(Or try the izna version link, which is similarly amazing, I recommend it if you’ve never listened to Shibayan Records, as Shibayan’s music usually has a slow buildup for the second half of his oft long songs)
Izna Remix


Lyrics Context:
An arrangement of the song “Lunar Clock ~ Lunar Dial” from the game 東方紅魔郷 ~ Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, used as the boss theme for a maid that throws silver knives and can stop time, Sakuya Izayoi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o1dBMgZq_s#t=2m22s

The song attempts to create a scene in the past to create their own backstory of how this character came to be…

Which is something like, A vampire hunter, Sakuya who can stop time fights a vampire, Remilia who has the power to control fate. The song takes place in the infinity between when the hunter stopped time…and the moment they realized that nothing would change. I hope I capture it with my translation.

The lyrics are intentionally written in such a way that the vampire in this case could simultaneously be either her enemy or her master — I couldn’t find a way to fit both in one translation, so I tried to capture both as much as I could (as it is in the canon of Touhou Project as a whole).

Notes below, some of the lyrics are marked with a (*) or something in parenthesis – these are intentionally vague statements that the lyrics leave ambiguous. The heavy use of English creates a further level of ambiguity to certain parts, I think it’s part of the fun with the ambiguity. If you see something that sounds off in the English translation, that is most likely because converting the sentence while keeping the nuance and keeping the tense that is used requires some…creative English itself.


Lyrics:

---

(1:45 -> 2:00)
あきあきする様な退屈の狭間に
Anybody 立ち入ることさえも出来ない
akiaki suru you na taikutsu no hazama ni
anybody tachiiru koto sae mo dekinai
None may trespass, not anybody into this sickeningly tedious time frame.

Visionary 描いた妄想は確かに
visionary egaita mousou wa tashika ni
The delusion, as the visionary had drawn out –

Clearly 見えてた何もかも止まって
clearly mieteta nani mo ka mo tomatte
Clearly, everything and anything has stopped.

---

(2:00 -> 2:07)
異世界孤独を弄ぶ crazy
isekai kodoku wo moteasobu crazy
Messing (*[0]) with otherworldly isolation – crazy –

脳裏に映りこむ５秒後 frenzy
nouri ni utsurikomu gobyougo frenzy
The frenzy of 5 seconds projects into my mind.

---

(2:08 -> 2:15)
愛しい貴女と繋がるの telepathy
itoshii anata to tsunagaru no telepathy
The binding telepathy with you, my dearest;

見えない絆に従うわ loyalty
mienai kizuna ni shitagau wa loyalty
An unseeable bond I will certainly obey – loyalty (*[1]).

---

(2:15 -> 2:30)
Irregular ざわつく胸騒ぎ感じて
irregular zawatsuku munasawagi kan’jite
Feeling stirring, irregular premonitions,

Care over 揺らめくその気配見ぬいて
care over yurameku sono kehai minuite
I look past your flickering indications/premonitions.

No loser 澄み切る感覚を信じて
No loser sumikiru kan’kaku wo shinjite
No loser (*[2]); believing in perfectly clear intuition.

No longer 塵さえ見落としもしないで
No longer chiri sae miotoshi mo shinai de
No longer (*[3]) overlooking even a particle of dust.

---

(2:31 -> 2:43)
下らない誰かと鉢合わせ in the night
kudaranai dare ka to hachiawase in the night
Running into someone trifling in the night,

時には痛みを感じてもいいんじゃない？
toki ni wa itami wo kan’jitemo iin’ ja nai?
It wouldn’t hurt ((*[4]) to feel some pain from time to time, would it?

綺麗な景色に包まれて moonlight
kirei na keshiki ni tsutsumarete moonlight
Surrounded by a beautiful night presence in moonlight,

月夜を染め上げる
tsukiyo wo someageru
I’ll stain the moon (for you), a

flowering silent scarlet piece of night

---

(3:45 -> 4:12)
真紅に染まった星空は煌き
shinku ni somatta hoshizora wa kirameki
The starry sky, dyed in scarlet, glitters,

綺麗な景色に包まれて moonlight
kirei na keshiki ni tsutsumarete moonlight
The beautiful scene, draped in moonlight

時には余韻に浸ってもいいんじゃない？
toki ni wa yoin’ ni hitattemo iin’ ja nai?
It’s good to immerse in the aftertaste of memories from time to time, isn’t it?

下らない誰かを見下ろして in the night
kudaranai dare ka wo mioroshite in the night
Looking down on someone insignificant in the night

Irregular 割り込む隙なんて見せない
irregular warikomu suki nan’te misenai
You won’t show anything irregular

No longer 誰にも邪魔 なんてさせない
No longer dare ni mo jama nan’te sasenai
No longer will anyone be allowed to interfere

No loser 尊い この場所は聖域
No loser toutoi kono basho wa seiiki
No Loser – This precious space is sacred ground.

---

(4:13 -> 4:32)
Forever 永久さえ決められた運命
Forever towa sae kimerareta un’mei
Forever – A fate where even eternity is already decided

見えない絆に従った loyalty
mienai kizuna ni shitagatta loyalty
The loyalty of having obeyed unseeable bonds

愛しい貴女が囁いて telepathy
itoshii anata ga sasayaite telepathy
You, my dearest lady, whispering – Telepathy

脳裏に映りこむ５秒後 your red eyes
nouri ni utsurikomu gobyougo your red eyes
My mind projects five seconds later – your red eyes –

異世界孤独を解き放つ heavenly
isekai kodoku wo tokihanatsu heavenly
My otherworldly isolation is heavenly undone.

Clearly 全ては動き出すその時
Clearly subete wa ugokidasu sono toki
Clearly – at the moment when everything begins to move

---

(4:33 -> 4:45)
Reality いつでもそこにいる貴女に
Reality itsudemo soko ni iru anata ni
Reality – with you there as always

Anybody 立ち入ることさえも出来ない
Anybody tachiiru koto sae mo dekinai
A place no one can trespass, not anybody

私を満たしてく
watashi wo mitashiteku
Fulfilling me, this

flowering silent scarlet piece of night

---

(6:00 -> 6:15)
「限りある命に躊躇うなら大切にお生きなさい」
“kagiri aru inochi ni tomadou nara taisetsu ni oikinasai”
“If you, who lives a life with limits, hesitate , then you should treasure it.”

なんて説き伏せるしたり顔にナイフ
nante tokifuseru shitari kao ni naifu
To such a self-satisfied face, looking down on me with this “advice”

突きつけて
tsukitsukete
I am thrusting (*[5]) my knife…

---

(6:15 -> 6:46)
瀟洒に駆け抜けるこの生き様
魅せつけてあげるわこの世界で
shousha ni kakenukeru kono ikizama
misetsuketeageru wa kono sekai de
This life I live, breaking through with elegance, I’ll enchant you with it!

全てがゼロになる時の中で
今何が見えるのわからないわ
subete ga zero ni naru toki no naka de
ima nani ga mieru no wakaranai wa
Within this moment when everything becomes zero
I have no idea what I’m seeing!

瀟洒に駆け抜けるこの世界は
変わらない全ては貴女へと
shousha ni kakenukeru kono sekai wa
kawaranai subete wa anata e to
This world I break through with elegance, everything that doesn’t change, everything to you!

ゼロになる時を見つめ今は
結末を想い続けているわ
zero ni naru toki wo mitsume ima wa
ketsumatsu wo omoitsudzuketeiru wa
The me, now staring at a time when everything becomes zero
still dreaming of a conclusion!

---

(6:47 -> 7:15)
瀟洒に駆け抜けるこの世界で変わらない何かを探して
shousha ni kakenukeru kono sekai de kawaranai nanika wo sagashite
Breaking through elegantly in this world, I search for something that doesn’t change

ゼロになる時の果てへ向かい孤独など恐れることはないわ
zero ni naru toki no hate e mukai kodoku nado osoreru koto wa nai wa
Facing the end of time when everything becomes zero, I have no reason to fear isolation!

瀟洒に駆け抜けるこの世界で変わらない何かを探し続け
shousha ni kakenukeru kono sekai de kawaranai nanika wo sagashitsudzuke
Breaking through elegantly in this world, I keep searching for something unchanging,

止まらない時間だけ刻んでく
tomaranai jikan’ dake kizan’deku
But only unkept time ticks by.

---

(7:14 -> 7:28)
戻らない過去さえ貫いて
modoranai kako sae tsuranuite
Piercing through a past I cannot return to,

真紅の未来へと
shinku no mirai e to
towards a crimson future,

センチメンタルなんてないの
sentimental nan’te nai no
It’s not like I’m sentimental (*[6])!

---

(7:30 -> 8:00)
正しい生き方なんて知らないわ
tadashii ikikata nan’te shiranai wa
How the hell would I know the ‘right way to live’?

従うのはただ一つ
shitagau no wa tada hitotsu
Obeying is all there is

永遠に運命の中で
eien’ ni sadame no naka de
within the eternal fate I’m bound to.

流れ続けてゆく時を超え
nagaretsudzuketeyuku toki wo koe
Transcending ever flowing time,

絆は変わらずに
kizuna wa kawarazu ni
my bonds are without change;

微笑む貴女さえいるなら
hohoemu anata sae iru nara
as long as you are there, smiling (*[7])

---

(7:57 -> 8:12)
止まった時さえも動かして
tomatta toki sae mo ugokashite
Even if I were to make time move

結末を垣間見ても
ketsumatsu wo kaima mitemo
Even if I glimpsed a conclusion

Ah 絆に誓いをかけて
ah kizuna chikai wo kakete
Ah, to this bond I make my oath

---

(8:12 -> End)
悔やむことはないだろう
kuyamu koto wa nai darou
I have nothing to regret right?

変わることはないだろう
kawaru koto wa nai darou
Nothing will change, right?

時は流れ往くだろう
toki wa nagareyuku darou
Time will pass as always

========

My interpretation of the song is that it is a solemn acknowledgement that Sakuya has the moment they stopped time and ‘saw her eyes’ – master, enemy, none of it matters in the face of an eternity in the control of this vampire. On the Japanese side of the internet, Remilia is commonly associated with “予定調和” — youtei chouwa, or “predestination”. In particular, that ‘how things will go and the outcome that comes from it are predetermined (by something/planning/etc.)
Searching for this word sends me to Leibnitz:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind%E2%80%93body_problem#Pre-established_harmony

This same correlation of the character Remilia to “Pre-established Harmony” can be found here, in a different song from a completely different circle of people.
https://aeroreborn.blog/2024/11/30/alegria-of-blasphemous-choices-frost-fragment/

Given how popular these characters are on the internet under the hood (esp. on the Japanese internet, but even on youtube) it’s interesting to have an idea tied at the waist to the characters in many lyrics that isn’t explicitly explored in the games themselves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embodiment_of_Scarlet_Devil

Notes:

[*0] 異世界孤独を弄ぶ crazy | isekai kodoku wo moteasobu crazy
Isekai is ‘another world’
Kodoku is “isolation” but it means to be truly alone
Moteasobu is to toy or play around with something in a non-serious way


[*1] 見えない絆に従うわ loyalty | mienai kizuna ni shitagau wa loyalty
This can be interpreted two ways (which I feel is supported by using the English word “loyalty” to separate the idea from the Japanese — depending on whether the わ (wa) at the end is meant to be interpreted as a “statement of certainty” or instead as は (wa) — the subject particle that is pronounced ‘wa’ when written.
Thus, this can either be
“an unseeable bond I will [certainly] obey– loyalty“
or
“being bound to an unseeable bond is loyalty”
at the same time.

[*2, 3]
No loser 澄み切る感覚を信じて　 | No loser sumikiru kan’kaku wo shinjite
No longer 塵さえ見落としもしないで | No longer chiri sae miotoshi mo shinai de
No loser (*[3]); believing in your perfectly clear intuition
No longer (*[4]) overlooking even a particle of dust.

Who is feeling these things is left vague and can apply to either Sakuya or Remilia.
Thus, if it’s from Sakuya’s POV and Remilia is her enemy, you can interpret it as:
“I’m no loser, believing in my own perfectly clear intuition”
“I no longer overlook even a single particle of dust”

but if it’s from the perspective of Sakuya as a servant of Remilia and understanding that 塵 (chiri, a grain of sand/dust) is an Eastern phrase for “a trifling” or “nothing (in the grand scheme of things), this becomes
“No loser (<- I can’t call myself a loser in a non-battle), I am believing in that perfectly clear intuition (of Remilia)
No longer, I beg you to not oversee every particle of dust”.

[*5]
突きつけて | tsukitsukete
There is an intentional choice to make this present progressive tense (thrusting) — by doing so, it ‘locks’ Sakuya to be in the act of doing this action throughout the song.

[*6]
センチメンタルなんてないの | sentimental nante nai no
It’s not like I’m sentimental (*[6])!

I feel like the word they wanted to use (but doesn’t fit the mood/word pacing) is “Sentimentality”
Literally it says “There’s nothing like sentimental(ity)” with a sense of certainty, but the tone of her voice in the song carries this sadness to it that betrays how she feels about it.

[*7]
微笑む貴女さえいるなら | hohoemu anata sae iru nara
as long as you are there, smiling (*[7])

This can be interpreted as
“As long as you are there, smiling for me”
just as easily as it can be interpreted as
“As long as you are there (in the gaps between time), smiling at me (as always)”