wow hi everyone. as i'm on winter break and i'm sick of not being able to recommend the apoc light novels to people, i have decided to try and translate some of it. i have also decided to do this extremely inefficiently, because i'll be working in chronological order from volume 3, and most of volume 3 is already translated. however, i hope to eventually get through all of volume 3 and volume 5!
most of volume 3 can currently be read here. further, all available translations of fate/apocrypha (1, 2, part of 3, and 4) can be read here. if you have read these translations, then i will be producing nothing net new to you until i reach chapter 4 of volume 3!
note: i have absolutely no intention of stepping on any toes by picking up a translation that is already in progress. if canonrap's translation is picked up again, i hope that these two translations are able to kindly coexist
read the prologue under the cut!
Prologue
——Now, let us speak about the Third Holy Grail War.
During the Second Holy Grail War, the Einzbern family was defeated quite early on. Even as one of the three families responsible for the creation of the Greater Grail, the Einzberns, masters of alchemy as they were, fell behind due to their lack of combat prowess.
The next time, to rid themselves of the shame of their defeat in the Second Holy Grail war, the Einzberns aimed for certain victory. Making the most of the next sixty years, they compared and examined all manner of possibilities, and in the end, two Heroic Spirits emerged from the pool of candidates.
The first option was to modify the Holy Grail's systems to summon a special-class Servant, known as an Avenger. That Servant would be an anti-hero bearing the curses of all of the six billion people in the world—Angra Mainyu. A nameless hero nevertheless bearing the name of the king of demons. If he were to be summoned, he would be a murderous calamity made incarnate, capable of completely wiping out the other Masters and Servants and activating the Holy Grail.
The second option was abuse of the system built into the Greater Grail—summoning a Ruler, a class with unparalleled power originally meant to be summoned to regulate the Holy Grail War. In light of this, a Ruler would possess "Servant Command Spells", a special Authority that the Einzberns planned to take full advantage of.
Power or wisdom? After much thought, the Einzberns chose wisdom. One could say, even, that they chose the safe option. Perhaps because of their previous defeat, they simply could not muster the confidence necessary to control power like unto a god.
The Ruler chosen to be summoned was from the Far East, where these events took place—the closest to a saint one could be without ever being recognized as such. A tragic figure named Amakusa Shirou Tokisada.
The Einzberns had wanted to summon a Servant resembling the original conception of a Ruler, rather than some unknown Heroic Spirit from the Far East, but summoning a Ruler within a normal Grail War was a major infraction against the system to begin with. So they compromised—but still, the advantage of having Servant Command Spells was overwhelming. The Servant they had summoned, Amakusa Shirou, was not particularly adept in battle, nor was his magical ability on par with a Caster's. Yet he continued to survive, attaining victory after victory in the Third Holy Grail War.
It seemed that their thorough defenses, rather than any reckless gambles, had paid off. As the Third Holy Grail War drew to a close, it seemed, indeed, that the Einzberns were the ones who stood the closest to the Greater Grail.
However, it was at this point that something unexpected occurred. Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia, the leader of the Yggdmillennia family—which had taken part in the Third Holy Grail War—accidentally came across the Greater Grail. With the help of his military forces, he embarked on a plan to seize it for himself.
Thus ended the Third Holy Grail War.
The remaining Servants fought one another to the death in their pursuance of the Greater Grail, and the Master from the Einzbern family was caught up in that fierce magical clash and killed.
Then, with the Einzberns' Master dead, and the Tohsaka and Makiri families having retreated, only two people remained on the battlefield.
Among the survivors, one was a man named Kotomine Risei. A priest sent by the Holy Church to act as the overseer of the Third Holy Grail War, he could not have expected the battle between the Heroic Spirits to have taken on the form that it did.
He was likely barely in his twenties, but his hardened appearance evoked the image of a countenance carved from rock. His muscled body was as though a fortress. The gleam within his eyes was as keenly sharp as a razor; they were the eyes of a grizzled martial artist or mercenary more than they were those of a priest.
"What do you plan to do from here on?"
Kotomine Risei, a slightly nervous look on his face, asked this of the boy standing next to him. The situation was something out of a comedy: the man, both older and more physically imposing, was humbling himself so before a mere boy.
Then again, any clergyman who knew of the boy's identity would do the same.
After all, the person that he was speaking to was a boy who performed miracles from the time he was born in the Edo period—the closest existence possible to a saint without being one. Even if, by appearances, he was a boy not even of the age of twenty, it was only natural that he would speak to him in such a manner.
"The Greater Grail has been stolen. Indeed, it would seem impossible to recover it empty-handed."
The boy spoke softly as he observed the now-empty cavern. Even though the Greater Grail had been taken away and his own Master had died, the boy had not disappeared; even though his magical energy link to the Einzberns had been severed, he demonstrated no unease at all.
The boy's body had now become a certain existence, rooted to the earth. Having touched the Greater Grail, he had just barely managed to achieve "incarnation". In that sense, one would not be incorrect in thinking that the Third Holy Grail War had ended in his victory.
"In the first place, with my Master's death, I now only possess the power of an ordinary human. Therefore, I plan to give up on my pursuit of the Holy Grail."
"Oh… in which case—"
"Lord Risei, you told me once that you had gone on a journey to attain enlightenment through asceticism. In that case, shall I also set off on a journey?"
"Very good. I will lend you any assistance I am able."
There were certain things one needed in order to travel. Chiefly among them were an identity and money. In regards to the latter, Kotomine Risei had no intentions of frugality. Moreover, he had already dedicated his entire life to God—he even thought that if he could help Amakusa Shirou, who had met such a tragic end, attain something, anything, new, then he would be willing to give everything away to do it.
The boy's name was changed, and he was given a new identity. He was adopted by Risei and, as he had said he would, he spent his days traveling the world. However, there was just one thing that he never told his adoptive father.
—Amakusa Shirou had not given up on the Greater Grail.
No, on the contrary—he had resolved to dedicate the entirety of his second life, which he had been so fortunate to have been granted, to the next Holy Grail War. When he had been bathed in the light of that Great Holy Grail, Amakusa Shirou had become absolutely certain of it. With this power, with this miracle in hand, surely he would be able to grant happiness to all of humanity.
The power of the Greater Grail was no trifling matter. Now that it had been stolen, it was all but certain that someone, somewhere, had intentions of re-activating it. Most likely, they would do so in another sixty years, when its magical energy had accumulated once more.
After joining the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament through his adoptive father's connections, he decided to simply wait for the moment he needed—like the predator that stalks its prey under the cover of night, or the spider who weaves its web of snares and waits.
After all, no matter the Holy Grail War, there is one inevitability in its development. That is the Holy Church, and the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament, whose duty it is to search for and retrieve holy relics. As long as something is a conflict over the Holy Grail, it is a matter of fact that the Holy Church must be involved—and even from the perspective of a mage, it is preferable to disclose information about such conflicts than suffer the burden of having to conceal it.
As information about the Third Holy Grail War spread and Subspecies Holy Grail Wars were being fought all around the world, rumors about the "Holy Grail" continued to reach the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament.
However, invariably, those were all fakes. Strictly speaking, even the Greater Grail manifested during Fuyuki's Holy Grail War was a fake; the only thing that Amakusa Shirou sought was the Greater Grail that called him into existence.
So he simply waited.
—For sixty years, he waited patiently. Having made a connection to the Greater Grail and incarnated on earth, and owing to his Noble Phantasm, Amakusa Shirou's body never aged a day. It persisted, ever a singular miracle.
As the wind blows clouds across the sky, so too did various things come to pass with time. His adoptive father passed away; his adoptive brother, just like his father and himself, set off on a journey in search of an abstract "something".
He had an almost-infinite amount of time to think, so he devised all manners of plans. How to ensnare the Masters; which Servants he needed to take the Greater Grail back; where the battle ought to take place; how he would make sure of his success this time; how he would make sure that his wish was realized—and that it would continue to be realized.
What he wished for was the happiness of all people—for the goodness of all people. For the annihilation of Angra Mainyu—all of the world's evil. But just how many tribulations would it take to finally reach that point? An ordinary person would long have given up; a genius would long have failed.
But Amakusa Shirou, child of miracles, would not waver. There was never any chance that he would, not even for a moment. Upon his shoulders were the regrets, the resentment, of thirty-seven thousand people—nothing could possibly shake that iron heart.
And then, at last, the long-awaited battle arrived. Seven against seven; the Great Holy Grail War, by means of Fuyuki's Greater Grail. Any differences in the scale or the system were merely trivial matters. After all, Shirou Kotomine had lived for sixty years, all the while considering every possibility—
And so Amakusa Shirou smiled, without any fear, before the eyes of this Holy Grail War's true Ruler—Jeanne d'Arc.
From here, the true war would begin. It would not be a battle over such small things as a mage's ambition, or the Association's honor. No—it would be a battle to determine the fate of humanity.
this specific translation by me (requested by @enigmaticgale)! use/repost is fine. credit would be nice!
甘い夢見させて
Amai yume misasete
Show me a sweet dream
キスの魔法をかけてダーリン(＞ω＜*)
Kisu no mahou wo kakete daarin
Cast a magic kiss on me, darling (＞ω＜*)
いちご色のハートにそっと触れて
Ichigo-iro no haato ni sotto furete
Softly touch this strawberry-colored heart
ドキドキしちゃうの♥
Dokidoki shichau no
It's beating hard for you ♥
気になって眠れない夜には
Kininatte nemurenai yoru ni wa
On nights when I'm so worked up I can't sleep
君のペイシェント
Kimi no peishento
I'm your patient
静まり返った恋の病棟
Shizumari kaetta koi no byoutou
In the silent ward of love
響く響く私の鼓動
Hibiku hibiku watashi no kodou
My pulse rings out, rings out
振り向いてほしくて患うの
Furimuite hoshikute wazurau no
I'm sick from wanting you to look at me
いじわるモーション
Ijiwaru mooshon
An unfair motion
白いシーツにこぼれている
Shiroi shiitsu ni koboreteiru
It spills out over the white sheets
小さい願い そっとなぞる
Chiisai negai sotto nazoru
I gently trace over my small wish
ああ 君の指で開けてみてね
Aa kimi no yubi de akete mite ne
Ah, open it up with your fingers and see
秘密のドアを さあ
Himitsu no doa wo saa
The secret door, okay?
一番近くで聴いてね
Ichiban chikaku de kiite ne
Listen as close as you can
世界中の誰よりね
Sekaijuu no dare yori ne
Closer than anyone else in the world
ねえ ねえ！
Nee nee
Hey, hey!
張り裂けそうな心音
Harisake sou na shin'on
To a heartbeat about to burst
君に夢中 集中治療中 手術chu♥
Kimi ni muchuu shuuchuu chiryou chuu shujutsu chu
I'm crazy about you, focused, in treatment, in surgery, chu ♥[1]
甘い夢見させて
Amai yume misasete
Show me a sweet dream
キスの魔法をかけてダーリン(＞ω＜*)
Kisu no mahou wo kakete daarin
Cast a magic kiss on me, darling (＞ω＜*)
きっとどんな言葉より完璧なオペレーション
Kitto donna kotoba yori kanpeki na opereeshon
Surely, more than any words, a perfect operation
長い眠りから醒めたらふたりは急接近
Nagai nemuri kara sametara futari wa kyuu sekkin
When I wake up from my long sleep, we'll suddenly have become closer
いちご色のハートにそっと触れて
Ichigo-iro no haato ni sotto furete
Softly touch this strawberry-colored heart
ドキドキしちゃうの♥
Dokidoki shichau no
It's beating hard for you ♥
簡単に治せない傷です
Kantan ni naosenai kizu desu
It's a wound that can't be nursed so easily
このエス・オー・エス♥
Kono esu oo esu
This S.O.S. ♥
ひとりぼっちの夜は遠く
Hitori bocchi no yoru wa tooku
Those lonely nights are so far away
届け 届け 私の衝動
Todoke todoke watashi no shoudou
Get through, get through, impulses of mine
ああ 早く気付いてなんてね
Aa hayaku kizuite nante ne
Ah, if only I had realized it earlier
気持ちはいつだってさ
Kimochi wa itsudatte sa
These feelings have always been here, after all
夜空に溶けては消えるの
Yozora ni tokete wa kieru no
Melting into the night sky and vanishing
せめてレム睡眠下で
Semete remu suiminka de
At least in the midst of my REM sleep
ねえ ねえ
Nee nee
Hey, hey
溢れ出しそうな感情
Afuredashi sou na kanjou
Are feelings about to overflow
君に打ち明けていい？
Kimi ni uchi akete ii?
Can I open my heart to you?
きっと今 最高潮♥
Kitto ima saikouchou
Surely this is the climax ♥
赤くこぼれ落ちた恋のしるしは
Akaku koboreochita koi no shirushi wa
Signs of love overflowing in red
君にだけ見せてあげたい
Kimi dake misete agetai
I only want to show them to you
言葉より単純な感覚で
Kotoba yori tanjun na kankaku de
Feelings much simpler than words
ほら今も君の麻酔で痺れている胸の
Hora ima mo kimi no masui de shibirete iru mune no
Look, even now my chest is numb from your anesthesia
いちご色のハートにそっと触れて
Ichigo-iro no haato ni sotto furete
Softly touch this strawberry-colored heart
甘い夢見させて
Amai yume misasete
Show me a sweet dream
キスの魔法をかけてダーリン(＞ω＜*)
Kisu no mahou wo kakete daarin
Cast a magic kiss on me, darling (＞ω＜*)
きっとどんな言葉より完璧なオペレーション
Kitto donna kotoba yori kanpeki na opereeshon
Surely, more than any words, a perfect operation
長い眠りから醒めたらふたりは急接近
Nagai nemuri kara sametara futari wa kyuu sekkin
When I wake up from my long sleep, we'll suddenly have become closer
いちご色のハートにそっと触れて
Ichigo-iro no haato ni sotto furete
Softly touch this strawberry-colored heart
ドキドキさせてね♥
Dokidoki sasete ne
Make it beat hard for you ♥
[1] only one note, so i'm putting it at the bottom here: this is a line that uses the phonetic particle "chu[u]" over and over again at the end of every fragment (so "focused" is "shuuchuu", and in "chiryou chuu" the "chuu" acts as the "in" of "in treatment"). technically, i think that the romanized "chu" in the lyrics could be associated with "shujutsu" (surgery), so i translated as "in surgery," but since it was already spelled out in the original jp i also added it to the end as like a cute kiss particle
GOU ON STAGE: SHINPEN SATOMI HAKKENDEN ENGLISH SUBTITLES
oh man. hi everyone, here’s a sub i did for the newest installment of the touken ranbu musical, gou on stage: shinpen satomi hakkenden! these subs are timed for the vod from 12/11, but may have a slight delay at some parts because of a few milliseconds of buffering. note that this is only the subtitle file, not the full video file
download here (link updated 4/15)! thanks for supporting cute gouchans and happy gouchan new year!!!!!!
hi again so many months later!!!!!! i have updated these subs again to be more accurate so here are some patch notes under the cut. if you are not interested in that tl;dr please watch touken ranbu musical gou on stage shinpen satomi hakkenden it’s good i promise do it for kotegiri
当たり障りない君との軌跡 [Atarisawari nai kimi to no kiseki]: i had some trouble with the grammar here, but my understanding is that kiseki is most often used as a noun indicating the "traces" left behind by someone. therefore kimi to no is like, maybe, an adjectival phrase for kiseki, and in turn atarisawari nai is a descriptor for that, therefore the entire thing possibly rounds out to being a noun; therefore "The unremarkable traces of life with you," even though i did have to insert "of life." otherwise it's still correct in meaning to be like "traces of being with you" but it's not as good grammatically
どれだけ恋しても 越えられない君を [Dore dake koi shitemo koerarenai kimi wo]: 越える (koeru) can also be translated as "overcome" or "amount to more than" and i guess this also makes sense in the context? but i thought it would be clearest to just round koerarenai to "can't get over" because this is basically a breakup song right
今ならわかる気がして [Ima nara wakaru ki ga shite] / 今から過去に戻れるなら [Ima kara kako ni modoreru nara]: these two lines have a really nice sound to them because of the anaphora at the beginning. i wanted to reflect that in translation but couldn't quite wrangle the structure of the second sentence ("If I could go back from the present/(now)" into mirroring the first :( and then i figured that if i can't do that then i might as well give up on trying to use a poetic form of "now," because it ends up sounding kind of awkward if you aren't expecting the extra preposition ("the now")
愛という沼に溺れている [Ai to iu numa ni oboreteiru]: 沼 (numa) is literally "swamp" in most uses but apparently can also be used to mean obsession or addiction in a metaphorical sense; i split the difference and used "mire," which sounds a little more poetic than swamp
that's basically it! it's a pretty straightforward song otherwise. hope you find it enjoyable or useful
ellievsbear
yousharknotpass
annaxmalina
vaporwave
andulkaphoto
discoholicmusic
turnnoffyourmind