Title:
Circle: あ～るの～と (R-Note)
Vocal: MARu
Lyrics: 芳葉
Arrangement: 芳葉
Release Date: Aug 14, 2015 (C88)
Requested By: Alt Ernate

I received a request to translate an old KanColle song from 2015 which went under the radar. Surprisingly nobody had uploaded the lyrics for this great R-Note album but fortunately I own it. The theme is the boss theme for the first two maps of the Fall 2014 event which introduced the Heavy Cruiser Ne-class and Destroyer Princess. The song doesn’t seem to reference any ship in particular but describes the feeling of desperation as a ship sinks and their last memory and breath brushing across your face as you fail to stop it.

Read Translation

Title: 明日へ (To Tomorrow)
Circle: Kinema106
Vocal: 黒兎ウル (Kurousagi Uru)
Arrangement: Tom
Release Date: Dec 29, 2018 (C95)
Requested By: Yuubari

Yuubari’s song from Kinema 106 features the period of her design and her sinking, as well as the involvement of Samidare in her final moments.  The music video for this song was released on April 1st the end of Emperor Akihito’s reign, marking the the Heisei era and the start of the Reiwa era.  The title is likely a play on how Yuubari’s design work paved the future for many other ships in the Japanese Navy.

Read Translation

Title:  翠星 (Green Star)
Circle:  Kinema106
Vocal: lino
Arrangement: Tom
Release Date: Aug 11, 2017 (C92)
Requested By: Yuubari

Contrary to seemingly upbeat J-Rock melody, this song has a rather sad story behind it.  The song is sung between Taihou and Warrant Officer Sakio Komatsu, a Suisei Dive Bomber pilot who crashed his plane into an oncoming torpedo to protect her.  Taihou was ultimately hit by another torpedo and sank due to an explosion caused by poor damage control.  The Suisei (Green Star) in the title is play on the type of dive bomber Komatsu used, the Suisei (Comet), which is painted green.

Read Translation

Title: 明日への境界線 (The Border onto Tomorrow)
Circle: Kinema106
Vocal: 柊南 (hiina)
Arrangement: Tom
Release Date: Aug 12, 2016 (C90)
Requested By: Yuubari

This Kinema106 song features the Japanese Light Cruise Abukuma during the Kiska Island Evacuation Operation.  After the Allies reclaimed Attu Island, the Japanese garrison on Kiska island was isolated and within American airfields.   The Japanese devised an operation to secretly evacuate their troops under the cover of fog.  The song portrays the events of the evacuation with the troops eager to go and rescue their comrades as soon as possible, but the fog kept dissipating.  In contrast to other leaders, Rear Admiral Kimura on the flagship Abukuma cancelled the operation and said “If we go back, we can come again”.  Although he was criticized for his cowardice, this decision ultimately leads to the “Miracle of Kiska” where a brief break in the fog allows the fleet to evacuate the entire garrison and escape unscathed.  Ultimately, the song ends on a happy note as Abukuma successfully rejoins her companions in “tomorrow”.

Read Translation

Title: kiga – A
Circle: Kinema106
Vocal: kalon.
Arrangement: Tom
Release Date: Aug 12, 2016 (C90)
Requested By: Yuubari

This song features Aircraft Carrier Princess and the fact that she is based on the sinking of Akagi.  The song starts in Hiragana and eventually morphs into primarily Katakana, which in used in KanColle to indicate Abyssal speech.  The name of the song is an anagram of Akagi and is used in the lyrics.  In traditional Tom fashion, various homophones in Japanese and English are used in the chorus.

Read Translation

Title: N・M・W
Circle: Kinema106
Vocal: kalon.
Arrangement: Tom
Release Date: Dec 29, 2015 (C89)
Requested by: Yuubari

I had translated most of Kinema106’s old KanColle songs but those videos were copyright claimed sometime in 2020 (despite originally having permission from Tom).  An old viewer asked me for those translations recently and I didn’t save any of my work, so I’ll be retranslating a few of the requested ones.  N・M・W is one of Tom’s earlier works where he uses the same sounding words in English and Japanese.  In this case, No More War sounds like Nomou in Japanese which means let’s drink.  In the video, Tom also encodes messages in Wingdings such as the credits.   The message at 1:00 says “NO MORE WAR, HYAHHA- SHIYOUZE” meaning “Let’s Hyahha-“.  Hyahha is Junyou’s signature laugh.  The message at 2:24 says “NO MORE WAR, SAKE HA NONDEMO NOMARERUNA,” meaning “Drink alcohol but don’t go overboard”.

Read Translation

Title: 終焉の太陽 (The Sun of Demise)
Circle: 帝國交響楽団 (Empire Ensemble)
Vocal: 青砥雫 (℃iel)
Lyrics: kyrie
Arrangement: 羽鳥風画 (Fuuga Hatori)
Release Date: Aug 10, 2018 (C94)
Requested By: Crossy Aidae

An deceptively long song, probably the most sections (18) I’ve ever done a translation for.  This song is an arrange for the battle against the Abyssal Jellyfish Princess, possibly known to be the abyssal form of USS Saratoga.  Saratoga and several other American ships (who I believed to be the ghostly chorus in this song) were sunk during the Abel and Baker nuclear bomb tests after the end of WW2, despite being decorated and celebrated warships.  The song also makes references to voices lines during the encounter with Abyssal Jellyfish Princess.  The Sun of Demise is quite assuredly a references to a nuclear explosion.

Read Translation

Title: 極光の迎撃戦線 (The Aurora’s Counter-Offensive Front)
Circle: 帝國交響楽団 (Empire Ensemble)
Vocal: 青砥雫 (Shizuka Aoto)
Lyrics: kyrie
Arrangement: Hull
Release Date:  Aug 13, 2016 (C90)
Requested By: Eriq Affandi

Overshadowed by Chata’s powerful performance on this album’s “燃え落ちる誇り (Pride That Burns Away) – Counter raid another D” are 7 other unfortunate songs that will never get as much recognition.   Further making matters worse, the album doesn’t contain a lyric book like most albums do.   As usual per request, I tried my best to transcribe the lyrics, but hopefully someone will correct any errors.  The song appears to be about nobody in particular, but Kancolle in general.

Read Translation

Title: Sail Away
Circle: Crest
Vocal: Lyn-A
Lyrics: Peko
Arrangement: JeetSingh
Release Date: Dec 30, 2013
Requested By: Yohanes Paulus

A very old KanColle arrange from the same year the game was released.  Most fans of KanColle music have heard this song from one place or another, and I’m frankly very surprised that nobody has translated it yet.  If I had to pick an arrange to be the most “2014-sounding” KanColle arrange, I would probably choose this one.  As for the lyrics, the message is pretty straightforward:  Press on, fight for the one you love, don’t give up.

Read Translation

Title: 愛しき影法師
Circle: C-CLAYS
Vocal: 小峠 舞 (Mai Kotoge)
Lyrics: 天音未優 (Amane Myu)
Arrangement: あとぐる (Atoguru)
Release Date: Dec 30, 2017
Requested By: Joseph Clemenson

This is a song that I’ve heard a lot but never would have figured out that it was Bismarck’s Image song.  However, I definitely makes more sense once you understand the lyrics.  The song tells of a solemn tale of a girl born for war, departed to foreign seas and cannot go home.  Only the silhouette of something/someone beloved can comfort her as she is laid to rest.

Read Translation