somewhere between yesterday and tomorrow

As the title says, theres a new Toradora ED. Not that that should be news to anybody.

Anyway, I was thinking of doing an analysis of these lyrics again, but it’s not too hard or challenging.
There is one issue, though.
I noticed that the lyrics from the CoalGuys sub and the lyrics from {Words of Songs} didn’t match. (Well, not just the basic wording and stuff. Something that actually changes the meaning of the lyrics.)

While I trust {Words of Songs} more (sorry CoalGuys =/), I liked the lyrics that the fansub had better. Even if they (possibly) weren’t true.

Below, the {Words of Song} version is placed as the template, and if the CoalGuys fansub is different, it will be on the side and bolded.

Italicized words are not in the short version, and therefore were not subbed.

Orenji

On a sleepless night (On nights when I can’t sleep)
I sigh all alone (I heave a heavy sigh to myself)
How’s everyone? (What about all of you?)
I feel kind of lonely

That’s not like me
So stop laughing
It’s just that I don’t know
My true self

Into the broad earth, a single seed (A single seed in a vast landscape)
Extended its roots (Sprouted its roots)
And bore fruit that was still unripe (It bore a fruit that was still unripe)

The fruit wants to hurry up/And turn orange-colored (The fruit that wants to turn orange as soon as possible)
Basking in your light (by basking in your light)
My ideals and dreams only expand (My ideals and dreams keep on flourishing)
Notice me, hey (Come on, notice it already)
I tried to eat/An orange today, too (Today, I ate an orange)
But it was still sour and I cried (but I cried because it was still sour)
Because it’s unlike me to leave any behind (It reminded me of myself, so I couldn’t throw away the rest)*
I ate it all (so I ate it all)
I loved it; I felt like crying (I love you; It makes me cry)
I loved it; I loved it (I love you; I love you)

Even if they’re similar, they’re different
Mandarins and oranges
Friends and lovers
And our 2 hearts, too

I didn’t want to get hurt
So I fled
When I did that, not even light
Would shine upon me

They’re miracles, right?
Encounters and love
Seeds and buds
Even for the fruit that was still unripe

The color orange makes me recall
The sunset glow that I saw
On that day
It seemed as if our 2 shadows
Held hands together
I wondered if the oranges
Would turn sweet someday
Or would they wither?
I didn’t want to learn of my future
So I ate it all
It was sour…
I loved it, but I felt like crying
I loved it, so I felt like crying

The fruit wants to hurry up
And turn orange-colored
Basking in your light
My ideals and dreams only expand
Notice me, hey
I tried to eat
An orange today, too
But again, it was sour and I cried
Because it’s unlike me to leave any behind
I ate it all; I loved it
I felt like crying; I loved it
I loved it
I loved it; so sour
I felt like crying; I loved it

Man, that is long, ain’t it.

Now, I don’t know any Japanese, so first, I applaud both parties for translating anything from Japanese to English at all.

The most significant change is the underlined bolded line with an astrick at the back. Between the two translations, the means changes a lot. But it might be easier to explain that by weaving into my analysis of the lyrics below:

(when I quote the song, I will keep the formatting scheme I stated above for who translated and short vs long version.)

I think you really could take this two ways. One, you could assume that it’s only Taiga as the narrator of the lyrics. Two is that you could say that everybody is narrating the lyrics. I’ll try to look at both.

“It’s just that I don’t know/My true self.” This line can easily be seen to be Taiga, or any of the characters. I think Toradora is special in the fact that all the characters can fit into this. It implies how all the characters have a hidden side to themselves that even they may not know.

“Into the broad earth, a single seed/Extended its roots/And bore fruit that was still unripe.” The fruit, first of all, probably symbolizes the narrator(s). This “unripe fruit” thing, I’m guessing, is a lack of maturity for the fruit and the person.

“The fruit that wants to turn orange as soon as possible.” An unripe orange is usually green, while a ripe one is… well, orange (big surprise, huh).  Basically, the person(s) want(s) to mature. This may be because if they mature, they may learn more about themselves in the process.

“by basking in your light.” I think that this light is the object of the narrator’s affection. It’s easier to see that when looking at the next reference to light: “I didn’t want to get hurt/So I fled/When I did that, not even light/Would shine upon me.” Because love is known to be painful, the narrator tries to flee from it, but realizes she cannot grow as a person without love.

“I tried to eat/An orange today, too/But it was still sour and I cried/It reminded me of myself, so I couldn’t throw away the rest.” We can see how the person and the fruit are symbols of each other, and their immaturity is also accented. If we look at the fansub version we see that eating the immature/unripe fruit shows that the person is also not mature yet, while it’s a lot harder to use the {Words of Songs} one.

“I loved it; I felt like crying (I love you; It makes me cry)
I loved it; I loved it (I love you; I love you)”

Again, there is a slight difference between the fansubs and the {Words of Songs}.
The fansub version basically assumes that the narrator is talking to the “light”, or the object of his/her affection.

In this case, I would lean toward the {Words of Songs} one, as it just seems more relevant. Though, it wouldn’t make sense (at least to me) why the narrator would like the sour one better than a ripe one. It could have to do with the narrator accepting him/herself for who he/she is, but, personally, I wouldn’t want to be reminded how immature I am (which I am sometimes).

…I’m too lazy to analyze the long version lyrics, but I think you get the idea.

I’m also not analyzing the OP. At least, not now. Gotta finish watching Index, then going to sleep

Well, I guess that’s it. If you want to know, I doubt I’m going to try to analyze the plot of Toradora and stuff. Simply because there are bloggers out there that can do such a better job at it than I can.
And sorry for not posting the loot post like I promised. D: