Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Existence precedes essence. These words from French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre explain the meaning of life; nothing, but you get to choose exactly because of that. Today’s video essay will analyze this philosophy, discussing Sartre’s themes through a wonderful anime.
Sound of the Sky (So Ra No Wo To) is like Haibane Renmei meets Girl’s Last Tour, taking slice of life into an eerie post-human world packed in depth with existentialist (+ nihilist and absurdist) themes. It follows the flame maiden quintet: Kanata, Rio, Kureha, Felicia, and Noel, the 1121st platoon of the Helvetian military in Seize. Sound of the Sky discusses the dread, despair, and crisis of a pointless or meaningless existence through these characters, as they perform useless tasks, more of a ritual unit than anything with purpose, held in place by Seize’s old customs, beliefs, and traditions, particularly the flame maiden story. Mainly through Kanata though, this meaninglessness or pointlessness doesn’t lead to an existential crisis, but to individual strength and reason to exist. By doing pointless or absurd things, like joining the military just to learn how to play the trumpet or bugle, Kanata creates her purpose rather easily, with her little ritual behaviors adding importance where there isn’t any. After all, if nothing means anything, then there’s an easy answer to “what’s the meaning of life?”; whatever you decide becomes the reason to exist. Customs, traditions, and rituals are an example of this, once stories now taken almost as fact through nothing more than belief across time. Kureha provides another, making a hero out of a courier, Claus, simply by treating him like one.
Do more pointless things; an anime analysis video essay explaining and discussing So Ra No Wo To.
0:00 Introduction
6:04 Part 2
16:48 Part 3
25:36 Part 4
41:32 Part 5
#anime #soundofthesky #videoessay #professorviral
Existence precedes essence. These words from French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre explain the meaning of life; nothing, but you get to choose exactly because of that. Today’s video essay will analyze this philosophy, discussing Sartre’s themes through a wonderful anime.
Sound of the Sky (So Ra No Wo To) is like Haibane Renmei meets Girl’s Last Tour, taking slice of life into an eerie post-human world packed in depth with existentialist (+ nihilist and absurdist) themes. It follows the flame maiden quintet: Kanata, Rio, Kureha, Felicia, and Noel, the 1121st platoon of the Helvetian military in Seize. Sound of the Sky discusses the dread, despair, and crisis of a pointless or meaningless existence through these characters, as they perform useless tasks, more of a ritual unit than anything with purpose, held in place by Seize’s old customs, beliefs, and traditions, particularly the flame maiden story. Mainly through Kanata though, this meaninglessness or pointlessness doesn’t lead to an existential crisis, but to individual strength and reason to exist. By doing pointless or absurd things, like joining the military just to learn how to play the trumpet or bugle, Kanata creates her purpose rather easily, with her little ritual behaviors adding importance where there isn’t any. After all, if nothing means anything, then there’s an easy answer to “what’s the meaning of life?”; whatever you decide becomes the reason to exist. Customs, traditions, and rituals are an example of this, once stories now taken almost as fact through nothing more than belief across time. Kureha provides another, making a hero out of a courier, Claus, simply by treating him like one.
Do more pointless things; an anime analysis video essay explaining and discussing So Ra No Wo To.
0:00 Introduction
6:04 Part 2
16:48 Part 3
25:36 Part 4
41:32 Part 5
#anime #soundofthesky #videoessay #professorviral
