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Linked Horizon · Attack on Titan · Attack on Titan OP
Tap words in the lyrics for meaning, then use Practice when the verse is in your ears.
Synced lyrics
fumareta hana no namae mo shirazu ni
Without even knowing the name of the flower we trampled —
'Trampled flower of name even know-without.' 踏まれた is the passive past of 踏む ('to step on'), modifying 花. 〜ずに is the classical 'without doing' form.
Guren no Yumiya (紅蓮の弓矢, 'Crimson Bow and Arrow') is the Attack on Titan Season 1 OP. Linked Horizon is composer Revo's project (also Sound Horizon). The opening alternates between militaristic German exclamations and dense literary Japanese.
chi ni ochita tori wa kaze o machiwabiru
A bird that fell to earth waits in vain for the wind.
'Earth to fell bird [topic] wind [obj] wait-yearn.' 墜ちる uses the kanji 墜 (fall as in 'crash' / 'plummet') instead of common 落ちる, intensifying the fall. 待ち侘びる = 待つ + 侘びる ('grieve, pine') — to wait in agony for something that won't come.
inotta tokoro de nani mo kawaranai
No matter how much you pray, nothing changes.
'Prayed even-if, anything [neg] doesn't-change.' 〜たところで is a futile concessive — 'even after (X-ing), there's no result'. Sets up the song's thesis.
ima o kaeru no wa tatakau kakugo da
What changes the now — this unwanted status quo — is the resolve to fight.
'Unwilling-current-state(now) [obj] change [nominaliser] fight resolve is.' The bracketed text 不本意な現状 is what you READ; (いま) is what's SUNG — a literary furigana technique pairing the everyday word with its full conceptual weight.
This furigana-as-double-meaning trick (≪visual kanji≫(spoken reading)) is a Linked Horizon trademark. The audience hears 'ima' (now) but sees 'unwilling current state' on the lyrics sheet — getting the emotional gut-punch and the abstract concept simultaneously.
shikabane fumikoete susumu ishi o warau buta yo
O pigs who sneer at the will to march on, treading over the fallen —
'Corpses step-over advance will [obj] sneer-at pig [vocative].' 嗤う uses kanji 嗤 (mock, deride) versus everyday 笑う (laugh). The 〜よ here is the literary vocative — addressing the pigs directly.
kachiku no annei kyogi no hanei shiseru garou no jiyuu o
Livestock peace, false prosperity — give us the freedom of the starving wolf!
'Livestock peace, falsehood prosperity, dying hungry-wolf of freedom [obj]!' Three noun phrases stack as the speaker's choice: reject livestock-peace and false prosperity, demand the wolf's freedom. The trailing を with no verb implies an emphatic 'give us!'.
torawareta kutsujoku wa hangeki no koushi da
The humiliation of being caged is the opening salvo of our counterattack.
'Imprisoned humiliation [topic] counter-attack of opening-arrow is.' 嚆矢 is a classical Chinese-derived word — the whistling arrow ancient Chinese armies fired to signal the start of battle. By extension: 'beginning, herald'.
嚆矢 is one of those words almost no Japanese speaker uses in conversation but everyone recognises from history novels. Its appearance here signals the song's deliberately archaic, militant register.
jouheki no sono kanata emono o hofuru yeegaa
Beyond that wall, the Jäger who brings down its prey —
'Castle-wall of its far-side, prey [obj] slaughter Hunter(Jäger).' 狩人 is the kanji ('hunter'); the singer pronounces the German loanword イェーガー (Jäger). 屠る is the literary verb specifically for ritual slaughter or warriors felling enemies.
Jäger is the German word for 'hunter' — and the surname of the protagonist Eren Jäger. The double-reading puns the kanji 狩人 against the show's main character.
hotobashiru shoudou ni sono mi o yaki nagara tasogare ni hi o ugatsu
While the surging impulse sears their bodies, they pierce the twilight with crimson —
'Surging impulse by, its body [obj] burning-while, dusk in scarlet [obj] pierces.' 〜ながら ('while doing'). 緋 is the classical Japanese colour name for fire-red — used in flags, samurai armour.
guren no yumiya
— the crimson bow and arrow.
'Crimson of bow-arrow.' 紅蓮 (literally 'crimson lotus') is a literary intensifier: 'deep red, fierce as fire'. Title verse — the song name.
紅蓮 originates in Buddhist scripture (紅蓮地獄, the Crimson-Lotus Hell — one of the eight cold hells where souls' frozen skin cracks open like red lotuses). In modern usage it just means 'fierce red', divorced from the dark origin.
ya o tsugae oikakeru yatsu wa nigasanai
Arrow nocked, giving chase — that target won't get away.
'Arrow [obj] nock-and chase, target(yatsu) [topic] not-let-escape.' 番える is an archery word: to set the arrow on the bowstring. Note the furigana — written 標的 ('target') but sung as colloquial やつ ('that one').
ya o hanachi oitsumeru kesshite nigasanai
Arrows fly, cornering them — they won't escape, not ever.
'Arrow [obj] release, corner-them, never not-let-escape.' 決して + negative = 'never, by no means'. The pair 追い駈ける / 追い詰める stacks chasing + cornering.
genkai made hikishiboru hachikiresou na tsuru
Drawn to its very limit — a bowstring on the verge of snapping.
'Limit until pull-fully, about-to-burst bowstring.' 〜そう (looks like / about to) on a verb stem indicates immediate appearance. はち切れる = 'to burst at the seams'.
yatsu ga iki taeru made nando demo hanatsu
Until they draw their last breath, we will keep loosing arrows — however many times it takes.
'Target [subj] last-breath until, however-many-times release.' 〜まで marks the temporal limit; 何度でも emphasises repetition without count.
emono o korosu no wa
What brings down the prey is —
'Prey [obj] kill [nominaliser-topic].' のは focus-construction — sets up 'X is what does Y'. Sentence trails into v16.
dougu demo gijutsu demo nai
— neither the tool nor the technique.
'Tool even technique even-not.' 〜でも〜でもない is the standard 'neither X nor Y' negative paired with でも ('even'). Continues v15: 'what kills the prey is neither tool nor technique...'
togisumasareta omae jishin no satsui da
It's the honed resolve of your very own self.
'Honed-to-sharpness you-self of intent is.' 研ぎ澄ます literally 'sharpen to clarity' — used metaphorically for refining a skill or focusing one's mind. The full sentence (v15-17) reads as a warrior's creed: skill is internal, not external.
wir sind der jäger homura no you ni atsuku
Wir sind der Jäger — hot like a flame!
'Wir sind der Jäger, flame like hot.' 〜のように compares one thing to another in a literary way. 焔 (homura) is the elevated kanji for 炎 (honoo).
wir sind der jäger koori no you ni hiyayaka ni
Wir sind der Jäger — cold like ice!
'Wir sind der Jäger, ice like cold.' Mirror of v18 with the opposite element. 冷ややか is a literary cousin of 冷たい — emotional cold, not just temperature.
wir sind der jäger onore o ya ni komete
Wir sind der Jäger — pouring our very selves into the arrow!
'Wir sind der Jäger, self [obj] arrow into pour-and.' 込める is the verb for filling something with concentrated essence — words, feelings, intent.
wir sind der jäger subete o tsuranuite yuke
Wir sind der Jäger — pierce through everything and march on!
'Wir sind der Jäger, all [obj] pierce-and go-forth!' 征く uses the kanji 征 ('subjugate, conquer') — a wartime register of 行く. The bare imperative 征け is direct command.
nanika o kaeru koto ga dekiru no wa
The one who can change something is —
'Something [obj] change thing [subj] able-to (focus).' 〜ことができる = 'be able to (do X)'. Sentence trails into v23.
nanika o suteru koto ga dekiru mono
— the one who can throw something away.
'Something [obj] throw-away thing [subj] able-to one.' Closes the v22 thought: change requires sacrifice — only those who can give up something can change something.
nani hitotsu risuku nado seowanai mama de nanika ga kanau nado
Without bearing a single risk, hope that anything will come true is —
'A-single-thing risk things-like not-bear state-while, something [subj] comes-true things-like.' Two layered なるど (dismissives) bracket the rhetorical scoff: 'such a thing!'.
angu no soutei tada no genei ima wa mubou na yuuki mo
— a fool's assumption, nothing but a phantom. For now, even reckless courage —
'Foolishness of supposition, mere of phantom, for-now reckless courage even.' Three apposed nominal phrases trash the wishful thinking of v24, then pivot toward what's needed: even reckless courage.
jiyuu no senpei kake no kousei
— the vanguard of freedom, a gambling offensive.
'Freedom of vanguard, gamble of offensive.' Two parallel noun phrases — military vocabulary describing the speakers' role.
hashiru dorei ni shouri o
— and to those slaves who run wild, victory!
'Run-wild slaves to victory [obj]!' The を with no following verb is a literary 'give us!' construction — the implied verb is 与えよ ('grant') or similar imperative.
kaserareta fujouri wa shingeki no koushi da
The absurdity imposed on us is the opening shot of our advance.
'Imposed absurdity [topic] advance of opening-arrow is.' 進撃 ('advance / charge') is the kanji of the show's title 進撃の巨人 (Attack on Titan, 'Advance Titan'). The line both serves the song and names the franchise.
進撃 in 進撃の巨人 is normally translated as 'attack' but literally means 'forward charge' — the deliberate march toward the enemy. This line ties the song's theme to the show's title with a single word.
ubawareta sono chihei sekai o nozomu eren
Eren — that boy from that day, longing for a stolen world / freedom —
'Stolen its horizon, 「freedom」(world) [obj] long-for, that-day's-boy(Eren).' Two furigana puns at once: 『自由』 ↔ せかい (world = freedom) and ≪あの日の少年≫ ↔ エレン (the boy of that day = Eren). The lyrics sheet shows abstract meaning; the audio names the protagonist.
Eren Jäger is Attack on Titan's protagonist. The song is sung from his perspective implicitly — the lyrics name him only via this furigana, mid-stanza, hidden in plain sight.
tomedo naki shoudou ni sono mi o okasare nagara yoiyami ni shi o hakobu
While the unceasing impulse erodes their body, they carry purple into the dusk —
'Unceasing impulse by, its body [obj] eroded-while, evening-dusk in purple [obj] carry.' Mirror of v9 with the colour shifted from 緋 (scarlet) to 紫 (purple) — twilight to night.
meifu no yumiya
— the bow and arrow of the underworld.
'Underworld of bow-arrow.' Closing variant of v10's 紅蓮の弓矢 — same syntactic shape, fire/red replaced by death/dark. The song ends on its title's twin.
冥府 is the classical Chinese-derived word for the underworld (think Greek Hades or Buddhist 地獄). Pairing 紅蓮 (red lotus, hellfire) at the start with 冥府 (death's realm) at the end traces the song's arc from charge to consequence.