Things in the US have both changed and remained the same since the last time I posted something. They’ve changed because of the protests going on. But the protests are happening largely because things have stayed the same: we continue to see unarmed Black people murdered in this country at the hands of armed law … Continue reading
Tag Archives: J-rock
exist†trace — WONDERLAND
Happy May Igu Day! Now that The Air Moon is done, I’d like to get through all the songs on VIRGIN. I’m gonna try to post on the 1st, 9th, and 19th to make it a routine. Though I’ve done a couple of songs from this album already, I figured I would just go in … Continue reading
The Air Moon, Afterword
This is it. The last five pages of the MOON PROJECT Document Book The Air Moon. It’s taken me just shy of six years’ worth of spare time to complete this by myself. Not that I spent every moment of my spare time doing this, but still. I never would have guessed the circumstances under … Continue reading
exist†trace — Requiem
I missed Igu day, but March 20th is Omi’s birthday, so I thought it appropriate to do an exist†trace translation anyway. I picked “Requiem,” which unbeknownst to me when I picked it, was written by Omi. Not that it’s particularly appropriate for a birthday, but… (苦笑) The lyrics in Japanese are on Rock Lyric. Now, … Continue reading
The Air Moon, Final Chapter: Crescent, Part 2
This is the continuation and conclusion of the unpublished post-Jōgen no Tsuki interview started in the first part of this chapter. For earlier portions, please see the Table of Contents. ☆ —Getting back to this tour, what venue was the most memorable for you? Osaka. Because before I even got up on stage, I felt how … Continue reading
The Air Moon, Final Chapter: Crescent, Part 1
お久しぶり！It’s been a long time, O Readers. A belated Happy Winter Solstice, Happy Festivus, Happy Emperor’s Birthday (or did it switch to the new Emperor’s already?), Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa! When GACKT announced the KHAOS tour back in September, I started making plans to go. Some of the tour dates overlapped with … Continue reading
exist†trace – HONEY
This translation includes Jyou’s spoken part on the album version of the song. (Not that I know for sure that she’s said other things for other versions, but it seems like a logical assumption to make.) I could catch all but a couple of words myself, but I found this Japanese site, UtaTen, that had … Continue reading
A Little More on Little Mary
Back when I did “Nagai Yume no Owari ni,” I mentioned that miko had written a blog post about that track where she said that song had actually been performed live before WORLD MAKER‘s release as part of the story of Little Mary. The first release to include that track, “Ritoru Mearii to Utsukushiki Nikushimi … Continue reading
exist†trace — Ritoru Mearii to Utsukushiki Nikushimi no Donau
This song may sound like a slightly dark fairy tale if you’re only listening to it, and to the album version at that, where miko’s ultra nasal high-pitched singing makes you think of a little 8-year-old girl. But if you read the lyrics as written in the liner notes, it turns into a tale fit … Continue reading
exist†trace — Lost in Helix
A super-belated Happy New Year, O Readers! ^_^; Below are the lyrics, romanization, and my English translation of this beautiful track from Vanguard – Of the Muses. At the very bottom is a translation of part of a miko blog entry where she talks about this song. ☆ Lost in Helix 水面に浮かぶ満月を 見上げる身体の無い意思よ 巡る周期をただ待ち焦がれ 何度天を仰いだだろう 月は満ち繰り返す 生と死を永遠に 私は今 再び生まれる … Continue reading
