I WATCHED THIS WITH SUBTITLES.

"I'm really excited to dive into more depre... erm Honkai Impact" absolutely love it

One of my favorite lines in Regression is "Life is too long to end at a grave" because you could see it both as the belief that one does not die as long as they are remembered, but also, more specifically to Otto, that with as long a life he had lived he refused to let it be for naught. He would bend and break the world's rules to make sure his dream didn't end at a grave.

New favorite Marco expression: "opera singing is essentially beautiful screaming". Well done, as always!

I can never get over the fact that the monster he fights takes the shape of the same honkai beast that he released on the day of Kallen's execution to cause a panic and make a chance for her to escape, but instead she chose to protect the people and met her demise. Oh the irony

fun fact, IRAS 17514 is a star surrounded by an inside-out planetary nebula named HuBi1, which gives it the appearance of a star that died and then reformed itself.

Otto's weapon is called the "Void Archives," similar to the other famous weapons (called Divine Keys) in Honkai Impact it's a relic of the technologically advanced previous human civilization that inhabited the Earth. It's ostensibly just an archive of human technologies and science passed down through the ages (which is why Otto as leader of Schicksal was always at the bleeding edge of technological advancement) but in combat it has the ability to replicate other Divine Keys. I thought it was really meaningful, then, that the weapons he wields in the important moments: the giant cross used to defeat the huge beast made up of all of the Otto clones, as well as the greatsword he began the animation with and also the final one he wielded when he ended his own existence to save Kallen's, are Oath of Judah and Judgement of Shamash. Oath of Judah (the giant cross) is a Divine Key with the power to stop Honkai and all other 'energy' reactions, as well as morph between many forms. Upon activating its "zero-th power" it completely shuts down biological and mechanical processes in a wide area of effect, basically killing any living or Honkai being it affects, as well as stopping all machinery. Notably, Kallen is one of very few known wielders of the Oath of Judah. Judgement of Shamash (the greatsword) is a Divine Key that is said to be the "most destructive" of all the Divine Key weapons and it's normally seen as a pair of pistols, which can be combined to create that greatsword form. It doesn't really do anything special other than emit a lot of fire, as far as we know. It's meaningful to Otto and Kallen's story because Kallen comes from House Kaslana, a family of knights who are the exclusive wielders of Judgement of Shamash, you can consider it a family heirloom (though Kallen herself never wielded Judgement of Shamash in canon, she would be the one to inherit it from her father, who died wielding its greatsword form). The important thing to know about Judgement of Shamash is that with very rare exceptions, combining the pistols and activating the greatsword form is considered a death sentence for the person wielding it, as it outputs so much heat that it burns its user alive - it's embedded within the "Kaslana Oath" that fighting members of House Kaslana are never afraid to give up their lives wielding the Judgement of Shamash and that it's an honour to die for friends and family. Both Oath of Judah and Judgement of Shamash are recurring symbols of self-sacrifice and atonement in Honkai Impact 3rd and it's especially fitting, then, that Otto - long hated by the playerbase and the fictional characters within the game for YEARS of what appears to be outright malice - ends his journey wielding replicas of both. Many veterans have this mentality after this closure of Otto's story: "we hate Otto for what he did, but we now respect why he did it"

“The world allows a soul to find a matching vessel, but does not allow a vessel to gather the pieces of a soul” Otto would know this better than anyone. He resurrected Sirin by giving her core another body, but could not reassurect Kallen as her soul was already long gone.

Funfact: the plane Otto made is incredibly similar to Leonardo Da Vinci’s Ornithopter. Plus, Leonardo Da Vinci was born in 1452, Kallen died in 1477 at around 20 years old.. In other words, Otto is most likely Honkai’s equivalent of Da Vinci, we’ve seen they bring historical people into Honkai before so this is most likely the case.

Some context for the cutscene. 500 years ago Kallen was scheduled for execution. As a desperate measure Otto released a Honkai Beast to create panic and let Kallen escape. However, ironically, that Honkai Beast ended up killing her because she chose to stay and protect innocent bystanders rather than run for her life. Back then Otto was a very different person - more principled and less cynical. However, even back then he used the "ends justify the means" rationale a little too often. Some time after Kallen's death he became the leader of the rebellion and overthrew his corrupt family. Back then he was hailed as a folk hero. However, that's also when his descent began. As he became the leader of Schicksal he now had the resources to pursue his goal of bringing Kallen back, turning it into obsession. The story chapters preceding this cutscene seemed pretty puzzling at first, since Otto was acting out of character. He publicly announced his resignation, invited a bunch of people who were actively opposing his actions (including his adopted granddaughter Theresa whom he picked as his successor) into Kolosten (old Schicksal HQ), proceeded to antagonize them (as if they didn't resent him enough already) and make a lot of other weird decisions. Then he announced that he made a deal with the Will of Honkai, and that he was planning to pull Kolosten 500 years back in time (which, if at all possible, would be extremely risky and reckless). He also told everyone not to try and stop him. Which was exactly what they did. Kiana and Durandal followed him into the Sea of Quanta and barely defeated his "False God" form. Well, it turns out that this was all a part of his plan. He brought together people who could stop his plan, and proceeded to anger them to make sure they don't hesitate. Then he lied about what he was about to do, forcing them to act. When he became False God Otto he gained supernatural powers but lost his free will, becoming Honkai's puppet. He needed to be defeated by Kiana specifically while in the False God form. This way he would regain freedom while being able to reach the Imaginary Tree. Everything was planned in advance. Even the fact that nobody died (except Otto himself) in the process was due to his meticulous preparation. Once he reached the Tree he was able to create an alternate timeline branching off from the day when Kallen was to be executed. In that reality she survived. During the fight depicted in the cutscene Otto uses the power of Void Archives (that yellow cube thingymajig) to create replicas of so called Divine Keys (powerful weapons made in the Previous Era from the cores of defeated Herrschers). Void Archives is itself a Divine Key, and is made from the Core of Reason, that's why it allows the user to materialize objects into reality with the power of thought. The replica Divine Keys are inferior to their real counterparts, but still are formidable weapons. That giant cross is also one of the Keys called Oath of Judah. The real one is used by Otto's adopted granddaughter and the next Schicksal Overseer, Theresa Apocalypse. It's made from the core of Herrscher of Binding. Other replicas he used include Abyss Flower (used by Kiana's mother and later - Durandal), Xuanyuan sword, Cleaver of Shamash (used by Kiana's father). I hope this was at least slightly useful. I probably did a poor job explaining it.

Otto Apocalypse, a man we love to hate and hate to love. He truly was villain and brought great amounts of suffering and tragedy but i will always respect him for what he managed to accomplish. i would love to say more but i'm afraid of accidentally spoiling something with an off hand comment so all i'll say is i look forward to when you can experience this story yourself as all these CGs hit differently with context

A hallmark of a well-written villain is that even if we can't like them, we can at least understand them. We don't have to agree with their plans, but we can't help but respect them to some degree. We can hate the actions they partake in, but also love their determination at the same time. It's that complexity that sticks with you, which makes you think of them even after they are long gone. To me, Otto is one of those villains. He never looked for redemption, he never wanted to be seen as a savior, or in the right. He fully embraced his role, because his goal was much more important to him than anything else. He sacrificed, experimented, and put so many things and people at risk, but he never tried to justify his actions. If the story tried to go in the direction of "he was just a misunderstood good guy", it would've been completely ruined. He was awful, he was selfish, and he took all of that with him to the very end, for his one true goal. And he won, he got what he wanted. he manipulated everyone so he could reach that moment, and he did it. It's simply extremely compelling writing, and Thus Spoke Apocalypse + the music solidified his place as one of the greats. I'm glad he got his proper end, and I truly hope it remains that way. I hate it when these grand character moments are completely washed by either resurrecting the character with some dumb macguffin, or undoing their actions. Fantastic video!

As (I THINK) Unreal Dreamer pointed out, when Otto sees that vision of Kallen right before the second half of the song, you can notice that her features are mostly not there. 500 years, and Otto’s forgetting what she really looked like. But even still, what he can remember is more than enough to push him forward to complete his mission.

IRAS is not only describing his emotion it _directly describes his story._ He literally does grow a branch in the future (adding a branch to the World Tree) to wake kallen up (revive kallen).

some times i dont want to admit it, but i absolutely adore these love storys (not specifically the tragic) . "This is the most selfish thing one can do" Otto's love for kallen was so strong that lasted all his live and make his defy the laws of the very universe just for her to live her life, even without him. (Also, i love the jp voice for Otto ♥)

The End of Otto Apocalypse and his 500 year plan JUST to change a small part of what occurred 500 years ago for which he does not live to see... Definitely one of the best antagonist that I have experienced the story of, and as you said in the concert, the best villains have a reason :) Glad you went back to rewatch the short, there is definitely a lot of context behind this and I hope you play through Honkai's story at your own pace!

"There's a star that shines for you". That is the meaning of the song name, IRAS 17514. Edit: messed up the star. Changed it. In human history, there is a single recorded instance of of a collapsing, dying star being reborn as a self-sustaining White Dwarf. Not theories based on our understanding of physics, but an active observation of it. Its name is IRAS 17514. The star that, rather than losing itself and fading away, created the illusion of turning back time on itself, keeping its material and priming itself for rebirth. IRAS 17514 - the star that was reborn after death - is Kallen's star. Reborn through the actions of Otto Apocalypse, who sacrificed not just his life, but his very existence, in order to save the woman whom he idolized, much like how IRAS 17514 sacrificed itself for the star its body would become. Otto was the most tragic villain of them all. In a world that seeked to smother him and everything he dreamed of, Kallen Kaslana was Otto's sole ray of light, a woman who always desired to do what was right. When she was thanked for her life of service with Shackles and Nooses, Otto set free a Honkai Beast as a distraction, only to see her do what she always does: what was right. Watching the woman who saved him die by his own actions put him into a spiral of self-loathing, which over the course of a decade twisted into obsession. 500 long years of a life lengthened by science lead Otto down a winding path. He became the leader of Schicksal. He met the Celestial Empyrean of Mount Taixuan, and even saved one of her pupils from vital injuries. He orchestrated a number of events through history from the shadows. He bore witness to the birth of the first Herrscher who fought for Humanity, and brought his death first hand after failing to Nuke New York. He brought forth the Second Herrscher, and ensured that she would grow to become a global disaster. He was responsible for the rebirth of the second Herrscher 16 years later, he was responsible for the events of the Great Eruption, he was responsible for the Quantum Leak in Nagazora, and so many other things. He was a self-proclaimed fool who survived for 500 years out of determination to defy fate, and grant Kallen Kaslana a second chance at life by subverting the laws of the universe itself. He knew that his deal with Honkai would end in his erasure, but he didn't care. The only thing that mattered to him was Kallen. He never pretended he was the hero, nor did he try to hide his malice. He did not try to forge bonds, and he was more than happy to play the villain. But he so very clearly cared for those around him, more than he would ever admit, as his final moments are spent reflecting on everything he's done, as he limps towards the Imaginary Tree from which timelines grew. He lamented not being a better Grandfather to the Granddaughter he loved so much. He lamented becoming the enemy of the very person that was the key to his plans, to reaching the end of his journey through deceit rather than cooperation. He lamented all this and more, and in the end, the reason Otto Apocalypse was the villain... Was because he knew, this way, nobody would miss him when he was finally gone. Otto is a tragic villain. He is the villain, and he knows he's the villain, but it was never because he wanted to be. Simply because there was no other way for him to reach the ultimate goal of saving Kallen Kaslana. And he fought tooth and nail to finally reach the end of his journey: To change the past, and rewrite her future. "To save the one and only her, I can only create new possibilities in the past." "The other future... Will... Belong to her."

Everyone praises your skillful analysis, therefore allow me to add a different thing: your thumbnail is amazing! The colors, the placement of the pictures and letters, the design - everything is very pleasant to the eye and the effort you put into these videos really shows. Thank you for delivering us this high-quality content!

Funny (and incredible accurate) what you said about Otto's thoughs at the end if IRAS, because that was his "last" plan, to "rewind" time, and go back to the time where Kallen was alive, killing everyone born after that date and erasing everything on the process. That bastard was crazy, but at the same time was the one of the most sane person in th Honkai universe- Also, probably someone said it already, but there's a reason for the name, IRAS 17514. If I remember correctly, it's a star that was born from a nebula, the rest of a dead star, or something like that-

This is so exciting. I've been hyped for this specific video and I really like how the lyrics in IRAS aligns with what's happening in the video- "Let it penetrate the darkness when the beast roars a final wail, let it penetrate my heart so I can share your pain" happened when otto gets imapled in the chest and as Kallen is attacked by the Honkai beast and I really enjoy how Honkai does that and how the song fits the video perfectly and how that gives context to it.

Regression speaks very much to Otto Apocalypse's view of the world. The line "life is to long to end at a grave" is one of my favorites, also, the line "just a drop of water suffices" refers to his desire to save just one person out of the billions that live around him.😭

Otto Apocalypse, the man I would say is the equivalent to your description of who Pierro should be, a sad clown. Though unlike any sad clown, this one actively sought after his goal for 500 long years. Sacrificed the most lives for his selfish and yet also selfless desire. As he himself noted in the video, "this is the most selfish thing one can do." His character makes me expect a lot from Genshin's Pierro himself, because I'd imagine that he will mirror Otto in some ways.

not even just the vocal tracks but the score within the animated short portrays so much desperation and you feel that sense of urgency otto feels, it’s so good

The Apocalypse Cinematic and Regression will always make me cry. Especially the freaking "Ends then begins" at the end like bro-

"Opera singing is essentially beautiful screaming." - MarcoMeatball, 2022.

Fun additional trivia regarding the title of this track: the lyricist, TetraCalyx, uploaded her cover singing this composition. She had this note on the track's title (as translated by another user named Q on KZfaq): "maybe I should thank the goddess of luck that I saw this star name on some random day in some random astronomy periodical, otherwise I would have titled this track "ottobgm_20211215_final" That's so beautiful! I love your understanding of the emotions in this piece and then sets the stage into Regression, that's a really nice curtain call in musical form to this foolish yet passionate man. That's so very human of Otto's entire story, it's amazing to have this guy make people feel so many dissonant emotions at once.

Even as someone that hasn't played the game but knows the majority of the story by proxy by now. I just can't hate Otto Completely. Not only did he accomplish his one goal despite all he caused, but he owned up to knowing how much wrong he did and didn't want any pity or salvation or redemption so long as he achieved his goal. Through his actions he also made the other main and even side characters grow and move past their own problems to be better people. He literally made himself the absolute villain that created hope for the world in the games timeline, whilst sacrificing himself to give essentially limitless possibilities to the only person he cared about to make up for his biggest mistake that led to her death. Anyone can write a villain. But it takes something else to write a villain that makes you think back on what he does and in turn HOW it does things as a result.

As always....Marco is on point. Otoo in the short is LITERALLY fighting himself and all the sins he did along the way to realize his goal of saving Kallen by any means necessary. The Kallen scenes are a flashback to what happened in 5he past where Otto tried to save her from execution, released a Honkai Beast to distract everyone and swoop 8n to save her, but he miscalculated Kallen's innate impulse of defending the people and was killed leaving Otto broken beyond repair. It was his greatest mistake, his ultimate regret and his redemption was justified even though he became the very evil that the world hates.

Every goddamn time I watch this animation (and the music alongside it) it just breaks me for a bit, Otto's whole story is just so beautifully done

What I love about Honkai's short animation is there's a lot of meaning in almost every moment they present like when kid Otto chasing his craft-plane he run 5 pace and this may represent 500 years he extend his life to fulfill his wish, and even the end of animation they show kid Otto and Kallen together under the tree that seem to be a happy end but if you know the story that scene made it feel ever sadder because they didn't be together anymore

It's not just a giant crucifix. It's her weapon she weilded and was one of the few people that even could. He keeps it in memory of her even giving it to one of clone's he made of her that he adopted as a granddaughter.

Otto apocalypse, oh boi where do we even start with this guy He is THE villain, he is a hero, he is an aspiring commander, he is a kind leader who always wishes for the safety of the Valkyries, but he also would not hesitate to do atrocities if it's for the greater good or if its aligned with his goals, he is a silver tongued bastard who will collaborate with anyone and then betray them when he sees no value in them anymore, no price is too steep when the end justifies the means Within his long 500 years of living he has seen time and time again that the revered heroes of the people were unable to solve a crisis, he has seen that doing the right thing doesn't produces the result that he wants. Which is the reason why he becomes the villain of his own story. It is also very poetic that at the end of his life he chooses to wield judgement of shamash the weapon that symbolizes house of kaslana and their self sacrificing way of life. The very weapon that he despises the most in the pose of self crucifixion to save the one that he cherishes the most, kallen kaslana

I love that marco just correct himself in his intro about reacting to depre.... honkai impact song 😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣keep it up marco love the video

Oh! I think an important part to mention regarding Otto's character is that the love he had for Kallen was not necessarily romantic, before she was sentenced to death Otto's clan head told him he would find a way to get her out if she just married Otto (weird ass political reasons), but she rejected him and he moved on immediately. Kallen was the only one who actually believed in him and was one of his few friends during his childhood, so while he might have loved her, I dont believe the admiration he had for her stopped at romantic love. "He was a sickly boy without any friend. And he ran into you, who got across the wall. You said hello to him and asked him to play along. At that very moment... the boy received his lifelong salvation" "Fight for all thats beautiful in the world" is what he taught his students, and what he himself believed in, to Otto, who was constantly underestimated and ignored throughout most of his early years there was simply nothing else beautiful in the world other than his closest friend, and she died because of his own mistake. While he is an undeniably despicable person, people usually like to blow stuff out of proportion, so a good amount of the things said about him in the community are either exaggerated or completely false. He is an irredeemable villain, but thinking that he did all that just because of obsessive creepy love in my opinion would be an insult to his character and Hoyoverse's writing.

Man, Otto "Warcrimes for my waifu" Apocalypse is a chad. You can never approve of his actions, but they deserve applause. He did it. Looking forward to more.

Clicked as soon as I saw the alert. Love the Honkai song reactions/analysis as always The Song title itself is an reference to a IRL star that miraciously appears to be in the process of rebirth. AKA a dead star that is coming back to life. Both songs for Thus Spoke Apocalypse are an amazing way to end Otto's story in Honkai. I know many people still hate Otto for what he did, but I also know after this part of the story a lot of people started to respect him for his sheer Tenacity and Will. He was the clown of fate, but in the end he got the last laugh after fooling the rules of the world itself. His relationship with Kallen was far beyond simply romantic, although that was certainly part of it. Otto very much saw Kallen as an ideal and she represented the good of mankind. So when she died in such a cruel and tragic way, partially caused by Otto himself, he became obsessed with undoing this wrong. From Otto's perspective, his every cruel act and subsequent victory was just more proof that the world was truly unjust. As the Villain, he defeated and manipulated the heroes time after time. So in the end he took it into his own hands to undo this tragedy and even set a lot of things up to help the heroes of the story after he completed his objective. Hence his self depreciating line: "The Malice of the World will be sundered by the villain." Otto never saw himself as right or just in his actions, it was just the only thing he could do. He was not virtuous or kind enough to be a hero like Kallen, but cunning and cruel enough to be the villain.

Otto Apocalypse. Love him or hate him (especially the latter), the man has one goal in mind and despite the impossible towering in front of him, he managed to achieve it at the cost of his life. Now...if only he looked at the rest of humanity the same way he looked at Kallen.

"diving into more depression"... bro, you're killing me 🤣

This part of the story is fascinating because so far we've seen Otto's atrocities and the evils he's committed but now get to experience that he too is suffering. He's been suffering the loss of the love of his life for 500 years and it turned him basically into a monster. In order to bring Kallen back he's become the very thing she's been fighting against. He's even forgotten Kallen's face by this point - note how in the flashback he sees when he gets stabbed the only thing clear about Kallen's face is her smile, no other features are visible. He's doing all this not as much for Kallen as such but for the idea of Kallen that he believes in, as the real Kallen would denounce him on the spot and become his mortal enemy if she knew the extent of suffering he has caused over the centuries. While we knew all this time why Otto was doing the things we did, we finally got to feel what he feels, and it hurts. It hurts like hell because it's not hard to see where he's coming from. It doesn't excuse what he's done but how can we say we would not go criminally insane after 500 years of obsession. No one is safe from the depresso in the world of Honkai, not even the villains.

Amazing bro, as ussual. Thanks to take the time to watch and analyse Iras alongside Regression. As you can see is a powerfull scene when you took both themes/songs and deconstruct the character of otto with them. Anyway. Thanks again Marco, You're so Pro from music world.

Otto probably one of my favorite villain like in any story in any game/movie. He accomplished everything by himself, he betrayed everything and everyone he cares for his only 1 wish, even besides his action he had a lot of blood on his hands, he saved a lot of lives too by creating weapons and characters, without of him humanity would probably lost long time ago or more like would be in the worst conditions.

Otto is the ABSOLUTELY BEST written villain in all history. He did everything he could and even sacrificed himself just so that he could give the only person who understood him and loved him another chance to live. He is the DEFINITION of love and perseverance.

"This is most selfish thing a person can do" this is the line that described Otto for me.

"This is the most selfish thing one can do" that white screen with just this word always got me

Wow, Iras really sounds as if singer would sings through his tears, such an emotional song. Animation quality is amazing too. I always liked villain stories more exactly because they can be so unique and hauntingly beautiful. As someone once said: as kids we admire heroes and as adults we learn to understand villains. I think it's very true.

IRAS 17514 isn't just a random name for the song. The name itself has very deep meaing. U see, IRAS 17514 is the name of a sun-like star in terms of size (only has 10% more mass thn our Sun). It's a dead star that revived itself from death. I'll copy a comment from someone else. I suck at explaining. I'll also link a reference video I found on youtube. "It is pretty amazing that they named this track "IRAS 17514". If you Google it, you may find that the name is related to the Planetary Nebula "PN HuBi 1" - Planetary Nebulas are what's left of certain types of stars when they die. The stars burn out and their outer layers expand into space to form a nebula. "IRAS 17514", the star which gave rise to Planetary Nebula "PN HuBi 1", however, reversed its dying process. The core of IRAS 17514 fired up again, and converted the star from a white dwarf back into a red giant. By coming back to life, it resulted in PN HuBi 1 becoming the first ever "inside-out" planetary nebula spotted by humans. All this just really fits what Otto was doing in the animation. Props to Mihoyo for going the extra mile to name this track!" Otto was just reviving a dead star (Kallen Kaslana) just like IRAS 17514. Reference Video link kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oL2inpaGkpOak2Q.html

The thing about Otto is that he acknowledges that he is a villain and he sought no redemption nor does he finds pleasure in his cruelty. He paved the way for his family and organization while achieving his goal. He exploits corruption from society for his own gain, and exposes their hypocrisy if they showed regret. (I.e Moon Shadow Manga) Otto is evil and he won't deny it. Rita refers to him as a Devil in the game. In the end, his very soul dissolves - worst than death. He accepts his faith What's so interesting about this villain is that he doesn't seek revenge when doublecrossed or lost in a fight. As long as his plans moves forward, everything is acceptable. (I.E, him nuking his own soldiers, foreign countries, Theresa destroying his cloning facilities or when Kiana escapes him - he never takes it personally....)

"more depressio--- I mean honkai impact" No no. You were correct initially Marco :')

yea, i love how this game will gently grip your heart, and then STAB IT 47 TIMES. such a good story man.

0:16 Why correct yourself? They're the same thing Hoyo just adds a sprinkle of joy so we're convince that its a "positive and wholesome story" as said by a Hoyo employee

When i listened to this myself (after watching the video, but listening in Spotify), i can visualize a man in primal age, running and screaming while chasing a star. Thats the vibe it gave me. And i f-ing love it

The world forgot about his Raven and so the man became a fool, and he played his role well. For even the world turned it's eye away from him, and in that moment he reached out and altered the past as to create a new future. All so his Raven could fly again.

Typical face of a honkai player when the cg ends

I was so incredibly sleep deprived when I first saw this video, I could bairly stay awake. But as soon as you began to resite the lyrics you had me wide awake. You are such a great story teller, perfectley captured the emotions that the lyrics had.

i still can't hold my tears everytime the vocal starts. it's just so deep. Beautiful and painful at the same time. Mihoyo, please don't end honkai yet. We still want to enjoy the journey and the song❤

Marco: "Let's get ready for more depres- Honkai. 😊" Hahaha yes, very true. I don't play the game myself but I hear similar thoughts from friends and content creators. I appreciate the way they write Otto in Honkai. Mainly because we get to understand where he's coming from. Being the ones to view the situation from the outside allows us to reflect better on how the events took place. Allowing us to piece different perspectives. Well written villains really are interesting characters to disect in fiction. Because I don't know this character too well it's interesting to hear how this song may accurately represent Otto. Thank you as always Marco!

Amazing as usual. I think it is time for Moon Halo / Everlasting Flames now.

Can't wait for the day you get to Everlasting Flames, it's one of my absolute favorite songs and also cutscenes in the entire game Cyberangel comes at a close second, I can definitely recommend that one too

My favorite line is "just a drop of water suffices", which from my interpretation implies the ripple effect and infinite possibilities to sprout through causality by his action: ensuring that there's a branch/timeline(s) where Kallen didn't die that day and got to live at the very least one more day. Though he'll never get to see or be part of those routes/timelines, the knowledge that he made it possible 'suffices' after more than 500 years of desperation from trying to find ways to bring Kallen back to life, nomatter the cost.

IRAS 17514 is actually a "dead" star that "died" and gave birth to new stars (afaik something like that). Sound familiar?

That thumbnail is straight up a piece of art, I can't stop looking at it. Great job!

You can really feel Otto’s ambition, his entire 500 year plan was just to create a timeline where Kallen lives. He doesn’t even get to be there with her, he just wants her to live her life and live on. Not to mention near the end, Kallen started to distrust and distance herself from Otto, even running away and ending up falling for Yae Sakura instead. But in the end, Otto just wanted her to live. He did it all for her.

I love people who admire emotions with their emotions. Emotions, besides hate, are beautiful and I love listening to people who understand and speak about emotions

"I'm really excited to dive into more Depression, I mean Honkai Impact 3rd", I see what you did there

Otto is one those vilain characters who does cruel things but with good intention. A very determined person he was. Rest in peace.

I remember the whole time watching that cutscene with this song where Otto was fighting for his life, the whole time I was like "Holy shit this man is insane! Wtf are you doing?! There's no way. You idiot!" But like who wouldn't go to such lengths to save the ones you loved? Otto is still by far the best written character Hoyo's ever created.

Thanks Marco, always love to hear you articulate in such rich detail what I can only pick up in broad strokes.

My man Otto Apocalypse got stabbed in the heart and still found the strength to walk the last few steps to finish his life long dream. I respect his commitment and willpower.

"The stars are distant as always Still shining with the light of their grand deaths in vacant space" Because of how vast space is, it is possible that the stars we see at night are already dead and we are only seeing their light as it gets absorbed by our retinas. The same thing applies to Otto, he is already a dead man, we are only seeing his light until that light is no more.

One more very important thing to note is, Otto is what got Kallen killed in the first place. The executioner wanted to find a way to give her an opening to escape, yet Otto released the Monster/Honkai onto the city, with the intent to both kill the ones willing to kill Kallen, while also letting her escape. But Kallen sacrificed herself trying to save the civilians, and in the end, Otto lost it all. The entire city, the church, his home, the girl he loved. All for a goal that he could never ever archieve, as even if he could have saved her, Kallen's heart belonged to somebody else. Otto's whole character is a story of inarchieveable odds, so when he finally got what he wanted, you can only feel happy for him and feel somewhat sad yourself. Truly a wonderful written character, and one of the best there is

“I am a player that wants the ‘Pawn’ to survive… no matter who the sacrifice is be it the queen or the king as long as the pawn survives nothing matters. Even if the king get’s sacrifice as long as the player(me) doesn’t give up I will win.” And thus this guys is the selfish thing one can do… But also the most human thing to do…

As amazing as always, because for a music idiot like me, it is really beautiful that someone can bring out so much from a piece of music, so thanks for the video.

Awesome reaction! Looking forward to seeing you react to the song "Moon Halo" and the animated short it goes along with, "Everlasting Flames"!

otto is one of those villains that you hate but totally understand why he did everything he did. 10/10

I hate how they played the "Let it penetrate my heart so I can share your pain." part when they both got impaled... T_T

Thank you for rounding this out from your previous video, your analysis in the first video got a good amount of the theme but it's still nice to see your reaction to it all as one piece.

I love Otto. An amazingly written character, morally gray, well-written "OP villain". I always say it's rare to write an OP villain perfectly, which is why I love both Bill Cypher and Otto. A character who was mad after his loved one, created a chance for humanity to beat Honkai (with Durandal, Kiana and Mei being the world's best Herrscher Killers right now - and he was the one who created Durandal and Kiana). Led everyone on a wild goose chase to make everyone feel like they *have* to kill him or else he will end the world, sent Durandal to her Stigmata Space to truly awaken her stigmata, while ascending to Godhood, all of that only to be able to gather enough energy for him to complete his plan, and save Kallen. He had insane measures, but it resulted in an opening, a chance for humanity to defeat Honkai, while also achieving his goals. He knew he was a villain but didn't care, as he knew in order to change the world, you need to take insane measures. People seeing him as a villain is justified, but you can't deny he aided humanity's fight. Whether he meant to or not.

Finally got myself to play Kolosten and got back to this. I cried even more than I expected. It's important to understand that Otto is morally grey, he cannot be properly summarized in terms of "evil" or "good". He was a villain in a lot of ways, he was a hero in other ways. His writing is honestly incredible. I saw that you started playing Honkai so I won't spoil things that happens in the main story, but I advise following a story guide because the game itself does a very bad job presenting the story in a logical order and some parts are not officially translated (like the VN where he outright quotes Nietzsche's Grave Song). In vague terms, Otto sacrificed thousands for his goals and did horrible things to some individuals. He also saved millions and was personally a very positive figure to many individuals. He has a quote where he says "The way I see it, avoiding harm to innocents is a good reason not to do something." One letter you can optionally unlock in one game mode explains how he spent years teaching nuns how to read, so his list of deed goes from the extremely altruistically good to the extremely selfishly cruel. "In a Shakespearean analogy, Otto is not just Julius Caesar or Macbeth, he's also Claudius, Othello, and even Hamlet." "People are like rivers rushing to the sea. The closer they run to the sea, the muddier they get. His river has been running for five centuries and it was full of impurities." These are actual in-game quotes about Otto from maybe the only person who somewhat understood him at the end.

Glad to see you finally get around to this! Otto really is a fantastic villain. He was a terrible and selfish person to the end, but he was undoubtably very human. A bit of lore that I think youll appreciate: The tree that you see in this cutscene is called the "Imaginary Tree" and it is quite literally a tree of possibility. Otto's plan here was basically to pull off a bunch of crazy stuff to get here and forcibly create a branching timeline where he uses his current self to stop the honkai monsters he unleased on that day. All to create one world where Kallen can continue to live on. This is also one reason why the song lyrics makes references to branches.

Wow. I'm honkai player myself so i thought I already understood this animation. But after hearing your comments bout the music, I discovered a lot more. Thank you.

I have been waiting for this for this since i poked at you for not having done it the first time around. Glad to see it here after the wait, especially after the commentary about reading your mind back then.

I love all your honkai music (and cinematic) breakdowns…it gives a whole new angle to my view on honkai story thank you

A hero sacrifice themselves to save the world. A villain sacrifice the world to save someone

Otto’s love was certainly unrequited as Kallen was in love with Sakura. But man, he’s such a great villain. I hate and love him LOL.

Those who he is fighting is countless versions of himself from the multiverse who fought their way there but were corrupted by the "Yggdrasil" (not its name, but it is easier to understand that way). He loves, and worships her in every universe, and will fight against the world just for her to live again

I've been waiting for this! I love your reactions and analysis alot!

Finally! I waited so long for this.

"just a drop of water suffices" a line with 3 possible meanings. Meaning 1: a reference to the christian story of the rich man in hell (shickshal is an analogue for the catholic church, and Otto is basically the pope, so it fits) Meaning 2: A reference to an old statement on the fragility of humanity, the statement goes something like "just a drop of water would suffice to bring all of humanity crumbling to it's knees" Meaning 3: an inverse reference to the "my cup runeth over" saying (i think it's also from Catholicism)

I noticed now that "the stars shinining with light of their deaths in vacant space" is actually great reference to real life pchysicks. Light from the stars futherest away from us had to fly to us for 65 milion years. The space we observe is long gone, those stars shining in the sky might have died millions of years ago, on top of that universe is still expanding so the light has to travel longer and longer.

The thjng about Otto is his villainy was probably the foremost reason that the world even has a fighting chance against the Honkai. SPOILERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spoilers below for everything Honkai up to the current point (major events). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DO NOT PASS THIS POINT IF YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT UP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . YOU WERE WARNED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LAST CHANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . Before K2 became awakened her Herrscher powers, the fight against the Honkai was getting bad. While the Schicksal's valkyries and Anti-Entropy's mechs were holding the line, time was not on thier side. The whole reason Mei was pushed forward so much was to awaken her Herrscher powers so humanity might stand a chance. Otto's actions awakened the Herrscher of the Void, and though it required a great sacrifice, and annhilated over 10% of humanity, ironically, it also gave us our strongest chance of survival in Kiana Kaslana (K2), the girl who would take on multiple Herrscher Cores, save an entire region from a Honkai Bomb, help awaken the powers of other Herrschers who side with Humanity (Herrscher of Sentiance, Herrscher of Thunder, Herrscher of Reason), empowered and emboldened the the original Kiana Kaslana (now known as Durandal) who is considered among the most talanted Valkyries in history, and most deviously of all, ensured the Hyperion team was ready for the challenges to come by giving them a foe they had to go all out to defeat. I don't think he intended to, tbh, but Otto's actions were the foremost reason Humanity may finally stand a fighting chance

Insightful and informative as always, love your content

Otto is the most well-written kind of villain. Change my mind. . . . . . . . . . On a side note, I enjoyed Opera Uncle's "oh shit" face way more than I should have 😈

" just a drop of water suffices "

Just like the title of the song Regression He regressed 500 years in the past ,by creating another universe, just for her

so glad you came back to Honkai short 😭 your interpretation and analysis are accurate waaaa you can describe Otto as "reasonable villain" you see, 500 years are enough to change a man to do everything for the best result, no mather how much people gonna suffer from it at the last word Otto said "Kallen, live" it was the same word Murata Himeko say to Kiana at " Final Lesson"( i think you should try to watch Final Lesson, it's the short were most Honkai player start to cry) which kinda had different interpretation for the both character action to their loved ones

"A mind can transfer into a compatable vessel... but a vessel cannot collect the pieces of a broken mind. To save the one and only Her(Kallen), I must make, new possibilities in the past." And to do that, he had to give up his life, in exchsnge for hers. Otto was a monster, irredeemable and unrepentant. But, love makes you do insane things.

Man he may be the bad guy, but he had some of the most Raw lines in the game.

The fight he was in represents him facing all his sins. Every single one, including the sin of releasing a honkai beast to run rampant and take away the one thing he wants to save.

Thank you marco.... finally i found this song

Otto, he who does not need nor want forgiveness nor redemption as he knows there is none. just as much as he knows that he has no regrets for what he has done, except for one thing and that was gettin Kallen killed and this is his one and only goal to make right, regardless of how many bodies he has to walk across