okaeri - ayaka
wow…nanka hisashiburi da ne ^^;; i’ve been very busy (and still is and will be…) so i haven’t had the chance to translate for a while. this song got stuck in my head because of fuji tv’s newest drama - zettai kareshi aka absolute boyfriend!!! i have the complete manga with me and i never thought they’d make a drama out of it, with mizushima hiro (nanba of hanakimi) and hayami mokomichi (from gokusen 2 and densha otoko) as the lead guys in yet another love triangle. i literally screamed my head off when i found out they were going to star in the drama adaptation of watase yuu’s (of fushigi yuugi fame) work.
the expression “okaeri” is used in tandem with “tadaima”, when somebody comes home. tadaima is roughly “im home” and okaeri is “welcome back”…these are two of my favorite japanese words. just hearing them exchanged can evoke warm feelings inside of me. imagine a hottie like moco-moco welcoming you home after a hard day’s work *goes on daydream mode* anyway, even ayaka says this about her song, 「”welcome back.” just that single word and my heart is satisfied, and i can think that i can do my best tomorrow. having said that, to have someone waiting for you, a place to go home to, is a very happy thing.」
now this translation is realllly a BETA version, as the single is yet to come out on may 14, there are no kanji lyrics for this one and i had to transcribe it myself ^^;; so pardon the incorrect lyrics and translations, i couldn’t even tell if ayaka was saying “sweet home” or “sweetheart” for the choruses hahaha^^;; i’ll correct this as soon as i find a decent copy of the kanji lyrics, ok? meanwhile here’s the cute ending theme from episode 1 *goes off to order her own risou no kareshi*
OKAERI
Ayaka
okaeri sweet home
kaeru bashou yeah
ai wo arigatou
mata heiki no furi wo shite
kanashimi no iro wo nuritsubushite
waratte shimau’n desu
shinjiru koto no taisetsusa
wakatteru no ni iza to iu toki
utagatte shimau yeah
karappo no karada
nagareru toki ni
fuiteshimaisou ni naru kedo
anata no koto dakishimetai
kono kimochi ga tsuki ugokasu no
okaeri im home
hitogoto de mitasareru kokoro
okaeri sweet home
kaeru bashou yeah
ai wo arigatou
sweet home
jibun no koto bakkari wo
kangaeru otona wa zuruin da to
omotteitan desu
demo hisshi ni kaeru koto wo
sakenderu hito mo iru’n da
yatto shitta’n desu
atarimae no shiawase nanka
kono sekai ni hitotsu mo nai
anata no tame, sou omoeta
kono kimochi katsugi ugokasu no
okaeri im home
supiido ga kasokushiteku mainichi
okaeri sweet home
kawaranai zutto aru keshiki
sweet home
sagashite nakushita
kokoro no kizu ga
tachimukau tsuyosa ni kawareta no wa
“okaeri” ga atta kara
okaeri im home
hitogoto de mitasareru kokoro
okaeri sweet home
kaeru bashou yeah
ai wo arigatou
okaeri im home
daijoubu anata ga iru kara
okaeri sweet home
mattete ne mou sugu tsuku kara
sweet home
oh yeah
okaeri…sweet home
WELCOME HOME
Chelli Translation
welcome home, sweet home
a place to go home to yeah
thanks for your love
pretending to be alright again
to paint out the color of sadness
i just laugh it off
the importance of believing
even if i understand it
well, there are times when i still doubt
times when my empty body
just flows by
it makes me want to just lie down, but
i just want to hold you
this feelings stab thru me so i can move on
welcome home, im home
with one word my heart is satisfied
welcome home, where love
has a place to go home to yeah
thanks for your love
i used to believe adults think
only of themselves and they are cunning
but there are people desperately trying to go back
even screaming out loud
i finally realized that
there’s is no such thing as
one natural happiness in this world
for your sake i was able to realize that
by carrying this feelings i can move on
welcome home, sweet home
accelerating the speed of everyday
welcome home, im home
there will always be this unchanging scenery
sweet home
search for the missing
wound in your heart
thing that made me fight and go on
was because there was a “welcome home”
welcome home, im home
with one word my heart is satisfied
welcome home, where love
has a place to go home to yeah
thanks for your love
welcome back, im home
it’s alright because you are here
welcome back, sweet home
keep waiting, because i’m arriving soon
sweet home
oh yeah
welcome back…sweet home
April 26th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
thanks so much for this translation! i love ayaka’s voice and i’ve had this song (through the music video) on repeat for the entire day. it’s nice to know what she’s saying - thanks again!
April 26th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
you’re very much welcome ^^ the song is on endless play in my head now so it’s nice to hear i’m not alone. glad you enjoyed the rough translation…i’ll edit this as soon as i’m sure of the lyrics. thanks for dropping by ^__^V
April 26th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
waaa you’re sooo good!! thank you for introducing the drama to me!~ =) .. and I really am loving this song now that I understand it more~
April 27th, 2008 at 1:12 am
woo.. finally okaeri lyrics~~~ thanks =D
April 27th, 2008 at 8:19 am
thank you!
i love this song. i don’t feel so bad when an ep ends, because this plays out. 
April 27th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
i know what you mean j! and naito always saying “okaeri, riko” is just to die for!! wish i had someone, err, something like that to welcome me home everyday. haha^^
thanks to everyone for the comments…they keep me so inspired^^
May 3rd, 2008 at 2:56 am
[…] Okaeri, Ayaka English Translation (many thanks to here) […]
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:23 am
thank you so much….
I really like this song… and I guess I’m gonna like it more since now I know the meaning of the lyrics…
thanks to you for translating =)
I wish I understood japanese =)
May 4th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Neeee~ THANK YOU SO MUCH! I’ve been waiting for this for so long!
Well, from what I know, you can tell in the OKAERI PV that in the first line, she says SWEET HOME… You could see it with the way her lips move. I hope that was helpful~ I’m not sure if the choruses also have HOME, so, I’m assuming it is… But I may be wrong~
THANKS AGAIN!
May 4th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Domo Arigatou Gozaimasu Chelli-san!
I really love the song and now you’ve translated it to what all can understand. Now I can sing-along with it! Yay! Take Care!
May 5th, 2008 at 1:10 am
you’re welcome everyone! thanks for dropping by ^^
if you want to request other songs please feel free to drop a line at the requests section.
@MARI: i actually thought so as well, but i saw the fansubbed version and they put it as “sweetheart”. anyway, once i get a copy of the lyrics somewhere i’ll correct it ^__~
May 5th, 2008 at 7:42 am
Thanks so much for the translation!! Can now appreciate and enjoy and understand the song so so much better… You are amazing!!…Arigatou! Woohooo~~~
May 5th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
here’s a link where you can find the lyrics with kanji… it’s ayaka singing live.
http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-340640/Ayaka-Okaeri-Live.html
even the english words are there… according to the lyric it says: “sweet home”
this will help u edit your lyrics. =)
May 6th, 2008 at 5:28 am
thanks ritzu! with this the lyrics are no longer beta version haha…made some little modifications but otherwise i think i got it right^^;; thanks for the tip ^^
May 20th, 2008 at 1:28 am
it’s Okaeri, Sweet Heart.. there are alot of typos.. but thanks~
May 20th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
not a big fan of the song but just curious of the meaning behind the lyrics since ayaka purposely compose the lyrics for the dorama. so now i understand.
May 21st, 2008 at 3:17 am
@unknown: uhh, you’re welcome i guess^^;; but in the Music Station video where ayaka sings live the lyrics say “home” and not heart…same goes for the japanese websites i checked just now. ^^
@ renaye: yeah, i think it’s very fitting for the drama and ayaka did well on the song.
thank u everyone for dropping by…i wanna translate again soon but i can’t i’m still busy >_<
June 7th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
thanks for the lyrics, i just heard it a few days ago when i was randomly on youtube! what a great discovery
what is the drama that this song belongs to?
June 8th, 2008 at 7:23 am
you’re welcome =) this song is the theme for zettai kareshi (aka absolute boyfriend) drama. you really should watch it cos it’s so good! ^^
June 10th, 2008 at 4:46 am
was looking for “okaeri” lyrics when i stumbled upon your site. this is chelli, as in hime’s friend right? chryssie here, one of ojou’s (hime) friend from work (the tall one). m actually typing this comment here at the office! ;D can’t bliv it actually got past the company firewall.
ojou’s not here yet, but once she comes in i’ll tell here that your site is accessible here at work. hehehe. oh, btw, thanks for the lyrics. m lovin zettai kareshi as well.Ü
June 10th, 2008 at 5:39 am
yeah it’s me!! OMG you found my blog hahaha ^^;; good that you got past it, that’s one of the reasons i quit hehe ^^V enjoy the lyrics and im sooo addicted to the drama, although in japan the rating isn’t so high. and oh, if you want anything translated just tell me ne ^^
June 10th, 2008 at 7:28 am
uwaaahhh! chelli! we found you! i was surprised that we can access your site here in the office!
i also love that song. thanks for the translation. ^_^
and as you know, i also loooveee the dorama! see you!
June 10th, 2008 at 7:44 am
great! i’ll make sure to post more so you can make me, i mean my site, your distraction there haha ^^V
it’s the drama’s fault…one night after watching it at rjene’s i could not stop thinking about it and just transcribed/translated it so i can get to sleep. haha if u wanna borrow i also have the complete manga…but it’s in japanese ehehe^^;;
June 13th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
haha ang ingay dito sa Okaeri post.. wooo~~ more translations Chelli!!!
June 19th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
¡Muchas gracias! Even though I didn’t know the meaning of the song, I felt that warm sensation you described before. I can’t wait to say Okaeri to my lover. We’ve been separated for 6 months already. I’m having a blast with Absolute Boyfriend, and the closing son is like a cherry on top of ice cream.
June 19th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
you’re welcome….wow, been spearated 6 months! i hope you’ll have a happy reunion and make sure to play this song heheh…i’ve just downloaded ep 10 and can’t wait to watch! tho i dun want this to end T_T
July 1st, 2008 at 4:02 pm
hello! i love this song! just finished ep 10..and can i say i love asamoto soushi?! i had a Nihonggo 101 before and “tadaima” & “okaeri” are just some of the words that i could recall..:) tahnsk for the translation! i love this site!
what does daijobu means???
July 1st, 2008 at 5:28 pm
hi there cleotie
i also love soushi and even from the manga i had a hard time deciding which one would be the best for riiko…then i’ll take the other one she rejects! ohohoho~
daijoubu is roughly “it’s alright” but it depends on the context (haha i sound like a sensei ^^;;) anyway, keep visiting cos i hope to put up more translations soon! if you want anything translated feel free to drop a note at the request section. thanks for visiting ^__^V
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:43 am
hahaha! thanks!
i heard Riko say “daijobu” when Night keeps on heating up in Ep2..perhaps she was asking “are you alright?” yay for Zettai Kareshi! i hope they’ll purchase the rights for it to be shown here in the Phils! 
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:16 am
that’s exactly what she meant ^^ so you’re from the phils as well…hmmm there might be a strong possibility your wish will come true ^__~
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:03 am
you’re from the Phils? **crosses fingers for Zettai Kareshi to be shown in the Phils..**
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:09 pm
opo hehehe ^^ hence the random comments in tagalog. don’t worry, i just feel it would be shown here ^^V
July 10th, 2008 at 12:00 am
hi chelli, thanks for the lyrics! =) been looking for translated lyrics ever since i got hooked with the manga and live drama. i love the live drama! made me cry.
such sad and happy ending at the same time. it’s so nice 
anyway, i’m posting your translated lyrics with okaeri mp3 in my blog soon (for some pic entries). dont worry i’ll post the link of your blog for the credit
thanks so much. i also hope the live drama will air in the Phils. keep up the good work!
July 10th, 2008 at 3:50 am
you’re welcome deels! sure go ahead, i really appreciate it that you are asking me for permission cos i saw some sites with my translation on it without any credit =/ owell, i do it for all the fans like us so i guess i can forgive them ^^;; lemme know where it’s at so i can check it out as well^__^V
July 15th, 2008 at 7:02 am
as promised.. here’s the link http://nikodelai.multiply.com/photos/album/50
it’s just a simple entry. i just love the song and it suits my entry perfectly. keep up the good work! =)
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:47 am
thanks for the translation! *wipes tears* i just finished watching the drama and the ending was so…… ._________.
glad to know what the lyrics meant anyway.
its true, with that one word my heart is satisfied.
hayami mokomichi is so hot! *fangirl squeal!*
thanks once again
August 4th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
yeah i totally agree!! i was drowning in tears and my nosebleed by the end of the series. hehe…i love that line too…hitogoto de mitasareru kokoro…i’m hoping for a second season!!! you’re welcome and thanks for visiting and nice comment^^
August 5th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
I LOVE THIS SONG!! thank you for the translation! the song is so sweet!
and i love the drama. this song really compliments the show. hahas. =D
August 17th, 2008 at 3:30 am
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!
August 17th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Thank you so much for the translation!! When I hear this song I want to cry, reminds me the final episode T.T so beautiful!!
August 28th, 2008 at 2:55 am
thanks for thinking so alex…^^;;
and thanks to everyone who still put their comments here. you never fail to inspire me =)
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:52 pm
thanks for posting “Okaeri” here..’coz i love this song and i like Ayaka so much!..felt so good,to find that many in here knows this song hehehehehe(i thought i was the only 1 except Japanese of course) “(^.^)”….
September 27th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Thanks for the lyrics! :). I’ve been taking Japanese lessons for like 3 years and yet i can’t understand much XDD! Haha, i have a longgg way to go.
Well i guess imma favorite this so i can uhhh read while listening
Once again, Thanks