Singapore’s entry came from the recently-held Cosfest VI at Downtown East. I like Mexico’s dance moves. There are even some folks from “Itary”! Also, I can’t really tell through all the compression artefacts introduced by MPEG’s discrete cosine transform, but I think that Spanish girl looks pretty hawt. The Danish one too. And Australia is pretty sad… :(

One day, everyone will dance Hare Hare Yukai and world peace will finally be achieved.

First performance:

Second performance:

Rehearsal session:

They didn’t do the full 4-minute dance. How disappointing.

[ Via 萌えよ！アキバ人ブログ ]

And I wasn’t disappointed. Not only did her rendition of “Hare Hare Yukai” pwn all the other girls’ (yes, including Haruhi’s version), her version also has some cool lyrics variations that make the whole song way better.

I’ve translated both the original and Ryouko’s version to do a comparison…

Here’s a low quality rip of the song if you don’t have it.

Underlined portions differ from original.

Red: Hare Hare Yukai (Original)

Blue: Hare Hare Yukai (Ryouko Ver.)

Black: Common line

nazonazo mitai ni chikyuugi wo tokiakashitara
minna de doko made mo ikeru ne

If we can map out all of Earth’s mysteries,
We will be able to go to any place we want.

nazonazo mitai ni chikyuugi wo tokiakashitemo
watashi wa dokoka ewa ikenai

Even if we could map out all of Earth’s mysteries,
I still wouldn’t be able to go anywhere.

wakuwaku shitai to negainagara sugoshiteta yo
kanaete kureta no wa dare nano?

We spent our lives with anticipations and hopes,
But who is the one that grants them?

wakuwaku shitai to negainagara sugoshita kedo
kanaete kurenai wa dare mo ne

I spent my life with anticipations and hopes,
But no one is there to grant them.

jikan no hate made Boooon!!
Until the end of time, Boooon!!

WARP de LOOP na kono omoi wa
nanimokamo wo makikonda souzou de asobou

With a warp, this looping feeling
Swirls everything together and plays around with them.

WARP de LOOP na kono omoi wa
nanimokamo wo makikonda souzou de kowasou

With a warp, this looping feeling
Swirls everything together and destroys them.

aru hareta hi no koto
mahou ijou no yukai ga
kagirinaku furisosogu fukanou janai wa
ashita mata au toki warai nagara HUMMING
ureshisa wo atsumeyou
kantan nanda yo konna no
oikakete ne tsukamaete mite
ooki na yume & yume suki deshou?

On a particular sunny day,
A happiness greater than magic
Will pour down endlessly. It’s not impossible!
When we meet again tomorrow, we’ll laugh and hum a tune.
Let’s collect all the happiness,
It’s easy, there’s nothing to it.
Chase after them and try to catch them,
You love big dreams, right?

aru hareta hi no koto
mahou ijou no yukai ga
kagirinaku furisosogu fukanou jyanai no?
ashita mata au toki waratteru hyoujou de
jouhoutachi atsumeyou
kantan nanda yo konna no
oikaketara tsukamaeru no yo
ooki na yume & yume nagamete

On a particular sunny day,
A happiness greater than magic
Will pour down endlessly? Isn’t that impossible?
When we meet again tomorrow, I’ll be laughing
As I collect all the world’s information.
It’s easy, there’s nothing to it.
If I chase after them, I will catch them,
But I observe the big dreams from afar.

iroiro yosou ga dekisou de dekinai mirai
sore demo hitotsu dake wakaru yo

Anything is possible in the future where nothing is certain,
But I know that one thing is for sure.

iroiro yosou ga dekisou de dekinai mirai
sore demo sousa nara wakaru wa

Anything is possible in the future where nothing is certain,
But if I process the information, I can predict it.

kirakira hikatte atsui kumo no ue wo kazaru
hoshitachi ga kibou wo kureru to

Hanging above the thick clouds and shining brightly,
The stars will give me hope, I know it.

kirakira hikatte atsui kumo no ue wo kazaru
hoshitachi mo kibou towa chigau

Hanging above the thick clouds and shining brightly,
The stars are different from hopes.

jikan ni norou yo Byuuuuun!

Let’s ride time, Byuuuuun!

jikan ni noru kara Byuuuuun!!

Because I can ride time, Byuuuuun!!

CHEAP de COOL na toshigoro da mon
samishigaccha hazukashii yo nante ne iwasete

I’m at the cheap and cool age,
Please let me express my loneliness and shyness sometimes.

CHEAP de COOL na toshigoro demo
samishigariya hazukashisa wa itsumo jama desho

Even at the cheap and cool age,
Loneliness and shyness always get in the way, right?

te to te wo tsunaidara
mukau toko muteki desho
kagayaita hitomi niwa fukanou ga nai no
ue dake miteiru to namida mo kawaichau
“kawaritai!”
kokoro kara tsuyoku omou hodo tsutawaru
hashiridasu yo ushiro no hito mo oide yo
dokidoki suru deshou?

If we hold our hands together,
We’ll be invincible at our destination.
Nothing is impossible in these sparkling eyes.
Just look up and the tears will dry.
“I want to change!”
Shout from the bottom of your heart and it’ll be heard.
Break off running and leave the others behind.
Your heart is beating fast, right?

te to te wo tsunaidara
mukau toko ijigen ne
kagayaita hitomi niwa fukanou utsusu wa
ue dake miteiru to namida ga kawaku nara
“fukusei ne…”
kokoro kara tsuyoku omou hodo zannen
susumimashou ushiro ni iru wa kitto yo
dokidoki sasete yo?

If we hold our hands together,
We’ll be in another dimension at our destination.
Impossible things are reflected in those sparkling eyes.
If your tears dry just by looking up,
“Those must be fake…”
Shout from the bottom of your heart but it’s futile.
Break off running but I’ll still be behind.
Let my heart beat faster, okay?

Boooon!!
Boooon!!

WARP de LOOP na kono omoi wa
nanimokamo wo makikonda souzou de asobou

With a warp, this looping feeling
Swirls everything together and plays around with them.

WARP de LOOP na kono omoi wa
nanimokamo wo makikonda souzou de kowasou

With a warp, this looping feeling
Swirls everything together and destroys them.

aru hareta hi no koto
mahou ijou no yukai ga
kagirinaku furisosogu fukanou janai wa
ashita mata au toki warai nagara HUMMING
ureshisa wo atsumeyou
kantan nanda yo konna no
oikakete ne tsukamaete mite
ooki na yume & yume suki deshou?

On a particular sunny day,
A happiness greater than magic
Will pour down endlessly. It’s not impossible!
When we meet again tomorrow, we’ll laugh and hum a tune.
Let’s collect all the happiness,
It’s easy, there’s nothing to it.
Chase after them and try to catch them,
You love big dreams, right?

aru hareta hi no koto
mahou ijou no yukai ga
kagirinaku furisosogu fukanou jyanai no?
ashita mata au toki waratteru hyoujou de
jouhoutachi atsumeyou
kantan nanda yo konna no
oikaketara tsukamaeru no yo
ooki na yume & yume hoshii wa

On a particular sunny day,
A happiness greater than magic
Will pour down endlessly? Isn’t that impossible?
When we meet again tomorrow, I’ll be laughing
As I collect all the world’s information.
It’s easy, there’s nothing to it.
If I chase after them, I will catch them,
I want to have big dreams too.

Now you know why I think Ryouko’s version of the song rocks. The new lyrics basically turned the meaning of the entire song around! It’s so brilliantly done! And it fits Ryouko’s character so well. Okay I’ll stop my fanboying now…

Wait, just one more. RYOUKO RABU!!!

The lyrics for Hare Hare Yukai and Hare Hare Yukai ~Ver. Ryouko~ are also available from the usual place if you want to view them separately or, *gasp*, copy them for your sinister purposes.

P.S. I love Ryouko.

From animate.tv:

TVアニメーション『涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱』EDテーマ曲「ハレæ´ãƒ¬ãƒ¦ã‚«ã‚¤ã€ï¼ˆå¹³é‡Ž 綾／茅原実里／後藤邑子）の出荷枚数が10万枚を突破したことが、8月10日付け社団法人日本レコード協会の「ゴールド等認定作品認定（2006å¹´7月）」内にて正式にçºè¡¨ã•ã‚ŒãŸã€‚

「ゴールド等認定作品認定」とは日本レコード協会が毎月、çºå£²æ—¥ä»¥éã®ç´¯è¨ˆå‡ºè·æžšæ•°ã«å¿œã˜ã¦ã‚´ãƒ¼ãƒ«ãƒ‰ã€ãƒ—ラチナ等の認定を行っているもので、「ハレæ´ãƒ¬ãƒ¦ã‚«ã‚¤ã€ã¯5月10日のçºå£²ã‹ã‚‰2ヶ月で10万枚以上出荷の「ゴールド」に認定された。

Lazy DM’s condensed translation:

Recording Industry Association of Japan announced on 10 August that “Hare Hare Yukai” has sold 100,000 copies and has been awarded the “Gold Certified Product Award” (or some silly name like that). RIAJ grades CDs into categories like Gold and Platinum according to the sales. “Hare Hare Yukai” sold 100,000 copies in two months from its release on 10 May.

And yes, I do plan on sticking Chibi Haruhi into every single post related to her from now on. :3