It’s time, Anime Compatriots, for the otome localization that so many of those fangirls among us have been waiting for; that’s right! Hakuouki: Edo Blossoms came out today, March 14th!** I am so amazingly excited for the release, and I’m obviously not the only one! Hazelyn (you know her over at Archi-Anime) has been deep into Kyoto Winds play in preparation and sharing some of her lovely Chizuru-centric fangirling work with me! I don’t feel ready to write any more of my own Hakuouki drabbles at the moment (though I’m sure that will change once I have EB in my hands and I’m still taking prompts, guys!), but something in me just screamed that this needed to be done.
I’ve interpreted Hakuouki’s iconic OP into English.
The offical lyrics present in the Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan OP are as follows:
amatsukaze yo toki no ha sae
kono omoi wa izayoi ni…rin to shita anata to onaji
taorarenu hana iro wa nioedo
kotonoha mo todokanai mama
ureu eda kara kietaanata no sora o tobu, chou ni narenu no nara
sono kanashimi kurushimi o kuraitsukusu oni demo kamawanai
Literally, that translates to this:
Oh heavenly wind, blow the leaves of time
Send these feelings to the sixteen-night moon…Gracefully, just like you
The aroma of uncut flowers remains
When words could not reach you
They disappeared from the branchesIf I can’t be like a butterfly in the sky
I don’t care if I become a demon of sadness and sufferingOh heavenly wind, blow the leaves of time, scatter my feelings
Dreams are fleeting; my heart is a pupa in its final cycle of reincarnation
The tears of the sixteen-night moon are in the misty sky
And, lyrically, I’ve interpreted the meaning and feeling of that into this:
On heavenly winds herald stirrings of time
These leaves dancing for the sixteen-night moon…
And now gracefully
In a manner just like you
Flowers of the spring
Disappear before my eyes
Words left echoing
Fragmented by the times
Their majesty unrivaled
If I can’t, in service unto you,
Be at once both beckoned hope and life
I care not how
Bleak the future seems
I’ll trade in my life just to end your suffering
On heavenly wind, leaves dancing in time
Dreams fleetingly cast to truth’s final stage
I have not heard the sound
Of a fleeting’s hearts pain
Louder than your old soul’s now morose embrace
More-so than tears of the sixteen-night moon
I know the vocals on this cover are lacking, but I recorded it just after writing this piece TONIGHT. I couldn’t wait and re-record, because I wanted to get the lyrics out as soon as possible! I just care so much about this franchise!
I’ve seen the anime enough that I memorized the Japanese version of this song without even trying; I’m not kidding; I almost think singing that would have been easier since I’ve belted it in the car/office/shower/on the couch so many times..! (･ω<)☆
Until I re-emerge from Hakuouki: EB to promote Innominate Anime Podcast!
~Shoujo✿
P.S. Someone on YouTube said a nice thing to me, and I’m just all like… eek! (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)
**Zel has just informed me that Edo Blossoms came out today. Amazon lied to me when I preordered. I’m not getting my copy ’til tomorrow; I feel so betrayed! *dies theatrically*
Shoujo Thoughts: ☆ ～('▽^人) Otaku Ramblings 