After 9 Years Bloodborne’s Community Is Still Not Sure What Bloodborne Is Even About.

That ending note about plagarism and how we see derivative work was honestly such a great way to finish the video. Bloodborne really is an example of how to make something better than the sum of its parts (and wow, those are quite some parts) and I think that alone is worth celebrating.

paleblood is explicitly the moon presence. there's a note in the lecture hall that says "The nameless moon presence beckoned by Laurence and his associates. Paleblood."

The "borne" in Bloodborne is an entirely different word from "born". It means "carried by" or "transmitted by" That is, the beast plague is transmitted via blood - the old blood. Basically the game spoils a massive twist in the title. But the two do work well together. "Borne" could be a double ententre, and the idea of something being a host of a disease is often paralelled with women being hosts of children, menstration, etc.

Miyazaki explains his definition of Paleblood pretty explicitly in an interview - it's the way the sky looks after beating Rom and revealing the ritual.... the sky is pale blue, "like a corpse drained of blood". Thus "Seek Paleblood" = get the sky to turn light blue = reveal the mensis ritual. I know that the moon presence being Paleblood makes more sense in the context of the story, and that the sky is more purple than pale blue, but that's still what he said.

God, every time I see a new upload from this channel I get genuinely excited to watch it. I absolutely LOVE your philisophical discussions and the lens through which you examine games like this. And of course when I saw that you made a video about Bloodborne, a game which I would consider to be one of if not THE greatest game currently in existence, I immediately clicked on it. If I had the financial stability to support you on patreon I 100% would, but since I can't do that at the moment I want to show some genuine appreciation by just letting you know how much these videos not only entertain, but also genuinely enlighten me. The way through which you examine games is unlike any I've personally seen on youtube before and provides such a fresh and interesting perspective on things otherwise talked to death. You truly succeed at providing interesting perspectives on great games. I wish you the best of luck with your next projects and I look forward to watching them!

I'll be honest, there's a good chunk of this video that I just do not agree with but I still found it fascinating regardless. If anything, I think the views of Nietzsche are incredibly interesting and so often twisted or misinterpreted by people with ulterior motives. One thing I do love about this video and your other videos, though, is how you approach the narratives of games in trying to understand what they mean. There's so many Bloodborne videos out there trying to interpret what Paleblood is quite literally but I think you are right in viewing it from a metaphorical and thematic viewpoint, rather than a literal one. I think what I disagree with the most in the video, though, is the idea that Bloodborne is not trying to convince or tell us something. I'd argue that it very much is trying to do so. There is a very common theme throughout the game of people seeking transcendence, of not leaving the dead well enough alone. How this causes them to sink further and further into madness. It causes them to commit more and more atrocities, perpetuate the suffering of others just for the sake of this transcendence. They seek something they can never have and continue to do so despite it clearly causing nothing but more suffering. In a metaphorical sense, they're more or less trying to manifest their way out of mortality. They wish to move beyond death itself. But this is impossible for anyone who also wishes to retain their humanity. Mortality is that which makes us human. And any actions towards removing ourselves from the inevitability of death only serves to erode our morals, anything that makes us empathetic and human. I think this is likely why Gehrman has the scythe at the end. He is our final step to fighting the literal concept of death. Killing him and the moon presence is the final spilling of blood that completely erases our humanity. Anyway, I'm kind of rambling here.... but man, Bloodborne is truly an incredible game. As much as I love Dark Souls and Elden Ring, Bloodborne just tickles the brainmeats far more than either of those. Sekiro actually comes pretty close and I'd say it actually deals with a lot of similar themes around immortality being antithetical to being human. But yeah.... I don't know how to end this rant so, uh... great job, Cleave!

This is the most unique interpretation of Bloodborne I've seen. Bloodborne has become the video game equivalent of the shining at this point with so many different takes on it. Fantastic video.

What an incredible and enlighting interpretation of Bloodborne. Ceave truly is one of the best video game essaysts out there, keep up the good work man!

I think the argument FOR the healing system is that you get punished for NOT using the rallying system. The stamina is so forgiving in this game because even in the midst of battle you should use the rallying mechanic, and not doing so will cost you. I got this from AesirAesthetics btw.

The way you structure your videos and work towards your conclusions is so unique and engaging, I have honestly not had this much fun with hour long video essays for an eternity. I'm really glad I stumbled over your channel.

Ceave really is a rare gem of a creator that can do a video about anything while still feeling "correct" about the subject

My interpretation of the true/hidden ending is that both Willem and Lawrence were wrong, it is neither through pure insight or holy blood that will lead man to a new childhood, but rather a special combination of both. If you consider the way the game is typically played, throughout the game you gain strength from blood (bloodechoes) and knowledge from insight. What do the One Third Umbilical Cords do? Give us large bursts of insight with each one used, as if our character has an epiphany with each use. Yet, to survive all the way to the Moon Presence, great strength is required through the use of the Blood. (level 1 runs not-withstanding)

I don't know why, but I feel like video games, as a form of art, are underappreciated (even though they combine art, storytelling and music), but the way you analyze games makes me, without explitly mentioning its an art, appreciate video games overall a lot more. I really thank you for that, Ceave.

Ceave I'm so glad you split the channels, I've been enjoying this one so much, every video a masterpiece.

I haven’t finished the video, but a huge thing about the note at the beginning of the game is that the Japanese version says that it’s written by your character

These usually come up first the moment they upload. The fact it took 2 days to come on my feed has put this channel on my bell, a very rare treat.

I have never played bloodbrone but clicked on this video because Ive always enjoyed your videos and whatever you had an hour and a half to say about what I assumed would just be some ambiguous key item in a weird ambiguous game, and was gifted with an incredible lecture about religion, art, and how we view and interact with it whether or not its something we have a positive relationship with. Thank you for sharing this work of art, and all the effort that went into it. It inspires me as an artist and creator.

Ceave I had a really bad day. Seeing that my most favourite youtuber analysis my most favourite game, is exactly the thing I needed. Thanks for cheering me up and dor your amazing content!

i LOVE the analysis of the themes and story in this video (i had a real "oh" moment when you pointed out the symbolism of the angel pouring blood into a skull), but i'm a little confused by the initial gameplay analysis regarding the healing system. i was surprised when you said there's no way to get back your health when you run out of blood, because a different video i'd watched (hbomberguy's "Bloodborne is genius and here's why") said the opposite. in fact, it praised bloodborne for having a system very similar to the game you compared it to. when you lose health, you can gain it back if you attack very shortly thereafter, which encourages an aggressive playstyle. you can even see it happening during the gascoigne fight at around 34:19 - you take a hit, and your health bar depletes, but there's still a pink bar remaining where you lost your health, showing that it can be regained. then, you hit him a few times, and the health comes back. i understand that this would be hard to see without the UI up most of the time, but i'm surprised you hadn't seen that in previous playthroughs. otherwise, it's really a stunningly well put together video! i don't want to downplay that with this comment. "perspective" was a great word to add to this channel name, because your videos really give me a whole new perspective on media that i never would have thought of before, and i love it so much. i'm SO pleased you're back from your hiatus; there's really nothing else quite like these videos out there. keep it up, man - you're very appreciated, and your efforts do not go unnoticed. edit: someone cleared this up for me in the replies, it makes more sense to talk about it the way ceave does if you’ve played the game

I just wanted to leave a comment thanking you for these videos. I think they've helped me to look at things I enjoy through a much more objective lens - its helped me articulate things much better where I usually have a difficult time doing so.