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 :) 

2022 Already?!?!

Hello, hello! It has been a whole year and what a year it's been! I know a lot of people have shared similar thoughts to 2021 as they did 2020, but honestly, my 2021 was actually pretty good - if not so much better than my 2020. So, let's get reflecting!

Shows Watched (34)

Legend of Fei (Ch) - Cherry Magic (Jp) - Bling Empire - Gokushufudou (Jp) - The Story of Minglan (Ch) - Duoluo Continent (Ch) - Giri/Haji - Wandavision - Crisis: Special Investigation Squad (Jp) - Word of Honor (Ch) - Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime) - Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens (Anime) - 9-1-1 - Lupin - Falcon and the Winter Soldier - Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood* (Anime) - LOKI - Fruit Baskets 2020 s3 (Anime) - Nigehaji NY SP (Jp) - The Untamed* (Ch) - You Are My Glory (Ch) - Made in Abyss (Anime) - Shiguang Daili Ren (Donghua) - Brooklyn Nine Nine: S8  - Sex Education S3 - Never Have I Ever S2 - Squid Game (Kr) - Love Death and Robots S2 - Marvel: What If…? - Samurai Champloo* (Anime) - Cowboy Bebop (Anime) - The Wheel of Time - Luoyang (Ch) - Hawkeye

Books Read (13
The Three Body Problem - The Dark Forest - Death's End - Gregor the Overland - Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane - The Last Wish - Legend of Fei - The Wizard of Earthsea - The Tombs of Atuan - The Farthest Shore - The Body Keeps the Score - Raybearer - The Trials of Apollo: Tower of Nero  Fanfic Counter: ~250

Movies Watched (38)

Promare - Soul - Isn't it Romantic - To All the Boys: Always and Forever - Pitch Perfect* - Charlie's Angels (2019) - Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer - The Emperors New Groove* - Godzilla (2014) - Kong: Skull Island - Godzilla: King of Monsters - Raya and the Last Dragon - Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon* - Parasite - Internal Affairs* - Howl's Moving Castle* - Tales from Earthsea - Hidden Figures* - Nezha: Reborn - The Hitman's Bodyguard - Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Ressha - Edge of Tomorrow - Shang-chi: Legend of the Ten Rings - Evangelion 2.0: You can (not) advance - Evangelion 3.0: You can (not) redo - Evangelion 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon a Time - Mortal Kombat (2020) - Luca - Godzilla vs Kong - Little Women - Rurouni Kenshin  - Rurouni - Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno - Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends - Rurouni Kenshin: The Final - Love Hard - He's the Man - Black Widow - Princess Switch 2

Games Played (21)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Stardew Valley - FFVIII - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney* - Phoenix Wright: Justice for All - Phoenix Wright: Trials & Tribulations - Katamari Damacy: Reroll* - Persona 5: Strikers - ABZU - Enter the Gungeon - The Witness - Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town - Bioshock[PT] (Dansg08) - Bioshock 2[PT] (Dansgo08) - Mass Effect 1* - Mass Effect 2* - Hollow Knight - Limbo - Undertale - Resident Evil [PT] (Dansg08) - God of War (2018)

* - not my first time playing/reading/watching the item.

[PT] = watched a playthrough

 

And onto the questions!

 

Legend of Fei (C-Drama) Review

What's this? A new post???? 

So I know it's been a while since I've posted anything - my year end reviews not counting. I mean, let's be real here - 2020 was a shit show. I did actually have posts planned, but eh. Life. A quick re-cap since I never ended up posting about The Untamed/CQL and my thoughts on Wangxian (tldr: I love them. They are my OTP of OTPs): I became a huge fan of Xiao Zhan right off the bat after watching CQL, and then about half a year later also became more interested in Wang Yibo--at least as an actor (although I do think he's hella cute in a "didi" sort of way). 

Which leads me to Legend of Fei! Which was a drama where Wang Yibo played the male lead, Xie Yun, opposite Zhou Liying who played Zhou Fei. 

I know it's been a while since I've done a drama review of any kind, but I really wanted to do one for Legend of Fei because it's one of those dramas where objectively it was not a great drama, but I loved one (1) thing about it so much that subjectively I don't care that it was not a great drama. Like enough that I would watch episodes raw because I was too impatient for subs and can't stop refreshing AO3 in the hopes that people start writing fic for this. 

Now. For those who don't know - Legend of Fei is based of a web novel by Priest who is famous for mostly a bunch of BL novels (Guardian,  Sha Po Lang, Mo Du, Tian Ya Ke). Guardian has also been adapted into a drama and the other ones I listed are already getting their own adaptations made, or will in the future. Legend of Fei is one of Priests few het novels, and was also widely popular. Unfortunately English translations of it so far only go up to chapter 6 out of 170 so I will never be able to read it, but from what I could tell people really loved it. When I saw the trailer for this drama and read the premise and details for it, I also got really hyped because it seems like the type of story I would love. Interestingly, even though the the name of the drama and novel appear to be the same when written in English, it is not the same! The TV drama is 有翡 and the novel is 有匪. It doesn't make a huge difference necessarily, but it does already kind of show that the adaptation... was definitely an adaptation. 

Onto my review (warning: potential spoilers for the entire plot - both from the drama and potentially the novel).  

We Survived! Onto 2021~

What the actual fuck was 2020 eh? It's honestly a bit painful reading my post from last year - I had so many hopes for 2020 and here I am ending the year, once again, jobless.

Honestly, I was a bit hesitant about even making this post. Partially because I am coming off 5 hours of sleep after having said farewell to Arashi, but also because... I mean. What the fuck 2020? But ultimately I think I do still have things I want to reflect on and think about, so without further ado: how did I survive 2020?

Reflecting as we enter 2020

I think for everyone 2019 has been a rough year just due to things happening in the world, but in particular, 2019 really was quite a rough year. At the same time, I feel like I can only make this statement precisely because towards the end of 2019, things have started to turn upwards and I am actually able to look at 2020 with a semblance of hope, renewed energy, and a sense of contentment that I think I've definitely lacked since I moved here to Toronto.

I feel like there are actually so many things I want to say, and to reflect on, but I honestly don't know where to start, so I'm just going to do my usual and see where the questions take me and if I have anything else to add at the end, I'll add it.

Without further ado though, let's look back at 2019 and see what happened!

Sexy Zone - そばにいるよ [Eng Translation]

(Translation Index: Here)

そばにいるよ - I'm By Your Side

灯りが消えてくビルの影
月のカーブが 次の夜に架かるよ
MailはOffにしようか
握りしめた手に 熱くなる「いま」がある

The building's shadow cuts off the light,
and the curve off the moon continues into the next night.
Let's turn our mails* off,
Because there's this heated moment "now" while I'm holding your hand.

ただ知り過ぎてきた さみしい言葉
もう忘れてかまわない wow Baby

They're just sad words that you've come to know too well now,
it's fine to forget them, wow baby.

君とFace to Face
そばにいるよ
ほんとうのことは愛でわかる
いつもI Love You
どんなときも
大事にしていたい 心にふれるから

I'm face to face with you,
by your side.
You'll know what's real through love.
I love you always,
no matter when,
and I've been touched by your heart, which I want to hold precious.

誰かが書いた本は閉じて
白いぺージを いまめくってみないか
僕らだけの物語
光のインクで 思うままはじめよう

Why don't you close that book that someone else wrote,
and open up a new blank page.
Let's start writing our own story
in shining ink, just as you want it.

まちがうときもある 怖くはないさ
そこからまた強くなる wow Baby

Sometimes you'll make mistakes, but it's nothing to be scared of.
It'll just make you stronger, wow baby.

君とEye to Eye
見つめてるよ
変わらないものは夢にできる
いつもI Love You
どんなときも
大事にしていたい 心にふれるから

I'm seeing you eye to eye.
In your dreams things can become unchanging.
I love you always,
no matter when.
I've been touched by your heart, which I want to hold precious.

流れゆく時を
この胸にとどめて
ふたりを確かめてみよう

Even as time moves on,
my heart remains constant.
Let's make sure of the two of us.

君とFace to Face
そばにいるよ
ほんとうのことは愛でわかる
(I wanna be your dream)
いつもI Love You
見つめあえば
大事にしていたい
心にふれる

I'm face to face with you,
by your side.
You'll know what's real through love.
(I wanna be your dreams)
I love you always,
and as we lock eyes,
I am touched by your heart,
which I want to hold precious.

君とEye to Eye(Eye to Eye)
見つめてるよ(Everytime)
変わらないものは夢にできる
(I just wanna keep on loving)
いつもI Love You
どんなときも
大事にしていたい 心にふれるから

I'm see you (eye to eye)
eye to eye (everytime).
In your dreams things can become unchanging.
(I just wanna keep on loving)
I love you always,
no matter when.
And I am touched by your heart,
which I want to hold precious. 

-

Translator Notes:
*Mail in this case means text messages.