Music, At The Present

So lately, I've been minorly-obsessed with the song "Midnight Orchestra." It was introduced to me by an OVA of Naruto, featuring Naruto, Sasuke, and their bonds. It was a touching video, but the music is even better. 

Here's a link to the video.

It's really awesome, in my opinion. I love the piano pieces, as much as the bits with the orchestra (ironic, huh?). Sometimes, you'll see "Mayonaka no Orchestra," instead. Mayo means night, and naka means middle, thus mayonaka means middle of the night (midnight). "No" shows possession, means that this is Midnight's Orchestra, or an Orchestra of Midnight. Hence, Midnight Orchestra in English.

About the video:
I love the first part, how it actually gives us a bit of a story. Sasuke and Naruto are at some sort of lake, getting ready to face off (once again). Ironically, they're positions are reversed than where they stood at the Valley of the End, and the lake is very remnicsent of that place. The beginning of the video does an excellent job retelling Naruto and Sasuke's academy days without using words, while also showing that mutual rivalry,  and their bond as a team. The feelings of nostalgia this brings up (seeing them chase the dog, for example, or the tree training) are very powerful. We then get a recap of their respective achievements (for Naruto, his Chunin Exam battles are recounted, along with his tussle with Gaara. Then, we see the Zabuza/Haku fight for both of them. On Sasuke's side, we see his preliminary battle, and his faceoff with Orochimaru in the forest of death.)

After all that, we see, rather heartbreakingly, all the loneliness these two experienced. It makes them very similar. Then, comes one of my favorite parts.

First, we have Sasuke and Naruto facing each other, symbolizing friendship and unity.

Then, we're treated to some scenes like this, featuring Itachi, who is the wedge driven between Naruto and Sasuke, leading to this...

 Then, we have Sasuke turning away, showing that their bond is weakening, and he's about to break it. Note, the background is also darker.

Finally, we have scenes of the Sound 4 and Orochimaru (and his curse mark), who are the catalysts for Sasuke leaving the village. He severs his bonds, believing them to weaken him and his quest for revenge, leading to this...

Finally, Sasuke is completely gone, having turned his back on poor Naruto, who is still standing there, waiting for Sasuke. Also, the background is black. Things are looking pretty dark.
Next, we take a break from this sad story, and get some original animation to go along with the music, like this gem:

The line at this point in the song is "Cold children who look up at stars." It's very endearing to see Sasuke and Naruto as children, and the shooting star makes it very pretty. Although, they should be sitting together.
After that, they get back to the 'present' where Naruto (Sage mode) and Sasuke (Mangekyou Sharingan) are battling. It's a cool piece of action.

Question: Is Asuma's trench knife in there just for the ova, or does Naruto still have one? It'd be cool to see Naruto actually use it in the manga.
After that, we get another review of the two's achievements, though this is from Part 2 of the story. We see Itachi, Pain, and various other Akatsuki. I am disappointed that they didn't include Deidara for Sasuke's sake though. Although Deidara blew himself up, Sasuke still outmaneuvered and defeated him. There are only two antagonists for this bit: Pain (With Co.) and Itachi. Here's the mugshots:

Some effective staring. Although, that could represent the genjutsu battle. Either way, these are.... not bad pictures!

 And here's our Sage Naruto and Pain, with Paths and sidekick-er, Konan.

Then we have some cool pieces of their respective fights:

 Right: Naruto using Rasen-shuriken...

 Below: Sasuke/Itachi firefight... with fire.

 Right: Sasuke's Mangekyou forming, after Itachi died.

Right: Itachi poking Sasuke in the forehead. Oh, the trauma.

Below: Itachi/Sasuke shuriken shoot out. So much fun to watch, even if it doesn't make good pictures!

Left: Naruto/Pain doing some fancy taijutsu.

After all of this, we get back to the present, where Sasuke and Naruto are both injured and weary. We are winding up to the last moments of the fight, as evidenced by this...

And here it is. There respective signature moves, the Chidori (left) and Rasengan (right). This is always how they end their fights....

 Then, suddenly, everything starts coming together!

That's the end. Well, after holding hands as little kids the two clash and stuff happens and the story part of the video is resolved. BUT! To me, this is the emotional ending of the video. In between these pics, all sorts of things happen, mainly the Valley of the End battle has it's important moments spaced in between. All in all, if You understand Naruto (even if You don't) this is a very touching video. The lyrics make it that much stronger.