children’s game

children’s game

Vocals: あやぽんず＊ (Ayaponzu*)
Lyrics: ticat
Arranged by: kaztora
Album: シンクロ2 (Synchro 2 ) [Official site]
Circle: 森羅万象 (Shinra-Bansho)
Event: Reitaisai 15 [RTS15]
Original theme: Dullahan Under the Willows [柳の下のデュラハン]

ticat posted a bit about this track on her Twitter. She mentions that it’s about a tragedy. Everyone shrugged off the blame, saying the same thing: “it wasn’t me.” Meanwhile, the gardenias were looking at the moon without speaking. Where is the 9th person…?

There’s a possible pun in this song: gardenia (クチナシ – kuchinashi), a type of flower referenced in the song, is pronounced the same as ‘something unspoken’ (口無し – kuchi nashi). It also sounds a little like headless (首無し – kubi nashi), which describes Sekibanki a bit. There could be different interpretations of this song, but I think it’s about a group of kids ganging up on someone (Sekibanki), who then goes out to seek revenge on them. So… it’s pretty dark. Look out for the references to children’s games such as kagome kagome and hide and seek!

One final note: bracketed words were written like that in the original lyrics.

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非公式の英訳/Unofficial translation

[Playing a game…]
Where are those bewildered bodies going? [Number 1 is here]
Yes, bearing the obvious answer, I pose my question. [Number 2’s on the other side]
A dilapidated house. [Number 3] A corner of the back street. [Number 4]
Something seems wrong with this heat haze…

In the park of beautiful gardenias , atop the slide, [atop it]
Everyone chanted in unison: [“It wasn’t me!”]

Ah… And then they leaped out, decapitated them, and laughed.
Children here, there, everywhere!
It must have been me they did it to.
Ready? [Not yet!]
[Woh…] It must [Woh…] be somewhere,
Or so I believed.
Listen—those old tales
are the sorts of things that… you can’t possibly tell now.
[Woh… playing a game…]

After school, they play hide and seek at dusk [searching for the next one]
chasing after a shadow that must have vanished [they kicked it]. 5! [6!]
At the school gate [7!] a silhouette stands [8!].
A figure stands left out from their friends. Who is it? One left now… [Not ready yet!] (1)

The gardenia was watching everything (that day).
As for the rumoured dullahan… who’s the storyteller? [“It’s you!”]

Ah. The moon was watching, watching, waxing.
Near and far, hey… kids!
Stretching, stretching, stretched out, or so they say.
Ready? [Not yet!]
[Woh…] Everyone [Woh…] covers their eyes.
Give it back right now!
Who will I steal away? Who will I destroy? After all,
I’ll never, ever forgive them for this…

I can’t see any signs of remorse.
I pushed and was pushed back in return.
I can’t see any signs of remorse.
It’s sad, [all cut open] wait! [Stop!]

I peep right in…
Stop it, stop it, stop it, hey! Someone!
Kagome, kagome. Now, the kids
form a circle, circle, circle around the secrets. Ready? [I’m coming now!]
[Woh…] Tomorrow it’ll surely be [Woh…] an unfamiliar face.
“I won’t let you escape…”

Everything is stained red and blue:
Hearts, bodies. Still, they’re kids.
Someday, somewhere, for some reason, I’ll get rid of them all in the end. [9!]
[There’s no going back!] Though I search,
[There’s no going back!] Though I search,
I can’t forgive you now…
The sun comes out, comes out, comes out today
and from my swollen, swollen, swollen heart:
“Who was there behind you?”
Who was it? Playing a game.

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Translator’s note

(1) Who is it? (誰そ彼, tasokare) is believed to be a precursor to the word for dusk (黄昏, tasogare), as dusk is the time when it is no longer possible to tell who you’re speaking to [reference, in Japanese].