#i am unfortunately a freak (lit major + japanese lang student) so i have many thoughts on hitoiki esp rihito

[bungakuxcomplex]

really normal discussion/translation notes for the hitoiki song tls ive been working on. just needed a spot to dump them

plus-minus-kakeru-waru

×÷繰り返して心丈夫になる (kakeru waru kurikaeshite kokorojoubu ni naru) is a really, really cute pun. the verb used for multiplication in mathematics is 掛ける– it has several meanings, one of which meaning "to secure" (i.e. locking a padlock, etc). That part combined with 心丈夫 (referring to emotional security or reassurance) can give off the vibe of "securing one's emotional security". this one makes me smile a lot :)

not sure exactly what this line is supposed to mean (what were they cooking?), but the galapagos speed dramatic part of the chorus did lead me to an interesting fact while i was trying to crack it! there's a phrase called the galapagos syndrome, which is a term in the business sector that was coined in japan– one of the early uses of this term is to refer to tech with highly specific features, which was unsuccessful outside of japan. more about that here, it's very interesting and def links back to yusei's role as the akiba rep.

＋−の天秤に人生のスパイスを (purasu mainasu no tenbin ni jinsei no supaisu wo). translated as "the positive-negative balance is what spices up our lives". two things here: jinsei is the typical reading of the unit name hitoiki (which, funnily enough, derives the kanji from the names of its two members!), and spice is a nod to the fact the two of them go out to eat curry. i'm not sure if it's mentioned what their preferred spice level(s) are though.

bungaku complex

月が綺麗ですねってこぼしたそれは (tsuki ga kirei desu ne tte koboshita sore wa). this line contains a literary history reference. natsume soseki (author of texts such as botchan/wagahai wa neko de aru) coined the phrase "tsuki ga kirei desu ne" as an indirect translation of "i love you", and it is still commonly used as a method of confession for characters in anime/manga.

電気街 (denki-gai) literally: "electric town". Often tacked onto the end of akiba as a nickname given the prevalence of tech stores in the area. kinda self explanatory.

過去と未来を通りゃんせっせと (kako to mirai wo tooryanse sse to)– tooryanse is the name of a nursery rhyme from the edo period. the melody from this rhyme is often used in crossing signals in japan, with the rhyme itself essentially being about a family trying to celebrate shichi-go-san (rite of passage ceremony for young kids, more detail here).

冥土の土産はメイドが見上げた (meido no miyage wa meido ga miage ta). this one is difficult as hell to translate in a way that conveys the genius wordplay in it, and that very much gives me a migraine because it's so good. 冥土の土産 is an expression which refers to something which the speaker feels can make them pass away in peace– 冥土 in particular referring to hades and his domain in greek mythology. メイドが見上げ literally just refers to looking up at a maid (as the line is sung by yusei, this tracks given akiba's abundance of maid cafes). unironically peak

ほらもう一丁 (hora mou icchou). icchou can refer to a serving of food in a restaurant, which means it's probably a reference to how yusei and rihito are lunch bros who go out to eat together on a frequent basis. icchou, when given the -me suffix, can refer to a city block. this is probably unrelated, but it may even be a subtle nod to the close proximity of kanda and akiba stations– being located less than 10 minutes away from each other in nichome kajicho and icchome sotokanda respectively.