( this blong contains spoilers for Deemo’s ending )

Rayark’s rhythm video game released on 2013, Deemo, is if not one of the very challenging rhythm games in the market, a game featured on the game’s hall of fame by it’s beautiful songs by various talented composers, it’s charmingly unforgettable artworks, and most importantly, the game’s heart-touching original story. The game begins as a little girl named Alice falls from a window into the mysterious castle where a mystic creature lives. Despite having a non-human appearance, the creature named Deemo is gentle and caring towards the girl who wishes to return to where she came from.

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In the moment where the hope was dim, a little tree grows from the sound of the piano played by Deemo. Alice believes that if they kept playing the piano, the tree would eventually grow tall enough for her to climb back to the window in the sky and return. Players get to play the game’s original songs which are mostly piano-based while enjoying the story that would progress according to the scores that the player gathered as the tree’s height. The game atmosphere throughout the story appears to be quite light-hearted and adorable, until the player reaches the very end of the game where Alice manages to leave. As Deemo plays the ending song, “Fluquor,” as a farewell message to Alice, the girl then recalls of her brother whom is a gifted pianist. She recalls the memory before she falls down into the castle that she was running across the street, and her brother runs to her as the speeding truck is heading towards her before everything blacked out. Deemo’s appearance gradually changes back to Hans, Alice’s brother, while he looks up to his little sister that is flying from the crumbling castle. By the end of “Fluquor,” player would see a text believed to be Hans’ words saying “Goodbye, my beloved sister” as he smiles to Alice while slowly disappearing.

Alice wakes up in the hospital and found out that the encounter with Deemo in the castle is only a dream. Though the game did not directly tells players that Hans has died, it is what most probable from the narrative given from the story. Thus, his appearance and farewell are all from Alice’s dream during her coma which reveals that not only she unconsciously knows that her brother is gone, but also her extraordinary connection with her brother.

It is no doubt that Alice idolizes Hans. Her perspective towards him is warm, gentle, and caring. In many scenes during the game, there is also a piano competition medal hidden in the castle, showing that Alice acknowledges her brother not only a common pianist, but a brilliant competitive pianist.

From the beginning to end of the game and within every artworks released, there are no sign of Alice’s parents even though the main story is constructed entirely by Alice’s mind. The little girl is strongly attached to her big brother, since apart from Deemo, there is only “The Masked Lady” in which is actually Alice in that world, that lives in the castle. The creation of Deemo by Alice can be described as a coping mechanism of the girls mind that still do not want to part with her beloved brother. Alice does not recognize or acknowledge that Deemo is Hans until the end of the story, and the moment she accepts that Deemo is Hans could be the moment that her mind accepts his separation from her.

However, it does not necessarily means that Alice entirely accept the death of her brother, because while she creates Hans, she also creates herself in the very same world. When Deemo disappears, the Masked Lady or Alice in that world also disappears. It rather shows that part of Alice has died alongside her brother than her accepting his death. Moreover, players could still play the songs after the ending as Alice practicing her piano, or if the player buys the “Forgotten Hourglass” package, in the unlocked artworks will be pictures of Alice growing and becoming a pianist. This development in Alice is influenced by Hans’ disappearance, since she could neither brings him back or disappear with Hans, her attachment switches to playing piano. It is apparent that Alice never sees herself as a pianist, as the Masked Lady never plays the piano in her dreams. The artwork that shows Alice when she becomes an adult is a picture of her, presumably, playing the piano in a competition is one of the most perfect evidence that the little girl pursue piano because of her brother, since her silhouette would perfectly matches with Deemo and Hans’ existing artworks in the game, playing the piano.

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Being Deemo’s only means of communication, it could also be another reason why Alice is later immersed in the world of piano after the accident. Even when Alice leaves, Hans in Deemo form does not speak but plays “Fluquor” for her. As a vocal song, the lyrics expressed a both heartwarming and melancholic farewell to Alice, but the vocalist is a women, so it is hard to say if Deemo ever actually “speaks.” It would be more proper to say that maybe music, especially the sounds of the piano, is Deemo’s language; and since music is usually recognized as a “universal” language, maybe said universality in the game’s context could have extended to the language that the living may speak to the dead. Thus, Alice may not only pursuing piano due to her developed attachment, but also still playing in hope that her music may reach her dear brother some day.