The original song of 'This Life Is Mine' was in Japanese, but adapting it into an English song was hardly difficult. Differences in language would naturally cause major changes in pronunciation, meaning, and composition. An English cover of 'This Life Is Mine' did not need to completely replicate the original; conveying the intended meaning was enough.
Secondly, in the original promotional animation, Weiss Schnee stood upon a grand concert-like stage, countless lights converging upon her as she became the center of the entire venue. The design of that scene perhaps highlighted the essence of Weiss Schnee's personality to some extent. However, Kamiyā Yuu did not intend to continue using that setting this time. Instead, he planned to use a lonely, eerie castle as the backdrop, presenting Weiss Schnee's character traits from a completely different angle. She was a lonely princess, yet one who possessed the strength to bloom with dazzling brilliance amidst the darkness.
As Kamiyā Yuu's thoughts sank into imagination, it felt as though he had entered a mental realm where scenes gradually formed before him...
Inside the gloomy, shadow-filled castle, every decoration was luxurious and exquisite, yet the surroundings remained silent and lifeless, devoid of human voices. Moonlight filtered through blurred glass windows, the dust within the pale beam drifting like stardust in the air. Bathed beneath that single shaft of moonlight was a lonely silver-haired dancing girl. With song as her heart and dance as her voice, she slowly conveyed the feelings hidden deep within herself to an audience that did not exist.
To achieve such an effect, characters, backgrounds, music, and dance were all indispensable. The style of every element had to be unified by an invisible boundary, resonating together in harmony.
At the end of the song, as the dance came to a halt, crystal-clear tears fell from Weiss Schnee's eyes onto the mirror-like floor illuminated by moonlight. The ripples of light caused the world to invert. In the mirror, Weiss Schnee no longer sang. Instead, she proudly pointed an icy longsword toward her enemy. At that moment, her fierce yet ethereal variation officially began.
🎵Mirror,
Tell me something. Tell me who's the loneliest of all?
Mirror,
Tell me something. Tell me who's the loneliest of all?
Fear of what's inside of me.
Tell me, can a heart be turned to stone?
Mirror, mirror,
What's behind you? Save me from the things I see!
I can keep it from the world. Why won't you let me hide from me?
Mirror,
Mirror, tell me something. Who's the loneliest of all?
I'm the loneliest of all.🎵
...
"To make the transition between the two songs smoother, I'll need to make some adjustments to the melody."
"But what about the second act's scene design? And this time, who should the enemy be?" His train of thought abruptly broke off. Sitting at his desk with pen in hand, Kamiyā Yuu fell into deep contemplation. After pausing for a while, he searched through his memories for suitable references.
Weiss Schnee's original enemy had been a gigantic armored puppet wielding a massive sword with overwhelming force. Thanks to that opponent, a faint scar had been left near Weiss Schnee's eye. However, if Kamiyā Yuu still chose that giant armored puppet as the enemy, then compared to the previous three promotional videos, it would feel far too monotonous and boring. In his rebooted version of 'RWBY', the combat levels of every character promotional trailer had risen by an entire tier. Ruby Rose could battle the Grimmified giant wolf Sif. Yang's action choreography had reached the peak of spectacle. Blake had transformed into a nuclear sword immortal, obliterating the Schnee Dust Company's ultimate weapon. Compared to them, the giant armored puppet—the Iron Knight—looked unbearably cheap and crude, no matter how one looked at it.
"Got it!"
A flash of inspiration struck Kamiyā Yuu. Recalling the design of a certain game boss from his memories, he quickly sketched it onto his concept art paper. Soon, a massive yet slender knight clad in savage-looking armor, wielding a spear with heroic elegance and imposing charisma, appeared on the page. Even after finishing this heroic spear-wielding knight, Kamiyā Yuu was still not satisfied. Beside it, he continued drawing another giant knight with a bloated physique, clad in heavy armor and wielding a greatsword that radiated overwhelming strength.
One giant armored knight held a spear while the other raised a greatsword. One was agile and elegant, the other fierce and unstoppable. These two classic boss figures were the nightmare hated by countless 'Dark Souls' players—the Twin Sentinels of Anor Londo. Compared to them, the giant Iron Knight from Weiss Schnee's original promotional trailer was nothing more than a roadside mob enemy. In terms of presence alone, it was inferior by countless levels.
Back when Kamiyā Yuu played 'Dark Souls', he had died dozens of times on this stage alone—more than twice the number of deaths he suffered against any other boss.
The modified heroic spear knight would possess built-in aerial mobility. Every thrust of its spear would be elegant yet deadly, each attack aimed directly at vital points. Its role was to look stylish. The modified giant greatsword knight, on the other hand, would be slow but overwhelmingly powerful. Every swing of its weapon would unleash thunderous shockwaves capable of destroying buildings, serving to demolish the battlefield and create spectacular visual effects. When one of the knights died, the other would absorb the fallen knight's power without hesitation and enter a second berserk phase. Kamiyā Yuu decided to keep the heroic spear knight alive for this transformation because it offered the greatest visual appeal and matched Weiss Schnee's graceful, dance-like combat style the best.
With that, both the style and spectacle instantly improved.
"Mmm~ not bad~ not bad at all. The Twin Sentinels of Anor Londo really are worth drawing inspiration from in every aspect. The armor design, attack animations, and everything else will need to be redesigned, though. The original versions have an art style that's a little too bizarre and doesn't really fit 'RWBY'." Less than an hour after immersing himself in conceptualization, Kamiyā Yuu had already completed the overall framework for the fourth character promotional trailer: 'White — White Oleander'.