I started rewatching Gundam Wing yesterday. I absolutely loved it when I first saw it on Cartoon Network twenty years ago. I had forgotten how absurd any lines mentioning Zechs Merquise by name sounded. Like “Zechs is in the atmosphere!” I was like, isn’t that a T-Pain lyric? LMAO

But, this show was my introduction to J-pop, so it’ll always hold a special place in my heart no matter what.

At some point while I was in high school my brother and I discovered a shop that sold anime goods. It was like finding the Promised Land. I didn’t know it back then, but a lot of their merchandise, such as the four Gundam Wing soundtrack CDs I purchased, was bootleg. Still, I loved Kou Ohtani’s compositions and the character “image songs.” One of my favorites is Wufei’s “Shinjitsu wo Tsukamitore,” even though the character himself didn’t appeal to me because he’s a sexist little twerp. (My favorite would be, no surprise, the long white-haired pretty boy Zechs Merquise / Milliardo Peacecraft. Though his English voice was absolutely horrendous in the first episode. Duo Maxwell’s a close second for being the cheerful pilot of Deathscythe.)

Anyway, enjoy this bit of nostalgia!

Lyrics in Japanese can be found here on J-Lyric.

☆

Shinjitsu wo Tsukamitore

nani wo shinji
nani wo motomete hito wa ikiru
daremo ga wakarazu ni
tachitsukusu yoru

ima wa yume mo nai to
jibun wo azakeru no wa
ikiba mo nakushita makeinu sa

kokoro no naka de moesakaru mono
shinjitsu naraba ore wa yuku

chi no hate made kizutsuite mo tatakau dake sa
shinjiru nara motomeru nara tsukamitoru dake
toikakete mo toikaketemo kuzurenai nara
sore ga seigi da

tashika ni kanjiteru
kyou wo ikinuiteyuku
ashita wo kataru hodo
namechainai sa

yuuki da to ka ai wo
kotoba de tsutaeru nara
akirame ni mo iiwake dekiru

kagayaku mono wa kono mune no uchi
kokoro no yaiba furikazasu

tamerai koso osore koso ga an’ya wo tsukuru
ichi byou sae inochitori no kiwadoi shoubu
ore no naka ni senshi no chi ga nagareru kagiri
ore wa chiranai

chi no hate made kizutsuite mo tatakau dake sa
shinjiru nara motomeru nara tsukamitoru dake
toikakete mo toikaketemo kuzurenai nara
sore ga seigi da

Grasp the Truth

What to believe in?
What to search for? People live seeking answers
But no one knows what they are
Nights pass with no progress

“I don’t even have a dream anymore”
If you mock yourself saying that
You turn yourself into a loser with nowhere left to go

What blazes in my heart
If it’s the truth, I’ll set out

Even if I’m hurt, I’ll just fight to the ends of the earth
If you believe, if you seek it, you just have to grasp it
If it doesn’t fall apart no matter how much you question it,
That is justice

As surely as I feel the day
I’ll work on surviving it
I don’t take today so lightly
As to talk about tomorrow

If you can convey “courage” and “love” with words
Then you can come up with an excuse for “giving up,” too

What shines is right here in this chest
I’ll wield the sword in my heart

Hesitation and fear are what make dark nights
A single second can spell death in this close match
As long as warrior’s blood flows in my veins
I won’t fall

Even if I’m hurt, I’ll just fight to the ends of the earth
If you believe, if you seek it, you just have to grasp it
If it doesn’t fall apart no matter how much you question it,
That is justice