Eli: The moon is waxing gibbous tonight, which means it’s time to tally the votes from the previous post and see whether you chose Trick or Treat. And the winner is…Trick! Oh, you playful readers you, that’s what I like to see. ^o~ That said my idea of a fun trick is rick rolling people, so let me get some back-up from someone more mischievous than I.

 

Whimsical Angel: Hi there, folks! I’m the Whimsical Angel, a Level 3 Pumpkin-type Innocent Devil. You can thank the Castlevania Wikia for capturing me in one of my special poses!

…Hey, did you just—

 

Eli: So what’ve you got up your sleeve for us, Pumpkin?

 

 

 

Whimsical Angel: Ahem… I asked Hector if he knew anything about this GACKT person, and it turned out GACKT is a vampire! I always end up around vampires…

 

 

Eli: I think Hector might be confusing GACKT with Alucard. It’s an understandable mistake though.

 

 

Whimsical Angel: I don’t know, I asked Joachim too, and Joachim said he went out to feed once with GACKT.

 

 

Eli: Really? GACKT and Joachim went out in search of blood?

 

 

 

Whimsical Angel: Yeah, to terrorize your neighborhood! And then they turned this European noblewoman into a vampire. She got into a sword fight with her husband about it later. GACKT was very emotional during the whole thing.

 

 

 

Eli: Wow, that’s kinda messed up.

 

 

Whimsical Angel: You know what they say, “Love is a battlefield.” Anyway, I found this new GACKT song and thought I’d share it with everyone! It’s called “Under the Darkness”!

 

 

 

 

Eli: Nice pick, Pumpkin! But that’s not new. It’s not GACKT either, it’s Gakupo.

 

 

Whimsical Angel: What do you mean it’s not GACKT? Oh, I get it! It’s not GACKT in the same way that Seito Kaicho isn’t GACKT, right? I got you. *Winks*

 

 

Eli: That’s…sorta accurate? Anyway, that song was originally by C.G. Mix for the game Kichiku Megane. Far as I can tell, user Kokutō Pocky on NicoNico Douga created the Gakupo cover.

 

 

Whimsical Angel: It was from a video game? I love video games! Wonder why it’s called “Fiend Glasses.” Let me look it up!

 

 

 

Eli: Ack, no, don’t do it! NSFW! Also the hands are disproportionately large! I can’t look!

 

 

Whimsical Angel: …That…doesn’t look consensual… I…I think it’s affecting me… So…problematic!

 

 

 

Eli: …Pumpkin? What’s wrong? You’re…evolving?!

 

 

Cursed Pumpkin: I suppose this falls under the category of “different strokes for different folks.” No pun intended.

 

 

 

Eli: Pumpkin!

 

 

Cursed Pumpkin: Heh heh… You know this costume just makes me wanna be bad!

 

 

 

Eli: I know, I know, I played Curse of Darkness and read all the flavor text. Anyway, back to the similarly titled but unrelated “Under the Darkness.” It is a great track. With all the auto-tune in the original, Gakupo sounds only marginally more robotic. I actually prefer the cover in this case. Though of course, I am biased toward GACKT.

 

Cursed Pumpkin: What about the lyrics?

 

 

 

Eli: The “I wanna be destructed” part always caught my attention. Maybe because Gakupo pronounces it as four syllables rather than three, you can almost imagine him saying “I wanna be deconstructed” like he’s a post-modernist or something.

 

 

Cursed Pumpkin: …

 

 

 

Eli: Anyway, this song is old so there are already a few English translations rolling around. Honestly I’m really tired right now and was thinking of copping out and linking to one, but even the top result has some pretty basic mistakes in it. That said, besides spots where other fan translators have beyond a doubt misunderstood the Japanese, there are some parts that, as someone who has never played this game, I can’t be sure about. I get the impression the singer is the main character, who apparently is at the mercy of these fiendish four-eyed men. In this song he’s coming to grips with at least his desire for masochism, and maybe with his homosexuality as well. That’s how I interpret it anyway.

 

Cursed Pumpkin: Sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you.

 

 

 

Eli: Yup. So there you have it, O Readers, the Trick you voted for! Hope you enjoyed it. If not, there will be a Treat later in the month.

Random side note, the next song after this one in my iTunes Library is “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid. ^o^;…

☆

Romaji / Translation

Under the Darkness

(Japanese lyrics copied from this Yahoo Answers page, but I fixed a few typos in the Japanese and English.)

灰色の街 凍えた雑踏 見慣れた景色消えてゆく
鏡に映る現実は真実 暗闇の中もがいて

繰り返される痛みの中で手に入れたのは偽りのKiss
重ね合わせた肌のぬくもり 一夜限りの魅惑の果実
消えた記憶の欠片に眠る 後悔の跡 失った過去
夕立の中 立ちつくす君 かすんでゆく

under the darkness 閉じこめた衝動 解き放つ
I wanna be destructed 打ち寄せる希望を鮮やかな絶望に変えて
under the darkness 駆け抜ける感情 突き刺さる
I don’t need any regret 仕組まれた運命 この手で砕いて

何かが変わる 動き始めてる 退屈な日々 終わってゆく
支配されてる足枷をはずし 蠢く欲望 戻れない

確かめ合った互いの背中 止むことのない鈍い痛みに
狂わされてた時計の針を少しずつでも取り戻してく
切り離された過去と未来は置き去りのまま失われてく
堕ちてきた闇 消える幻 届かないまま

under the darkness 閉じこめた衝動 解き放つ
I wanna be destructed 打ち寄せる希望を鮮やかな絶望に変えて
under the darkness 駆け抜ける感情 突き刺さる
I don’t need any regret 仕組まれた運命 この手で砕いて

under the darkness 閉じこめた衝動 解き放つ
I wanna be destructed 打ち寄せる希望を鮮やかな絶望に変えて
under the darkness 駆け抜ける感情 突き刺さる
I don’t need any regret 仕組まれた運命 壊してく今を

Under the Darkness

haiiro no machi kogoeta zattou minareta keshiki kieteyuku
kagami ni utsuru genjitsu wa shinjitsu kurayami no naka mogaite

kurikaesareru itami no naka de te ni ireta no wa itsuwari no kisu
kasaneawaseta hada no nukumori ichiya kagiri no miwaku no kajitsu
kieta kioku no kakera ni nemuru koukai no ato ushinatta kako
yuudachi no naka tachitsukusu kimi kasundeyuku

under the darkness tojikometa shoudou tokihanatsu
I wanna be destructed uchiyoseru kibou wo azayakana zetsubou ni kaete
under the darkness kakenukeru kanjou tsukisasaru
I don’t need any regret shikumareta unmei kono te de kudaite

nani ka ga kawaru ugokihajimeteru taikutsuna hibi owatteiku
shihai sareteru ashikase wo hazushi ugomeku yakubou modorenai

tashikameatta tagai no senaka yamu koto no nai nibui itami ni
kuruwasareteta tokei no hari wo sukoshi zutsu demo torimodoshiteku
kirihanasareta kako to mirai wa okizari no mama ushinawareteku
ochitekita yami kieru maboroshi todokanai mama

under the darkness tojikometa shoudou tokihanatsu
I wanna be destructed uchiyoseru kibou wo azayakana zetsubou ni kaete
under the darkness kakenukeru kanjou tsukisasaru
I don’t need any regret shikumareta unmei kono te de kudaite

under the darkness tojikometa shoudou tokihanatsu
I wanna be destructed uchiyoseru kibou wo azayakana zetsubou ni kaete
under the darkness kakenukeru kanjou tsukisasaru
I don’t need any regret shikumareta unmei kowashiteku ima wo

Under the Darkness

Grey town, frozen crowds
The scenery I was used to seeing disappears
The hard facts reflected in the mirror are the truth
I struggle in the darkness

What I obtained in the repeating pain was a false kiss
The warmth of our overlapping bodies
The fruit of captivity which lasts but one night
A trace of regret sleeps within a lost fragment of memory, the past I lost
Standing stock still in the sudden evening rain, you start to blur

Bajo la oscuridad I set free my imprisoned urges
Quiero que me destruyas Turning invading hope into beautiful despair
Bajo la oscuridad I stab at the feelings that come to overtake me
No necesito arrepentimientos I’ll smash the destiny that’s been plotted against me with my own hands¹

Something’s changing, starting to move
Tedious days are coming to an end
I undo the controlling shackles²
I can’t go back to that painfully unfulfilled lust

We grasp each others’ backs in unending, languorous pain
Turning back the hands on the sabotaged clock little by little
The severed past and future are left behind as we lose them
Descending darkness, fading illusions, without reaching…

Bajo la oscuridad I set free my imprisoned urges
Quiero que me destruyas Turning invading hope into beautiful despair
Bajo la oscuridad I stab at the feelings that come to overtake me
No necesito arrepentimientos I’ll smash the destiny that’s been plotted against me with my own hands

Bajo la oscuridad I set free my imprisoned urges
Quiero que me destruyas Turning invading hope into beautiful despair
Bajo la oscuridad I stab at the feelings that come to overtake me
No necesito arrepentimientos I’ll destroy the present destiny that’s been plotted against me

---

¹. I think the “under the darkness” part can be considered a clause of one sentence, whereas “I wanna be destroyed” and “I don’t need any regret” are more like explanations of the previous clauses. For example, “I stab at the feelings that run up to me because I don’t need any regrets.” ⤴

^2. I’m a little unsure why “sareru” rather than “suru” was used here. “Sareru” can be either the passive form of “suru” meaning “do,” or it can be used as an honorific form of the same verb. So we’ve got this relative clause. If it were “Shihai suru ashikase,” it would be, without a doubt, “controlling shackles.” In other words, he is being controlled by these shackles. But it’s “Shihai sareru ashikase” (ignoring the sorta present progressive aspect for the moment). If this is passive, it’s the shackles that are being controlled, but as I’ve kinda been under the impression the character enjoys bondage, I don’t see why he’d want to undo them if they’re being controlled by his favorite sadist(s?). Unless these shackles aren’t the fun time shackles but the shackles of society which look down on fun time shackles. (I can’t believe I’m writing “fun time shackles”…) Anyway, if we assume the “sareru” is actually honorific, then it really doesn’t make sense, because he’d be showing respect to the binding aspect of the shackles, which again, would point to him enjoying them, so why undo them. So, I’ve concluded that this refers to societal shackles of control, but for smooth writing, wrote just “controlling shackles.” ⤴