Video MikitoP(愛島工房) ft. GUMI - "Ballerina Girl" バレリーコ (English Subtitles)

"By the time I realized its significance, it was over. The sound of our slippers echoes from the stairwell of the old school building..."

Sorry for the delay but I'm finally back online here in the US. (Vacation with family in South Carolina left me with minimal internet), and WOW what a song to come back to. I suppose I'll never look at the concept of two high-schoolers "getting it on" on a staircase (pretty trashy when I was in school a few years ago, hopefully still is) the same way again. This song isn't just a "secret" song about sex, it's a pretty deep story about how some people experience love and "growing up" (but not necessarily in a good, happy, or satisfying way as many of us can attest to from our HS years). For those who haven't heard of it before, I think it would be wise to read up on "The Black Swan" to better understand some of the text and references in the video. Several parts of the story are shaped by Japanese highschool life as well, ranging from some of the references in the intro and lyrics to the "odoriba" parts ("dance hall", as it was mistranslated on Nico in this case (or was it?!!), but also "landing"), which in reference to school and buildings generally refers to the landing of a stairwell, the kind of place you realistically might (and in fiction quite often do) hook-up with someone in a Japanese school building I suppose (*blush*). See that place below the girl's knees when she is sitting on the bannister? That floor reflected in the mirror? That is the "odoriba". But it is a creative kind of wordplay as I guess that is indeed her "stage" as she "dances" (has sex) with that guy she's into (I'm really subtle, so is MikitoP). It's funny, I didn't even know that term in English till I started teaching in Japan haha. Also we don't really have uwabaki (indoor shoes) in the west, so I translated it as "school slippers" (referring to those white, soft-soled shoes Japanese schoolkids wear). I hope people will not hate on this song too much for being "dirty" and will instead appreciate MikitoP's team's hard work (just look at all those amazing "film" artifacts they put into the song at times to make it look like a legit film reel screening!!), and the depth of the lyrics and how they refer to the sometimes painful and bittersweet lessons that teens learn when they take those first steps towards "growing up". All the ballerina poses probably don't refer to "those" kind of poses, but rather more how she is putting on a ballet performance like "The Black Swan" for that boy who she thinks is "the one" for her, although in the end the song is really about them having sex after school so it's not like you can polish that up too much lol. There's a few times MikitoP even drops some very blunt references, including her talking about bleeding during her first time and also the on-screen text 目合ひ, which literally means "sex". Also, that imagery with the slacks and skirt, that is basically as dirty as you are imagining most likely. I mean, that "heave ho" "up down" stuff is subtle too (lol) but I mean there is probably only one thing (person?!?, lol!) the guy is holding and lifting and it probably ain't a shrine at a festival (lol). Finally, the phrase 暗転 that appears in the "Fade to Black" part is in fact a stage direction in Japanese, but can also mean "things taking a turn for the worse" that coupled with the little pools of "light" that appear, probably tell a symbolic story about how the girl isn't really making headway with the boy (it seems like he leaves her or she gives up on him for double-timing eventually), and those little spots of light are the moments when things seem "ok" (aka probably when they're having sex (I'M SO SUBTLE!)). I'm not MikitoP or a mind-reader but I am just trying to help people understand the song a bit, so I can't set anything in stone, but if you have more questions I will try to elaborate in the future.

Original Upload: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm24108252
Instrumental: http://bit.ly/1ppjEBJ

Credits:
music&words　みきとP（mylist/19099704）Twitter @mikito_p_
illust　田中寛崇　http://gomnaga.org　@tanakahirotaka
movie　りゅうせー（mylist/7985102）@ryuuseee
engineer　友達募集P（mylist/22904031）@tomobop
-from the Love-Island Workshop 愛島工房 (MikitoP's Creative Group)

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