The Brave Magician's: An Asian American Teen Archetype

Blending Home Country & American Culture: The Brave Magician

The Brve Magician’s Tracklist

The Past

Anne With An E Scene Intro-0:14

We Are! (One Piece OP 1)- Crusty 0:14-0:54

Lemon- Kenshi Yonezu 0:54-2:36

Older- Alec Benjamin 2:36-3:57

People Watching- Conan Gray 3:57-5:45

The Present

This Is Me (The Greatest Showman)- Various Artists 5:45-6:06

This Is Home- Cavetown 6:06-6:55

ODORIKO By Vaundy (slowed)- 6:55-7:59

The Future

I Wanna Be a Boy- Addison Grace 7:59-9:03

Zenzenzense Movie Ver.- RADWIMPS 9:03-13:33

Rewrite The Stars- The Greatest Showman 13:33-End

The Brave Magician is grappling with a sense of distance from their cultural roots while simultaneously trying to navigate and fit into American culture, this teen expresses how they have miss out on many typical teenage experiences. As the listener is drawn deeper into the teenager’s journey, they reveal the vulnerability of quietly exploring their sexual and gender identity. Filled with hope for a magical future, the teen is captivated by the idea of rewriting the stars, seeking a way to shape their own path amidst the challenges they face.

00:00

Click Below to Follow Along with the Brave Magician's Music Analysis

The Brave Magician's Past

Uprooted from their country, the brave magician struggles with assimilating American culture. The teen begins their CIAB with a quote from Anne with an E, a tv series/book where an orphan girl is yanked from her old life in hopes of something permanent. – It’s not what the world holds for you, it is what you bring to it. And you bring so much. Then the introduction music from the anime One Piece is played –

あなたの希望と夢をすべて持 (With all your hopes and dreams)

ってきてください!一緒に、(Please come, together)

私たちは探しているす (Where we are looking for)

べてを見つけるでしょう (You will find everything)

ONE PIECE

What begins upbeat turns into longing-

古い記憶の埃を払い落とす (Dust off old memories)

忘れ物を取りに家に帰るよ (I’m going home to get something I forgot.)

うな結局、(In the end)

私にそれを教えてく (Tell em that)

たのはあなたでした (it was you who did it)

取り戻せない幸せもある (Some happiness is irretrievable)

The melancholy becomes darker and mournful through lyrics and emphasized by a slow tempo with a mixture of drums, violin, and piano playing in the background Kenshi Yonezu’s Lemon –

あの日の悲しみさえも (Even the sadness of that day)

あの日の痛みさえも (Even the pain of that day)

全部大好きだったので、(I loved it all)

あなたと一緒に (With you)

レモンの苦い香りが残る (the bitter lemon sent remains)

私の心に埋め込まれた (embedded in my heart)

雨が止むまでは家に帰れない (I can’t go home until the rain stops)

今でもあなたは私の光です (Even now, you are my light.)

Lemon, was written to mourn the loss of the singer’s grandfather. Loss is a continuous theme throughout the past, including Older by Alec Benjamin. This song focuses on-

Guess my childhood is over,

Now I’m taking down my posters,

And I’m telling all my friends

We’ll get together next October,

That’s my closest thing to closure,

I can’t stop this rollercoaster,

I’m not ready to get older,

I’m not ready to get older.

Also,

I know I gotta make a little money then maybe find somebody

To call my own

Mm, I’m not ready but I

Can’t go back in time, I

Know it’s all out my control

Now I know

Guess my childhood is over

The Brave Magician's Present

The brave magician starts off the present with This Is Me from The Greatest Showman letting the listeners know that the teen is exploring a new identity –

I’m gonna send a flood,

Gonna drown ’em out I am brave,

I am bruised I am who I’m meant to be,

This is me.

Attaining love is the primary focus to make up for lost time, albeit a difficult task to achieve –

Often I am upset that I cannot fall in love

But I guess this avoids the stress of falling out of it

Are you tired of me yet?

I’m a little sick right now but I swear,

When I’m ready I will fly us out of here,

I’ll cut my hair.

The present ends with the idea that the teen has found love that is less that ideal (one where they continue to hurt one another) –

Spinning round’ and round’,

My and that person’s future

When it stops somewhere

Let’s hope we can start all over again

Spinning round’ and round’,

If we can all act like victims.

The present is certainly a time of self-discovery for this teen.

The Brave Magician's Future

As the brave magician’s CIAB transitions into the future, they begin with the song I Wanna Be a Boy by Addison Grace. The song is about the inner thoughts of what it would be like to be “a boy” and how life would be easier –

I wanna befriend bugs,

Climb tall trees,

Scrape my knees,

And show I am tough,

Only cry in the nighttime,

My bed is the thing I can trust

‘Cause I’ve grown sick of staring hours in the mirror

Moulding cheekbones,

Hope a new face could appear.

As a female participant, this choice is both captivating and rich with possibility. It offers a heartfelt reinterpretation of what the listener may have once believed about missing out on love. It speaks to the longing to break free from the constraints of family and the yearning to embrace one’s own desires, inviting a romantic journey toward self-discovery and the pursuit of true affection.

The teen’s next song, Zenzenzense from the movie RODWIMPS –

I followed the sound of your innocent laughter

and it guided me in the right way,

Even if every piece of you disappeared and if it scattered everywhere,

No, I wouldn’t waver, I would start back at one look for you all over again,

Or maybe instead I’ll take the whole universe right back to zero again.

Navigating sexual and gender identities is a crucial journey for many teenagers, yet they often face significant challenges. Common struggles include missed opportunities for romance, societal constraints imposed by family expectations, and a strong desire to redefine their identities. For Asian American teens, these issues can be even more pronounced. The collectivistic nature of Asian culture, which places a high value on family cohesion, can limit personal expression and reinforce narrow roles.

While we cannot confirm this definitively, it offers an alternative perspective on the challenges faced by these individuals. The teen ends the CIAB with a simple yet profound quote from The Greatest Showman –

Why don’t we rewrite the stars