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Information

• Member: MeriC
• Studio: Temple O' Trunks
• Title: Deceptive Passions
• Premiered: 2003-08-08
• Categories:
  • Drama
  • Romance
• Song:
  • Sugarcult Pretty Girl
• Anime:
  • Fushigi Yuugi
• Participation:
  • Otakon 2003 (10 year Anniversary), Otakon 2003 (10 year Anniversary) (2003-08-08)
  • Shoujocon 2003, Shoujocon 2003 (2003-08-22)
  • Anime Weekend Atlanta 9 (Expo), Anime Weekend Atlanta 9 (Expo) (2003-09-26)
• Comments: ** WINNER: 2nd Place (Romance/Sentimental): Otakon 2003 AMV Contest
  ** WINNER: 3rd Place: Shoujocon 2003 AMV Contest
  ** Alan Chaess of Red Apple Productions Presents "Best Relationship Profile" Award: AWA 2003 AMV Contest - Guest Awards
  
  This is a story about the harsh sides of love. When you fall in love, is it by your own free will, or does it seem like some kind of outside force is pushing you into it? That’s more or less the story of this video (hence the title, “Deceptive Passions.” It took me FOREVER to think of a decent title…).
  
  I’ve wanted to make another Fushigi Yuugi video since “Again,” but I haven’t really had any decent ideas. I let that desire fall to the back of my head while I struggled to come up with an idea for an Otakon video. I had originally planned to make a comedy video for Otakon, but the idea wasn’t really clicking with me. It was funny, in theory, but it would probably end up being a cheap sellout video used to get the crowd going. That, and I really didn’t have a solid idea. So, I did what I usually do when it comes to making video ideas. I listened to some music in my car.
  
  One day, I was listening to Sugarcult’s CD, “Start Static,” when the song “Pretty Girl (The Way)” came on. I heard the song before on the CD, but didn’t give it much thought. I also remember seeing the band’s music video for it on MTV2 one day, and thought, “hmmm, that could work with Fushigi Yuugi.” But in the cold nothingness of my car, I decided once and for all that the song would be a good fit for Fushigi Yuugi. Since I didn’t have any better ideas, this became my idea for my Otakon/Shoujocon music video submission!
  
  Almost immediately, I knew that the first verse of the song would be about Miaka and her relationships (Tamahome, Hotohori), and the second verse would focus on Yui’s relationships (Nakago, Suboshi, and Tamahome, oooh, triangle!), and the end would just be nutty with female self-empowerment as the conclusion. I also knew that the crazy instrumental guitar parts would just be frantic, showing the frustrations of the said relationships. And, I also knew I wanted the screaming of “the way” in each chorus to be screamed by the girls. So yeah, those were all solid plans I had in my head before the video was made.
  
  The main plot of this video is that we see these two girls in a number of relationships, but are they really in love? Are the guys they’re involved with just using them? That’s the main point I wanted to get across.
  
  The video starts off in a typical Meri-video fashion: an introduction of characters with head-shots and flowing movement. Heh, it seems like I have a lot of videos that start off that way. The last character I introduced was Tamahome, since he’s so pivotal in the lives of both our leading ladies. The beginning is all basic fades to black and cuts.
  
  We then see Miaka, who is starting to fall for Tamahome and Hotohoti.
  
  Now for the first verse! Both verses are edited in the same fashion. I blacked out the majority of the screen with black bars to focus on the center of attention in a particular scene. I think it looks kinda stylish. This is also one of the two main “effects” I used in the video, although it’s very simple.
  
  Anywho, here’s a break down of the lyrics and scenes:
  
  “pretty girl is suffering / while he confesses everything”
  Miaka and Tamahome section. She confesses love to him. He blows her off. Ouch! But she is only further intrigued!
  
  “pretty soon she’ll figure out / what his intentions were about”
  Miaka and Hotohori. After being rejected by Tamahome, she goes to him… although he only wants to use her for her lil’ 15-year old hot bod! Yikes! So THOSE were his intentions (dur hur hur, lyric matching is fun!)
  
  “and that’s what you get for falling again”
  Miaka lying in bed, realizing what she’s done, skankin’ it up
  
  “you can never get him out of your head”
  Miaka thinking about the guys, then sits alone on her floor
  
  “and that’s what you get for falling again”
  More shots of the guys
  
  “you can never get him out of your head”
  Miaka daydreams of Tamahome being by her side in her room, but his image fades away
  
  [ chorus ]
  
  “it's the way / that he makes you feel”
  ”it's the way / that he kisses you”
  ”it's the way / that he makes you fall in love”
  This whole section just deals with Miaka’s frustration, and her love for the two guys, how they make her feel, but somehow, it just doesn’t feel right (as seen by that last shot where she’s hugging Tamahome, but appears to almost be scowling)
  
  “she’s beautiful as usual / with bruises on her ego and”
  Now it’s Yui’s turn! I kinda like the transition between her and Miaka’s section, but anyway… first, we see Yui looking all smug, but then we see her “bruises” (her scar on her wrist) and we see that maybe she’s not all that perfect
  
  “the killer instinct tells her to / be aware of evil men”
  Muwahaha, I love this line. Here we see Nakago and Suboshi moving in on Yui, but we eventually see how sinister they look behind the scenes. Could these men be plotting to use her, too?
  
  “and that’s what you get for falling again”
  Yui’s slowly starting to fall for Nakago and Suboshi
  
  “you can never get him out of your head”
  Shots of the guys, looking evil, and then a shot of Yui…
  
  “and that’s what you get for falling again”
  More shots of Yui’s guys
  
  “you can never get him out of your head”
  Yui thinking hard about the guys, with two quick flashes of Nakago and Suboshi looking *really* sinister
  
  “it's the way / that he makes you feel”
  ”it's the way / that he kisses you”
  ”it's the way / that he makes you fall in love” x2
  The same thing that happened to Miaka is now happening to Yui. Shots of her with the guys back and forth are shown here. It ends with a shot of Nakago, Suboshi, and… Tamahome? Uh oh, looks like Yui’s moving in on Miaka’s territory! Madness ensues!
  
  [ crazy instrumental part! ]
  
  Here’s the other main “effect” of the video, a transparent shaky camera sort of thing going on. Here, we see scenes such as Miaka and Yui at odds because of Tamahome, the guys grabbing the girls, forcing themselves on them (wow, that sounds a lot worse than it really is!)… I just wanted a general feeling of chaos in this section, although I’m not sure if it completely works. Ends with a mad crazy drumroll, featuring all angles of all the couples involved.
  
  “pretty girl... pretty girl...”
  Shots of Miaka and Yui together…. Why? Not really sure, exactly. Uhhh, they’re the main characters of the video, that’s why!
  
  “pretty girl is suffering while he confesses everything”
  Miaka tries confessing to Tamahome again
  
  ”pretty soon she'll figure out: you can never get him out of your head”
  Oooooh, rejected! I love this part. :P
  
  “it’s the way / that he makes you cry”
  Tamahome really sticks it to Miaka, as she cries.
  
  “it’s the way / that he’s in your mind”
  Being the fickle bitch that she is, Miaka now thinks of Hotohori
  
  “it’s the way / that he makes you fall in love”
  Miaka goes back to Tamahome, he takes her back… or does he? Whatta ass!!
  
  “it’s the way / that he makes you feel”
  Miaka and Hotohori stuff, yadda yadda.
  
  “it’s the way / that he kisses you”
  Miaka and Tamahome now.
  
  “it’s the way / that he makes you fall in love” x2
  Everyone giving evil glares at each other. Tamahome “walks out” on Miaka.
  
  [ second crazy instrumental part ]
  
  After realizing all the crap the guys are putting them through, Miaka and Yui finally just say “no!,” pushing the men out of their lives. At the end of the video, we see Miaka and Yui standing tall and proud on their own two feet.
  
  As you can see by the lyrics break down, I sort of messed with the story of Fushigi Yuugi a bit. But, that’s part of the fun! I hope you enjoy my twisted take on the series. I apologize if it comes off a bit like a male-bashing video, but I thought it would be neat to do. It’s certainly an odd type of romance video… maybe it’s more of a heartbreak video. I definitely had fun experimenting with the characters, and their relationships within the show. Let me know what you think of it! It’s one of my favorite videos that I’ve made in recent years. :)