CODA (Free SF Yuri Dist Piano Bell) Introduction, Impressions, and Analysis

「MINDCIRCUS」「Midday darknessThis article is about "CODA," a work by Reizōko, who also produced works such as "[title of work]."
The genre was described as "SF Yuri Dystopia Interactive Novel Game."

This work takes the form of making public the recordings made by the character CODA in this modern age.
When it was first released, it included a bit of a treasure hunt element, where players had to find a password within the main story to access the next episode, and then enter that password on the website to play.
That's why it was labeled as an interactive visual novel game, and I think it was a clever and interesting feature.

Currently, the main game can be downloaded and played all at once.
Players who couldn't proceed because they didn't know the password can now read without one.
Incidentally, I was one of the players who gave up when it was first released because I didn't know the password.

I think it will take about four hours to complete and finish reading everything.
However, since I read it over and over again, I think the total playtime is probably around 8 hours.

Game Overview

The game is a visual novel where you progress by reading text.
In the currently available downloadable version of the main game, you can start from any episode.
However, there doesn't seem to be much point in playing through the story in a haphazard manner, so it's best to read through it in order, starting from Episode 1, as is the usual practice.

Occasionally, choices will be displayed, which may lead to the acquisition of additional information or change the subsequent events.
However, since each episode is separate, the choices you make will not affect other episodes.

The synopsis listed on the game posting site is as follows:"Freem!"(Quoted from...)

That's all for now.
The episodes can be played from the perspectives of three characters: Coda's story is 1-6, Riff's story is 1-4, and Placito's story is 1-2.
I played them in the order listed above, and I think this order is probably the easiest to follow.

Review (no spoilers)

This work depicts the daily lives, youth, and government conspiracies of young people in a strictly controlled dystopian society.
Because the story is set in the "distant future," not the near future, people's lifestyles, cultures, and ways of thinking are vastly different from our own.
For those who enjoy reading science fiction, this setting might be easy to relate to.
I could sense elements of Orwell's "1984," Kaoru Kurimoto's "Leda," the movie "Blue Christmas," and the manga version of "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind."

It has been repeatedly shown that because it is the distant future, their values and culture will be different from ours.
However, even then, there are times when you are confronted with the fact that you are unknowingly reading with preconceived notions.
The story doesn't explain the world setting in detail from beginning to end, so there are things you have to infer or imagine from the descriptions of everyday life and the characters' words and actions.

Like previous works,I enjoy reading each and every line of text, both the narrative and the dialogue.
The everyday conversations that allow you to realistically imagine the lives of the people living in that world, as well as conversations about the future, relationships, and philosophical and political topics, evoke memories of youth.

The incidents that the CODAs encounter lead to major events that change the world, but these incidents are merely the background, and the story consistently focuses on the characters.
There aren't many main characters, such as coda, riff, legato, platito, and stack.
The human relationships depicted there are also those in a society that is quite different from our own.
Although the genre is labeled "yuri," that's not the main focus. It's more of an emphasis on the fact that it's a story about a society with different values than our own.
If you're not someone who absolutely hates homosexual content, I think you'll be able to enjoy it without any problems.

Regarding the game's functionality, it would have been helpful if there was an option to change the text display speed in the settings.
Furthermore, the scope of what can be reviewed using the backlog function is not very wide.
Therefore, you save at points you want to reread, but the number of save files you can create is limited to eight.
Since the work is full of mysteries and plot points that require careful consideration, I would have appreciated a feature that makes it easier to reread sections.

Review (contains spoilers)

I was able to read through Riff's episode to the end and reach the conclusion of Coda and Riff's story.
Placito's episode could be described as offering a perspective that delves into the hidden aspects of the CODA world.
From Coda and Riff's perspective, Placito appeared detached and aloof, but from Placito's subjective point of view, she seemed like a girl her age, drawn to Stack and jealous of Largo.
One possible reason for the change in personality might be the events at the end of the episode.

Riff's perspective is set chronologically after Coda's perspective.
Since the final episode is told from Riff's perspective, after finishing the book, you feel like Riff was the main character.
Whether they betrayed the victim or not, both endings were interesting and worthwhile.

I have several favorite scenes, but most of them were the scenes with Riff.
It would be difficult to introduce too many scenes, so the scenes that particularly resonated with me are the following:

This is the scene where Coda encourages him to apply for the audition.
I could really relate to the fear of competing with your favorite hobby.
If I were to find out that I'm inferior to others in the thing I love most, I feel like I wouldn't be able to put any effort into anything anymore.
However, since Riff overcame that and decided to apply, I felt a strong desire to support him.
That's why it was so heartbreaking that a small mistake in the coda led to such a tragic ending.

I think Riff's expression when he passed the selection process was the best smile he had throughout the entire film.
In terms of the relationship between coda and riff during my university days, I would say it was precisely the peak of the line graph.

As shown in the image above, the sight of Riff, Legato, and Placito chatting together was a somewhat strange yet comforting scene.
The way the initially harsh riffs soften a little over the years gives a sense of growth.

Analysis (contains spoilers)

Now, there are several things and mysteries in this film, "CODA," that are not explained in detail.
The documentation that was previously available when playing the game on the website is probably no longer accessible.
Therefore, although this may be an insufficient analysis, I will try to summarize what I have understood and what I do not understand.
I'm sure there are many things I've overlooked or misunderstood, but I'll write it down anyway.
I will add or revise this as needed if I make any new discoveries.

About Agnus Dei
The term "Agnus Dei" itself refers to a mass or similar religious service, but in the story, it was used as the name of an operation in which the organization took action.
It has a similar feel to "X-Day," which I thought was cool.

In general public perception, it seems to be a common term for a major incident in which the existing order is threatened.
Specifically, as mentioned at the beginning of Episode 1 of the Riff arc, it was an incident in which the OWs of all citizens were shut down, resulting in numerous casualties.
This suggests that the government's control over society is, to some extent, on the verge of collapse.

Nevertheless, state power still seems to wield considerable influence.
The way OW was shut down seems to have been when Stack played a certain piece of music at the broadcasting station, and perhaps the song was called "Agnus Dei," which might have been the name of the operation.

Did Riff kill Coda?
At the beginning of the section on riffs, Riff says the following about the coda:
"She disappeared in mid-December of her freshman year of university. Soon after, Agnus Dei arrived."
It seems that system outages had occurred locally before this day, so they might have been caught up in one of those.
After reading this, I thought that perhaps the relationship between the riff and the coda hadn't been properly repaired since the audition incident.

However, as I continued reading through the Riff arc,"The fact that I killed Coda."The phrase appears.
This line was spoken by Riff in the context of his own belief that "lies and secrets will be brought to light."
In other words, one of the secrets he's hiding is that he betrayed Coda and killed her.

Episode 6 of the Koda storyline ends with a dejected Riff witnessing Stack and Koda bleeding blue blood and asking, "Did you kill someone?"
Judging from this description, Riff probably betrayed Coda afterward.
It seems that the positive evaluation he received from this informant was the reason that Riff, whose evaluation had dropped considerably due to his two-week absence, was able to slip into the highly competitive History Revision Bureau (even though it was no longer a star position).
The line "I've killed two people in my life," spoken at the end of Riff's story, likely refers to his mother and the coda.

Humans with red blood and blue blood
This is about the "blue blood" that is clearly depicted in the bloodshed of Stack at the end of the Coda arc.
What does this blue blood signify?
Once you have finished reading the main story,Old humans have red blood, new humans have blue bloodIt can be inferred that this is the case.
And we also learn that the organization that caused Agnus Dei is on the side of the old humanity with red blood.

The new humans are probably android-like beings, and their methods of reproduction are likely different from ours.
Other characteristics include being influenced by songs used in Agnus Dei and Fly Spray, and viewing homosexuality as normal (although there are exceptions).

Platite analysis based on blood color
At the end of Placito's story, Placito asks her parents, "Why is my blood red?"
Furthermore, since Largo and Plachito were unaffected by the Fly Spray, it can be concluded that Plachito is an ancient human with red blood, in other words, a Red-Code.

However, in the final episode of Riff's story, where he chooses to "inform,"Placito, who attempted suicide, had blue blood.It says so.
In other words, I think Plati had red blood, at least until the end of the Plati arc.
And then, after being executed, perhaps they were resurrected as a new species of human with blue blood.
I suspect they were reborn as a new type of human, retaining their sense of self, using the same technology that revived the CODA.

In the conversation between Placito and Legato after their resurrection, it appears they are working to stop the Agnus Dei.
Although Placito holds anti-government ideologies, it appears that he has broken away from radical underground organizations that are not averse to murder and is instead conducting his anti-government activities independently.
However, I also feel that another factor in his break with the underground organization was jealousy over the relationship between Stack and Largo.

Regarding Plachit, the following is also said in the conversation between Rif and the Tribune:
"I heard her blood was blue."
"It's strange, isn't it, that they would still betray their country. Is it because they once had red blood in their veins? There are far fewer of them now, though..."
(Riff's story, episode 4, the route of informing)
It seems the government also recognizes that "Platito's blood used to be red, but now it's blue."
He may have used his position as a family member of a high-ranking government official to his advantage and turn his life around, but it's undeniable that Prachit holds an anti-government stance.

- Conflict between government and organizations
The government is probably finding and eliminating the old humans with red blood, and replacing them with the new humans with blue blood.
I believe that during this process, the memories that form the basis of an individual's personality are extracted externally, modified, and then replaced in the body of a newly created new type of human.
The fact that this is technically possible is evident from the method used to revive the coda in the latter half of the riff section.

And the underground organization must be hoping to find as many of the old humans with red blood as possible.
That's why they might be causing a lot of incidents that result in bloodshed, or working in places like shady establishments where they injure people to recruit them as allies.

Who has red blood?
In the story, there aren't that many characters with red blood.
When Coda's throat was slit by Stack, it was clearly red blood.
Having red blood, yet being attracted to the same sex, gives the impression of being an anomaly.
However, after being resurrected by Placito, his blood will likely turn blue.
In that situation, the color of the blood is practically irrelevant.

I think Stack was probably Koda's older or younger brother.
However, at some point, without even realizing it, my blood must have turned blue.
Even so, the fact that I was able to join the organization might be thanks to my antisocial ideology and the bugs in OW.
It's possible that her affection for Largo was being cleverly exploited.

Based on the episodes about his mother who doesn't resemble him and his belief that blue blood is normal, it can be inferred that Riff has blue blood.

Legato is clearly described as blue by Placito, and this is also confirmed by past Gore footage.

As mentioned earlier, Platito's blood is initially red, but at some point it changes to blue.
It's natural to assume that he changed when he was executed.