Overtures to Legend 1999 & 1997

Included in "LIVE - LEGEND 1999 & 1997 APOCALYPSE" (released on 2014 Oct. 29th).

Overture to Legend "1999"   on 2013 Jun. 30th

"The world ends soon."
It was the end of the century when "The Secret Object" was going to come to this world.
By the magical power of "The Crown Prince of Hell" who dominated the Metal scene,
the devils who were hungry for holy things revived again, and the devils came and did the Heavy Metal.
As already announced, on 1999 (the end of the century) December 31st, the world was conquered.
The Metal soul which has been loving the Metal since one hundred thousand and fourteen years ago
transcends time and space, and creates a new EL DORADO.
Everyone, soon comes the opening of "Genesis of Metalion"!

Overture to Legend "1997"   on 2013 Dec. 21st

(no narration & no text, music only)

---

  ROMAJI TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES ARE BELOW.

[i] About SEIKIMA-II (a.k.a. The End of the Century)

"聖飢魔II" (Seikimatsu; homonym with "end of century") was a group of devils. The name is the abbreviation of "聖なるものに飢えている悪魔がII(ふたた)び蘇る" (Sei-naru mono ni ueteiru akuma ga futatabi yomigaeru; The devils who are hungry for holy things revive again). It was formed to conquer this world by the propagation of Satan through the Heavy Metal music.

It appeared in Japan at the end of 1982. Its founder was His Highness Damian HAMADA (Gt), the then Crown Prince of Hell, but he returned to Yamaguchi Hell before its major debut in Japan 1985 (now he is the Emperor of Hell). Thereafter the group was led by His Excellency Demon KOGURE (Vo; hereafter "Demon kakka"), the former vice-emperor of Hell. After the propagation, they declared the completion of conquering this world and disbanded at 1999 Dec. 31st, 23:59:59. And then, the members started their solo careers.

Their faces are colored white, grey, etc., but those are said to be their bare skins as devils. By such appearances and sayings, they were often asked to TV variety show, etc. and got comical popularity among the Japanese other than the metalheads. But its music was orthodox Heavy Metal (not the Black Metal), and Demon kakka is an excellent singer.

Demon kakka is clever, wise, precise & honest. What they call "dai-kyooten/shoo-kyooten" (= major/minor scriptures) is what we call "CD album/single", What they call "Black Mass" is what we call "concert", and so on. Demon kakkka was once asked "Why do you stand against the bullying in humankind? Isn't it favorable to devils?", and he replied consistently and persuasively (I'm sorry for forgetting the details).

Overture to Legend "1999"   on 2013 Jun. 30th

Romaji Transcription	English Translation	Notes
"Sekai wa owaru no yo."	"The world ends soon."	1
Toki wa seikimatsu. SECRET OBJECT o mukae-yoo to shiteita sekai.	It was the end of the century when "The Secret Object" was going to come to this world.	2
Metaru kai ni kunrin suru "Jigoku no Kootaishi" no maryoku ni yotte	By the magical power of "The Crown Prince of Hell" who dominated the Metal scene,	3
sei-naru mono ni ueteiru akuma ga futatabi yomigaeri, akuma ga kitarite hevimeta-ru node atta.	the devils who were hungry for holy things revived again, and the devils came and did the Heavy Metal.	[i],4
Yokoku doori 1999(seikimatsu) no juuni-gatsu sanjuuichi-nichi sekai wa seifuku sareta.	As already announced, on 1999 (the end of the century) December 31st, the world was conquered.	[i],5
Juuman-nen to juuyo nen mae kara aishiteru Metaru no tamashii wa	The Metal soul which has been loving the Metal since one hundred thousand and fourteen years ago	6
jikuu o koe, arata-na EL-DO-RA-DO o soozoo suru.	transcends time and space, and creates a new EL DORADO.	7
Shokun, iyoiyo "Soosei no Metarion" no makuake da!	Everyone, soon comes the opening of "Genesis of Metalion"!	8

Overture to Legend "1997"   on 2013 Dec. 21st

(no narration & no text, music only) *9

Notes

1. It seems someone's line at the end of some anime movie. Anyway, since GOTÔ Ben published "The Prophecy of Nostradamus" in 1973, not a few Japanese had thought the catastrophe may occur in 1999 July (he alleged Nostradamus had prophesied so).
2. "1999 SECRET OBJECT" is the 4th minor scriptures of SEIKIMA-II. According to the lyric, "Secret Object" seems to mean a kind of Anti-Christ.
3. The devil appearing in the picture resembles Demon kakka, but he's not the crown prince (note [i]).
4. "悪魔が来たりてヘヴィメタる" (Akuma ga Kitarite Hevimeta-ru) is the title of the 1st major scriptures of SEIKIMA-II. The ending hiragana "る" shows it is a verb "do the Heavy Metal". The title is a parody of a thriller by YOKOMIZO Seishi "Akuma ga Kitarite Fue o Fuku" (= The Devil Comes and Plays His Flute).
5. Seikima-II conquered this world in A.D.1999 as Nostradamus had prophesied and they declared the year was the first year of Devil's Calendar, so not A.D.2000 but A.D.1999 was the end of the century.
6. It is a parody of the theme song of "Genesis of Aquarion" saying "I have been loving you since twelve thousand years ago." (see note #8) and of the age of Demon kakka (100,0XX y.o.).
7. "EL-DO-RA-DO" is the 3rd minor scriptures of SEIKIMA-II. "El Dorado" means a legendary golden country.
8. "Soosei no Metarion" is a parody of "創聖のアクエリオン" (Soosei no Akuerion; Genesis of Aquarion). It is the title of a super robot anime (on air in 2005). Its story is like this:
       12,000 years ago humankind was at war with the creatures called "Datenshi" (= Fallen Angels). Then a great warrior of Datenshi fell in love with a human warrioress and betrayed Datenshi, so humankind won. Years passed and Datenshi resuscitated after a global catastrophe. Humankind dug up the legendary giant robot "Aquarion" to fight against Datenshi, and it is piloted by the boys and girls in their early teens who are the reincarnations of those warriors.
       "Metalion" is the name of the battle spaceship and of the planetary system appearing in Konami's shooting video games "Gradius/Nemesis" series. But I'm not sure whether 'he' meant it or not.
9. The music is an arrangement of "Elens dritter Gesang" a.k.a. Schubert's "Ave Maria". it was the same as that of the epilogue for Legend "1999" concert. There are the persons that wear the cone-shaped full-face hood. They also appeared in the epilogue for Legend "1999", and will appear later.