I was reading up on Japanese Idols, which, believe it or not, isn’t something I normally get into whatsoever. I’ve been focused on other areas and, well, I avoid anything that smacks of obsession like some people have. All things in moderation. Anyway, I had a few thoughts.

The role of the classical idol singer was to present an idealized feminine image, both in a carefully scripted private life and an equally carefully scripted public life. Honestly, the more I read that section, I was thinking back to geisha (who I’ve written about). In other words, you’re being presented with a beautiful girl who you’ll never have for yourself; she’s a fantasy (from your perspective), you know it’s a fantasy (barring serious mental illness), and that’s really OK with you. You’d rather have an element of fantasy in your life than not.

Of course, culture has rapidly evolved since the 70’s (when the idol phenomenon began). What people view as “ideal” has changed a lot and, more to the point, it’s not all one thing. That’s where you have new genres that have sprouted up, with things like rock music and even rap taking important places in music culture.

We shouldn’t look far past the word itself. An idol is something to be put on a pedestal and idolized. It’s not “reality”; it’s art. So long as people accept it as such and ride with it, we’re doing fine. Over that line and we have problems.

Like I put in the title, these are general thoughts. If I have something to say about a specific idol sometime, I’ll let you know, but I’m not the kind of guy who’s an online stalker wannabe, so I’m not a details guy in this area. – J

P.S. I scaled my blogging way back because I was experimenting with writing fiction. While my skill is far from “bad”, there’s still no realistic way I have the time and support network to make money at it, either, so I’m shelving it once again. Expect more blog posts as inspiration and need strikes. My fingers want to write, though. – J

Old Times, Good Times

Super Turrican is one of the games for the Super Nintendo that, owing to the system, had “Super” tacked onto the front. Featuring a man in an armored suit, with some similarities to Metroid, this action platformer featured some incredible synthesized music. I have included a sample of this music below from Stage 1-3.

My only personal connection with this game is through game rentals in my early teens, but I remember the music of this stage well, even now. Amusingly, in spite of the action nature of the game, this music instilled a Zen-like state of peace in my mind. Perhaps the better to go out shooting things with. Perhaps.

Listen for yourself and enjoy the experience. – J

Building upon the principle of creativity, the second distinct reason why people watch anime has nothing to do with the eye. Rather, it has to do with the ear, filling our minds, and souls, with music that is entertaining on many levels.

All samples are STRICTLY for EDUCATIONAL purposes, to provide cultural insight. At any rate, they’re from YouTube so it’s not my neck on the line. – J

Genres Without Limit

Taking just one example, the work of Yoko Kanno has ranged from Gregorian Chant, to American Jazz, classical symphony, straight up J-Pop (the Japanese version of pop(ular) music), and futuristic rock music. This is a fraction of this notable composer’s incredibly vast and varied work. In regards to her music evoking American Jazz in Cowboy Bebop, she seemed to have a better finger on the pulse of American musical traditions than Americans themselves.

Yoko Kanno – Know Your Enemy

Kanno Yoko: Europe

Yoko Kanno – Aqua

Perhaps my personal favorite is Yuki Kajiura, who I know best for taking music that sounds “foreign” in very mystical, spiritual sounding ways – particularly from let’s say, South-East Asia – and going from themes of great depth and tranquility, to high energy action scene music of a power and intensity that puts most things to shame. Yet what I remember most about her is her ability to compose some of the most positive, upbeat, fun modern pieces I’ve ever heard, even considering the strength of Kanno’s resume. She might be considered less even, but her best works are absolute top notch.

Yuki Kajiura – Grandpa’s Violin

Re: Yuki Kajiura – Aura

Sacrifice – Yuki Kajiura

These are but two of the more famous composers, and I use them to illustrate the broader principle: the music used in anime is extremely diverse, knowing no limit based on culture and drawing on musical concepts from all over the world.

For example, one relatively recent phenomenon is the rise of Japanese rap music. By this, I mean the mixing of strong musical rhythms with strongly rhythmic speech, combining to create a beat-heavy string of sounds and words. However clear or unclear the words of the rappers themselves, the throwing in of English loan words tends to throw natives off the chase sufficiently that, like many Americans appreciating J-Pop, they simply listen to the flow.

Here’s two examples: one from anime, and one that’s simply “Japanese rap” in a sense that’s closer to American rap.

Eureka Seven 2nd Opening

Sorry, embedding was disabled on the YouTube end for this one, but I highly recommend it. There’s rap that is tolerable in this world, and I felt this was one example. The Japanese rap that has made it into mainstream anime has tended to be very catchy, easy to stick with, easy to listen to (yes, seriously!), and highly entertaining.

HIME , Female Japanese Rapper , DJ Honda Records

Finally, there’s always room for tossing in music that indulges in the deep, rich musical tradition of Japan itself, ranging from stringed instrument music by geisha to music used at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. In my own humble estimation, there are few more beautiful sounds on this Earth than Japanese flute music.

Hi, I’m Usa-Kun!

(Actually I’m just a character being written by J Sensei but never mind that! I’m cute!!)

Usa-kun: Hi!! Nice to meet everyone! You can call me Usa-kun. That’s as in, うさぎ (usagi), the Japanese word for rabbit. The -kun part means well, I’m a guy. No, don’t check under the fur…

Usa-kun: So I wanted to talk to you about an anime I was watching while munching on my veggies called Star Driver. Maybe you’ve heard of it? It’s this weird show by this studio called Bones that seems to make some really far-out animated stuff like Eureka Seven and Heroman. Oh, I liked Heroman a lot. Eureka Seven had me confused… *_*

Usa-kun: So anyway, about this show.

Usa-kun: J Sensei made a little boo-boo when he was watching. He thought that when they talked about a Galaxy Bishounen, that it had to be the main character, Takuto. Silly sensei! That was referring to Tauburn, the “Cybody” (read: giant robot) that Takuto-kun pilots. (Yes, he’s a guy too. What a coincidence!!) I guess J Sensei just couldn’t believe that we’d be calling a machine a bishounen (pretty boy). Besides, when he’s in his battle outfit Takuto looks pretty… pretty boy to me! But I’m just a rabbit, what do I know…

Usa-kun: So anyway!! This is what they call a super robot anime, where the machines aren’t realistic at all. Okay, even in things like Gundam, they’re not real, they just feel like they’re more real. That’s why we use the word realistic, but the Japanese shorten it to “real” because they don’t want to bother to put the istic at the end. Lazy like rabbits.

Usa-kun: So something I wanted to talk to you about was this song that they used for the first three episodes when things were getting heavy. It’s called Monochrome. That’s the name of the song. I’d show you but Sony Music will have my pelt. (Shudder!) So I’ll tell you about it. This song starts out as just soft, beautiful singing, really gentle stuff that sounds oh I don’t know… like native songs coming from an isolated tropical island kind of like they have in the show. Or like the place in Macross Zero. And just like that one, they start adding music mid-way and it becomes this really powerful theme, this really beautiful song that just carries you away and makes you want to stand up and clap your paws together. It’s just incredible!

Usa-kun: By the way, they used it in Macross Frontier too, which was made after Macross Zero and used some things from that “past” in it too, like the native-sounding music… in places. When they weren’t putting on some half-naked idol singer singing rock. Put some fur on, will you!! …I’m kidding.

Usa-kun: So this show has some crazy things, but it has some really sweet people and some really quiet looking places. The last episode got too quiet though, Takuto and the sweet girl who he can’t have because she’s engaged to someone else (hello? Plot here!) end up being the only people on the entire island. Ooh, mystery!! Cell phones don’t work and they’re the only people. Total ghost town and ghost island. Well, you’ll have to see how it ends for yourself but, it was kind of interesting, seeing the girl (who’s named Wako, by the way) walk along the beach barefoot, holding her shoes in her left hand. Sometimes it’s the little things…

Usa-kun: So that’s all the time I have. Goodbye minna-san!! Goodbye everyone!! Sweet carrots to all of you!!

Line Ten

trust me おろしてみればいい そう                       君のために 僕がいるんだ

Translation

trust me /  just put it down and see                yes, I’m right here for you

Vocabulary & Grammar Notes

Oroshitemireba

OK, now we’re getting into the heavy stuff. Good, good.

Keep in mind that the subject is the “baggage” that the listener has been “carrying” (from Line Eight).

“Orosu” means “To Put Down.” Japanese: おろす、下ろす。 “Miru” means “To See.” Japanese: みる、見る。

This is a compound verb combining the two.

To begin with, “oroshite” is the -te form (continuative form) of “orosu.”

Second, “mireba” is the conditional form of “miru.” That is, “See this, and X will happen.”

Put it all together, and you get “oroshitemireba,” or, “if you put down (the baggage you’re carrying) and see, X will happen.”

Ii (ii)

This is a plain, colloquial version of “yoi,” which uses the same kanji. Japanese: いい、良い.

Let’s get past the strict definitions and focus on what this really is, when used as a suffix like this: A Stamp of Goodness. It identifies what immediately precedes it as a Good Thing that should be thought of as such.

Putting It All Together

So, with the “baggage you’re carrying” from Line 8 as the subject:

(You can) trust me / just put it down and see

Now, we could leave the “yes” at the end of the phrase, but I’ll leave that for singers to decide. I think this works better as English: intensifier first, key phrase second.

Sou

Used in this way, “sou” (Japanese: そう) is an affirmative intensifier. You know when singers go “Yes!” at the end of a line? It’s like that.

Technically it’s used for things like “sou ka,” which reads like “Is that so?” but… not really here. It’s part of a statement, not a question. (No “ka” particle to be found.)

Kimi no Tame

The “kimi” is a 2nd person pronoun. We’ve covered this in previous parts.

The particle “no” establishes a relationship between the preceding and the following parts. (“kimi” and “tame”)

“Tame” means, in essence, sake/ benefit. Thus, this is “for your sake” (for the sake of “kimi”). There. It’s simple, so let’s not make it more complicated in a case where it’s really plain and obvious. Japanese: ため、為 (kanji would be used in formal high level writing, not for anything meant for teen consumption)

Ni

Just the particle identifying the “kimi no tame” part as modifying what follows.

Boku

Introvert 1st person (“I”) pronoun, usually used by men. We’ve gone over this one, too. Japanese: ぼく、ボク、僕

Ga

This is the “subject” particle. Remember, in Japanese, the topic and the subject can be different. “Ga” is used, when necessary, to mark a noun as the subject of the verb that follows. In this case, the subject is “boku,” above. Japanese: が

Iru

This is the existence/ presence verb for animate objects, which we covered two Parts ago in Part 8. This completes the phrase, “boku ga iru” (“I am here”). Japanese: いる、居る

Nda

Another copula, an affirmative existence sentence ender. In other words, “iru” may affirm that “boku” is present, but “nda” affirms that this is indeed so and not just your imagination. Japanese: んだ

Now, let’s go over a few of these:

Polite non-past affirmative: desu

Plain non-past affirmative: da

Old polite non-past affirmative: no da

Old plain non-past affirmative: nda

Now, I’m characterizing this as “old,” but at any rate, “no da” sounds like antiquated Japanese. As a consequence, “nda” sounds more adult and mature than “da” and is frequently used as a mature-sounding copula in Japanese, particularly by adult men.

So, in this case, the speaker is sounding older than a 12 year old, but still using “boku.” This is why Japanese has a lot of nuance to it.

Putting It All Together

The thing is, “for your sake” may be technically correct, but in English colloquial speech, “for you” carries the same meaning and sounds much more vivid. So:

Yes, I’m right here for you

That’s all we need.

Stay tuned for more.

Line Nine

trust me この想いほどけないから                my dear 抱えた荷物

Translation

Trust me / these feelings will never come apart       my dear / that baggage you carried

Vocabulary & Grammar Notes

Kono

Normally, this would correspond to “this.” However, if what follows is a plural, we would logically use “these.”

Omoi

There are two common words that use “omoi.” One is the adjective form for “heavy”; the other is the noun for “thought/ thoughts.” This is the latter case. The plural works better here. Japanese: おもい、想い

Note that the kanji here may work with “omoi,” but unlike 思い, this is not for just thinking; it is for concepts, ideas, etc. However, this is too subtle to attempt to translate. “These thoughts” leaves considerable wiggle room, and that is enough.

Hodokenai kara

The verb “hodokeru” means “to come untied, to come apart.” In other words, to unravel. Using “nai” here turns it into a non-past negative form. Japanese: ほどけない, 解けない

“Kara” is used here to mean, arising due to the fact that the previous is true… …or, “so.” (The latter is much simpler, yes?)

These feelings will never come apart, so…

Kakaeta Nimotsu

Kakaeru is Japanese for “To Carry.” So, this is the simple past tense of carry, i.e. “carried.” Japanese: かえた、換えた

Nimotsu is a noun meaning, put simply, baggage. As in English, it can easily be used in a figurative manner. Japanese:　にもつ、荷物

Further Localization

Since there’s more coming, I wanted to use the implied-but-not-said “that” for “that baggage” in the second line.

Line Eight

I’m here どこにいたって                     call me ひとつになれる

Translation

I’m here / no matter where you are          call me / we’ll become one

Vocabulary & Grammar Notes

Doko ni

Once again, “ni” shows that the word preceding it modifies the verb after it. “Doko” is Japanese for “where.” Japanese: どこ, 何処 (not often seen as kanji in regular writing)

Itatte

Here, this is a form of the verb “iru” (Japanese: いる、居る), which is the “existence/ presence” verb for animate objects, i.e. people or animal.

Rather than dwell on verb details, here’s the bottom line: using -tte here is using it as an intensifier, to make the verb stronger in a colloquial manner. This is a common enough feature of informal speech.

That is why I have rendered it as “no matter where you are.” After all, the sentence doesn’t define the listener as being anywhere in particular; she could be anywhere, but no matter where that person is, the singer’s “I’m here” will remain true. It’s simple extrapolation.

Hitotsu ni Nareru

Let’s cover this as one phrase.

Here, “hitotsu” means one, as in, becoming one. “Ni” fulfills the same role as before.

“Naru” is “To Become,” and the kanji for it is identified with growth. Thus, something “grows into” something else rather than presto, wave of a magic wand, it has transformed into something else. That’s a different word. Japanese: なる、成る

So, “nareru” is a potential form of “naru.” This is different from conditional forms in this way:

Conditional: If we become one, X will happen

Potential: If X happens, we will become one

Clearly, this phrase is written in the latter manner. Thus: Call me -> as a result, we will become one.

We’re already up to part #7! Yes, it’s a long work in progress, but explaining things the right way takes time.

Line Seven

変わることのない       愛はきっとここにある

Translation

That’s not something that’ll change          surely there is love here

Vocabulary & Grammar Notes

Kawaru

Once again, a non-standard kanji is being used ( but in this case, it’s still in my first resort electronic dictionary). This is “kawaru,” the verb “To Be Changed.” It is very important to understand exactly how I wrote that definition: “To Be Changed.” Grammatically speaking, this isn’t like changing your hairstyle; it is to be fundamentally different. As in the cliche, to “be a new man” would apply. Japanese: かわる、変わる

Koto

Let’s get this out of the way.

Both koto and mono refer to what we call, in English, things. However, there is a fundamental difference.

Koto refers to intangible things.

Mono refers to tangible, physical things.

In other words, love is a koto and an apple is a mono. This is a very, very important distinction to make. Japanese: こと、事

Here, I added “That” to the sentence because this is a reference to the end of Line 6: the fact that “you’re not alone.”

No Nai

This is simply a more profound-sounding version of ja nai, covered previously. Unless you’re writing poetry, best to lay off this one. Japanese: のない

Ai

“Ai” is the Japanese word for the koto (intangible thing) we call love. Though, to be really technical, it’s affection. There is a more specific word for romantic affection, but we won’t get into that right now. This kind of love can apply to parents and children (between each other), to family pets, and so on. It is stronger than the idiomatic suki (Like) and its emphatic cousin daisuki (Like A Lot), which are used as “love” while trying not to sound too corny. Japanese: あい、愛

Wa

Topic particle again. Refer to past articles.

Kitto

OK, this is a new one. “Kitto” means surely, undoubtedly, etc. In other words, it says colloquially that there is certainty in something. It is not “absolute” certainty – there’s another word for that – but it’s very high probability, and is usually used idiomatically to imply complete certainty, even if “literally” it is not. Japanese: きっと

Koko

This stands for “here, which is near to me.” Japanese: ここ (I won’t list the kanji, it’s too rare and for advanced students, and tests, only)

Ni

This particle, once again, indicates that what preceded it (in this case, “koko”) modifies what follows. Japanese: に

Aru

This is the Japanese existence verb for inanimate objects (i.e. not people, not animals). Here, the subject of the verb is “ai” (love). Japanese: ある、有る

Putting It Together

So, this is telling us that the fact the listener isn’t alone isn’t something that will change. In addition, the speaker is very certain that there is love here.

The fact we’re talking about the same speaker isn’t explicit in the grammar, but it doesn’t have to be. So, we can do something like this:

That’s not something that’ll change            I’m sure there’s love, right here

This is more localization, but hey, it’s not that bad, is it?

Stay tuned for more.

Line Six

何度も伝えたい        君はひとりじゃない

Translation

I want to tell you over and over              you’re not alone

Vocabulary & Grammar Notes

Nando mo

Japanese: なんども、何度も。 The first kanji is the “nan” as in “nani,” for “what?”. The “do” part is for degree, but is also used as a counter for “X number of times.” One time would be “ichido,” two would be “nido,” three would be “sando,” and so forth.

Here, “nando” is a kind of “how many times?” sort of question. Adding “mo” to the end… well, it turns this into a statement, not a question.

“Nani mo nai,” by the way, means “nothing at all.” (People will often cut the “nai” part but it is strongly implied.)

So, “nando mo” here means, not a fixed number of times, but any number of times, or rather, an undefined number of times over. As many times as it takes, in essence.

Tsutae

This comes from tsutaeru, To Tell/ To Convey. (Japanese: つたえる、伝える) In English, we can use “to tell” idiomatically, but at any rate, it’s all about conveying a message, whether it is through words or not.

Suffix: Tai

As a suffix, “tai” (Japanese: たい, never kanji) is a plain/ informal modifier indicating “I want to do X.”

Here, the speaker wants to convey (many times over/ over and over/ often) what follows in the second phrase.

Kimi

Covered previously, a “familiar” 2nd person pronoun. Not strangers, not darlings either (yet, at least).

Particle: Wa

Covered previously, the topic indicator. Japanese: は (that reads like “ha” on the character chart, but as a particle, is always spoken as “wa”).

Hitori

Long story short, this means, here, “by yourself/ alone.” Japanese: ひとり、ヒトリ、独り。The writer used hiragana, not kanji, to not make an important part seem remote. (Again, it’s being cute to some degree…)

Ja Nai

Let’s go over this in context.

Polite “is” affirmation: desu (です）

Plain “is” affirmation: da （だ）

Polite “is not” negative: de wa nai （でわない）

Plain “isn’t” negative: ja nai （じゃない）

So, since the subject is “kimi” (2nd person “you”), we change this to:

“You’re not alone.”

Stay Tuned For Next Time!

Line Five

小さな不安さえ          僕が摘み取ってあげる

Translation

If you feel a little unease      I’ll snatch it away

Vocabulary & Grammar Notes

Chiisa na

“Chiisa” is the root of this irregular adjective. Usually, we read this as “chiisai” for small. However, it is irregular because it becomes “chiisa na” when it is the last adjective (or the only adjective) directly in front of the noun. Japanese: ちいさな、小さな

When we see “chiisai,” it is actually fulfilling the role of a noun itself.

Here’s an example from my anime history: the character from Martian Successor Nadesico self-styled as “Daigouji Gai” (let’s call him just “Gai” hereafter) who berated the main character, Tenkawa Akito (“Akito” hereafter) for not saying a very mecha anime-ish line at the top of his lungs the first time. The rebuke read as follows:

“Koe ga chiisai!!!” (Japanese: 「声が小さい！！」)

Your voice is small. Or too small, rather.  It’s like when a drill sergeant says to your face at maximum volume, “I can’t hear you!!” It’s the same message, just with different grammar.

So, here, “chiisai” is actually treated as a noun. What is your voice? Your voice is small. If the sentence was, “You have a small voice,” then “small” would be acting as a proper adjective. That is not the case here.

So, when “chiisai” acts as a proper adjective directly in front of a noun, as in the last example, it becomes “chiisa na”: “Chiisa na koe da.” (Japanese:　「小さな声だ。」)

That’s why it’s “chiisa na” in these lyrics.

Fuan

As we can see from the adjective preceding it – and that’s an important clue – “fuan” is a noun here. This is a compound kanji word (two kanji). Japanese: ふあん、不安)

The character 不 is a lot like “un-” in English. 安 is like “ease.” Thus, unease, as a noun.

No need to make this any more complicated.

Sae

Normally, this is a more advanced trick I wouldn’t teach to early intermediate learners (and certainly not to beginners), but here we are. Japanese: さえ

A dictionary might tell you that this means “even.” Rather, in a sentence like this, we must read it like “even if.”

To wit:

Even if (you have) a little unease,

The (you have) is unstated, but I would feel uncomfortable leaving it like “Even if there is a little unease,” because that’s impersonal and against the grain of the rest of the lyrics here.

Boku

We’ve covered this before: the introvert male’s 1st person pronoun. Japanese: ぼく、ボク、僕

Ga

Once again, this is a subject marker, as distinct from a topic. This makes the “boku” above the direct subject of the verb that follows. Japanese: が (never katakana or kanji when as a particle)

Tsukamitotte Ageru

This is a doozy: a compound verb with a continuative (-te) form followed by another verb. Japanese: つかみとってあげる、掴み取って上げる

To “tsukamu” (the first verb) is, put bluntly, to grab. It is also used for “grappling” and “capturing” (in a grapple). You would see this verb used plenty in regards to judo, professional wrestling, Olympic wrestling, and so forth. “Grasping” may also apply depending on the specific context used.

To “toru” (the second verb) is to take. Nothing complicated here.

Put “grab” and “take” together, and you get snatching, plucking or ripping off. In other words, a) grabbing on, b) pulling/ taking.

All I have done is use the most idiomatic translation possible.

To “ageru” (the third verb) is to offer up. The kanji means “up.” This is used in the sense of giving to someone else in a humble manner (i.e. you as the lower social status person in the exchange). This is the opposite of “kudasaru,” くださる・下さる, which uses the “down” kanji and is used for making humble requests to someone else so that the other person may provide you with something out of the goodness of his or her own heart.

No, really, that’s how it works. You raise others and lower yourself if you want to be polite in Japan. “Up” and “down” serve this purpose in writing the verbs down. Don’t make it complicated if you don’t have to.

So, what does it all mean here?

Here, the ageru part is essentially broadcasting that the “tsukamitoru” part (I’m showing you this without the -te, FYI) is doing the listener a favor, something given as a gift. It’s once again closing the emotional distance between the speaker and the listener. In other words, it’s written “polite” but idiomatically, it’s an intensifier that indicates closeness.

My translation added the word “away” to form the phrasal verb, “snatch away.” To me, this provides the emphasis that the original writer intended without in any way altering the full meaning: if you have a little unease, I will snatch it away.

Musings

Of course, we could substitute “if you have” for “if you feel.” It’d work. The point in not explicitly writing the verb there, aside from reducing clutter (always a big priority in Japanese), is to let the reader/ listener decide for himself or herself, and generally, to not worry too much about the words, but to feel the emotions at work.

That’s why translation/ localization needs to honor the original intent, not the wording, when push comes to shove.