Someone had requested I discuss the Swahili lyrics, so there you go I plan to react to future soundtracks from Genshin Impact when they're released Will play the game and even upload some gameplay if I can 😀 So like & subscribe. Enjoy
Loved your original reaction, and thank you for sharing the lyrics breakdown as well! Translation is always tough, and as with any language, lyrics are sometimes chosen for how they are fit for singing and how it flows with the music rather than what might make sense when speaking, but it’s great to listen and understand both ways. The game is beautiful but also a lot (it’s been 4 years since the game first launched and they’re still adding new content), so don’t feel pressured to push through the game if it isn’t for you after you try it! You can easily find clips of cutscenes or gameplay on TH-cam if you just want to experience it without spending many hrs playing it. The official Genshin Impact channel does a wonderful job uploading its music, cutscenes, PVs, etc for free enjoyment. I personally did not start playing the game until this year due to time and resource constraints, but have followed the official channel and music since the game first launched, and enjoyed it thoroughly. They always post their full OST albums on their official channel upon release. Also, Genshin has been performing live worldwide concerts annually ever since post-COVID that you can buy tickets to! They do post official concert recordings too (would highly recommend checking those out), but definitely worth experiencing live in the future if you get a chance. Thank you again for sharing your knowledge and your genuine thoughts! Genshin has never failed to bring diverse cultures together with its music, and it’s beautiful to see others connect with it, regardless of whether they play the game or not.
yayyy! hope you enjoy playing the game. it will take some time investment to get to natlan and be strong enough to fight there just to be honest. looking forward to your content
I would love to see your reaction to the game! I recommend checking out the other symphonies: Fontaine based around France, Sumeru based around the Middle East and Liyue based on China (the liyue one is called producing the sounds of liyue or something like that)
@@Fuphu Reminds me of a joke: Once I saw a man on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What denomination?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!" Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.
Right like I was low key disappointed since Natlan was meant to be ours and latin America, when the trailer dropped I was like what is this representation. So settled with it only having west Africa alone yet again (like in most media that Africa shown) then when this dropped I was shocketh 😂 I was like I understand this. Reduced my reception for Natlan since I just wasn't as excited as I was for Fontaine
I'm from south America (Spanish speaker), seeing a comrade from Kenya who analyze in English a song interpreted by the London Symphony Orchestra along with Latin musicians; which is produced by Chinese people but is written in Swahili. I LOVE THIS GAME SM! ❤
Over the years since the game came out I have met many channels, many people and from all cultures of the world. And here I am again meeting brothers from the other side of the world through the music of Genshin. Nice to meet you Edygrim DJ
About the lyrics. They told us how they do it. They write it out in Chinese and have native people translate it and then go back and worth to have a melody out of different words
We really appreciate this, yeah. As someone who pays A LOT of attention to the story of Genshin Impact. Coming across a Swahili mother tongue speaker in Genshin community isn't as easy as it sounds. So this video you've made have been Godsend to us. Really. Thanks a lot.
I work at a localization firm and Swahili isn't very in-demand in terms of translations that the general pool of customers request so I'm sure applying the language in the music in Genshin would make more people interested in Swahili, more interested in African culture and countries. I know I am ^_^
15:25 I think that in the context of the game’s story, your translation also makes sense. Because the nation of Natlan is at war with the ‘Abyss’ and every time they fight and win, they get to live longer. The ‘Abyss’ is both a literal and conceptual force. It is corroding the land of Natlan, so every fight is a form of healing (‘rebirth’) to the land. That being said, some of the grammar being off is understandable because I believe it was translated from Chinese. Also, thank you so so much for such an informative video!
I can't know what whoever translated it was thinking, but "rebirth" may not be accurate language-wise, but it is accurate lore-wise, since it's the song that's sung when a warrior is literally brought back from death
18:00 yes this is difficult. As you know: Genshin is originally written in Chinese (it's a Chinese game, after all). In Chinese, there are a lot of ways to say "hero". And as you know: the word 'hero' can come in many forms, in general. So having you clearing the context for us like this, we really appreciate it. Basically the lyric implies hero = soldier, someone who fights for their nation.
Considering the company is chinese it was probably very difficult for them to even make a song in swahili as they expressed this in a past song in french so its so cool to see them go through this effort for this. Thank you for this vid
@@thatweirdodaniel i think this one is wrong. Hoyoverse might in singapore, but the game still made in china. Mihoyo. Just like when shanghai got locked down again, the game being delayed for example.. so hoyoverse is for outside china market, but the developing game and the HQ is still in mainland.. 🙏
@@thatweirdodaniel Well, no. They have multiple headquarters and Hoyoverse is based in China still. Mihoyo, which is likely the NA/EU branch, is based in Singapore. All of the main directors, devs, and CEO are chinese speakers first and they were heavily involved in the production process.
20:11 The translated lyrics (subtitles) originate from the description of an ascension material, Agnidus Agate Gemstone, in the game. Therefore, it's understandable that it may not fully align with the original Swahili language. The text in genshin impact holds significant importance to the overall lore, which has led to a considerable number of content creators dedicated to analyzing the story, enriching the community. I appreciate you for creating this video; language, music, and culture are treasures of humanity, and your analysis has bridged the gap between them and myself. ‧Agnidus Agate Gemstone Character Ascension material. "A pilgrimage for a wish; a battle to earn a name... Burnt to cinders for a dream. If the intention yet remains, achieved ██'s truth he has."
@@shadycactus6146 I believe the English translation is based on the Chinese text. I think the situation is like what the video maker said, they adjusted words to make them easier to sing.
Also for some context: the first piece is the main theme for the new region Natlan. It encapsulates the story that this region will bring. The second piece is the battle theme you will hear when you fight monsters in the overworld. This is the theme you will hear the most, along with two other themes that haven’t been released yet. Actually, once the region comes out it would be very nice if you could do a lyrical analysis for music with lyrics! I’m sure a lot of people would be interested!
As a Genshin player going on 4 years I never expected someone like you to be precise and I love it! -Pure honest reaction -Straight to the point -No hate -Clear translation -Willing to explore Natlan One of the coolest streamer I saw. Love the content ❤
Greetings from China. Thanks so much for breaking down that lyrics so that we can better understand how we could culturally connect with each other. ❤❤
I think some was lost in the English translation from Chinese. It happens a lot. Clearly this song made from Chinese into Swahili and then back into Chinese and then into English.
I 100% agree with you at 9:43, singing and normal talking are different and singing can lead to things like double meanings and interpretations. They say that music is pretty much a different language altogether because of this. Great insight!
Hello I am a Japanese genshin player.Thank you for your detailed explanation of the lyrics of Natlan s song.I love this song and your commentary was very helpful as I don't have a deep understanding of the Swahili meaning.Please play the story of Natlan!!
2:50 so you're saying what the singer is singing is the word for "burning" (as in a wood burning away) instead of "shedding" (as in shedding blood)? because... if that is true, then that's part of the game story, part of the lore of the game.
@@FabioGrenkhprobably relates to the words.. I believe either Dainsleif or someone else that says "victor/hero burn bright while loser turned into ashes" Bcs this Natlan symphony seems to allude to the fact that you simply cannot lose in this "war" as Natlan heroes. You have to win so you'll "burn bright", your name be kept in records and possibly get resurrected.
I liked your initial reaction to the Natlan Live Symphony Performance very much, and this now is great too. To get insight of the lyrics, and get to know some meaning behind this is very interesting, The Swahili language also sounds great to me and has a nice tone to it.
i guess the thing with 'honor' and them using heshima, which means respect, derive from the company hoyoverse being chinese, where honor and respect are the same thing in concept if not in word! like you 'honor' your elders and it can be interpreted as you 'respect' your elders. many of their choices become really an insight into how chinese works, and from the perspective of someone who's learning chinese, it's very fun to pinpoint where the influence of the producers' culture is! im happy you liked the songs, it's always very fun when people who speak the languages jump in to give their 2 cents in this fandom
well we have different words for honour and respect, where the word for honour 荣耀 is more synonymous with glory and isn't used as a verb, respect 尊敬 is more just respecting people and things in general, ig also as the verb for 'to honour'
Maybe the lyrics weren't directly translated from Chinese to Swahili, but from Chinese to English then Swahili. Frankly speaking Swahili is not a common language in China, maybe the devs couldn't find a proficient enough translator to do it directly, so they first translated the original Chinese lyrics into English and then asked a translator to translate it into Swahili. 荣耀 is the noun for honor/glory, but honor can be used as both noun and verb and it's synonymous with respect as a verb. Then the translator incorrectly translated honor into heshima.😂
Hey man! Thanks a TON for sharing your culture and language. I'm a big enthusiast of linguistics and language and it's always so cool seeing internet bring people from all kinds of places together to enjoy an aspect of the world and their culture. I spend some of my time contributing to a dictionary that has words in every language. Natlan and your excitement about the track made me want to learn more about Swahili and try to contribute to the dictionary with Swahili words :) Cheers from Switzerland! We're far away but sharing our enjoyment for music and language will bring us together :D Also, you mentioned you might want to play Genshin. I think the game is really cool. It has it's flaws, but the universe is super interesting. This is an OST of a region that is going to come out soon. Sadly, there is an order for the regions you visit, and Natlan is last. It will be a very long journey to reach Natlan. Hopefully the rest of the universe catches your attention!
@kali_kali_kali_ Thats how it used to be, but they're introducing a quick start function in 5.0, so you just need to finish the Liyue Archon Quest and then you have the option to start the Natlan one. I wouldn't recommend it though, considering it might make players confused or spoil them
@@willowberecki ah thats super cool!! But yeah it could lead to some issues. I hope they do it well enough cause some aspects of the story continue into subsequent quests like the abyss stuff. I wonder how that'll be handled but i definitely hope they warn the player enough. Dont want all the newer player to be utterly confused at the lore gaps they get from going in the wrong order
This helped a lot since i dont know the language and sometimes the subtitles may not be that accurate. I like both but the second one blow me away! the vocals there gives me chills.
Not a swahili speaker (indonesian here but also learned some arabic) but i love that some of the words are familiar in my ears so i can actually pick up the meaning. Like for example dunia in both arabic and indonesian also means world, ardhi in arabic means earth or also world, hadithi or hadith i suppose it means tales or stories, and warith (or waris/warisan in indonesian) means legacy, something that is passed through generations, and alfajiri or al-fajr also means dawn in arabic while in indonesian it's called 'fajar'. Not much, i know, but to realize that 'oh, we all are different but still have some things in common after all' feels undescribably pleasant. Especially while listening to this masterpiece
I found your analysis so cool, it's rare for me to see someone so engaged with something new to them! One thing that crossed my mind is that, considering the swahili-speaking region is massive, couldn't some of the errors be regional differences in the language?
Hey wassup, Swahili is a pretty standard language. Meaning if I go to Rwanda or Uganda or Tanzania, apart from the accent, we'd be able to communicate exactly the same way and use words the same way. Meanings wouldn't change as I move from region to region. Some places like Tanzania use Swahili waaaaay more than we do, so their way of speaking may have better vocabulary, but the words wouldn't change meaning across regions. I've seen some comments saying that the song was translated from Chinese straight to Kiswahili. Hence maybe why the errors exist
20:00 I see. Thanks a lot. Your translation is more in line to the source of this text. It's an in-game description for one of the items inside the game.
Thank you soooooo much for this!! Despite the small mistakes, do you think the Swahili lyrics feel appropriately poetic for such an epic song? Did they match the vibe well? Do keep in mind that this was written in Chinese, translated to Swahili, then translated back into Chinese before being translated to English, so it's not surprising that there are some differences in the translated lyrics haha 😅 And you're right that there is some double meaning, especially for the fantasy world of Genshin Impact. Natlan is the nation ruled by fire magic, hence the references to fire. Also they seem to have the secret to bringing people back to life?? Presumably using that fire magic? We'll learn more when the new update drops in a few days. But by rebirth they do literally mean they are coming back to life and being able to live for a longer period of time, and maybe it is by burning their ashes somehow? This could actually give us some lore hints oooh 👀👀 Btw you might already know but the "conducting stick" is called a "baton" in English 😄
Thanks for the explanation, although it seems like the translation will actually make more sense if you know the context behind the game. I'm interested when you said "Shuja" means soldier but the translation says "hero". If you don't know the context it does seems weird, but it's actually make sense. Because in the game, Natlan is depicted as Country of war because they're constantly fighting the Abyss (the dark/evil force). So in context, the "Shuja" is actually refers to Natlan's soldiers/warriors who fought the Abyss. And as soldiers/warriors, ofc they'll be treated as Hero like you'll call your country's army as Hero when they fought on war.
Natlan is the 6th country on Genshin out of 7 and this feel like we're finally enter the final part of RPG game. Normally RPG game often have 2-3 different battle theme that change along with story progression, the game often starts from normal iconic song then progress to the more hype/heroic song at the latter half of the game.
Now that I have finished the Archon Quests, these lyrics and your translations make sense. Also the second song plays during battles and I really wanted to know the lyrics again because it's so good and that's how I was led here! Thank you for making this video!
I appreciate the lesson! Ive always wanted to learn Swahili but this CEMENTED my desire and I'm going to start studying right away! ❤ Thank you so much for giving us the direct translations! ❤ I was also very moved when I heard this performance. I'm glad that the company is showing love to other countries and cultures ❤
This is so cool to see the breakdown pov from ur side of things. Genshin impact is a game where u travel from region to region. So the best way to represent that is by music. It would be awesome if u could react and analyse some of the regional themes and boss themes. Thanks for the informative video
This is amazing! Thanks so much for sharing. Swahili is such a beautiful language, powerful, and to have your direct interpretation is a great gift for us Genshin players (and non-players as well). THANK YOU!!
16:30 same. They use this leitmotif (the melody) over and over in many music pieces/songs in this game, but this version is probably the best among them.
"Photon of Fluctuation" is what it's commonly referred to. This song is actually the first time it's accompanied by lyrics. Easily the best version of it so far.
Watching a native speaker of Swahili gives entirely new nuances to the lyrics. I think, other than for musical flow reasons, some words were deliberately chosen even if it is technically wrong in translation-just as how some English songs are grammatically incorrect for both rhythm and the feeling conveyed by the song. Like when "glory" and "respect" were interchangeable, this is because what the lyric means to allude in inheriting according to Genshin's story is the ancient names that have been respected by the present people and thus is a symbol of glory. In Natlan, specific people are given an "ancient name" to inherit which were carried by renowned heroes of their history. Another is how they use the Swahili word for "warrior/soldier" as hero, because Natlan is a nation of war so warriors and soldiers are considered heroes. The part that says "this is a moment of rebirth" which is actually "our life is now long" refers to the fact that, in Natlan, people can continue to fight (hence, a long life) even when sacrifices are made. This is an allusion to the parallel of "resurrection" and "reignition" in Natlan. Overall, "glory" is a word acquainted with the triumph of battle which is the theme of Natlan; so in the songs, glory is treated as the highest honor befitting of godhood. That's the tricky thing of translating songs in another language. The main point is to deliver the message of the songs while still maintaining the creativity of its metaphors. Being able to know the context behind these songs made even the mistranslations meaningful, as if representing Swahili as the medium for the message in English. So thank you for this! Because of your lyrical breakdown, I appreciated this symphony live even more and cannot wait for more Natlan songs to be released.
This is *SO* helpful! Whenever I read anything translated I always try to get a translation that has both a poetic and litteral translation because it helps so much with actually understanding the intended meaning. It never would have occurred to me to look for someone doing that for this concert, so thank you so much for doing this video! Also, to clarify what they were trying (and failing) to say properly when you pause at 14:50 or so isn't about living longer- they just couldn't find the right words in Swahili. What the song is talking about is an actual resurrection. In the game, the anthem of Natlan doubles as a sort of spell where if everyone comes together and sings it their fallen heroes will hear it and return from the realm of the dead.
I’m SO HAPPY hyv is including African and Ring of Fire nations’ cultures! Sumeru was amazing because it shown a spotlight on Southeast Asia and MENA cultures. It’s a treat to learn
I stumbled across your initial reaction, and then watched this because I was interested in your translations, and it was very worth my time, some great videos, so thank you! It honestly makes me very happy that my favourite game can do justice to cultures I’m not familiar with, and seeing your emotions watching the initial reaction video was very moving, I’m glad we both got to enjoy this music
This was great thank you💙💙I love the language and as an arabic speaker seeing that there're alot of words in Swahili is actually arabic made me very happy 🥹
This is so great! Thank you so much. I grew up with a best friend from Kenya and I've always found the language so beautiful, but living in the middle of America it wasn't something I had much access too. This inspires me a lot to try looking more into learning pieces of it and enjoying its beauty. I'm also so happy you enjoyed this. Part of what many of us love about Genshin is how it embraces the culture of various areas around the world. You might want to check out the Sumeru Live Symphony as well! It's more Middle Eastern and Indian based, but the music is incredible.
For the reason why the first song is less accurate , it’s cause the first song is mashed up of different songs that will be played in the game. The melody will be played usually in the main ending so most like we will hear the accurate singing in the final version.
Nice video! I love references like this in Genshin This is the year of Natlan, anything related to real world countries referenced in Natlan will get extra attention from Genshin fans around the globe, you can make video about things referenced in Natlan that you're familiar, one of the most common video are name pronunciations, personally I can't wait to watch those videos
I was actually hoping that someone who's a native speaker would make a lyrical breakdown for these two songs, so thank you!! It was really fascinating to compare your translation with the official subtitles. Although I had never come into contact with Swahili before, I noticed that I picked up some words after reading the lyrics alongside the subs for a few times. Like moto, shujaa, kwa. I had a lot of fun figuring out some of the grammar too! I'm grateful that this game introduced me to such a beautiful language.
I think it could also be a dialect thing? I'm not a native Swahili speaker but I do speak a language that had its own variation in every island and in almost every region of said islands.
@@kingdogje7551good point, like how in spanish some words can mean different things or the same things have different names from one country to another
Cant wait for natlan battle theme 2 reaction and lyrical breakdown but that has to wait till 28 August to prevent copyright when natlan region releases
The true meaning in Genshin has always been hidden through translation. The original versions tend to foreshadow and explain much more than what they give us in English. So, I am extremely grateful for your lyrics breakdown, as it made some plotpoints even clearer! Thank you for taking the time to do this and carrying the music- and lore-interested fandom like a King 👑👑👑 I shall triple-crown you
In English, having glory or being glorious is often associated with honor or being honorable. It has other meanings also so it's one of those words where it can have many meanings based on context. For this song, being honorable/glorious is a theme for Natlan along with it's imagery for heroes - heroes are seen as honorable warriors and glorious or glorified by descendants of the lands they once defended. So, it's in line with Natlan's lore so far.
14:18 The literal lyrics being "Life becomes longer now" for "This is the moment of rebirth" is so interesting! The game developers teased that Natlan's heroes who battle against threats can "continue fighting" despite sacrifices being inevitable. There was a Natlan cultural concept introduced that heroes' names get passed down so maybe that's what they mean by their lives being longer, but we will only know what it fully means soon. I am excited for it >< 15:45 I love how you started vibing the moment the music started haha. It's cool to see how you appreciate the music and even gave it a high score. Different music plays in this game in various areas/at different times of the day/situations (like during combat) so I really look forward to the music when Natlan comes out (this week!). Players knew about Natlan being a region since the game released in 2020, and it is only now that it will be available so the excitement is really high!
I think the reason why some of the lyrics isn't accurate is maybe because they made the lyrics originally in chinese first and then it translated to both swahili and english, not directly from swahili to english. Maybe that's why it's kinda different. But idk it's just my speculation.
I’m a genshin player from Korea, and I was so curious about the lyrics and the language since this song dropped. I appreciate you for sharing your culture with us. This is something google translate will never be able to give
As a Japanese speaker, it's interesting to me that there are words that are exactly the same as in Japanese (for example, kama moto is a common Japanese surname) I'm going to try learning Swahili along with Russian! Thanks for the interesting video!
You're welcome. I did 1 semester of Japanese in campus. There's language similarities between Japanese and bantu languages like Kiswahili , and even my mothertongue "Kikuyu"
It’s so cool to hear you describe the lyrics ❤ I knew the lyrics were using a native language but I was shocked to realize that it was Swahili! It’s so beautiful how they are used and they’re somewhat accurate to the translations.
at 14:35 what you said makes sense if you know what's happening actually :) basically this first song is sung by them to resurrect warriors fallen in battle, who then come back to life to keep on fighting for Natlan :)
thank you so much for this video, it was such a treat. i love your genuine and wholesome reactions and how excited you were at certain parts of the songs. i feel the same way too and it's just so nice to see someone from one of the countries the region is based on express their joy towards the music. it is sublime indeed!
I Haven't watched the full video yet I'm going to watch it tomorrow, but in case no one else has mentioned this, Hoyoverse does not take down content due to copyright and actually allows people to use their soundtrack freely as well as game models etc. I saw you mention on another video that the shape of the video on your screen was that way to avoid copyright issues so just wanted to point out you won't face any. And soon i'll comment on actual content, am loving your reacts.
Regarding "rebirth", it seems to be both metaphorical and literal from the plot preview we have seen in Natlan trailers. But we'll learn more when the full story releases. Do you plan to play the game?
I always think when you trying to translate a language, it would be wise to learn the culture first. Because some sentence would sounds weird when translated directly. So, I think this song's translation is given to people who don't speak the language but still want to know what is the song about. So, it's more like the international version where whoever you are, from whatever culture you came from, you still understand
Hearing you say the Swahili words without singing it allows me to catch the pronunciation and makes me think maybe I can learn to sing parts of this song phonetically.
The company HoyoVerse really does their homework. They look for inspiration from all over the world. They dont have to but they choose to and it makes the world of the game Genshin all the richer for it.
Swahili sounds so natural, like it flows off the tongue. English commonly feels like we have to fight the language to speak it. Goes to show how much more mature a language Swahili is by comparison, as all African languages are, given they belong to the oldest, most diverse cultures on the planet - as no surprise given all mankind’s ancestry traces back to the dangerous, beautiful continent and it’s there that cultures have had the most time to develop.
Uh no? I'm not a native english speaker, but english feels absolutely fine. Easy to pronounce Why do you love to insult one culture to praise another that you know nothing of? Sounds hella ignorant
Awesome video! It was very informative and your reactions from last video were amazing! I'd been hoping to see a native speaker look into this! If you are interested in listening to some more of Hoyomix's music on your own/on the channel I would recommend: "Wildfire" (Its a very guitar heavy song from another one of their games) "White Night" (this one is a bit more jazzy so not sure if you would be interested though) "Hope is the Thing with Feathers" (I would say this one leans toward Pop a little bit? It has beautiful vocals though) There's so many more but I don't wanna over do it haha Hoyomix does alot alot of different music, one thing they do in some of their boss themes is mix electric guitar with classical ochestra and it just sounds incredible! But no pressure if you don't look into it! It was lovely to witness a Swahili speaker discover this beautiful music and I hope they make more like this! Thanks again for the video man :)
What non-european instruments do you recognize in the orchestra? From América, I recognize a cuatro (probably a venezuelan cuatro), which is the four string little guitar, an ocarina, a zampoña (the pan's flute), and a quena maybe (the flute) because it might be any other flute. The harp and the guitar are tricky, 'cause they are classical european, but for many latinamerican countries they are part of the folklore regardless of that
Thank you so much for posting this breakdown!!! I'm Chinese and I'm sure the production team first wrote the lyrics in CN so mostly likely they did CN → English and then English → Swahili so...two layers of translation away, so, double the discrepancies😂 Also a small question, I'm trying to learn to sing this. Maybe it's my hearings but, the "j" in "shujaa", sometimes they sing "shu-jaa" and sometimes "shu-yaa", I wonder if it was a mistake in the song or if it's an alternate pronunciation.
Thank you for the lyrical breakdown! By the way, do u recognize all of the traditional African instruments being used here? Some of them look and sound really interesting, like the xylophone like instrument at 20:05 and the string instrument at 16:47
Love your lyrics breakdown! Sometimes in Hoyo's musical works they slighty butchers words on purpose so that it sounds better when they sing it. I would say it is kind of artistic freedom.
From your translation at the beginning, does 'hadithi' means story/tales? Cause in arab, 'hadis' also means the same. I find it fascinating similiar words throughout ethnics/races which are far apart of the world to be similiar in meaning and pronunce. Do correct me if I'm wrong.
Hadithi means mainly "story" But as I said, Kiswahili can use a word multiple times for multiple meanings So Kenyans would read "tales" as "hadithi" And yes, in our history Arabs have come to our coast in Kenya and Zanzibar so hence the language similarities
Good news, you'll be able to skip straight to playing Natlan content in genshin impact very early on when the patch comes out, it would be really interesting to see your reactions in natlan!
26:28 would it be right to say that they're singing in context that someone is ascending, as in rising, to the throne of leadership? like a king being crowned or a president being sworn in?
In regards to the word Shuja I can give my opinion and you can confirm or deny. Arabic and Swahili seems to have alot of words in common and Shuja sounds like the arabic word Shuja’a which means “Champion” and the word for Hero in arabic if you’re curious is “Batal”. Edit: Shuja’a in arabic can also mean brave or brave person and Batal can also mean champion but is mostly used to say “hero”
I'm an Indonesian muslim so I know a bit of Arabic and when the lyric mention "dunya" and "fajri" I was soooo excited lol In Indonesian world is "dunia" and dawn is "fajar" so yeah Arabic, Swahili and Indonesian share some words
@@neohybridkai Ok nice so I wasn’t imagining it. Also when he mentioned “friend” in Swahili it sounded like “Rafeeki” which in arabic is the same, and I think for ground the word was “ardh” as well as some other similar words here and there
Someone had requested I discuss the Swahili lyrics, so there you go
I plan to react to future soundtracks from Genshin Impact when they're released
Will play the game and even upload some gameplay if I can 😀
So like & subscribe. Enjoy
Loved your original reaction, and thank you for sharing the lyrics breakdown as well! Translation is always tough, and as with any language, lyrics are sometimes chosen for how they are fit for singing and how it flows with the music rather than what might make sense when speaking, but it’s great to listen and understand both ways.
The game is beautiful but also a lot (it’s been 4 years since the game first launched and they’re still adding new content), so don’t feel pressured to push through the game if it isn’t for you after you try it! You can easily find clips of cutscenes or gameplay on TH-cam if you just want to experience it without spending many hrs playing it. The official Genshin Impact channel does a wonderful job uploading its music, cutscenes, PVs, etc for free enjoyment. I personally did not start playing the game until this year due to time and resource constraints, but have followed the official channel and music since the game first launched, and enjoyed it thoroughly. They always post their full OST albums on their official channel upon release.
Also, Genshin has been performing live worldwide concerts annually ever since post-COVID that you can buy tickets to! They do post official concert recordings too (would highly recommend checking those out), but definitely worth experiencing live in the future if you get a chance.
Thank you again for sharing your knowledge and your genuine thoughts! Genshin has never failed to bring diverse cultures together with its music, and it’s beautiful to see others connect with it, regardless of whether they play the game or not.
yayyy! hope you enjoy playing the game. it will take some time investment to get to natlan and be strong enough to fight there just to be honest. looking forward to your content
I would love to see your reaction to the game! I recommend checking out the other symphonies: Fontaine based around France, Sumeru based around the Middle East and Liyue based on China (the liyue one is called producing the sounds of liyue or something like that)
Sumeru also includes India. There’s also Inazuma, which was performed by a Japanese orchestra
amazing
sir... with all due respect, i must inform you. you HAVE NO IDEA how grateful i am to find this lyrical breakdown. thank you
Haha, you're welcome
Languages are so utterly fascinating in how they can never be perfectly translated because of the subtle nuances to the meaning of words.
It’s also why many religious texts accidentally create different sects due to how translations work.
@@Fuphu Reminds me of a joke:
Once I saw a man on a bridge about to jump.
I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"
He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What denomination?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"
He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!"
Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.
@@sightseek3r Holy shit thats actually amazing.
We go so little exposure to African culture in media that is actually good. Really appreciate this.
Too bad genshin had the chance to expand it but they will butcher it sadly most likely
@@ziebus904 it’s a fictional fantasy game not an outlet for real life documentary and politics
@@babyjiren9676 ye but still im not talking about the 1:1 but for details
@@babyjiren9676 agree
Right like I was low key disappointed since Natlan was meant to be ours and latin America, when the trailer dropped I was like what is this representation. So settled with it only having west Africa alone yet again (like in most media that Africa shown) then when this dropped I was shocketh 😂 I was like I understand this. Reduced my reception for Natlan since I just wasn't as excited as I was for Fontaine
I'm from south America (Spanish speaker), seeing a comrade from Kenya who analyze in English a song interpreted by the London Symphony Orchestra along with Latin musicians; which is produced by Chinese people but is written in Swahili.
I LOVE THIS GAME SM! ❤
Over the years since the game came out I have met many channels, many people and from all cultures of the world. And here I am again meeting brothers from the other side of the world through the music of Genshin. Nice to meet you Edygrim DJ
Legit same!!
You said it for me too, bro! There it is, Genshin making me learn more about the real world itself. :D
About the lyrics. They told us how they do it. They write it out in Chinese and have native people translate it and then go back and worth to have a melody out of different words
Love from Bilibili, your videos is translated into Chinese and got 340K+ views for the previous one and 57k+ for this one!
So fast!!
That's sick!!! Would love to check it out and see what the commenters say on Bilibili!
Nani 😱 Ati what!!! that's cool
Lets go!!! So proud
We really appreciate this, yeah. As someone who pays A LOT of attention to the story of Genshin Impact.
Coming across a Swahili mother tongue speaker in Genshin community isn't as easy as it sounds. So this video you've made have been Godsend to us.
Really. Thanks a lot.
I work at a localization firm and Swahili isn't very in-demand in terms of translations that the general pool of customers request so I'm sure applying the language in the music in Genshin would make more people interested in Swahili, more interested in African culture and countries. I know I am ^_^
15:25 I think that in the context of the game’s story, your translation also makes sense. Because the nation of Natlan is at war with the ‘Abyss’ and every time they fight and win, they get to live longer. The ‘Abyss’ is both a literal and conceptual force. It is corroding the land of Natlan, so every fight is a form of healing (‘rebirth’) to the land.
That being said, some of the grammar being off is understandable because I believe it was translated from Chinese.
Also, thank you so so much for such an informative video!
Every win is a form of healing. 🤔 That's pretty interesting from a lore perspective.
I can't know what whoever translated it was thinking, but "rebirth" may not be accurate language-wise, but it is accurate lore-wise, since it's the song that's sung when a warrior is literally brought back from death
18:00 yes this is difficult. As you know: Genshin is originally written in Chinese (it's a Chinese game, after all).
In Chinese, there are a lot of ways to say "hero". And as you know: the word 'hero' can come in many forms, in general.
So having you clearing the context for us like this, we really appreciate it. Basically the lyric implies hero = soldier, someone who fights for their nation.
Considering the company is chinese it was probably very difficult for them to even make a song in swahili as they expressed this in a past song in french so its so cool to see them go through this effort for this. Thank you for this vid
it is about three hundred thousand afican live in Guangzhou. more in Hong Kong. it is easy to find a people speak in swahili in china.
@@nokiaiaiahoyoverse is a chinese company yes, but they're based in Singapore, not mainland china
I seriously doubt they didn't find a native speaker
@@thatweirdodaniel i think this one is wrong. Hoyoverse might in singapore, but the game still made in china. Mihoyo. Just like when shanghai got locked down again, the game being delayed for example.. so hoyoverse is for outside china market, but the developing game and the HQ is still in mainland.. 🙏
@@thatweirdodaniel
Well, no. They have multiple headquarters and Hoyoverse is based in China still. Mihoyo, which is likely the NA/EU branch, is based in Singapore. All of the main directors, devs, and CEO are chinese speakers first and they were heavily involved in the production process.
20:11
The translated lyrics (subtitles) originate from the description of an ascension material, Agnidus Agate Gemstone, in the game. Therefore, it's understandable that it may not fully align with the original Swahili language. The text in genshin impact holds significant importance to the overall lore, which has led to a considerable number of content creators dedicated to analyzing the story, enriching the community. I appreciate you for creating this video; language, music, and culture are treasures of humanity, and your analysis has bridged the gap between them and myself.
‧Agnidus Agate Gemstone
Character Ascension material.
"A pilgrimage for a wish; a battle to earn a name...
Burnt to cinders for a dream.
If the intention yet remains, achieved ██'s truth he has."
yeah, i’d be curious to know whether the swahili here matches better with the original chinese text for that gemstone description tbh
@@shadycactus6146 I believe the English translation is based on the Chinese text. I think the situation is like what the video maker said, they adjusted words to make them easier to sing.
This is so interesting listening to you, as a native speaker of Swahili.
Also for some context: the first piece is the main theme for the new region Natlan. It encapsulates the story that this region will bring. The second piece is the battle theme you will hear when you fight monsters in the overworld. This is the theme you will hear the most, along with two other themes that haven’t been released yet.
Actually, once the region comes out it would be very nice if you could do a lyrical analysis for music with lyrics! I’m sure a lot of people would be interested!
As a Genshin player going on 4 years I never expected someone like you to be precise and I love it!
-Pure honest reaction
-Straight to the point
-No hate
-Clear translation
-Willing to explore Natlan
One of the coolest streamer I saw. Love the content ❤
You'll find that the hate is mostly from Genshin haters, ex players who are now haters or twitter users.
Thanks Mikel 😀
Greetings from China. Thanks so much for breaking down that lyrics so that we can better understand how we could culturally connect with each other. ❤❤
Your translation actually makes this song even MORE with the story lore of what this is supposed to be for this next chapter of the story
I think some was lost in the English translation from Chinese. It happens a lot. Clearly this song made from Chinese into Swahili and then back into Chinese and then into English.
I 100% agree with you at 9:43, singing and normal talking are different and singing can lead to things like double meanings and interpretations. They say that music is pretty much a different language altogether because of this. Great insight!
Hello I am a Japanese genshin player.Thank you for your detailed explanation of the lyrics of Natlan s song.I love this song and your commentary was very helpful as I don't have a deep understanding of the Swahili meaning.Please play the story of Natlan!!
2:50 so you're saying what the singer is singing is the word for "burning" (as in a wood burning away) instead of "shedding" (as in shedding blood)?
because... if that is true, then that's part of the game story, part of the lore of the game.
Could you elaborate?
@@FabioGrenkhprobably relates to the words.. I believe either Dainsleif or someone else that says "victor/hero burn bright while loser turned into ashes"
Bcs this Natlan symphony seems to allude to the fact that you simply cannot lose in this "war" as Natlan heroes. You have to win so you'll "burn bright", your name be kept in records and possibly get resurrected.
@@wienzard93 Ah I see, that makes sense
Also Natlan is the nation of pyro, so having poetic references to that in the lyrics makes sense!
yes. correct. he used the word for "burning"
I liked your initial reaction to the Natlan Live Symphony Performance very much, and this now is great too. To get insight of the lyrics, and get to know some meaning behind this is very interesting, The Swahili language also sounds great to me and has a nice tone to it.
i guess the thing with 'honor' and them using heshima, which means respect, derive from the company hoyoverse being chinese, where honor and respect are the same thing in concept if not in word! like you 'honor' your elders and it can be interpreted as you 'respect' your elders. many of their choices become really an insight into how chinese works, and from the perspective of someone who's learning chinese, it's very fun to pinpoint where the influence of the producers' culture is! im happy you liked the songs, it's always very fun when people who speak the languages jump in to give their 2 cents in this fandom
Wasn't it "glory" not "honor" here? Correct me if im wrong
well we have different words for honour and respect, where the word for honour 荣耀 is more synonymous with glory and isn't used as a verb, respect 尊敬 is more just respecting people and things in general, ig also as the verb for 'to honour'
Maybe the lyrics weren't directly translated from Chinese to Swahili, but from Chinese to English then Swahili. Frankly speaking Swahili is not a common language in China, maybe the devs couldn't find a proficient enough translator to do it directly, so they first translated the original Chinese lyrics into English and then asked a translator to translate it into Swahili. 荣耀 is the noun for honor/glory, but honor can be used as both noun and verb and it's synonymous with respect as a verb. Then the translator incorrectly translated honor into heshima.😂
As a spanish speaker, it’s so beautiful to hear my culture and learn from different ones as well!! This video was so interesting thank you :)
Hey man!
Thanks a TON for sharing your culture and language. I'm a big enthusiast of linguistics and language and it's always so cool seeing internet bring people from all kinds of places together to enjoy an aspect of the world and their culture.
I spend some of my time contributing to a dictionary that has words in every language. Natlan and your excitement about the track made me want to learn more about Swahili and try to contribute to the dictionary with Swahili words :)
Cheers from Switzerland! We're far away but sharing our enjoyment for music and language will bring us together :D
Also, you mentioned you might want to play Genshin.
I think the game is really cool. It has it's flaws, but the universe is super interesting. This is an OST of a region that is going to come out soon. Sadly, there is an order for the regions you visit, and Natlan is last. It will be a very long journey to reach Natlan. Hopefully the rest of the universe catches your attention!
Technically you can walk to natlan right away and play the archon quest after Liyue
@@MiyuKawasaki wait can you?? I could've sworn you only unlock the archon quest of the next region after you finish the previous one
@kali_kali_kali_ Thats how it used to be, but they're introducing a quick start function in 5.0, so you just need to finish the Liyue Archon Quest and then you have the option to start the Natlan one. I wouldn't recommend it though, considering it might make players confused or spoil them
@@willowberecki ah thats super cool!! But yeah it could lead to some issues. I hope they do it well enough cause some aspects of the story continue into subsequent quests like the abyss stuff. I wonder how that'll be handled but i definitely hope they warn the player enough. Dont want all the newer player to be utterly confused at the lore gaps they get from going in the wrong order
This helped a lot since i dont know the language and sometimes the subtitles may not be that accurate. I like both but the second one blow me away! the vocals there gives me chills.
Not a swahili speaker (indonesian here but also learned some arabic) but i love that some of the words are familiar in my ears so i can actually pick up the meaning. Like for example dunia in both arabic and indonesian also means world, ardhi in arabic means earth or also world, hadithi or hadith i suppose it means tales or stories, and warith (or waris/warisan in indonesian) means legacy, something that is passed through generations, and alfajiri or al-fajr also means dawn in arabic while in indonesian it's called 'fajar'.
Not much, i know, but to realize that 'oh, we all are different but still have some things in common after all' feels undescribably pleasant. Especially while listening to this masterpiece
Well Arabic did strongly influence our language 1000s of years ago, it later became the common language spoken in east Africa.
I found your analysis so cool, it's rare for me to see someone so engaged with something new to them! One thing that crossed my mind is that, considering the swahili-speaking region is massive, couldn't some of the errors be regional differences in the language?
Hey wassup, Swahili is a pretty standard language. Meaning if I go to Rwanda or Uganda or Tanzania, apart from the accent, we'd be able to communicate exactly the same way and use words the same way. Meanings wouldn't change as I move from region to region. Some places like Tanzania use Swahili waaaaay more than we do, so their way of speaking may have better vocabulary, but the words wouldn't change meaning across regions. I've seen some comments saying that the song was translated from Chinese straight to Kiswahili. Hence maybe why the errors exist
20:00 I see. Thanks a lot. Your translation is more in line to the source of this text.
It's an in-game description for one of the items inside the game.
Getting to hear your insights was super cool! 🔥
Thank you soooooo much for this!! Despite the small mistakes, do you think the Swahili lyrics feel appropriately poetic for such an epic song? Did they match the vibe well?
Do keep in mind that this was written in Chinese, translated to Swahili, then translated back into Chinese before being translated to English, so it's not surprising that there are some differences in the translated lyrics haha 😅 And you're right that there is some double meaning, especially for the fantasy world of Genshin Impact. Natlan is the nation ruled by fire magic, hence the references to fire. Also they seem to have the secret to bringing people back to life?? Presumably using that fire magic? We'll learn more when the new update drops in a few days. But by rebirth they do literally mean they are coming back to life and being able to live for a longer period of time, and maybe it is by burning their ashes somehow? This could actually give us some lore hints oooh 👀👀
Btw you might already know but the "conducting stick" is called a "baton" in English 😄
Thanks for the explanation, although it seems like the translation will actually make more sense if you know the context behind the game.
I'm interested when you said "Shuja" means soldier but the translation says "hero". If you don't know the context it does seems weird, but it's actually make sense. Because in the game, Natlan is depicted as Country of war because they're constantly fighting the Abyss (the dark/evil force). So in context, the "Shuja" is actually refers to Natlan's soldiers/warriors who fought the Abyss. And as soldiers/warriors, ofc they'll be treated as Hero like you'll call your country's army as Hero when they fought on war.
20:57 kinda fits. rekindle in ashes kinda can mean that you reignite from ashes. Going back to the rebirth i guess. Kinda like a Phoenixs i guess.
Natlan is the 6th country on Genshin out of 7 and this feel like we're finally enter the final part of RPG game. Normally RPG game often have 2-3 different battle theme that change along with story progression, the game often starts from normal iconic song then progress to the more hype/heroic song at the latter half of the game.
Now that I have finished the Archon Quests, these lyrics and your translations make sense. Also the second song plays during battles and I really wanted to know the lyrics again because it's so good and that's how I was led here! Thank you for making this video!
I appreciate the lesson! Ive always wanted to learn Swahili but this CEMENTED my desire and I'm going to start studying right away! ❤ Thank you so much for giving us the direct translations! ❤ I was also very moved when I heard this performance. I'm glad that the company is showing love to other countries and cultures ❤
This is so cool to see the breakdown pov from ur side of things. Genshin impact is a game where u travel from region to region. So the best way to represent that is by music.
It would be awesome if u could react and analyse some of the regional themes and boss themes.
Thanks for the informative video
This is amazing! Thanks so much for sharing. Swahili is such a beautiful language, powerful, and to have your direct interpretation is a great gift for us Genshin players (and non-players as well). THANK YOU!!
16:30 same. They use this leitmotif (the melody) over and over in many music pieces/songs in this game, but this version is probably the best among them.
"Photon of Fluctuation" is what it's commonly referred to. This song is actually the first time it's accompanied by lyrics. Easily the best version of it so far.
Watching a native speaker of Swahili gives entirely new nuances to the lyrics. I think, other than for musical flow reasons, some words were deliberately chosen even if it is technically wrong in translation-just as how some English songs are grammatically incorrect for both rhythm and the feeling conveyed by the song.
Like when "glory" and "respect" were interchangeable, this is because what the lyric means to allude in inheriting according to Genshin's story is the ancient names that have been respected by the present people and thus is a symbol of glory. In Natlan, specific people are given an "ancient name" to inherit which were carried by renowned heroes of their history. Another is how they use the Swahili word for "warrior/soldier" as hero, because Natlan is a nation of war so warriors and soldiers are considered heroes. The part that says "this is a moment of rebirth" which is actually "our life is now long" refers to the fact that, in Natlan, people can continue to fight (hence, a long life) even when sacrifices are made. This is an allusion to the parallel of "resurrection" and "reignition" in Natlan. Overall, "glory" is a word acquainted with the triumph of battle which is the theme of Natlan; so in the songs, glory is treated as the highest honor befitting of godhood.
That's the tricky thing of translating songs in another language. The main point is to deliver the message of the songs while still maintaining the creativity of its metaphors. Being able to know the context behind these songs made even the mistranslations meaningful, as if representing Swahili as the medium for the message in English. So thank you for this! Because of your lyrical breakdown, I appreciated this symphony live even more and cannot wait for more Natlan songs to be released.
This is *SO* helpful! Whenever I read anything translated I always try to get a translation that has both a poetic and litteral translation because it helps so much with actually understanding the intended meaning. It never would have occurred to me to look for someone doing that for this concert, so thank you so much for doing this video!
Also, to clarify what they were trying (and failing) to say properly when you pause at 14:50 or so isn't about living longer- they just couldn't find the right words in Swahili. What the song is talking about is an actual resurrection. In the game, the anthem of Natlan doubles as a sort of spell where if everyone comes together and sings it their fallen heroes will hear it and return from the realm of the dead.
I’m SO HAPPY hyv is including African and Ring of Fire nations’ cultures! Sumeru was amazing because it shown a spotlight on Southeast Asia and MENA cultures. It’s a treat to learn
I stumbled across your initial reaction, and then watched this because I was interested in your translations, and it was very worth my time, some great videos, so thank you!
It honestly makes me very happy that my favourite game can do justice to cultures I’m not familiar with, and seeing your emotions watching the initial reaction video was very moving, I’m glad we both got to enjoy this music
This was great thank you💙💙I love the language and as an arabic speaker seeing that there're alot of words in Swahili is actually arabic made me very happy 🥹
Ever since I listened to the ost, I’ve been really interested in Swahili so I’m very grateful for this video. 🙏 thank you very much :)
This is so great! Thank you so much. I grew up with a best friend from Kenya and I've always found the language so beautiful, but living in the middle of America it wasn't something I had much access too. This inspires me a lot to try looking more into learning pieces of it and enjoying its beauty. I'm also so happy you enjoyed this. Part of what many of us love about Genshin is how it embraces the culture of various areas around the world. You might want to check out the Sumeru Live Symphony as well! It's more Middle Eastern and Indian based, but the music is incredible.
Love this!! Directly translating languages can be so tricky, so I really appreciate the context
For the reason why the first song is less accurate , it’s cause the first song is mashed up of different songs that will be played in the game. The melody will be played usually in the main ending so most like we will hear the accurate singing in the final version.
Nice video! I love references like this in Genshin
This is the year of Natlan, anything related to real world countries referenced in Natlan will get extra attention from Genshin fans around the globe, you can make video about things referenced in Natlan that you're familiar, one of the most common video are name pronunciations, personally I can't wait to watch those videos
I was actually hoping that someone who's a native speaker would make a lyrical breakdown for these two songs, so thank you!! It was really fascinating to compare your translation with the official subtitles.
Although I had never come into contact with Swahili before, I noticed that I picked up some words after reading the lyrics alongside the subs for a few times. Like moto, shujaa, kwa. I had a lot of fun figuring out some of the grammar too! I'm grateful that this game introduced me to such a beautiful language.
Lyrics looks like being polished for some deep and unspecific meaning, while you were more direct
I think it could also be a dialect thing? I'm not a native Swahili speaker but I do speak a language that had its own variation in every island and in almost every region of said islands.
@@kingdogje7551good point, like how in spanish some words can mean different things or the same things have different names from one country to another
Cant wait for natlan battle theme 2 reaction and lyrical breakdown but that has to wait till 28 August to prevent copyright when natlan region releases
I keep seeing the leak in my recommended but I dare not spoil it for myself, tho I am curious is it as good as theme 1 in your opinion?
@@shironeko6164 Imo battle theme 2 better. Anthem of savannah is more heroic but battle theme 2 is just magical and makes me ascend
The true meaning in Genshin has always been hidden through translation. The original versions tend to foreshadow and explain much more than what they give us in English. So, I am extremely grateful for your lyrics breakdown, as it made some plotpoints even clearer! Thank you for taking the time to do this and carrying the music- and lore-interested fandom like a King 👑👑👑 I shall triple-crown you
Glad to see you back with a longer video, even cooler to see your interpretation of the symphony and lyrics brother 🙏
In English, having glory or being glorious is often associated with honor or being honorable. It has other meanings also so it's one of those words where it can have many meanings based on context. For this song, being honorable/glorious is a theme for Natlan along with it's imagery for heroes - heroes are seen as honorable warriors and glorious or glorified by descendants of the lands they once defended. So, it's in line with Natlan's lore so far.
Thanks for sharing your language ❤!
Yea poetic liberty can be very tricky to translate.
14:18 The literal lyrics being "Life becomes longer now" for "This is the moment of rebirth" is so interesting! The game developers teased that Natlan's heroes who battle against threats can "continue fighting" despite sacrifices being inevitable. There was a Natlan cultural concept introduced that heroes' names get passed down so maybe that's what they mean by their lives being longer, but we will only know what it fully means soon. I am excited for it ><
15:45 I love how you started vibing the moment the music started haha. It's cool to see how you appreciate the music and even gave it a high score. Different music plays in this game in various areas/at different times of the day/situations (like during combat) so I really look forward to the music when Natlan comes out (this week!). Players knew about Natlan being a region since the game released in 2020, and it is only now that it will be available so the excitement is really high!
I think the reason why some of the lyrics isn't accurate is maybe because they made the lyrics originally in chinese first and then it translated to both swahili and english, not directly from swahili to english. Maybe that's why it's kinda different. But idk it's just my speculation.
I’m a genshin player from Korea, and I was so curious about the lyrics and the language since this song dropped. I appreciate you for sharing your culture with us. This is something google translate will never be able to give
As a Japanese speaker, it's interesting to me that there are words that are exactly the same as in Japanese
(for example, kama moto is a common Japanese surname)
I'm going to try learning Swahili along with Russian!
Thanks for the interesting video!
You're welcome. I did 1 semester of Japanese in campus. There's language similarities between Japanese and bantu languages like Kiswahili , and even my mothertongue "Kikuyu"
Lol right the similarities made me want to learn Japanese 🥰 (also for anime reasons) but got derailed and went to learn hangul 🤣
Thank you so much for sharing this analysis!!!! Brings a lot more context to the lyrics.
It’s so cool to hear you describe the lyrics ❤ I knew the lyrics were using a native language but I was shocked to realize that it was Swahili! It’s so beautiful how they are used and they’re somewhat accurate to the translations.
at 14:35 what you said makes sense if you know what's happening actually :) basically this first song is sung by them to resurrect warriors fallen in battle, who then come back to life to keep on fighting for Natlan :)
I'm glad you do the direct translation for this one
thank you so much for this video, it was such a treat. i love your genuine and wholesome reactions and how excited you were at certain parts of the songs. i feel the same way too and it's just so nice to see someone from one of the countries the region is based on express their joy towards the music. it is sublime indeed!
I Haven't watched the full video yet I'm going to watch it tomorrow, but in case no one else has mentioned this, Hoyoverse does not take down content due to copyright and actually allows people to use their soundtrack freely as well as game models etc. I saw you mention on another video that the shape of the video on your screen was that way to avoid copyright issues so just wanted to point out you won't face any. And soon i'll comment on actual content, am loving your reacts.
I think the composers are trying to match the context of the game story with the song's lyrics, that's probably the reason for some inaccuracies.
Absolutely loved this analysis! Thanks for explaining all of this :)
wait wait wait, 4:44 it means he/she conquers "again". thats we can use that in theory.
Yes, directly translates to "he conquers again"
Great video! Your analysis was really insightful :D I hope we can hear more of your language with Natlan's release S2
Regarding "rebirth", it seems to be both metaphorical and literal from the plot preview we have seen in Natlan trailers. But we'll learn more when the full story releases.
Do you plan to play the game?
Oh yes, I will play the game and record some gameplay
I mentioned in my pinned comment 😀
wow this is so great!! thank you for doing this ❤
I always think when you trying to translate a language, it would be wise to learn the culture first. Because some sentence would sounds weird when translated directly. So, I think this song's translation is given to people who don't speak the language but still want to know what is the song about. So, it's more like the international version where whoever you are, from whatever culture you came from, you still understand
Hearing you say the Swahili words without singing it allows me to catch the pronunciation and makes me think maybe I can learn to sing parts of this song phonetically.
Loved your first reaction. Thank you for this breakdown now!
The company HoyoVerse really does their homework. They look for inspiration from all over the world. They dont have to but they choose to and it makes the world of the game Genshin all the richer for it.
After finishing 5.1 Archon quest the thing he said at 14:45 seems to make more sense! Maisha marefu ni sasa.
Swahili sounds so natural, like it flows off the tongue. English commonly feels like we have to fight the language to speak it. Goes to show how much more mature a language Swahili is by comparison, as all African languages are, given they belong to the oldest, most diverse cultures on the planet - as no surprise given all mankind’s ancestry traces back to the dangerous, beautiful continent and it’s there that cultures have had the most time to develop.
Uh no? I'm not a native english speaker, but english feels absolutely fine. Easy to pronounce
Why do you love to insult one culture to praise another that you know nothing of? Sounds hella ignorant
Awesome video! It was very informative and your reactions from last video were amazing! I'd been hoping to see a native speaker look into this!
If you are interested in listening to some more of Hoyomix's music on your own/on the channel I would recommend:
"Wildfire" (Its a very guitar heavy song from another one of their games)
"White Night" (this one is a bit more jazzy so not sure if you would be interested though)
"Hope is the Thing with Feathers" (I would say this one leans toward Pop a little bit? It has beautiful vocals though)
There's so many more but I don't wanna over do it haha
Hoyomix does alot alot of different music, one thing they do in some of their boss themes is mix electric guitar with classical ochestra and it just sounds incredible!
But no pressure if you don't look into it! It was lovely to witness a Swahili speaker discover this beautiful music and I hope they make more like this!
Thanks again for the video man :)
What non-european instruments do you recognize in the orchestra? From América, I recognize a cuatro (probably a venezuelan cuatro), which is the four string little guitar, an ocarina, a zampoña (the pan's flute), and a quena maybe (the flute) because it might be any other flute. The harp and the guitar are tricky, 'cause they are classical european, but for many latinamerican countries they are part of the folklore regardless of that
Thank you so much for posting this breakdown!!!
I'm Chinese and I'm sure the production team first wrote the lyrics in CN so mostly likely they did CN → English and then English → Swahili so...two layers of translation away, so, double the discrepancies😂
Also a small question, I'm trying to learn to sing this. Maybe it's my hearings but, the "j" in "shujaa", sometimes they sing "shu-jaa" and sometimes "shu-yaa", I wonder if it was a mistake in the song or if it's an alternate pronunciation.
Thank you for the lyrical breakdown! By the way, do u recognize all of the traditional African instruments being used here? Some of them look and sound really interesting, like the xylophone like instrument at 20:05 and the string instrument at 16:47
This should be viral
after the reaction and this video you earned a sub from me.
Love your lyrics breakdown!
Sometimes in Hoyo's musical works they slighty butchers words on purpose so that it sounds better when they sing it. I would say it is kind of artistic freedom.
When the Natlan OST gets released, I hope you can do this comparison to all the songs with lyrics haha
Thank you very much!
From your translation at the beginning, does 'hadithi' means story/tales? Cause in arab, 'hadis' also means the same. I find it fascinating similiar words throughout ethnics/races which are far apart of the world to be similiar in meaning and pronunce.
Do correct me if I'm wrong.
Hadithi means mainly "story"
But as I said, Kiswahili can use a word multiple times for multiple meanings
So Kenyans would read "tales" as "hadithi"
And yes, in our history Arabs have come to our coast in Kenya and Zanzibar so hence the language similarities
much rather watch something like this than use google translate for curiosity's sake lol
I think Google Translate would completely butcher it and say something completely different 😂
LOVE IT
"Rebirth" is actually meant to be pretty literal.
Good news, you'll be able to skip straight to playing Natlan content in genshin impact very early on when the patch comes out, it would be really interesting to see your reactions in natlan!
In the future if genshin were to release another content that has a tie or connection to the swahili, i hope you gonna react to it too
cool video, love from cn, curious are there any Kenyan genshin players in the comment?
🤚🏾 Here
26:28 would it be right to say that they're singing in context that someone is ascending, as in rising, to the throne of leadership? like a king being crowned or a president being sworn in?
Oh that would make sense with the lore!
very good. yes, in context "utukufu" would work that way. what you've said works well
In regards to the word Shuja I can give my opinion and you can confirm or deny.
Arabic and Swahili seems to have alot of words in common and Shuja sounds like the arabic word Shuja’a which means “Champion” and the word for Hero in arabic if you’re curious is “Batal”.
Edit: Shuja’a in arabic can also mean brave or brave person and Batal can also mean champion but is mostly used to say “hero”
I'm an Indonesian muslim so I know a bit of Arabic and when the lyric mention "dunya" and "fajri" I was soooo excited lol
In Indonesian world is "dunia" and dawn is "fajar" so yeah Arabic, Swahili and Indonesian share some words
@@neohybridkai Ok nice so I wasn’t imagining it. Also when he mentioned “friend” in Swahili it sounded like “Rafeeki” which in arabic is the same, and I think for ground the word was “ardh” as well as some other similar words here and there
so cool🔥
So it's basically like a passionate war chant. Some kind of National anthem.
are there differences in swahili across countries? kind of like the way arabic will be spoken in widely different ways depending on the country
9:00 question:
so, since the voices are answering each other
family -> good
country -> clean
nation -> okay/safe
???
it's actually from old chinese says: Good family->Clean country-> peace/total domination of people 🫠
@@quantranhong1092 Wow thank you!
Good stuff. Makes sense