A translation for “Kizuna” (絆), the ending credits song for Digimon Survive.
Please note that, as official lyrics have not yet been provided for this song, the below translation is based off auditory guessing (using this as a base).
“Kizuna”1 (絆)
Lyrics: Daisuke Kitagawa
Composition: Tomoki Miyoshi
Vocals: Nana Tanimura
O countless stars that shimmer in the heavens
The warmth from times long past remains
ln this world without those who accompany us2
The voices of long-departed souls resound
The flowers yearn for the leaves
The leaves yearn for the flowers
The flowers of the equinox3 tear both of us apart
as our promised fate remains unfulfilled
As they flicker in the twilight
Even if the lights in our hearts die out
Let us change our anguish into strength
and our hatred into love
Now, once again, when we are bound together
Our bond is never to be destroyed
I offer myself so that we may live together
So may I be granted even a single ray of light
Under the sun’s light that pours down endlessly
By the will of the gods, we are meant to be bound together
The flowers of our longing4 tie both of us together
Along with strength that is true
Translator's notes
- I’m leaving the title as-is since it’s left this way in the officially localized credits, but the title means “bond”. [↩]
- Most of the differences between my version of this translation and the official English localization are purely stylistic, but I personally believe the official localization’s version of this line (“May this world where friends are found”) has a semantic error. “Araji” (あらじ) is an emphatic negative, so the line isn’t about a world where friends are found; it’s where they’re not found. [↩]
- The song makes two references to the red spider lily (Lycoris radiata) with two different names. The first chorus uses “higanbana” (彼岸花), or “equinox flower”, referring to the flower’s blooming season during the autumn equinox. The equinox (higan, literally “the other shore”) is associated with departed spirits, and the flower therefore carries an association with death. However… [↩]
- …the next chorus uses another name for red spider lilies, “soushibana” (相思華), or “mutual affection flower”. Red spider lilies have a characteristic in that they are never seen with both leaves and flowers at the same time; there are no leaves when the flowers bloom, and by the time the leaves sprout, the flowers have already fallen off. Therefore, it is said that “the flowers yearn for the leaves, and the leaves yearn for the flowers,” and the name “mutual affection flower” refers to the idea of having each other in your thoughts even when torn apart. [↩]