innocent starter

Though Japanese typically defaults to first-person where no subject or topic is given, the first part of the song works better as second-person in my opinion, particularly given the line "I'm coming to bring you a gentle love," which does contain an explicit subject. With that line, the rest of the first section doesn't make as much sense unless the pronouns are as I've made them.

This is easily the calmest of the Nanoha opening themes, but considering the more soothing quality of the lyrics, that only makes sense. It sounds to me like Nanoha trying to comfort Fate (even though Nana Mizuki voices Fate, not Nanoha). Lines such as, "Your earnest feelings to hide your loneliness / Are tearing you apart inside," seem particularly to apply to Fate, and the actual opening even shows Nanoha "singing" ずっと側にいるから (I'll always be with you). The last stanza is the exception, and seems to reverse the roles.

All transcriptions of this that I've been able to find have a lot of lines that are just too long to fit this format. I've broken them up to keep everything lined up, with indents to show where these breaks are.


Vocals, Lyrics:
Composition, Arrangement:
水樹奈々
大平勉
Nana Mizuki
Tsutomu Oohira
Japanese Romanization Translation
Intro ~17 seconds
膝を抱えて 部屋の片隅
いつも不安で 震えていた
「本当」を知ることが怖くてトビラを閉じた
Hiza wo kakaete heya no katasumi
Itsumo fuan de furuete ita
"Hontou" wo shiru koto ga kowakute TOBIRA wo tojita
Hugging your knees in a corner of your room,
You always shook with anxiety.
Afraid to know the truth, you shut the door.
優しい嘘に 居場所を見つけて
 夢の中に逃げ込んだ
誰も知らない 孤独の海を
 深い蒼に染めてく
Yasashii uso ni ibasho wo mitsukete
 yume no naki ni nigekonda
Dare mo shiranai kodoku no umi wo
 fukai ao ni somete ku
Finding your place in soothing lies,
 you fled into your dreams,
Dying deep blue
 a sea of solitude no one knows about.
寂しさ隠す 一途な想い
君のココロを傷つけている
Sabishisa kakusu ichizu na omoi
Kimi no KOKORO wo kizutsukete iru
Your earnest feelings to hide your loneliness
Are tearing you apart inside.
瞳の奥の秘密 吸い込まれそうな
 笑顔の裏の真実に
柔らかな愛 僕が届けに行くよ
触れたら壊れそうな 温もりが今
 過去を離れ溢れ出す
ずっと側にいるから 悲しい影に惑わないで
Hitomi no oku no himitsu suikomaresou na
 egao no ura no shinjitsu ni
Yawaraka na ai boku ga todoke ni iku yo
Furetara kowaresou na nukumori ga ima
 kako wo hanare afuredasu
Zutto soba ni iru kara kanashii kage ni madowanaide
A secret hides deep in your eyes. I could get sucked in
 by the truth that lies behind your smile.
I'm coming to bring you a gentle love.
A warmth that seems like it would break if touched
 now leaves the past and overflows.
I'll always be with you, so don't be misled by shadows of sadness.
Interlude ~12 seconds
子供のように ただ憧れを
求めるだけじゃ 何も見つからなくて
大切なもの 見失うだけ
Kodomo no you ni tada akogare wo
Motomeru dake ja nani mo mitsukaranakute
Taisetsu na mono miushinau dake
By merely pursuing your aspirations
 like a child, you won't find anything,
And will only lose sight of what's precious.
「アタリマエ」とか「普通」の中に
 飾らずある幸せを
守れる力 手に入れたいと
まっすぐ 現在1を生きてく
迷うことない視線の先に
 浮かぶ答えは そう「1つ」だけ
"ATARIMAE" toka "futsuu" no naka ni
 kazarazu aru shiawase wo
Mamoreru chikara te ni iretai to
Massugu ima1 wo ikite ku
Mayou koto nai shisen no saki ni
 ukabu kotae wa sou "hitotsu" dake
Wanting to gain the power to protect
 an unadorned blessedness
Found in the "ordinary" and "normal",
I live straight through the present.
Where my unwavering gaze falls
 rises the answer, yes, there's only one.
夜明けの朱い空に 虹を描いて
 闇もすべて包みこむ
小さな勇気 言葉を越えて行く
未来が囚われても 遠く消えても
 この祈りは果てしなく
ありのままの気持ちを 君のもとへ 伝えたい
Yoake no akai sora ni niji wo egaite
 yami mo subete tsutsumikomu
Chiisa na yuuki kotoba wo koete iku
Mirai ga torawarete mo tooku kiete mo
 kono inori wa hateshinaku
Ari no mama no kimochi wo kimi no moto e tsutaetai
Drawing a rainbow in the red sky of daybreak
 and engulfing everything, even the darkness,
A small courage transcends words.
Though the future may be captured or vanish in the distance,
 this prayer is without end:
I want to convey my feelings to you just as they are.
Interlude ~10 seconds
「始まり」くれた君に そっと囁く
二人だけの約束を
変わることのない永遠の魔法
未来が囚われても 遠く消えても
澄んだ風2が覚えてる
僕の名前を呼んで
あの日のように笑いかけて
"Hajimari" kureta kimi ni sotto sasayaku
Futari dake no yakusoku wo
Kawaru koto no nai eien no mahou
Mirai ga torawarete mo tooku kiete mo
Sunda koe2 ga oboete ru
Boku no namae wo yonde
Ano hi no you ni warai kakete
I softly whisper to you who gave me a beginning
A promise between just the two of us,
An unchanging eternal magic.
Though the future may be captured or vanish in the distance,
I remeber the clear wind of your voice,
Calling out my name
And smiling at me like on that day.
Closing ~36 seconds

1 The kanji 現在 (genzai, the present) are given the reading いま (ima, now).

2 The kanji 風 (kaze, wind) is given the reading こえ (koe, voice).


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