As I was editing the video I have to say that I noticed more and more oxymorons and symbolism in this track's lyrics!. If you find yourself being drawn to this track a lot I'm sure it must be because of that too, it's like a book where you discover more details the more times you read it! Didn't notice that on first listen because I always focus on instruments and the music itself first (and I consider voice as just another instrument). Usually my brain will notice lyrics after a bunch of listens, and focus firsthand on how everything sounds, the "acting" of the vocalists as they sing etcetera. Also one other thing I've noticed! The very high "may all" at 08:36 is a melodic call-back to the violin doing the same thing at the start of the track at 01:30. Not sure if that means anything but I thought that was cool!

Non-honkai players: *Sounds beautiful* Honkai Impact players: _intense crying_ It’s been a long journey everyone.

I think this song works a lot better "in context", because there are a lot of callbacks and references to older songs and the story in general both in the lyrics and the instruments, especially to songs like Nightglow, Starfall, and Rubia..

Honkai music=Emotional Honkai music+animation=Emotional Damage

This song represents the culmination of several character arcs coming to a head. The themes of this 'final' arc are acceptance, grief, moving on from self-blame, accepting responsibility and never giving up on the beauty in the world no matter how bleak things may look at times. It is about good people passing on their kindness, the everlasting flame of humanity and fighting for everything beautiful in the world (a motto the characters in the game do their best to follow). In terms of how it is not very musically complex, my interpretation is that this is very much intentional. the story is very emotional, I dont think its possible to play those chapters of the story and not cry. By the time players reach this point of the story, everyone has been emotionally rocked in several ways. The track is simple and pure, acknowledging the sadness in life but maintaining that the world is beautiful. This is a song about collectively moving on from grief, relating to one another and exploring sad but beautiful emotions. It doesn't need extra clutter or post-processing because it needs to remain pure and simple, from the heart to the heart.

There are actually three singers, not two. This song is the, Main Character, Kiana's theme which is song by the VA's of her three closest friends. This song is basically about Kiana finally getting over many of her past demon both from before and during the game's story. It's a song about accepting that the world is tough and tragic but still being hopeful for the future and appreciating the beautiful things in the world. Thanks for the great video and may all the beauty be blessed. Edit: I put this as a reply to my comment, but maybe it should be part of his comment instead. Btw, there's a small yet incredibly powerful section in the song at 6:50 (of this video) that makes me cry everytime i hear it. After the course the singers quietly say the lines, "I will never go, there's a way back home, brighter than tomorrow and yesterday". These lines hit so hard cause they are the inverse of important lines from songs of previous cutscenes about Kiana throughout her journey. In Nightglow from Final lesson Kiana's mentor tells Kiana "Never let you go". So "I will never go" is kind of a response to that, that she has found her conviction and will no longer run away from her issues. In Rubia from Shattered samsara Fuhua, one of Kiana's friends and one of the singers of Moon Halo, says "to find a way back home". That song was about her struggles to find a proper identity and have a proper home, so Kiana responding with "there is a way back home" is like her saying that she now has a place to belong. And lastly, in Starfall from Meteoric salvation Kiana herself has a small triumphant moment but is still overall hurt and fearful of the future as she says the line "I want no tomorrow or yesterday". To her the past was too painful but the future too uncertain, so she didn't want that moment she was in to end. But in Moon Halo Kiana responds to her to line, to her past self, saying that the present is "Brighter than tomorrow and yesterday", saying that she no longer has anything to fear. God, I'm about to cry just from writing this out. Such a great song and story.

There are three singers, each representing the main characters of the game: - Chalili: singer of Reburn (same name of the first Honkai teaser trailer), representing Kiana. - Tetracalyx: CN VA of GGZ/Honkai Gakuen Raiden Mei, lyricist of Regression (highly recommended listen), representing Mei. - Hanser: Vtuber (VirtualRealStar), CN VA of Bronya, singer of Cyberangel (the only upbeat song in the entire game), representing Bronya. The song is supposed to symbolize Kiana's journey from her lowest point to her highest point, which is why there are so many callbacks to the previous songs (Nightglow, Cyberangel, Starfall, and Rubia) in the lyrics, most notably the chorus. This song is also the point where she finally accepted her mentor's sacrifice, since that was her struggle way back: the fact that people sacrificed themselves to win. The trailer OSTs are just as good. Fantasy Note (from the Fallen Rosemary trailer) is an example of how a violin gives people a pseudo-orgasm. The main character is less innocent and more...optimistic, so to speak. The optimism comes from the support from her friends and mental fortitude after countless amounts of suffering, guilt, and despair.

You've introduced me so so many good video game soundtracks, all I can say is I'm grateful for them

Moon Halo is great but def should've started with one of the the other songs as Moon Halo is a reference to all the other ones. Starfall, Nightglow, Befall would've been great. Or even some PV themes like Fallen Rosemary's which is literally just the murder of a violin from how rich the sound is. Great video as always though Alex!

YOU MADE MY YEAR THANK YOU SO MUCH DOING THIS AHHHHHHHHHHH

Moon Halo almost "requires" that you know the previous songs first to fully get it since it's essentially a culmination of everything that came before that point of the story

jack (comment from moon halo official video) Nightglow: "Never let you go" Moon halo: "I will never go" Rubia: "Find a way back home" Moon halo: "There is a way back home" Starfall: "I want no tomorrow or yesterday" Moon halo: "Brighter than tomorrow or yesterday" CyberAngel: "Through my wings've been bloodstained and could never" Moon halo: "Unfold this pair of wings for me again" Honkai world diva: "Crimson moon shines upon a town that is smeared in blood Moon halo: "Turned into a moon that always tells warmth" Moon Halo actually the song which represent whole honkai story and the main character.

Dude your Ear Drums are NEXT LEVEL! I am amazed by how you are able to pin point the plot the themes of the story that the song tries to convey so accurately, by just the musical instruments them selfs. The lyrics are just the confirmation for you not the hints. I've been watching your other videos aswell outside of just the Mihoyo stuff. It's scary how accurate you are everytime you analyze the song about what the songs tries to convey about the story. It's an amazing talent my man! 10 out of 10 would come to here any of you musics analysis videos again!😎

"You're just sad" is honestly a very apt description of how the game's story makes people feel sometimes

(sees Honkai Impact in title) (immediately clicks on video) as someone who plays Honkai Impact 3rd, yes there's quite a lot of story to the moment this happens (25 chapters into the story, which was after about 5 years of story development in the game).

If you want more Honkai Impact, I really suggest the recently released Regression and Nightglow (although it is a bit spoiler heavy on the story and is much more understood from a story perspective honestly). These two songs, along with Moon Halo are the real tear jerkers but still unironically a bop and worth a listen. Edit: Damn, he actually managed to mostly hit the nail on the head about the story just using the melody. It made me realize that I focused more on the lyrics more than anything. This man is insane.

HI3 cinematic songs have been telling a story for a while and have been kind of a crazy progression for hoyomix as you can watch how they progressively get better over the past 4 years. Moon Halo is my favorite, but I don't think it hits as hard if you haven't listened to "Befall", "Nightglow", "Cyberangel", "Starfall", then, "Moon Halo".

I love how much more in depth this analysis is compared to your past ones, this is definitely a step above.

this song became by favourite after i listened to it surpassing will of the herrscher and last lesson's songs. the song for the recent honkai video thus spoke apocalypse was also great.

Since you got to the music from Honkai, I can recommend the music from the PV, in which the guys from hoyo-mix do something incredible My top-5: Armband Fantasy Note Silver Wings Inherit DOMINEER Also noteworthy is the OST from the collab with genshin, which is literally called "HONKAI GENSHIN" lmao And maybe my favorite character theme - "Kevin"

Oh dear, Bury The Light viking needs to be released as a full version; the sound was fantastic. Great analysis, always very informative!

Hi Alex, first of all thank you again for making such a great music appreciation video. I am one of your Chinese fans, currently studying in the United States. At the same time, I am also a player who has been playing this game for almost 2000 days. After I watched the last part of the video and your pinned comment, I really want to share a lot with you about the emotion and story contained in this song. I won't give any spoilers, but I would like to tell you that MiHoYo took 5 years to shape this story in this game, and this song is born at the "end" of the story, like I enclosed the "end" with quotes, because it also marks that the story will continue with brand new plot, and the characters will keep going ahead after going through this. This song contains all the experiences and emotions of the characters in the game in the past 5 years, of course, including the emotions of all players too. So much so that a veteran player like me don't even know what mood I could use to listen to this song. Anyway, as you guessed, I cried a lot. I'm not a professional musician, but in my opinion, the reason why HoYoMix didn't use chord progression in this song is that they wanted to show us the most beautiful, gentle, and vulnerable part in her heart after the character releasing all her feelings, like the calm and rainbow after a storm. Like you said in the top comment, this song symbolizes so much emotion and meaning that I can't even organize my words better to express my inner feelings and thoughts to you, because it's so complicated. I knew you've already felt a lot of things in this song. You can't describe them in detail because you've not played this game, for us players, it is like a bomb dropped in our hearts (and eyes). If you listen this song after played this game, or know the plot of this story, I believe you will feel more and your heart will be deeply touched too, just like us. Thanks again, well done Alex.

I'm crying like a b*tch everytime I hear this song. Even though I'm not playing Honkai Impact, I have a basic gist of the story. I can relate to the story because they have the same relationship of Naruto and Jiraiya. A teacher sacrificing himself/herself to his/her students always hit me. :(

You are truly have a great sense of music You were able to get so much info correct just from listening to the song!!!(reminds of your genshin videos) I hope you play Honkai too someday

Honkai's music definitely isn't something you would put on repeat if you didn't go through it story yourself. For me, every time I listen to one the songs on Honkai, I can leave me in tears no matter how many times I've listened to it. Surprisingly even more than Endwalker did, though that might just be me. If anyone reading this is interested in the story, please try this game, it's absolutely beautiful

The ending of the song definitely fits that "hopeful yet sad" vibe the moment has imo. Just like the lyrics, it hits deeper with context. Regardless I'm always amazed by how much you nail about the source material by music alone, this was pretty much on point.

You should react to "regression" or "befall" from honkai impact too!!

great video! seriously, your content is really high quality, I love how you analyse things!

I think a bit of the problem with the Honkai vocal tracks is that they all heavily connect with both the animated CG they go with and usually require the context of the situation to really understand and feel for the lyrics if not the music in whole (for example at the end you felt modulation was needed, but the scene for that was kind of a...send off if you would, so your guess as to why they did it aside from keeping the original vocal was probably right). While that's not to say the analysis wasn't compelling from a purely musical side, I'm not sure if this quite...fits for the messages the songs put out. Now if you want to try listening to some songs that would go great for pure musical analysis, I recommend the version PV tracks, specifically...4.2 and 4.4 if we're starting out and you dont care about the light spoilers in the video. You'll have a LOT to disect there.

It's really interesting to see Moon Halo broken down from your perspective, someone who understand music very well but has never played honkai. You are absolutey right at the end: There is a reason why they don't modulate and instead maintain the minor chords. There is a LOT going on in this scene in the game, and this is also the climax of a very emotional and heartbreaking chapter. The focus is a lot more on the vocals because the voices of the characters are very important to this scene.

As a Honkai veteran, you will definitely enjoy analysing these Honkai songs, especially the latest one "Regression" or "Rubia". even songs from Punishing Gray Raven! they're all absolute bangers! P.S: You are correct about this song being sad infact this game storyline death scenes are just pure depressing yet its soo good!

I see you mention you want the modulation at the end, I just want to explain that, this song is not just for performance purpose. It exist for a CG cut scene, the song, the whole purpose of the songs, the lyrics and the harmony is to serve the cg and the story telling, it must support the tune and the scene of the CG, it can't stand too out.

They made it difficult for you, every phrase in that song is a reference to previous ones. so it's a more emotional song for captains who understand the references. the instrumentation is perfect, it is not battle music but more inspirational.

Your point about the lack of modulation for the last line is actually very spot on because the main character the song and story focuses on is heavily suggested to have a tragic end which even is alluded to in the song as well, it’s inspiring yet tragic bc to those playing this song and part of the story gives you hope for this character to overcome all her battles including the final one, so whether the character in question is fully dead or has trapped herself willingly for the world by the end of the story, we’re currently left to speculate and hope for the true outcome of the character while also knowing that things won’t end beautifully or happily for someone you’ve been rooting for.

oh shit, Honkai OST. I would love to see more of their songs covered for sure. Honkai songs have so many top tier songs, basically all the cinematic songs but Befall, Nightglow, Cyberangel, and Starfall, Honkai World Diva are all so memorable.

I feel like this song becomes far better with context since there's a lot of call backs to previous songs as well.

I knew beforehand that Honkai music is absolutely emotional but prob not fit for BLIND reactions. That said, Alex managed to say a whole lot, kinda cool. But yes, its first and foremost a song FOR the cinematic

Thank you for reaching the beautiful song so far in honkai impact. May all be beauty be blessed

Always good to see a new video from you and to be introduced to some new music. I'd love to see a turtorial for how you process your vocals!

This song meant hope and closure at least for me Also uplifting isn't something they do in this game

Since this is your first time listening to Honkai Impact music, maybe you could listen to a bit of their animation music and game PV. The music they got in Honkai, most of them are made by Hoyomix itself, also all of Honkai vocal OST reflect the progression of character development.

Thanks you for the great vid and info!

I'm honestly a big fan of your content, and I enjoy a lot of your reaction videos due to your explanatory on what a great variety of people have composed, along with when you break it down and sometimes flex your skills. Musically, I can see that you have amazing passion for this field, and it is truly a fortune to find an admirable content creator like you.

It's nice to hear your thought about this song with zero context. You're right when you said this song is just giving more sad vibe but actually it's about hope and keep moving on.

I’m always amazed by how accurately you depict everything going on with sound alone, great work once again!!

I have been waiting for this banger!!

BBBRRROOO, I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO REACT THIS FOREVER!!!

you gotta listen to some more honkai stuff, not even a reaction just on your own time, shit’s incredible

I’m a fan of the game and absolutely love their music and your insightful analysis are always so enlightening to listen to, thanks for this video man

8:47 Okay, you can't just NOT make a full cover of this now. IT'S SO GOOD

Out of context, it is indeed quite the emotional piece With context, this is an absolute rollercoaster of emotions, and one of the few things in media that have actually had me starting to tear up. It is absolutely major spoilers, but if you don't really care for that, try watching the Everlasting Flames animated short. Having that story bit, along with the song, is what hits so hard.

when i tell you i screamed seeing this on my recommended- i love your music analyses to bits and honkai is so special to me, especially this song in particular.

Thank you so much for reviewing Moon Halo! Love you✨

Nice breakdown, Alex. But what makes me always came back to watch this video is I want to listen to your singing bit in the video, your voice is unique

As always great react ✨✨

I am really happy you listened to this song. This song references past songs and the painful journey so far with the lyrics and the beautiful three vocals. Amazing video as always.

thank you so much for doing honkai music :D we hope you enjoyed doing this and would do more in the future!!

I love your analysis, I start to admire game music because of you. I love it even more when you give suggestion like this. I'm sure it'll be very useful to them.

LETS GOOOOOOOOOO ive been waiting for this moment

Your video was amazing, even giving examples for the part of the song that really helpfull

great video as always, Alex! As someone who spend 4 years playing this game, thank you for breaking it down!

When I watch your video, I always appreciate how you deeply disassemble the notes and tones to explain the music. The last part when you pointed out about how this song "stays"... it stunned me. I think you actually got the point of whole part this track took in the game, just by listening to it. Im not gonna write down what happend in the game line by line here, but I really felt it. For stubborn guy like me, its kinda surprise that whole storyline actually was gathered in the track, or that just little nuance in the melody, and well talented and skilled person like you, can actually reverce-engineer it from these notes. bravo to your video! bravo! I just gonna go back and watch the cutscene again! thank you!

Honkai music is on a whole other LEVEL. SO glad to see you react to it 🙌

Aaaah posted a min ago!! Ive been listening to this song nonstop. Can't wait to watch the whole thing

oh you should check their latest, Regression. Mihoyo keeps hitting me with feels in their songs

I just came from "regression" from honkai impact 3. I am crying again. My heart still hurts from that. You should check it out! It is beautiful!!

What a pleasant suprise!!

You know, what's really interesting is that when I heard your modulated versions--and this is probably because I have listened to this song so many times that I'm used to how it goes--the key changes somehow feel off. Yet everything you mentioned is something that's so common in epic orchestral pieces, and I know exactly the effect you mean. I think I don't feel that it fits here because the moment itself isn't really about a grand heroic victory. It's more about finally being willing to ask for help, accepting yourself as you are, and finally letting go of guilt and grief. It's the moment when Meteion clings to your hands and cries for Hermes, when an addict admits that they have a problem. The victory is intimate and close, but there is still a long road ahead. It's a moment of respite but not the end.

I will love him to react to Befall, World Diva or Fallen Rosemary theme, there are so good. Also to Yunjing cutscene and the concerts from Genshin. Is lovely to learn about music this way, with a professional that enjoy it so much. I'm so happy to see new videos on your channel, thanks for the nice content

Really awesome to see you doing a reaction for Honkai Impact 3rd! I agree with a lot of the points you made and your criticisms are on point as always. You hit the nail on the head about the track being designed for the scene, the majority of Honkai tracks seem to be composed this way, so it is incredibly difficult to feel their weight without having the context from the very tragic story that is meant to accompany it. Keep up the awesome work, Alex! 😊 👍 May all the beauty be blessed!

The fact that you mentioned Neo The World Ends With You while I was playing the game surprised me. Great analysis as always! Thanks for them!

i do agree that the song itself felt stable and missing some cool stuff, but i think the song was supposed to play along with the animation. there were a specific moments that makes the song and the dialogue felt so good and emotional. i think they made the song this way because they didn't want to make the song overpowers the dialogue or moments in the animation.

Just one thing we all Captains always scream : "MAY ALL THE BEAUTY BE BLESSED"

this was a great video!! once again also joining your patreon just so i can suggest the celeste soundtrack

Man, you should react to Fallen Rosmary and Elysia theme!

I did not expect you to cover Honk but wow 🥺

cant wait for more of these good reaction :)

You hit the nail on the themes and the story beats !!! I’m very happy to see my comfort game get recognized like this, I hope you review other Honkai Scenes and maybe try out the honkai story itself :)

It's nice to see Honkai getting noticed too 😁 One of my favourite songs from Honkai is Oaths from A Post-Honkai Odyssey and Cyberangel. It would be interesting to see your take on it 😳😳 with that aside this video was amazing and i hope to see more of this 😍

Yay this is an amazing one to react too! Tho I wonder if you'll go back to the other songs so you can enjoy the evolution of the themes like ffxiv's Answers did

There's already a lot of comments with good points and summary/explenation of the context (thank you ppl). Just wanted to say, I just can't wait to see other analysis/reaction to HI3 songs (even if, like many says, there're more emotional to hear in context) Anyway, really great video and analysis, you have god ears :)

try "Starfall" (also a Honkai OST)! it's one of my favourite songs from the game, but ngl, every song from the game makes me get the urge to cry cause they're so emotional

Awesome analysis! I'm thrown aback each time about how much detail Hoyomix put into their tracks

Thank you KZfaq for recommending this cuz I totally missed out this video and only recently playing to this part of the game

Finally... He had done it... He had done it guys... thank you... Thank you for covering Honkai🙏 it's... It so gratifying to listen such analysis of this song🙏

Beautiful break down. As a Honkai and Genshin player, you are dead on the background of how the music represents the story. Much love.

moon halo !! i agree with some people in the comments when they say that this song is better with context or if you have heard the earlier songs (nightglow, starfall, and rubia preferably) and also, would like to see you react to the trailers (Phantom of the Theaters is one of my favs) as theyre such a banger

I love this song but now I love it more thanks to how you interpreted it in such a very meaningful and profound way 😭

I really hope you check out even more songs from this game cause holy crap

Amazing vid as always! I love how you exactly made your analysis regarding the two characters. You should watch "Final Lesson". no need for you to make a vid (not for now, at least lol), I just think you'll appreciate the soundtracks, characters, and the whole game even more... but would still be even more amazing if you will make a vid out of it lol. Thank you for all the great vid analysis you've done. makes us players even more connected with the soundtrack and the game.

Great video! I'm def down for you to look into other songs that the game released like Nightglow and Rubia.

Love Ur content

Can we talk about how this song is probably one of the only songs that uses the company's iconic quote in their song? "May all the beauty be blessed" is implying their quote "Fight for all that's beautiful in the world" and honestly it's the most beautiful things I've heard cuz it shows how much passion they gave their first 3d mobile game.

I like that you compared this track to La Signora theme. I'm no music expert of course, but I think we should consider the context. La Signora's theme was trying to tell an entire character story within that boss battle. Moon Halo plays during a cutscene that kind of 'caps' a milestone to a long character arc. This isn't the entire story, which is why it seems emotionally monotonal. This is a roadmark after years of storytelling. Love your videos, why not do 'Rubia' by Zhou Shen someday?

I grabbed my headphones so fast you wouldnt beleive.

This song is like a culmination of several other songs prior to this, all starting from Nightglow then Cyberangel, Starfall, Honkai World Diva, and Rubia

I've watched you since your analysis on Raiden's theme and now, finally a Honkai Impact 3rd soundtrack analzye ... Thank you Alex.. I expect more on Honkai OSTs.. be blessed..

Bro for real! First time hearing this song on it's release I thought they would modulate to set a climax in to the song but with context I think it does the job and catches the feelings of the captains playing it. Nice vid brother! Learned so many stuffs! Would be nice if you listen and analyze their new song Regression.

moon halo made me cry. i always cry whenever i re watch the video. love honkai

Shoot I do not expect a honkai impact song reaction video here. Great work mate!