Nimorebi: Lyrics and translation

I've been trying to find lyrics for Nimorebi, Kaien-dono's solo Beat Collection song, for quite a while now without success, so I finally bit the bullet and decided to do it myself. So here it is, in kanji and romaji, complete with my best efforts at translation. I have to say, this is one of the most squee-worthy songs I've ever translated.

KANJI

眩しい明日　静かな夜空　降り注ぐ陽も　気持ちいい風も
そこに誰かが　誰か居るから
存在してる　そう呼べるだろう

一人きりなら
涙さえも...

声は聞こえるか？
強く願うのなら
どんな世界でも　心は此処にあると

空の虹さえ見えないくらい
暗く全てを見失っても

忘れないだろう　雨は上がる

闇に迷っても
少し瞳閉じて
息を吸い込めば　逢える喜び

声が聞こえなら
全て輝くなら
どんな世界でも　心はそばにあると


ROMAJI

mabushii asa hi shizuka na yozora
furisosogu hi mo kimochi ii kaze mo
soko ni dareka ga dareka iru kara
sonzai shiteru sou yoberu darou

hitori kiri nara
namida sae mo

koe wa kikoeru ka
tsuyoku negau no nara
donna sekai demo kokoro wa koko ni aru to

sora no niji sae mienai kurai
kuraku subete wo miushinatte mo

wasurenai darou ame wa agaru

yami ni mayottemo
sukoshi hitomi tojite
iki wo suikomeba aeru yorokobi

koe ga kikoenara
subete kagayaku nara
donna sekai demo kokoro wa soba ni aru to


TRANSLATION

radiant morning sun, peaceful night sky
days with incessant rain and nice-feeling wind
in that place, someone called out
"you exist because someone is there," right?

if you're all alone
even you, too, may cry

can you hear my voice?
"if it becomes a strong wish
whatever world you're in, your heart is here"

even the rainbow in the sky can't be clearly seen
everything else is fading into darkness, too

don't forget, right? the rain is ending

lost in the darkness
my eyes close slightly
if i take in a breath, i can meet happiness

if you can hear my voice
"if everything is shining
whatever world you're in, my heart is near you"


...Yeah, here it is. This song makes me cry.

Shiba Isshin?

Every time I see Isshin, I can't help but notice how much he seems like a Shiba. He's got black hair, large amounts of reiatsu, and a habit of injuring his loved ones for no apparent reason--his battles with Ichigo look a lot like Kuukaku's battles with Ganju. And to top it all off, two of his three children also exhibit Shiba traits: Ichigo looks and acts just like Kaien-dono, and Karin looks and acts just like Kuukaku. (I guess Yuzu takes after their mother...) We know that Isshin used to be a captain before he left to hide in the real world, and that the Shiba clan used to be one of the great noble houses but "fell." Coincidence? I wonder...

He doesn't have the Shiba eyelashes, though.

Edit, Jan. 01, 2010:

A couple more Isshin-Shiba connections.

1. The Shiba are all named after two things: birds, and the element they use in battle. Kaien means "ocean swallow," Kuukaku is "sky crane," and Ganju is "stone/cliff eagle." Isshin's name, "one heart," doesn't follow this pattern. However, it's likely that when he left for the real world, he changed his name. In this case, the name "one heart" goes perfectly with Kaien-dono's view on life.

2. Urahara was banished 100 years ago, but Isshin only lost his powers 20 years ago. Why, then, do they know each other? It's assumed that Isshin is in one of Urahara's special gigai to keep Soul Society from noticing him, so he probably contacted Urahara as soon as he fled to the real world. My guess is that Kuukaku, who was very familiar with Yoruichi and Urahara before they left, might have helped Isshin contact Urahara.

Kurosaki = kudamono!?

Soooo... Practically everyone who has ever heard of Bleach is aware that Ichigo's name means "strawberry" in Japanese, although the kanji used to spell it mean "one" and "protect." And I've known for quite a while now that Yuzu ("playing child" or "traveller") is an Asian citrus fruit, but I had never really thought about it. Not until one day, a couple of weeks ago.

On the day in question, I was flipping through the latest issue of Anime Insider (which is one of the best magazines I have ever read) when something caught my eye. It was a description of a popular drink in Japan... made of the Chinese citrus fruit "karin."

Question:

WHY DID ISSHIN NAME HIS CHILDREN AFTER FRUIT!!!???

Did Masaki go along with this, or was it all Isshin's idea? For that matter, why did they name their son Ichigo in the first place? Everyone is going to automatically assume that he's female! And what about Renji--his name is only one kana off from the Japanese word for orange. And Hinamori Momo? I mean, her sword is named Flying Plum for crying out loud! Does Kubo-sensei have a strange obsession with fruit or something? If Isshin and Masaki had other kids, what would their names have been? Suika? Ringo? Banana?

I personally think it's good they stopped there...

Hajimaru

Soooo... after much prompting from my annoying sister Renji, I have finally decided to create my own blog. Yay. But this shall not be just any blog! No, this blog shall be for one purpose, and one purpose only: to explore my psychotic obsession with Bleach.

In this blog, I will seek answers to some of my biggest questions about Bleach. Is Ulquiorra just blindly following Aizen, or does he have his own agenda? Where exactly did Isshin come from, and how did he meet Masaki? And why exactly is the entire 11th squad afraid of Unohana?

There WILL be spoilers. You have been warned.