“Hark: you’re in the presence of Rem Arlond!” An English Interpretation of a Japanese Character Song

How many of you love Japanese anime openings/songs and wish you had an easily accessible English translation to make singing in the shower like Sid or Hyuna that much simpler?

Well, look no further, my dear readers, for I’ve created one such translation for you today. I’ve written an English interpretation of the song Checkmate as sung by Rem Arlond in the fabulous shoujo anime musical, Dance with Devils.

It seemed like a great starting point, as the literal English lyrics were easily available thanks to Funimation. What I’ve attempted is to simply fit the lyrics to the flow of the song without loosing their original intention in the process and keeping the words as faithful as possible. I think that I’ve done a decent job for my first attempt if I do say so myself. Especially for doing in the span of about fifteen minutes, right?

I mean, I’m no Vic Mignogna, but not everything has to rhyme to flow, you know?

Anyway, before we begin, the literal lyrical transition reads as follows: “Hmph. You again. Begone, you vulgar fellows. Block not the path that I tread. My heart of ice will show no mercy. Learn your lesson well. Dance in the palm of my hand, you pitiful little marionettes. Dance until the hour of your doom. She is mine! Keep your filthy hands off her. Hark: my name is Rem Arlond, the prince of despair to whom even the darkness grovels! Now here’s where the game ends as I declare checkmate and thus the end of the dark-side game.”