Author: Kuwabara Mizuna

Japanese to Czech: Katsumi (Extrara)

Czech to English: Skinintheway

Note: This is a little part from the Memorial, apparently the author 'asked' various Mirage characters to reveal some hidden facts about our dear protagonists. XD 

HIS SECRETS (that only I know)

Miya about Takaya:

Well, in eating and drinking, my brother is just like a child. He would always play it cool in front of other people and drink strong black coffee. But when nobody is there to see, he puts a lot of sugar and milk in. And he also eats sushi without wasabi. That is what he is like…

Utarou about Takaya:

Hmm…something interesting about Ohgi-san, you say? Perhaps his eating habits…I think he dislikes ginger, because I noticed he secretly picks it out of his fried noodles. And then there is the way he sleeps. Obviously he likes to hug something in his sleep. The other night I saw him fall asleep with a teapot in his arms. He looked quite cute.

Ranmaru about Nobunaga:

Heh? Lord’s secret? If he finds out, I told you something like that, I‘m a dead man. But I could tell you about the first time he tasted coca-cola. He was truly adorable, he couldn’t get enough and drank five bottles at once…and spent the whole next day on the toilet.  And you know how he’s into all that modern stuff…The worst thing was when Tamagochi was in the fashion. While we were in a battle, I was the one who had to feed that thing. Can you imagine what would happen of me, if I let it die?! Better not to know…

Teruhiro  about Naoe:

My name is Teruhiro and I am  Yoshiaki’s older brother. I’m not sure if this could be called a secret, but ever since his childhood, Yoshiaki has been kind of…well, let’s say his behaviour wasn’t adequate to his age. Perhaps due to this fact, he‘s been very popular with women even as a child. The funniest story was, when his pre-school teacher told him in perfectly serious tone that she would wait for him utill he is legal age. Talking of ceremonies, he was very popular since high school. I can only hope he didn’t really date any of those widows…Still, considering how worried we were for him because of his suicide attempts, he has grown to be a capable and responsible man. It’s just that he uses the credit card a bit too much…

Kousaka about Naoe:

What? You want to learn some of Naoe’s secrets? It would be my pleasure! Just keep in mind, that after those 400 years, this will be a long list…In my personal database I keep an account of everything beginning with the way he used to wash his loin cloth and ending with the nonsenses he babbles in his sleep. This little article can hardly suffice, because what I know is worth more than just one novel. After all, I am the person who wrote Kouyou Gunkan. If you want to know, Naoe constantly keeps up his act, trying to look cool, but deep down, he is the same old country bumpkin. He loves to listen to himself, hence his monologues often take up to five pages of text. He keeps barking, despite being a total chickenshit. Also, he…(author‘s cut for excessive length)

I believe I must be like hundred thousand years too late to make this discovery, but Gackt‘s Dooms Day makes one perfect Naoe  >> Takaya song. Not only does the addressing in the song fit Naoe’s way of speaking (as far as I can tell), but the imagery, the themes and metaphors, are so similar to the story that it’s scary. This impression is even intensified by the music themes, which keep shifting abruptly from peaceful and gentle to raw and violent, just perfectly reflecting the dichotomy of Naoe’s behaviour towards Takaya. Or maybe it’s just me over-analyzing things.

Anyway, most surprising is that there seems to be no Mirage AMV made to Doomsday, not even by Japanese fans…

 

Author: Gackt Camui

Translation: Mina-P

The pretty moon is smiling
In the quiet night, it's laughing
Once more, I murmured
Your name...

Above the scattered glass
A cold wind is dancing
I await your return
Before falling into sleep...

My shouting voice resounds
And I embrace your unforgivable sins

I saw your dream
The dream you can't awaken from
While leaning against the windowsill
And being softly embraced by the moon

Your shouting voice stops
And my unforgivable crime continues
Your heart, your arms, your voice... everything
Until we love each other, until it drives us mad, I hold you who I love too much
I destroyed over and over again...

Does it reach you now?
His kind voice
Can you see it?
Your arm, dyed red...

While shaking, the last sound is erased
While weeping for our unforgivable sins
Ephemeral dreams, sorrowful dreams, painful dreams announce the end
Into gentle dreams, into beloved dreams, like that day, like that time...

kirei na tsuki ga warau
shizuka na yoru ni warau
mou ichido, tsubuyaita wa
anata no namae o...

chirabaru garasu no ue de
tsumetai kaze ga odoru
anata no kaeri o matsu wa
nemuri ni ochiru mae ni...

sakendeiru watashi no koe ga hibiku
yurusarenai anata no tsumi o daite

anata no yume o mita wa
mezameru koto no nai yume o
madobe ni motarenagara
sotto tsuki ni dakareta

sakendeiru anata no koe ga togireru
yurusarenai watashi no tsumi wa tsuzuku
anata no mune o, anata no ude o, anata no koe o... subete o
itoshii hodo ni kuruoshii hodo ni aishisugita anata o daite
nandomo kowashitsuzuketa...

ima nara todokimasu ka?
yasashii kare no koe ga
anata ni wa miemasu ka?
akaku somatta kono ude ga...

furuenagara saigo no koe o keshite
yurusarenai futari no tsumi o nakinagara
hakanai yume wa, kanashii yume wa, setsunai yume wa owari o tsuge
yasashii yume ni, itoshii yume ni, ano hi no mama ni, ano koro no you ni... 

This is originally a comment on labingi’s essay:

http://labingi.livejournal.com/128431.html

“The sex doesn't fix everything. Indeed, by the second or third time, Naoe is already uncomfortably aware of not being content with this; it's not giving him Takaya in the way he'd (perhaps) hoped it might.”
 

Now this is revealing the crux of what’s been bothering me in Naotakatora ship for ages.

The fact that despite all those years of desiring Takatora, after that (rather mindless) catharsis of  20/6, the sex feels utterly unsatisfactory for  Naoe. As if he’s reached yet another standing point, where he has no earthly means to get enough of Takatora once again.

But if you are a kanshousha, is it really any wonder, that this sort of satisfaction, reached mainly by the bodily perception, kind of loses its magic?

In fact, I think it would be more realistic, if sensei made their views even more alienated from our common understanding of these problems. The traditional (Buddhist or Christian) dualism of body and soul would in their case deepened to the point, where it’s not even a dualism anymore and the identification lies merely in the spiritual level of the self. While it is indisputably essential to their everyday existence (they need body to do their exorcising job and without it they are vulnerable), the physical sphere is inevitably less significant to what constitutes an individual.

I believe accepting this condition might even help us understand, if not pardon, the violence in their intercourses, as it could indicate their frustration at (though perhaps still uncounsious) realizing the impossibility of more permanent, or thorough connection, even through the most intimate mean currently at their disposal.

For here, of all cases, the skin is indeed in the way. But…of what?

On the note of said violence, I think that it is not only Naoe constantly pressing on Takaya. The latter is not at all as passive as it looks. They are both equally intensive, or aggressive, though in different roles. It is just that Takaya mostly keeps silent about his desires, unlike Naoe, who can pull out his elegies at any time.

And I maintain my view of Takaya not being a masochist, as he’s been called. The same way I don’t consider my position masochistic, when I accept and counter my opponent’s attack. Semeru-ukeru, that’s just the way the game is played. Taka is not a victim here, he more or less understands Naoe’s purpose and willingly puts up with his moves, going along ‘Von nichts kommt nichts’ (no pun intended, lol). And they both come to the conclusion, though at different places in the story, that the physical connection is nowhere close to enough.

So what is it, that they trully desire? What does Naoe want from Takaya, and Takaya from Naoe?

During sleepless nights of ongoing debates with friends, I was given various answers:

A comunication with higher principle
The ultimate connection
A spiritual caress
Ideal way of existence

Of course, they are all true. But it becomes icreasingly difficult for me to assign these concepts some sort of personal experience. I think I might be reaching my limits in understanding here. Firstly, too little of the story after 20 is fully translated to make some solid picture out of it. Secondly, I base my notion of the philosophical and religious background of MoBverse on my own knowledge and practice of Tibetan Buddhism, which can be of course misleading. Yet I am still convinced, that there is a common denominator for my favourite kanshoushas’ and my own aspirations and that it is very worth searching for  ^_^

 

 Takaya’s Tour of Working Hell, track 3

 

Author: Kuwabara Mizuna

Length: 7min. 33s

Cast: Seki Toshihiko as Ohgi Takaya/ Uesugi Kagetora

         Show Hayami as Naoe Nobutsuna

         Tamagawa Sakiko as Kadowaki Ayako

         (plus unknown artists in side roles of Ayako’s friends 1, 2, 3, and of the host club  manager M)

 

Japanese to Czech translation by Katsumi

Czech to English translation by skinintheway

 

Disclaimer

I do not own Mirage of Blaze, all belongs to Kuwabara Mizuna.

This translation was done by fans for fans and we have no profit from it.

Many thanks to Katsumi, who made Czech translation of this track on my particular demand, because I just love it <3. Also, many thanks to Quaint_Twilight-san for betaing this one.

 

Translators note

Another track of Baito Jigoku Meguri Hen drama CD, which comes in set with the 13-episode DVD box. All four of it’s tracks are pure crack and their plots revolve around Takaya’s increasingly desperate attempts to make money for his bike loan and reparation, while the rest of the Yashashuu keep ruining his chances for a stable part-time job.

 

TRACK 3

 

T: Haaaah…fired again… At this rate, not only will I never pay off my  loan, I’ll be saddled with an unpaid, overdue debt . This is not good – I’ve to think of something fast. Isn’t  there any quick way to make a large sum of money? I’ll be willing to take on any job, even the sort which might get me expelled from school if they find out ...

 And so… it has been nearly a week, since I started working at the host club.

 Damn it, the suit and necktie is definitely not my style, but it’s not like I can complain considering my situation. Patience, patience…

 

M: Welcome.

1,2,3: Good evening!

T: Ghee…!!!

A: Heh…? So this is the famous host club?

T: T-That’s Ayako nee-san…!!

1: All of sudden, my heart‘s pounding so fast…

2: Mine too! With so many good-looking men around…

3: Indeed! Indeed!

M: Now, this way please.

T: O-Oh crap! They’re coming this way!

1: By the way, one of the new boys is really hot! He looks cold and aloof, kinda scary at first glance, but unexpectedly shy and totally sweet when he blushes…

A: Really?? Which one, which one?

T: Eh-yah…Need to escape! But where to??! Ah, that’s it! The toilet, toilet!!

1: Ah, that’s him, over there! The one about to enter the toilet…

A: Heh?!

T: Ghkh...they’ve seen me….!!

2: Good evening!

T: (in serious tone) Welcome.

A: K-Kagetora…?!!

1,2,3: Heeeh?!

A: Kagetora! What on earth are you doing here?!

T: Eh…well…that’s…

1: Wait a minute! What’s going on here?

2: What, Ayako, you know each other? So you‘re Kagetora-kun? How cute…

T: (nervous) Ha ha ha

3: He‘s blushing…Though it doesn’t really match your cool appearance, you look even cuter!!

M: Haha, surely you’re not going to stand here like this…please take a seat and have a nice  chat together.

(whispering to Takaya) I shall leave this to you, Kagetora.

1: That‘s a great idea, right? Ka-ge-to-ra…?

T: Uh…huh...

A: Ehh?!

1: He’s really just too cute! Kyaaa..

2: Hey, Ayako, what is the relationship between you two?? That’s not like you at all…

A: Ah, we’re just old friends…

T: Yeah…something like that…

2: Reaaally??

3: How dubious! Come on, fess up…

T: H-hey! Don’t pull at my tie!!

1: ‘Don’t pull at my tie‘ he says…

2, 3: Totally sweet! Adorable!!

N: (to himself) What a noisy gaggle! But not to worry Takaya-san! Rescue is immediately on the way!

Welcome.

T: NAOE?!!

A: What’s going on?

T: What the hell are YOU doing here?!

1: What do you mean what’s he doing here? Don’t you know he is the number one host in this club?

T: What?!!

N: Have you not noticed? I have been here ever since the first day you started work in this place.

T:  I..I had no clue…

N: May I join you?

1,2,3: Sure, please do!

N: Thank you. Oh…!!!

1: Huh?!

N: Please don’t look at me in that way! Your eyes, clear and bright as the Mashoko lake , draws me in…Drowning me within its depths...

1: Aaaah...

N: Excuse me, may I know your name?

1: A-Arisa.

N: What a beautiful ring it has. Everything about you is just as beautiful...especially the area that cannot be seen…

 1: Aaaah…

N: And your name would be…?

2: Ah...Hanako.

N: How lovely! You are like a raw diamond, waiting to be polished to its full beauty. Will you let me be the one to do so?

2: Oh…but of course!! Aah…

3: Tell us, Naoe-san…you have such a wonderful scent. What perfume do you use?

N: Ah…I wear Égoïste[i]. Why is that so? Because love makes egoists of all people indeed. And the one to be blamed for making me an egoist - is you!

3: Naoe-san!

1,2,3: Aaaah!

1: Please sit by my side!

2: No, mine please!

A: Haaah...that Naoe, how can he so shamelessly utter that string of clichéd sentences..

T: That’s definitely beyond me. Definitely.

A: True enough, it’s impossible for you. Even if you were to perform Kanshou a hundred times, it’d still be impossible for you…

T: You didn’t have to go that far …

A: But he has totally stolen all the girls, I am the only one left with you.

T: I think I felt a gust of cold wind when you said that..

A: Don’t be discouraged, Kagetora. Being a horrible host doesn’t mean that you are a failure in life! As they say: When one god deserts you, another will pick you up…

T: What on earth does that saying mean...

A: Forget about it! Since it’s just the two of us, let’s have a drinking party together!!! One bottle of champagne over here!

T: Wait a minute, nee-san, you’re drinking too much…

A: By the way, Kagetora, why are you working at this host club?

T: Heh? AAAH!!!!! That’s right, I completely forgot!!  At the end of the day, this is all your fault, nee-san!!!

A: What? Mine? Why?

T: Because it was completely wrecked, all of the cams and other parts too!

A: Oh, you mean that…

T: „That“?!

A: Don’t blame me for ruining your bike, blame it on your lousy driving skills!

T:  That’s true, but the way you word it is too-

A: Come on Kagetora, forget about that rubbish already and have a drink. Let‘s party!!! More champagne, please!

T: Hey, hey, isn’t this is a bit too much! Do you even have any money with you?

A: Of course NOT! You are paying!

T: HEEEEEH?!!!

A: And don’t think you can wriggle your way out of this one. You don’t want me to tell Miya-chan exactly where you work, do you?

T: Are you trying to blackmail your own lord?

A: *drops dead*

T: Don’t …don’t sleep!!!

A: Kagetora,… don’t you abandon us[ii]!

T: This isn‘t going to work on me! Wake uuup!!!

N: (to himself) Takaya-san, I successfully thwarted the danger to your chastity…

3: Naoe-san…why do you keep turning around, and what are you mumbling about?

N: Eh?

2: What are you thinking about, Naoe-san?

N: Ahaha…of course, I’m only thinking of you, you and you!

2 1 3: Kyaaa! Only me…

N: (to himself) However…even if this is my sacrifice to save Takaya-san…but this circumstance of having left my master alone... what about my social standing as a retainer...

 

So much for Takaya’s host job. And what other part-time will he pick next? How about becoming a nude model?….XD

 I find Naoe’s part in this one particularly hilarious. His standard ambiguous talking makes every flattery border on insult in a way that would make me splash my drink into his face, if I was in those girls position XD I’m sure Égoïste and Piña colada make fairly nice blend of scent…

 Btw, we found out there are in fact at least four host clubs in Matsumoto, and we took a serious thought of visiting one on our tour. That is, before we saw photos of those host guys on internet, and discovered some of them could be our fathers! XDDD Reality is so cruel…

Mirage of blaze is special for me in many aspects. It was the first time I watched Japanese animated series and also it was my first encounter with more or less explicit BL genre.

 

The absolutely first time I came across something Mirage was this AMV by Loveableneko, which one day ended up at our hard disk, accidentally copied from a friend along with other movies and music. My version had no credits at the end, so frankly I had no idea what I’m watching. I could only guess it was of Japanese origin and I knew almost nothing about Japan that time…

  

Honestly, a random sequence of animated scenes would hardly ever catch my interest, especially since I was clueless as to what’s going on. But the sheer intensity of situations depicted had me breathless at the end: never before had I witnessed this kind of emotional tension in… well… ANYTHING …much less in anything animated (the anime preserved the Naotaka dynamics well, if it failed in portraying other aspects). Now you can imagine I was thoroughly confused, the overwhelming feeling of WTF?!! rivaled only by increasing awe and fascination.

 

And urgent questions began to arise in my mind: ‘What are they? What are they to each other? Does the story really work with the concept of reincarnation? Who is that girl? And OMG!! did he really try to kiss him?! That’s …well…not gross at all, but…um… in fact, it’s quite charming, isn’t it? That this Naoe should love that Takaya guy so much, that he doesn’t even care if he’s a man or a woman…‘(I was SO right about this one). ‘And they look kind of adorable together…‘(and thus a new yaoi fangirl was born XD)

 

Because I was a complete novice to Japanese animation, I had a really hard time with its specific graphical style. It took me several times re-watching the thing, before I was even able to tell Naoe from Takaya – their appearance just didn’t show significant differences for my untrained eyes. I was also fairly confused by their names, I mean, who gives their character a name consisting of three vowels in a row? And Takaya? Who gives a male character (he was a male, was he not?) a name that not only sounds girlish, but RUSSIAN-girlish?

 

Whether I wanted it or not, my brain collected all available pieces of the story and following the path of least resistance (the final in Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy I had taken was still fresh in my memory), offered me the most acceptable overview of the story: this Naoe was Minako/Takaya’s lover in previous life but he hurt her in some way. So in this life he returned to stay by her side and make up for his faults, despite the fact she‘s incarnated as a man…

(Clearly I was not yet ready for the idea of two men in love -_-;;) …uhh, thinking about it, I was not so totally off with my guess, was I? …XD Even now I wish sometimes, things would really be this simple and uncomplicated between them…

 

But I can never resist a riddle. I had to know!!! Unfortunately, with what little lead I had, my attempts to find more information (mind you, there was no Youtube and such at that time and I didn’t even know the title) were completely unsuccessful. It was only sometime later, that I accidentally discovered the name of the anime (mirage of blaze??? What on earth does that mean???) and was able to watch the whole series and OVA. With its open ending, of course I was curious to learn more! (and man, did I learn…)

 

A bookworm as I am, I was absolutely thrilled to find out there are actually NOVELS!!! The excitement at this discovery was only slightly cooled by realization, that they are mostly in Japanese language only. My occupation was technically a linguist at that time (well, more linguist than technical, in contrary to my current state XDD) and it would take more than „agglutinative, heavily contextual language using combination of four scripts“ to scare me off. Alas, I realized soon I suck at reading kanji (and after such a long time, I suck at it no less T_T). So what followed was a standard fast-read through all available English resources. I was not exactly ready for the enormous measure of angst, that waits for a Mirage reader to get through, but the more I learned to appreciate the rare moments of extraordinary romance sensei pulls out of her sleeve time to time.

 

 

I have fallen for Mirage of Blaze from the very first minute, right on the spot, head over feet. And even after all these years, my love for it not only haven’t faded, but keeps growing deep and wide with each bit I learn about it.