hii slug! very much appreciate all the work you and the team does for the fandom ;w; if it's not too much trouble, whenever you have the time, I'd love to read a translation for matenrou's newest song Bless You if possible! Haven't seen anyone translate the movie songs yet and I'm dying to know what the lyrics are 💙
is it possible for you to translate bless you by matenro... no rush of course, i just cant find any translations anywhere else 💔 matenro is so peak
Yes, thank you for your patience! Under a cut for length
Style notes: This song is largely written in everyday language with only a very small handful of fancier words introduced for rhyme. This achieves a conversational, yet beautiful effect. I've attempted to do similar with simple, natural language. The words which mainly exist to establish rhyme (musical key, Raphael, etc.) have been absorbed into the main text. I'm also not going to fuss too much over fidelity on the word level in favor of capturing the broader meaning and tone (tiny things like "how much we bleed" vs "how much we hurt" etc).
Pronoun/agent notes: Some portions of this song are explicitly focused outward (particularly Hifumi's) or narrated in first-person. Others are implied first-person or second-/third-person (see the first two lines of Doppo's first verse, which are most intuitively first-person, and the second two lines, which are most intuitively about Matenrou). However, most of Jakurai's verses are more vague and could easily be read in either first- or third-person. Given the PV, I've chosen to write them in first-person, but feel free to recast the agent in those lines to the "you" audience.
Doppo: I know I swore I'd stop, but here I am apologizing again. You're like family to me, with the way you make up for all my faults and the way you're always there for me. Hifumi: So why don't we sit down and talk it out? The world turns on our joy, and I have a message for you if today has reduced you to silent tears: I love you, today and everyday, no matter your insecurities. Jakurai: In both times of joy and times when pain renders you immobile, I let these notes carry me until everything is all right again. Doppo: And for all of us who've lost Jakurai: the warmth of companionship, we must take these gentle words. We must know that it's all right to be different. We must know that it's all right to be wrong. For this song was written for the express purpose of helping us all move past this. Chorus: No matter how much we struggle, no matter how much we bleed, everything will be different tomorrow. And that lets us keep on keeping on. Times may be awful and we may have much to grieve, but at the end of the day, no one's ever alone. And isn't that all we need? Doppo: Oh, I'm just so stupid. I can't do anything right. God, tell me: Is there any point to me being here? Hifumi: I'm no god, but I'd be glad to answer: I'm happy that you're still with us, partner. Doppo: You saying that will get me through another day. You still believe in me, despite everything wrong with me. Nothing I apologize for fazes you, and with that, we can make a brighter tomorrow come just that little bit faster. Hifumi: You and I are both cut to the bone with harsh traumas, but let every cut be another reason to lean on me. Let's you and me take all our abundant love and turn it to song, painting the tomorrows we'd like to live in. Jakurai: We all have those moments when we stand on the cusp of abandoning everything, when we've all but abandoned hope. But as for myself, I'm at the point where I'd prefer instead to weather these hardships, to transform this planet into one of love, to seek the final, lasting peace-- and to do it together. Chorus: No matter how much we struggle, no matter how much we bleed, everything will be different tomorrow. And that lets us keep on keeping on. Times may be awful and we may have much to grieve, but at the end of the day, no one's ever alone. And isn't that all we need? Jakurai: I love you and want to keep you free from harm, all by myself, all by my own two hands. [1] Hifumi: But you're not all by yourself. And don't you think we feel the same way about you? Doppo: I'm going to be the change I want to see. And if I can do it, what's going to stop the whole world from coming together for the better? [2] Jakurai: But then why do people still fight one another? If only this message would reach them: You're not alone. Doppo: If only we all just made that first step, all of us together now, we'd end all our problems this instant. Hifumi: It's all right now. Listen; can't you hear this song of love? Wouldn't it be wonderful to take it in? To really believe it? [3] Jakurai: Imagine what we could do if we could treat with one another without reservation, if we could start again after countless setbacks, if we could trust in these words of love and come together. All: So what are you waiting for? Let it go. You're the lead role now. You're the one who has to do it. Let it go, let it go, let it go. [4] Take my hand, and let's go achieve peace for ourselves. Let's all set off together for that brighter tomorrow. Bring your loved ones. Follow the light. Go! Hifumi: And no one gets left behind! Jakurai: Indeed. Now let's go. Chorus: No matter how much we struggle, no matter how much we bleed, everything will be different tomorrow. And that lets us keep on keeping on. Times may be awful and we may have much to grieve, but at the end of the day, no one's ever alone. And isn't that all we need?
[1] Note the PV focusing on Jakurai's hands on this line. It is also significant that, during the chorus, Doppo and Hifumi save Jakurai from drowning by grabbing those same hands, thus cementing Hifumi's next line into fact.
[2] I'm doing some heavy lifting in regards to the imagery here. More literally, it's "if [I] can change, the earth will bloom with morning glories." "Blooming" evokes an image of smiling, a common companion to images of world peace and brotherhood. Morning glories, apart from fitting the rhyme, symbolize love and solidarity. Thus, Doppo is saying the whole world can follow in his footsteps and achieve the same peace, love, and harmony he's learning to embrace. I was a bit torn on removing the image altogether, as it's quite a pretty one, but I wanted to ensure the broader meaning would be understood unequivocally.
[3] Hifumi's diction throughout the song is largely that of his host persona. Here, it switches almost jarringly to his bubbly, Doppo-focused persona. I didn't make an effort to reflect that here because their character voices are all much more muted in this song than in straight dialogue, and I thought leaning too hard into something poppy in English would ruin this line's ability to be taken seriously. That seemed more counterintuitive to the song's intended purpose than dropping the character voice marker.
[4] In the PV, it is on this line that Doppo grabs Jakurai by the arm, forcing Jakurai to let go of the painting that is all but burdening him throughout the song.
