Mar 12, 2025
Author's Commentary #373:
Time to talk about Chapter 373: Mayim Mayim miracle.
The power of music strikes again. This time, it's Mayim Mayim, a Jewish folk song that is also a staple of Japanese culture. I first learned about this after stumbling upon Unseen Japan's "The Jewish Folk Song Everyone in Japan Knows" video in the course of researching folk songs for some of the teams. Upon watching the video and hearing the song, notably the version in Konami's Sexy Parodius, I was instantly filled with inspiration.
Not only did I now have the perfect idea in mind on how to close out the Bermuda party arc, but also the perfect theme for Noa and Maccabee. As stated in previous commentaries, all the teams usually have a folk song or two that served as the main source of inspiration behind their teams. This stems primarily from my video game/ anime adaptation mentality, and the fact that I believe good music is the key to enhancing a medium, usually a visual one.
Originally, the folk song I designated as the theme for the Simiens was Hava Nagila, the most well-known Jewish folk song in the world. I'd still say that would be the main theme that would play for some of the Simiens, but Mayim Mayim is undeniably the theme that would play when facing Maccabee or Noa. Speaking of theme songs, there's a chance I'll throw in a special interview chapter where I list off all the songs I have associated with the various teams and characters. No clue on how soon that will be though.
Getting back to the chapter, due to the significance of Mayim Mayim in both Japanese and Jewish cultures, most of the first people to recognize the song and jump in were either Japanese, Jewish, or both like Noa. In regards to why certain characters like Levi and Avian were name-dropped in this segment, it's because the real-life chess players they're based off of, Levon Aronian and Ian Nepomniachtchi, are Jewish themselves. Thus I felt the characters meant to pay homage to them should be Jewish as well.
And now, the Bermuda party arc has officially concluded. I really went overboard on this one as evidenced by the fact that an arc I originally planned to just be a chapter or two ended up being just over 20 chapters long. Me trying to line things up for a proper anniversary chapter for the series is what initially led to the arc getting extended, but it was the opportunity to not only introduce many of the various teams I've made artwork of, but also showcase more chess variants again. There were also some good normal games too, such as the Raymond one. I really did enjoy writing this arc, and I hope that many enjoyed reading it. Now that's over, next up is the rest day arc. I hope you're looking forward to this next arc of the series.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
