Monday 8 May 2006

Pic of the day: No, this is not the beginning of a romantic comedy about me. It's just a song.

"My love for you"

I wrote yesterday about the embarrassing romantic comedy anime "Karin". One of the most likable parts of it is actually the ending song, in my opinion. In contrast to the embarrassing opening sequence, the ending sequence of each episode shows Karin and her younger sister baking a cake for her boyfriend. And all the while, this song is being played. I like it.

I must admit that I have this weird liking for Japanese songs. Not all Japanese songs, of course, but quite a number of them. Especially such as are used to begin or end anime episodes. I think part of it is that they are translated by people who have Japanese as a second or third language. While they generally handle conversation quite well, Japanese poetry is in the borderland of their capabilities. The result is often a kind of strange, raw language, stranded on the rocky cliffs right outside land. You can understand what they are trying to say, and make an opinion on whether this really makes sense (sometimes it doesn't). Knowing a little Japanese helps too. Japanese is a language in which puns are the norm... almost anything can be said in a way that lends itself to misunderstanding. For instance in this song, they have skipped the personal pronouns, a practice which is perfectly acceptable in Japanese. So it is up to the listener to guess who is who. (Except for the very last line, which is in English.)

The song is performed by a girl. It could probably be gender-reversed with no ill effects, if boys would admit to thinking like this.

When I see you is when I am the most happy;
when I see you is also when I hurt the most.
If I reveal to you these bursting feelings,
I wonder what kind of future it would bring?
Telling the one I love that I love him
is a sparkling, precious dream.
If only I could start running
unafraid of being hurt or anything else!
Telling the one I love that I love him...
that day would be my new birthday:
I would become someone different from yesterday
and set free with no restraint
my love for you.

Hmm, I guess it really does not look so awesome. But really, it is. Or perhaps it is just because of all those years of mine knowing that "no restraint" would never happen, could never happen. I'd like to look at the naked soul of someone who could go through such an experience. To stop holding back the conflicting feelings, to become someone different from yesterday, so easily.

I feel the urge to write romance novels again. Of course, you all know how that goes. There are limits to how far you can drive on a single sparkling song before you are stranded by the roadside. Once the initial vision is painted, the rest is up to the characters. And I doubt they would succeed where I have failed. Still, you never know. Like Dr Manhattan (from Watchmen) I have regained my interest in humans; I think I may create some. In a galaxy less complicated than this one.