Case study of 'A Love Suicide'

A Love Suicide is the main theme of Rule of Rose and the sixth track of the Rule of Rose Original Soundtrack. The song is used in all promotional trailers for the game, and played during the opening sequence and credits in-game. It is easily recognizable as the teaser showed a sequence of cutscenes with this theme in the background. 

The music is performed by The Hiroshi Murayama Trio with soundtrack composer Hiroshi Murayama on piano. The vocals are sung by Murayama's wife, Kaori Kondo.

But what makes 'A Love suicide' so hunting and heavy? In this article we are going to explore the background, nature and realisation of this piece as well as the theme of 'Tragically beautiful art'. 

Be aware of the spoiler warning for the whole Rule of Rose. 

First of all, the song shares the same melody as Bullying, Cello Etude, Piano Etude I, and Piano Etude II.

The lyrics of this song could very likely be about Wendy's love and devotion for Jennifer and all the deadly things she did to prove her love for her. Also, the title "love suicide" could be a description of Wendy: someone who is willing to face death for her love, and possibly commit homicide-suicide via Stray Dog because of it. I can only love the juxtaposition of the concept of love, something strongly spontaneous and uncontrollable, to that of suicide, a perfectly conscious action that ends with itself everything that makes us human.

In terms of lyrics, The Rule Of Rose Wiki reported that 'A Love Suicide' has been noted to share similar lyrics with the 1970s song 'All the Madmen' by English musician David Bowie. The song deals with the theme of insanity, which is also a theme in Rule of Rose. Finally, All the Madmen ends with a repeated phrase in French that translates as 'release the dog', similar to Stray Dog. Despite the loose connection, nothing from the game developers has been said about the lyrics.

A similarity is undeniable:

A Love Suicide Lyrics

So please don’t set me free

I’m as heavy as can be

I will do you harm

I will break my arm

All the Madmen Lyrics

So I tell them that

I can fly, I will scream, I will break my arm

I will do me harm

Don’t set me free, I’m as heavy as can be

I think that twisting the rhyme here is very powerful: Bowie speaks in first person inflicting pain on himself, however in A Love Suicide, the narrator declares that she will cause in the near future, if the relationship develops, pain to others through violence inflicted on herself. This could forebode Wendy's twisted manipulation on Jennifer by overlapping it on the manipulation of the lyrics.

Secondly, another reason why this piece is so impactful is the language. While many of which the pianist Dan Ravipinto critiqued the lyrics arguing that the language barrier affected its beauty, I personally believe that the imperfections both in the pronunciation and in the text gives a fantastic key to interpretation. It's almost as if the narrative voice is looking for the right words but her childish vocabulary is limited. These raw emotions poured in simple words pierce though the audience's heart right at the beginning of the game when no hints are given on the identity of the narrative voice.

Many artists and musicians deserve recognition for the amazing interpretations of this piece, a few worth mentioning are Laura Cubert and Itoki Hana.

Lastly, probably the most important reason, the tragically beautiful nature of the piece. A more in depth study of what I'm going to discuss can be seen by clicking here, however I'm going to summarise this by saying that 'Tragically beautiful art' links with the desire to be sad, caused by a romanticised version of the latter.

Over the last half-century, the push to destigmatize mental illness has led to increasing coverage about mental health across many outlets. Today it is possible to find online articles, reference tools, podcasts, televisions shows, and even documentaries about the evolving face of mental health. 

Yet, with the good also comes the bad. 

For decades, horror movies, romance stories, books, television shows, and more have sensationalized and even romanticized mental illness. In some instances, popular television has overshadowed the severity of symptoms and challenges of struggling with mental health. Many modern releases lead to the misconception that mental illness is beautiful or even desirable. It also impacts the desire of those struggling with mental illness to seek and get the help they need to feel well again. 

Whether on the big screen or on television, Hollywood often portrays mental illness in ways that either glorify or stigmatize the root causes of the condition and the symptoms someone with a mental illness experiences. Some popular television series focus most of (if not all of) their episodes for a season on mental illness or mental health challenges. Popular television series like This is Us, Glee, and American Horror Story are prime examples. 

Romanticizing mental illness can be dangerous. Images of self-harm and “the beauty of mental illness” may encourage others (teens and adults alike) to view mental illness as something of tragic beauty.

While I do strongly believe that Rule of Rose is an amazing representation of mental illness and suicide and definitely not a romanticised version of this themes, it is also true that the audience in inclined to emphasise with Wendy and therefore in some cases hyperbolically relate to her words due to the false sense of sweetness throughout the piece ('and love itself is pure like sin', 'just because of the love -...- For you).

In conclusion, A Love Suicide is a piece of art on itself and not just a background for the game. Its beauty is caused by many different factors, most of them are probably involuntary human reactions, however the conceptual complexity behind it is undeniable.