Lyrical Deep Dive: Kaze Series 3/4 秋風に手を振って - Autumn is the season of fracture

Today, the publication date of this writeup, is the 9th of August 2022, and marks 5 years since the release of Gin no Iruka to Atsui Kaze, the first installment of the series.

The MASTER SEASONS series of CD Albums tells a love story in 4 parts across 4 seasons, separated by several years. The first album came out in August 9th 2017 and the final part of the story was released on April 14th 2018. All 4 songs feature lyrics written by Mori Yuriko and feature the kanji for wind 風 (kaze) in the title. Together they represent one of the most unique collections of literature in all of Cinderella Girls. Akikaze ni Te o Futte (literally "swing hand in autumn wind") is the 2nd installment in the series and chronologically the 3rd part.

Akikaze is composed by Yoshi. Who also did hits like 夕映えプレゼント and S(mile)ING!. More recently they also worked on メモリーブロッサム. With a lot of more mid-energy and mellow songs under their portfolio it gives you an idea of what you expect.

As usual I would recommend reading the previous entries in the series for Twintail no Kaze and Gin no iruka to Atsui Kaze for the full story.

1. Lyrical Deep Dive: Kaze Series 1/4 ツインテールの風 - Winter is the season of falling in love
2. Lyrical Deep Dive: Kaze Series 2/4 銀のイルカと熱い風 - The binding thread of the seasons

Better strap in for this one, unlike the first filler part and the 2nd introduction part this one will get long.

Standard fare: Translations are not meant to be perfect English and comprehensible sentences to give the reader who may not understand Japanese a chance to derive meaning from the original literature with the original contextual clues, instead of having someone else already making that interpretation for you. Read the discussion under each section for some suggestion on the interpretations.

その時　透きとおる秋風が吹いたよ

At that time, the transparent autumn wind was blowing [you know]

What's that time? Just like Gin no Iruka to Atsui Kaze, there's an opening line to the song. But this one does not provide much context to the setting of the song. It only begins with mystery. Things that are yet unexplained.

久しぶり　やっと会えたね
それなのに会話途切れて
さみしげに木の葉が落ちる
言いかけた言葉　散らすみたい

It's been a while, at long last we could meet
Despite that, [our] conversation was interrupted
In sadness the leaves of trees fell
It's like the words [I] was about to say were scattered

Speaking of unexplained things, there's no information given at all on the character in this song. Anyway, the song starts with a very conversational line. It even uses standard expression that would be used in a conversation. Past that point, we're introduced to the theme and atmosphere of the song. We still don't have any idea about location, which is information that we would have received by this point in the other two songs.

What we can summarize is that it's been a while since the two characters have met. They're having some trouble holding a conversation for reasons yet unexplained. The overall atmosphere is a sad one rather than that of a happy reunion. The tree leaves falling is a something that is a thematic fit for the season, as it's one of the first "visual" metaphors that calls back directly to the season of autumn in this song, a season commonly associated with non evergreen trees shedding their leaves. The writer then uses this metaphor to tie it to the idea of words being scattered on the ground just like that of fallen leaves.

What can we infer from this? It tells us that perhaps a lot of time has passed since their last meeting. We don't know how much time has passed, but we do know that it is making the conversations quite awkward. The distance created between the two individuals by the passage of time appears to be a major theme. This was probably not the reunion talk that they expected.

あの日もらった銀のネックレス
はなればなれの絆　大事にしたけど

The silver necklace I received on that day
The scattered bonds I cherished but

Now this is a very informative section of the song because it does two things. One is that it acts as a callback to the previous song, the connecting thread to tie the two together in a concrete way. The second is that it reveals the identity of the singer.

First of all, "That day" refers to Gin no Iruka to Atsui kaze, their first date together. And the "silver necklace" refers to the silver dolphin necklace the male character bought for the girl in the shop. These are major elements of the earlier song. Without this, the lyrics of Akikaze would not be strongly linked to that event. If you take a look at the album art, you will note that there are zero silver dolphin necklaces in sight. Yumi is the only one wearing a neck accessory but it is obstructed by a flower bouquet.

Secondly, the verb to receive is being used here, which indicates that the subject and perspective the song is written from is actually the girl. In both prior songs discussed, they were written from the male's perspective, so this counts as a switch up to the meta that we have been familiar with up to this point.

My dear　教えて　あの日の二人は
今どこへ行ったの？　訊きたくて
でも想いを封(と)じ込めて黙った
何でも　あなたには言えたのに…
どうして

My dear tell me about the two on that day
Where did they go to? [I] wanted to enquire
But [I] shut the feelings and kept quiet
Even though for you I could have said anything
Why?

Continuing on the more solemn mood of the song, our girl wants to ask what has changed since the time of the last song. Something that we also would like to know. Unfortunately for her she couldn't get any of her feelings out. She knows something is wrong but won't address the elephant in the room here. They were close before and could talk about anything to each other but something has made her want to withhold her thoughts.

Small note on this part, the Kanji used in the 3rd line is 封（ふう）、封じ込める means "To shut in". The reading used to improve the flow of the song is と, and 閉じ込める means "to lock up". While the substitution would have conveyed just about the same meaning anyway, it's notable how the use of "to shut in" is deliberate in this case.

Now I'm terrible at identifying specific musical instruments, but in the pre-chorus segment, there's a bit of a riser created by these rapidly ascending notes. However, in the chorus there is very little that actually ascends, in fact we have a string of descending notes playing (by a string instrument) instead in one part probably to tie in the mood of the song. Now unfortunately I'm no expert at music theory but I can only assume there's much more tidbits that I'm missing out on here.

優しさは変わらないけど
見慣れないジャケット着て
横顔が遠い人みたい
懐かしい海を見ていても

[Your] gentleness hasn't changed but
[You] wear an unfamiliar jacket
[Your] face looks like a distant person
Even though [we're] looking at the nostalgic sea

Continuing the mystery of figuring out what has and hasn't changed. We've established that elements of the guy's personality has not changed but the appearance of the guy has. The distance here has many different meanings. Obviously from a distance it will be hard to recognize the face of a person. But this distance also calls back to the core issue of their relationship.

Also 横顔 has an implication of the side profile of the face, which is explained by the next line about looking towards a nostalgic sea. This means they aren't even looking at each other. It makes you think about the other potential implications here. Perhaps the male character was wearing a hooded jacket? That would make anyone's face unrecognizable from the side. We're not really told explicitly, and none of the arts related to this song feature any character wearing a hooded jacket, so this is just conjuncture really.

If you have noticed, so far we know very little about the location in which this song takes place in. In this song so far, the only clue we've gotten is the "nostalgic sea". We know from Gin no Iruka to Atsui Kaze that it took place in an aquarium that's close to the coastline. Is this the same place? Or are they just looking at the same sea from another part of the coastline. We don't really know for sure but we are told this to tie in the two song together a bit more.

なぜか些細なことで喧嘩して
はなればなれの右手　痛みを握ったよ

Why do we quarrel over insignificant things
[my] separated right hand is grasping on to pain

This part actually goes into some of the problems that they are experiencing in the relationship, something that has been largely glossed over until this point. It appears they have had some arguments. It's hard to say for sure what the cause of these arguments are. Perhaps they are simple misunderstandings, or perhaps their time spent apart has made them unable to reconcile differences between one another. Relationships aren't straightforward things and we know that it takes time and effort from both parties for a relationship to remain strong, resilient and last the test of time. Still, having some sort of conflict in the relationship isn't actually a bad thing. All good relationships need to be tested, and it is through the fires of conflict that the best relationships rise out of the ashes. Of course what would I know, you shouldn't be listening to some single mobile game nerd rambling about song lyrics for relationship advice

Now, does anyone remember Gin no Iruka to Atsui Kaze? Remember how in that song we actually had highly degenerate and lewd things like HANDHOLDING? Well, unfortunately for you disgusting fetishists, there is no handholding to be found here. The only thing she's holding tightly on to is pain. There are many things that could have hurt her and caused her pain. From the start of the song to now, we've been shown elements that could have been a contributing factor. Their relationship growing cold, the quarrels or everything feeling different to how it once was.

My dear　教えて　おとなになるって
ねぇ変わることなの？　何もかも
もうここから一人きり帰るわ
あれから三度目の秋風に
手を振って

My dear tell me about becoming adults
Is it about changing things? Anything and everything
Now from here I'll return [home] by myself
Since then it's the 3rd autumn breeze
I wave my hands [in]

Or perhaps, the thing that she despises the most is change itself? That's the feeling you get from this segment. Now it's easy to mistake this part and think that they've already become adults at this point, but it's clearly not that simple. She's asking why as they get older it feels like things are constantly changing, and that it feels like everything is going to change.

But she's had enough, it feels like she isn't going to be able to accomplish anything from standing around awkwardly gazing at the sea. She wants to go home alone. Maybe to have some space or some more time to think over what she's experiencing. Maybe to ponder over the question of what it means to grow up. Either way she's done for the day. Or so she thinks. It is almost fitting that starting an expression with もう depending on the intonation can also convey frustration, and frustration is what it comes off as when you piece together the puzzle so far.

Also, there's a subtle clue here. The last part of the chorus here tells us about a 3rd autumn breeze. Now if you recall at the beginning of the song there was something about the autumn breeze blowing "at that time". It is hard to believe that the autumn breeze was blowing in summer, so "that time" most likely did not refer to their first date. However, what seems more likely is that they have met up during the autumn for the past few years. How many years? 3 years by the clues given to us up to this point.

In Twintail no Kaze we learn that the pair are most likely close to about 10 or 11 years old at that time. No specified amount of time was given from between that and Gin no Iruka to Atsui Kaze , but we can infer that between then and now, 3 years have passed and that most definitely puts them in their teens, past elementary school and now in middle school. Perhaps when they graduated from elementary school they ended up moving to different schools. That's the most likely thing that can be inferred here to explain the clues that we've been given so far.

あの夏に帰りたい
騒がしい光に

[I] want to return to that summer
In that noisy light

In some ways, the past always looks better. Gin no iruka to Atsui Kaze was quite the exciting song with high energy levels and in contrast we're now looking at a melancholic low energy breakup song instead. Wait what do you mean that isn't what this is about?

Still, the description for the "light" is noisy or boisterous, which maybe is a good description for their experience of their first date.

Also this is the instrumental segment famous for failing people in the MASTER+ chart, but interestingly since this segment is about reminiscing, the notes actually travel up and down repeatedly. It sort of gives you the impression of wanting to escape, or being torn between the past and the present.

My dear　教えて　あの日の二人は
今どこへ行ったの？　訊きたくて
でも想いを封(と)じ込めて黙った
何でもあなたには言えたのに…

My dear tell me about the two on that day
Where did they go to? [I] wanted to enquire
But [I] shut the feelings and kept quiet
Even though for you I could have said anything

In some ways the positioning of this repetition of this 1st chorus resembles the act of reminiscing the date, when everything was fine and the relationship was great. The second half of this chorus takes on a slightly different nuance now with one that seems like that of regret. That she regret not asking this question. Maybe they could have avoided this by working things out slowly or having a good talk over the issues? But in the end, this is the path that she chose.

Musically, something that this repetition has that the first one doesn't is that it's dominated by quite a bit of arpeggios, which are a type of broken chords. It's an interesting little detail that might be easy to miss.

あなたの声に
私　振り向けないよ
くしゃくしゃにね　涙が止まらなくて

To your voice...
I can't turn around towards
Crumpled up, [my] tears couldn't stop

This is another thing new about this song is the relatively unusual. There's a bridge, then the chorus repeats and then there's another bridge or pre-chorus segment right here. This one is unlike the rest of the song and probably the most stand-out segment.

So what's going on at this point? The sequence of events tells us that the girl wanted to go home, and most likely the guy isn't stupid and doesn't want the girl to just walk out of the relationship like this. Unfortunately the girl is currently undergoing some teenage relationship crisis right now and is in a complete wreck. She doesn't want to present herself to him in this state.

Another interesting point to note is the difference in the singing in this part. It resembles something that is more like the weird style you hear in Demolish. (Interesting story about the singing direction on that song can be found in the respective deresute night stream. It's really quite funny.) It sounds like there's meant to be a bit of pain and anguish in the voice here.

Also this is the only occurrence of "I" in the song, and unlike the previous songs where the male pronoun for "I" was thrown around almost everywhere. This is a gender neutral "I" being used.

My dear　ごめんね　素直になれなくて
誰より好きだった
さよならを言っても

My dear I'm sorry [I] wasn't able to be honest
I loved you more than anyone else
Even after saying farewell

In the end, we have a tragic ending to this awkward dance. The relationship might have had a few problems in it, but love was not one of them. From what we can tell, the major factor was the amount of time they spent apart from each other creating that fracture in their relationship. After a long time that fracture created from time was what tore their relationship asunder.

Another nuance here is that the common Japanese expression さよなら is not really that commonly used when parting with someone unless you don't expect to see them in a while. It is more culturally appropriate to use something like また会いましょう (literally "let's meet again [at another time]") if you're expecting to see the person in the near future. In context saying さよなら marks the end of the relationship, making it more of a farewell than a goodbye.

In conclusion, Akikaze ni Te o Futte is an unusual song because it's a breakup song. We can't let Miki have a complete monopoly in breakup songs for imas now can we? There's a very strong sense of continuity in this song, it ties in to the last one very well and gives us a much better idea of the characters. It is also interestingly the first song from the perspective of the girl. They've had a dream date and an awkward breakup. Since we know that there's another part of the series, it's only a question of what lies next for this two individuals in the conclusion. Spoiler: It's heck of a lot more interesting than Ikenai GO AHEAD.

Thanks to everyone who has supported the series so far, I would like to announce that the final part of the Kaze saga will go live for everyone on the 3rd of September 2022, in line with the 7th anniversary for Starlight Stage. However, as an EXTRA BIG thank you to all the patreon supporters who have given me advice regarding some formatting and phrasing corrections for all my writeups, the draft for Sakura no Kaze is already available right now for them. If you would like to support what I do on patreon, you will also get early access to this final part and as well as all the other patreon exclusive bonuses.