Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

H2O -- 10% no Ame Yohou (10%の雨予報)




As one YouTube viewer put it in Japanese, "Those were peaceful days." Most likely, folks my age over in Japan will look at the anime "Miyuki"みゆき)and just sigh wistfully. Originally, it started as a manga by Mitsuru Adachi(あだち充), the same artist who came up with the popular baseball manga/anime series, "Touch"タッチ). "Miyuki" was more along the lines of budding teenage love comedy.

"Omoide ga Ippai"思い出がいっぱい....Full of Memories) was the ending theme for the anime that I profiled months ago here. It has since become one of the evergreen tunes to listen to during the graduation period in Japan. The same duo behind that hit, H2O, was also responsible for the less-remembered opening theme, "10% no Ame Yohou"10%の雨予報...10% Chance of Rain) which was actually put on the B-side to "Omoide ga Ippai"'s A-side when it was released in March 1983. Both songs were written by Yoko Aki (阿木耀子)and composed by Kisaburo Suzuki(鈴木キサブロ)who created the melodies for songs for many a singer such as Ruiko Kurahashi, Hiromi Iwasaki, Wink, Junko Ohashi, etc.


Although the title refers to the possibility of rain (albeit a small one), the song is an uptempo tune with a touch of the tropical which makes for a nice contrast with the ballad of "Omoide ga Ippai". The above video is the opening from "Miyuki"; if I'm not mistaken, the opening theme version swapped in the title character's name into the lyrics.

Both songs made it on the duo's 4th, and 2nd-last, album, "POOL"released in October 1983.

H2O -- Pool

7 comments:

  1. Hi, I'm looking for a good traslation of "10% no Ame Yohou" lyric and google brought me here.

    You look very skilled about japanese music, so I ask you a little help. Now I explain my problem. I can't understand japanese language, so I got english subtitles for viewing Miyuki, but the opening theme sounds very cryptic to me. I found two lyrics translation and they are a bit different
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ0-in6l82Q (please, enable subtitles)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOwtvWf6pEM

    Any help will be appreciated.

    lyric: http://www.animelyrics.com/anime/miyuki/10noameyouhou.jis

    PS: You are right, chorus on the opening theme version is different from full song
    http://anison.info/data/song/24.html

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    1. Hi there, Anonymous.

      I checked over the videos that you had sent me for "Miyuki". And yes, the lyrics do sound somewhat cryptic but that is indeed the case for many a Japanese pop song. I probably would have used other vocabulary in some places such as where the translator put down "randomness" for the Japanese word "kimagure". I would have used "whimsy" there. Otherwise, the translation is pretty accurate and I think H2O was comparing the title character with the ever-changing weather.

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    2. Thanks for your quick answer!

      Well, lyric speaks about whimsy of girls' feelings and there is a simile with weather's unpredictability.

      Which translation do you think is more accurate? I'm so confused.
      i.e. the same phrase was translated in two different ways:
      Otomekoro wa fushigisa kumoyuki ga sugu kawaru yo. sakki made wa shiawase no koukiatsusa
      A girl's feelings are mysterious, changing like the weather. They were high{ atmospheric pressure} with happiness a moment ago.
      Adolescence is a strange thing, and the path of the clouds quickly change. It was a high pressure of happiness till just then
      -> girl's feelings or adolescence???

      do you know some place on internet where i can find something about that?
      Alberto

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    3. Hello, Alberto.

      Going with the two translations that you gave me, I would probably go with the first one as being the more accurate. The lyrics by Yoko Aki are quite metaphorical comparing the unpredictable weather to the changeability of a girl's mood. That's nothing particularly new when it comes to kayo kyoku. Whether it's enka or New Music or an anime theme, finding out what makes a woman tick has been a frequent topic to be sung about for decades.

      I looked around Yahoo.jp and J-Wiki regarding the song and its lyrics but couldn't find anything myself, unfortunately.

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  2. Thank you J-Canuck!

    As I said, it is very hard getting some more about this song, no surprise you didn't find anything.

    Google Translate didn't help me so much, as you can view :D http://goo.gl/KplE0G

    The song's main topic is quite clear on both translations, but I actually wasn't able to choose between two of them.

    You are right, I suppose a girl's mood is an universal subject. There is an adjective in italian language, LUNATICO, for describing moodiness and it refers to Lunar phases, because mood swings are regulars as phases of the MOON do. I notice a line in the lyric referring to Diana, goddess of the Moon; I suppose the meaning is the same also in Japanese language.

    Arigatou gozaimashita!

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  3. 10% no Ame Youhou is probably my favourite Japanese ear worm song from the 80s. Each time I hear it, it get stuck in my head for weeks and I can't help signing it. I always was of the opinion that H2O provided top tiers song for Miyuki, which is in big part, the main reason most people around me still remember that anime. It's both cheerful, pleasing, nostalgic with a light touch of sadness.

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    Replies
    1. Hello, Matthieu, and thanks very much for your comments. There's nothing like an anison that simultaneously sounds timeless and also like something of its time. "10% no Ame Youhou" is a great tune as a pick-me-up.

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