Prayer X: "If there's any meaning to this life, please tell me what it is."

"Prayer X" is a song of the Japanese singer "King Gnu", released on September 19 of 2018. This song has been known as the theme song used in the Japanese animation produced by MAPPA studios, called “BANANA FISH” which has 24-episodes. This song is definitely one of King Gnu’s masterpieces to me. It starts off with acoustic guitar, then when the rhythm picks up, it gets hit with amazing synths and drum sampler that give such a great vibes. The intensity really flows well in the musical arrangement. The guitarist, Daiki Tsuneta, composed the music and he is one of J-Pop’s geniuses today. The haunting vocal too, you will never get enough of the lead vocalist, Satoru Iguchi, because he really has a great voice that suits a melancholic song. He sets the prefect sorrowful tone for this song too and that makes me wonder when I first time heard this song, whether the singer is a male or female (his voice really sounds versatile). It’s no surprise though, since both Daiki and Satoru studied music at Tokyo University of the Arts, the most prestigious arts school in Japan.

I actually haven’t come across a single song for anime soundtrack that surpasses this song in terms of composition, the instrument, and the uniqueness in the melody. I usually skip both opening and ending song in an anime, but at that time, I really couldn’t help myself to keep listening to this song and I dig YouTube for the music video. And it really gave me chills. The MV is only showing a repeated animation of people in monochrome and a scratch of yellow colour, but It seems like it shows a lot of something enigmatic. King Gnu takes an abstract and animated approach to mental health topics such as paranoia, anxiety, depression, and suicide. The setting is in a grey monotonous world where the main character is trapped inside a repetitive schedule which slowly drives him insane. This music video is obviously a metaphor that wants to portrait how society can destroy people's happiness and passions, and even lead a person to suicide. The world is too much corrupt and wrong, and that's why we should do something to stop this. I never forget how the feeling when I was listening to this song for the first time. The moment the song mixes between melancholic vocal to pop beat, it gives me a distance feeling of sadness, yet I still can feel another emotion like a desperate cry for help from sorrow. Somehow, it also feel s comforting yet it keeps putting me on edge and makes me want to sob silently. King Gnu did so amazing on this song, it's like I can tell the meaning of the song without understanding the lyrics. Not gonna lie, I started recognizing King Gnu because of this song. It has been around two years and half since I first hear about them and I found myself also enjoying their songs so much. There are lots of good songs coming from their own albums and they have amazing sense of musicality.

Here's the translation of Prayer X:

If my overflowing tears shine as brightly as my life in this moment,
amidst the daily repetition of meetings and farewell,
just what am I supposed to believe in?
We were all crying aloud from the moment we were born.
Not wanting my life to be snatched away from me,
I fought for it with everything I had.
If I were to pull out the knife that has pierced my heart
in that instant, all of my tears would come gushing out,
wouldn't they?
If my overflowing tears shine as brightly as my life in this moment,
amidst the daily repetition of meetings and farewell,
just what am I supposed to believe in?
I've been hiding behind a carefree smile.
Has this lie I crafted in order to live already become real?
I don't know anymore.
I have already lost sight of the place I called "home".
Longing for and being swallowed up by daylight,
today again, you'll gaze at the sky, won't you?
If there's any meaning to this life, please tell me what it is.
Amidst the daily fleetingness,
after we've drank all of our pain and sadness,
just what are we supposed to believe in?
If my overflowing tears shine as brightly as my life in this moment,
amidst the daily repetition of meetings and farewell,
just what am I supposed to believe in?