Entry 1079 - Manawave

Style: Vaporwave, VGM

Primary Emotions/Themes: A reinterpretation of the Secret of Mana soundtrack through the lens of vaporwave

Thoughts: Nostalgia. Nostalgia is the giver of wonderous memories. Nostalgia is the lens that distorts a broken past into what seems like better times. Nostalgia gladly gives me rose tinted glasses and asks me to enjoy things that I may or may not have at the time. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing. Nostalgia is a bitch.

One of my fondest memories growing up was discovering RPG's on the Super Nintendo. One of the first ones of those that I completed was Secret of Mana. I got all the way to the end, only for my little brother to erase my save right at the Mana Beast so I had to start over. I never did completely forgive him for that.

This is where the nostalgia comes in. I remember loving the game and all of its parts - especially the soundtrack. Years and years later when I started getting into video game vinyl, naturally I wanted to seek out the Secret of Mana soundtrack. It was nearly impossible to find so I settled for Manawave.

Through my search I learned two things. One: I don't like nearly as much of this soundtrack as I thought I did. Two: this soundtrack does not do very well when translated into vaporwave form. 

I really wanted to like this. I wanted to like the Secret of Mana soundtrack, and I wanted to like this reinterpretation... I just can't bring myself to listen to it for more than a few minutes at a time. Nostalgia is a bitch. 

I remember the progressive rock tendencies of the soundtrack, but they were pushed in the back of my mind. I remembered the epic intro music and that is what my brain was telling me most of the soundtrack sounded like. That was a complete fabrication of my mind. 

The soundtrack is full of quirky instrumentals that work well in the context of the game, but on their own they simply do nothing for me. Maybe at some point I'll go back and play the game again, but for now I'm going to move on to something else. Nostalgia is indeed a bitch.