Commercials

"Culture Advanced" is the first English region commercial for the Golden Sun series, advertising the first installment, Golden Sun.

Overview
The spot begins with various shots of audience members, watching a symphony being performed by an orchestra in an auditorium.

One of the shots shows a man with a skull for a head observing from a gallery. The monster then leans over to look up at a gargoyle perched higher up on the wall, as if to give it a cue. The gargoyle springs to life suddenly, and while the orchestra is still unaware, many other gargoyles burst from their mountings. The conductor, a young woman in a red floor-length dress, hesitantly looks back over her shoulder towards the oncoming assault of gargoyles. As one gargoyle makes a dive downwards, the audience members crane their heads to observe in fascination as the gargoyle barely misses the conductor.

Violinists in the ensemble set the tips of their bows alight with flame from their lamps, and fire a barrage into the wave of gargoyles on the conductor's command. Pierced by the flaming bows and pinned to the walls, the gargoyles flail wildly. However, a gothic angel gargoyle deftly hurls its stone halo towards the ensemble; an elderly musician destroys it by clashing it between his cymbals. The musician returns the attack by sending one of the cymbals careening towards the gargoyle, decapitating it.

Still conducting vigorously, the conductor turns to witness a crystal chandelier descend upon the orchestra and transform into a dragon-like monster. The crowd watches on expectantly. The music climaxes as the two opponents confront each-other in a brief standoff, with the chandelier breathing a beam of energy at the conductor. She dodges, and as the chandelier lunges again, the conductor seizes one of the protrusions on its underside as it overshoots her position. Gazing up at the chandelier, the conductor thrusts her baton into the air and strikes the monster with a thin arc of magical energy, shattering the crystal and brass that compose it and slaying it. As shards of glass rain down, the conductor kneels to pick up a crystal rose from the ground, which transforms into a real flower as she brings it to her nose. She pirouettes, her dress now white, as the crowd applauds, and a disembodied pair of hands holds a Gameboy Advance towards the camera in one of the galleries. The words "Culture Advanced" appear and footage from the game is played, with the words "Life advanced" shown just as the commercial cuts.

Connections with the game
While the commercial is seemingly unrelated to the game at all, several similarities are hinted:


 * Several monsters in the commercial appear in the series: a Skeleton, Gargoyles, and what could be interpreted as the Fusion Dragon.
 * The volley of flaming bows resembles the Atalanta summon, and the act in itself is meant to be an allusion to the Summon spirit gameplay concept.

Trivia
The familiar piece playing during the commercial is "In the Hall of the Mountain King", composed by Edvard Grieg.