>>1866284
As one of the replies above stated, FW is perhaps ZUN's most melancholic work out there. There is the obvious fact that we know that ZUN was reportedly a little down in the dumps during the making of the game, but there is far more to that.
FW is a game of systemic victims, but unlike WBaWC's introduction of the Animal Realm and its survival of the fittest society that, while unfair & constantly at war, does present a more technologically advanced world, a parallel easily linked to our own world's innovations & cyclical nature.
FW's choice to bring back Toyohime and the Lunarians feels deliberate. Nothing all too novel is brought to their world, leaving more emphasis on the collateral damage of their actions. The wide range of those systemic victims, from the newly born Nina, to the brainwashed Yuiman, can also be interpreted as a reflection of how societal changes in the past years affects us all, down to the kids and their proper growth, something I can only assume ZUN, a father, is likely aware and fearful of.
The music does not fare much better, none more obvious than the 1st ending and bad ending theme - Unchanging Daily Life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxUEWvDh5T4
The song most certainly carries an aura of peace, tainted by the low notes of piano, looming over the song, as it does for those who've chosen an unchanging daily life. A slew of "what ifs" waves in the calm, uneventful ride that is your life. None too strong to tip your boat over, yet all too prevalent to feign ignorance in the face of them. Meanwhile, as we've explored in the aforementioned analysis of FW, it feels easier than ever to step outside your boat, and see nothing but storms, whirlpools, and hostility ahead. Times today are challenging in new, unconventional ways, in such ways that we may be afraid to speak about it, for it may merely sentence you as weak to your peers, or simply ignored.
Take all of this with a grain of salt, as there is quite a bit of self projection thrown into the mix, but that's the attract of media to some.