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akinoameNow, for this music video, I'm working off three different subs—TV-Nihon's translation, done by takenoko, and the two Over-Time translations, the "Fabulous" version done by Magenta, now of Aesir Subs, and the "Manly" version done by Heat-Metal. There were also two other edits of the video, focusing on either Eiji or Ankh, but there's nothing really to cover that can't be covered here.
The video opens simply, with a trio of peacock feathers against Ankh's red silk, along with the title of the song in plain font. Apologies for the TVN credits and subs there, but that's the version I have on my hard drive for screencap purposes. While I do have the DVD, it's not Region 1, so I can't play it without jumping through a lot of hoops I really don't care to. Kinda sucks.
But the opening is so quiet and simple that when the music actually starts, with a German-language chorus singing in bass tones while Eiji and Ankh stand underneath a dome with flashing starlights, it's kind of a shock. There's also this great blink-and-miss it bit where the light fades out on Eiji and Ankh and flashes again for a moment on TaJaDor in their place, almost as foreshadowing for the final battle. Is it obvious that this is my favorite song from OOO? All three raise their hands into the air, then bring them down as Eiji and Ankh sing out, "Time judged all!" and the flashing starlight goes insane, patterns of light and shadow playing over them.
The first verse takes place under the light show, before moving to Eiji grabbing an old-fashioned microphone while Ankh dances in the background. At least, it looks like he's dancing. He's kind of swaying side to side like he's desperately hoping Eiji doesn't turn around and see him. Then Ankh takes the mic and...
Starts putting his hand to his head and really getting into this whole rock idol thing. Yeah. This is going to be a trip.
In fact, this is kind of the whole thing going on during the first third of the video—you have Eiji looking uncertain, because this is his image song during a confusing time in his life, and Ankh dancing and overall looking smug because THIS IS HIS IMAGE SONG, BITCH, AND HE'S GONNA ROCK IT.
So, after all that spectacle, what is the first verse even about? This, I think, is where the biggest difference lies among the three subs.
According to TV-Nihon, "der schnittpunkt von zwei wünsche[n]" is about the "intersection" between two wishes. And I ran "schnittpunkt" through Google Translate, and yeah. That's it. But both of the Over-Time versions translate this as "two desires shall clash together." Not necessarily as accurate, especially because I'm getting the sense that "schnittpunkt" refers specifically to a "meeting place," which could honestly work. The "meeting place" between two wishes, with the starlight dome as a metaphor for TaJaDor. But as for "clash"—this, I think, is a matter of interpretation, and it really depends on how you view this first third of the song and Eiji Ankh's relationship as a whole.
In a way, verse 1 is Eiji's verse. He opens it off and sings about desires scattered all around—whether in abstract, as takenoko and Magenta go for, or that these desires are specifically scattered around him, as Heat-Metal translates. Ankh takes over and insists that taking them might make a wish come true—"your" wish, according to takenoko and Magenta, and his own according to Heat-Metal. Eiji insists that everyone keeps "losing their freedom," and I'm absolutely coming back to that in the endpoint analysis. Ankh, however, insists that shouldn't matter and any means necessary should be used to get what you want. This prompts Eiji to just barely glance over his shoulder, somewhere between disgust and regret.
Eiji asks why they met, Ankh pointing out that it was after his long sleep. But there's no time for either one of them to think about the implications because "someone is calling out"—"to us" [Magenta], "for help" [Heat-Metal], or each of them crying in unison "for me" [takenoko], implying the other might be calling out. I like that little bit of ambiguity, and how all three translations took it their own way. It's really up to interpretation
Their question foreshadows the first chorus: "Time judged all unmei, cross suru 'ima'." To condense the three translations, which all basically fall in line with each other, Time itself is judging their fates as they intersect in the present, even as they rise to the sky. There is a flame in their, or Eiji's, heart that will burn through the darkness as the miraculous—or as Heat-Metal puts it, "seraphic" (I will come back to this)—power of their union, TaJaDor, makes its entrance.
In the second verse, Eiji and Ankh finally confront each other, standing against a stark, white background with just a microphone between them and...
Oh, for the love of Kosh, GET A ROOM.
Dear god, the sexual tension is dripping in this one. And I say this while fully believing that Eiji is on the asexuality spectrum—this is just the two of them seriously needing to bone one another. This is all they're really fighting about. I mean, to his credit, Eiji does fight back against Ankh's tendency to grab him all the time. But yeah.
However, it is Ankh's turn to start showing some vulnerability, everything he usually doesn't let Eiji see. But they're finally starting to treat it as a duet, both taking their own mics and also the whole mic of sexual tension:
Any closer, and they'd be kissing. Magenta, I don't think you needed to do much to make this more "fabulous" than it already is.
So, jokes aside, this is Ankh's verse, and it deals more with the "clash," as well as the "intersection." He introduces a philosophical argument—in his view, everyone just does whatever the hell they want (as seen back in episodes 3 and 4). When Eiji throws his hand off, he argues that Ankh's wrong, and that people—or at least just him, according to TVN—only want to live a life without regrets. This is a reference to his original image song, "Regret Nothing ~Tighten Up," where he reveals he just wants to live in a way so he can regret nothing, what with all the regrets he already has. So...TVN might have the stronger one on this particular line. Just for apparently catching the reference. But both O-T subs have Ankh in the next line lamenting that they just don't agree on anything, whereas takenoko has him lamenting that he really can't "confront him," which doesn't work quite as well with what they all kind of do agree on—that for all of Ankh's and Eiji's disagreements in philosophy, they still stood together against the same darkness to try to create a future. So...kudos, guys? For something totally unintentional?
The first line of the second chorus, "Time judged all unmei mawari dashitara," however, is very ambiguous, so they all have something different. takenoko has it as "Time judged all fates; if we turn around..." hinting that it's going into the next line, which Heat-Metal mostly seems to agree with: "Time judged all our fates as we fly in circles," and Magenta has "Time judged all, if fate begins to make its move..." The next line is just as difficult: "Time judged all tomaranai owari kuru made." But they all basically agree that nothing is going to stop Time from judging everything until the end...I guess, the end of time? Likewise, all of the subs agree on Ankh and Eiji admitting that their two separate wishes are clashing, but it still creates the power of TaJaDor.
The third and final verse starts to slow things down, with Ankh in his most woobie moment ever, looking like he saw what's coming in the finale and isn't looking forward to it, while Eiji sings almost wistfully. TaJaDor's eyes glow as starlight gathers around him, finally creating a small, exploding sun he carries in his hands. The music picks up at this point, while Ankh and Eiji stand back-to-back again and cry out, "Fly up, TaJaDor/Time Judged All!" Light and shadow play over them again as the guitar plays, making it hard to tell where Eiji disappears and Ankh appears. Ankh stares at his Medals for a moment and tosses them into the air, leaving Eiji alone in the light before the chorus.
While the overall wording of Ankh's first line differs among the subs, the general sentiment is the same—he's mourning a future moment that's now finally coming. Likewise, they all agree that Eiji is determined not to do something he'll regret again. But because these are fragments, it's hard to connect them to the next line, "oozora yori hateshinai chikara de tachi-mukae." They all agree that Eiji and Ankh will use the power "more vast than the skies"—although I will say that Heat-Metal is unusually less poetic, simply stating that it's an "unstoppable power"—to face "it." Takenoko doesn't say what "it" is, I guess leaving it to interpretation whether it's the enemy or themselves. Magenta doesn't mince words and says it's their fears they're facing. Heat-Metal only says they will "rise up," which gets the overall same sense as Magenta's, but it kind of undermines the "Fly up, TaJaDor/Time Judged All" line coming next. And yeah, I wrote it that way because in the OOO image songs (barring "Regret Nothing," mind you, since it was shoehorned in as a TaToBa song), there's always a moment in the end where Eiji switches from saying the title in the lyrics to finally naming the combo. The lyrics, however, will always continue to say the title drop. And it's hard to hear in the video, but whenever I listen to the song, I always get the sense that one of the two is saying "Time Judged All" while the other is saying "TaJaDor," but their voices blend together so well that I can't tell which is saying which.
Both choruses are combined, with slightly different inflected notes for dramatic effect. At the end, Eiji stares defiantly toward the sky, reaching out his hand. Ankh holds out both of his hands, raising his right. Both vow to use the Medals they've taken back to spread their wings and take flight. Once again, they stand back to back, raising and lowering one hand as they announce the entrance of that miraculous power with a cry and stars explode and shower down around them.
Now, generally, I don't try to get involved in the sub wars between TVN and O-T/Aesir. They handle things differently—TVN usually tries for a more literal sub, which often leads to them leaving honorifics or certain words untranslated. O-T and Aesir try to get the overall feel of the work, even if it means inaccurate translations, just so they can get the same effect. It's up to your own preference, and I have mine and I'll discuss them more when I review Fourze, Go-Busters, and Gaim. But as far as this particular review goes, I will say this:
Depending on which sub you watch, "Time Judged All" is either about the clash of two opposing personalities and how they work together despite it, or about the combination of two opposing personalities and how they work together through it. The O-T subs both say this is the "clash" of two desires and focus on their disagreement, setting the second verse as more symptomatic of their relationship. TVN's, on the other hand, goes with a more literal translation as the "intersection" of two desires, thereby admitting that while they don't agree, they still come together; the importance of the second verse, then, is that they finally confront each other, even if they're never going to make the other see it his way.
Personally, though, I have to recommend both takenoko and Magenta's translations. Again, I think a lot of your preference is going to depend on if you see Eiji and Ankh as friends who come together through their differences, or friends who come together despite their differences. Otherwise, they're basically the same thing. What differs is how you see them—which I guess, in retrospect, makes takenoko's more "fabulous." Not that it's hard to top the microphone of sexual tension to begin with.
Heat-Metal's translation is kind of an outlier, and it's weird. Overall, he tries to sound more poetic, with lines like "the advent of seraphic power," but it comes off as clunky, and some of the poetry falls flat. Specifically in the case of "seraphic" as a translation for "kiseki," which the others did as "miraculous." Seraphic means "like a seraph," which is a very specific kind of angel. And sure, TaJaDor and Ankh in general have angelic imagery, but I wouldn't go so far as to say a seraph specifically. The seraphim do indeed have six wings, but they only use two to fly. The other four are covering their faces and feet. Because quite honestly, angels in the Old Testament are horrifying heaven-beasts. Yes, seraphim are associated with "fires of charity," but that still feels like a stretch to associate with TaJaDor, particularly when there's no specific religious symbolism about him. Not like there is in Gaim, for example. TaJaDor looks angelic, maybe. Ankh does too when he manifests his wings. But if Ankh's an angel, he's doing a shitty job of praising any higher power or performing acts of mercy or just even trying to be nice. Eiji only even became TaJaDor in the first place because Eiji hid one of Ankh's Medals, and Hina had to convince him to let Eiji use any of them just to survive a battle. And his final appearance in the series is because of sacrifice—Ankh knowing he was going to die and deciding that he would use the last of his power to keep Eiji from giving up his humanity. Ankh is selfish, and this is his strength even in the end—Eiji is someone he cares about, cares about enough to give up his life. An angel wouldn't be able to be that good.
Ultimately, Magenta and takenoko have the best translations because they don't try to go beyond the text of the song, trying to match things literally while also letting the action of the music video further their interpretations. Magenta sees the ways Eiji and Ankh disagree while takenoko sees how they come together. And the one you like most will depend on how you think about them too.
"Time Judged All" was performed by Shu Watanabe as Eiji Hino and Ryosuke Miura as Ankh. Chorus performed by Hyuga Rei and Mami Yanagi. Kamen Rider OOO's appearances were likely performed by Seiji Takaiwa. Lyrics by Shoko Fujibayashi, with AYANO on guitar. No credits for direction were available at the end of the music video, and any additional credits I can find in the lyric book for the CD-Box are all in Japanese.
The video opens simply, with a trio of peacock feathers against Ankh's red silk, along with the title of the song in plain font. Apologies for the TVN credits and subs there, but that's the version I have on my hard drive for screencap purposes. While I do have the DVD, it's not Region 1, so I can't play it without jumping through a lot of hoops I really don't care to. Kinda sucks.
But the opening is so quiet and simple that when the music actually starts, with a German-language chorus singing in bass tones while Eiji and Ankh stand underneath a dome with flashing starlights, it's kind of a shock. There's also this great blink-and-miss it bit where the light fades out on Eiji and Ankh and flashes again for a moment on TaJaDor in their place, almost as foreshadowing for the final battle. Is it obvious that this is my favorite song from OOO? All three raise their hands into the air, then bring them down as Eiji and Ankh sing out, "Time judged all!" and the flashing starlight goes insane, patterns of light and shadow playing over them.
The first verse takes place under the light show, before moving to Eiji grabbing an old-fashioned microphone while Ankh dances in the background. At least, it looks like he's dancing. He's kind of swaying side to side like he's desperately hoping Eiji doesn't turn around and see him. Then Ankh takes the mic and...
Starts putting his hand to his head and really getting into this whole rock idol thing. Yeah. This is going to be a trip.
In fact, this is kind of the whole thing going on during the first third of the video—you have Eiji looking uncertain, because this is his image song during a confusing time in his life, and Ankh dancing and overall looking smug because THIS IS HIS IMAGE SONG, BITCH, AND HE'S GONNA ROCK IT.
So, after all that spectacle, what is the first verse even about? This, I think, is where the biggest difference lies among the three subs.
According to TV-Nihon, "der schnittpunkt von zwei wünsche[n]" is about the "intersection" between two wishes. And I ran "schnittpunkt" through Google Translate, and yeah. That's it. But both of the Over-Time versions translate this as "two desires shall clash together." Not necessarily as accurate, especially because I'm getting the sense that "schnittpunkt" refers specifically to a "meeting place," which could honestly work. The "meeting place" between two wishes, with the starlight dome as a metaphor for TaJaDor. But as for "clash"—this, I think, is a matter of interpretation, and it really depends on how you view this first third of the song and Eiji Ankh's relationship as a whole.
In a way, verse 1 is Eiji's verse. He opens it off and sings about desires scattered all around—whether in abstract, as takenoko and Magenta go for, or that these desires are specifically scattered around him, as Heat-Metal translates. Ankh takes over and insists that taking them might make a wish come true—"your" wish, according to takenoko and Magenta, and his own according to Heat-Metal. Eiji insists that everyone keeps "losing their freedom," and I'm absolutely coming back to that in the endpoint analysis. Ankh, however, insists that shouldn't matter and any means necessary should be used to get what you want. This prompts Eiji to just barely glance over his shoulder, somewhere between disgust and regret.
Eiji asks why they met, Ankh pointing out that it was after his long sleep. But there's no time for either one of them to think about the implications because "someone is calling out"—"to us" [Magenta], "for help" [Heat-Metal], or each of them crying in unison "for me" [takenoko], implying the other might be calling out. I like that little bit of ambiguity, and how all three translations took it their own way. It's really up to interpretation
Their question foreshadows the first chorus: "Time judged all unmei, cross suru 'ima'." To condense the three translations, which all basically fall in line with each other, Time itself is judging their fates as they intersect in the present, even as they rise to the sky. There is a flame in their, or Eiji's, heart that will burn through the darkness as the miraculous—or as Heat-Metal puts it, "seraphic" (I will come back to this)—power of their union, TaJaDor, makes its entrance.
In the second verse, Eiji and Ankh finally confront each other, standing against a stark, white background with just a microphone between them and...
Oh, for the love of Kosh, GET A ROOM.
Dear god, the sexual tension is dripping in this one. And I say this while fully believing that Eiji is on the asexuality spectrum—this is just the two of them seriously needing to bone one another. This is all they're really fighting about. I mean, to his credit, Eiji does fight back against Ankh's tendency to grab him all the time. But yeah.
However, it is Ankh's turn to start showing some vulnerability, everything he usually doesn't let Eiji see. But they're finally starting to treat it as a duet, both taking their own mics and also the whole mic of sexual tension:
Any closer, and they'd be kissing. Magenta, I don't think you needed to do much to make this more "fabulous" than it already is.
So, jokes aside, this is Ankh's verse, and it deals more with the "clash," as well as the "intersection." He introduces a philosophical argument—in his view, everyone just does whatever the hell they want (as seen back in episodes 3 and 4). When Eiji throws his hand off, he argues that Ankh's wrong, and that people—or at least just him, according to TVN—only want to live a life without regrets. This is a reference to his original image song, "Regret Nothing ~Tighten Up," where he reveals he just wants to live in a way so he can regret nothing, what with all the regrets he already has. So...TVN might have the stronger one on this particular line. Just for apparently catching the reference. But both O-T subs have Ankh in the next line lamenting that they just don't agree on anything, whereas takenoko has him lamenting that he really can't "confront him," which doesn't work quite as well with what they all kind of do agree on—that for all of Ankh's and Eiji's disagreements in philosophy, they still stood together against the same darkness to try to create a future. So...kudos, guys? For something totally unintentional?
The first line of the second chorus, "Time judged all unmei mawari dashitara," however, is very ambiguous, so they all have something different. takenoko has it as "Time judged all fates; if we turn around..." hinting that it's going into the next line, which Heat-Metal mostly seems to agree with: "Time judged all our fates as we fly in circles," and Magenta has "Time judged all, if fate begins to make its move..." The next line is just as difficult: "Time judged all tomaranai owari kuru made." But they all basically agree that nothing is going to stop Time from judging everything until the end...I guess, the end of time? Likewise, all of the subs agree on Ankh and Eiji admitting that their two separate wishes are clashing, but it still creates the power of TaJaDor.
The third and final verse starts to slow things down, with Ankh in his most woobie moment ever, looking like he saw what's coming in the finale and isn't looking forward to it, while Eiji sings almost wistfully. TaJaDor's eyes glow as starlight gathers around him, finally creating a small, exploding sun he carries in his hands. The music picks up at this point, while Ankh and Eiji stand back-to-back again and cry out, "Fly up, TaJaDor/Time Judged All!" Light and shadow play over them again as the guitar plays, making it hard to tell where Eiji disappears and Ankh appears. Ankh stares at his Medals for a moment and tosses them into the air, leaving Eiji alone in the light before the chorus.
While the overall wording of Ankh's first line differs among the subs, the general sentiment is the same—he's mourning a future moment that's now finally coming. Likewise, they all agree that Eiji is determined not to do something he'll regret again. But because these are fragments, it's hard to connect them to the next line, "oozora yori hateshinai chikara de tachi-mukae." They all agree that Eiji and Ankh will use the power "more vast than the skies"—although I will say that Heat-Metal is unusually less poetic, simply stating that it's an "unstoppable power"—to face "it." Takenoko doesn't say what "it" is, I guess leaving it to interpretation whether it's the enemy or themselves. Magenta doesn't mince words and says it's their fears they're facing. Heat-Metal only says they will "rise up," which gets the overall same sense as Magenta's, but it kind of undermines the "Fly up, TaJaDor/Time Judged All" line coming next. And yeah, I wrote it that way because in the OOO image songs (barring "Regret Nothing," mind you, since it was shoehorned in as a TaToBa song), there's always a moment in the end where Eiji switches from saying the title in the lyrics to finally naming the combo. The lyrics, however, will always continue to say the title drop. And it's hard to hear in the video, but whenever I listen to the song, I always get the sense that one of the two is saying "Time Judged All" while the other is saying "TaJaDor," but their voices blend together so well that I can't tell which is saying which.
Both choruses are combined, with slightly different inflected notes for dramatic effect. At the end, Eiji stares defiantly toward the sky, reaching out his hand. Ankh holds out both of his hands, raising his right. Both vow to use the Medals they've taken back to spread their wings and take flight. Once again, they stand back to back, raising and lowering one hand as they announce the entrance of that miraculous power with a cry and stars explode and shower down around them.
Now, generally, I don't try to get involved in the sub wars between TVN and O-T/Aesir. They handle things differently—TVN usually tries for a more literal sub, which often leads to them leaving honorifics or certain words untranslated. O-T and Aesir try to get the overall feel of the work, even if it means inaccurate translations, just so they can get the same effect. It's up to your own preference, and I have mine and I'll discuss them more when I review Fourze, Go-Busters, and Gaim. But as far as this particular review goes, I will say this:
Depending on which sub you watch, "Time Judged All" is either about the clash of two opposing personalities and how they work together despite it, or about the combination of two opposing personalities and how they work together through it. The O-T subs both say this is the "clash" of two desires and focus on their disagreement, setting the second verse as more symptomatic of their relationship. TVN's, on the other hand, goes with a more literal translation as the "intersection" of two desires, thereby admitting that while they don't agree, they still come together; the importance of the second verse, then, is that they finally confront each other, even if they're never going to make the other see it his way.
Personally, though, I have to recommend both takenoko and Magenta's translations. Again, I think a lot of your preference is going to depend on if you see Eiji and Ankh as friends who come together through their differences, or friends who come together despite their differences. Otherwise, they're basically the same thing. What differs is how you see them—which I guess, in retrospect, makes takenoko's more "fabulous." Not that it's hard to top the microphone of sexual tension to begin with.
Heat-Metal's translation is kind of an outlier, and it's weird. Overall, he tries to sound more poetic, with lines like "the advent of seraphic power," but it comes off as clunky, and some of the poetry falls flat. Specifically in the case of "seraphic" as a translation for "kiseki," which the others did as "miraculous." Seraphic means "like a seraph," which is a very specific kind of angel. And sure, TaJaDor and Ankh in general have angelic imagery, but I wouldn't go so far as to say a seraph specifically. The seraphim do indeed have six wings, but they only use two to fly. The other four are covering their faces and feet. Because quite honestly, angels in the Old Testament are horrifying heaven-beasts. Yes, seraphim are associated with "fires of charity," but that still feels like a stretch to associate with TaJaDor, particularly when there's no specific religious symbolism about him. Not like there is in Gaim, for example. TaJaDor looks angelic, maybe. Ankh does too when he manifests his wings. But if Ankh's an angel, he's doing a shitty job of praising any higher power or performing acts of mercy or just even trying to be nice. Eiji only even became TaJaDor in the first place because Eiji hid one of Ankh's Medals, and Hina had to convince him to let Eiji use any of them just to survive a battle. And his final appearance in the series is because of sacrifice—Ankh knowing he was going to die and deciding that he would use the last of his power to keep Eiji from giving up his humanity. Ankh is selfish, and this is his strength even in the end—Eiji is someone he cares about, cares about enough to give up his life. An angel wouldn't be able to be that good.
Ultimately, Magenta and takenoko have the best translations because they don't try to go beyond the text of the song, trying to match things literally while also letting the action of the music video further their interpretations. Magenta sees the ways Eiji and Ankh disagree while takenoko sees how they come together. And the one you like most will depend on how you think about them too.
"Time Judged All" was performed by Shu Watanabe as Eiji Hino and Ryosuke Miura as Ankh. Chorus performed by Hyuga Rei and Mami Yanagi. Kamen Rider OOO's appearances were likely performed by Seiji Takaiwa. Lyrics by Shoko Fujibayashi, with AYANO on guitar. No credits for direction were available at the end of the music video, and any additional credits I can find in the lyric book for the CD-Box are all in Japanese.