[Translation] MORE 11.2022 - Nakajima Kento (Sekuzo to Iroha ni Hoheto)

MORE | Nakajima Kento

The ABC's with Sexy Zone^[1]

Vol.37 - "Sa" | Sainou (Talent)

Between a natural genius and a self-made genius, I’m definitely the latter. I’ve come this far by building up my small seed of talent through hard work.

…

Sexy Zone - 5TAGE [Eng Translation]

 (Translation Index: Here)

Sexy Zone - 5TAGE

 ねぇ… この瞳に
幾千もの 光
笑顔 これからは
この手を離さないよ
不器用で ぎこちない
僕らが描くステージへ
今この5人で

Hey... within these eyes
are thousands of lights.
From now on our smiles
won't let go of these hands.
Clumsily and awkwardly,
we head towards the stage we've created.
Right now with the five of us here.

泣いて 笑って 届けるから
笑われたって あなたにだけ
咲いて 誇れ 夢に見たように
この声が 遠いどこかで
こだまする 未来を
枯れないよ いつまでも
回すんだろ? この手で この地球を

Crying and laughing, we'll reach you.
Only to you, even if we're being laughed at.
Blooming, with pride, as if we'd seen a dream,
this voice will travel somewhere far.
This echoing future,
without withering, how long will it go on
spinning? This earth within these hands.

ねぇ… 離れて
気づけた ぬくもりも
胸に それぞれの
道へ歩んだ あなた
いつかまた出逢うなら
僕らが描く”頂上”で
誰かの夢に…

Hey... in the distance,
we've noticed, this warmth
in our chests also comes from
the various paths you've walked.
If we could meet again,
let it be at the "top" we've imagined.
in someone's dreams...

「いつか、いつか…」
少年の夢が
一つ 二つ 合わさってく
今は 五つ 色を灯す
この声を 遠いどこかへ
響かせたい だから
枯れないで いつまでも
回すんだろ? この手で この地球を

"Someday, someday..."
The dreams of youth,
One, two, they fit together.
Now five colours are lit.
We want these voices to travel somewhere far,
echoing on, that's why
without withering, how long will it go on
spinning? This earth within these hands.

うまく笑えない日でも
どんな日々も
頷いてくれる
ただ背中押してくれる
あなたがそばにいた

Even on days when we couldn't bring up a smile,
no matter what sort of day,
bowing your heads,
pushing our backs,
you were always by our sides.

「最低… 最低…」 聞こえた夜
拳 握って 叩きつけた
今は この手 空っぽにして
いつだって マイク握るよ
大声で奏でよう!
その声聴かせて

On nights we'd hear, "the worst... the worst",
we would beat ourselves with fists.
Now these hand have opened up,
and are always holding onto the mic
While singing out loudly!
Hear this voice.

La…la…la… la…la…la…
うたを贈るよ
La…la…la… la…la…la…
胸を張って
La…la…la… la…la…la…
あいしてるよ
ありがとう ただありがとう
赤い薔薇に誓う
その棘が刺さろうとも
歩いていく あなたと この”未知”を

La…la…la… la…la…la…
We're sending this song to you.
La…la…la… la…la…la…
With our chests held high.
La…la…la… la…la…la…
We love you.
Thank you. Just, thank you.
On this red rose we promise,
even if the thorns pierce us,
we'll continue walking with you towards this "unknown".

泣いて笑って 一つになって
笑われたって もう構わない
もっともっと でっかく咲いて
この声が 遠いどこかの
泣きじゃくる あなたに
届くまで やめないよ
回すんだよ! この手で この地球を

Crying and laughing, we'll become one.
We won't care, even if we're being laughed at.
We'll bloom even bigger, more and more.
This voice will travel somewhere far.
To you, who is sobbing,
Until we reach you, we won't stop
Spinning! This earth within these hands.

[Translation] MYOJO 10.2022 - Nakajima Kento (Kimi to Kurasetara)

MYOJO | Nakajima Kento

If We Were to Live Together

 

Partners:

Smartphone, glasses, novels, a matching pair of mugs... 

The group that formed 11 years ago on September 29th, Sexy Zone.

And from then on, his "shinme"^[1], the one who has continued to walk beside him, Fuma.  

In this edition Kento will speak about his "partners".

Sexy Zone - それでいいよ [Eng Translation]

 (Translation Index: Here)

 それでいいよ - That's Okay. 

ねぇ　それでいいよ
いいよ　いいよ
どんな君だって　それでいいよ
きっと明日には　必ず笑える
とびきりの笑顔で

Hey, that's okay,
that's okay, that's okay.
No matter how you are, that's okay.
I'm sure tomorrow you'll definitely be able to smile,
Your finest smile.

素敵な友達の話より
君の事もっと　聞かせてほしい
少しネガティヴな口癖には
臆病な自分を隠してる

More than stories about your lovely friend,
I want to hear more about you.
Within your habit of saying slightly negative things,
you hide your frightened self. 

憧れで片づけてた
大切な恋も夢も
心が叫ぶまま　素直になれたら
歩き出す力になる

I noticed because I admired you.
If you could be honest,
and let your heart yell out
your most important passions and dreams,
it will become your strength to walk on.

ねぇ　それでいいよ
いいよ　いいよ
どんな君だって　それでいいよ
何個でも言えるくらい知ってる
君の素敵なとこ
僕の眼に映る
世界でたったひとつ輝く誇りだから
出かけよう顔上げて
いつも側にいるよ
まだ君が知らない
君に続いてく旅へ

Hey, that's okay.
that's okay, that's okay.
No matter how you are, that's okay.
There are so many lovely things I know about you
that I could say out loud.
Reflected in my eyes,
You're my one and only pride shining in this world.
Go out, hold your head up high.
I'll always be beside you.
Go forth on your next journey,
that you know nothing about yet.

嫌われたくない　気にしすぎて
ひとりでお風呂で泣いたりして
傷つかぬ為のニセモノなら
勇敢なホンモノが美しい

You're so worried about being disliked,
you've ended up crying alone in the bath.
If never getting hurt is just playing pretend,
then your real, brave, self is what's beautiful.

画面をのぞき込んでも
そこに現実(リアル)はないから
どこかの誰かじゃない　自分になれたら
またひとつ強くなれる

Even if you peek at the screen,
there's no reality there.
It's not about finding someone somewhere else, if you can just be yourself,
you'll become even stronger.

ねぇ　それでいいよ
いいよ　いいよ
間違いを恐れなくていいよ
本当は僕もとても不安で
孤独な夜もある
沢山の願い　隠さないで
全部ありのまま抱きしめたら
見慣れない街の空も
グッと好きになれる
離れてしまっても
君に届きますように

Hey, that's okay,
that's okay, that's okay.
You don't need to be afraid of making mistakes.
Truthfully, even I can get very anxious,
and have nights where I feel alone.
Don't hide your various desires.
If you just embrace them as they are,
you'll suddenly come to love
the sky of this town you're still not used to seeing.
Even when we're apart,
I hope I can reach you.

これからの出会いも
これまでの足跡も
色んな君を繋ぐよ

The meetings you will have,
The steps you have already taken.
They connect various "you's".

ねぇ　それでいいよ
いいよ　いいよ
どんな君だって　それでいいよ
何個でも言えるくらい知ってる
君の素敵なとこ
僕の眼に映る
世界でたったひとつ輝く誇りだから
出かけよう顔上げて
いつも側にいるよ
まだ君が知らない
君に続いてく旅へ

Hey, that's okay.
that's okay, that's okay.
No matter how you are, that's okay.
There are so many lovely things I know about you
that I could say out loud.
Reflected in my eyes,
You're my one and only pride shining in this world.
Go out, hold your head up high.
I'll always be beside you.
Go forth on your next journey,
that you know nothing about yet. 

 ---

I nearly translated the song title as "That's Enough", and that's because I personally feel like the full sentence of this song it's just telling someone that it's okay to be themselves, but that being who you are is also "enough". It's good enough. 

The reason I translated this song is because with Marius' graduation, it really made me think about how he cried during this song during POP x STEP and what he must've actually been going through during that time, to his hiatus, to now. Sometimes all we need to hear is someone telling us hey, it's okay to be yourself. It's enough to just be you. As Marius said in his own words, he lost himself a bit as he got older - which is understandable. He got crushed under the weight of expectations of others, and to know how much this song affected him is, I think, one of the rare glimpses we probably saw of how much he was probably struggling with himself for a while. 

I'm glad Marius is in a better place now though :)

So. Sexy Zone.

Hello, it's been a hot minute eh? 

I know I was never very active on this blog, but a lot has happened since I made it in 2013 to now. It's been a decade. This blog was a continuation from my vox (yeah, remember that?), but I remember hoping that I could use it as my main fangirl space, but then I just got looped into tumblr and never really left. I would like to come back here though because tumblr has kind of died as a fandom space and no matter what, I will never really jump onto the twitter or discord train. 

Ten years ago I was still in undergrad. Ten years ago Arashi was still going strong. Ten years ago a group called Sexy Zone had just entered their second year. 

Yeah. Sexy Zone. It's funny. I remember when Sexy Zone was formed. I'm the same age as Kento so I remember being horrified. If you had asked me back then if you ever thought I would be a fan of the group, I would've laughed in your face so hard. Well, guess who is laughing now. 

The astute observer may have noticed, I actually translated two SZ songs in 2019. But truth be told, they first entered my radar in 2016 when they guested on VSA, and then Shiyagare and Yakai, and then partnered with Arashi for WWG in 2017 and 2018. Right off the bat, I was immediately charmed by Nakajima Sexy Kento (thanks Nino). Their songs were still a bit too cutesy though and they were clearly still barely getting their grip in the industry so there wasn't much to follow. The impetus for 2019 though was the #sexylawsuit trend on twitter, when fans of a certain kpop group tried to throw Kenty under the bus for "plagarising". From there I learned about "Because of Ai", I stumbled across Kenty's Mission:K solo con (which I LOVE) and absolutely fell in love with SZ's PAGES and XYZ=Repainting albums, and then I watched Sexy Zone Channel and I was basically gone. 

Well I would have been, but in 2019 I remember thinking I would wait until So-chan came back to properly stan them. But then COVID happened, and Arashi's actual hiatus came around and so when So-chan actually came back I was preoccupied. And then Marius went on hiatus, and I was like "oh, well I'll just wait until he comes back" - also because I had thought Marius would be back quickly (oh the irony...). But he clearly didn't come back quickly. And after Arashi's hiatus I basically dipped out of Johnny's fandom for a very long time until Summer 2022.

That's when Sexy Zone released "The Highlight". Thanks to Fuma being part of Janino Channel, and the fact that I realize Marius had been gone for about as long as So-chan, and I had no Arashi to focus on, I latched onto Sexy Zone like a person seeking water in a dessert. It helped that "The Highlight" is an absolute banger of an album. So yeah, jumped back on the train and this is my new ride or die Johnny's group. 

I guess I have just have a thing for 5 people groups (Sexy Zone will always, always, be five people). 

Even if my entire twitter was getting into Naniwa Danshi, and Snowman and Michi and whatever. I took a hard left turn into Sexy Zone and I'm not leaving. 

So. 

This long post is really just to say - please be prepared for a slew of Sexy Zone related translations to be shared on this blog. I've already shared a few subs on the sexy_zone LJ group, but I didn't really know where to share magazine/song translations and then I remembered this place! So please stay tuned :)