[Slow Reading] Seabed, part 3 (On Such A Beautiful Day)

There will be spoilers contained within. Read at your own risk. 

Hi, and welcome back to our slow read of Seabed. For today's UI trivia section, we'll be looking at the save system. 

As you can see, I played ahead a little -- accidentally!

The thing that differentiates Seabed's save system from a lot of visual novels is the sparsity of save slots. In many -- CLANNAD, Higurashi and other big names amongst them -- you have pages upon pages of save slots, whereas Seabed only has five. It's also pretty commonplace for you to be able to annotate save slots in some fashion, a feature Seabed lacks.

To be entirely honest, I kinda support this. Seabed is a kinetic novel, meaning it has no choices that need to be made in the course of a story. Because of that, it doesn't need annotated save slots, since the primary use of those is for the player to note what route/choices they've made for further reference. Similarly, the robust scene selection means that you don't need a huge amount of save slots to quickly get back to specific places in the story. Because of that, the save slot architecture that's traditional to VNs is pretty redundant, and can be safely done away with. I ran up against the five save slot limit, but then, I'm taking the time to make notes and analyse the game, which probably is not the expected experience. I do wish I could see the background image without the menu, though, since the option to hide text is present throughout the rest of the game.

Back to the story! Last time, we left off on an obviously distressed Takako and a headache inducing noise, staring into a blank background. The first thing we see in this scene is that old-fashioned and unusual device: a book.

I won't claim to know what this might mean, even without the filter.

Not shown in that screenshot is that our narrator has changed: although Takako has been the voice in our ear so far, Sachiko is now the narrator. After a somewhat distressing time yesterday, the warm colour of paper is comforting... The title for this scene, On Such A Beautiful Day, also seems much more cheerful than what we just went through in Goldfish Scooping.

Fittingly for what seems to be a contrast in mood to the previous scene, the first words we get -- and the first words in Sachiko's narration -- are, "I turned the page." Apart from being a potential meta-joke about a change in scene, it's also an interesting character line. Takako, as we know her from her narration, is bound up in the past. She talks about memories, revisiting times from her childhood, perhaps indicating that she's having problems moving on. Symbolically, turning a page indicates that Sachiko is doing exactly the opposite, although it's too early to tell. (Notably, in the next paragraph, she clutches the page to prevent it from turning back -- maybe ties into the symbolism of wanting to move forward?)

We quickly learn that it's a somewhat windy day, and Sachiko is sheltering behind a school building reading her book -  pointing to a regression in time from what seemed like an adult Takako's narration last time. So far, we've existed in a few time periods: Takako as a five year old, the dreaming Takako reminiscing about the festival, and now what appears to be a shared high-school period.

Having a character read a book is always an interesting proposition to me, because I never quite know if I'm being manipulated or not. The nature of characters is that we're usually meant to empathize with them, moreso if they have some kind of trait that is also present in us as a reader. And, of course, if you're reading a book or a VN, it stands to reason that you generally enjoy reading yourself. Even a lot of author wish-fulfillment characters are well-read or enjoy reading -- librarians are particularly popular. That doesn't meant to say that every character who reads books is that way to score points with a demographic, of course, but I'm personally still cautious about it, especially in the medium of VNs (which, whether they deserve it or not, have something of a reputation for utilizing stock character types to target specific audiences).

Sachiko's choice/description of her reading nook is interesting, though. She outright calls it gloomy and damp, in relatively neutral terms, and says that the silence is the best part about it. The dampness and the gloom feel like more calls to the deep-sea thematic running through the work so far, and we can infer from the need for secluded, private spaces, a hobby of reading, and a desire for silence, that Sachiko is not the most social person in a stereotypical sense.

Speaking of silence, the bgm is entirely silent here -- honestly a blessing after the last part. It does reflect a certain unity of theme present in the game design, where the bgm seems to match what's happening onscreen with a lot of accuracy, even at the cost of being unpleasant or non-existent.

An interesting thought I had, when considering the previous scene, is that the imagery of water might have an underlying thematic of loneliness. When Takako tries to sleep, she pictures an 'empty' sea; now, here, we have dampness connected to a solitary, silent place. 

The door to the emergency exit behind her opens. Emergency exists, apart from being required school architecture, are also symbolic of escape -- as, in fact, are books. Even though Sachiko is currently hiding away, she still has a way out. Although, in a wider literary context, emergency escapes are connected in my mind with American Psycho, where they're explicitly not a way out, and only serve to reinforce futility and pointlessness.

A girl approaches, and 'inspects' -- a rather loaded word -- what Sachiko is reading. We can pretty safely assume this is school-age Takako (which gets confirmed in a few paragraphs). Apparently, she's not got great manners if she's peeking at a book somebody's reading.

"Found you". Those are the first words we ever see Takako address to Sachiko outside of a dream, and they're an interesting choice. Firstly, it implies that Sachiko is lost or hiding, and does so with enough regularity that Takako knows to seek her. There's also the romantic/pseudo-romantic context to consider -- it immediately brings to mind the phrase "I found my soulmate". Certainly, it implies that Sachiko "is the person I've been looking for", which is a charged sentiment.

However, personally, it seems to imply a certain... inequality to their current relationship. One seeks, the other is sought. They aren't really coming together, but rather one is pursuing the other. Sachiko's response is also seemingly dismissive -- "Do you want something?"

Even so, she shifts her gaze to Takako, noting that she's tall and that her face is only centimetres away. Although there's definite romantic implications to that being the first thing on her mind, it's a little hard to tell -- for a girl who likes solitude, she might just be uncomfortable that big ol' Takako is reading her book over her shoulder, disturbing the silence and getting in her personal space.

"She carried some water in her cupped palms.

It seeped through her slender fingers, a few drops travelling down her white arms peeking out of the skimpy school uniform.

Adjusting the position of my glasses, I considered Takako's face. Even bowing down, she seemed very tall."

As usual when I block-quote, there's a lot to pick apart here, so I'll go through it line-by-line. Takako carrying water in her palms is... interesting? I'm not really sure what to think of it at this juncture. Apart from obvious jokes about bottles, cups and buckets not being invented yet, I think (with context from the last chapter, and from a few lines coming up) that this is basically symbolising wasted effort or a lack of efficiency that may be important later. She's trying to carry the water, but it's slipping through her fingers -- it's not a lack of effort, but a lack of preparedness/knowledge (to pick up a suitable vessel) that's thwarting her. Much like she tried to help Bell the goldfish last chapter, she's doing what she can but simply lacks the ability to get the best outcome.

The second line has all sorts of things going on. Firstly, obvious homoerotic context with the 'skimpy' uniform. Skimpy is a very sexually charged word, although it might just be a case of having no other better word to use in translation -- the next closest thing is 'revealing', which also has that kind of vibe going on with it. But then, the skimpiness of the uniform didn't really need mentioning at all, so the point still stands.

Secondly, the use of the word 'white' has a lot to talk about. An issue I'm going to mention but not go too far into (because frankly, I'm not qualified) is that, in a piece set in what appears to be Japan, 'white' seems like too much of a racially charged word to describe a person's skin tone without additional context. I'm going to chalk it up to generic 'anime whiteness = Japanese' ideas. But even beyond that, 'white'? That's... very extreme, for a skin tone, especially for somebody who's apparently wearing a skimpy school uniform. I could understand 'pale', but 'white' seems more sickly than anything. Takako, where's your tan at? My best guess is that here, white is supposed to signify something, and given the genre, it's probably lilies -- for either purity or love between women.

The third line, beyond more little nudges in a romantic/pseudo-romantic direction (considering her face) and informing us that Sachiko wears glasses, is most interesting for 'Even bowing down, she seemed very tall'. It's the second time tallness has been mentioned in a short space of time, which makes it seem significant. The feeling I got from this is that it's meant to be symbolic of strength, or, in particular, resiliency. When I think of tallness, I think pillars, and pillars support weight. To bow is, culturally, to humble oneself or be humbled, and to bow architecturally is to buckle under the weight that you're carrying. Taken together, I can pretty easily see that line as saying, "Even when Takako has been humbled by life, or is struggling with the weight on her shoulders, she still seems strong." Which, hopefully, is good news for whatever's going on with present!Takako, who we seem to have left on her bed being overtaken by a storm inside her; hopefully, it's a sign she'll have the resiliency to recover.

The next comment is Takako's. "You just can't get enough of places like this, can you? [...] How do you even find these places? Makes me wonder if you're some kinda different species compared to the rest of us."

Takako, slow down, girl. You just called your friend, like, a space alien or something. I get it, she has themes of fae/otherworldly creatures/mermaids about her, but you can't just pop off like that! There is a positive interpretation of her comment, if we throw Takako a bone and assume that she's legitimately impressed by Sachiko's ability to find weird places (as opposed to just her saying Sachiko's weird for liking them), but even then, subtext. This is Japan, where one of the most famous proverbs outsiders hear is 'the nail that sticks out gets hammered down' (出る杭は打たれる) -- i.e. those who who fail to conform will be made to. While that's not an accurate representation of Japanese society in reality, for a literary existence, it's enough for Takako's comment to raise an eyebrow. Even the way Takako phrases this casts Sachiko as the 'other' and then places Takako herself opposite to her (since she includes herself in the us of the us vs. others equation, rather than being on Sachiko's side). If it's intentional, she's throwing quite a lot of shade, and if it's not, then we know that Takako is about as sensitive as a block of cheese.

This is immediately followed by Takako drew away from me. Call the girl an alien and then immediately draw away from her -- smooth, real smooth. Still, she's drawing away to use the water still cupped in her hands to water a plant (specifically, a bush of white clover), which hints at a kinder, more nurturing side beyond the somewhat coarse exterior she's presented so far.

The strength to grow

"I doubt it really needs you watering it." Seems it's Sachiko's time to get her licks in. If Takako watering the plant shows a kinder side, this might be a very blunt way to say "Your kindness is unnecessary." I noticed this a little in the previous scene, but it seems like there's a disparity between Sachiko's words and her actions. In terms of what she says, she seems quite cold and dismissive, but in her actions, she's either mutually affectionate to Takako or shows obvious interest in her. I wouldn't be too surprised to see her mixed messages end up as a source of potential conflict in the future, since that would tie into her theme of being mysterious/unknowable and the difficulty of understanding other people.

Takako's reason for watering the plant is, apparently, that 'otherwise it wouldn't feel like it's hers'. It doesn't get cleared up for a few more lines, but the white clover is a present from Sachiko to her. That she keeps on school campus, for some reason. This does nothing to assuages my sneaking suspicion that Takako's home life is not great. Does Takako wanting to establish a sense of ownership over the plant hint at a level of possessiveness in her personality, and does that extend to Sachiko (for whom the plant could easily by a symbolic proxy)? Hard to tell yet.

With her plant watered, she sweeps back her hair, and the reader is cheerfully informed that she wears it in twin-tails. Oh boy, zettai ryouiki tsundere twintail shenanigans! Probably not, but that was my immediate thought. Sachiko notes that it's new hairstyle and she hasn't quite gotten the hang of making her twin-tails equal. For me, this ties back into the idea of an unequal relationship between the two, with Takako being the one who struggles to bring it into balance. But, to take the point further, new haircuts in fiction tend to be significant, either of a new outlook or a renewed determination. Perhaps something happened to Takako recently to spur a change in philosophy, and she's still struggling to adapt to her new mindset.

For a little while, the two discuss the meaning of white clover -- Takako tells us that the name in Japanese comes from its use as a packing material, a plant that softens the blow. Maybe hinting at some future development, here? She knows this because she researched it, because "I imagined it might have some deeper meaning since it was a present from you".

This is a really interesting little segment. Sachiko denies flatly that it means anything, but we know that Takako has at least looked into the matter. If she's looked into it sufficiently well, she might know that white clover in flower language generally means, "Think of me", and it's considered a romantic flower to send another person. It's interesting to ponder how much Takako actually knows or suspects about Sachiko's feelings, and whether she's testing her.

The way that Takako automatically assumes it has a deeper meaning because Sachiko picked it is also revealing. It shows a certain level of reverence for her friend, or at least a tendency to give her a lot of credit. (If she thought about it a little longer, she might realise that of course the present has a deeper meaning because Sachiko gave it to her -- after all, what gift isn't more meaningful when it comes from a friend? The person who imparts meaning to a gift often isn't the giver, but the receiver.)

I'm assuming the white clover, or at least the motif of it, will become important or recurring later. After all, although the scene is called 'On Such A Beautiful Day', the subtitle for the entire prologue is 'Clover Design Office' in the chapter selection menu.

Back in the present, Takako executes a Takako Brand Topic Change (tm) and starts asking why Sachiko is in such a murky place if the weather is good. (Sachiko responds, quite rightly, by saying that she's still outside, and if the weather was bad she'd be in the library).

"If you keep sitting in a murky place like this all the time, you're gonna rot alive."
"That's not how the real world works."
"I mean, like... mentally."

This seems like foreshadowing for hurt/illness themes, possibly mental illness. I did mention last time that modern!Takako seems to be going through the first stage of grief, so that would fit. It's kinda worrying, though -- a lot of illness/mental illness stories get pretty intense. We'll wait and see. In the present, it's another example of how Takako seems to speak roughly, but she's fundamentally trying to look out for her friend's wellbeing.

The conversation then veers off towards Sachiko's cousin Ann, who Takako believes has psychic powers -- a rumour Sachiko doesn't seem all that keen to have spread around. Again, this ties back into the theme that Sachiko has a whiff of the supernatural about her. Apparently, all of Sachiko's reading nooks give Ann the shivers, and the one they're currently at is the worst of the bunch. Foreshadowing?

"I guess that's why I never feel lonely being here, even by myself."
"Hey now, that's not how a normal person should react to that."

The first line is Sachiko's, and interesting in that it's ambiguous. Does it mean that Sachiko is self-reliant and doesn't feel lonely, preferring her own company? Or, reading it another way, does it mean that Sachiko normally has feelings of loneliness and places like the murky spot she's in assuage it, possibly because they encourage Takako to go looking for her?

The other line is just Takako calling her friend a weirdo again. It builds into the theme that to Takako, Sachiko is unique or special, but it also builds into the theme that Takako's got no social grace whatsoever.

The next few lines really cement that, as Takako babbles excitedly about going out of her way to find a place that's 'much better for you than this'. Again, it's a nice thought, but it's a little presumptuous to say 'this place you've picked is garbage, mine's way better'.

Sachiko follows reluctantly, but follow she does -- pulled along in Takako's current. They're headed for the school roof, which, as anybody who watches anime knows, is always a good place to chill, have lunch, and fall in love. There's a lot of symbolism going on with school roofs -- there's even a yuri VN on Steam called Kindred Spirits on the Roof, for what it's worth.

When they get there, the door is secured by a steel lock. Takako tells Sachiko to look out for anyone coming -- making her explicitly into a partner in crime -- and, using a hairpin, picks the lock of a window nearby.

So, to begin with, I'm reminded of the saying 'When life closes a door, it opens a window'; it shows that Takako has the ability and temperament to get past obstacles, employing lateral thinking if she needs to. But beyond that, lockpicking isn't just a skill you have out of nowhere. Together with the very slight hints about her home life, and her somewhat coarse manners, I'm starting to think that Takako might be a delinquent type of character.

After jumping through the window, Takako extends a hand to Sachiko -- just as she did in the last scene to the Sachiko in her dream. Just as before, Sachiko takes it -- and is pulled outside, the screen whitening to show dazzling sunlight. The way it's portrayed reminds me slightly of how media often depicts somebody resurfacing after being pulled under the surface of the ocean.

That, I'm afraid, is the end of the scene. It's a far less concrete scene transition than the last one, which means that in my original session, I blew straight past it and did notes on the next scene too. Oops! Well, it'll just mean less work to do for the next chapter.

Until next time!