So I'm over a weekend late on this one, but whatever - I did end up going to Katsucon 18, which was held the weekend of the 17th, a little over a week ago. I must say, it was interesting taking the overnight train from Boston all the way to D.C. for once, and having only a few hours of sleep from the train made the con even more interesting! Thankfully breakfast was available - I've learned over four years of college that I can function (with some loss of ability) without adequate sleep or without adequate food, but trying to function without both causes problems.
Anyway! Honestly, I feel like there's not all that much to report. Admired all of the well-done cosplays, again without taking any pictures. Went to the dealer's hall and spent way too much money, mostly on new games and new figurines. Oh, and one of the dealers refused to take a five dollar bill that I had on me, on suspicion of it being counterfeit - I really need to get around to running that down to the bank to get it checked out in more detail. I only wish I could remember where I got it from. Thankfully I had another five on hand.
There was also the video gaming hall. Oddly enough, they were charging money for the Bemani machines, so I had to actually use some quarters on the DDR one. But, no huge loss, and as always the chance to play on an actual DDR machine was well worth it. Also, there was Project Diva set up on a PS3, with an arcade-style controller no less. So it's not like I couldn't find things to do.
Honestly, the highlight of the convention was the workshop near the end of the day on Saturday. I rather suspect most people have not heard of the Weiss Schwarz card game, but I have - while I was studying abroad, I ended up buying some of the cards, and I think I've mentioned the portable game before. Well, apparently there actually are people on this side of the Pacific who've also heard of the game! And they were running a workshop about the game.
Most of it was stuff I didn't need - I know the rules already, thanks to the aforementioned portable game and a decent command of Japanese. (As I said when we were talking about understanding the cards, "Or, like me, you could spend three and a half years studying Japanese. That's probably not for everyone though.") I did learn that these cards are in fact distributed in the U.S., by Heart of the Cards, which makes it easier for me to get cards and does absolutely nothing for my ability to find people to play with. Anyone in the Boston area? Anyone at all?
Honestly, I feel like I don't do much at conventions these days. I wasn't really cosplaying, but I did go for a black cloak and the Hero of Space god tier T-shirt from Homestuck. Not really a cosplay of anyone, unless you count my own entirely fictional session in which I am the Knight of Space as a valid cosplay target, and frankly I myself wouldn't count that.
It was absolutely worth it though. Conventions usually are, and Katsucon didn't disappoint.
2012-02-27
2012-02-15
Jon Stewart on Contraceptive Coverage
Where would the world be without Jon Stewart? If nothing else, we'd have one less epic takedown of this entire invented controversy over birth control.
If there is one takeaway quote, it is this: "You've confused a war on your religion with not always getting everything you want!" But the entire video is absolutely worth watching. You should do that now.
If there is one takeaway quote, it is this: "You've confused a war on your religion with not always getting everything you want!" But the entire video is absolutely worth watching. You should do that now.
2012-02-10
The Rise of Rick Santorum
Well, it looks like it's Santorum's turn to be the Flavor of the Week in this Republican primary.
This is something that scares me deeply. Mitt Romney is a classic politician, in that he can be trusted only to say whatever will put him farther ahead in the race in question. He was solidly center of the road during his time as Massachusetts governor, to take one example, going to far as to seek Planned Parenthood's endorsement of his campaign. To be fair, even that kind of centrism is farther to the right than I prefer, truly... but at least it's something I could live with, for four or even eight years. That of course is assuming he is more center-right, in contravention of the way he's been acting this primary season.
Rick Santorum is a right-wing ideologue in the sense that I am a left-wing ideologue - he is a True Believer in the cause of conservatism. Really I shouldn't need to say any more than that to clarify why I fear him and his ideas taking the Presidency; we are representatives of diametrically opposed visions of the way American should be.
But I'm going to point out some things anyway. Not to clarify my intense dislike for him, but to demonstrate why he and I are not the same. While we are both firebrands, his vision of America is destructive in a way that mine is most assuredly not. In short, I explain what precisely I fear to show why everyone should fear his ideas and his vision of America.
I could point to specific policy ideas: his stance on certain military issues is beyond ridiculous. (He is also not a fan of gays openly in the military, despite that now being a settled decision.) Women and gays should, by all rights, be able to serve in the military just as well as anyone else, and inventing this kind of random pseudo-sciencey "women are more emotional" bullshit displays a fundamental disrespect for half of the human population.
Or I could suggest that he has no idea what he's saying. Requiring religious institutions to cover contraceptives is not new, given that the groups complaining often employ people who are not Catholic and should not be bound by Catholic dictates. There already is a narrower exception for specific groups that do employ primarily members of their same religion. And the idea that Rick Santorum should make this about government control is patently absurd. This is the same Rick Santorum who believes the government should be able to ban contraceptives outright, is it not?
And in large part because of his ideology, he is simply immune to criticism. The idea that the modern Republican Party spouts anything even approaching the truth on a regular basis is absurd. While I am so rarely called out on anything I believe, I would like to think that I am capable of listening to valid criticism and changing the way I act, however high my standard of "valid" might end up being.
For Santorum and the conservatism he represents, though, nothing short of a scorched earth policy will ever be appropriate. If Rick Santorum ends up in the White House from January 2013 onward, the society he will work to create will be frightening to behold: a regression to the world of centuries past, where women could be shoved back into the kitchen, where the One True Religion dominated society and government, and where the rich happily took all the money while oh-so-generously handing out tiny scraps of food to the poor.
What scares me more than anything else is that a large part of the Republican Party seems to agree with him.
This is something that scares me deeply. Mitt Romney is a classic politician, in that he can be trusted only to say whatever will put him farther ahead in the race in question. He was solidly center of the road during his time as Massachusetts governor, to take one example, going to far as to seek Planned Parenthood's endorsement of his campaign. To be fair, even that kind of centrism is farther to the right than I prefer, truly... but at least it's something I could live with, for four or even eight years. That of course is assuming he is more center-right, in contravention of the way he's been acting this primary season.
Rick Santorum is a right-wing ideologue in the sense that I am a left-wing ideologue - he is a True Believer in the cause of conservatism. Really I shouldn't need to say any more than that to clarify why I fear him and his ideas taking the Presidency; we are representatives of diametrically opposed visions of the way American should be.
But I'm going to point out some things anyway. Not to clarify my intense dislike for him, but to demonstrate why he and I are not the same. While we are both firebrands, his vision of America is destructive in a way that mine is most assuredly not. In short, I explain what precisely I fear to show why everyone should fear his ideas and his vision of America.
I could point to specific policy ideas: his stance on certain military issues is beyond ridiculous. (He is also not a fan of gays openly in the military, despite that now being a settled decision.) Women and gays should, by all rights, be able to serve in the military just as well as anyone else, and inventing this kind of random pseudo-sciencey "women are more emotional" bullshit displays a fundamental disrespect for half of the human population.
Or I could suggest that he has no idea what he's saying. Requiring religious institutions to cover contraceptives is not new, given that the groups complaining often employ people who are not Catholic and should not be bound by Catholic dictates. There already is a narrower exception for specific groups that do employ primarily members of their same religion. And the idea that Rick Santorum should make this about government control is patently absurd. This is the same Rick Santorum who believes the government should be able to ban contraceptives outright, is it not?
And in large part because of his ideology, he is simply immune to criticism. The idea that the modern Republican Party spouts anything even approaching the truth on a regular basis is absurd. While I am so rarely called out on anything I believe, I would like to think that I am capable of listening to valid criticism and changing the way I act, however high my standard of "valid" might end up being.
For Santorum and the conservatism he represents, though, nothing short of a scorched earth policy will ever be appropriate. If Rick Santorum ends up in the White House from January 2013 onward, the society he will work to create will be frightening to behold: a regression to the world of centuries past, where women could be shoved back into the kitchen, where the One True Religion dominated society and government, and where the rich happily took all the money while oh-so-generously handing out tiny scraps of food to the poor.
What scares me more than anything else is that a large part of the Republican Party seems to agree with him.
2012-02-02
Milestones in Japanese
I'm taking two history classes this semester. In at least one of them, the fact that I'm taking my notes in Japanese seems to have become somewhat of an open secret. Although I would have no idea whether or not the professors (of either class) are aware of the situation. It's not something I bothered to hide last semester either, really. In my classes on the two World Wars, I did the same thing, and in those classes the professors did find out.
Simply put, my Japanese is now at the level where simply trying to study disconnected vocabulary and grammar points becomes somewhat pointless. Certainly, I still need to work on my vocabulary, but then that will be true for years to come. At this point, what I need to focus on is using Japanese.
My trip to Japan for study abroad was probably what drove that point home. Prior to leaving for Japan, I was reasonably confident in my Japanese ability, and I was looking forward to using it to get me from the airport to the hotel where my program was gathering. I don't think I had fully accounted for a few things. Like the difference between classroom and reality, or the existence of jet lag, or a number of other problems. And two quick encounters, one at the airport's train station ticket counter and the other in the taxi at Kyoto Station, made it abundantly clear how much harder it is to actually use the language.
This is why I think study abroad is such a powerful boost to language, and why it served that purpose for me. Mastery over a language comes with its constant use, and studying in a country where that language is spoken ensures that you can (and in some cases, must) use it for literally everything. Here in the U.S., that's harder to do. I make up for it by surrounding myself with Japanese as much as possible; all of my music is in Japanese, I watch Japanese anime, I even try to read Japanese books and manga sometimes. But then again, I did that before I left for Japan, too.
Part of that does speak to the necessity of classroom-style learning. Taking someone who knows no Japanese, or very little Japanese, and asking them to process the language anyway only works when the person in question is unusually motivated to learn Japanese, which few people are. Once the base knowledge is there, using the language for anything (including asking about new words or grammar points) becomes important; before that point, doing so usually just sparks confusion at best.
The other half of that, though, suggests that even that isn't enough in the end. Listening to music, watching anime, even reading a book... they're all input. And no matter how much that helps me understand Japanese (which it does), I still need to be able to generate the language as well. So, I take notes in Japanese - because this is the kind of thing I need to be able to do if I want to be able to function entirely in Japanese.
Simply put, my Japanese is now at the level where simply trying to study disconnected vocabulary and grammar points becomes somewhat pointless. Certainly, I still need to work on my vocabulary, but then that will be true for years to come. At this point, what I need to focus on is using Japanese.
My trip to Japan for study abroad was probably what drove that point home. Prior to leaving for Japan, I was reasonably confident in my Japanese ability, and I was looking forward to using it to get me from the airport to the hotel where my program was gathering. I don't think I had fully accounted for a few things. Like the difference between classroom and reality, or the existence of jet lag, or a number of other problems. And two quick encounters, one at the airport's train station ticket counter and the other in the taxi at Kyoto Station, made it abundantly clear how much harder it is to actually use the language.
This is why I think study abroad is such a powerful boost to language, and why it served that purpose for me. Mastery over a language comes with its constant use, and studying in a country where that language is spoken ensures that you can (and in some cases, must) use it for literally everything. Here in the U.S., that's harder to do. I make up for it by surrounding myself with Japanese as much as possible; all of my music is in Japanese, I watch Japanese anime, I even try to read Japanese books and manga sometimes. But then again, I did that before I left for Japan, too.
Part of that does speak to the necessity of classroom-style learning. Taking someone who knows no Japanese, or very little Japanese, and asking them to process the language anyway only works when the person in question is unusually motivated to learn Japanese, which few people are. Once the base knowledge is there, using the language for anything (including asking about new words or grammar points) becomes important; before that point, doing so usually just sparks confusion at best.
The other half of that, though, suggests that even that isn't enough in the end. Listening to music, watching anime, even reading a book... they're all input. And no matter how much that helps me understand Japanese (which it does), I still need to be able to generate the language as well. So, I take notes in Japanese - because this is the kind of thing I need to be able to do if I want to be able to function entirely in Japanese.
2012-01-31
New Ways to Watch Anime
You know what they say: once is a fluke, twice a coincidence, and three times makes a pattern. (I don't know if "they" actually say that, but screw it I'm saying it now.) Well, we are officially into the "coincidence" phase, with the new Black Rock Shooter anime streaming on Nico Nico Douga starting February 3rd in eight different languages.
I would really like to believe that this is evidence of people listening to... well, not me personally, but certainly the sentiments I expressed the last time this kind of news came out regarding Fate/zero. I really do feel like we're standing on the brink of a major change in the way the American anime community can function, and I really do think that making shows readily available like this could be the gateway to a much broader presence of anime fandom in the United States.
And I do think that this should herald a decline in fansub releases. Of course, the last time I talked about this regarding Fate/zero, I relegated that issue to a later post. Well, now that later post has in fact been written. It's hard to tell really if anyone's planning to create a fansub for the Black Rock Shooter anime, since obviously nothing can have been released yet and any searches will run headlong into the OVA, which is already out (and which isn't available in the U.S., to boot).
But what I didn't say for Fate/Zero, I will say for Black Rock Shooter: I don't believe there should be any fansubs of this anime distributed. We have access to the show already, without having to circumvent the creators' chosen methods of distribution. If we are to have any respect for the people that create excellent shows such as these, we simply can't ignore that.
Time will tell whether this will become a pattern. I for one sincerely hope that it does.
I would really like to believe that this is evidence of people listening to... well, not me personally, but certainly the sentiments I expressed the last time this kind of news came out regarding Fate/zero. I really do feel like we're standing on the brink of a major change in the way the American anime community can function, and I really do think that making shows readily available like this could be the gateway to a much broader presence of anime fandom in the United States.
And I do think that this should herald a decline in fansub releases. Of course, the last time I talked about this regarding Fate/zero, I relegated that issue to a later post. Well, now that later post has in fact been written. It's hard to tell really if anyone's planning to create a fansub for the Black Rock Shooter anime, since obviously nothing can have been released yet and any searches will run headlong into the OVA, which is already out (and which isn't available in the U.S., to boot).
But what I didn't say for Fate/Zero, I will say for Black Rock Shooter: I don't believe there should be any fansubs of this anime distributed. We have access to the show already, without having to circumvent the creators' chosen methods of distribution. If we are to have any respect for the people that create excellent shows such as these, we simply can't ignore that.
Time will tell whether this will become a pattern. I for one sincerely hope that it does.
2012-01-21
Romancers' Neo Lyrics Translation
ROMANCERS' NEO 歌詞英訳
The notes for this translation are here. Please direct any comments about the translation to that page's comment field.
翻訳のノートはこちらです。コメントしたい場合にはそちらにコメントしてください。
Romancers' Neo (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable: The Gears of Destiny OP)
Lyrics: Hibiki
作詞：Hibiki
Composition: Noriyasu Agematsu
作曲：上松範康
Arrangement: Junpei Fujita
編曲：藤田淳平
Vocal: Nana Mizuki
歌：水樹奈々
Lyrics:
静かに…耳を澄ませば 聴こえる…流星の残響
届けカンパネラ 生命のRondo
決意に…追いかけたHeart tail 禁じた…剣を掴んで
弱くていい 君の定義 思い込めて往こう
Softly now... If you listen clearly,
you can hear the echoes of the shooting star.
Let the bells ring, life’s rondo.
Decision made, I chase after the heart’s tail,
taking hold of a forbidden sword.
There’s nothing wrong with weakness,
believe in what defines you and go!
感じて僕の声を 聖なるインフィニティ
誓える愛の為に
「今は小さな火花でいい…いつか大きな炎へと変われ」
Feel my voice, a holy infinity;
I can make this vow, for love’s sake.
“Right now, a small spark is fine,
for one day it will become a roaring blaze!”
イカズチでも壊せない その絆の限りRise
新時代の福音 よ 夢追人を照らせ
もう迷わないさ 風のままに
未来はまばゆく輝いて 君を待つよ
Rise! To the limits of this bond
which even thunder cannot destroy.
The gospel of a new age; those who chase their dreams will shine.
I won’t lose my way anymore, as long as the wind blows.
The future shines brilliantly, as it waits for you...
何度も…倒れた日々よ 雫で土を濡らす程
強く芽を息吹く大志
優しき…背を押したTrue shine 温もり…何かを教える
太陽さえ 見た事ない 煌めきのファーブラ
Over and over... these are fallen days;
to the point that drops of water soak the ground,
with a sprout’s strongly growing ambition.
Kindness... the true shine touches my back,
warmth... may it teach me something.
Having never seen the sun, a glittering fable...
遥かな空の果てに 聳える理想郷
信じた友の詩
「僕らは心のあるままに…きっと宿命を越えられるはず」
At the limits of the distant sky,
utopia towers over us...
The song of a trusted friend:
“as long as we have heart,
we can change our destiny!”
いまだけなら泣いていい 全部抱きしめるよBrave
そして君は気づくんだ 尊く光るチカラ
伝うこの気持ち 永久に咲いて
ゆずれない明日があるはずさ さあ…世界へ
If it’s just now, crying is fine;
embrace everything, be brave!
And you notice, the precious glowing power...
I will share these feelings, blooming for all time.
A tomorrow we will never surrender will be there,
Yes, let’s go out into the world!
震える日は暖めよう 凍える日は隣にいよう
切なき日は…嗚呼ずっとずっと離さずいるから
君と云う名の下 始まるレジェンド
Let’s warm the shivering days,
set the frozen days aside.
The miserable ones...
oh, I will always be by your side, so
under your name a legend will begin!
イカズチでも壊せない その絆の限りRise
新時代の福音 よ 夢追人を照らせ
もう迷わないさ 風のままに
二度とない今日を生きてゆく 君と共に…！
Rise! To the limits of this bond
which even thunder cannot destroy.
The gospel of a new age; those who chase their dreams will shine.
I won’t lose my way anymore, as long as the wind blows.
Let’s live through this day which will never come again,
together with you!
翻訳のノートはこちらです。コメントしたい場合にはそちらにコメントしてください。
Romancers' Neo (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable: The Gears of Destiny OP)
Lyrics: Hibiki
作詞：Hibiki
Composition: Noriyasu Agematsu
作曲：上松範康
Arrangement: Junpei Fujita
編曲：藤田淳平
Vocal: Nana Mizuki
歌：水樹奈々
Lyrics:
静かに…耳を澄ませば 聴こえる…流星の残響
届けカンパネラ 生命のRondo
決意に…追いかけたHeart tail 禁じた…剣を掴んで
弱くていい 君の定義 思い込めて往こう
Softly now... If you listen clearly,
you can hear the echoes of the shooting star.
Let the bells ring, life’s rondo.
Decision made, I chase after the heart’s tail,
taking hold of a forbidden sword.
There’s nothing wrong with weakness,
believe in what defines you and go!
感じて僕の声を 聖なるインフィニティ
誓える愛の為に
「今は小さな火花でいい…いつか大きな炎へと変われ」
Feel my voice, a holy infinity;
I can make this vow, for love’s sake.
“Right now, a small spark is fine,
for one day it will become a roaring blaze!”
イカズチでも壊せない その絆の限りRise
新時代の
もう迷わないさ 風のままに
未来はまばゆく輝いて 君を待つよ
Rise! To the limits of this bond
which even thunder cannot destroy.
The gospel of a new age; those who chase their dreams will shine.
I won’t lose my way anymore, as long as the wind blows.
The future shines brilliantly, as it waits for you...
何度も…倒れた日々よ 雫で土を濡らす程
強く芽を息吹く
優しき…背を押したTrue shine 温もり…何かを教える
太陽さえ 見た事ない 煌めきのファーブラ
Over and over... these are fallen days;
to the point that drops of water soak the ground,
with a sprout’s strongly growing ambition.
Kindness... the true shine touches my back,
warmth... may it teach me something.
Having never seen the sun, a glittering fable...
遥かな空の果てに 聳える
信じた友の詩
「僕らは心のあるままに…きっと宿命を越えられるはず」
At the limits of the distant sky,
utopia towers over us...
The song of a trusted friend:
“as long as we have heart,
we can change our destiny!”
いまだけなら泣いていい 全部抱きしめるよBrave
そして君は気づくんだ 尊く光るチカラ
伝うこの気持ち 永久に咲いて
ゆずれない明日があるはずさ さあ…世界へ
If it’s just now, crying is fine;
embrace everything, be brave!
And you notice, the precious glowing power...
I will share these feelings, blooming for all time.
A tomorrow we will never surrender will be there,
Yes, let’s go out into the world!
震える日は暖めよう 凍える日は隣にいよう
切なき日は…嗚呼ずっとずっと離さずいるから
君と云う名の下 始まるレジェンド
Let’s warm the shivering days,
set the frozen days aside.
The miserable ones...
oh, I will always be by your side, so
under your name a legend will begin!
イカズチでも壊せない その絆の限りRise
新時代の
もう迷わないさ 風のままに
二度とない今日を生きてゆく 君と共に…！
Rise! To the limits of this bond
which even thunder cannot destroy.
The gospel of a new age; those who chase their dreams will shine.
I won’t lose my way anymore, as long as the wind blows.
Let’s live through this day which will never come again,
together with you!
Translation Notes: Romancers' Neo
Romancers' Neo first caught my attention as the opening theme song of the Nanoha PSP game Gears of Destiny, which I've mentioned before. (The OP version runs until the end of the first chorus, where the translated lyrics are "it waits for you".) If there's one interesting thing about it, it's that the lyrics are liberally sprinkled with... I would say English terms except I'm not actually confident that they are all English. If they are, they're obscure enough to evade my fairly expansive vocabulary. In short, one of the hardest parts of being a translator is that you have to be everything else too, or at least be able to fake it well enough.
Which brings up an interesting question, really. When translating, do you leave the original text in (where it makes sense to do so) or do you translate for meaning instead? Another good example of this is Only My Railgun by fripSide, the opening to A Certain Scientific Railgun. Presented with what is nominally English but which makes little sense to English speakers, what do you do when translating, whether for subtitles or for a blog like this one?
The second line, thus, provided no end of problems. Partly because it took me forever to figure out what "campanella" was supposed to be. Once I did think to look more closely at Italian, rather than English, the idea of talking about a bell ringing came shortly thereafter. This is a case in which I felt leaving the Italian term in the final product would have been almost completely nonsensical; simply replacing "bell" would only produce confusion, and trying to avoid adding the reference to ringing (which is not really in the original text) would have been worse. ("Reach, campanella!" Yeah, no thank you.)
Of course, then immediately after that I did leave a fairly obscure term in. For the record, "rondo" is a word in English, referring to a work or movement of music with its own particular subject. This time, though, trying to shoehorn in a definition would have been the less optimal choice. Any attempt to do a single-word replacement (such as "melody") would be materially different, and putting in an entire explanation would quickly descend into an overly-long string of words. So, rondo stays in, and anyone who wants to know what the song's exactly talking about can look it up, as I imagine many Japanese would have to as well with the original text. (It does show up in Japanese dictionaries too!)
The next incidence of an unfamiliar term came in the first stanza after the chorus (fourth overall). "Kalmia" is apparently a type of plant, assuming that that is in fact what was intended when these lyrics were written. (It's what comes up in the Japanese dictionary for the katakana カルミア, at any rate.) And there's a distinct way in which that reference makes sense, in that the rest of the line refers to a sprout... breathing strongly? In all likelihood, I made hash of that line, but I feel like the characters as written make... little sense. What I did in the end was to associate breathing with living, and connect that back to plants and growing, but that's very much a workaround.
Of course, the other problem is that the kanji there has nothing to do with plants. If you were to ignore the reading given, you'd see the word for "ambition", which is where that part of the translation comes from. Kalmia is apparently a decently pretty plant (if Google Images is to be believed), so perhaps it makes sense for "grow to become like this" to be a sprout's ambition.
And then we hit the end of the stanza and the Japanese katakana "ファーブラ", with which all I can really do is give you the near-direct romanization "fabula" and leave it at that. I can't even suggest what that might mean, because I have literally no idea. Searches in three separate dictionaries (the English, the Japanese, and the other Japanese on my phone) each yielded no results. If someone does have a theory they'd like to defend, by all means tell me about it. UPDATE: Aaaaaand I should have paid more attention to the possibility of Italian showing up again. Apparently "fabula" translates as "fable" in that language. Barring any better explanation, I've edited the translation slightly to reflect this information.
Once I got through the incredible mess of unfamiliar words, though, the translation was reasonably straightforward. I did flip around sentence orders in a few places, most notably in the chorus, where the word "rise" starts the line in the translation and ends it in the original text. Needless to say, I do think that the alteration is a more effective way of getting at what the song is saying.
Let me know what you think of the translation (or the song) in the comments!
Which brings up an interesting question, really. When translating, do you leave the original text in (where it makes sense to do so) or do you translate for meaning instead? Another good example of this is Only My Railgun by fripSide, the opening to A Certain Scientific Railgun. Presented with what is nominally English but which makes little sense to English speakers, what do you do when translating, whether for subtitles or for a blog like this one?
The second line, thus, provided no end of problems. Partly because it took me forever to figure out what "campanella" was supposed to be. Once I did think to look more closely at Italian, rather than English, the idea of talking about a bell ringing came shortly thereafter. This is a case in which I felt leaving the Italian term in the final product would have been almost completely nonsensical; simply replacing "bell" would only produce confusion, and trying to avoid adding the reference to ringing (which is not really in the original text) would have been worse. ("Reach, campanella!" Yeah, no thank you.)
Of course, then immediately after that I did leave a fairly obscure term in. For the record, "rondo" is a word in English, referring to a work or movement of music with its own particular subject. This time, though, trying to shoehorn in a definition would have been the less optimal choice. Any attempt to do a single-word replacement (such as "melody") would be materially different, and putting in an entire explanation would quickly descend into an overly-long string of words. So, rondo stays in, and anyone who wants to know what the song's exactly talking about can look it up, as I imagine many Japanese would have to as well with the original text. (It does show up in Japanese dictionaries too!)
The next incidence of an unfamiliar term came in the first stanza after the chorus (fourth overall). "Kalmia" is apparently a type of plant, assuming that that is in fact what was intended when these lyrics were written. (It's what comes up in the Japanese dictionary for the katakana カルミア, at any rate.) And there's a distinct way in which that reference makes sense, in that the rest of the line refers to a sprout... breathing strongly? In all likelihood, I made hash of that line, but I feel like the characters as written make... little sense. What I did in the end was to associate breathing with living, and connect that back to plants and growing, but that's very much a workaround.
Of course, the other problem is that the kanji there has nothing to do with plants. If you were to ignore the reading given, you'd see the word for "ambition", which is where that part of the translation comes from. Kalmia is apparently a decently pretty plant (if Google Images is to be believed), so perhaps it makes sense for "grow to become like this" to be a sprout's ambition.
And then we hit the end of the stanza and the Japanese katakana "ファーブラ", with which all I can really do is give you the near-direct romanization "fabula" and leave it at that. I can't even suggest what that might mean, because I have literally no idea. Searches in three separate dictionaries (the English, the Japanese, and the other Japanese on my phone) each yielded no results. If someone does have a theory they'd like to defend, by all means tell me about it. UPDATE: Aaaaaand I should have paid more attention to the possibility of Italian showing up again. Apparently "fabula" translates as "fable" in that language. Barring any better explanation, I've edited the translation slightly to reflect this information.
Once I got through the incredible mess of unfamiliar words, though, the translation was reasonably straightforward. I did flip around sentence orders in a few places, most notably in the chorus, where the word "rise" starts the line in the translation and ends it in the original text. Needless to say, I do think that the alteration is a more effective way of getting at what the song is saying.
Let me know what you think of the translation (or the song) in the comments!
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