lyrics translation. 'Last melody' by Chihiro Onitsuka

This is one of my favourite songs of hers, but strangely I've never tried to imagine the story told in this song. And when I did, I loved it even more. Even though I might not understand Ms. Onitsuka as a person, she is able to write and perform such songs that seem to express my own self so well.

lyrics

やっと街も足音を立てて
風さえも隙間を埋めようとする
すべては夢で　あとは目を覚ますだけ
また立ち止まる

季節を彷徨う最後の言葉が
まるであなたのように横切る
涙をうかべて歩いてゆく私に
聴こえないメロディー

答えは今も曖昧なままで
ほんのわずかな望みさえ色褪せるのに
待ち続けてる　途方もないことくらい
分かっていても

時間を奏でた優しい記憶が
まるであなたのように手を振る
もう何も言えずに頷く私に
聴こえないメロディー

落としたものを探していくのは
どこまでも遠く果てしないから
すべては夢のようで
日々は静かに過ぎる

季節を彷徨う最後の言葉が
まるであなたのように横切る
涙をうかべて　涙をうかべて
涙をうかべて
涙をうかべて歩いてゆく私に
聴こえないメロディー
もう何も言えずに頷く私に
聴こえないメロディー

translation

At last, there are footsteps heard in the streets,
And even the wind tries to fill the gaps,
Everything looks like a dream to me, I only have to wake up –
And I stop and stand still again

The last words that flow through the season
Are just like you – they cross my road
I walk on with tears on my face
And I can’t hear that melody…

The answer is still unclear even now,
Even the smallest hope fades, but
I still wait, even though
I know this is absurd

The tender memories that played the music of time
Are just like you – they wave hands to me
I just nod, not able to say anything
And I can’t hear that melody…

Searching for something I have dropped
Is a long, never-ending road
Everything is like a dream,
And the days silently pass by

The last words that flow through the season
Are just like you – they cross my road
With tears on my face, with tears on my face
With tears on my face
I walk on with tears on my face
And I can’t hear that melody,
I just nod, not able to say anything
And I can’t hear that melody…
_____

1. All kanji for 'I' are written as usual, but I've noticed Onitsuka sings them as 'atashi', not 'watashi', and in many songs she does. Google for the difference.

2. The words in Onitsuka's songs are usually more materialistic than you'd think, unlike some popular performers who sing songs with lines that are impossible to translate because they are just rows of 'beautiful' words put together. Just a random song, Yuuki Aira's 'I believe': 'I am always captured by invisible things and that bothers me, it's like a sudden rain'. What? Being always captured is like a sudden rain? Okay, Kalafina's 'monochrome': 'I want to try to put into words things that I don't want to put into words. It flows transparently becoming a song with a shape of water'. I know this is supposed to be mysterious and stuff, but it's meaningless, and there was not any particular meaning attached to the lyrics, I'm afraid. And by the way, I'm not a total Kalafina hater, there are some songs of theirs I like. However, even if Onitsuka's words may seem strange in the same way, they are different because they create a certain image. I cannot imagine situations in the songs I mentioned, but there are things I can certainly imagine in 'Last melody'. The first lines create a very familiar scene - a street full of people with the wind between them, and all moving so closely and dense that it seems there is no free space left, and it looks like a mirage so much you'd want to come to a halt. The words that 'flow through the season' are probably some important words that were so memorable that they become the strongest association with the time of the year they were spoken in. They cross the mind of the heroine, perpendicular to her direction, and the important person also crossed her life path and probably went away. The 'tender memories' are also some strong association with particular periods of her life, and as a creative person, she associates them with some music, too. They become more and more distant, just like the person who - supposedly - went away. I don't think any other lines need special explanation, but I hope this is a good example of how a song can be poetic enough without becoming an exercise in creating Jabberwocky nonsense.

IMHO. Snow Troupe’s 'Rurouni Kenshin'

In the break between the 1st and the 2nd act, standing in the lobby and looking through the programme, I saw two western faces on the other side of the hall. I must say, though Takarazuka gains more and more popularity in other countries, it was not common for me to see a foreigner (at least an obvious one) in the theatre actually. I was wondering whether they were fans of RuroKen or of Takarazuka, or of both. But the first question that came to my head was – how did they get the tickets???

Story and characters
I still don’t know about those two, but me and my friend are fans of both Zuka and RuroKen. Going to see the performance was an extremely important thing for us, all our trip was specially planned for that, and we started planning as soon as we heard about the decision of Hankyu to stage RuroKen last year. What I did not expect was that so many Japanese turned out to be fans like us, too. I mean, more than 30 performances in total, with approximately two thousand seats in the Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre, and almost all of them sold out in 1 hour. Why do 60,000 people have nothing else to do in April? It’s a start of a new year, why don’t you all concentrate on your studies or work? I’m just joking, of course. Or am I?
If you’re not new to it, you shouldn’t expect that Takarazuka ever makes a play entirely for fans of a particular franchise. And I didn’t… At least I thought I didn’t. And still I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that they stuffed 2 hours of the play with all kinds of events for the sake of viewers oblivious to the original work, including Kenshin’s fight during the revolution, his past with Tomoe, meeting Kaoru, Yahiko, Sano, Saito, Megumi, Aoshi, Takeda and Kano, conflicts with local yakuza, contacts with police, opium production, first Gatling, European-style ball, saving Kaoru and of course, many fights in the course of it. I read the director’s explanation that the story would be something happening between the first events of the manga, but instead they just briefly explained almost the whole first arc with the only difference of Kurogasa, Kenshin's enemy and former Shinsengumi member, who was replaced with Kano and connected with Kanryu. Rather than a filler, I’d call it an alternative – and brief – introduction.
To my surprise, I discovered that for me, apparently, the scenario may be of less importance if the rest is good. And the rest was just superb. The 23rd row is only second to the farthest in the audience, but even from there I could feel how much perseverance and love was put into the characters’ personification.

Acting
When my Japanese friend, a frequent Takarazuka visitor, told me she loves Snow more than any other troupe because of the 'climate' and coherence in the collective, I couldn’t quite understand what she meant. I guess I had to see it myself to understand. It’s when everybody is in his place, and when everybody has his time to shine on stage. And I couldn’t imagine better actors to portray the characters I love so much. I was ready to see some actresses suitable and others differing from what I’d like to see, but there were no one to count as the latter. I know it’s not fair to compare Takarazuka to people cosplaying anime characters, or actors of a live action movie, but I’ve never seen anybody so similar to the original characters. I read that Watsuki approved Satoh as Kenshin for the movie. I’m not sure what he said about the actresses from Takarazuka, but he gave his consent, and I hope it was not bought but negotiated.
But well, there is one thing you have to keep in mind – it’s a stage performance, and it’s Takarazuka with its traditions. They couldn’t make a smaller Yahiko or an older Saito who would be not as hot and young as they did. Or less loveable Takeda with his money and Gatling. Or less funny Megumi, since a female role for an otokoyaku actress - even if a former one - is always like that. Or miss the chance to make Sano introduce himself as if in a kabuki play.
Speaking of Yahiko, this is the thing that will never stop surprising me in a bad way when it comes to subordination and hierarchy in Japan. So, you choose young Ms. Irodori to play Yahiko. And you don’t give her any place on the poster. I know there were enough people on it even without her and her rank within the troupe, judging by the place of her photo in the programme, is not very high, but it really made me worry they'd erase the whole character from the story. And I must say she was an incredibly good Yahiko. Just as all others were incredibly good as their respective characters.

Costumes and setting
I thought I'd write something like 'this aspect deserves a separate paragraph from me', but I'm not sure if I can make a whole paragraph out of my inarticulate proclamations of delight. Just imagine that even the 10-minute scene in the brothel Kano visited in the beginning had a row of girls wearing gorgeous clothes, imagine that when Aoshi runs, his cloak waves just as it looks in manga or anime which always looks slightly surreal, that Sano was actually carrying his big zanbato, that there were Kaoru's dojo, Akabeko, a dark forest, Kano's house built in a western manner, an opium production room, and all of them had their own interiors or exteriors.

Music
As far as I remember, the music was very good in 'Rurouni Kenshin'… though it's hard to me to say anything bad about the play that amazed me so much. The lyrics in some songs were maybe just a bit less poetic than I'd want them to be – more like normal speech, for example 'this is our first technique of Kamiya Kasshin ryu' or 'I haven’t forgotten Tomoe but now I want to protect Kaoru'. I mean, literally. And some of those songs weren't meant to be entertaining, but serious and dramatic.
It was probably a silly thing to hope they'd use any of the anime songs or background themes, though I think they could manage it if they wanted. Nevertheless, I headed for Quatre Reves fully determined to buy a live CD, but I think it was not issued then.

Conclusion
At first I thought it would be hard for me to rewatch the Takarazuka version of RuroKen in case I lay my hands on it, because 'Kenshin' is not a story to kill time with or watch for entertainment, at least for me. However, after some time, I realised that the Takarazuka version is not too deep and tragic, and its lightness makes it possible to enjoy the play again. Now I want to watch again so that maybe this time I'd have the chance to have a closer look at the characters' faces, costumes and other things on stage... Because you know, I didn't know where to look at when in the theatre. I have only one pair of eyes, and they made too many gorgeous things appear on stage simultaneously for me to follow.

even Keiko got married, only I'm still single... just a joke, FYI

Oh sh*t I want such a proposal too. Though I don't like the song at all, it's not my taste. But really, I'm so happy for Keiko... I wonder why I sympathize with her so much?

p. s. AND those clothes. I mean really, when a person wears the clothes of his own nation (when it's obvious and possible), they suit him the best. I'm so envious again...