Discussion topic for Track 2 of Owari no Hoshi no Love Song: Futari Dake no Ark (Ark for Two of Us). 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.
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So while every song in Owari no Hoshi is it’s own story, this still continues from the previous song in a way. In the first song, we’re thrown back into this titular wasteland. In this song, the very first line is about that same wasteland, and the song is then this recklessly hopeful journey to escape it. The song is also faster and more optimistic sounding which reflect the partner. To look for escape is a normal response when thrown into unfavorable conditions, so in a way this structure can be a hint at the emotional response the audience would experience. The character’s journey is completely different from ours. She has a lot of experience with this world, but she is instead influenced by her partner’s optimism. When he dies, she takes it upon herself to continue their foolhardy adventure.
This is also what I mean about the songs being small doses of Maeda. Every plot can be summarized into a very Key-like story. “A girl tries desperately to match her crush’s ideal, but they end up separated by shenanigans, so she tries to find happiness on her own.” “A pair goes on a journey. The optimistic one dies, and the thinker continues after being inspired by that optimism.” And then everyone fucking died.
Once again, not much I can glean from this song… it’s pretty straightforward, after all. Probably the most I can get is the message that people learn and grow not just from acheiving goals that they seek, but through the actual journey as well. A sad story, but also not a hopeless one.
Helios just about nailed anything I’d want to say, so I’ll take the time to jerk off to the guitar in this song.
OH BABY THE GUITAR IN THIS SONG. AND THE INSTRUMENTALS MMMMMMMMM DIS A GUD SONG.
You can also make the connection of the upbeatness of the song to the optimistic lover, how the upbeatness disappears for the, I dunno is that a stanza?, the part of the song where the optimistic one dies, BUT it returns right after, as the other lover inherits the optimism.
I mean I’m pulling that out my ass but that’s what these bookclubs are all about.
I like this song a lot. Music-wise, it didn’t really stuck to me as strongly as Owari no Sekai Kara did, but it’s very pleasant, and also quite memorable too. I like the lyrics here much better though, perhaps because the narrative here is much less convoluted, which lets the story come off to me as more… romantic.
And how in the world am I calling this more romantic when Owari no Sekai Kara is so much more obvious to its romance? For me, there’s just something beautiful about a relationship where two people positively influence each other. It is very possible that they’re not really in a romantic relationship or what, but they’re definitely connected by love, whatever form it’s taking here.
I feel that the ark is definitely representing something, but I can’t quite articulate it well.
As for the music, this track noticeably plays with the rhythm, which is soooo Jun Maeda in style, much like his Toki o Kizamu Uta and Tabi. In particular, the rhythm occasionally switches between 4/4 to 3/4 quite a lot, if it doesn’t stick to a consistent time signature for at most a stanza long. And this is among his songs where the erratic rhythm flows more smoothly. In other words, I like it.
Meanwhile, this isn’t really my favorite vocal performance by Yanagi Nagi as it doesn’t really bring out her best performance, but it’s nonetheless pleasant. But I like how her performance sounds in the “yume ni sugaritai dake no hito no tsukuribanashi na no ni” part. I guess I like her voice best when it sounds sweet.
Also, I like the percussion parts here the most, particularly in the prechorus. But the strings part needs attention. I like the strings part.
The Ark represents the giant boat they’re trying to find.
Wait I thought Maeda didn’t compose these songs
If you want to think of “the end of the world” as “a world where love doesn’t exist,” this song hits the nail on the head. Plot wise, it’s pretty straightforward: there’s an ark, they want to find the ark, one of them dies and the other is inspired to continue the search. By the end, the ark is more important as an idea rather than the physical thing, it representing love/hope for the future (which is why I believe the song is called “Ark for Two of Us” and not just “Ark of Hope/Love” or something like that. Another thing to point out here is that according to the picture, both of them have found the ark, even though the optimist supposedly died at the end. They are there in spirit, and that’s why they are depicted sitting down (I feel like there’s an objective artistic reason why one of them is sitting down but I still like my theory).
Lines that stood out to me:
“With high and proud spirit, you said that you would definitely find it for sure”
Blind faith still moves people. The optimist was confident that they would find the ark and return love to the world, and that faith gained them a follower.
“I’ll teach you a lot of things”
I think the song has a lot to say about dedication and inspiration. You take someone with a lot of drive, but no knowledge (the optimist) and they can inspire someone with no drive, but a lot of knowledge.
And now the part you can skip: a personal anecdote about why I love this song
I ran for president of my robotics team because I was staging a coup against another person who was more qualified(but was a dick and I loved the team too much to let it be run by them). I knew nothing about leadership, nothing about management, yet I gave a speech from the heart and I won the vote by (allegedly) a ridiculous margin. Since I knew close to nothing, I spent the year playing it by ear and doing whatever felt best. I spent all my time building the robot (around 250 hours in 6 weeks after school) and almost none working on PR (around 30 hours over 6 months). I thought I was a terrible leader. Yet at the end of my term, I was told by a lot of members that I had inspired them to pursue robotics in the future. What I learned there was that all it takes to inspire people is drive. Pure, honest dedication is what gets people. So now that I’m graduating, I will be gone, but I know that there are people with the same level of dedication that will keep the team going.
To inspire others, you must first inspire yourself.
