Tuesday, March 23, 2010

ソラニン

The reason why I'm "wasting"time writing this instead of doing my work is, I can't concentrate unless I let this out. In case you're wondering if its something epic, no its not. Rather its just me getting all melancholic over a song/manga/movie.

If you've been noticing my MSN status recently, its been playing the song "Solanin" by Asian Kung-Fu Generation. I've put it on loop whenever I feel like listening to it (laughs). Its their latest single which they wrote the song for an upcoming movie adaptation of a manga of the same name "Solanin". The lyrics were written by the mangaka (author), which appears in the manga.

I finished the manga in a few hours in 1 shot (thats how addictive it was) - read it here:
http://www.onemanga.com/Solanin/

The movie trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EMFvvv2hF4



The movie stars Aoi Miyazaki as Meiko, an office lady who quits her job, hoping to escape the tedium of her daily life and finally figure out her place in the world. Her long-time boyfriend Taneda (Kengo Kora) is a part-timer who belongs to an amateur band, but he too is stuck in life. Meiko tries encouraging him to seriously pursue his music dreams, but things aren't that simple. A tragedy triggers drastic changes in Meiko's and the band members' lives, following which they have to struggle with their internal conflicts and pick themselves up.

The story is both a reflection of the challenges faced by our generation as well as how we feel at times, and an inspiration to get out there to do something worth doing. I really emphasised with the protagonists Meiko and Taneda and the challenges they faced. I hope to catch it in cinemas over here, failing which I'll have to resort to "other ways" :P

The full song "Solanin" (PV), by Asian Kung-Fu Generation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kn8g0QHVNY




The lyrics to the song Solanin were written by Taneda in the manga:

Translation by Sato (akfgfan.com)

Mistaken thoughts from beyond the sky
A life spent saying goodbye?
The little piece of the future I saw
Was waving goodbye

The small room I once lived in
Is now occupied by someone else
The horrible things I said to you
The days that were wasted

Perhaps if I'd taken that chance, if I could go back to that day
But I'll never be that person again

Even if that frail happiness
had somehow lingered on
A bad seed would surely have sprouted
So I guess this is goodbye

The cold cans of coffee from freezing winters
That long rainbow coloured scarf
I stroll through the back alley
It all comes back to me

Even if that frail happiness
had somehow lingered on
A bad seed would surely have sprouted
So I guess this is goodbye

I guess

Goodbye, that's enough
You can cope anywhere
Goodbye, I'll manage somehow too
Goodbye, that's what I'll do

From the lyrics one assumes it to be a "Farewell song" to a loved one, as Meiko initially thought. But she soon realises that Taneda meant for it to be a farewell song written to his past self.

.
.
.
.

How many of us can say goodbye to our old selves and start anew?

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Alright, now that I've gotten it off my chest, back to mugging. Can't say goodbye to the old mugger in me, at least for now.

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