rebirth

rebirth

I’m a little late, but happy new year! What better song to start the new year off with than one about rebirth?

“rebirth” is the last track on Oku Hanako’s 2010 album, “Utakata” / うたかた. It is fitting to be the last because it was also used as the ending theme to the PSP game “Tales of Phantasian: Narikiri Dungeon X“, a remake of the Game Boy Color game “Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon“, and the same game that featured Garasu no Hana / ガラスの花 as the opening theme and Hane / 羽 as the insert song, both of which can also be found on the album.

I couldn’t find a translation for the lyrics, so I decided to try to do one myself. I encourage you to read my translation notes.

Having not played the game, it’s difficult to make comments on how the song relates to the game. However, the original game’s Wikipedia article outlines the game’s storyline, which I will assume to be very similar to that of the remake. Spoilers ahead, so I’ll make my comments in the spoiler block below (this is really an excuse to try out the new details element):

Spoiler

At the end of the story, the player finds the two main characters reborn as babies as the flow of time is corrected.

That is the obvious connection between the game and the song’s title, but I can’t see anything to connect the lyrics to the title or story. It’s likely that I’m not reading closely enough, because I did just skim through the description of the story.

Narikiri Dungeon X: Rebirth by NortheasternWind [YouTube]

Along with Himitsu no Takaramono / 秘密の宝物, “rebirth” is the second of the two hikigatari songs on the fourteen-track album.

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Aitai Toki ni Aenai / 逢いたいときに逢えない

Aitai Toki ni Aenai / 逢いたいときに逢えない: “I Can’t See You When I Want”

aitai / 逢(あ)いたい

“want to meet”. This is the desire form of 逢う (“to meet”).

toki / とき

“time”, “when”

ni / に

A particle indicating the time of reference

aenai / 逢(あ)えない

“cannot meet”. This is the negative potential form of 逢う (“to meet”).

“Aitai Toki ni Aenai” is track 5 on Oku Hanako’s 2010 album “Utakata” / うたかた. Being placed between the more energetic “Hane” / 羽 and the slower “Trump” / トランプ, it serves as a good transition both in tempo and in mood between the two songs.

Although I don’t have a translation for you today, it seems to be a song in which the singer can’t get over her break-up and can’t help but keep loving her former partner.

逢いたいときに逢えない　【奥華子】 by Phys peop [YouTube]

If I’m not mistaken, that’s an accordion in the accompaniment, perhaps her only song that has one.

Genki de Ite ne / 元気でいてね

Genki de Ite ne / 元(げん)気(き)でいてね: “Take Care”

genki / 元(げん)気(き)

“healthy”, “energetic”, “good mood”

de / で

A particle marking indicating the means by which to do the action

ite / いて

te / て form of iru / いる (“to be” for animate beings). The te / て form makes this a request.

ne / ね

A particle that adds (light) emphasis.

The ne / ね is lost in translation, however, it need not be. You could translate the title as “Take Care, Okay?” to make the ne / ね explicit.

Today is Oku Hanako’s birthday! She turns 39 today. Because of time zones, the day is already mostly over for them in Japan.

The song I picked for today is a song of inspiration and perfectly says what I want to say to her this year: “Do your best, take a step forwards so you don’t regret doing nothing, and take care this year.” Genki de Ite ne was first released as the second-last track on Utakata / うたかた in 2010, and the seven years since then have been quite a journey for her. We have a translation of the lyrics from Edward today, and as always, make sure you read his translation notes.

This song has also been on a bit of a journey: at least two other notable versions of this song have appeared in her releases. The first is the 2012 acoustic version included as the second-last track on the Ai no Uta disc of her “Oku Hanako BEST -My Letters-” compilation. The second is an a cappella live version included with her “CONCERT TOUR ’12 Hikigatari ~5th Letter~” DVD release. These two versions are considerably more mellow than the original. The version I’m featuring today is the original upbeat pop-style version.

元気でいてね 奥華子　　genkideitene okuhanako YouTube by 大畑浩士 [YouTube]

Happy Birthday, Oku Hanako! お誕生日おめでとうございます！

Trump / トランプ

Trump / TORANPU / トランプ: “Playing Cards”

No, this has nothing to do with the current US presidential election.

My first encounter with Trump was while reading solarblade’s reviews back in 2013 or 2014. Piano ballads aren’t really his thing, so of course he found it was boring and said that it wasn’t really worth listening to. Unfortunately, having read his reviews, I listened to the song and, being influenced by his opinion at the time, also found it boring.

However, I listen to it now and I think it’s great, even if the lyrics are a bit painful. She also has a live version of this song on Cinderella, her 2012 single, which I think is just as good, if not better (and as usual, that will be posted eventually).

トランプ by ぐーちゃん [Nico Nico Douga]

I’ve included Edward’s translation below, but as always, you should go read his translation notes as well.

Komorebi no Naka de / 木漏れ日の中で

Komorebi no Naka de / 木漏れ日の中で: “In the Sunlight Through the Trees”

komorebi / 木漏れ日

“sunlight filtering through the trees”

no / の

a particle that indicates the previous word acts as a modifier

naka / 中

“inside”

de / で

a particle indicating location (“at”)

The title of this song is a tough one to translate because komorebi / 木漏れ日 is one of those words that doesn’t really have an equivalent in English. The aim is to come up with a short title that captures the meaning of the original; “In the Sunlight Through the Trees” is my best attempt. If you can come up with something better, please suggest it in the comments.

“Komorebi no Naka de” is track 8 on Oku Hanako’s 2010 album, Utakata / うたかた. It has a very nice piano+guitar arrangement and offers a nice contrast to other songs on the album such as Utakata / 泡沫 and Garasu no Hana / ガラスの花.

Komorebi no naka de-Oku Hanako **Sub. español + Letra romaji** by Azura Allazjward Kurosu [YouTube]

Comparing it to some of her other songs, I’d say it’s most like Harukaze / 春風 from Yasashii Hana no Saku Basho / やさしい花の咲く場所 (2006) and the version of Suteki na Michi / 素敵な道 from Kimi no Egao / 君の笑顔 (2011).

Fake / フェイク

Fake / FEIKU / フェイク

This is a fun-sounding little song. It reminds me a little of Wasurerareta Kinenbi / 忘れられた記念日 and Watashi no Migigawa / 私の右側, although more so of Chocolate / チョコレート at the chorus.

I have a feeling that the lyrics aren’t as fun as the song sounds, although I can’t tell from a machine translation.

Fake appeared on Oku Hanako’s 2010 album, Utakata / うたかた, as the third track. With strong vocals and good playing, it’s overall your typical upbeat Oku Hanako song, and I mean that in a good way.

フェイク [music.163.com]

Hatsukoi / 初恋

Hatsukoi / 初恋

hatsu- / 初

“first”

koi / 恋

“love”

Hatsukoi: it’s one of Oku Hanako’s 2010 singles and is undeniably one of her most moving songs. She almost always ends up looking emotionally drained after performing this song live, and if I get really into the song, it can get me, too.

It’s a sad song, telling about a couple who had recently broke up. The girl still likes the guy and begs him to remain friends. Well, it’s a little deeper than that; I’ll leave you to read the translation.

Musically, the song is tastefully and appropriately arranged. There are four main instruments: drums, guitar, strings, and of course, piano. They all add to the inherent sadness of the song, especially the strings.

This song also features, in my opinion, the best of her music videos:

Hanako Oku – Hatsukoi [JPopsuki]

Or, for those low on bandwidth:

奥華子 初恋 by LINCHINCHENG1

I think the song has been somewhat overused in promotional material, but Hatsukoi is definitely one of Oku Hanako’s best.

Utakata / 泡沫

Utakata / 泡沫: “bubble” (on the surface of a liquid), “foam”. May also be “ephemeral” or “transient”. More commonly pronounced as houmatsu / ほうまつ.

To avoid ambiguity between the album and the song, I will use Utakata / うたかた to refer to the album and Utakata / 泡沫 to refer to the song. This is how they’re listed in her discography.

Here we have the opening and title track of Oku Hanako’s 2010 album, Utakata / 泡沫. It’s a very strong opening, but also a very different one. If you’re completely new to Oku Hanako, you may want to consider listening to another song first.

I’ve always considered Utakata / うたかた as somewhat of an album of experiments, and Utakata / 泡沫 is a good summary of the album (quite fitting, isn’t it?). It’s heavily arranged, has a solo piano bit, and plays around with low tones.

Overall, this song is quite powerful and it’s definitely one of my favourites.

Listen carefully during the interlude (~2:51); you’re in for a treat.

Utakata-Oku Hanako **Sub español + Letra romaji** by Azura Allazjward Kurosu [YouTube]

If my speakers were any louder, I’d damage my eardrums.

Hane / 羽

Hane / 羽 : “wing(s)”

“Hane” / 羽 is the insert song for the video game Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X / テイルズ オブ ファンタジア なりきりダンジョンX, the one for which Oku Hanako wrote and performed Garasu no Hana / ガラスの花.

Too bad Hane only appears once (twice if you count the DVD) in her discography; it’s a really nice song. It has a bit of a European folkish feel to it, but it doesn’t like something she wouldn’t do (then again, the album, Utakata / うたかた , was full of songs like that).

Hane – Hanako Oku [zing.vn]

If you can get over the observation that the verses sound uncannily like Kawaranai Mono / 変わらないもの, it’s a very nice and relaxing song to listen to.

Garasu no Hana / ガラスの花

Garasu no Hana / ガラスの花 : “glass flower”

glass / GARASU / ガラス

Transliteration of “glass”. In some track listings, the title will be shown as “Glass no Hana” because of this, but since it’s a single and it was actually written out as “garasu”, I prefer to keep the roumaji.

no / の

A particle indicating that the previous word modifies the next word (almost equivalent to “of”)

hana / 花

“flower”

Garasu no Hana was Oku Hanako’s single released on August 4, 2010. There were two versions of the single: the regular CD only edition, and the special limited-edition Tales edition. The song itself was the opening theme for the Japan-only video game, Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X / テイルズ オブ ファンタジア なりきりダンジョンX (pronounced “cross”), released for the PSP, and played right at the beginning. I expect that this, like Garnet / ガーネット, is one of the entry points for a newcomer to Oku Hanako, although applicable to Japan only.

One of the reasons why I chose to post “Garasu no Hana” this week is because it’s been about a year since I first heard it. Like Kawaranai Mono / 変わらないもの, I was hooked instantly, although even more strongly this time.

Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X [Garasu No Hana] [Glass Flower] [Full Song] by RecurrentRistellise [YouTube]

Amazing! Just amazing! I was blown away, breath-taken, almost driven to tears at how good it sounded. She sings with control, but with power also. The arrangement is different from what she usually does: it’s fuller with a lot more intricate layers. Even after a year, I’m still impressed by it. Not only did she write the lyrics and composed the music herself, as she does with all her songs, I found out that she also arranged it! She doesn’t usually arrange her songs, at least, not until now, and I never expected an arrangement so stunning coming from her. Sure, she can compose, but arranging is another thing, something I know first-hand. Considering everything, Garasu no Hana is definitely one of her best, and one of my favourites.