Review of Tsui no Stella
| Subject | Tsui no Stella Tsui no Stella - First Press Limited Edition |
| By | Helpfulness: 9 eriely on 2022-11-14 |
| Review | At the time of this writing, the term “Robotics” is now 80 years old, and a rich tradition has been built around the concept of artificial intelligence. Just as prominent is the legacy of Key under whose banner Romeo presents this latest work. The towering presence of those that came before is embraced rather than ignored, and Stella of the End is a journey along a well laid path. Our guide is Jude, a “Carrier,” which can loosely be described as the combination of archaeologist, engineer, hacker, and mercenary. Carriers risk their lives to discover the secrets of the past and bring them back to the remnants of humanity. In this post-apocalyptic world, progress is made by searching the past—restoring the lost knowledge of a civilization long gone. One day Jude discovers a drone of particularly advanced origin, establishing contact with an old man. Proclaiming himself to be a scientist, he makes a request for Jude to find and escort a robot through dangerous, uncharted lands. This robot would be the key to humanity’s greater purpose. The wisdom and ambition that Jude senses is enough for him to decide that the incalculable risk is worth the potential reward. Jude discovers the robot in a set piece that features a use of animation that continues to haunt me. While I enjoy visual novels mainly from a textual perspective, it is moments like these that make me really appreciate the potential of mixed media. The newly awakened robot asks for a name, and Jude selects the word Philia out of a dictionary. It is the Greek word for love, and she likes this name. Philia is, by human standards, completely ordinary. She can speak fluent Japanese but has no superlative powers or abilities. The only thing she knows is that she must become human. This mandate is the motivation for all of Philia’s actions, including her decision to accompany Jude. I may never stop being amazed by how much meaning can be communicated in a single, well selected word. Jude notes with irony that the love described in the word philia is often a distorted one. It is the root of choice for deviant loves like necrophilia and pedophilia. From an etymological perspective, philia is one of several words for love in Greek, and is the one used to describe the affectionate love for one’s friends. This is different than the deeper, unconditional love for one’s family and God. An attentive reader may also notice that it is homophonic to the Latin word for daughter, “Filia,” a distinction lost when written in katakana. The name represents a boundary between Jude and the robot. Any feelings for the robot must not be confused with paternal instinct. There’s quite a lot of meaning to be extracted from the various names in Stella, an example of the meticulous thought that went into the structure of the story. And so, from the very beginning, the journey of the two is mapped. Philia on her journey to discover what it means to be human, and Jude on his to discover the meaning of his feelings for Philia. Stella of the End is a classical road trip story, a hero’s journey even. There are various stops that serve as the setting for the two to discover more about themselves and each other. Each place reveals more about what humanity once was, and what it has now become. My one criticism is that at times it feels like there is a little too much world building. There is only so much meaningful interaction that can be done with a world that has died, and I would have preferred to see more interaction between characters. Philia, with her incomplete artificial intelligence is also an unsatisfactory conversational partner for much of the work. It focuses a little too much on science fiction for my personal preferences. But the emotional payoff in the end is real, as one would expect from the Key brand. You can really feel the weight of Jude’s decisions each step of the way. I still feel the weight of the things he carried. |
| 9 points |