01-05-2020
TrymenT -Ima o Kaetai to Negau Anata e- AlphA BreakdowN
[Heavy Spoilers]
The World Only You Knows
Yo, Raian here.
This is my breakdown and impressions on TrymenT AlphA, where we'll be discussing the hidden meanings and secrets laid throughout the game.
Please note that all of the following are only conjectures based on partial knowledge and thus should only be taken as a grain of salt.
I have not played Re:LieF or any of the prequels.
All of the speculations are not official and are not backed by any official staffs of the game and should not be treated as such.
Please only use this for entertainment purposes, and to see if you missed anything during your reading of TrymenT.
P.S: The English post isn't the best because there's no English version, therefore I borrowed some names from the Japanese version.
TrymenT breakdown and impressions
1. YoU KnowS ThE DeaR KnowS
First is the title itself.
To someone with a basic knowledge of English, at first glance “YoU Know(S)” might seem like a typo, but knowing the writer, this was done on purpose.
The real question is the meaning behind the sentence. Is it simply “You knows the dear knows”, or “You knows; the dear knows”?
In my opinion, the use of the word “The” itself seems unnatural, why not use “that”? I could simply be looking too much into it.
2. Kakeru’s camera – Alpha
In the beginning of the game, Kakeru’s holding a camera with the word “Alpha” written on it. I believe it to be a hand-me-down from Alpha. In the end, the camera was passed down to Ayame. It could simply be the brand of the camera.
3. Kakeru’s hairpin
Interestingly enough, Kakeru’s wearing a hairpin that’s shaped like Delta (Δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. Fumi’s wearing two “II” hairpins. Mhlia’s wearing two “X” hairpins, which could either mean 10 in Roman numerals or the 22nd Greek alphabet, chi (Χ), while she didn’t wear them during childhood. This could have some deeper meaning behind it, or merely be an aesthetic choice.
4. “Clock” what’s the breakdown
If you pay attention to the dates, you’ll notice the Roman numerals don't tell the time, but rather the month. What does the Greek alphabet mean, then?
At first I thought they were used to show the perspective, with Ψ being Ayame’s group’s perspective and Ω being Tsukasa’s.
However, starting from Op.3, there are more variations to the alphabet.
If we line all the years all up ascendingly, we can see a pattern.
2032 Τ
2033 Υ
2034 Φ
2035 Χ
2036 Ψ
2037 Ω
Each alphabet corresponds to a year according to their order.
That means this isn’t a clock that tells the time, but rather the date.
This revelation is important for my future theories.
5. Map, name symbolism
The map contains a lot of references to the prequel “Traumend” games in the form of names. As I have not played any of the prequels, I cannot understand their significance.
6. Apple Juice and Mhlia
In one of the scenes still within the confines of the trial version, Tsukasa asked Mhlia to pick out a drink from the vending machine. She chose the apple juice.
I could be wrong here, but this seems to be symbolism.
Mhlia Blanco’s name is interesting, as we find out later that Mikuni named her that for her name as an observation AI.
If I’m not wrong, Mhlia means Apple tree (μηλιά) in Greek, while Blanco means white in Spanish.
One of the fruits most commonly associated with the forbidden fruit is the apple.
The chapter where Mhlia introduced herself is Op. 2 Z禁断の果実 (forbidden fruit).
The tree of the forbidden fruit is also known as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The fruit that gave the first man and woman the awareness of good and evil parallels how Mhlia divulged the knowledge that the world isn’t real to Tsukasa (and the readers).
I’m not sure what Blanco could mean. If I had to take a stab at it, I would say it means Mhlia’s intentions are pure. While the serpent who tempted Eve’s intentions are “black”, Mhlia’s are “white”. It could also just be that Mikuni’s naming sense is awful and he named her after her hair color.
7. May 20, Sunday
After Tsukasa woke up, he asked one of the joggers for the date. She said May 20, Sunday. A search would tell you that the years after 2000 and before 2050 that have the day Sunday on May 20 are 2018, 2029, 2035, 2040, 2046.
Of course, later you’d find out that none of these are true.
If you have optimism, you’d think that the world in TrymenT is different from our world, if not, you’d think that the writers didn’t check the calendar.
8. Op. 1 Δ DeaR KnowS -> Op.1 B 普通の学園生活-> Op. 3 Λ RaisoN D’etrE-> Op. 2 Z 禁断の果実
The start of Op. 2 Z 禁断の果実, when Tsukasa wakes up, is a continuation from the ending of Op. 3 Λ RaisoN D’etrE, when Tsukasa meets with Ai, which is a continuation of Op. 1 Δ DeaR KnowS and Op. 1 B 普通の学園生活, when Tsukasa faints after meeting Yuu in the piano room and walks away from Momo.
-5月19日 May 19
Op. 1 Δ DeaR KnowS
Op.1 B 普通の学園生活
Op. 3 Λ RaisoN D’etrE
-5月20日 May 20
Op. 2 Z 禁断の果実
9. Mhlia • B • Horatria (not official translation)
Now that we know what Mhlia Blanco means, what does Horatria mean?
ホラhora (χώρα) = 国(country), トリアtria(τρία) = 三 (three)
If we combined them into one word, it’ll mean 三国, her surname.
Additional hidden meaning unclear.
10. Graves
Based on Mhlia saying she brought rosemary for her mom and Mikuni mentioning her mom loves shepherd’s purse which the graveyard is filled with, this is probably the burial site of Mhlia’s mom, and Mikuni’s wife.
The question I have is whether the deceased in the other graves have any significance to the story.
11. The man asking Tsukasa to wait with Saki
If you compare the voice of the man asking Tsukasa to wait with Saki with Kaneaki Futakami on the TrymenT website, https://re-tryment.com/character/, they sound almost the same, therefore perhaps he is Kaneaki.
12. Graves scene date
One of the theories I have is that a mentioned character, レイ, is Mhlia’s mom. If so, then this scene took place at most 6 years ago (because レイ died 6 years prior), after 2031, when Mhlia is at least 12 years old, since she is at least 18 in 2037, as her father did research for her for 18 years. However, that theory has a flaw in that Tsukasa was in a vegetative state 7 years ago, thus making this theory seem unlikely. However, in other words, that could also mean that the scene took place at least 7 years ago before Tsukasa became a vegetable, before 2030.
13. 涼やかな夏の日
I found four references to the songs in Traumend in Op. 2 H. One of which is the title, 「涼やかな夏の日」.
During the summer festival rehearsal, 「Voyage to the Moon」 is played during the evening, and 「月明かり」during the night. 「空降るエトワール」is mentioned as one of the songs TraumenD plays.
Buy here: https://tryment.booth.pm/items/1673848
14. 新田金秋、二上？
Did Kaneaki change his surname from Nitakami to Nitta, and why? What is his relationship with Futakami Kyouko and the AI?
15. (Thoughts)
If I had a dollar every time the word “苦笑” appeared, I would be a millionaire by now.
16. (Thoughts)
As someone who read TrymenT in Chinese, it feels like there are more than 1 translator due to several inconsistencies in translation throughout the game, and they didn’t have a glossary to keep track of terms.
17. レムリア
In the credits, there’s a character voiced by Sari with the name レムリア, which can be translated to Lemuria, one of the hypothesized lost continents alongside Atlantis and others. It can also mean a festival of spirits/ghosts. Who is this character? For now I’ll call her Rem-chan. I’ll take a wild guess and guess Rem-chan is the hooded girl at the start of Op.3 M.
After listening to Sari’s voice samples, it is definitely possible for her to make Rem-chan’s voice.
Who exactly is she though?
My guess is that she’s the common enemy Dear talked about.
I also have a gut feeling Rihito has a connection to her.
18. (Thoughts) The school librarian would be pissed if she existed
How long did Yuu borrow 「親愛なるあなたへ」for…
The book was borrowed since Ayame’s school year.
It’s not good to borrow a book for more than a year, Yuu. D:
19. Mhlia’s gift
Mhlia bought a teacher porn mag for Hinako as a gift.
If you remember Hinako’s conversation with Tsukasa in the piano room, she wants to be a teacher.
Nice going, Mhlia!
20. エミス(Amis?)
エミスis a French organization, but I’m not sure how to spell it in the Latin alphabet.
If I’m not wrong, it’s “amis”, which means friends in French.
It’ll probably play a fairly significant role in the -Omega chapter-.
21. レイ• ブラン• ホラトレイス hora tres (τρεῖς)? 雷伊• 布朗• 赫尔特雷斯
レイ’s surname is close to Mhlia’s. It can also mean 三国.
Who is this person?
One thing we know is that they are Mikuni-sensei’s teacher or mentor of sorts. The fact that their surname has some sort of connection is suspicious. Did Mikuni give them their name, or perhaps the other way around?
One of my theories is that they might be Mhlia’s mom, but I don’t know how likely this is. They could be her grandfather.
22. 片翼の標
Op. 3 K’s title name means one-winged mark.
However, Mhlia’s mark is two-winged. Who has the one-winged mark?
The people who have the mark, Ayame, Tsukasa and Mhlia, are connected to Algorithm, but what other hidden meanings does the mark have?
23*. (Thoughts) I want to pet Yuu
24. SAO ep.14
What happens to the people who joined TrymenT in the real world? Do they use some sort of VR gear like in Sword Art Online? Are they in a slumber state and use feeding tubes? Is the flow of time in the dream world the same as the real world, or is it accelerated?
25. Observer
Mhlia tells Tsukasa about how the world they’re in right now isn’t real, but how does she know? Is it because she’s an AI, and didn’t undergo the same memory erasing process as the other students?
26. Invisible Wall
Since they’re in an artificial world, what would happen if someone tried to build a boat and ride it out to sea? Would there be some sort of invisible wall?
I believe the boats that carried Ayame and the others in and out contain a sort of login and logout points.
27. Kuroko
Who are Momo’s parents? Did they contribute anything to the story behind the scenes, for example, the Technological Singularity? I am quite curious about them.
28. AI's feelings
Toto, an AI, is able to learn emotions in this world. That means that in this world, AIs are able to learn of love. However, it is unclear whether Alpha and Mhlia started developing feelings for Tsukasa in this world at the start of the 3rd TrymenT project, or earlier, in the real world, or the game world. If Alpha had feelings earlier, when exactly did they first meet? To answer that, we would have to know what Alpha was.
Was Alpha a previously-human-turned-“AI”, like Mhlia, or was she developed from scratch by Futakami, either Kyouko or Kaneaki, like Toto? Perhaps Alpha was developed as a companion for Tsukasa in his early days, or maybe morbidly, Alpha was a dead stepsister that Kyouko couldn’t let go, and therefore created an AI in her image (I’m thinking too much). Or maybe, she’s created in the image of Mhlia’s dead mom.
29. Can AI dream?
Alpha manages the dream world, while Omega exists in the real world, dreaming.
I suspect in the sequel -Omega chapter- , a major plot point will take place in the real world.
The most important thing I need to know is whether the AI Omega is humanoid, and whether she’s cute if she’s a girl.
(Actually the thing I want to know the most is why Ai’s boobs are larger than Yuu’s)
30. ヴァルトレイク• フューラー 瓦尔德雷克• 弗拉
ヴァルトレイクis the name of the magic sword planted in a salt lake in a game Rihito played. Unfortunately I don’t know how it’s spelled in German.
Could said sword be the blade shown in the OP movie? As well as the one wielded by Yuu, Tsukasa and the mysterious knife-man?
What significance does the blade have?
フューラー(Führer) means leader.
What was Rihito the leader of in-game?
I suspect he had something to do with what Rem-chan, the hooded girl said in Op.3 M.
Was he an enemy, or an ally?
31. Natsume Sōseki “The Three-cornered World (Kusamakura)”
In the game, a quote from Kusamakura was briefly referenced:
「智に働けば角が立つ。情に掉させば流される。意地を通せば窮屈だ。とかくに人の世は住みにくい。」
Because I’m not well-versed in classical Japanese literature, I have absolutely no idea what it means.
A translation I found is “Approach everything rationally, and you become harsh. Pole along in the stream of emotions, and you will be swept away by the current. Give free rein to your desires, and you become uncomfortably confined. It is not a very agreeable place to live, this world of ours.”
If I’m not wrong, the first sentence refers to Yuu, the second refers to Tsukasa, while the third refers to either Mhlia or Ai.
There could be some other meaning I’m not aware of.
32. What is this supposed to be, the eye of Medjed?
33. Tsukasa's past
At the end of Op. 3 Λ, when Tsukasa met Ai when he had his original personality, he saw his reflection and was surprised, mentioning Satou’s name... Was he referring to Rihito? What did Satou Rihito do to his past?
One of my theories is that the boy in Tsukasa’s flashback when he kissed Mhlia is Rihito. He was probably the last thing he saw before going into a vegetative state.
34. White clock
At the end of Op. 3 Λ, when original personality Tsukasa met with Ai, the calendar clock is white. At the beginning of Op. 3 M, it reverted to black before turning back to white. There are no other instances where the clock is white.
I don’t know the meaning behind this, but it is pretty unnatural. And in TrymenT, more often than not, something unnatural like that must have a purpose.
35.
Since Natsume Sōseki’s “Kusamakura” was referenced, I wondered if any other literature was. For example, could it be that the characters’ name came from books?
Mikuni (三国) from Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三国演义).
Momo (海藏) from海藏楼诗集.
Hahakigi (箒木) from a chapter in The Tale of Genji.
It’s probably just a coincidence.
36. Shota
Alpha getting helped by Soutome 6 years before 2036/early 2037 coincides with Tsukasa becoming a vegetable 7 years before 2037. The year 2030.
What really happened that year?
By the way, Soutome was 18 years old in 2030, while Tsukasa was at most 12 years old, because he wasn’t at legal drinking age in 2037, meaning he was younger than 20.
I could really see Soutome drawing shouta in her doujins.
37. 1st TrymenT term
Kakeru’s term was the second, meaning there was a Tryment project term before hers.
What was the first term like? Who were the participants? When was it held, the previous year?
38. Boku to Ore
Tsukasa’s transition from using the “boku” pronoun to “ore”.
What hidden meaning could lie behind this? What was going through the mind of Tsukasa at this time? If I’m not mistaken, this was the new personality. Did he try to differentiate himself from the old personality unconsciously?
39. Who is the knifeman?
If I go with my gut feeling, it’s probably Rihito, or Kanade(bangs), but I have no evidence to back that claim up.
But is he really?
By the way, maybe this blade has a higher chance of being the ヴァルトレイク.
40. RAY
If you put someone named レイ (Rei) in the game, then put someone with the name RAY in the credits whom I can’t trace, of course I'm going to get suspicious.
It could just be an actual person though. Sorry.
41. Real Personality
Mhlia mentioned meeting Tsukasa’s real personality before in the other world. That was probably in the beginning of Op.2 Z 禁断の果実, when Tsukasa met Ayame.
42. Compatibility test
I suspect most, if not all of the participants of the 3rd, and maybe the 2nd TrymenT Project term were hand-picked by Mikuni-sensei himself, or at least, participations were influenced by him before undergoing a compatibility test. If so, why did he pick Rihito and pair him with Tsukasa as roommates? Or perhaps a better question would be why the compatibility test machine deemed him compatible with Tsukasa?
I am not sure how the compatibility test works, and how roommates are chosen outside of Ayame and Kakeru, therefore I can’t really answer this.
43. Rihito's friend
Rihito said that his friend in a game told him about TrymenT, but who was the friend he mentioned?
As I’m pretty sure the game Rihito played was the same one where Tsukasa was Dear playing the piano, that friend must have some connection to Tsukasa.
I have a lot of theories on who the friend is, they could even be Tsukasa. Unfortunately, I lack the information to form a concrete conclusion.
44. Piano Room hallucinations
At the end of Op. 1 Δ DeaR KnowS, Tsukasa hallucinated conversations while walking to the piano room.
「死ぬことは怖くないよ」is of course what Mhlia said to him when they were younger.
I suspect「僕がお前の未練を断ってやるよ」is said by Rihito. Probably? Maybe? I can’t say for sure.
I’m pretty sure「そして、新たな世代の、今を変えらいという願いによって、終焉を迎える」is said by Rem-chan. If you compare the voice here with the voice in the beginning of Op. 3 M 終日のトロイメント, they are pretty similar.
45. The meaning of 'Final'
First Fantasy……
……
…………….
………………………………………………
46. Year 2012 Horror Game
When Kakeru said her goodbyes to Ayame, it looked like there’s someone hiding in the background.
It could be Yuu, or it could just be Pareidolia.
47. Twintails yabai
The little girl in the opening sequence, who is she? It has been driving me nuts.
Behind her is Kaneaki, if you compare his clothes and shoes to the ones on the official site. The woman beside him is probably Kyouko, but that’s uncertain. What’s even more uncertain is the man with the dirty blonde hair. He could just be a background character, or he could be one of the most important people in the entire game to be honest.
48. Opening Sequence
While I’m sure this opening sequence takes place in the future, do these images take place in the real world or another dream world?
49. Yuu's "e-?"mail
What does the burning of Yuu’s letter mean?
Did she send it to the other side?
Did she send it to the person she wanted it to send it to?
Or did she burn the letter to steel her resolve?
50. Opening Movie secrets (there's a lot)
A fun fact is that the opening song “Kimi Dake ga Shiru Sekai” sheet music is in the opening movie itself.
The OP movie of the prequel Re:LieF also has a part where the lyrics of Daisy Bell (by Harry Dayce) is shown.
If you do some research on the song, you’ll find out it’s the first song sung by a computer, an IBM 704 at Bell Labs in 1961. It's also sung by HAL 9000 in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey during its deactivation. Interesting.
51. Op. 3 :||:
When the final chapter came, I was surprised to learn that the chapter’s alphabet was :||: instead of N.
Searching everywhere, I could not find the meaning to the symbol until I re-watched the OP and ED.
Could it be that :||: = 𝄇𝄆 ?
If so, the M𝄇𝄑𝄆N in the movie can be rearranged to become 𝄆N~ 𝄌~M𝄇
If you don’t know, in music, a repeat sign indicates that a section should be repeated. When you reach 𝄇, you either jump back to the beginning, or to 𝄆 if the piece has one.
Man, the unwilting sakura trees, the bananas, and the D.C symbol above really reminds me of another galge.
With that knowledge in mind, I have several theories.
(1) M = Mhlia, N = Nitta
(2) M = 2037, N = 2026
The first theory is that chapter M ends with Mhlia being the lead, while chapter N, presumably the first chapter in -Omega-, starts with Nitta.
The second theory uses a previous theory, where the alphabet corresponds with years. If we assume the year of Ω = the year of chapter M = 2037, and start counting back from Ω to N, we’ll get the year 2026.
Why 2026?
Mikuni-sensei said in 2037 that the Technological singularity happened 10 years prior, 2027. Therefore in the -Omega chapter- sequel, we may be taking a look into how the Technological Singularity happened.
𝄑 and 𝄌 could just be placeholders, or they could mean what they are supposed to be in music.
𝄑 is fermata, a sign which means pause for an unspecified length. My theory is that it has something to do with the protected server the three marked people are in.
𝄌 is the coda symbol, I think. I’m not familiar with that variation of coda.
Other things I found that would back up the theory is in the movies. Starting at 0:38 of the TrymenT teaser movie, Greek letters appear, transitioning from the last to first;
while in the TrymenT OP movie, the frames go back in reverse chronological order starting at 1:48,
finally stopping at the place Tsukasa saw in his flashback, where 4 people were talking about how the tree was beautiful “like sakura”. I assume the flashback’s the “start” we’ll go back to when we “re:start”
This theory is absurd, and is highly unlikely to be true. Personally I believe that :||: being a question isn’t wrong, and the direction I went in isn’t wrong as well, but I made too many leaps in logic and committed logical fallacy.
The 𝄇𝄆 symbol itself could mean “Re:”, as in “Re:LieF”, “Re:TrymenT”.
I always wondered why “Re:LieF” has a “:” in it.
I’ve always thought Re:LieF sounded like Relive, which can mean再体験する, and re:live would mean人生を再スタート/新生活. Relief itself can mean安心or救助
However, recently I found that in English, lief can mean dear. If that’s so, “Re:LieF” can be written as “Re: Dear”. It would make sense, since one of the goals of TrymenT is to save Nitta, whom I assume is Dear.
That could also mean that the “Re:LieF” sign in the opening sequence isn’t the name of the building, but an event.
Re:LieF.
The return of Dear.
That’s my theory.
//終わり
EXTRA
You know the narutard in me had to do this
Yoshi
これはOmega編のネタバレ
これもOmega編のネタバレ
Bananaマン
ふん...
今日も夢のために頑張ります
Thank you for reading.