2026年4月16日木曜日

Endless Myth and Final Fantasy XIII

— Expanding Media Mixes and Their Byproducts —

The novel Endless Myth and Final Fantasy XIII belong to very different mediums.

However, both are connected through a shared phenomenon: the expansion of a massive conceptual project and the byproducts that emerge from it.

One is an endlessly expanding personal mythology, while the other is a large-scale media mix project developed across multiple works.

This article compares them with a focus on expansion and its consequences.

1. Scale of Concept: Personal Myth vs. Project Myth

Endless Myth expands from a single core idea into an infinite structure—
multiverses, omniverses, and beyond.

Final Fantasy XIII was conceived as part of the larger project
Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy.

This was not a single story, but a shared mythological framework across multiple titles.

In short:

Endless Myth: internally expanding mythology
FFXIII: externally expanding project mythology

2. Worldbuilding: Structural Cosmos vs. Shared Myth System

In Endless Myth, the structure itself is the world.

In Final Fantasy XIII, concepts such as fal’Cie, l’Cie, and divine entities are shared across multiple entries.
Each title contributes to a larger myth system.

Thus:

Endless Myth: structure as world
FFXIII: shared mythological system

3. Media Mix Expansion

Final Fantasy XIII expanded through multiple sequels and related works:

Final Fantasy XIII-2
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

Each entry added layers to the overarching mythology.

Endless Myth also expands across multiple formats:

Main narrative
Side stories
Observational logs (X Documents, WhatsApp records)

Both works demonstrate how a single concept can evolve into a network of interconnected narratives.

4. Byproducts of Expansion

This is the most critical point.

Large-scale expansion inevitably produces side effects.

In Final Fantasy XIII, these included:

Increasingly complex terminology
Difficulty in understanding the full setting
Dependence on multiple works for clarity

This results in a fragmentation of understanding.

In Endless Myth, similar tendencies can emerge:

Infinite expansion of concepts
Overgrowth of abstract systems
Scale exceeding reader comprehension

5. Operation of Myth: Distribution vs. Proliferation

Final Fantasy XIII distributes its mythology across multiple works.

Endless Myth allows mythology to proliferate and expand continuously.

In short:

FFXIII: distributed myth
Endless Myth: proliferating myth

6. Essence of Expansion: Control vs. Overflow

Final Fantasy XIII represents an attempt to manage and control a massive concept.

Endless Myth includes the possibility of expansion beyond control.

Thus:

FFXIII: controlled expansion
Endless Myth: expansion beyond control

Conclusion: Is Expansion a Success or a Side Effect?

Endless Myth and Final Fantasy XIII reveal the dual nature of large-scale storytelling:

Endless Myth: pure expansion toward infinity
FFXIII: expansion producing complexity and byproducts

Expansion creates new possibilities, but also introduces instability and fragmentation.

And this comparison leads to a central question:

How far should a story expand—
and are its byproducts a form of evolution, or distortion?

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2026年4月15日水曜日

Endless Myth and A Perfect Vacuum

— The Omniverse as Narrative vs. the Universe of Nonexistent Books —

The novel Endless Myth and A Perfect Vacuum by Stanisław Lem may seem completely different at first glance.

One is an ever-expanding omniversal mythology, while the other is a collection of reviews of books that do not exist.

Yet both are deeply connected through a shared idea: the possibility that narrative itself becomes a universe.

This article compares them from the perspective of the omniverse.

1. Form of Myth: Existing Narrative vs. Nonexistent Narrative

Endless Myth is a narrative that actually unfolds.
It expands through multiverses, omniverses, and even beyond.

A Perfect Vacuum consists of reviews of books that were never written.
The stories themselves do not exist—only their descriptions do.

In short:

Endless Myth: an unfolding omniverse
A Perfect Vacuum: an omniverse of nonexistent narratives

2. Worldview: Constructed Universe vs. Imagined Universe

In Endless Myth, the universe is explicitly constructed.
The reader experiences its structure directly.

In A Perfect Vacuum, the universe is never directly shown.
Through reviews, countless possible worlds emerge in the reader’s imagination.

Thus:

Endless Myth: presented universe
A Perfect Vacuum: imagined universe

3. Characters: Conceptual Entities vs. Absent Beings

Characters in Endless Myth embody elements of cosmic structure.

In A Perfect Vacuum, characters may not appear at all.
They exist only as references within nonexistent works.

This absence paradoxically generates infinite possibilities.

4. The Omniverse Concept: Reality vs. Potential

In Endless Myth, the omniverse is a structured reality.
Infinite layers of existence are actively constructed.

In A Perfect Vacuum, the omniverse exists as potential.
Every unwritten story becomes a possible universe.

5. Meta Structure: Beyond the Narrative

A Perfect Vacuum is fundamentally meta.
Its format—reviews of nonexistent books—is itself the subject.

Endless Myth also enters a meta dimension,
as the narrative itself becomes part of the cosmic structure it describes.

6. Essence of Myth: Presence vs. Absence

Endless Myth presents myth as presence—
a constructed, existing system.

A Perfect Vacuum presents myth as absence—
where what is not told creates infinite space for imagination.

Conclusion: Must a Story Exist to Be Infinite?

Endless Myth and A Perfect Vacuum offer two radically different approaches to the omniverse:

Endless Myth: infinity through existence
A Perfect Vacuum: infinity through nonexistence

The former builds an actual universe.
The latter allows infinite universes to emerge through absence.

And this comparison leads to a fundamental question:

Does a story need to exist to become infinite—
or does true infinity lie in the stories that are never told?

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2026年4月14日火曜日

Endless Myth and Hana no Keiji

— Cosmic Myth and the Aesthetics of the “Kabukimono” —

The novel Endless Myth and Hana no Keiji may seem completely different at first glance.

One is a multiversal cosmic mythology, while the other is a historical story centered on the life of a single warrior in the Sengoku era.

Yet both works share a common pursuit: pushing the question of existence to its extreme.

This article compares them through myth structure, character, aesthetics, and the meaning of life itself.

1. Form of Myth: Cosmic Structure vs. Individual Myth

Endless Myth is an infinitely expanding mythology.
The universe itself becomes the narrative.

Hana no Keiji turns an individual life into myth.
Maeda Keiji becomes the embodiment of the story itself.

In short:

Endless Myth: myth of the cosmos
Hana no Keiji: myth of the individual

2. Worldview: Cosmos vs. Historical Reality

Endless Myth operates in an abstract realm of time, space, and infinity.

Hana no Keiji is grounded in historical reality—the Sengoku period.
Yet within that reality, human life is elevated to a mythic level.

Thus:

Endless Myth: abstract universe
Hana no Keiji: myth within reality

3. Characters: Conceptual Entities vs. the Kabukimono

Characters in Endless Myth often embody elements of cosmic structure.

In Hana no Keiji, the protagonist Maeda Keiji represents the ideal of the kabukimono—
a figure who lives outside convention, guided only by personal aesthetics and conviction.

4. Aesthetics: Structure vs. Way of Living

Endless Myth finds beauty in structure.
The infinite system itself becomes an aesthetic.

Hana no Keiji finds beauty in how one lives.
Every action—how one fights, lives, and dies—becomes an expression of style and philosophy.

5. Life and Death: Infinity vs. the Moment

In Endless Myth, existence extends infinitely.
Even death is part of a larger structure.

In Hana no Keiji, life is fleeting.
Its value lies in how intensely that brief moment is lived.

6. Essence of Myth: Existence vs. Resolve

Endless Myth presents existence itself as myth.

Hana no Keiji presents resolve as myth—
the determination of how to live and how to die.

Conclusion: Does Myth Exist in the Cosmos or in Human Life?

Endless Myth and Hana no Keiji represent two extremes of mythology:

Endless Myth: myth as the cosmos itself
Hana no Keiji: myth as human life

The former finds meaning in infinity.
The latter creates meaning within a single fleeting life.

And this comparison leads to a fundamental question:

Does myth exist in the vast structure of the universe—
or is it born from the way a human being chooses to live?

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2026年4月13日月曜日

Endless Myth and The Multiversity

— Infinite Myth vs. Structured Multiverse —

The novel Endless Myth and The Multiversity both explore the idea of the multiverse.

However, they differ fundamentally in how that multiverse is constructed and understood.

One embraces infinity as its foundation, while the other presents a carefully designed and structured multiverse.

This article compares them through the lenses of structure, worldview, characters, and the meaning of the multiverse itself.

1. Form of Myth: Infinite Structure vs. Designed Universe

Endless Myth is built upon infinite expansion.
Its multiverse extends endlessly into higher layers of existence.

In The Multiversity, the multiverse is deliberately designed.
Each universe has a defined role and identity, forming a coherent system.

In short:

Endless Myth: infinite hierarchical structure
The Multiversity: structured multiverse

2. Worldview: Unstable Infinity vs. Mapped Reality

In Endless Myth, the universe continuously expands and can even collapse under its own complexity.
It is not meant to be fully understood.

In The Multiversity, the multiverse is mapped and organized.
Readers can grasp its structure and the relationships between worlds.

Thus:

Endless Myth: incomprehensible infinity
The Multiversity: understandable multiverse

3. Characters: Conceptual Entities vs. Variations of Heroes

Characters in Endless Myth often embody abstract concepts or cosmic roles.

In The Multiversity, heroes are central.
The same hero appears in different forms across different universes.

In short:

Endless Myth: conceptual beings
The Multiversity: variations of heroes

4. Meta Structure: The Reader and the Story

One of the defining features of The Multiversity is its meta-narrative.
The act of reading itself becomes part of the story.

The relationship between the reader and the narrative is embedded within the structure.

In Endless Myth, the narrative itself becomes a cosmic structure.
The story is not just told—it exists as part of the universe it describes.

5. Meaning of the Multiverse: Narrative Device vs. Ontology

In Endless Myth, the multiverse is not just a setting—it is existence itself.

In The Multiversity, the multiverse functions as a narrative device.
It allows multiple stories and variations to coexist.

6. Essence of Myth: Infinity vs. Organization

Endless Myth presents myth as infinity—limitless and expanding.

The Multiversity represents an attempt to organize and define the multiverse.

Conclusion: Can Infinity Be Understood?

Endless Myth and The Multiversity offer two contrasting approaches to the concept of the multiverse:

Endless Myth: infinity beyond comprehension
The Multiversity: structured and interpretable multiverse

The former presents infinity as it is.
The latter attempts to give it form and meaning.

And this comparison leads to a central question:

Can infinity truly be understood—
or is the attempt to understand it itself a limitation?

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2026年4月12日日曜日

Comparing Endless Myth and Ha Road: Expansion Beyond Limits and Narrative Collapse

Comparing Endless Myth and Ha Road: Expansion Beyond Limits and Narrative Collapse

Introduction

Endless Myth and Ha Road are both works driven by an extreme ambition: to go beyond the limits of their original frameworks. While they differ in genre and structure, both attempt to expand their worlds to a scale that challenges the stability of storytelling itself.

Ha Road: Surpassing Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Ha Road begins as a reinterpretation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, one of the most iconic historical narratives in East Asia. However, it does not remain bound to history.

As the story progresses, it escalates far beyond its origins. Characters gain overwhelming power, conflicts grow larger than history itself, and the narrative transforms into something closer to myth or abstraction. In this sense, Ha Road attempts not just to retell Three Kingdoms, but to surpass it.

The Problem of Expansion and Collapse

Yet this expansion introduces a critical issue: structural breakdown.

By pushing beyond its narrative foundation, Ha Road begins to lose coherence. The story’s scale becomes so vast that it destabilizes its own structure. What was once grounded in a recognizable framework becomes fragmented.

This is the paradox of ambition in storytelling—expansion can create something new, but it can also lead to collapse.

Endless Myth: A Structure Without Limits

In contrast, Endless Myth is built on a fundamentally different premise.

From the beginning, it is not tied to a single historical or narrative base. Instead, it operates across multiverses, omniverses, and even realms where logic and mathematics no longer apply. Expansion is not something that happens to the story—it is the story itself.

Because of this, what would be considered “collapse” in other works becomes part of its design.

Expansion as Stability

Where Ha Road risks breaking under its own scale, Endless Myth avoids this by removing the concept of limits altogether.

It does not attempt to preserve a stable narrative structure. Instead, it embraces instability, turning it into a core theme. The story remains coherent not because it resists expansion, but because it is defined by it.

Conclusion

Both Ha Road and Endless Myth explore the same fundamental question: what happens when a story exceeds its own boundaries?

Ha Road shows both the power and the danger of such ambition—how a narrative can transcend its origins, but also risk disintegration. Endless Myth, on the other hand, represents a model where expansion itself becomes the foundation, avoiding collapse by design.

In this contrast, we can see two different answers to the same creative impulse: to go beyond.

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2026年4月11日土曜日

Endless Myth and Susano-Oh (Shuten Dōji)

— Cosmic Myth and the Revival of Indigenous Mythology —

The novel Endless Myth and Susano-Oh (Shuten Dōji) by Go Nagai differ greatly in scale and subject matter, yet they resonate in their shared goal of reconstructing myth.

One builds a mythology on a multiversal scale, while the other reinterprets Japanese myth and indigenous traditions.

This article compares them through the lenses of myth structure, worldview, character, and the recreation of myth.

1. Form of Myth: Infinite Construction vs. Reinterpretation of Ancient Myth

Endless Myth is a mythology of infinite expansion.
It constructs new myth through multiverses, omniversal layers, and conceptual systems.

Susano-Oh (Shuten Dōji) reinterprets existing mythology.
Drawing from Japanese myth—particularly the figure of Susanoo—it transforms traditional narratives into a new form.

In short:

Endless Myth: newly constructed myth
Susano-Oh: reimagined ancient myth

2. Worldview: Cosmos vs. Indigenous Landscape

Endless Myth takes place across the cosmos.
Its foundation lies in abstract, layered structures of existence.

Susano-Oh is rooted in an indigenous worldview.
Japanese myth, folklore, and the memory of the land shape its narrative.

Thus:

Endless Myth: abstract cosmos
Susano-Oh: grounded mythic landscape

3. Characters: Conceptual Entities vs. Reinterpreted Gods

Characters in Endless Myth often embody elements of a cosmic structure or conceptual roles.

In Susano-Oh, gods themselves are reinterpreted.
They are not distant, perfect beings but entities with human traits, violence, and raw emotion.

4. Violence and Myth: Creation and Destruction

A defining feature of Go Nagai’s works is the expression of raw energy and violence.

In Susano-Oh, myth is not static or serene—
it is forged through intense conflict and destruction.

Similarly, in Endless Myth, the universe is not stable.
It fluctuates, collapses, and is rebuilt continuously.

Both works suggest:

myth is not fixed—it is something that constantly transforms

5. Recreating Myth: Universality vs. Individuality

Endless Myth universalizes myth.
It presents a structure that applies across all existence and realities.

Susano-Oh personalizes myth.
It reshapes Japanese mythology into a distinct and individual vision.

6. Essence of Myth: Structure vs. Primordial Energy

Endless Myth presents myth as structure—
a system of infinite existence.

Susano-Oh presents myth as primordial energy—
a force of violence, life, and instinct.

Conclusion: Is Myth Created or Revived?

Endless Myth and Susano-Oh represent two different approaches to myth:

Endless Myth: myth as construction
Susano-Oh: myth as revival

The former expands myth from nothing into infinity.
The latter brings ancient myth back into the modern world.

And this comparison leads to a central question:

Is myth something we create—
or something we rediscover and awaken?

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2026年4月10日金曜日

Endless Myth and the Works of Pier Paolo Pasolini

— Cosmic Myth and Art as Critique —

The novel Endless Myth and the body of work by Pier Paolo Pasolini belong to vastly different domains.

One constructs a multiversal mythology on a cosmic scale, while the other engages directly with society through poetry, literature, film, essays, and cultural criticism.

Yet both confront a fundamental question: how do we interpret and represent the world?

This article compares them while tracing Pasolini’s life as a poet, novelist, filmmaker, essayist, and public intellectual—along with his relentless criticism of modern society and his mysterious death.

1. Form of Myth: Infinite Structure vs. Mythologized Reality

Endless Myth is a mythology of infinite expansion.
It develops through multiverses, omniversal layers, and even beyond.

Pasolini, in contrast, mythologized reality itself.
Through depictions of marginalized communities, religion, power, and sexuality, he transformed contemporary society into a form of myth.

In short:

Endless Myth: myth of the cosmos
Pasolini: myth of reality

2. Domains of Expression: Cosmos vs. Society

Endless Myth operates in abstract domains—
time, infinity, and the structure of existence.

Pasolini worked across multiple forms:

Poetry: inner life and social tension
Novels: marginalized and subproletarian realities
Film: religion, power, and the human body
Essays: sharp critiques of modern civilization

His work was not merely artistic—it was a direct interrogation of society.

3. Role of the Creator: Builder vs. Critic

In Endless Myth, the creator functions as a builder of worlds.
The narrative constructs a vast, structured universe.

Pasolini, however, positioned himself as a critic and provocateur.
He consistently challenged political systems, consumer culture, and dominant ideologies.

His essays and public statements were often confrontational, placing him in tension with his own era.

4. Limits of Expression: Conceptual Exploration vs. Social Provocation

Endless Myth pushes the limits of conceptual understanding—
infinity, existence, and what lies beyond.

Pasolini pushed social and ethical boundaries.
Through themes of religion, sexuality, and power, his works frequently provoked controversy and censorship.

His art did not merely depict reality—it challenged the audience to confront it.

5. A Life of Relentless Criticism

Pasolini spent his life in continuous critique of modern society:

Criticism of consumerism
Skepticism toward mass culture
Opposition to institutional power

He refused to conform to dominant cultural narratives, maintaining a position outside mainstream acceptance.

In this sense, he was not only an artist, but also a thinker deeply engaged with his time.

6. A Mysterious Death

In 1975, Pier Paolo Pasolini was found dead near Rome under violent circumstances.

The details of his death remain controversial, with ongoing debates about what truly happened and whether deeper forces were involved.

His death has become part of his legacy—
transforming him into a figure of myth as much as history.

7. Essence of Myth: Structure vs. Critique

Endless Myth presents myth as structure—
a system of infinite existence.

Pasolini uses myth as critique—
a way to expose and question the realities of society.

Conclusion: Does Myth Build the World, or Expose It?

Endless Myth and the works of Pasolini represent two fundamental functions of myth:

Endless Myth: myth as construction
Pasolini: myth as deconstruction

The former builds a universe.
The latter dismantles reality.

And this comparison leads to a fundamental question:

Is myth meant to create worlds—
or to reveal the hidden truths within them?

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