Lunar Silver Star Story: Wind’s Nocturne Analysis

Music is a big part of my life, as I listen to it for hours every day. Mostly it’s for background purposes, whether at the gym, during prayer and worship, or while reading, writing, or driving. I never realized how important it was to my life until several years ago, nor did I notice that video game music (VGM) had made such an impact on me. After discovering OCRemix (a website dedicated to remixing VGM from every era or console) and listening to older tunes from some of my favorite games, I got hooked on the genre. There have been a few touching songs that have left an imprint on my heart, and one of those is from Lunar: Silver Star Story (or LSSS for short).

Artwork from the PSP remake of the game. Luna looks thoughtful here.

There is a scene a little after the beginning of the game where Alex (the main protagonist) is on a boat with his companions. At one point without notice, the main heroine of the story, Luna, sings a beautiful melody at night on board a small boat. She looks out into the stars and Earth in the sky (the game is set on the Moon itself), thinking aloud about her future and present situation. To me, it reflects emotions that are rarely seen in video games since characters can be very dull at times. Her feelings towards the direction of her life and purpose had me thinking about my own life, which led me to writing this overdue post.

There’s a search for something more in her words, which is a journey I believe we are all on daily. Below are the original lyrics from the game in italics, then my thoughts on each section.

Wind’s Nocturne – Lunar: Silver Star Story

Wishing on a dream that seems far off
Hoping it will come today.

Into the starlit night,
Foolish dreamers turn their gaze,
Waiting on a shooting star.

But, what if that star is not to come?
Will their dreams fade to nothing?
When the horizon darkens most,
We all need to believe there is hope.

I feel that she is singing about what many of us do at night: look for a shooting star to make a wish. When we dream about a better life, or maybe for a situation to be different, do our hopes disappear because of the darkness that sometimes overwhelms us? Many times in our lives we feel that nothing good can come, but we are to cling to hope. I believe in the hope that is Jesus Christ, who gave us access to our Heavenly Father and forgiveness of all sin. That is the hope that we hang onto—He guides us through all our troubles and doubt when we call on Him.

Is an angel watching closely over me?
Can there be a guiding light I’ve yet to see?
I know my heart should guide me, but
There’s a hole within my soul.

What will fill this emptiness inside of me?
Am I to be satisfied without knowing?

Here, Luna uses several spiritual terms like “angel,” “soul,” and “a guiding light.” LSSS does have a church that is represented by a god, but not the God of our reality, so maybe that’s why she is talking about this topic. I think she is searching inside herself, trying to find out what has been guiding her along the journey she’s been on. Luna realizes that her heart isn’t enough, because that hole in her soul is not yet full. One reason why she is singing about this is that she is the reincarnation of the goddess Althena. Basically, this goddess was allowed to become a human in the form of Luna, yet she is not aware of her past life. Not knowing that she was a goddess and struggling with her own purpose in life creates a conflict inside of her. Maybe she is feeling a powerful force that she cannot understand; she isn’t sure until around the end of the game.

What about those of us that have these same feelings? How do we fill that same hole? Whether it’s anime, video games, friends, money, or status, we always want a “little more.” That yearning is often a lack of connection to our Heavenly Father, so we need to go to Him before reaching out to other things. Worshipping God from our heart is how to connect to Him, and doing so will begin to fill that void.

I wish, then, for a chance to see,
Now all I need, (desperately)

Is my star to come…

This whole song, to me, is a prayer. Everyone longs for hope. Luna is waiting on that response, and she gets it as the game’s plot continues, but I’m not giving out spoilers.

What are some songs that inspired or impacted you from a video game (or an anime)? I would like to know which ones they are so I can check them out and listen.

Samuru
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10 thoughts on “Lunar Silver Star Story: Wind’s Nocturne Analysis”

  1. Ah, Wind Nocturne. I remember its original Japanese lyrics were quite different from Working Design’s translation, and actually give vibes a little bit far from ‘a prayer’ .

    As for your question, I think there are too many of them. But here are some which isn’t The Moon Theme, whose aren’t Uematsu’s, Sugiyama’s, Kondo’s, Kanno’s, or more recently, Sawano’s:

    1. This part from Guren no Yumiya:

    祈ったところで　何も変わらない
    今を変えるのは　戦う覚悟だ

    Because there are too many who are great on getting down on their knees but seem to forget (or never even bothered) to rise up and walk the distance afterward. 🙂

    2. Years before Madoka Magica “Pergo Pugnare” and “Sagita Luminis”, the similar Kajiuran chords & motifs can be heard in “I Am Free” from Xenosaga Episode II.

    3. “Theme of Professor Layton (Live Version)” is one of many tracks I use whenever I got a new sound set (earphones, speakers, etc.). Speaking of sound set, have you heard “Kaze no Doukei X’Mas Edit (Chrono Trigger yori)”? Its high pitched violin may make you cringe and wonder if there’s a problem with your set’s treble, or you might get ecstatic. Also, the “Guldove Home” from Hopeful Weeds album. Now that one will sound just fine even if your set is … umm … lacking. 😀

    4. “Starshape” from Shadow Hearts is my go-to track whenever I need to be calm, steady, & vigilant at once. You can guess it: I set it for incoming calls ringtone. It sets the correct attitude to deal with either possible business prospects or possible con men.

    5. Love Live’s vocal songs are hit or miss for me, but its BGMs are stellar. Some tracks have this kind of pseudo-military-bravery vibe which are more commonly found in, say, Ace Combat. This show has Sunrise pedigree, all right.
    The do-re-mi-fa-so motif get the encore in currently airing Love Live Sunshine.

    6 If somebody asks me what anime has great final episode, the first one comes to my mind is this ‘kids’ anime Dennou Coil aired in 2007. In its epilogue, the protagonist asked the deuteragonist over the phone: You know, I still don’t know … Did we become friends … or not?

    Her reply is one of the best quotes from anime.

    It has something to do with the ED song “Sora no Kakera” playing in the background during it. Now with all the latest Pokemon Go & AR & AI crazes, I believe it’s a good time to revisit this underated gem – it has many jargons which looks quite foreign in 2007, but pretty common in 2016.

    7. Kinuyo Yamashita has this somber yet hopeful feel in her work: Arumana no Kiseki, Power Blade/ Blazer, Kingkong Ikari no Megaton.
    Note: I have many renditions of “Vampire Killer” in my phone + earphone. Very useful when the mall/ public places are blaring music I don’t like/ I don’t agree with.

    8. Youtube “Smooth Mc Groove Megaman 2 Dr. Wily “. And The Moon Theme. Okay, I lied. 😀

    Hope those are good enough to pique your interest. ^^

    1. Wow great comment LGrey 🙂 I honestly haven’t heard of most of the songs/tracks you mentioned. I have heard of Shadow Hearts, but never played it. I think that was a PS1 game…and Professor Layton I have been wanting to get my hands on, I have a remix of one of the songs and it’s great (Professor Layton and the Curious Village ‘Luke, a True Gentleman Prefers a Touch of Light Jazz’ OC ReMix)

      You can’t go wrong with Megaman, some of the best VGM ever made in that series. Very catchy!

      I will be sure to check out several of your recommendations, thanks for sharing and good to know you liked the article. God bless you

      1. I knew I left something out during the triple post 😀

        NieR is one ugly-looking game, but everybody praises its OST highly. You hear the instrumental part of “Song of the Ancients” as your usual first-town-theme-in-the-game. But if you walk towards the town’s middle field, you’ll find a bard singing that theme, and the vocal part of the song will kick in. Neat, huh?

        If you like remixes, check “Faxanadu Medley” by virt.

    1. Thrice, I think. comment 13000, 13001 (rewrite the whole thing from scratch because the browser doesn’t remember any of it + adding two more tracks), and 13002 (just removing the Japanese text). The 13003 shows just fine.

      Maybe because it’s too long? But there weren’t any kind of notice ^^;

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