中原岬は今年も来ない
Music：GatlingChihuahua (ガトリングチワワ) (Youtube)
Video：Fantasy Restaurant Crab/Kuusou Ryouriten Kani (空想料理店 蟹) (Youtube)
Arrangement：Irohamai (イロハマイ) (Youtube)
味気ない日々が ありえない速度で
過去に変わる 生活は無味無臭
Netflix、Twitterは鎮静剤
楽しいと思うことは一つもない
感情の爆発も 結末もない
薄らぼんやりとした 不安に満たされる
１５年たっても分かった なぁ山崎
お前の言ってたことは正しかった
中高生の頃に読んだ ライトノベルは呪い
俺を外に連れ出してくるヒロイン
想像と妄想の感傷に浸る自慰行為
一生続く枷となる 自意識はカテドラル
明確に軽薄だ計画なんてない
ボーイミーツガールに恋い焦がれてる
人型兵器に乗ることも 異世界を救うことも
現代視覚文化研究会に入ることすらなかった
中原岬は今年も来ない
中原岬は今年も来ない
呪いの装備は外せない
生きた証を残せない
中原岬は今年も来ない
中原岬は今年も来ない
嫌でもクリスマスは今年もやってくるのに
岬ちゃんは今年も来ない
なぁ、10年前に戻りたいよなぁ 戻ったところで
何も持たないガキがいるだけなのになぁ
今を変える勇気も手段もない
だからすがるしかないんだ
いるかいないかもわからない
どちらかといえばいない可能性が高い存在に
もう後には引けない
人生終了とお知らせの鐘が聞こえる
世界を変えるキミがいつだって容姿端麗
「NHKにようこそ」 通りですれ違った女子高生に言われた
その女子高生の顔は14歳の頃読んだ ライトノベルのヒロインそのものだった
消えてしまうのが怖いから 確認することはできない
これは妄想の産物かもしれない いやしかし妄想でも構わない
外に連れ出しキミは僕を見つけることを
僕はいつでも待ってる！
中原岬は今年も来ない
中原岬は今年も来ない
呪いの装備は外せない
生きた証を残せない
中原岬は今年も来ない
中原岬は今年も来ない
嫌でもクリスマスは今年もやってくるのに
岬ちゃんは今年も来ない
俺たちのために作られた物語なんてないし
俺たちのために歌われた歌なんてないんだよ
それでも俺たちは岬ちゃんの幻影を追い続けるし
涼宮ハルヒの完結を待ち望んでんだよ
エヴァンゲリオンは完結したけど
俺たちは完結することなく今日生きてんだ
漫画やアニメのように起承転結のない俺たちの人生
それでも日はまた
登る。
Dull days passing by at an unbelievable pace
Turning into the past; life has no luster
Netflix and Twitter, to tranquilize
Nothing in my life fun or worth my time
No cathartic bursts, and no end in sight
I sat around and did nothing except be anxious,
After 15 years I realized, Yamazaki,
You were right the whole damn time
The light novels I read in middle school were a curse
There is no heroine who will save me from outside
The self-masturbatory delusions I drowned myself in
Have become my shackles; I built myself into a cathedral
I have no grand, yet shallow plans
I yearn for my boy-meets-girl story
I won’t ride a mecha, I won’t save a parallel world
I’ll never even get to join the Genshiken [1]
Nakahara Misaki won’t come this year either
Nakahara Misaki won’t come this year either
She won’t remove the curse equipped to me,
And I won’t leave any trace of my existence behind
Nakahara Misaki won’t come this year either
Nakahara Misaki won’t come this year either
Even if I hate it, Christmas [2] will come this year but
Misaki-chan won’t come this year either
I really wanna return to ten years ago, if only
I could return to when I was a kid with nothing
I don’t have the courage or means to change my present, so all I have is to cling on
I don’t know if that time ever existed or not, but
If I had to say it probably wasn’t like that, but -
I could go on for hours.
When I can hear the bell signaling the end of my life
You are always there, as cute as you ever were
“Welcome to the NHK!”, [3] said the high school girl I ran into somewhere
Her face exactly like the heroines of those light novels I read at 14
I can’t confirm it out of fear of losing the vision, but
I don’t know if it was the product of my delusions - I’d take it anyways
For you, who will discover me and drag me out of my misery
I will always be waiting for you!
Nakahara Misaki won’t come this year either
Nakahara Misaki won’t come this year either
She won’t remove the curse equipped to me,
And I won’t leave any trace of my existence behind
Nakahara Misaki won’t come this year either
Nakahara Misaki won’t come this year either
Even if I hate it, Christmas will come this year but
Misaki-chan won’t come this year either
There’s no story written for the likes of us
There’s no song sung for the likes of us
Nevertheless we continue chasing after the phantom of Misaki-chan
We continue to hold out hope for the conclusion to Suzumiya Haruhi [4]
Even if Evangelion has been completed [5]
We live our lives that will never be completed, today
In lives that aren't structured like the narrative journeys of manga or anime [6]
Yet in spite of that, the sun will
Rise.
[1] Genshiken is a popular manga series about otaku culture written in the format of otakus at a university club talking about stuff. I’ve never read it but the ones I know who have swear up and down that it’s left an impact on them.
[2] Christmas is typically treated in Japan as a lover’s holiday.
[3] “Welcome to the NHK!” is the light novel-turned-anime series on which this song is based. Did you read my article? Why are you here if you aren’t?
[4] The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi is a classic artefact of modern anime culture that I watched when I first got into the subculture about 10 years ago. It has the same themes of being dragged out of a normal everyday life by an exceptional and cute girl who also likes you (alongside a coterie of other exceptional and cute girls) and despite starting its light novel run in 2003 is still NOT OVER
[5] Neon Genesis Evangelion was another of those series foundational to anime culture and the modern otaku psyche, primarily because it blends both cool nerd shit and also a commentary on crippling loneliness and self-hate. Even though the series as a whole ended in 1997 with a 26-episode anime series and a movie, director Anno Hideaki restarted the franchise with a set of four movies. The first three movies came out in 2007, 2009, and 2012, but fans (including me) had to wait until 2021 for the final final FINAL ending of the series to come out. It hit me real hard, and I have some meditations on it.
[6] The term that was used here, 起承転結, is an East Asian way of storytelling and is pretty much the same as the narrative structures you’d learn in Literature 101. Origin, rising action, climax, conclusion.
Belle's Hell 