Discussion topic for Track 12 of Owari no Hoshi no Love Song: Hero no Jouken (Hero). Please support the official release by purchasing the album from iTunes! You can find a translation of the lyrics on ShiraneHito’s blog.
Please tag references to later songs or outside works with the [spoiler] tag, providing adequate context in parenthesis.
0 voters
Each line of the third and fifth stanzas are obviously references to the previous songs.
*I think Owari no Sekai Kara is the most likely one since it fits the best. Smiles are also mentioned in Last Smile, but that one was already referenced. Forgetting a smile could also be Kooru Yume, but that track never mentions any smiles whereas Owari no Sekai Kara puts it in the final line.
Awww yassss my favorite song in the album. I don’t know, I just like listening to it and I really really like it. It just hit the right notes for me.
And yes this one also played with the rhythm, though it’s more uniform here. The verses is in 14/4 (assuming one beat is a quarter note) time signature, the prechorus in 3/4, and the chorus in common time (4/4). The bridge is also in common time. I like the instruments too (dat bassline), and Nagi Yanagi is awesome as always. 
The lyrics are also pretty straightforward, but I found it quite ironic. The song referenced some songs from the album where the characters achieved their aspirations (like finally finding the ark), but here we have the main character simply give up on theirs. That’s pretty sad in hindsight, but I guess the simple things can be enough. I’m more interested on the POV though, but there’s little indication on their role in the story.
Song-wise, this one doesn’t really do much for me. I guess I just didn’t find the melody all that interesting, heh. But man do I love the story for this one.
Maybe I’m just a sucker for the “sacrificing greatness for the simpler things in life” concept, or maybe I just like the catharsis at the end… or maybe just referring to the previous songs just gives me nostalgia. Either way, listening to the lyrics put a smile on my face by the end. 
I’m kinda in the same boat. This is one of the ones I don’t listen to regularly, but the final “Boku ga sukidayo~” I like a lot. I wish this one had an animation since it’d give a second perspective on the other stories. That’s actually an interesting point. This song is about the guy gathering heroes and great people, but when we heard their stories that is far from what they were. The stories this guy is chasing have been heavily romanticized. There aren’t really any heroes that will just make everything better, and making children laugh is about the most helpful thing anyone accomplishes throughout the album.
At first the song didn’t do much for me, but after I delved deeper into each story in the album I really started to like this song, because to me it is the one song that kind of defines the whole theme of the album. I love the story of a naive boy who thinks he might be able to save the world yet after meeting everyone and hearing their stories has to realise the realities of the world and that he can’t save it, but still finds hope in every story and decides to try and give hope and happiness to children and actually kind of becomes an hero without realising it. I still think you could make an anime adaptation that’s based of this song and tell all the stories in the album thourgh the boy. It would be bitter sweet, but definetely great. This might have become my favorite overtime because of how it ties the stories together and gives hope to the world that is in ruin.
“You may not be able to save the world, but you can certainly save somebody’s world” are words I live by.
So here we are, the finale, where questions are answered, everything ties together.
Maybe.
No you’re right, it’s Owari no Sekai Kara, the 8 songs mentioned are all featured in the image. This means all of these songs, despite stuff like Last Smile and Hifukiyama no Mahoutsukai being visually distinct, take place in the same world.
These are the most important lines in the album from a storytelling perspective, having so many implications. For example, we could take this as the chronological order.
Hifukiyama predating it falling apart goes a way to explain it’s lush visuals, Last Smile and it’s KeyBola can be connected to the ruination, Killer Song/Muteki no Soldier have similar aesthetic, being ‘the’ image of the ruined world. After that the connections are loose, they’re all ruined world scenarios. Bar Owari no Sekai Kara which has time travel so bleh.
It also has implications for Kooru Yume, Toaru Kaizokuou no Kimagure, Yuki no Furunai Hoshi. Are they even in the ruined world? I say no, maybe, and before ruination myself.
You also have to look at the lines themselves, I believe they give definitive ends to each song that might not be apparent in the song itself.
One Time, to the wizard living in a volcano.
Implying she never saved him, living at the volcano trying to, but never succeeding.
Last Smile/Killer songs lines are not of much interest.
One time, to an invincible female soldier
Pretty explicitly states that Solider-chan took up her teachers role, striking down the evil and helping the weak. Overcoming her selfishness.
One had found the ark of hope and taken it to the sky
So that implies the ark straight up existed, the surviving person was able to take it away, alone? With other people? Who knows.
One had saved each other from death sentences
She returned the favor! He lived!
One had regained the long forgotten smile
Another big one. ‘Will I ever be able to laugh again in this world’ is decisively answered with YES, she could move on past the suffering she had be dealt and smiled again. The song preaches to do this, and this song shows that it’s focus character could live by this important ideal.
One had made real flowers bloom
Do the impossible, see the invisible. The girl may never wake from her KeyComa, but those flowers you called impossible, they exist, you made them happen, is it perhaps a sign that the ruined world is recovering?.
Something you might gather from this is how these are all fairly positive messages, especially the further into the song they are. A lot of them flip the depressing endings of previous songs around. Is there a meaning to this? Perhaps to say things won’t ever stay as bleak as they are, as long as you press on they’ll probably get better?
I hope so because that’s good shit.
Of course this also implies some bad things about Toaru Kaizokuou no Kimagure, Yuki no Furunai Hoshi, I said that in Yuki Furunai I believe bother characters die, and thus their story is never told, but it’s lack of inclusion here also suggests that the couple of Toaru Kaizokuou just die at sea or something, either that or the melody only had room for 8 songs so the filler song got ignored.
Either way the album likes to go on the idea that you should always press on forward with life no matter how it tries to get you down and I feel like this song embodies that pretty well and is a great representation of the album as a whole.
Also the ending is just wonderful.
Hands down, favorite song in the album. Something about the theme of heroes really resonates with me.
Gonna stab at my interpretations of the lines:
“You decided to become a hero who will save the world”
The boy has the initiative to say that he will save this “ruined world.” Drive is the first step to success, which he achieves by the end of the song.
“But you were just a very young boy, so I wonder how you would be able to become one”
Not sure who is singing the song. Sounds like a parent maybe.
“Even so, you racked your brain thinking about it. And then you decided to gather all the people known as the sages”
Now we know that the boy has tried his hardest to think of a way to become a hero. He has a plan now: to gather the most “qualified people.”
This is an interesting move because it means that he believes he can’t be a hero, and the best he can do is rally greatest together to make a difference. Later we learn that that isn’t true.
“One time, to the wizard living in a volcano”
The girl mastered enough magic to vanquish the dragon in the volcano, and now lives inside it working to save her friend. Proof #1 that being dedicated to doing something makes it happen.
“One time, to the researcher beyond the glass”
At this point, the girl researcher is dead. Could imply the boy from Last Smile became a researcher to continue the researcher’s work. Proof #2 that being dedicated to doing something makes it happen.
“One time, to the lord of an impregnable castle”
Why is he regarded as a hero? Because he saved one girl. Yeah she kills people but he still saved her by giving her purpose. To the girl, he is a hero. Proof that being a hero is all about perspective.
“One time, to an invincible female soldier”
What Kanon said sums it up. Proof #3 that being dedicated to doing something makes it happen.
“You walked through myriad of kilometers, but you were still nothing but a young traveller. In the end, you couldn’t manage to gather anyone. But you kept walking, being persuaded by these stories.”
The boy hasn’t learns that his method isn’t working, because he can’t just bring people together. Yet he doesn’t give up, and now he is taking it upon himself to become a hero. Inspired by the stories of other heroes, he has something to strive towards.
“One had found the ark of hope and took it to the sky”
The ark person found the ark and got it going. Proof #4 that being dedicated to doing something makes it happen.
“One had saved each other from death sentence”
The executioner’s love was not one sided. He was dedicated to making his love apparent to the girl, and it worked. Proof #5 that being dedicated to doing something makes it happen.
“One had regained the long forgotten smile”
The girl from Owari no Sekai Kara moved on. Even though she uncertain about her future, she worked hard to make sure she could love again. Proof #6 that being dedicated to doing something makes it happen.
“One had made real flowers bloom”
To some symbolic extent, the girl could have woken up (like a flower blooming), but that’s a stretch. The real money here is that the guy made something that didn’t exist anymore, exist. Proof #7 that being dedicated to doing something makes it happen.
“As you became a little stronger, you realized how powerless you were”
As the boy learned more about the other heroes, as he learned of the fantastical feats they accomplished, he accepts that he is just a boy and can’t do those. This is important to the boy’s character: he learns to accept his limits.
“You had enough with all the hero stuffs, and decided you could at least bring smiles to people”
The boy has not actually given up on being a hero. The definition has just shifted a little. After seeing all those other different heroes, after learning all the different things they did, one thing becomes very apparent: there is no one definition of a hero. By comparison to someone who has slain a dragon, making people smile is not very heroic. But the boy has learned that heroism is in the eye of the beholder, and is about to show the world what that means.
“One day, you dressed as a clown and danced around. One day, you created and performed a picture story show.”
The parallel structure is here to point out that the boy has become a hero. The kids watching him was sure to laugh, and in a world where everything is doomed, keeping high spirits is a valuable thing. To whoever is watching, he is a hero to them for taking their mind off their problems, even for just a little bit. Much like how a babysitter could be a lifesaver to a busy parent.
“Though only children would smile for everything you’ve done, you surely are a great hero for those children”
Little kids probably don’t understand that the world is a fuck. When they are watching, all they know is that the guy in front of them is making them happy. The singer now learns that being a hero is not simply about saving the world, but is to be the best person you can be, and help others in any way you can.
“And I adore you so”
OH GOD MY HEART
This is so beautiful in every way. So not only has the boy become a hero for the kids, he has become one for the singer too. At first, the singer was doubtful that the boy could ever do it. Now, the boy has proved them wrong. He has become a hero to them by inspiring them to become one as well. The singer stood back and watched for the whole song, worrying over the boy, and now, they finally say something outright.
The boy lives inside all of us. He is the naive part of us that wants to learn, wants to be the best, wants to inspire. He represents the fact that we all start from nothing, and we can become anything if we try. He wanted nothing more to become a hero, and upon realizing he couldn’t be a “conventional” one, became a true hero. He never gave up or lost sight of what he wanted.
He also tells us that everyone is a hero. Heroism is in the eye of the beholder.
You may not know it, but you are a hero to someone.
There is someone who looks up to you.
There is someone who adores you so.
I just LOVE that you guys pointed these out. I knew that they were allegories, but I never realized that they actually twisted the whole horrible endings of the previous songs; well either that or the stories were all romanticized. But I think I prefer the former 
Also damn @Kanon hits the nail on the head with the whole ruination sequence. And the next song follows this one up pretty perfectly.
Just a note on the flower song though; Did the flowers only start growing after her death? Maybe relying on her own body for sustinence 
Why Pepe
And an orphanage.
I think this is my favorite song on the album in terms of story. I thought it was interesting how the boy wanted to save the world so he set out to find all these other sages. At first, it seems odd that he would seek out these people. They were all broken people who went through a lot of suffering. None of them were able to save the world. However, even if they were not able to save the world, some of them were able to save the people they loved. Maybe the boy learned from his search for the sages that it was impossible to save the world by himself, but he could be a hero to the people he knew by showing love. He was able to make children happy and give them hope in this ruined world.
