Tsukioi no Toshi Liner Notes

Nota: una traducción al español vendrá posteriormente para estos liners.


Okay, it might have been a long time ever since the album was first released, but here are the liner notes for the first album released for tieLeaf's Lag-Quara series: Tsukioi no Toshi. Consider this as as a sort of preparation work for the upcoming translation I'll be doing for the Sacred Doors/Lag-Quara booklet that was released with the CD that included acoustic arrangements for Yuragu Sora and Tsukioi no Toshi.


tieLeaf Information Paper No. 02
[Sardine]
Released on C69, 12.30.2005
 
Pleased to meet you and hello! This is Hiyama Nao, writing the preface for the second issue of the tieLeaf Information Paper [Sardine]. This time, I want to thank you for having bought the original fantasy collaboration project CD & Book [Tsukioi no Toshi]! As this is a work filled to the brim with the fantasy elements I love so much, it would make me really happy if you enjoyed it.
Well then, I'll take advantage of this chance to introduce the page to the [tieL] I made alongside Sorano Ao. tieL (http://tiel.jp) itself is a doujin circle that we established in order to give form to our own original work called [Nejimaku Tsuki]. And we recently established the collaborative creation circle [tieLeaf] with composer Ms. Shimotsuki Haruka (MapleLeaf), so in summary, given I'm involved with all of those activities at the same time, if anybody out there is interested in checking out tieLeaf's activities, that would make me really happy.
※These pages contain both the liner notes and the postcript to [Tsukioi no Toshi]. They may contain spoilers and could possibly also shatter your image? of it. Please proceed with caution.

Tsukioi no Toshi (Nejimaku Tsuki)
Main Characters & Story
It might be redundant to say it, but these are the setting documents for it. (by tieL)

Story
The name of that city is [Ecliss].
It is a world that was eternally sealed away
due to the sins that were committed long ago.
The City of Demise
that ends the lives of those who are about to die...

Elthia
The protector of Ecliss from a thousand years ago. An especially created girl who can see Ecliss' memories and future. She is laid-back, gentle and is always smiling. But because Ecliss' power to cause internal hemorrhages was too strong, she caused the people around her to fall ill and die soon after just by existing. She loves dances and songs even more than eating, but she loves Ecliss more than anything else. She has waited, and continues to wait in Ecliss for a [certain something] she has never been able to obtain.

Sardine
Rizel's true father. As a relative of Elthia's, he is the successor to the House of Ecliss. He staunchly believes himself to be a genius magician. He is the only human that can maintain his own body and presence of mind even around Elthia. While he is saddled with a heavy dissatisfaction due to Elthia's care being pushed onto him, he never leaves Elthia herself alone. He has a hobby of collecting rare items from around the world. He personally hates the Kingdom of Celestara. While he dotes on his son Rizel in his own way, the slightly twisted way in which he demonstrates it has caused Rizel to hate him.

Ciel
A prince from Celestara. Sofia's younger brother from a different mother. However, there are many rumors being whispered about his origins, so the truth behind them is still uncertain. So while he lived outside the kingdom in his mother's house ever since he was born, he was recently summoned out of nowhere to a royal villa located near the Royal Palace. Ever since, he plays with his sort-of older sister. He was given an orgel through unclear circumstances. As he was ordered to take good care of it, he obediently treasures the orgel.

Cius
One of the Phantoms that exchanged the Pledge of the Protector with Rizel at the city of Ecliss. His thoughts and wishes are mostly shrouded in mystery at the present. While it seems (according to Cius himself) that he had excellent sword skills due to having impressive reflexes when he was still alive, as he unfortunately does not have a body, he has no other enjoyment aside of mocking Rizel now.

Soficia
The Princess from the Celestial Kingdom of Celestara. Her nickname is Sofia. Due to being inflexible and stubborn, she tends to rush into things without thinking. Her favorite type of men are macho and easy-going ones. She seriously dreams not about being taken away by a [prince riding on a white horse], but by a [macho man who ran throughout the floating islands on his bare feet]. She hates indecisive and effeminate men. However, she loves making her cute(-faced) brother put on dresses.

Rizel
Sardine's son. A boy that has been saddled up with many worries due to having Ecliss' blood running through his veins. Due to his consciousness being pulled in by Ecliss, he frequently runs late for school and falls asleep during the classes. While his grades alone have earned him the top spot in the class, his graduation is in serious danger due to not having enough attendances on his record. In order to make up for it, he found himself in the predicament of being forced to study abroad in the Kingdom of Celestara with no other options available. Due to his fastidious personality, he is quite careless about the relationships he establishes with other people. He despises everything related to the Ecliss name, especially his true father, more than he hates raw meat and fish.

Tsukioi no Toshi Liner Notes
Tu zet ol nam o Ecliss. Tu o i quara einal lefs li i sis vi dir. Eca hu o sequa, lei ol zet...
 
01. Nejjmaku Tsuki -Sinal "ar ol "ir"-

A track that expressed a world in which the Goddess winding up the spiral coil served as its whole beginning, which incorporates orgel motifs. I also took into consideration the secret ambience given by the sound, as if the soundless world that existed until the orgel emitted its first sound was being washed away at the same time its song starts playing. I have the feeling that it was decided from the project's start that we wanted to start with Nejimaku Tsuki and thus we set it as the CD's first track. Having an orgel that plays a song I made myself is an once-in-a-lifetime treasure. After all, you can never have too many of the things like the delicate mechanical sounds and the like that you can only get from recording the real thing. (Shimotsuki)
 
The first Will that served as the beginning to the world and the story, which has joined with the act of [winding up the orgel's coil]. It is pretty romantic that the orgel plays predetermined sounds when its coil is wound up (what?) The subtitle means [You, My Precious]. By the way, [Nejimaku Tsuki] is also the title of [Tsukioi no Toshi]'s original work. As for [Nejimaku Tsuki] itself, there are many things we intend to unveil in the future, so while we can't talk about them for the time being (Sorry!), these have become tracks that will give you a lot to ponder about. Live orgels are the greatest! (Hiyama)
 
02. Tsukioi no Toshi -Leozet_Lag_Ecliss-
Lyrics: Hiyama Nao
Composition & Arrangement: Shimotsuki Haruka

The eponymous track to this CD. This song was filled with challenges for me, as not only did I arrange it myself, it was also the first time I made an arrangement using live instruments. While the melody is like always a full-throttle one made by me (*laughs*), given it got the tastes of several living people added to it, I wonder if that didn't introduce some liveliness into the melody or make it more exciting. Rather, it feels as if I had arranged it alongside the performers. It was really fun! The song ultimately has the viewpoint of the narrator, so I took in account the world's atmosphere and placed a special emphasis in a transparent feeling as I sang it. (Shimotsuki)
 
[Tsukioi no Toshi], and thus the eponymous song. We put it together while keeping in mind the announcement video, the manga and the story's setting. And while it would get too long if we were to talk about the lyrics, we can summarize them as them being as if they were talking about Leozet from Rizel's viewpoint, as if he were looking from inside to inside at himself from the outside (?). And it also feels as if we had included an entirely different atmosphere only for the hook part. This song is also filled with memories about impossible-to-understand requests I made to Haruka-san, like [make it feel as if we were awakening from a dream here] or [make it feel as if everything had vanished at once here], even though I had gone to the study just to learn by observation when we recorded this song. I'm sorry for all that. (Hiyama)
 
03. Sousei to Shuuen -"Lei" ol Lag-Quara-
Lyrics: Hiyama Nao
Composition: Shimotsuki Haruka
Arrangement: Shimotsuki Haruka & Takumaru

I wanted to musically express somehow the part of the setting that stated that the combination of Holy and Evil magic becomes Creation Magic, so I tried to combine two different melodies and singing styles for it. The clear hymn-like style represents the Holy side, while the Bulgarian voice-like style gives off the image for the Evil side. And a part which I personally obsessed myself with was how, from among all that chaos, at the end the highs and lows in the sound are inverted and they finish the song off with the same phrase. (*laughs*) (Shimotsuki)
 
A single Goddess' game, in other words this is the song for the world setting of Lag-Quara. While it is entirely sung in a constructed language, it doesn't include its translation to Japanese. For this song's setting, I requested it to give off a [feel of how light and darkness pull upon each other and ultimately combine with each other, becoming a great power]. By the way, I'll be posting a partial extract from a Japanese version of [Sousei] on the site in which the progress for the collaboration project [Nejimaku Tsuki] is going at a laid-back pace. (Hiyama)
 
04. Hikari to no Kaikou -Sef rin chi sef mie-
Lyrics: Hiyama Nao
Composition: Shimotsuki Haruka
Arrangement: Hosoi Soushi

A full-throttle song made by MANYO-san. No matter where you look, you can never have too many of the key changes it's loaded with (*laughs*) As this song is sung from Sofia's viewpoint, I kept girlish feelings in mind as I sang it. Basically it gives off the feeling of a blighted love and the light of hope that exists even within such an event, so for the second half I put special care into making it give off the feeling of a strong will. I especially love the lyrics for the hook. I love too how it combines with the choruses' meanings. (Shimotsuki)
 
Sofia and Rizel. The parts from the constructed language choruses are the words Elthia herself says. I really love using methods that combine different meanings, so I was really happy while I was writing it. Originally all the parts that say [world] had [you] instead, but as I found it was far too direct when I tried humming them to myself, I ultimately changed them to [world]. So we could say they have now a combined meaning of [(your) world]. The way the song develops after the second hook is something I really love too. The way Haruka harmonizes really makes for a moe song. (Hiyama)
 
05. Hitomi wo Tsugumono -Quara ol "Ecliss"- 
Lyrics: Hiyama Nao
Composition & Arrangement: MANYO

This is the sort of song that goes thundering... and boom! Men wet by the rain are really cool, huh? (What?) As Hiyama asked me things like a fierce battle-like song that gave off a feeling of a fate you can't fight against, I tried to make an eerie and aggressive song of the type that are so rare for me to make. The sprint-like sensation given by Hosoi-san's arrangement also contributes to make this a tension-rising song... And Hiyama's lyrics are erotic too. I think that lyrics that use difficult words are cool and I like them, but I got a bit downhearted from how no-good I was for reading the first lines so many times. (Shimotsuki)
 
The song I got made after I requested a battle song. Rather, we could say this is for the last boss. The burden that Rizel carries on his shoulders is the same one Elthia has. As it is something that is deeply connected with the world, they cannot defy their fate so the world may continue existing. The whispers at the beginning are a conversation they are holding with their own [blood], a soliloquy of sorts. As I wanted the song to strongly bring out not only the cool parts of the people, but also the disgusting parts they have to them, I tried choosing words that would resound in a vivid way. The choruses were pretty difficult for Haruka too. I personally like a lot the sound effects we used here. Having Rizel getting wet by the rain at the beginning was all Haruka's idea. (*laughs*) (Hiyama)
 
06. Seishou -Ar karrra-
Lyrics: Hiyama Nao
Composition & Arrangement: myu

A choral song in which I participated as a member of a wonderful choir. Regardless of how restrictive choral songs might be, I think that myu-san is really amazing, no matter how many times I listen to her songs. This song had the image of the bell of judgment and a chorus that raised their voices all the way up to Heaven. Thanks to the four wonderful singers I had as companions, we could make a reality the image of a large chorus singing inside a church! Thanks! (Shimotsuki)
 
This song has the following setting: [the bell of judgment that rings at the time of death/the weight of these ones' sins being determined by how many times it rings in the world/the bell of destruction, the bell of judgment, the bell of forgiveness/the scales of a Goddess that have different meaning depending on the person/drawing a signpost for those who die]. Again, this is completely sung in a constructed language with no translation to Japanese being published for it. This is the song that plays after reaching the answers to everything in the world. While for this song I also went to the studio to learn by observation, I was deeply moved from having all these singers I personally like so much singing that song for me. Really, thank you very much! (Hiyama)
 
07. Tooi Shoujo e -Jue i fel... sil-
Lyrics: Hiyama Nao
Composition & Arrangement: Takumaru

And for something completely different from the previous song, this is a one-game match song. When I sang it, it clicked (guided by the rhythm) on its own and thus I just submerged myself into singing it without even paying any attention to the melody. The melody and the production atmosphere that still remain in my ears were done by Mr. Ishida Takumaru. However, because (because?) this is Rizel's song, I ended up getting into a dark mood when I submerged myself into singing it and then when I linked it with the sound effects. V_V  So as we wanted to make the song give off such a feeling, let's make it emit that sort of feeling. Let's just do it. (Shimotsuki)

A song that has feelings for that beloved person who is in a faraway place, which you could reach if you extended your hands to them. I personally love a lot the phrases that begin with [A crack suddenly awakened~] For the lyrics I just joined my heart with Rizel's in an honest way and thus I just wrote down the things I felt as they were. In a certain way, this could be the ending theme to [Tsukioi no Toshi]. While I always get healed by Haruka putting so much emotion into the song when she sings, I feel this song could become dangerous if I listened to it too much. (Hiyama)
 
08. Hanahiraku Souten -Ci ol Lip-Aura-
Lyrics: Hiyama Nao
Composition: Shimotsuki Haruka
Arrangement: Takumaru

This song also became the title for the book, and it's the only song that Elthia herself sings. As I wanted to bring out her cuteness, air of mystery and danger, I tried making the melody as airy as I could. The lyrics for the choruses were terrific too. This song has a moe melody that fuses together two different lyric lines too. I also want to thank Mr. Takumaru for having arranged the choruses so many times. Please make sure to check out how it ties in with the manga. (Shimotsuki)
 
Elthia's song that links with the manga. While for the other songs we basically had the image of Elthia singing while looking at the future, for these lyrics it was the opposite: I wrote them down with the image of them being memories (songs) being seen by Rizel. This is also seen story-wise, as the songs going from [Tooi Shoujo e] to [Shiroki Souka] don't lead into each others' events in any form. The choruses (sung in constructed language lyrics) are especially Elthia-filled (?) too. The voice with which Haruka sang the parts that say [Even to me~] is really cute too. (Hiyama)
 
09. Shiroki Souka -Sefin io Ir zel rin ar rin el-
Lyrics: Hiyama Nao
Composition & Arrangement: Hosoi Soushi

As this song has an image of a somehow warm moonlight, it is the song that gives off the image of two people who wish for a brief eternity while they are bathed in the moonlight. As the violin's melody seems to be grieving about the painful and cruel fate, it really sounds like it is crying when you listen to the song. But you can never have enough of how it mysteriously brings about a warm atmosphere and amplifies further that pain. This was made by Hosoi-san too. When I sang it, I did my best too to feel that I'd have liked to be in their same place, sharing that same warmth and pain. (Shimotsuki)
 
Sorrowful memories are already in the past, and your current self isn't the same person your past self was. This song has the following image: while we can't stop the passage of time as it continues going by, we won't ever disappear, as our feelings themselves are eternal, and so they will continue gradually accumulating upon each other and weaving together. While I was trying to keep myself indifferent for the lyrics, I was already at the border of tears between the violin and the vocals. Thus I wrote them down so they would sound as if Rizel's feelings themselves, as if the memories that are being shown to him (Hanahiraku Souten) would both continue going on and on. (Hiyama)
 
10. Nejimaku Tokei ga Tsuki no Michikake wo Kizamu -I oular i neej rin ar lef su i Lag-Quara-
Lyrics: Hiyama Nao
Composition: Shimotsuki Haruka
Arrangement: MANYO

Most likely, this was the first song that took its proper shape in this project. This is the precious song that serves as the main theme to the [Nejimaku Tsuki] that was announced at the same time as this CD. As the melody gave me the feeling that something was coming up short when I tried humming it once I got the lyrics, I think that's why I ended up making a truly sincere melody for it within myself. The arrangement couldn't bring up the images any better than it does, and I really love from it the speedy sensation it gives off and the way it brings to mind the presence of the performers! I think it became a theme song-like piece I could sing without it losing its strength! (Shimotsuki)
 
I wrote the lyrics for this song in the summer of 2002, before Yuragu Sora was released. As these are lyrics into which I put a lot of effort to make a theme song for [Nejimaku Tsuki], I'm really happy they managed to gain this form. As for the song itself, I love too much the hook part, and I think I remember I said too many times "This is a great song!!" (*laughs*) We also included it as track 3 of the preview CD. By the way, [Nejimaku Tokei ga Tsuki no Michikake wo Kizamu] is a title that expresses the story of [Nejimaku Tsuki] just as it is. And while I was the person who gave it that name, I have to say its length caused us a lot of trouble when we were making the lyrics card. (Hiyama)
 
11. Tojirareta Sekai -Eclef ol ar-
 
That the CD ended this way was decided from a long time ago too. I really love tracks in which the sound effects bring out the atmosphere it is supposed to give off. That the orgel is closed out of nowhere and in such a rough way is because Rizel is the one closing it. As I was obsessed with the sound effects to such a detailed degree, I recorded all of them. It was so fun! And I apologize to the sound engineer! (Shimotsuki)
 
I obsessed a lot about the closing sound and the footsteps too. It says... because Rizel has grown this much as a person, he leaves the room quickly. I can't apologize enough to Haruka and the engineer for going along with my obsession for the details. But thanks to your efforts, the track matches the image I was looking for exactly! I even went and said [that sound was made by Rizel himself!] (*laugh*) Anyway, it was really fun. (Hiyama)
 
Hanahiraku Souten (Comic) -Ci ol Lip-Aura-
Original Idea & Scenario: Hiyama Nao
Manga, Illustrations: Sorano Ao

We originally planned this to be a manga of around 30 pages. ...But at some point, the amount of text for it grew to double the size. It's so absurd.
The package colored illustration and the design aspects took too much of the time we had reserved for its creation, so it got to the point where not even a whole month was enough for them... or better said, for over three weeks I was either half-crying or seriously crying as I kept writing and drawing. I'm such a slow writer that even if I kept working on it as if I were to die in the attempt, no number of days would be enough for me to complete something. Or better said, the amount of time we had expected was not enough. I was so deeply indebted to the other staff members that I couldn't allow myself to do it in a half-hearted way, and that only increased more and more the time. I'm really sorry... orz
When I first started sending the data for it to be print out, there were many things I couldn't get used to because of the book's structure itself having a special shape, so while I encountered multiple difficulties, making a spread landscape-format manga book was something I wanted to do for a very long time now, so I had a lot of fun whenever we were actually working on it. On hindsight, I could keep going because I worked while I listened many times to the songs we made for this work's CD part, so I feel it was like a joyful crunch time for me.
This time, I kept working with the goal of depicting a girl's... or better said, Elthia's cuteness, but looks like what ended up actually being cute was the sardine. Why did it turn out like that?
By the way, there is just one thing about this work I've got to play straight guy for, no matter what. I just had to say [at the least could you change into dry clothes, please?] at the part where Sardy pushes Elthia-tan... It would be okay if they were dry, right? Wouldn't it? (Sorano)
 
When I went to submit the script, I said [sorry, I tried to keep it to 30 pages, but it grew to about 40, ehe], when it actually exceeded 70 pages in length at the moment I finished sorting it out. Sorry... I usually focus on the internal part when I'm creating characters, so I mostly leave the visual part to other people, but as I had made a solid image just for Elthia inside myself from the beginning, I was seriously bothered that she wouldn't be this or that way when we got to the character design stage. I'm sorry about that too... But the part of her image I had solidified inside myself was what allowed me to write the scenario so easily. I actually like a lot the atmosphere we established between Elthia and the sardine. As this book serves more as an introduction to the world setting and characters than it does as a single story, I think that maybe it managed to accomplish its purpose quite well.
By the way, the subtitle [Ci ol Lip-Aura] can be directly translated either as [The Blessing of Lip-Aura] or [The Curse of Lip-Aura]. (Hiyama)