It’s been a little bit busy because of exams, the US election, JET applications and other such things but I’m back with another addition to our journey through Deco*27’s “Love Calender”. In the first two posts we saw the beginning of Kouki and Shiori’s relationship during 1+1=1 and RT, followed by months 3-6 of the album as they slowly come together as a true couple with all the ups and downs that entails.

This week we’ll take a look at months 7 through 10 as the couple gets some troubling news and has to cope with the new and unwelcome difficulties it will add to their attempts at staying together.

Of course I really encourage you to support Deco*27 by buying his album on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/love-calender-bonus-track/id540360539. You can also find hard copies and many online retailers like YesAsia, CDJapan, and Amazon.

SANDGLASS (砂時計/Sunadokei)



Yes those kanji, 砂時計, mean “hourglass” but no I won’t be overwriting Deco*27-san’s selected title for this track. Many newer fans might not realize it but this song is actually one of Deco*27’s earliest productions. It’s one of the first songs he wrote for Miku and one that he exclusively released on NND. It had only appeared on his earliest doujin album in late 2008 until it was covered by Marina on the Light Lag single album as the bonus second track. Now this beautiful but sad song appears once more in “Love Calender” as Shiori passes on some sad and unfortunate news to Kouki (she is moving away). Once again Marina has lent her strong and powerful voice to this emotional track. You can check out my translation of it here:

You can watch Miku’s very sad and slower version here. For those who enjoy singing this song, I guess I should point out that it is actually on Joysound. I sang this song at karaoke right here in Lexington, KY just about 3 months ago.

Care-Taking Guarding/Care-Talking Guardian (お留守番人/Orusubanhito)

So here is today’s exclusive new release. Sorry about the confusion with the two titles but it’s really an interesting quirk it seems. In the album art/song book, Deco*27 chose to title this song “Care-Talking Guardian” while the copyright/credits text on the same page refers to it a “Care-Taking Guardian”, which is also the same name most fans know it by. So I decided just list both.

In this song we see Kouki’s reaction to this new development as Shiori prepares to move away and he is debating the future of their relationship.

Mp3 Preview/Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/Care-Taking-Guardian/dp/B008PFWJ7O

Care-Talking Guardian

お留守番人 feat.marina

Music/Lyrics：DECO*27

Translation and Romanization: Descent87

(Shiori’s Lyrics are bolded)

「離れたって大丈夫!」

“Though we’ll be apart it’s fine!”

Hanaretatte Daijoubu

「毎日メールするよ!」

“I’ll text you every day!”

Mainichi meeru suru yo!

「心は近距離だよ!」

“My heart is only a short distance away”

Kokoro wa kukyori da yo!

綺麗な言葉だけじゃ拭えないよ

This can’t just be wiped away with beautiful words!

Kirei na kotoba dake ja nuguenai yo

すぐ会えないんだよ?

Before long we won’t see each other anymore right?

Sugu aenainda yo

なのにどうしてなの?仕方ないの?

And yet, why is it? It can’t be helped?

Nanoni doushite nano? Shikatanai no?

そりゃ

Well,

Sorya

親の仕事の都合でどうしてこうして言われたら

If you say it’s because of your parent’s job,

Oya no shigoto no tsugou de doushite koushite iwaretara

どうしようもないんだけど

Well then nothing can be done about it, but yet…

Doushiyou mo nain dakedo

妄想付け足してみて 君の手には触れらんないない

Trying to add in delusions, no longer able to hold your hand

Mousou tsukedashitemite kimi no te ni wa fureran nai nai

さよなら 死にそう 助けて

Goodbye, I might die, save me!

Sayonara, shinisou, tasukete

こんなツライ関係なら 壊そうか

If this relationship is going to be so painful, should we just break it off?

Konna tsurai kankei nara, kowasou ka (repeat x2, with a bunch of “yeah”s)

誰か早くワープ装置作って

Quick! Someone create a warp-device

Dareka hayaku waapu souchi tsukutte

君と僕専用のワープ*3

An exclusive Warp*3 for You and I

Kimi to boku senyou no waapu waapu waapu

誰か早くワープ装置作って

Quick! Someone create a warp-device

Dareka hayaku waapu souchi tsukutte

君と僕専用のワープ*3

An exclusive Warp*3 for You and I

Kimi to boku senyou no waapu waapu waapu

誰か早くワープ装置作って

Quick! Someone create a warp-device

Dareka hayaku waapu souchi tsukutte

君と僕専用のワープ*3

An exclusive Warp*3 for You and I

Kimi to boku senyou no waapu waapu waapu

誰か早くワープ装置作って

Quick! Someone create a warp-device

Dareka hayaku waapu souchi tsukutte

君と僕 ギリ届く?

So that we obligations to each other can be reached quickly

Kimi to boku giritodoku

裏ワザなどない 近道だってない

There’s not trick to it, not shortcuts

Urawaza nado nai, chikamichi datte nai

(romaji note: it sounds like “Kurawaza” only because she is finishing Deco’s “ku” from “todoku” above)

分かっているんだよ だからツライ

I know it! But that’s why it’s so painful

Wakatteirundayo daka tsurai

そう

Right,

Sou

この距離が君と僕の♥の距離だなんて笑わせないでよ

That this is the distance of the love between us, don’t make me laugh!

Kono kyori ga kimi to boku no ai no kyori da nante warawasenaide yo

差し出してよ 逃げる道を

Give it to me! A way to run away…

Sashidashite yo, nigeru michi o

妄想付け足してみて 君の手には触れらんないない

Trying to add in delusions, no longer able to hold your hand

Mousou tsukedashitemite kimi no te ni wa fureran nai nai

さよなら 死にそう 助けて

Goodbye, I might die, save me!

Sayonara, shinisou, tasukete

こんなツライ関係なら 壊そうか

If this relationship is going to be so painful, should we just break it off?

Konna tsurai kankei nara, kowasou ka (repeat x2, with a bunch of “yeah”s)

…やっぱやめようか ちょっと頑張ろうか

…As I thought, should we end this? Or should we fight on together a bit more?

…Yappa yameyou ka Chotto ganbarou ka

Love Distance Long Affair (恋距離遠愛/Renkyori enai)

Ah, one of my favorite sad songs of all time. “Love Distance Long Affair” is another classic that Deco*27 composed many years ago which eventually formed one of the foundations of this album. There are many neat facts about this song, like the fact that it appeared on Deco*27’s second doujin album release in early 2009 and when first released on NND it was actually covered by Luka (original by Miku), representing one of only two songs Deco*27 has made Luka sing himself (the other being Kururu o-niku).

In this album it is covered by the beautiful voice of Topi as we the listeners are presented with the sad and painful feelings of the couple as they do their best to keep up their long-distance relationship:

I really think this is a great song for Japanese learners. If you have studied Japanese for a year or two and maybe watched some anime to learn certain phrases, you can pretty much understand every single word of this song if you listen closely. It gave me a big confidence boost when I was able to do that very thing a little over a year ago. It also goes to show how you can sometimes write a beautiful and touching song without using too many difficult or fancy words.

Heart’s Homing Instinct (帰想本能/Kissou Honnou)

This final song for today is another favorite of mine that first appeared on Deco*27’s 2010 Lovegazer album. In this song sung by Aoi Yuki (Madoka’s voice in Madoka Magic) we see a touching song sung from Kouki’s perspective about the couple’s desire to stay together. “Tadaima/Okaeri” is a standard Japanese “I’ve come home/welcome back” saying and response pair and emphasizes how the couple hopes to eventually make a life together. It features perhaps my 2nd favorite line from any Deco song ever: “If you suddenly find something guiding your way, it’ll be the smell of my shampoo that you love” (Any guess on my favorite?) ”

You can check out Miku’s fast-paced, upbeat, and cute version here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI1jUG8uW7A

Romaji for the song is here.

Thanks again for dropping by to share in the Deco*27-love! I’ll try to finish this album review this week or next. Romaji for all these other songs I didn’t list here should be searchable online but I’ll also be posting them in the compilation post later. If you need any assistance finding them in the meantime, leave me a message here.