Saya no Uta: Grotesquery, Beauty, and Love of The Other (Patreon Cut)
Added 2025-01-14 20:51:16 +0000 UTCA Dropbox repository with downloadable and fully uncensored copies can be found here!
Often called one of the most disgusting and brutal games ever made, Saya no Uta is perhaps THE most infamous visual novel of all time... and one of the most beloved. Let's explore what lays underneath the surface of Urobuchi's 2003 masterwork.
This month's shoutouts:
https://bsky.app/profile/pavlovforgoths.com/post/3lctmbw52ks2s
https://www.youtube.com/@alien_bob
Script with sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18k06V_X52boQ6d0phOxgqbEDzD7QCsGU6mOJYrWKbvw/edit?usp=sharing
Skeets: https://bsky.app/profile/speedynoelle.bsky.social
Tweets: https://x.com/speedynoelle
Tumblr: https://ameliedoree.tumblr.com/
PayPal: https://paypal.me/noelleamelie/
Bandcamp: https://speedyspcfan.bandcamp.com/
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:11 The Song of Saya
00:04:28 Partner Break
00:06:47 Synopsis
00:10:27 A Rotten Stench
00:15:00 Urobutcher
00:27:04 Writing on the Walls
00:33:57 Painting Red
00:39:19 Squishy Sounds
00:43:59 Patreon Break
00:47:50 [SPOILER] Into Madness
00:59:24 [SPOILER] Void
01:02:12 [SPOILER] Sin
01:06:35 [SPOILER] Destruction
01:10:17 [SPOILER] Cosmic
01:13:35 [SPOILER] Abyss
01:21:09 [SPOILER] Love
01:24:19 [SPOILER] Change
01:34:17 Conclusion
Comments
Good video, watched it twice, thanks for it. I feel like the "love of the other" angle could've been served by a discussion of orientalismβthe supposedly default white western coming into contact with a cultural other, and how even in appreciation of the other total harm and domination can occur. (also imo, rather than "the other," the story feels more closely related to Kristeva's formulation of "the abject.") the jab at Judy Butts felt a little out of placeβi appreciated when you described why you didn't like that Saya no Uta essay you referenced briefly, and quipping contextlessly on an essential queer theorist, with some truly powerful insights into this world, felt like an underconsidered, distracting decision. but that one's just me, i like her. you did the story justice and i'm grateful to you. always glad to be a patron.
bedsores
2025-04-10 14:20:07 +0000 UTCSaya no Uta was one of the first truly transgressive visual novels I've read and it sent me on a journey of discovering more like it, that eventually lead to your work. I'm really happy to finally be able to hear your thoughts on it. Both grotesque and beautiful, this game will always have a very special place in my heart and to hear such a wondrously thought out and complex perspective on it has been a joy. Thank you.
soothingMelody
2025-01-17 11:57:53 +0000 UTCLETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I was hyped for this since it got announced and it was everything I had hoped for. It's a beautiful video, thank you for making it. Side note about the Saya comic, I've always felt bad for the writer of it because he dedicates the series to his children, "who will read this, one day..." If his children do end up reading the Song of Saya and the VN its base on, I hope they don't make fun of him too much for Josh's Wild RIde.
Ruthrus
2025-01-16 23:02:04 +0000 UTCTbh, I think Saya-no-Uta, along with Togainu no Chi, were among the first visual novels that showed me something that was dark, grostesque, and yet somehow still erotic. I had a hard time parsing it at first, because of internalized shame about sexual fantasies, but they stayed with me this whole time. Now, as an eroguro-liking lesbian, and an appreciator of dark storytelling, I can at least thank these titles for informing my taste in transgressive media~
MintyMirai
2025-01-16 00:19:21 +0000 UTCSONG OF SAYA MY BELOVEEEEEEEEDDDDD
Natalie R
2025-01-15 20:47:03 +0000 UTCi just finished watching and girl you ATE this. i almost cried. thank you for another wonderful video.
ππππ
2025-01-15 17:26:14 +0000 UTCFrom what I heard and found out, Saya was added to the roster in the fighting game Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel. If that's the case, then why weren't the five girls of Sayo Oshi(Nozomi, Miyuki, Koyori, Mahiru and Mutsuki) added to the game's roster?
Lael Hochberg
2025-01-15 00:10:05 +0000 UTCI unfortunately will be putting off watching this until I can experience the title myself. I got stuck trying to install it via Wine; I couldnβt even get to starting it. Any tips or resources regarding the use of Wine will be appreciated.
Peter Tushar
2025-01-14 23:49:06 +0000 UTCI've been waiting for this one. I stumbled on this as a recommendation from a more vanilla gaming youtube channel like 10 years ago and I did not know what I was getting into. I kinda wasn't ready for it, but there was definitely value to the experience. Which is why I am thankful and happy to support someone who can delve deeper into the genre and make these video essays.
Bucket Crunderdunder
2025-01-14 22:17:10 +0000 UTCOHHHHI I'VE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS ONE!!!
Ammy
2025-01-14 22:06:09 +0000 UTCwith Saya, I often find myself over thinking about how Fuminori's Meat-O-Vision works. Can he eat raw animal meat? Can he read? If he kills a person, does he see a monster explode into bits of food?
geasfesa rdgsrdgsd
2025-01-14 21:16:03 +0000 UTCGave the script a readthrough and am very excited to watch! I loved the little tangents on PMMM. Have you ever considered doing a video on Madoka? I also recommend the leaked experience blog's articles on Madoka for recontextualizing Urobuchi's dark stories as more than just edgy nihilism and exploring the anime in terms of its context in Japanese subculture. His earlier VN, Kikokugai is also a lot of fun and has a lot of great action scenes.
geasfesa rdgsrdgsd
2025-01-14 21:00:32 +0000 UTCSo excited for this one. Gonna watch it the second I get home ^-^
RadCoffeeMan
2025-01-14 20:59:27 +0000 UTC
