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Hikaru Utada · Neon Genesis Evangelion · Evangelion Rebuild 1.0 Theme
Tap words in the lyrics for meaning, then use Practice when the verse is in your ears.
Synced lyrics
moshimo negai hitotsu dake kanau nara
If I could have just one wish granted —
'supposing wish one only comes-true if.' もしも〜なら = 'supposing (hypothetically) X happens'.
kimi no soba de nemurasete
— let me sleep by your side.
'you of side at let-sleep.' 眠らせて is the causative of 眠る (sleep); + て to request: 'allow me to sleep'.
donna basho demo ii yo
Any place would be fine.
'what-kind place even fine [emph].' どんな+noun+でも = 'any X at all'.
mayowazu kimi dake wo mitsumete iru
Without hesitation, I'm looking only at you.
'without-hesitating you only [obj] gazing-is.' 〜ず is the literary negative; 見つめる = 'gaze intently at'.
jibun no utsukushisa mada shiranai no
You don't yet know your own beauty.
'self-of beauty still not-know [soft-assert].' 美しさ is the noun form: 美しい + さ = 'beauty'.
The second-person 'you don't know your beauty' framing addresses the Evangelion protagonist Shinji — Utada wrote this song for the Rebuild film, voicing an adult compassion for the boy's self-doubt.
nete mo samete mo shounen manga
Asleep or awake — always a shōnen manga.
'sleep even, wake-up even, boy-manga.' 寝ても覚めても is a set phrase = 'day and night / waking and sleeping'.
寝ても覚めても is an idiomatic 'whether asleep or awake' — living in a shōnen-manga fantasy even when awake. The line pins down Shinji's adolescent escapism.
yumemite bakka
Nothing but daydreaming.
'dream only.' ばっか is colloquial for ばかり; in te-form + ばかり = 'does nothing but X'.
jibun ga suki ja nai no
You don't even like yourself, do you.
'self [subj] liked isn't [soft].' 自分が好きじゃない = 'don't like oneself'.
nani ga hoshii ka wakaranakute
Not even knowing what you want,
'what [subj] wanted [question] not-knowing.' Embedded question: 何が欲しいか = 'what one wants'.
tada hoshigatte
just grasping for something —
'just showing-want.' 〜たがる = external display of desire (used for third-party).
nurui namida ga hoo wo tsutau
Lukewarm tears trail down your cheek.
'lukewarm tears [subj] cheek [obj] run-along.' 伝う = 'to move along a surface', typical for tears/rain tracing skin.
iitai koto nanka nai
There's nothing I really want to say.
'want-to-say thing or-anything not-exist.' なんか dismisses = 'things like that'.
tada mou ichido aitai
I just want to see you one more time.
'just one-more-time want-to-meet.' 〜たい = desiderative on verb stem.
iitai koto ienai
I can't say what I want to say.
'want-to-say things can't-say.' 言える = potential of 言う ('can say'); negative 言えない = 'can't say'.
konjou nashi kamoshirenai
Maybe I just have no guts.
'guts lack might-be.' 根性無し is a set epithet = 'coward'.
根性 (konjou, 'guts/grit') is a core shōnen virtue — naming its absence as one's self-diagnosis is a pointed rejection of the genre's expectations.
sore de ii kedo
And that's fine, though —
'that with fine though.' それでいい = 'that's okay', with けど softening the acceptance.
moshimo negai hitotsu dake kanau nara
If I could have just one wish granted —
'supposing wish one only comes-true if.' もしも〜なら = 'supposing (hypothetically) X happens'.
kimi no soba de nemurasete
— let me sleep by your side.
'you of side at let-sleep.' 眠らせて is the causative of 眠る (sleep); + て to request: 'allow me to sleep'.
donna basho demo ii yo
Any place would be fine.
'what-kind place even fine [emph].' どんな+noun+でも = 'any X at all'.
mayowazu kimi dake wo mitsumete iru
Without hesitation, I'm looking only at you.
'without-hesitating you only [obj] gazing-is.' 〜ず is the literary negative; 見つめる = 'gaze intently at'.
jibun no utsukushisa mada shiranai no
You don't yet know your own beauty.
'self-of beauty still not-know [soft-assert].' 美しさ is the noun form: 美しい + さ = 'beauty'.
The second-person 'you don't know your beauty' framing addresses the Evangelion protagonist Shinji — Utada wrote this song for the Rebuild film, voicing an adult compassion for the boy's self-doubt.
donna koto demo yatte mite
Give anything a try;
'whatever thing even do try.' やってみる = 'try doing'; 〜てみる adds 'try (to see what happens)'.
son wa shitatte
even if you lose something in the process —
'loss [topic] even-if-do.' 〜たって is colloquial for 〜ても = 'even if'.
sukoshi keikenchi agaru
your experience points go up a little.
'a-little experience-points goes-up.' 経験値 = RPG-style 'experience points' (keiken + chi = value).
経験値 is pure JRPG slang borrowed into everyday language — framing life's trials as XP farming is a signature Utada move: playful, self-aware, oddly consoling.
shinbun nanka iranai
I don't need newspapers or anything.
'newspaper and-things don't-need.' なんか after a noun dismisses it as uninteresting.
kanjin na koto ga notte nai
The things that actually matter aren't in them.
'crucial things [subj] be-printed not.' 載る = 'be listed / printed', as in newspapers/books.
saikin choushi dou dai
How've you been lately?
'recently condition how-is-[tag].' どうだい is masculine casual = 'how about it / how're you'.
genki ni shiteru nara
If you're doing alright —
'well [adv] doing if.' 元気にしている is a set = 'doing well'.
betsu ni ii kedo
— it's fine, I guess.
'particularly fine though.' 別にいい = 'it doesn't especially matter / it's fine either way'.
boku no sekai kieru made aenu nara
If we can't meet before my world ends —
'I of world disappear until can't-meet if.' 会えぬ is the classical negative of 会える ('can meet').
kimi no soba de nemurasete
— let me sleep by your side.
'you of side at let-sleep.' 眠らせて is the causative of 眠る (sleep); + て to request: 'allow me to sleep'.
donna basho demo kekkou
— any place at all is fine.
'what-kind place even quite-alright.' 結構 as a polite 'fine / no thanks / that'll do'.
hakanaku sugite yuku hibi no naka de
In days slipping fleetingly past —
'fleetingly pass-by-going days of inside at.' ゆく is the literary equivalent of 行く (go).
kibun no mura wa shikata nai ne
Mood swings — they can't be helped, right?
'mood of unevenness [topic] can't-be-helped [soft].' ムラ (mura) in katakana = 'patchiness / unevenness / inconsistency'.
moshimo negai hitotsu dake kanau nara
If I could have just one wish granted —
'supposing wish one only comes-true if.' もしも〜なら = 'supposing (hypothetically) X happens'.
kimi no soba de nemurasete
— let me sleep by your side.
'you of side at let-sleep.' 眠らせて is the causative of 眠る (sleep); + て to request: 'allow me to sleep'.