UPDATE: I have now added all the track names. It was a real chore, but I'm rather pleased with the results, even if I say so myself.
EDIT: If someone knows the "official" rômanji names, please do tell me! Thank you :)
I spent half the day searching the internet for this, until I got fed up with it, and decided to dust my kanji dictionaries and my Japanese skills.
I recently bought the sound track for Seiken densetsu 2 (a SNES game known in English as Secret of Mana). Of course the track list is in Japanese. I wanted to know the transliterated versions of the track names, as I intend to use the transliterated Japanese names in my IDtags. What I found on the net was a bunch of translations that were near accurate or not too accurate. I wasn't satisfied with them. So I transliterated the names myself.
As my Japanese isn't all too good and also quite rusty for the lack of use, this is a slow project, but I'll update this as I get new tracks transliterated. Here is what I've done thus far.
At the moment I've transliterated all 44 tracks.
The track titles are in the following form:
Track number & Rômanji & My more or less literal translation & (Other possible rômanji versions) & (Other translations I found on the internet) & Comments on why I chose the particular rômanji version instead other possible ones and/or why the translation
1. Tenshi no osore / Angel's fear (Fear of the Heavens/Angel's Fear)
Yes, "tenshi" means an angel, not heaven. Also, the form would imply what is meant here is indeed
the angel's fear, not a fear
for angels.
2. Fushigina o-hanashi o / A mysterious tale (A Curious Tale/A Wondrous Tale/Tell a Strange Tale)
Well, "fushigina" does mean curious and wondrous besides mysterious, but the most common usage is in the meaning "mysterious", hence the choice of translation.
3. Shoubi to shouryou / A rose and a phantom (Bara to seirei / Phantom and... a Rose/A Rose and a Ghost)
"Shoubi" and "bara" both mean a rose. Shoubi I chose simply for the apt alliteration and assonance with "shouryou". There is a difference between the meaning of "shouryou" and "seirei". Shouryou is a spirit of someone now dead, whereas seirei is just a spirit in general. Taking into account the context in which the track was in the game, the more apt interpretation is that the name indicates to a spirit of a deceased, hence my choice "Shoubi to shouryou".
4. Itsumo isshou / Always together (Together Always/Always Together)
5. Yasashii omoide / A gentle memory (Fond Memories/Tender Thoughts)
"Yasashii" means first and foremost "gentle" - I can't recall a single instance where I had come across it meaning "fond". "Omoide" also means "memory", not "thoughts", hence my translation.
6. Shounen wa arano o mezasu / The boy heads out into the wilderness (Shounen wa a(re)no/kôya o mezasu / Into the Thick of It/Boys Aim for the Wilderness)
This was tricky, as "arano", "a(re)no" and "kôya" mean more or less the same thing, wilderness or wasteland. I assume this is a question of nuances. I went with the one that seems to be the most common and the most connotation-free.
7. Natsu no sora iro / The colour of the summer sky (The Color of the Summer Sky/Summer's Blue Sky/Colour of the Summer Sky)
8. Odoru kemonotachi / Dancing animals (Dancing Animals/Dancing Beasts)
9. Enrai / Distant thunder (Distant Thunder)
10. Youseizoku no kodomo / The child of the fay folk (Yousei yakara no kodomo / The Little Sprite/Child of the Sprite Tribe)
Why "youseizoku" instead of "yousei yakara"? Well... simply because the use of the zoku-yakara kanji (in English it means family or tribe) tends to be read as "zoku" when it is combined with other kanji. "Youseizoku" therefore means fay family or fay tribe - and there is an apt synonym for that: the fay folk. Hence "The child of the fay folk".
11. Tsukiyo no dekigoto / Incident of the moonlight night (Getsuya no dekigoto / It Happened Late One Evening/Happenings of a Moonlit Night)
I chose "tsukiyo" in favor of "getsuya", since they both mean the same, a moonlight night, but tsukiyo is more commonly used.
12. Yami no oku / The heart of darkness (In the Dead of Night/Inner Darkness)
"Yami no oku" literally means the deepest and the innermost regions of darkness, the very centre of darkness. Hence the translation "The heart of darkness", as it means just that.
13. Seinaru shinnyuu / Holy trespass (Mystic Invasion/Holy Trespass)
Goodness gracious me this was difficult to translate! "Sei" means holy, wise, virtuous. "Naru" means "to become something", ie. "seinaru" means to become wise, to become holy, to become virtuous. "Shinnyuu" means a trespass, intrusion, invasion, entry, or breaking into something, and it's a noun, not a verb... Quite literally then this would translate along the lines "A trespass in order to become wise/holy/virtuous". After musing over that for a good while I came to the conclusion, that whereas "Holy trespass" is not so accurate, it sounds a whole lot better...
14. Nessa no himitsu / The secret of the burning desert (Secret of the Arid Sands)
"Nessa" can mean both the desert and the sand, so either way is correct, I just fancied the "desert" better.
15. Mori ga oshietekureta koto / The teaching of the woods (What the Forest Taught Me/Things the Forest Taught Me)
16. Negai / A wish (A Wish.../A Wish)
17. Yoru no namashii / The spirit of the night (Spirit of the Night)
I was a tad tempted to go with the translation "The soul of the night" as it is a slightly more literal translation, but then settled with the "spirit", as "the soul of the night" isn't as idiomatic in English.
18. Kimi wa umi o mitaka / Did you see the ocean? (Did You See the Ocean?/Did You See the Sea?)
19. Kiki / Crisis (Danger/Crisis)
20. Arashi no minashigo / Orphan of the storm (Calm Before the Storm/Orphan of the Storm)
"Minashigo" means an orphan,
not "calm". "Arashi no minashigo" means literally an orphan of the storm, ie. someone who has become an orphan because of a storm.
21. Kaze no enwaru tokoro / The place where wind ends (Kaze no toko ni waru tokoro/Kaze no izukuwaru tokoro / The Wind Never Ceases/Where the Wind Ends/The Wind Never Ceases)
Well, every Japanese album is bound to have at least one of these songs, where the readability and understandability of the name is sacrificed on the altar of art... (this album has two, as you'll soon see). That particular kanji, if it is read "en-", means an ending. If it is read "toko ni", it means then. If it's read "izuku", it means how or why. What the "waru" does to the meaning, I have no idea whatsoever. That is why I can't decide, whether it means "ending" or "never ending"... But that is the only meaningful way to read it, "enwaru"...
22. Michi e no hikou / The flight towards the unknown (Flight Into the Unknown/Flight to the Unknown)
"E" is a preposition meaning more "towards" than "into/to", hence the translation "towards".
23. Eigou kaiki / Eternal recurrence (Eternal Recurrence)
24. Densetsu / The legend (The Legend)
25. Youtenkane / Eight temple bells tolling (Hachiten kane / A Bell Is Tolling/Eight Tolling Bells/Eight Ringing Bells)
"Kane" is specifically a temple bell or the tolling of a temple bell. "Hachi" or "you-" means eight, and "ten" indicates a score or number, ie. "Temple bells by the score of eight tolling". Why I chose the reading "you-" in favor of "hachi" was simply because it would seem that it is more often read as a compound word in similar contexts.
26. Kimyouna jiken / A peculiar incident (A Curious Happening/Strange Incident/Strange Event)
27. Umibe no ousama / Ruler of the seashore (Monarch on the Shore/King of the Coast/King of the Sea)
28. Ankoku hoshi / The dark star (The Dark Star/Dark Star/Star of Darkness)
29. Yokan / A premonition (Prophesy/Premonition)
"Yokan" means more a premonition than a prophesy.
30. Koutetsu to wana / Steel and snare (Steel and Snare/Steel and a Snare)
31. Inori to chichiyaki / A prayer and a whisper (Whisper and Mantra/A Prayer and a Whisper)
"Inori" means a prayer.
32. Gishiki / A ritual (Ceremony/Ritual)
"Gishiki" does mean both a ritual and a ceremony, but taking into account the context in the game, in this case "ritual" is a more apt translation than "ceremony".
33. Asu todoku / Tomorrow arrives (Ashita todoku / Morning is Here/To Reach for Tomorrow)
"Asu" and "ashita" mean tomorrow. "The arrival of tomorrow" would also have been an apt translation. I chose "asu", because it seems to be more often used in this type of context, hence I assume it's more idiomatic.
34. Ai ni jikan o / A time for love (Leave Time for Love/A Time for Love)
This means quite literally "A time for love".
35. Jouya / Pure night (Kiyoshi yoru/Kiyoshiyo/Kiyoshiya/Jouyo/Jouyoru / Still of the Night/Pure Night)
This is the second track on this album with a difficult name. The name means literally "Pure night", but how it is read, is a whole different cup of tea... This is one of those kanji combinations that are extremely artsy (equals used extremely rarely, equals no way on Earth you'll find it in any normal kanji dictionary...) This particular reading I chose simply because pure is most often read in similar combinations as "jou-", and night as "-ya". In other words, the reading I chose is an educated guess.
36. Tatari / The curse (The Curse/Curse)
37. Jyujyutsushi / The master of spells (The Oracle/Sorceror/The Sorcerer)
Yes, it does also mean an oracle, but Thanatos, the character whose "theme" this in a way is, was no oracle; he was a mage or a sorcerer of evil inclinations. Why then the translation "The master of spells", when "sorcerer" would have worked just as well? Well, "shi" is first and foremost a title, meaning "reverend" or "the master of -"; hence the translation "The master of spells"
really tickled my fancy, and I just simply couldn't resist it.
38. Aru ketsukitsu / Some endings (A Conclusion/The End/An End)
"Aru ketsukitsu" literally means "Some endings".
39. Kimi o wasurenai / I won't forget you (I Won't Forget/I Won't Forget You/I Will Never Forget You)
40. Sono hitotsu wa kibou / One of them is hope (One of Them Is Hope)
41. Shigosen no matsuri / The meridian festival (Meridian Dance)
"Matsuri" means a festival.
42. Tsubasa wa mou habatakanai / The wings are now flightless (Yoku wa mou habatakanai / Now Flightless Wings/The Wings No Longer Flutter/Flightless Wings)
"Tsubasa" is noticeably more common reading than "yoku", hence the choice.
43. Saigo kara niban me shinjitsu / The penultimate truth (The Second Truth from the Left/Second Truth from the End)
This literally means "The second truth on the line from the ending", ie the second last truth, ie the penultimate truth.
44. Hitomi o tojite / I closed my eyes (I Closed My Eyes/Closing One's Eyes)
Well, here is another track with which I had to make a compromise in the translation. "Hitomi o tojite" means literally "Closed the eyes", but it really doesn't sound all too good in English, hence my choice to go with the translation "I closed my eyes".
Hopefully these will prove helpful to someone else in a similar situation :)
And then the tags... Because the Hiroki Kikuta profile seems to be all over the last.fm, I decided to tag this journal entry in as many reasonable ways I can ^^;; The variations seem to be near endless, but perhaps these were the most used... (I myself intend to use Hiroki Kikuta as the artist tag, and most likely my scrobbler will then combine it with the name in kanji...)
菊田 裕樹
Kikuta Hiroki
Kikuta, Hiroki
Secret of Mana - Hiroki Kikuta
聖剣伝説2
Seiken Densetsu 2
Seiken Densetsu II
Seiken Densetsu 2 OST
Seiken Densetsu 2: Secret of Mana Soundtrack
secret of mana
Secret of Mana OST
The Secret of Mana