Henshin (Reply)
Performed by Mariya Takeuchi
Words and music by Mariya Takeuchi
Produced and arranged by Tatsurō Yamashita
Moon Records, 2006, CD
"Henshin" (Reply) is the theme song for Deguchi
no nai umi (Sea without exit), a 2006 Japanese movie about kaiten (human
torpedo) pilots. Mariya Takeuchi, a popular Japanese singer whose Impressions
album released in 1994 sold more than 3 million copies, sings
"Henshin" during the film's closing credits. Her husband Tatsurō
Yamashita, also a popular singer and songwriter, plays nylon string guitar,
electric guitar, keyboards, and percussion for the song.
The theme song reflects Minako Narumi's thoughts of Koji
Namiki, whose kaiten was lost during a training exercise. The two had met while
he played on a university baseball team before he entered the Navy. Soon after the end of the war,
Namiki's kaiten was discovered when it washed up on shore. Inside the kaiten
there was a last letter written by Namiki to Minako before oxygen ran out.
Below is an English translation of "Henshin"
(Reply):
Even now when I have lost your smile I loved
My heart remembers your warm hands
Along with the writing you left behind
In the sea sparkling the same as those days
Your youth never to return sleeps forever
Every person from the moment of birth
Already is destined to return to this sea
Seeing this since I kept my promise to go on living
For you who burned out with your dream half done
I'll try to look for happiness left for me
If it is your wish
Lonely and missing you in the tearful night
You come to see and hold me even though a dream
If I believe I'll return someday to you
Today also the evening calm is beautiful
This letter you can't read, but even so let me write
A reply from me with eternal love
That will be delivered to your spirit
Translated by Bill Gordon
May 2007
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