S weet Pool

Fuck my lifeeeeeeughh

sweet pool is so good its so beautiful in ways that seem insane considering the meat shitting. when i think of sweet pool, i think of the blue, the water, the calm pale quiet atmosphere, the saddness. as opposed to what the majority of people probably think of it, the red, the blood, the meat, instinct.

i think of the lonliness, the pain of not being "human". as a transguy with severe dysmenorrhea, youjis story is EXTREMELY relatable ohmygod not just the fact hes a boy on his period but because one of the parts of sweet pool i cherish a lot is its "if you're trans you have to live" narritive.

its a very short story compared to other chiral games, its under 15 hours and doesnt exactly have routes, just one main story with a few different endings, and not much happens in retrospect, but it is so impactful.

Makoto Mita

mmm burger THIS SEGMENT IS ENTIRELY ABOUT MAKOTO BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY ABOU THE HUNGER. NOT THE SONG FROM THE GAME OH NO NO NO IM TALKING ABOU TTHE STAGE PLAY PERFORMANCE

Part 1: pre-sweet pool thoughts

• the hunger
  • played it and really likes the song i started listening to it outside of chiral night and memorized all the lyrics
  • knew makoto ate youji, heard about it from somewhere (??? BITCH WHERE)
  • *mumbling as i weakly press notes on keyboard in a tired delirious state playing the hunger* i want your everything mmnh tear out my heart hh u know MY love for u *slams on keyboard* DRIVES. me. MAA.aad
  • knew makotos entire story now because the lyrics
  • *mumbling while playing the hunger* wwen we first met i couldn take my eyes off of uuUUU .
  • "omg when they first met he couldnt take his eyes off of him”

Part 2: during sweet pool thoughts

• makoto
  • when he showed up to youjis house in the rain cg loads my heart stopped the music wasnt musuc just sounds sparse enough to be silent for most of the time but erie ambiance THE WAY HIS EYES WERE HIDDEN GODD swewt pool is so good with sudden dread the way the mood dropped in seconds
  • in the hallway. holy fucking shit he was looking right at me
  • the music stopped and he was watching me i do not know if it was intentional or if ny eyes just happened to be in a place where it makes it feel lioe youre actually in the hallway and you turn around and see him watching you GOD simple context completely changes his impression it was just his normal default smiling sprite but his eyes felt different sweet pool does horror well
  • makoto tells youji to go to the lab he goes then the door locks and he gets attacked and rhen we hear "guess whooo" it instantly clicked and i wimpered and cried out loud and screamed in my head HEFUCKJNGLIEDITWASA TRICK!!!!!!!!!!!! and recoiled and screamed in my chair and went OUUUUUUU
  • I JUST THOUGHT HE WAS HUNGRYYY
  • then the scene ends whatever
  • later we go to the hospital and im like "istg makoto is down the hall" and he is then he apologizes and hes chill. makoto has been forgiven by the council but i will never forget the look in his eyes in the hallway forever

Part 3: current thoughts

• man fuck that little bitch
  • i really. appreciate, respect? am impressed by? how accurate and specific of a person he is he is so vile i might be overreacting but as a neurodivergent person he pisses me off so much like he HAAATES zenya and tetsuo with a passion before anything in the stpry properly starts like its PERSONALLLL their existences are a personal threat to him because they're autistic like SHUT. UP
  • like hes so entitled too this is actually brought up in the game where they something along the line of hes been given everything in life so when youji is dealing with other shit (combined with the pheramons ofc) hes not having it
  • its hard to describe a lot of this is just personal shit liek if someone wanted to they could probably try to refute my previous claims but this is just how i feel about him, i think a lot of my disdain comes from the fact hes one of the more popular characters out of sweet pool's very small cast that is often infantilized a lot. like they boil down everything he did to just being "in love" (so wrong nothing in sweet pool is love) or as more innocent than the others. also im so tried of "oooooo cannibalism as a metephor for love how coool and unique" NO SHUT UP 1) thats liek saying kissing is a metaphor 2) it goes back to babyfying makoto usually
  • yea idk im just saying shit
  • 
  • if you're a pussy you'd probably like makoto. dont ask me what that means i dont know
  • writing this the day after i wrote the previous 6 points: i know im too hard on him he just reminds me of specific things i dislike. im replaying sweet pool as i type this point and hes whatever its whateverrrrr.......... he just reminds me of traits that strike a tiny nerve. he reminds me of some people that i dont even hate or dislike a lot i just cant hadnle hoe they treat me sometimes. not talking about any of the super negative stuff previously mentioned like abelism or cannibalism im refering to some of the more positive and understandle parts of his character. anyways its whatever i dont expect anyone to really care too much about what i have to say about this one character so yea

Part 4: real shit. the hunger stage play performances end of show/curtain call analysis

(context: in the seet pool stage play there are 2 perfrmances of the respective route's ending song, one at the end of the play and then one after everyone bows. people can take their phones out and record during the curtain call performance. the end of show performance is a bit longer as the songs starts at the begining instead of in the middle for the after show. they have differences but are mainly the same)

end of show the hunger performance

curtain call the hunger performance

• the hunger's story is a flashback while vlg is a continuation. both are in their respective characters perspectives but are different
  
  WRITING THIS LINE AFTER EVERYTHING ELSE AND IM SCREEN RECORDING ANOTHER VID OF THE HUNGER END OF SHOW AND OMFG I JUST NOTICED AFTER THE FIRST ARM BITE THE CAST DOES A CLOCK MOTION BECAUSE ITS GOING BACKK IN TIME SHOWING WHERE EVERYTHING WENT WRONG KYYYAAAA GYAAAAAAA cough ahem uhm pretend you didnt read this go back to reading but then come back and read it again because its cool
  
  the hunger, like the songs lyrics, is in past tense and tells how makoto met youjis how he gained his affection and his growing jealously as he looses his mind. the first part is when they first met i love how the cast unravels and holds their arms out to makoto in a dominoe fashion like youji is a prize to be won to him now also showing his growing infatuation with youjis and how he suddenly finds h beautiful and his scent like hes a blooming flower the way they reached out looked lioe petals ANYWAYS... then the rest is the same in the curtain call for the most part here makoto is getting paranoid the rest is what he thinks is happening as tetsuo amd youji start hanging out more he tries to go up to them but is blocked ACCESS DENIED blah blah blah then jn both curtain call and end of show once tetsuo leaves youji is the epitome of his desire is he rolling around on the floor in anguish for youji this pussy hazardous and intoxicating send help IN THE CURTAIN CALL HOWEVER its just more explicit like who give a shit fuck it we ball.
  
  in the end of show its interpretive dance to the song they do the flips whatever then tetsuo leaves and youji just stands there like hes off limits his back turned away from him and unreachable. this version definitely feels more like hes in pain trying to find out what went wrong why youji doesnt want him why hes shut himself off.
  
  IN THE CURTAINCALL ouhh the curtain call...,..,. the interpretove dance is replaced with tetsuo just undressing him definitely showing more of makotos fears, then he leaves and youji busts it down sexual style n shit this DEFINITELY feels more like his desire for youji and infatuation with him as a result of the pheromones. like he cant control it and it feels mlrw like full on jealousy over tetsuo and speculations over what him and youji are doing together like he craves youji and wants him to be his
  
  love all the actors performances so good so good its insane i hope i dont sound rude referring to them with their character names because i do not know all of theirs at the moment
  
  then the rest is the same in both versions after the final chorus starts its now in the present as hes gone beyond the point of no return he swings him arm rapidly moving both him and youjis a reference to the cuts he gives youjis despite them being so far away. theyre far away mentally makoto is brokwn and unable to see what hes doing to youji. even if theyre physically close in the chemistry lab even if makoto thinks he finally has him they'll always be in 2 different worlds, youjis world being without him in it, and with tetsuo in it instead.
  
  hes now fully dancing along with the song while previously he was only standing there. it was playing in the background. in the back of his mind the hunger was growing and now its too late erm balh blah blah youjis collapses after the cuts but by the final line slowly raises to his feet as makoto raises his arm and takes a bite sealing both of their fates
  
  makoto's right arm is ver prominent throughout the choreography because. yea. in the final cg for his ending its where he starts eating himself alive. even before the end of the songs its prominent in the main dance parts but just everywhere as well he shoots it up like a call for help almost likes hes raising his hand but it signals his growing hunger. he reaches out for youji. his desire growing until he cant take it anymore. in the "no more need for words" part of the song it shoots up and he shoves it back down like hes fighting it then he runs up to the wall, to the unclaimable ledge youjis on, as he desperately grasps it, almost like its a door like when he showed up at youjis house in the rain, and it slides down his pants until he collapses and the chorus starts again and hes fully gone
  
  the part where he starts punching the air is funny as hell he was so mad that tetsuo pulled that bad bitch by being autistic 😭😭😭😭😭 uhgh anyways just noticing some things based in the lighting the effects aee so cool dueing the red parts the lines projected on the backgrounds look like slathes from a box cutter and at the final chorus beat drop the lights burst put into blue referencing the reason choices that lead to this outcome mimicking the way it washes over the screen ingame mimicking how the final choice youji made would be his last one
  
  lastly i just really like the dance is so energetic i love all the movements especially after noticing the right arm

stage play 2 / VLG

so both this segment and the previous makoto segment was written in a single iphone notes app note titled "vlg vs the hunger stage" where i sat down and compared the two in a 24 paraghraph rant to an audience of no one. so heres the second half of it with more parts including actual comparision

end of show VLG performance

curtain call VLG performance

• vlg is special since its the only ending in sweet pool where youji survives and his whereabouts are known (for better or for most definitely worse) and the stage play absolutely utilizes this. it is a continuation of zenyas world since youjis story is already over hes won
  
  love how the songs starts wirh thw tv static on the side as zenya casually walkd and sits down while swinging his legs. like its just another day for him as hes enjoying it
  
  he jumps done and kitani and kunihito create an arch for him like hes a princess as he breaks it apart dramatically. he continues to walk and instruct the arches with the flick of a hand, showing that hes in control and also how he takes everything lightly like hes breaking the fourth wall a bit as he knows that this is HIS ending. continues and swiftly points his fingers down and kitani and kunihito come and make a seat for him he is such a princess GOD. he lovingly caresses kitani and as his dad reaches out to to he shoves him and flips him off and runs away like a child storming off to their room ICONIC
  
  BUT WAIT....... kitani and kunihito get up the moment zenya leaves they stop dancing theyre both worried they know that its zenyas world now but theyre powerless against it. kitani quickly comforts kunihito before they return to damcing once zenyas returns with youji. HE MAKES YOUJI CHEER AS HE MAKES HIM WALK DOWN THE STAGE FUUCCCKK LMAAOAOAO yea blah blahblah its his world his perspective his song and you better be dancing with it
  
  i dont carw for the vlg dance vut i love the part after youji sits down the way zenya dances around with a hand on youjis head is cool i like how the move looks a bit like marching i just like it. then they allget down and they do the head swing things and rhe lights change and its super cool
  
  they get in a circle around youji and point mocking him now that his life has been taken away. AND RHEN THE NEXT PART OOAUAUAUAHAGAHAGGG when they line up and lean out revealing youji then smoothly transitioning to zenya turning around and flipping his hair GOD GOD GODGOD GAAAA the first time i saw it i literally did a double take the change is so smooth and cool with the music and lighting AAGAUGH BUT BACK TO STORY STUFF it flips on him the eyes are on zenya now and hes at the center of the judgment. they disperse from the line formation and into a circle as zenya recoils back shielding his face specifically his eye like his a ridiculed monster they cage him in and lift him up as he takes a Jesus on the cross pose AND THE LIGHTS AND THE POSE AND EVERYTHING AOBA SERGAKI WHO???? oaaaauhhgg reference to his own rosary around his neck reference to everything else who cares blahblah blha ITS COOL
  
  hes put down and, almost like after seeing his moment of weakness, youji tries to run but zenya chases after him. youji gets to the other side of thw stage and zenya runs through the cast and their arms follow him in a chain reaction type of way so cool just aauagghgg. and then back to the chorus and dancing zenya brings youji back tk his place at the middle kf the stage and theu do the thing again he picks him up and spins hom arounf lmao the dance continues then winds down as zenya sits behind youji and they strike the final pose as the lights fade out
  
  i feel like that was more screaming about how cool it is compared to a full analysis like with the hunger which may seem odd considering im saying vlg was the "better" one but i think a lot of vlg has to be seen ots hard to describe and a lot of its appeal comes from how fun it is which is exactly what its supposed to be its supposed to be zenyas fun world.
  
  i still cant fully say one is better than the other tho theyre different and theyre both so fucking good. maybe the hunger is better overall for having a consistent story with both the in show and the curtain call performances, maybe vlg is better just for its end of show narrative alone, who knows literally no one knows what im talking about. whatever forever
  
  --
  
  so i guess if i cant pick one for the overall best stage song then I'll settle with this:
  
  VLG is the better end of show while The Hunger is the better curtain call
  
  --
  
  vlg aftwr show sucks ass so much it cuts basically everything and the dance itself isnt that good
  
  the hunger curtain call is significantly better than vlg's because its longer (1 minute compared to 2 minutes) and not that much changes besides the youji and tetsuo stuff which is like equally as good in the curtaincall and end of show. i think i like the curtain call youji tetsuo part more because its simpler, tetsuo taking off youjis clothes then him leaving and then youji doing swag but yea the hunger end of show and curtain call are nearly identical and are both good. when comparing the hunger's curtain call to vlg's the hunger clears by a long shot because the story is still there vlg is just a dance and the dance isnt that good.
  
  you might be wondering what my thoughts on the micrles may performance is since i havent mentioned it yet. miracles may is literally so irrelevant i would rather shoot myself in the head than have to listen to the first notes ever again