First Otaku Battalion

作詞：ああ／作曲：Takumi／編曲：西田マサラ／
歌：能登麻美子

あさきゆめみじ　永久（とわ）に嘆きもせす

月の光　心　照らし出す
燃ゆる花の舞　道しるべ

絡みつく　あやまちの詩（うた）　胸をしめる

果てぬ川に手を挿し　流そう
想い　詰めた言の葉　藍に染めて

すれ違いが　心もろくする
居場所もないまま　風は吹く

赤い道　足取り重く　闇に向かう

一度流せば　二度と帰らぬ
指がつまびく運命（さだめ）　藍に染めて

いくつ　明けない夜を　重ねて
やがて　藍の嘆きも　消え逝くのか

果てぬ川に手を挿し　流そう
色は匂へど　いつか　散りぬるもの

藍に染めて…

Lyrics Source: http://www.jtw.zaq.ne.jp/animesong/si/shoujo2/aizome.html
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Romaji

asaki yumemiji towa ni nageki mo sesu

tsuki no hikari kokoro terashi dasu
moyuru hana no mai michi shirube

karami tsuku ayamachi no uta mune wo shimeru

hatenu kawa ni te wo sashi nagasou
omoi tsumeta kotonoha ai ni somete

surechigai ga kokoro morokusuru
ibasho mo nai mama kaze ha fuku

akai michi ashi toriomoku yami ni mukau

ichido nagaseba nidoto kaeranu
yubi ga tsumabiku sadame ai ni somete

ikutsu akenai yoru wo kasanete
yagate ai no nageki mo kieyuku no ka

hatenu kawa ni te wo sashi nagasou
iro ha nio e do itsuka chirinu mono

ai ni somete…
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English Translation

Indigo Dye

Waking up from a light dream Sighing for eternity

Moonlight shines over my heart
The blazing dance of flowers Guides my way through the path

The poem of deceptions entangles my heart

Dipping my hand into the endless river It seems to flow on
Painting the word-filled emotions in indigo

The missing of each other wears down the heart
Even without anywhere to go to, the wind blows

I dragged my heavy footsteps along the crimson path towards the darkness

If I were to flow on once, returning on the second time would be impossible
As my fingers plucked at it, I dyed my fate in indigo

How many times have I lived through dawnless nights repeatedly
So much so that before long, my indigo sighs will fade away?

Dipping my hand into the endless river It seems to flow on
No matter the brilliance or smell (of flowers or people), someday it will still wither away

Dyeing it in indigo…
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This is one damn hard song to translate.

What the #$%#$ is あさきゆめみじ!?

I had absolutely no idea how to do it and even tried to cheat by taking a peek at Memento’s post on this song. But apparently the guy fails at it too and could only produce a Romaji version.

It was seeming that this song can’t be done until I sought help from DM. Voila! The JLPT1 dude swiftly pointed out that he has already answered the question on his blog a long, long time ago. It was also used in Da Capo 2’s OP apparently.

So after some poking around here, I realised what it meant and also discovered that the second last line is a direct lift off the poem linked. Interesting. Finally I get to see a Japanese song that uses poems or classic Japanese literature.

This song was written by savage genius for Noto Mamiko to sing for as the ED of Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori anime. But somehow they decided to release their own rendition of it before the release of Mamiko’s. Those baskets. Amusingly, Mamiko’s version pwns theirs. Those interested in getting savage genius’s version can go source Amazon JP themselves.

As for those who might question my song appreciation tastes, let’s just say that I have two main forms of appreciation:

1. Music. If the music is good, then it’s worth my time listening. That is provided that the lyrics don’t suck too much. Examples of sucky songs are those shitty “Love Love! Oh my lover! Love! Love! I love you! You love me!” conventional crap that always top song charts for some stupid reasons. This leads me to my priority in appreciation,

2. Lyrics. A song might suck as much as it like, be it the singer or the melody. But as long as the lyrics are good, I’ll loop it in foobar2k.

This probably explains why I hate mainstream Chinese pop crap so much. Indifferent music pieces + retarded lyrics + craptastic singers equates to trash that’s not even worth my attention time span of even noticing its existence. The only Chinese pop songwriter to earn my respect till now is 方文山. Jay Chou doesn’t deserve him.

Here’s the PV to sum up this post. Enjoy: