DEEMO I Quiz for Legends

- This is another example of a hidden "all of the above" answer being the correct one, and it is also the first of many questions to have a retrospective understanding of the various hints the story gives.

- To elaborate, the little girl reaching the window results in the entire world disappearing, which is seen with Hans fading away. This is *after* the Masked Lady would antagonise the little girl in other ways, such as explicitly saying, "Those sounds you both make are really annoying...".

- "Marigold" is the final song played in the series of "boss songs" by M2U. "Magnolia", "Myosotis", and "Marigold" hold various meanings in flower language but primarily serve as thematic checkpoints in the game.

 

- Magnolia and Myosotis as a singular artwork represent the duality of true love as great strength and great weakness. Alice truly loves her brother and wants to be a pianist like him (source: final artwork / light novel prologue). This love is so strong, however, that when the memory of her brother causes her great grief after his death, she cannot ignore or forget this memory. Remembrance begets suffering.

 

- Marigold, meanwhile, is an entirely separate artwork with no duality to another artwork. The flowers are in full blossom, and Alice's face radiates with positivity. Such is thematically appropriate, as the end to the Forgotten Hourglass is Alice living on to be a world-class pianist like Hans. Rather than forgetting his memory, she is empowered by it, enough to take wing (evidence: Wings of Piano feathers).

 

- Alice could move on from her grief into the future stronger than ever. That is why DEEMO's thematic conclusion is liberation. The other answers are themes that culminate into the conclusion, as they happen during the Forgotten Hourglass.

 

- The ending of Chapter 2 reveals various things. The world of Deemo is a dream; Hans was killed while Alice survives, and the Masked Lady is also Alice. These are all big reveals explicitly shown to the player, while Alice considering forfeiting her life is not explicitly shown. Despite this lack of explicit confirmation, it is the most correct answer.

 

- If the world is a dream, then the story has taken place inside of Alice's mind, and the dream gives representations of various aspects of her character. If the dream was after the accident, then the dream would represent something about Hans and the accident (evidence: the wheel in the loft and the piano recital medal in the staircase). If the Masked Lady is also Alice, then the Masked Lady is a psychological construct representing a part of Alice.

 

- Retrospective knowledge of the Masked Lady's dialogue is then all the evidence one needs. She wants the girl and Deemo to "stop playing..." because "the higher you climb, the harder you fall". She is happy the tree stops growing at one point and starts to panic about "what to do now..." when it begins growing again. Most importantly, the Masked Lady's motivation is to stop Alice and Deemo from reaching the consequences of their actions, saying "if this keeps up..." when unlocking the loft and "is it really worth it?" near the end of Chapter 2.

 

- It's clear, then, that the Masked Lady is the part of Alice that does not want to wake up, in fear that reality on the other side, a life without Hans, will be too miserable to bear. As long as Alice stays asleep, she can be with what remains of Hans: Deemo and his piano-playing, the stars they look at through a telescope, and so forth. Alice would have stayed in a coma if not for the little girl and Deemo, but the Masked Lady also lost her own convictions near the end, which was a fragile masquerade to begin with (more on that in DEEMO -After Story-).

 

- Alice does not explicitly consider committing suicide as "forfeited her life" implies, but there are various hints of suicidal ideation in the game, such as the lyrics of Nine Point Eight, Sandglass (DLC song, unfortunately), and Fluquor (English in YouTube captions). Never waking up from the coma would also be a more euphemistic symbolism, as remaining in a persistent vegetative state means she may as well be dead.

 

- Fortunately, the part of Alice that wanted to wake up won, but because the Masked Lady remains, how Alice handles her grief is maladaptive and indefinitely painful. It is this maladaptiveness that gives the Masked Lady's role in the story.

- The story of the Forgotten Hourglass is about Alice continuing to combat her grief over the course of her life, finding new ways to associate memories of her brother and helping the part of herself that suffers the most, the Masked Lady.

 

- The improved artwork is constantly commented on by Alice herself, that it's much brighter and livelier than before. The brighter and livelier artwork is in contrast to the drearier artwork when she was in a comatose state, but also in a less mentally prepared state.

- 2nd playthrough

 

Alice: Can we try to understand each other?

Celia: I still carry a heart heavy with troubled thoughts.

Alice: Will time erase these memories, I do not know...

Celia: Perhaps, but not now...I've already been on this journey countless times

 

- 3rd playthrough

 

Alice: Whenever I return to this place, the thing I longed the most is to talk with you.

Celia: I also want to...except I never muster the courage to speak.

 

- Final playthrough

 

Alice: Sorry...for letting you suffer in silence

Celia: It's ok...thank you for bringing light upon our souls. There will be one day, that we will never forget, but instead accept the other as a part of one's self

Alice: Mhm...! I believe we can do it!

- In Japan, "mono no aware" is an idiom for the awareness of impermanence and the transience of things. The cherry blossoms, or sakura, is a flower recognized as a symbol of impermanence and transience of things.

 

- The sakura bloom season is beautiful but short-lasting, with a lifespan of two weeks before falling off the trees. Even still, it is such a recognized aspect of Japan, the cherry blossom is considered its unofficial national flower.

 

- One of the core themes of DEEMO is the power of memories, and how Alice's memories of her brother continue bringing her pain after his death. It is in the Forgotten Hourglass where Alice makes the effort to confront these memories as Moments, alongside the effort to reconcile with the Masked Lady, the part of Alice who suffers the most with these memories (evidence: the mask room and the wall of photos; Alice: "She must have been trapped here all this time. Has she always been alone, lingering around these places? How can I help her? How to understand each other?").

 

- It is through this self-therapy that Alice would achieve "mono no aware" in the end. She would not only accept the reality of a future without her brother and be empowered by his memory, but only express bitterness that there is an ending chapter to every fairytale.

- Celia as a name is first revealed in DEEMO -After Story-, a chapter exclusive to the PS Vita release called DEEMO -Last Recital-. Celia is an anagram for Alice.

 

- The Masked Lady's name is not actually Celia. She is still Alice, specifically the first Alice who tried to escape the dream world but failed (an *attempt* at an After Story). Where "Celia" comes from is a name embroidered on a robe she finds during the After Story. At the end of the chapter where she chooses to wear the mask, she also inherits Celia as her name.

 

- Despite also being Alice, Celia shows a significantly different personality at first. She would be arrogant and aggressive, laughing and mocking at Alice's attempts to grow the tree. This conviction is short-lived, however, as she quickly panics when the tree starts to grow, eventually surrendering when consoled by Deemo. Celia tried to put on a brave face but ultimately couldn't, making her role as an antagonist a short-lived performance. It was a masquerade, and "Celia" was a part of it.

 

- Such a conflict with herself is explicitly confirmed in the After Story. She knows she must destroy the mask, but by doing so, she will lose Deemo, which loses Hans by proxy. She would eliminate herself as the part of Alice who would suffer the moment she woke up. To Celia, this was the right call to make, but she could not do it. That is why the "little girl" showed up later. Celia's conviction to prolong the dream is fragile, to begin with. It is the encounter between the two that truly determines what Celia, and Alice as a whole, truly wanted.

 

- Source

- Lucas would have a sudden heart attack while at work, and Emma would grieve his death non-stop for several months. The grief would get worse and worse, and her already neglectful duty as a mother to Hans and Alice would be emphasised. Eventually, Emma committed suicide via the pill, writing a suicide letter about how horrible of a mother she has been.

 

- Emma is meant to be parallel to Alice, who could beat her grief despite losing a loved one.

- Elena is a work partner of Alice's in "Alice in Wonderlove", a digital-only bonus chapter in DEEMO -Last Dream- taking place after the main story with Alice as an adult. Elena's brother is the unnamed love interest who Alice falls for.

 

- This is a picture of what he looks like from the DEEMO 2022 artbook

- In After Story and Last Dream (chapter), there is an explicit focus on time in the dream world.

 

- There is an antique clock that "stopped working a long time ago. Time stops forever at 10:10." Celia also notices that the Sun has not moved from its position for a long while that she was in the mansion. Simply put, her dream world is where time has stopped. It is also why the Masked Lady wears a clock as a pendant, as she knows the truth of the world.

 

- When Alice wakes up and looks out the window, she sees the sun rising. The Sun rising is what made her begin to cry as a symbolic representation of time moving forward, confirming that the dream is over and reality has set in with harsh news.

- Lots of fictional work misrepresent what it is like to be in and recovering from a coma. DEEMO is no different.

 

- A study titled "the portrayal of coma in contemporary motion pictures" finds examples of incorrect portrayals such as patients getting out of bed immediately, absent delirium, and a beautified appearance, with correct portrayals including a long road of physical and mental recovery. This road to recovery is especially true if the patient shows no signs of recovery within a 48-hour period (THE PROGNOSIS OF MEDICAL COMA)

 

- Alice is shown to have messy hair and be connected to the ventilator as she opens her eyes, which are somewhat accurate portrayals of waking from comatose. However, she immediately gets out of bed to stare out the window as if completely recovered. Because Alice has been in a coma for more than a week thanks to the events of After Story, complete physical and mental recovery after waking up is unrealistic.

 

- Some versions of DEEMO do not include the ventilator (Last Recital and Reborn), but it is not unrealistic for a patient in comatose not to need a ventilator, so this answer is not the most correct of what's listed.

- The game's song collection was ranked 8th, not 7th (source: Page 10 of https://rayark.promo/rayark_site/RAYARK_GAMEBOOK_10th_zh.pdf).

 

- Ming-Yang Yu (CEO of Rayark; Producer of DEEMO I) and his inspiration for DEEMO was Ib (source: 2022 DEEMO I artbook).

 

- There is a cat in DEEMO -Sakura Note- that looks like Mirai, but it is not Mirai the doll.

 

- Therefore, the correct answer is that Deemo could have presbyopia, which is a dialogue that Alice would say when touching the magnifying glass in the study before the 1.5 update. This dialogue has since been removed but can be seen in the game files as "talk_magnf_001":"WHAT! Does Deemo have presbyopia?!".

- When interviewed about the DEEMO anime movie, Ming-Yang Yu (CEO of Rayark; Producer of DEEMO I) confirms that "DEEMO" means nothing. Rather, DEEMO was used because they were looking for something easy to pronounce.

 

- Source

- Throughout all versions of DEEMO and all extra-media material, we never get an explicit confirmation of what Deemo is meant to represent.

 

- Deemo is not Hans despite revealing himself to be at the end of Chapter 2, as Alice and Celia continue referring to them both as separate characters. Deemo is not Alice's spiritual guardian because Mirai is her guardian.

 

- It is possible that Deemo represents the manifestation of the promise Alice and Hans made. The evidence includes the YUBIKIRI GENMAN artwork and its Moment alternative with the pinky promise, and the end of -Last Dream-'s prologue includes Hans telling Alice to remember the promise they made after being hit by the truck. Due to the questionable canonical nature of all DEEMO media outside of "Tony" Yung-Ting Lee's direction (the mobile and -Last Recital- game) and plausible deniability on cause and effect, even this theory lacks sustainable support.

 

- The correct answer, then, is that Deemo remains up to interpretation. That is what the game is all about and wants to encourage anyway, as there are many questionable aspects that lead to different emotionally resonant theories on the story. For example, it is medically improbable to dream while in a coma because of the very nature of comas, but Alice could. This inconsistency led to the afterlife theory where Deemo's castle is a different dimension. Even still, a valid argument for the dream is that it's symbolic of overcoming the most unlikely odds. The main DEEMO game allows both theories to exist and have their own validation, and further exploration throughout the canon reveals the more likely answer if the player so chooses.

Thank you very much for taking the quiz! Was it hard or actually easy? Let me know on the official DEEMO II discord server. Click next to see your score.