Re: Japan | 日本 | WV80: Aoku Yureteiru
After a solid ten voters in my general NF for WV80, a winner finally emerged: Aoku Yureteiru, sung by a group who for some reason made the baffling choice to perform under their four full names rather instead of some sort of group name! As you can probably tell by the background picture, this uplifting little bubblegum pop number serves as an anime theme: specifically, as the ending theme of the genre-spanning
Genshiken Nidaime. Fittingly enough, the show was named about as confusingly as it's ending theme's performer: despite 'Nidaime' translating roughly to 'the second', it's actually the show's third season, or the fourth if you count the short straight-to-DVD season. Anyway!
While we're at it, I may as well talk a little more about Genshiken, since it's a rather interesting series, and one that's fairly precious to me. Adapted from a manga of the same name, Genshiken starts out essentially as a rough, but fun, sitcom about the daily lives of a bunch of otaku - essentially, hardcore nerd guys - meeting at their university club. The series continues to grow throughout, though, bringing in a likeable and constantly evolving cast and using them to explore themes not usually given a serious look in anime. What starts out as a fairly straightforward comedy turns into something that focuses effectively on themes of depression, self-worth, sexual and gender identity, growing out of the person you once were, and more - all while keeping its sense of fun, and giving a realistic-yet-entertaining look at mid-00s otaku culture in Japan. The series was one of the very first bits of Japanese media I really got into, and it probably hit me at a good time - as it changed throughout, it reflected my own changing interests in entertainment, and remains perhaps the most relatable piece of entertainment I've consumed. It's absolutely something precious to me.
The lyrics of Aoku Yureteiru fit in neatly with the feeling of the show's later parts: people growing closer through hardship, nothing lasting forever, and the nostalgia you can feel for something as simple as a dusty old room where you used to chat with friends. The almost bittersweet lyrics are paired with a bubblegum pop song that nonetheless feels a little more genuine and emotional than most of its kind, and it all combines to make something that I just find to be really warm.
Each of the four singers is one of the voice actors for the show, giving it all a bit of a personal, homegrown feeling... or, y'know, the show's producers were just doing it to save on production costs. Entirely likely.
. Nonetheless, it's a sweet little song, and while I know it might not appeal to a lot of my usual WV supporters - or have a hope in hell of qualifying - I hope as many people enjoy it as possible. Now - onto NF results!
I've got to say, this was a bit of a rollercoaster ride to follow as it went along. Going into the NF, I'd thought Rakuen no Tobira would be the big one to beat, with Bull's Eye and Chiisana Boukensha on its tail but not quite managing to pip it. Aoku Yureteiru and Golden Time Lover would be fighting for last, I'd thought, with Zen Zen Zense sitting steadily in the middle without really challenging for the win. As it turns out, though, I'm apparently still terrible at predicting how my NFs will go.
Only a day or two into the voting,
Bull's Eye was already looking very difficult to beat: two songs in, it was already sitting on double the points of second place, and there'd been a comment in the thread excited about nano, the song's artist. I was just about getting into the mindset that I'd be sending Bull's Eye to WV, but then... it kind of all came collapsing down. Despite its strong start, the song averaged out to second-last for the next four voters in a row, leaving it far enough behind that another strong run from the later voters wasn't enough to push it back to the win.
As soon as Bull's Eye started to fall down the rankings, I set my sights on
Rakuen no Tobira. I wasn't all that surprised, really; I'd figured Bull's Eye would be a love-it-or-hate-it kind of thing, and Rakuen was what I'd predicted in the beginning. Plus, it was getting an incredibly solid run, with the first seven voters all having it in their top three. But that, too, collapsed in the end; while it managed to hold the lead for most of the voting, the sudden 2-3-1 clump at the end left it languishing right when it most needed votes, and so it too fell short.
Zen Zen Zense managed to be both all-over-the-place and consistent with its scores, receiving twice as many last places as any other song but consistently sandwiching them between high scores to stay on a respectable average; it was never looking like our winner at any point, though.
Halfway through the votes, I considered
Chiisana Boukensha to be a real possibility, as it was sitting in a respectable position and seemed the most obvious option for the usual Pot-7-to-9 crowd that my NFs seem to draw. But as things happened, I think it was hurt by what was probably my least Pot-9-ish NF yet, with some of my usual frequent voters absent and a lovely bunch of new surprise voters turning up from other pots.
Golden Time Lover's result was perhaps the most predictable of the lot, given that between NFs and
internal choices, the formula of 'Japanese man singing loud and divisive alternative pop-ish song' doesn't exactly seem to be too popular so far
Nonetheless, the song managed a super-hot surprise 10 from Rainy, and its meagre score still hasn't discouraged me from planning to throw similar flops into the mix in the near future!
In the end, though, the star of the show was surprise winner
Aoku Yureteiru. Catching up from a slow-ish start to manage an impressive slew of 10s and 7s in the latter half of the voting, it seemed that this sweet little piece of bubblegum pop captured more votes than I'd expected, and so it marked the first occasion that an upbeat song has won a national final in Zobo-Japan. How will it go in WorldVision proper? 'Probably a hot flop', would be my guess... but hey, the song's already defied expectations once, so let's see what it can do from here!
As a closing note on this national final, I was super thrilled to see that, for the first time in one of my full-length NFs, every one of the six songs managed to be
somebody's favourite. Out of a fairly diverse field of music, everything earned itself at least a single 10; it's great to see that, whatever the final scores may have been, there was someone out there who saw the worth that I see in each and every one of these songs. It feels like pretty good encouragement to go on with more diverse NFs like this! (...he says, while having recently written up plans for two rather specific NF formats.
)
Lyrics & Translation
koe ni naranai himitsu no kigou wo
minna kakushite waratteita
kizutsukitakunai kizutsukenai girigiri
dakedo shinjitsu wa mitsudo wo agete
fui ni uchiageraretari suru
soshite bokutachi wa betsu no jigen e tabidatsu
chiisakute amazuppai
zasetsu wo dakishimetara
omoikiri shinkokyuu
dekita ano toki e dive shiyou yo
aoku yureteiru kokoro yureteru
kimi ga ita keshiki
kono heya ni aru tobira wa
itsumo hirakareteru
nanigenaku miete kakegaenakute
setsunaku naru kedo
kimi ni aeta kono basho ga
bokutachi no sekai dakara
sore wa anmoku no rule mitai ni
kuuki wo yondeshimau kedo
toki ni mukiatte miru yuuki tte ari kamo
massugu na kimochi dake ga
tsutawaru to wa kagiranai
nayandemo mayottemo
kimi ga inai yori zutto suteki da
aoku yureta mama kokoro sunderu
kimi to ita jikan
kono heya ni aru jiyuu wa
itsumo habataiteru
nanigenaku miete atarimae ja nai
futsuu no mainichi
demo doko yori jibun rashii
boku tachi no sekai nan da
So blue hateshinai hodo
kagiri ga nai hodo
So blue kaijo shiteru limiter
jigen mo jikan mo koe
kimi no moto e
minna no moto e to tsunagatteyuku
aoku yureteiru kokoro yureteru
kimi ga ita keshiki
kono heya ni aru tobira wa
itsumo hirakareteru
nanigenaku miete kakegaenakute
setsunaku naru kedo
kimi ni aeta kono basho ga
bokutachi no sekai dakara
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We all had our secrets we'd never voice
Hiding them as we laughed away
Trying our best not to hurt anyone
But the truth started to well up
Suddenly forcing its way in
Taking us to a new level
Just embracing the little
Bittersweet struggles we all had
And taking a deep breath
Would let us dive together into calmer times
My heart's swaying, swaying in blue
Remembering the place we were together
A room with a door
That's always open
It seemed like nothing at the time, but now it's priceless
And I'm sad we can't get those times back
But it's where I met you all
And it'll always be our world
Almost like an unspoken rule
We'd read between the lines, not prying too deep
But once in a while we'd be brave and face things head-on
Never knowing how things would end
When we're open with our feelings
But knowing it was better
Than hesitating and losing each other
Our swaying hearts, getting lighter
Remembering the times we had together
The freedom we had here
Feeling like we could fly
It seemed like nothing at the time, and we took it for granted
Just our day-to-day lives
But more than anywhere else, it was where we could be ourselves
And it'll always be our world
So blue, stretching into the distance
Without an end in sight
So blue, I'm turning off my limiter
Crossing space and time
To be by your sides
To bring us all back together
My heart's swaying, swaying in blue
Remembering the place we were together
A room with a door
That's always open
It seemed like nothing at the time, but now it's priceless
And I'm sad we can't get those times back
But it's where I met you all
And it'll always be our world
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Best of luck 
Didn't expect it will be so hard to vote because there are 3 songs I like equally and each of them is adorable in its own way.
Yaay, I honestly didn't expect Aoku Yureteiru to win. Was sure it's going to be Rakuen no Tobira. Very glad that this upbeat cheerful entry represents 