Himawari-gumi, "Tonari no banana"

Second request, with a particular question I'll address in the comments.

"Tonari no banana" (The banana on the other side)
(from Himawari-gumi 2nd stage "Yume wo shinaseru wake ni ikanai")
Himawari-gumi (Kasai Tomomi, Ono Erena / Kobayashi Kana, Oku Manami)

words: Akimoto Yasushi
music: Maeyamada Ken'ichi
point of view: female (two people)
theme: teenage song
original lyrics


listen to Tonari no banana on youtube

Banana banana...

"Even if I look like this, I'm quite an adult
I wear clothes that make me look more slender than I actually am, but I'm surprisingly glamorous nonetheless...
I wear adult makeup, and I have quite a bit of experience in love, too... Yeah!"

"You're still a little kid
You just look pretentious
Baby, go home"

The banana on the other side of the fence is too green
Friends who have no secrets are boring
Doing this and that, we ripen
We hope we'll turn into delicious bananas... V!

"They call people like me 'adults'
I even know the name of the American president,
the characters for the word 'sasuga (as expected)', and I worry about the pension problem... Yeah!"

"But you cry for horror movies
And you eat your sushi without wasabi
Baby, stop pretending you're older"

The banana on the other side of the fence is hard to peel
The skin that protects it is too hard
It will turn sweeter just thanks to curiosity
We hope we'll turn into delicious bananas... Yes!

"The other day I had free time so I read the morning newspaper.
Aren't I an adult?"
"People who can eat the skin of eels are adults, aren't they?"

The banana on the other side of the fence is hard to peel
The skin that protects it is too hard
We, too, one day,
Will be delicious bananas...

The banana on the other side of the fence is too green
Friends who have no secrets are boring
Doing this and that, we ripen
Please eat us, two delicious bananas... V!

NOTES
- "Tonari no banana" literally means "The neighbour's banana" (cough...) or "The banana next to me", but when we see it in the context of each chorus's first line, it's actually a pun over the saying "Tonari no shiba wa aoku mieru", which is none other than the good old "The grass is greener on the other side of the fence". "Aoi" (green) might also mean "unripen" when referred to fruits.
- "V!" at the end of the chorus stands for "victory". It doesn't have a particular meaning here, just like "yeah".
- Tomomi claims I know the characters for the word 'sasuga'. "Sasuga" ("as expected") is a fairly common word but it's usually written in hiragana, the Japanese 'alphabet'. Being able to write it in kanji characters is not a common feat, especially among youngsters.
- In the second part, Erena reveals that Tomomi still eats sushi without wasabi (and grilled eel without its greasy skin, to mention another part of the song). Wasabi is considered a food for adults since it's so hot, but, unlike Western sushi places where it's served at the side, Japanese sushi has a thin layer of wasabi spread between the fish and rice, so you have to order a wasabi-less sushi expressedly.

Comment
The question from the person who requested this song was:

I was wondering if you could analyze tonari no banana sometime if you have the chance xD I love that song and I know it's got a kind of adult edge to it (my friend from japan started laughing when she heard the lyrics) but I want to know in a more concrete sense why it's more adult.

Well, if we look at the song literally, we have two girls talking to each other about acting grownup while they're actually still young girls. It looks quite innocent.
But the sexual innuendo is clearly there, albeit in a jokingly way. I think "banana" in this case doesn't stand for what you all are thinking about right now, but for a sexually mature girl. The girls singing are still "unripe", the "skin" protects the fruit inside them; and the fruit can only ripen thanks to curiosity (quite obviously, the sexual curiosity most teenagers feel).
For once, this is an AKB song about virginity that doesn't talk about girls wanting to give it away as soon as possible, but contains hints about giving oneself time to grow up without acting like an adult, and only then do it.

Himawari-gumi - "Mori e ikou"

And lastly, the song that ranked 3rd in the poll: Himawari-gumi's beautiful "Mori e ikou".
Sorry for the wait! I have been out of town for a few days, and this is not a song to review in a hurry. I have so many things to say about it...

I'll do a single next, and then some more random songs from those shortlisted in the poll.


"Mori e ikou" (Let's go to the forest)
(from Himawari-gumi 2nd stage "Yume wo shinaseru wake ni ikanai")
Himawari-gumi

words: Akimoto Yasushi
music: Shusui, Stefan Aberg
point of view: third person
theme: allegory/story
original lyrics


listen to Mori e ikou on youtube

The adults always used to say
"You must not play in the forest"
Without even being told the reason,
The children were scared of the forest

It was a distant world
Enclosed among the thick trees
Where you can't even see the path

Someone shouted
"Even in that place there surely is some light..."
Just like there is hope in every sadness
The sun in the sky won't forsake it

But the adults frowned
They whispered to each other
"If we go to the forest we won't be able to come back"
And turned their back on the forest

What kind of magical creatures live there?

Someone pointed their finger
"If there's shadow there absolutely must be light..."
Just like tomorrow comes even for the deepest despair
The wind lets the sun filter through the trees to show us

"The light is overflowing in this world"
Even if the long Winter nights are pitch black
If you look up at the sky
You will see the stars

Let's softly close our eyes and remember
There is a divine light that reaches our hearts
Let's go to the forest

Someone shouted
"Even in that place there surely is some light..."
Just like there is hope in every sadness
The sun in the sky won't forsake it
"The light is overflowing in this world"
Even if the long Winter nights are pitch black
If you look up at the sky
You will see the stars

Comment
"Mori e ikou" is one of the best conceived AKB48 songs. The atmosphere is created by the perfect joining of lyrics, music, stage setting, even outfits.
Just like a fairytale, this tale is an allegory. Adults keep the children away from the wood, a mysterious and unknown place, because they are scared of the darkness that is inside of it. However, someone suddenly shouts the obvious truth: if there is darkness, there must be light. The sun must filter through the thick trees. There is no need to be afraid of the wood. But the adults frown and walk away, leaving the children with their doubts ("What kind of magical creatures live there?"). Yet, the children decide to start their journey through the wood
What this allegoric tales refers to is clear, but it does not mean it is weak. The wood represents one's fears and pain, the dark side. The "adults" do not want to face them for fear of suffering, and they especially want to shelter their children from pain, fear and despair they might encounter when facing the wood.
Nonetheless, the "children", those who mantain an innocent, naive and sometimes even reckless attitude to life, are curious and are somehow attracted to the wood. They see it for what it is, as shown in "someone"'s words: a dark place, yes, but a place that must be crossed in order to see the real light. Without making one's way through the wood, that is to say through pain and the facing of one's fears, one cannot grow up.

Many people have speculated how "Beginner" touched upon this theme (children who are too sheltered from pain), especially in the second verse. It might be true but while "Beginner" revolved around a different central theme ("finding the meaning of living through pain"), "Mori e ikou" focuses primarily on it, and is a deep, painful metaphor of growing up.