This is a song from Hypnosis Mic’s latest EP release, The Block Party – Hoods.
I noticed I usually make a mess of longer translations, so I wanted to see if that was true for a song…I have a greater appreciation for Hifumi and his outlook on life now, so I don’t regret the time I’ve sunk into it (for my own reference, I only spent about 2 and a half hours on the initial translation).
I’ve chosen this song specifically because 1) I know Slug is putting out a translation of it soon (as of writing this on the 31st of January 2024), 2) it’s quite short for a song (just under 3 minutes!) and 3) it’s been in my head with mangled lyrics. Please defer to Slug if any differences arise, because I was using this as a procrastination distraction from stressful stuff. Plus, feedback is welcome, as always.
(Update: Slug’s version is here.)
Original (from LyricFind):
チョリリ～ス! 俺っちの仲間たちー! チョリース (チョリース!)
あれ ちょっち元気ない感じ～?
あ! んなら みんなで一緒にゲームでもやっちゃおー!
友情クエストにログイン
キャラMakeはデフォルト
オープンワールドをノリでいっちゃおー! (いぇーい!)
早速笑顔になってっしー!
んじゃあまずは 仲間作りからいってみよー!
勇者の剣が抜けなくて心 丸裸 真顔
最強装備はキミとの絆とノリ yeah, yeah, yeah!
無敵の my party! We are friends! (Friends!)
負けても俺っちたち friends!
笑顔の魔法に釣られてきた
あっという間に出来た無敵の full party! (We・are・HOODs!)
魅せプ決めて騒ごうよ! Tonight!
HPギリだな! (P・T・My・Life)
姫プ決めて守られたい夜も
ポジティブ my life (your life)
よっしゃー! この調子でじゃんじゃかいっちゃおー!
次はひふみん流ポジティブ life を過ごすテクニックを教えちゃうよ～!
アイコン自撮りのキメ顔 分かりやすく俺っちでしょ? (うんうん!)
ネガティブ意見は無視して 良いことだけ聞いちゃいなよ! Yeah Yeah!
心がチクっとする日もある そんな日は笑顔で try
愛と勇気がさ～ 気付いたら助けてくれてるから! (ワン・ツー・ひふみん!)
次のステージ無理ゲーでも
ネバギバでコンティニュー (P・T・My・Life)
キミとキミとキミとノリで full party! (We・are・HOODs!)
見つけた! お前がラスボス
仲間になろうぜ (P・T・My・Life)
誰も傷付けず全クリしちゃおー!
ポジティブ my life (your life)
English:
What’s up~? My friends-! ‘Sup~? (‘Sup?)
Huh, you’re feeling a bit down~?
Ah! Everybody, let’s play a game together-!
Log into the friendship quest.
Make the default character.
Let’s get into the spirit of the open world-! (Yayyy-!)
You’ll smile immediately!
So then, first, we’ll start by making some friends-!
Bare your heart to everyone with a straight face, without pulling out the hero’s sword [1].
The strongest equipment is your bonds with me and spirit, yeah, yeah, yeah!
We’re invincible, my party! We are friends! (Friends!)
Even if we lose, we’re friends!
We are caught up in the magic of smiles.
Just like that, we’ve made an invincible full party [2]! (We are HOODs!)
Let’s make merry by deciding to play to captivate [3]! Tonight!
We’re almost out of HP! [4](PT My Life)
Also, I decide to act helpless [5] or have nights I want to be protected.
Positive my life (your life)
Yeah-! Let’s keep going like this-!
Next, Hifumin will teach you his techniques for having a positive life [6]~!
It’s easy to understand I chose a selfie with a cool expression for my profile pic, right? (Yeah, yeah!)
Ignore the negative opinions and only listen to the good stuff! Yeah yeah!
There will be days where it hurts, so on those days, try a smile.
‘Cos you’ll notice love and courage will help you out! (One, two, Hifumin [7]!)
Even if the next stage is an impossibly hard video game
Continue with a never give up [attitude]. (PT my life)
We’re a spirited full party [2], with you and you and you! (We are HOODs!)
I found you! You’re the last boss.
Let’s be friends! (PT my life)
We cleared the game without anyone getting hurt-!
Positive my life (your life)
Notes:
- Positive My Life = This song is sometimes translated to Positive is my Life to make sense of the title, but I’ve stuck with the one that’s been given since we don’t have a proper English translation of it yet (although we did get official names for Play House and Bounce Back).
- 1 = Without fighting or otherwise being violent. The interview in note 2 says even though Hifumi is the lead singer, it could be said he’s not the hero of this song (in the sense of an RPG hero, like those in Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy which inspired this song).
- 2 = According to this interview with songwriter Miyata, “full party” is pronounced furupa to make it easier to pronounce. This happens in both instances in the song.
- 3 = Mise play (captivating play). Gameplay that spectators enjoy and are captivated by. The interview in note 2 says mise play is what comes to mind when Hifumi is a host.
- 4 = According to some TikToks I watched
(I had to create a new TikTok account to get to the bottom of this mystery…ORZ), ギリ is short for ギリギリ (if I interpreted it right, in this case, it means “almost out of [HP]”). According to the interview in note 2, the intended full line is meant to be ホントにHPギリなんだな (“We’re really almost out of HP, huh?”). - 5 = Hime play. When a player pretends to be helpless so their party members help them out for items, stereotypically for princess characters. The interview in note 2 says hime play is what comes to mind when Hifumi’s scared of women.
- 6 = Literally “[I’ll] teach [you] the Hifumin school techniques of how to spend a positive life!”, adjusted due to other parts of the song.
- 7 = “Hifumi” is written with the kanji for 1, 2, 3, so “one, two, Hifumin!” could be understood as 1, 2, 1, 2, 3 (+ an N).
The interview in note 2 says this song is designed for call and response and Miyata also has instructions for Kijima to have a straight face when the lyrics say to do so, so I’m looking forward to watching it during Live Anima, the 10th Hypnosis Mic live show, in April 2024 if I can.