attacks on 2nd Miltia.



Shion and the others eat lunch at Moby Dick's. Shion's reunion with Jin.



chaos and Jin talk during the night. Fei and Elly talk during the night.



Fei and Elly eat in the Thames' beer hall. Fei's reunion talk with Bart (later).



Gebler makes a move; subordinates of Ramsus (Elements Dominia and Kelvena) attacks in Aquvy ocean.

I will examine them side by side going with the order of Xenosaga's scenes this time:



Enemy attack: U-TIC Inquisitors and Gebler Elements

These ones shouldn't be hard to see the mirroring.



You've got the subordinates of the "commanders" (Margulis and Ramsus) attacking the protagonists, both led by a blonde, fiery, hotheaded woman (Pellegri and Dominia). Furthermore, both are after a female character among the main protagonists (MOMO and Elly), although Dominia merely decides on her own to take Elly when having to retreat, and MOMO isn't captured.



Then there's the reinforcement: Canaan in E.S. Asher; and Fei and Elly in Weltall and Vierge while Bart is fighting alone undersea. Finally, the enemy is forced to retreat.



"We were too busy fighting that red Gear to try to confirm it [the Yggdrasil sinking]." That suggests Kelvena and Dominia was onboard Ramsus' ship at that time even though we didn't see them - just as we didn't see Richard and Hermann until now in Xenosaga (well their mechs at least, we never see their faces in the PS2 episodes).



Food: Moby Dick's and Thames' Beer hall

This is another neat mirroring in that the Thames is a seafaring ship and Moby Dick's is a bar that tries to look like the interior of a classic seafaring ship. While they're not just eating while in these places, there is a lot of scenes in the Thames' beer hall, more than I remembered. Shion also has a reunion with Jin here and Fei has a reunion with Bart, and when Fei learns that Bart shot down the Goliath there's some conflict, though not nearly as much as Shion and Jin's issues.



Night talk: Jin/chaos and Fei/Elly

As seen in an early Episode I trailer, the scene with Jin and chaos were always meant to be in the original scenario, though I don't know if the dialogue remained intact. Content wise the conversations aren't technically similar, but they're both of the philosophical nature. Both touch a bit on their respective main theme. Jin says: "Our consciousness constantly changes form in its unending search for the future." which relates to the wave theme. Elly says: "It's OK not to feel 'whole'. Even if you only feel partly complete, if you repeat that enough, eventually it'll be 'whole'. A part... is better than zero." which relates to the broken shards theme. (I love that the music box theme, "Distant Promise," is playing here.)



Also, Jin's line "You know, it's strange. I feel like I can talk to you about anything, chaos. It's like you're much older than you look, as if you'd been alive for hundreds of years." seems mirrored with Elly's line "It just felt as though I've told you the same thing long ago... It must be my imagination. I couldn't have said it to you before, because we've only just met, haven't we?"



Jin & chaos:

The following line was in the trailer: "The outcome of the future changes alongside with time. When the Sacred Light is seen, people lose their original existence. This is ... [Wilhelm: "The Will to Power."] I'm thinking there's a possibility the "Will to power" reference was made for the trailer only, especially since Wilhelm wouldn't be in this scene. In Episode II the line is translated as "Our consciousness constantly changes form in its unending search for the future. When a man finds a guiding light, he runs to it," with "sometimes forgetting its true nature in the process." added instead of "This is ... "

If Jin really said "the will to power," then the line would have been: "Our consciousness constantly changes form in its unending search for the future. When a man finds a guiding light, he runs to it, this is the will to power." So was this last bit changed by Arai once this scene was no longer under the Der Wille zur Macht subtitle, or did Takahashi revise it, or was the trailer line just for promotion? (Wilhelm's line was also in the keywords trailer though.)

The line "Perhaps we humans are like moths. Aimlessly flitting around the inviting candlelight, unaware of the outcome that awaits us." was the first line spoken in the first Episode II trailer. I really like this line since it sums up the "will to power" theme with poetic imagery. This conversation is one of the better written ones in Episode II, and I think it remained largely intact from Takahashi's original script.



The political talk and worry about U-TIC in Helmer's office seems to mirror the political talk and worry about Shakhan in Thames' elevator, etc. For the most part, scenes such as those in Helmer's office and Jin's house feel like they're written by Takahashi in the Episode I style. They are very talky, and not much action occurs. The new dub makes them a bit more tedious to listen to than their Episode I equivalents, but I don't think Arai and Yonesaka made many edits here.



Episode I supports that KOS-MOS was not upgraded to a new "Version" on 2nd Miltia, although KOS-MOS did lose her headgear at the end of Episode I and there's no headgear on the Tertiary Weapon System display (what looks like the headgear on the display is around her neck if you examine the cutscenes in full size).



Also, it seems that the reason why KOS-MOS was to fight U-DO, in-game reasoning, was to prevent the possibility of more Gnosis appearing, since the Gnosis outbreaks work in concert with the U-DO phenomenon. Somehow I doubt KOS-MOS' bike was in the original scenario though. It, along with KOS-MOS' unnecessary redesign (which was mostly added to make KOS-MOS appeal more to a Western audience) smells like something the new team would come up with. It ties into Yonesaka's writing beginning after MOMO's Encephalon when it is used in an action scene and then never really used again. Also, Shion's line in the Kevin flashback "Is this going to save humanity too?" and Kevin's reply - referring to the Tub-Bike - are absent from the DS version in this flashback scene.



I also do not think that the scene where Shion first has her "casual" clothes on the following morning was written by Takahashi or Soraya. It actually doesn't make sense that she would change out of uniform when she's going to check up on Allen and KOS-MOS at the company she works for.



It seems the hypnotism Miang does is mirrored in Xenosaga with Gaignun's power to control the thoughts of others and the power of hypnotic suggestion (interference with a person's consciousness), using his voice as a medium. We never really get to see Gaignun do this, but I wonder if the original script had something. There was a mysterious scene deleted that Soraya described as "Gaignun vs Zohar emulators" which could've mirrored Elly's sabotage in the Yggdrasil engine room. Perhaps he found himself in the Emulator room after briefly being taken over by Yuriev and had to fix something like Shitan fixes the sabotage done by Elly.



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS:



MOMO comatosed.



Helmer: "Her basic functions have recovered. Though she avoided death, her neural network, the rough equivalent of her brain, has been completely shattered to pieces. We need the expertise of Vector'’ Third Division if we stand any chance of recovering the Y-Data." Albedo makes a move. MOMO is damaged and needs immediate help.MOMO comatosed.Helmer:



Fei comatosed.



Doctor: "... I don't know. But for now he's on life support......" "... I gurantee nothing. I don't know why he's like this in the first place." "... Then there is hope... at the infirmary in the 'Ethos' headquarters." "I cannot gurantee it. But if we were to take him to the 'Ethos' headquarters' hospital..." Ramsus makes a move. Fei is damaged and needs immediate help.Fei comatosed.Doctor:

Soraya wrote in her 2005 FAQ that "The scenes for analyzing Momo in the UMN administration center, memories of Sakura in Momo ENCEPHALON are tolerably faithful to the original." and "You can see Soraya's mark she left to the Episode II in:



* The conversation between Juli and Ziggy

* Momo Encephalon (In first version, It was not Juli's idea of destroying Momo's memory, but a subcommitteeman's. Juli hesitated.)

* The story about U.R.T.V. (with the exception of the chapters after Momo Encephalon [...]



Here, it seems Arai and Yonesaka chose to economize and personalize the narrative by having Juli try to destroy MOMO's memory rather than a subcommitteeman. By removing S.O.C.E. characters, they made the story tighter and allowed the more important characters to have more to do. However, this may have stretched Juli's character a little too far, which is probably why Soraya didn't like the idea of having Juli try to destroy MOMO's memory. By always hesitating in this scene, Juli's true mother-like feelings would start to emerge when faced with the possibility that someone would destroy this girl's memories. However, this scene was not restored in the DS version. Juli is still the one to attempt to destroy the data.



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS: Jin Uzuki.



A highly skilled, helpful ally from Miltia arc. Seventh main (playable) character is introduced in this new "land" of Second Miltia -A highly skilled, helpful ally from Miltia arc. Billy Lee Black.



A highly skilled, helpful ally from Aquvy arc. Seventh main (playable) character is introduced in this new "land" of Aquvy -A highly skilled, helpful ally from Aquvy arc.

As with Jr. and Rico, this mirroring is very subtle, especially since Jin and Shitan is the obvious mirroring. But Jin and Shitan do not sync that well, unless you count his short conversation with Shion during the set-up to be his introduction. However, as a playable party member he joins you first during the Miltia arc. Also, both Jin and Billy are rooted in some form of tradition or religion. And their family member (Shion and Jesiah) are not pleased with this.



Sakura's Domain and Billy's Orphanage

Following the injury of MOMO and Fei, we have character arcs that were mainly conceptualized and written by Soraya Saga. While Episode II's script was adapted by MonolithSoft, we can determine from both the style and Soraya's FAQ that the MOMO Encephalon story was probably largely left intact. The death of Sakura is missing though.



Xenosaga with the family conflict between Rubedo and Albedo. Also, you've got the introduction of a new antagonist - Bishop Stone and Dr. Dmitri Yuriev - who both appear to be non-antagonistic and helpful people at first.



What's interesting about Stone and Yuriev is that they're not only mirrored and sync up in their first appearance, but that they look similar (glasses, facial structure, haircolor) and have the same Enneagram personality type as far as a I can tell - thus sharing a potential spiritual connection (like Elly/Nephilim, Shitan/Jin, Bart/Virgil, etc). They are both very chameleonic and ultimately arrogant, but they are not mirrored beyond their introduction and relation to their respective protagonists.



Sakura's Domain / Rubedo arc begins.



Fighting contaminated U.R.T.V.'s in Encephalon. Orphanage / Billy arc begins.



Fighting Wels in Reapers Ship.

The white beach with contaminated U.R.T.V.'s in Sakura's Domain could be thought of as mirrored with the cruiser full of zombies in Xenogears.



The scene where Rubedo breaks the mental link on Old Miltia appears to be retconned, as we saw a flash of Rubedo cutting off the link by entering Red Dragon mode in Episode I (which was color inverted). Here Rubedo merely lets go of Albedo's hand and backs away. It does not contradict the dialogue in Episode I, but the visual discrepancy is pretty jarring, and they didn't even bother to make the outfits consistent either. They just wear what they wore at the institute.



Episode I. And yet the new vision doesn't appear to have anything to do with the actual Omega System, but appears to be meant as a visual representation of the resulting anti-particle collision being "converted directly into thermal energy" that Rubedo talks about. It is so poorly directed by Arai that I don't even know where to begin. The Perfect Guide states that Rubedo was implanted with the fear (that people get from witnessing the ultimate end of everything), which is what they should have shown again.



"Before the outbreak of the Miltian Conflict, Yuriev was shot to death by Gaignun. And once they had been deployed into the conflict, Rubedo touched U-DO's wave and learned the fear, severing the link. The URTV force crumbled, and Albedo was contaminated by U-DO. During the turmoil, Rubedo and Nigredo were rescued by chaos and Canaan, and Albedo was rescued by Sellers."

- Xenosaga III Perfect Guide



Xenosaga I-II isn't an accurate representation of the original scenario either it is impossible to know if that part was restored.



# The official advertisement says the new saga will have new sounds, new designs (as seen in Epsode II) and more easier story to read (as seen in the disc 2 of the Episode II).

- Soraya's FAQ, Ver. 2 (2005)



The scenario on Disc 2 doesn't appear to be a completely new script, even if it probably deviated from the original scenario quite a bit. The few bits of mirroring with Xenogears left intact suggests this. But here is where it gets interesting, because by recognizing how much has been mirrored up to this point, it may be possible to determine what parts were likely to be in the original scenario and what kind of events could have been in the original scenario by looking at what happens from this point on in Xenogears. This is one major reason why I wanted to examine Xenogears and Xenosaga together, since it is the only way to come close to the spirit of the original scenario if the original script is never made public.



So, on the topic of Albedo, it seems to me that from the Second Miltia/Aquvy arc, Albedo is mirrored with Jesiah. Once the Encephalon part is over, in Xenogears the Reapers Ship part is over, and the party heads for the Church headquarters. When they arrive they find everyone dead or fatally injured and learn that Jessie had been there, and Billy suspects him of going rogue and having stormed into the Church headquarters in desperation. This mirrors Margulis suspecting Albedo of going rogue in Xenosaga I-II after acquiring the Y-Data, and from this point the race is on, both in Xenogears and Xenosaga, with the antagonists going for Emeralda and the Original Zohar respectively. The only difference is that the protagonists in Xenogears, while doing a lot of pursuing, don't know what the antagonists are after.



The following is a chart of what mirroring we can see in the official Disc 2 of Episode II. The scenes from Xenogears are presented in chronological order while the scenes from Xenosaga are not:



XENOSAGA: XENOGEARS:





Revelations about the past and the present situation. Labyrinthos data bank.Revelations about the past and the present situation.



Revelations about the past and the present situation. The Church (Ethos) data bank.Revelations about the past and the present situation.





Sergius: "Ah, if it isn't Yuriev's ghost. I'm afraid you're a bit late. The preparations are already complete. There's no longer a point to your existence."



Albedo: "What an annoying old fool. How about it, Rubedo? Want me to give you a hand squashing this guy?" Jr.'s brother Albedo turns up unexpectedly to help confront a foe: Pope Sergius XVII. The beginning of their reconciliation.Sergius:Albedo:







Stone: "That's a name I haven't been called for a long time... Hearing that name vividly brings back a pleasant twinge of pain to the 'scars on this body'. You know what I mean, Jesiah?"



Jessie: "Heh, your brain still isn't working right. Answer me! Why do you have such 'a roundabout way of doing things'!?" Billy's father Jesiah turns up unexpectedly to help confront a foe: Bishop Stone. The beginning of their reconciliation.Stone:Jessie:









Jr.: "Damn, where were they hiding that thing?" Ormus stronghold unexpectedly appear and delays the protagonists from catching up to Ormus who's already descending to Labyrinthos.Jr.:



Billy: "That's gigantic... What in the heavens is happening...?" "Giant fishbowl" (Ezekiel) unexpectedly appear and delays the protagonists from catching up to Stone who's already descending to Zeboim.Billy:



Soldier: "Since then, it's been obstructed by two black holes. Even now we cannot confirm the state of its existence." New antagonist and major player in the story is introduced, though we've seen him briefly before - Dmitri Yuriev.Soldier:



Soldier: "We've confirmed the marker location of Stein. Of the 130 research and excavation sites, it's in the southernmost peak." New antagonist and major player in the story is introduced, though we've heard the name briefly before - Karellen.Soldier:



Labyrinthos facility - Original Zohar.



Cecily and Cathe have been sealed for 14 years. Shion has a reaction. Old Miltia: submerged city ruins.Labyrinthos facility - Original Zohar.Cecily and Cathe have been sealed for 14 years. Shion has a reaction.



Zeboim hospital facility - Emeralda.



Emeralda has been sealed for 4000 years. Elly has a reaction. Dig Site: submerged city ruins.Zeboim hospital facility - Emeralda.Emeralda has been sealed for 4000 years. Elly has a reaction. Battle with Margulis on bridge. Battle with Id on bridge.

The narration by Shion at the beginning of Disc 2 seems to be a way to get information across in an "easier to read" way, suggesting this is Arai's idea, even though it feels a lot like Xenogears Disc 2.



In the DS version the Federation must face a sudden appearance of Gnosis over a group of their territories, the Gnosis seemingly reacting to the waves of the Zohar that sleeps on Old Miltia - thus confirming the route has been opened. That could have been in the original script, since it mirrors the Wels attacking the Thames fleet. The Gnosis also felt missing from the PS2 Episode II. There is a lot going on in the DS version where there was only a narration by Shion, such as Shion going with MOMO and the others to see Second Miltia, some comedic moment with Mary delivering a funny Japanese video she developed to Jr. wanting him to join her videoclub, Gnosis attacking Second Miltia, the U.M.N. functioning abnormally, etc. This is when KOS-MOS awakes and comes to Shion's rescue, rather than the stealing E.S. Dinah part and being attacked by Voyager's craft. Once the Gnosis are all exterminated the U.M.N. communications return. Maybe this is why the Kajiura track "communication breakdown" was originally given that title?



KOS-MOS activates the E.S. Dinah system to lend more power to Shion in the DS version. Then Allen and Shion return to the Dämmerung, similar to the PS2 Episode II, while the others depart for Old Miltia. Shion sees Nephilim, etc. Juli's talk with MOMO also happens here, but there is no Shion and Allen encounter with Voyager as Shion travels in Dinah directly to the Foundation and joins the Elsa. The conversation between Wilhelm and Red Testament occurs after this, though there's no "We've detected Albedo's ascension" line, and no "The greater the suffering, the more exciting the drama" line either. We also see the Black and Blue Testament in the office.



If all this Gnosis fighting was in the original scenario then I have some sympathy for Arai cutting it out. It sounds like more of the same as what happened at Kukai Foundation. If Xenosaga was a TV series or Anime then I doubt that much fighting would've been written in. This is a result of wanting to give gamers something to do and get experience points and level up. In Xenogears you also never got to fight the Wels that attacked the Thames fleet, so this is pretty jarring with the mirroring and most people would probably want to go after the Original Zohar at this point. I was also not a fan of having Gaignun be called to "the land of awakening" before going to Fifth Jerusalem. I thought it was more surprising when Yuriev awakened in him without being summoned by Citrine, even though meeting Citrine makes more sense (we never got an answer to why Gaignun went to Fifth Jerusalem in the PS2 Episode II). There was also a deleted scene in Soraya's FAQ said to be "Brief reunion with grown-up Citrine," which presumably was similar but not identical to the DS version as Citrine was mentioned in an interview to originally have a family. For most mirroring analysis I put the chart ofon the left side and the chart ofon the right. Although the two works are not attached, thetrilogy is set in an earlier point in the "Xenoverse" timeline. So this is how the chart tends to be displayed in my articles. Here it is also the result of a need to compare their story structures to discover howwas originally intended to be written, and so the focus tend to be on's story structure rather thansince we learn more aboutthis way than we learn aboutOne purpose of this analysis is to show howfollows the direction and style of, and thus why it is the only worthy sequel to the legendary(at least in terms of story) thus far. Amongfans there will often be a difference of opinion which of the two is the better series. Or that some other series altogether is more similar to one of the two than they are each other. But is one of the two really superior or all that different to the other? Or is this merely the subjective, biased and emotional opinions of passionate fans lacking solid arguments to back it up?Both stories begin by kicking things off in a compelling way by posing questions that compel answers. What you first see after firing up your "New Game" is an intriguing promise of a special and rewarding experience ahead.Both stories begin with a cinematic movie that takes place thousands of years in the past. Note the inverted mirroring:opens in space while the main story takes place on an Earth-like planet;opens on Earth while the main story takes place out in the vast universe.Then, the mirroring betweenandopening movie continues further intoset-up:While they corrected 'You' and changed it to 'Ye' in the U.S. localization, in the Japanese version it says 'shall be as gods' just like in. However, this is not a reference to. Just as the phrase alluded to Genesis in, so does the phrase allude to Genesis inThis bit shows how Mary's consciousness inside KOS-MOS starts to manifest. Similar to this, "exon replacement" is stated into be the same phenomenon as that of the 'Original Elhaym' awakening into 'Miang'. Nephilim, who is a "remake" of Elly, shows up inside KOS-MOS' Encephalon just as Elly and Miang are two separate consciousnesses inside Persona. The music when KOS-MOS later awakens during the Inciting Incident is also very similar to the music playing when Deus awakens during these scenes.As with any classic narrative the hero enters the story early, long before the arrival of the Inciting Incident, as we need to see the hero in his/her pre-Incident life. This is Act I, also known as the set-up. A notable difference is howis all cinematic with credits of the staff in the intro for Act I, whilehas four pages of prologue text as if it were a novel.Woglinde and Lahan are both the starting stages of the story, manipulated by forces to be caught in the middle of a conflict, and are ultimately annihilated. They are both situated far from the major capitals of their respective settings - Solaris and Fifth Jerusalem - which are also mirrored early in what I refer to as Act III. Other settings are also mirrored like this. It can further be said that the hero is the one who is ultimately responsible for the phenomenon that led these places to destruction: Fei unleashed Id unknowingly, and Shion unleashed the Gnosis into the real domain unknowingly in the past.Note that both KOS-MOS and Shitan take orders from masked person: Red Testament and Emperor Cain.For the most part, Allen doesn't really mirror anycharacters. He is a unique element to. However, the inspiration for his character was clearly Aruru (Alice). Although Aruru ended up being an early casualty in, she was originally considered to be part of the story, following Fei around after he leaves Lahan. Allen follows Shion around for their entire story arc. So, in that respect, I guess Allen mirrors Aruru. Their names are also similar, especially if you read their names in Japanese.In bothandset-up there is a sense of impending change. In fact, it isn't just the Inciting Incident that is foreshadowed, major events of the story to come are also foreshadowed and, like some of the best foreshadowing in literature or cinema, it is not always recognized as foreshadowing when it occurs. The scene where Shitan shows the music box to Fei has so much foreshadowing in it that it almost tells the entire story right there. Although I don't know if it was intentional, the decoration inside the box resembles the Zohar, and the angel in front of it is later in Shevat heavily implied to be a statue of Sophia. You see the same statue outside Aphel Aura and a woman in Shevat's dungeon says to Elly:The imagery is fitting, since Elly was created inside the Kadomony inside Zohar and advented to the Earth from there. Inwe have the dream/vision Shion has of Rennes-Le-Château on Lost Jerusalem, with the silhouette of chaos making an appearance in addition to Nephilim and the Original Zohar. Like the music box scene inthis scene also foreshadows the entire story of the hero; such as her being "the Maiden," as well as her link to Zohar (and also U-DO behind "the door" or window that is Zohar). The ripple effect on the Zohar relates to the motif and imagery of waves in the story, such as the white ash-colored beach and the spreading of ripples that will impact and possibly change the future.has a thematic imagery of "broken shards," as the poem about a broken mirror alludes to in-game (if you play the music box tune "Distant Promise" in Shevat and talk to the man in the bar you'll understand this) and you'll notice how shards start flying by when the music box starts playing here. Sohas a thematic imagery of "broken shards," whilehas a thematic imagery of waves and ripples, and both relates to humanity.The pace and focus of the scenes in both works at this point are beginning to unfold in context to - and pointed at - the Inciting Incident. There's a sense of foreboding and shifting winds that starts to accelerate to the point at which everything suddenly changes. Inthis happens as KOS-MOS starts to activate and the Gnosis appear, and inthis happens as night falls, the ground starts shaking, and Fei watches as "Giants" head for Lahan village.The Inciting Incident is the point where the story really begins. It is the moment when something enters the story in a manner that affects the hero's status and plans and beliefs, forcing her or him to take action in response, and inherent to that moment is the call for the hero to do something they weren't doing before. ForandI have chosen to cover the entire scenario up to leaving Lahan and Woglinde behind as the first plot point, even though it is actually just the hero's unforeseen entanglement with Weltall and KOS-MOS respectively that is the actualor first plot point since Gears and Gnosis are already known to exist in the world, so their arrival does not come totally unexpected.Although KOS-MOS is technically an ally (as is the role of Weltall), I apply the term "antagonistic force" to KOS-MOS the same way Weltall serves as an antagonistic force (after destroying the village) in the beginning of the story. From the point of view of the hero, nothing is the same from that moment forward. Their world has been turned upside down by KOS-MOS/Weltall, and they are not happy about that. So, in that sense, I apply the term "antagonistic force" to KOS-MOS and Weltall, even though Grahf and the Gnosis are regarded as the primary antagonistic forces.Anyway, this is the bridge between Act I and Act II, meaning everything that came before this incident was a set-up for it, and everything that comes after is a response to it. Even though KOS-MOS was already in the story during the set-up, what happens here makes her darker and more deadly, thus forcing Shion to take action. Because something important to Shion is now out of her control. This is classic story architecture in full glory.There's no turning back now. The story has opened a dramatic can of worms, and our protagonists are in the thick of it. We're now entering Act II, where the fun really begins. The dramatic destination of Act II is the Mid-point, where once again something new will enter the story and change the nature of the game for the hero that will act as a catalyst for him or her to make the transition to a proactive "warrior."Many people have noted the mirroring of these two characters in their later "spotlight" scenes, but they are actually mirrored in more scenes and characteristics. Both are soldiers who perhaps aren't suited to it, but feel that is all they can do and where they belong. They also point a gun at a main character: Andrew points a gun at KOS-MOS but never fires, and also at Shion for a second when she surprises him, while Elly points a gun at Fei.Here the Elsa and the Blackmoon forest are mirrored, as the heroes take shelter and starts to form a camraderie with other characters that will become important. You also get a couple of memorable lines such as chaos' line about everyone having at least one skill that they excel in over all others and Shitan's line about using power or being used by power. Actually, both chaos and Shitan are similar in the fact that both are holding back their knowledge and abilities during the story: chaos is a god-like being who has existed since ancient times but never bothers to reveal this until Wilhelm tells the protagonists, and Shitan is a "Guardian Angel" class Solarian, who has access to his own Omnigear, to Shevat and even Solaris, but keeps it to himself until the Gazel Ministry reveals it to Fei and the others.Both are Takahashi's characters and both characters have actually met/known the main character in a previous life. We can also draw comparisons between KOS-MOS and Elly in the story, but as their introduction does not sync up, I won't do it now.Perhaps we can think of Dazil as an extension of the Blackmoon Forest part. Since the set-up took longer init is fitting thatstretches on a little further here before we have more mirroring. Then, Fei heads out into the desert of Aveh to look for Shitan, and soon Fei will have his encounter with Grahf who was in the mysterious Gear at Lahan, whileintroduces you to Wilhelm and the Red Testament. However, the scene that Wilhelm mirrors fromis the scene with Shitan and the Emperor, which happens after the scene with Grahf.In fact, some scenes at the beginning ofare mirrored first near the end of thetrilogy, and even some other events and especially mirrored dialogue and characters will appear "out of sync" with each other in an analysis such as this - which is only natural, since it would be pretty boring and predictable to use the exact same template for both stories. Some deviation begins here, and from now on I will examine and compare scenes slightly out of order for those that appear later in their respective story.The scene between Shitan and the Emperor here occurs after the introduction of Grahf. I will now examine the scenes that introduces Margulis and Grahf, even though Grahf's introduction occurs before Shitan's conversation with the Emperor.While Margulis is often compared to Grahf, I think this is actually the only time the two are mirrored. And it is not through more than the fact that they are both the first real antagonist to appear and dismiss the death of an entire population, which they were partly responsible for, as something that doesn't matter to them. Grahf's scene is also much longer and is actually mainly mirrored with a completely different character fromthat we will soon examine.Margulis is the first of the "transcended men" antagonists to appear (that opposes the heroes in), and Grahf is the first of the "broken-hearted" antagonists to appear (that opposes the heroes in). Moreover, it can be said that those who aim to transcend their human existence are driven by fear and self-preservation, and those with a broken heart are driven by grief while looking to ameliorate the condition of suffering. Perhaps this is whyis sometimes regarded as "being more human" compared toas "grief" appears to be a more noble and sympathetic driving force compared to fear. But in reality not everyone is going to be driven by grief, since that emotion is not the only one that antagonize human beings. And there are many people who will identify more with the drive for self-preservation and safety.However, let us examine what scene, character, dialogue and cinematography fromreally is mirrored with Grahf's introduction scene...I will examine the mirroring between Grahf and Dmitri Yuriev here, even though Yuriev's scene, in contrast to Grahf's scene, occurs during the last encounter with Yuriev far ahead inYuriev is probably the character most closely mirrored with Grahf as a whole, even though both characters are mirrored with several others as well during the course of the story, and apart from these scenes there is the obvious "soul transfer" ability parallel and their statement that they will not ever die until their goal is accomplished. There is also the allusion to the devil, with Yuriev placing the number 666 on Rubedo (the "Red Dragon") and wanting to challenge "God," and with Grahf once destroying all of the world with the army of "Diabolos."oris a Greek word that means "accuser" and is the origin of the word "Devil."Also, in the mirroring of these scenes, there is the conversation between Grahf/Fei and Yuriev/Jr. that have a very similar tone to it. Both characters have quite the theme music dedicated to them as well; "Grahf -Ruler of Darkness-" and "Godsibb" respectively.Technically Bart and Ziggy's introductions may not seem all that similar, but they do sync up and both are Soraya's characters. Bart and his crew of the Yggdrasil are, as many people will notice, also mirrored with Jr. and the crew of the Durandal as both are the Young/Little Master supporting character in their respective story. But Jr. and the Durandal aren't introduced until later, and because that mirroring is too obvious I won't bother examining it. On the other hand, the rescueing scenario of Margie and MOMOmirrored, and that scenario is part of the introduction of Bart and Ziggy's character.From here on I will examine the events slightly out of order until we get to the first 'Pinch Point.' Between the introduction of Bart and Margie to being safely returned to Nisan,covers more scenes than between the introduction of Ziggy and him and MOMO finding safe refuge onboard the Elsa. However, I feel this makes up for the set-up inwhich was considerably longer than Lahan Village, so neither story is ahead of the other.There is somewhat of a mirroring here between Balthasar's dislike of Weltall and Andrew Cherenkov's dislike of KOS-MOS, but overall I think the mirroring is stronger between Ramsus and Andrew and I will focus on a comparison between them instead. The rest of the mirroring during the Margie and MOMO rescuing scenario looks like the following. Note however that the scenes fromare out-of-order in the chart, and Ramsus' dream/flashback takes place long after the Margie rescuing scenario: And of course anyone will recognize that the Gear Shitan commandeers, Heimdal, looks pretty much the same as Jin's A.M.W.S in's Miltia flashbacks. The similarity between Shitan and Jin is more than just "mirroring," easter egg, or cameo though. It's more like a "reboot" of the character, similar to what Nephilim and Abel are to Elly and Fei. For this reason, one can also point out similarities between Virgil/Bart, Richard/Karellen, the Vanderkam's and the Hammer's, etc. But I will not do that much during this coverage. What is a "spiritual" connection between the characters rather than mirroring I will mainly explore in the character page.There is one part of the interior of Pleroma that resembles the enterior of the Church headquarters (the 'Ethos' headquarters in the U.S. version) in. Both have a bridge with the organization's crest visible in the background. So there's also mirroring in the gameplay segments as well as the gameplay design in many cases. But I will not bother with the gameplay related mirroring for this analysis. The mirroring here becomes a little jarring. MOMO and Chu-Chu have nothing in common, and Chu-Chu doesn't even become a party member or even playable until the end of the Shevat arc. The mirroring here is between MOMO and Margie, even though Margie doesn't ever become a playable character. However, she was originally meant to be a playable character, and she still helps out in some of the battles with healing and weaker attacks, even if you don't control her. Margie and MOMO have the same literary theme in that they look like weak little girls, but they are actually some of the stronger characters, especially MOMO who is both strong in the story and with Ether in combat.The battle sequence with Bart and Margie against Ramsus and Miang is mirrored inwhen Ziggy has a boss fight against Margulis and you can put MOMO right behind Ziggy to prevent the knockback attacks, thereby taking her out of actual combat and putting her on healing duty (which is the intended strategy), effectively giving her the same role as Margie. The only thing missing was Pellegri joining the fight to assist Margulis. Ziggy has a flashback of his human life and his son Joaquin here. Many people have noticed that the yard in this fragmented memory looks exactly like the one from Old Miltia that young Shion plays in during the upcoming Encephalon scenes - which lead to a number of theories about the location of this flasback - before it was revealed to be on Planet Michtam at the end of(which at that time went by the name "Abraxas"). The question here is: was this memory always meant to be on Michtam and they just went with the same design for these different places and hoped no one would notice, or was the events oforiginally set on Old Miltia a 100 years in the past?While I have never seen the list of specific scenes that were added by Monolithsoft at the end of, there is only one event that truly left a "WTF" impression on me, and surely also on a lot of otherfans at the time, and that was the renaming of Planet Abraxas to Planet Michtam that felt very random and tacted on at the end. Having thought about this for a while now, originally feeling that the etymology of the names Abraxas and Michtam fit the current scenario, I have now changed my stance and believe that Ormus' homeland was originally Old Miltia and that Miltia a 100 years ago was the original setting ofwhen it was still a part of the main games, possibly called Abraxas like Michtam was in the current scenario.was meant to fit into the main scenario, and there is mirroring withas much as any other scenes from the main episodes.So, for this mirroring coverage I'm going to examine and speculate on what the original scenario could've been, and make hypothetical speculation. And the theory is that Miltia a 100 years ago was the original setting for Ziggy's background and that it was largely mirrored with' Zeboim flashbacks and "Protect Nisan/Gate 1 - Margie" from. Thedatabase refers to Miltia aswhich could indicate Takahashi's original scenario still being left like an ambiguous shadow in this entry. The explanation for why Abraxas changed name to Michtam is also poorly explained in the database, stating The scene of Joaquin playing with Nexus 6 still looks very similar to Old Miltia inthough (although it could've been a choice purely to keep up some consistency), so the design of the yard ultimately isn't evidence of anything. But I am still going to suggest that Abraxas=Michtam was a retcon to easier get Ziggy's background out of the main games, at least for now.Ramsus and Cherenkov are often compared but they are actually not mirrored all that much in their stories. Ramsus is mostly mirrored with Margulis while Cherenkov is mostly mirrored with Elly. The only time Ramsus and Cherenkov are properly mirrored are when they have anxiety regarding KOS-MOS and Weltall-Id respectively, and both are called "garbage/trash" in the story. They do look a bit alike though, so that probably is the main catalyst for their comparison.The scene where Cherenkov is starting to turn into a Gnosis (becoming invisible) on the Elsa has a very eerie feel to it that is in line withtheme of fear, in contrast with the often sentimental scenes inthat ties into the theme of grief. I think this basic difference in theme is what produced such a difference in atmosphere that they seem very different despite much of the mirroring and the similar direction. Personally I enjoy the atmosphere of both, but for different reasons.The sequence of Cherenkov flashbacks must be the most abstract directing Takahashi has ever done. The only thing fromthat was directed similar was Fei's view of Id inside Weltall in Lahan and Fei's dream/memory of watching Id, Kahn and Grahf during that stormy night he was injured and brought to Lahan.The single-winged angels in Nisan's cathedral are a central visual representation of' 'broken shards' theme, and the ash-colored white beach is a central visual representation of's 'waves and ripples' theme. Technically, while we get our first glimse of this beach inhere, the metaphor and relation to humanity doesn't truly come across until, but I'll quote those lines here as they mirror what's said about the statues inHere, the 'broken shards' are represented as angels with only one wing each, and this is a metaphor for humans as being imperfect, fragmented and 'broken', but with an altruistic hope of giving and receiving love by helping one another.Here Joachim Mizrahi (although it is from) gives us an equally true metaphor for humanity: a desire for independence and secure distance from one another, with the 'waves' theme represented as a shore on an ash-colored beach as a visualization of the Collective Unconscious that is beginning to scatter due to this. This beach is actually a subjective image, but most characters in, including Cherenkov, Shion, Sakura and Joachim, visualize it as a beach. It is an excellent metaphor, although perhaps not as iconic as the symbolism in. But I still found it to be beautifully poetic, and makes me curious what kind of imagery Takahashi had in mind for the third and final story arc...Although not obvious at first, which shows how good Takahashi has