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Makoto Kawamoto · Rurouni Kenshin · Rurouni Kenshin OP 2
Tap words in the lyrics for meaning, then use Practice when the verse is in your ears.
Synced lyrics
senaka ni mimi wo pitto tsukete dakishimeta kyoukaisen mitai na karada ga jama da ne dokka icchai sou na no sa
I pressed my ear tight against your back and held you — this body of mine, like a borderline, just gets in the way; it feels like it could drift off somewhere.
'To-back ear snugly-pressing, embraced. Boundary-line-like body is hindrance, right? Somewhere-going-seems-like, (emphasis).' The narrator imagines her skin as a border that keeps her and the beloved apart.
ぴっと is a mimetic (giongo) adverb evoking a tight snap-fit — Japanese pop lyrics use mimetics like this to convey physical sensation without medical vocabulary.
damatteru to chigire-sou da kara konna kimochi hankei san meetoru inai no sekai de motto hittsuite tai no sa
Because if I stay quiet, this feeling feels like it'll tear apart — in a world only three meters across, I want to cling to you more, closer still.
'Staying-silent if, about-to-tear-apart because, this-kind-of feeling. Radius 3-meter within-of world in, more more, want-to-cling (emphasis).'
kawaribanko de pedaru wo koide ojigi no himawari toorikoshite gungun kaze wo nomikonde sou tobe-sou jan hajimete kanjita kimi no taion dare yori mo tsuyoku naritai attakai rizumu niko no shinzou ga kuttsuite ku
Taking turns pedaling, we pass the drooping sunflowers on the street, swallowing up the wind as we go — feels like we could just lift off. The first time I felt your body heat, I wanted to be stronger than anyone — a warm rhythm, our two hearts drawing together.
'Taking-turns with pedal pedaling, bow-of-sunflower passing, rapidly wind swallowing — like-that could-fly, right? For-the-first-time felt your body-heat. Than-anyone stronger want-to-become. Warm rhythm. Two-hearts are drawing-together.'
おじぎのひまわり ('bowing sunflower') is a poetic image — a sunflower whose heavy head has drooped into a bow, like the Japanese おじぎ greeting. 2コ is a colloquial written form of 二個 mixing digits and katakana.
kuchibiru to kuchibiru hitomi te kamisama wa nani mo kinshi nanka shite nai aishiteru atashi mada korite nai otona ja wakannai kurushikute setsunakute misetakute panku shichau soppo mite matteru kara pokke no mayotteru te de hoppe ni furete koishiteru chikara ni mahou wo kakete
Lip to lip, eye to eye, hand to hand — God hasn't forbidden a thing. I love you. I love you. I love you. I'm not chastened yet; grown-ups just don't get it. It hurts, it aches, I want to show you — I'll burst. I'm waiting while I look the other way, so with my hesitating hand still in my pocket, touch my cheek — cast a spell on this power called love.
'Lip and lip, pupil and pupil and hand and hand. God anything at-all prohibition such-as isn't-doing. Loving. Loving. Loving. I still not-chastened, adult-as don't-understand. Painful, heartrending, wanting-to-show, I'll-burst. Other-way looking waiting because, pocket's hesitating hand with, cheek touching — in-love power on magic cast.'
そっぽを見る ('look the other way') is the classic Japanese shoujo gesture of shy affection — pretending not to watch while actually waiting. パンクしちゃう uses パンク (originally 'puncture/flat tire') as slang for emotional overload.
itsumo issho ni toomawari shiteta kaerimichi daidai ga koboreru you na sora ni nandaka happy sad
The way home — always taking the long route together. Under a sky that looks like spilled orange, I feel somehow HAPPY & SAD.
'Always together-(adv) long-way were-doing homeward-road. Orange spill-like sky in, somehow HAPPY & SAD.'
atashitachi tte doushite umareta no hanbun da yo ne hitori de kangaete mo miru kedo yappa hetappi na no sa
Why were we born at all? We're each half, right? I try puzzling it out alone, but I just end up bad at it.
'We-(topic) why were-born? Half are right? Alone-by thinking-try but, after-all not-good-at-it (emphasis).' The song's title 1/2 surfaces here: each person is a half, completed by the other.
半分だよね ('we're each a half, right?') is the thematic pivot — the song's title '1/2' comes from this idea of each person being half of a pair. へたっぴ is cute/childish slang from 下手 with the -っぴ diminutive suffix.
mienaku naru hodo tooku ni booru wo nagereru tsuyoi kata urayamashikute otoko no ko naritakatta sunda mizu no you ni yawaraku chicchana koro mitai hen ne namida koborete ku
A shoulder strong enough to hurl a ball so far it vanishes — I envied that, I wanted to be a boy. Soft as clear water, stronger than anyone — the way I was when I was little. Weird, isn't it — my tears are spilling over.
'Becoming-invisible to-extent far to ball can-throw strong shoulder — enviable, boy want-to-become. Clear water like softly, than-anyone want-to-be-stronger. Tiny-time like. Strange right, tear spilling-goes.'
おとこの子になりたかった ('I wanted to be a boy') is a nostalgic childhood memory — Japanese female pop lyrics of the era often revisited tomboy-phase regret as shorthand for losing a simpler strength.
onaji mono kanjikata shiteru todokanai tte iwareta tte kono mama janpu shitai baibai no kisu suru kara saigo no ippo kyori gutte daite taiyou ga zutto shizumanai you ni
We feel the same things the same way. Even if they tell me I can't reach, I want to jump, just like this. I'll give you a goodbye kiss — so hold that last-step distance tight, so the sun will never set.
'Same thing same way-of-feeling doing. Won't-reach even-if-told, just-like-this want-to-jump. Bye-bye-of-kiss do because, last-step-of distance tightly hold. Sun forever doesn't-set so-that.'
ikko no yuuhi potsun to futari de miteta kirei da kedomo sa nanka ienai ne tarinai babanban
We watched one lonely sunset together, just the two of us. It's beautiful but... somehow I can't put it into words — somehow something's missing. Ba-bang-bang!
'One-(piece)-of setting-sun solitarily, two-people with, were-watching. Beautiful but-(emphasis). Somehow can't-say right? Somehow isn't-enough (emphasis). Ba-bang-bang!'
ぽつんと is a mimetic adverb conveying a single, lonely dot in wide space — here it paints the sunset as an isolated spot of light. ババンバン! is a playful sound-effect closer, mimicking a drum or firework burst.
nosutoradamusu ga yogen shita toori kono hoshi ga bakuhatsu suru hi wa hitotsu ni naritai
Just as Nostradamus foretold, on the day this planet explodes — I want to be one with you. A warm rhythm, our two hearts drawing closer still.
'Nostradamus prophesied just-as, this planet explode day (topic), one-into want-to-become.' A 1997-era reference to the Nostradamus 1999 apocalypse prophecy — popular Japanese pop-culture touchstone at the time.
ノストラダムスの大予言 (Nostradamus's Great Prophecy) was a massive Japanese pop-culture phenomenon from the 1970s through the late 1990s, predicting Earth's destruction in July 1999. For a 1997 song, referencing it is a shorthand for 'right before the end of the world'.