In Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines, you’ll be playing through generations of characters as the family bloodline has been tainted with a curse that causes them to die in two years. The game’s latest commercial tells a touching tale that connects back to the original commercial for the first game in 1999.
Before checking out the commercials, here’s a quick Japanese lesson on the meaning behind “Oreshika,” which is short for the game’s Japanese title of Ore no Shikabane wo Koete Yuke, roughly translated as “go forth over my dead body”. Here’s an example of a scenario in which the Japanese term could be used:
You find yourself in the middle of a battlefield during war and you’ve just received the order to attack enemies. Once you go out there, you and your allies are being showered with bullets and your comrade gets shot and hits the ground.
When you try to help or save him, he would say “ore no shikabane wo koete yuke!” meaning don’t worry about saving me or yourself, believe in the victory of our allies and continue attacking. It can also be used as a way to say “If I were to die, don’t stop or hesitate, and go beyond my dead body, and further than I could have. I’m determined to be a sacrifice.”
Now that we know the meaning behind the game’s title, here’s a look at the commercials, starting with the ones from the first game:
The first part of the video shows the original commercial for the first Oreshika for PlayStation in 1999. It starts out with a young man asking his father what were the last words of his grandfather.
The father replies, “He said ‘go forth over my dead body.’ Isn’t that funny?” as he walks off, saying that it means to live your life.
The second half of the video was for a commercial that aired in 2011 for the PSP version of the game. It starts out with the father saying “remember grandpa’s last words of ‘go forth over my dead body’? I think I know what he meant now.”
As he walks towards his grandson, the father tells his son, “you’ll also come to understand it one day.”
Next, is the recent commercial made for Oreshika 2, or Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines.
The commercial starts out with the same father, who appears much older than he did in the original ad.
“We don’t have any treasures left behind from our ancestors of past generations; however, I’ve been entrusted with something I’ll be handing over to you guys,” says the father, as he faces the ocean and yells, “GO FORTH OVER MY DEAD BODY!”
“Let’s just say that it’s a passionate feeling,” he tells his baffled son, as he symbolically passes on the torch with a high-five, adding “I love you.”
Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines will be released in Japan on July 17, 2014 for PlayStation Vita. The game will also be coming to North America and Europe.
