Ruby annotations coming soon

As a result of a request of mine, WordPress.com now supports ruby annotations. Ruby annotations are usually used in the form of furigana, where the reading in hiragana is written on top of the kanji like this: 漢(かん)字(じ).

You’re not restricted in the content that you can put in the annotations, so I could just as easily use the rōmaji reading instead: 漢(kan)字(ji). Similarly, you’re not restricted in the base text, so I could even do this: ka(か)n(ん)ji(じ).

All modern browsers should support ruby annotations natively, but for any browsers that don’t, 漢(かん)字(じ) will show up as 漢(かん)字(じ).

Kimi no Hana / キミの花

Kimi no Hana / キミの花: “Your Flower”

kimi / キミ

“you”. Written out in katakana, possibly for stress (i.e. “your flower” as opposed to “your flower“)

no / の

A particle indicating possession. Roughly equivalent to “of”.

hana / 花

“flower”

Oku Hanako’s new double A-side single, Kimi no Hana/Saigo no Kiss / キミの花／最後のキス has been released!

I’ve taken a listen to the songs on the single and it seems to be a bit of a departure from her usual style. If you’ve heard the TV size version of Kimi no Hana from either Seiren or the short music videos, you’ll know that the song features the piano less prominently and takes on a more rock style. I’ll briefly discuss my opinion on the other two songs afterwards.

I was going to publish this post yesterday, but I figured you wouldn’t mind the wait if it were to provide a good translation. I found a translation by Nakari Amane, but it needed so much editing that I ended up just making my own. My translation is available below, and my translation notes are available. As this is my first complete translation of a song, any corrections are appreciated.

Here’s the music video:

HO – KnH by Aysohmay [Dailymotion]

I’m actually okay with this. I still prefer her older piano works wish she would do more of that style, but I don’t think I’d complain too much if we got more of this. Although it’s not prominent, if you listen closely, the piano is still an important part of the song, where instead of the piano being singled out as being the more important instrument (other than the part after the pre-chorus), it works together with the others to create a beautiful song. The more I listen to this song, the more I appreciate it.

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Kimi no Hana / キミの花 single short MVs released

I’m going to save my thoughts for the actual release date (February 22), but for those who want to be teased a little, Pony Canyon released the short versions of the music videos and a 60-second digest PV of Oku Hanako’s upcoming double A-side single Kimi no Hana/Saigo no Kiss / キミの花／最後のキス yesterday.

I’ll start with the 60-second digest:

奥華子『キミの花／最後のキス』６０秒ダイジェスト映像 by ponycanyon [YouTube]

Kimi no Hana / キミの花:

キミの花／奥華子（Short Ver.) by ponycanyon [YouTube]

And lastly, Saigo no Kiss / 最後のキス:

最後のキス／奥華子（Short Ver.) by ponycanyon [YouTube]

Here’s hoping they release the full versions on the release date.

Sonna Fuu ni Shika Ienai Kedo / そんな風にしか言えないけど

Sonna Fuu ni Shika Ienai Kedo / そんな風にしか言えないけど: “Even Though I Have No Other Way to Say It”

sonna fuu ni / そんな風に

“that way”

sonna / そんな

“that”

fuu / 風

“style”

ni / に

A particle indicating a passive agent (“by”; Wiktionary etymology 2, definition 4)

shika / しか

“only”. Must be used with a verb in the negative form.

ienai / 言えない

“cannot say”. Negative potential form of 言う (“to say”). However, since this is used with shika / しか, the meaning is “can say” with a limitation.

kedo / けど

“but”

Valentine’s Day is here! Even though the majority of Oku Hanako’s songs are about love, it’s still difficult to choose one for today because about half of them are about unrequited love or a breakup.

“Sonna Fuu ni Shika Ienai Kedo” is one of Oku Hanako’s earlier songs, first appearing as track 4 on her first major album, Yasashii Hana no Saku Basho / 優しい花の咲く場所, released in 2006. It was later released in her Oku Hanako BEST -My Letters- 2012 collection as track 12 on disc 2.

Edward provides us with the translation for the title for today’s song (as well as the song itself). I chose his translation over the more literal translation “But I Can Only Say It That Way”, the one I put in the Generasia wiki, because I felt it fit better with the song. As usual, I encourage you to read his translation notes.

（MAD）うさぎドロップ～「そんな風にしか言えないけど」【奥華子】 by lemone [Nico Nico Douga]

This song was apparently also used as a CF song for a JA Kyosai^[jp] commercial, but I unfortunately can’t find the commercial. According to Wikipedia, the English name for the company is the National Mutual Insurance Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives. Edward has this to say about a possible reinterpretation of the song:

If the chorus is used in a commercial, as was the case when Kimi no Egao was used in a commercial, then a change in interpretation would be due to a change in who is delivering the message. In the song, it is someone who loves you. In an insurance company’s commercial, it’s someone who wants to do business with you. In the commercial, the message I imagine would be along the lines of “If you’re worried about something, why don’t let us worry about it instead? We can’t solve the problem for you, but we can insure you so that you don’t need to worry (about paying for anything) if the worst should happen”.