1. あなたに出会えた痛みだけが 愛だって信じられるように

Romaji: Anata ni deaeta itami dake ga / ai datte shinjirareru you ni

Cultural Nuance: This unbearable suffering I feel, precisely because I came to know you, is the only "certain proof" I have that I love you.

🗣 Japanese Insight: The highly paradoxical and heavy expression "Itami dake ga Ai" (Only pain is love) symbolizes the distorted yet incredibly pure form of love held by the character Aqua. Typically, love is expected to bring joy or warmth, but for Aqua, who has dedicated his life to revenge, peaceful happiness feels like nothing but a "sin."

He can only realize that he hasn't lost his human heart—the ability to care for someone—through a tightening sense of loss or the sharp pain that accompanies memories of the past. It signifies that "pain" is the only vivid, raw sensation that keeps his bond with the late Ai and his loved ones alive.

2. 希望も不幸も身勝手だ 僕らは、全員共犯者だった

Romaji: Kibou mo fukou mo migatte da / bokura wa / zen'in kyouhansha datta

Cultural Nuance: Both the hope of wishing for a future and the misfortune of sinking into the past are ultimately just subjective perspectives. We were all companions sharing the guilt of this cruel story without even realizing it.

🗣 Japanese Insight: The word "Kyouhansha" (共犯者 - accomplice) refers not just to a legal crime, but to a spiritual connection where individuals shoulder the same secrets or karma. In [Oshi no Ko], it wasn't just a single culprit who drove Ai to her death. There is a sharp social critique here: the masses who loved the fiction, those who tried to expose the truth, and the very structure of the entertainment industry that accelerated it were all "accomplices."

Aqua coldly condemns himself as a "selfish accomplice" for deceiving and using others for his revenge. His inescapable self-loathing is concentrated in this single passage.

3. これだけ願って、これだけ祈って こんな、悲しい結末でごめんね

Romaji: Kore dake negatte / kore dake inotte / konna / kanashii ketsumatsu de gomen ne

Cultural Nuance: Despite exhausting every means and praying so fervently, I am so sorry that it ended in such a tragic way, where no one is saved.

🗣 Japanese Insight: "Ketsumatsu" (結末) is a heavy word meaning the final chapter or conclusion of a story. This resonates like a soliloquy from Aqua, realizing that his plans lead both others and himself toward ruin. This "Gomen ne" (I’m sorry) is likely an apology to his sister Ruby, his friends whom he wanted to protect, or perhaps to Ai, whom he couldn't save.

Furthermore, considering natori’s wish for Aqua to find peace, there is a sense of compassionate perspective from the creator’s side as well, apologizing for not being able to rescue him from such a harsh fate. While taking the form of a polite apology, a definitive sense of despair lies beneath it.

4. すべて失って、すべて消え去っても ただ、君がずっと生きていた痛みが欲しい

Romaji: Subete ushinatte / subete kiesatte mo / tada / kimi ga zutto ikite ita itami ga hoshii

Cultural Nuance: Even if everything in my life collapses and all things return to nothingness, I do not want to let go of the "pain" that serves as proof that you truly existed in this world and loved me.

🗣 Japanese Insight: Here, "Itami" (pain) refers to the memory of Ai and his loved ones itself. For humans, forgetting painful memories is a defense mechanism and a form of salvation, but Aqua firmly rejects this. He believes that for the pain of losing her to vanish is the same as her existence vanishing from this world.

As long as that "pain" exists, she continues to live within him, even if his heart is torn to shreds. It is an ultimate expression of affection akin to obsession, choosing to live with a wound that will never heal rather than accepting easy salvation through forgetting.

5. あと、何回失えば この思いは満たされる？

Romaji: Ato / nankai ushinaeba / kono omoi wa mitasareru?

Cultural Nuance: How many more precious bonds must I discard before this heart, trapped in the thirst for revenge, is finally satisfied?

🗣 Japanese Insight: The word "Mitasareru" (満たされる - to be filled/satisfied) is usually used for a sense of happiness, but here it is used in an incredibly hollow sense. The act of revenge is not a process of building something up, but a process of stripping away precious things one by one.

The more he loses, the closer he gets to his goal (the completion of revenge), but his heart conversely becomes an empty void. It is a desperate, dead-end question regarding the endless spiral of loss. The sharp realization that his soul will never be saved, no matter the price, pierces through along with the intense beat.

6. すべて失って、すべてが違っても ただ、僕がずっと愛していた君よ消えないで！

Romaji: Subete ushinatte / subete ga chigatte mo / tada / boku ga zutto aishite ita / kimi yo kienai de!

Cultural Nuance: Even if my past self is entirely denied and the world is cruelly transformed, please do not let the memory of you, whom I loved with all my life, disappear!

🗣 Japanese Insight: From the self-defensive rejection of "Don't touch me!" repeated in the first half of the song, the lyrics shift dramatically to this cry of "Kienai de!" (Don't disappear!) at the climax. This is the moment Aqua's rationality collapses, and his raw, child-like true feelings overflow.

After pushing love away because of his own "filth" and "sins," he finally discards logic and desperately, passionately pleads for the continued existence of just one person. This explosion of emotion, combined with Tsumiki’s dramatic arrangement, violently shakes the listener’s heart.

7. 雨が降り去っても、僕じゃなくたって 願い疲れても歌うよ、セレナーデ

Romaji: Ame ga furisatte mo / boku janakutatte / negai tsukaretemo utau yo / serenaade

Cultural Nuance: Even in the world after the rain of sadness has stopped, even if the one walking by your side is not me. Even if my heart feels like breaking from continuing to pray, I will perform this song of love for you forever.

🗣 Japanese Insight: The phrase "Boku janakutatte" (even if it's not me) represents the pinnacle of self-sacrificing aesthetics in Japanese pop. It is literal "devotion" that does not seek a place for oneself in the other’s happiness. Having chosen the dark path of revenge, he believes he has no right to smile by their side.

Yet, he will continue to perform this "Serenade" from the darkness so that she (or they) can smile in the light. This is the resolve of a lonely guardian who seeks no reward, only to protect another's peaceful sleep. The "ending of love" depicted by natori closes with a heartbreakingly noble resonance.

🎤 Emotional Summary

natori’s "Serenade" is a prayer offered to an unreachable window by Aqua as he walks through the darkness of revenge.

Straying far from the Latin root "serenus" (calm), he cries out that "only pain is love," yet ultimately wishes, 

"Be happy, even if it’s not with me." This figure is incredibly lonely and beautiful. The sharp sound created by natori and Tsumiki speaks for Aqua’s bursting heart. While this "Serenade" plays, we become accomplices shoudlering the heavy cross he bears, unable to help but pray that his prayer one day reaches someone.