怪物 Kaibutsu

A toast again today to this wonderful world.

素晴らしき (subarashi-ki) is literary. 乾杯 (kanpai) sounds celebratory, but here it quickly turns ironic.

Even the laughter flying about the city...

This line continues into the next one.

...is nothing but a sham, just people pretending not to notice what they see.

見て見ぬフリ (mi-te mi-nu furi) is a set phrase meaning “to turn a blind eye”.

I feel like I’m going mad.

Strong, somewhat old-fashioned wording.

A smell so good it makes me reel...

The line does not present the smell as simply pleasant. The surrounding wording makes it feel instinctive and potentially dangerous.

...stabbed sharply at the back of my nose.

ツンと (tsun to) is a sensory adverb for a sharp sting.

Following the instinct that wakes me up...

〜のまま (-no mama) means “as it is; as led by...”.

Whose turn is it today?

番 (ban) means “turn”.

What can be done in this world?

のか (no ka) gives reflective questioning force.

What is it that I can do?

には (ni wa) highlights “for me / as for me”.

Only this: from those pitch-black eyes...

This carries into the next line.

...so that tears do not spill out.

〜ように (-yō ni) expresses wish or purpose here.

Again and again, always, toward the future I long for...

Continues into the next line.

...I latch onto it with my teeth.

Very rough and visceral wording.

In this world full of mistakes...

〜だらけ (-darake) means “covered with; full of”.

...because I want you to smile.

〜てほしい (-te hoshii) expresses what the speaker wants someone else to do.

I won’t hurt anyone any more.

Depending on interpretation, it can also imply strong resolve not to cause harm again.

I want to become stronger, much stronger.

The repetition intensifies the feeling.

So that I can remain myself.

〜でいられる (-de i-rareru) = “be able to remain as...”.

This wonderful world is safe and secure again today.

The irony returns.

Even the ugly stories swirling through the city...

Continues into the next line.

I pretended not to know, pretended not to know, and looked away.

Repetition reinforces evasion and self-criticism.

That’s no act of a sane mind.

A set phrase meaning something like “that’s insane”.

A parade dressed up in earnest respectability...

The image points to outward polish or surface finish rather than something raw or natural.

And where are those ringing, lively footsteps headed?

弾む (hazu-mu) suggests springing or buoyant motion.

An inerasable, inerasable taste has soaked in.

Suggests memory, instinct, or violence; the lyric leaves it implicit.

The world on the other side.

The hidden underside of reality.

To live purely and correctly.

〜こと (-koto) nominalises the phrase.

To live without making anyone sad.

〜せずに (-sezu ni) is a formal/literary negative converb.

To live straight, without stepping out of line.

Social conformity is part of the nuance here.

Is that what it means to live without going wrong?

A challenge to conventional morality.

Is living as one truly is justice?

ありのまま (ari no mama) means “as one is; just as it is”.

Or is it justice to live by patching oneself along and deceiving as one goes?

騙し騙し (damashi-damashi) means managing somehow in a compromised way.

What is the form I ought to have?

べき (beki) expresses “ought to”. 在る (aru) is a literary spelling.

What, really, am I?

何者 (nani-mono) means “what sort of being/person”.

Tell me.

Direct and urgent.

Tell me.

Repetition heightens desperation.

Today as well...

Sets up the next line.

In this world with no answers...

のない (no nai) = “without”.

I keep wishing.

〜てる (-te-ru) is the contracted spoken form of 〜ている (-te i-ru).

I may be clumsy, but...

A modest self-description.

I just want, for ever, with you...

Continues into the next line.

...to keep smiling, because that is what I want.

〜ていたい (-te i-tai) = “want to keep doing”.

My pounding heart...

Literally “jumping heart”.

...shakes my body and cries out.

The heart is personified.

Now, of all times, move.

こそ (koso) adds strong focus.

Again and again, always, my weak self...

This continues into the next line.

...I will devour completely.

The image is of consuming one’s own weakness.

In this world full of mistakes...

Echoes line 15.

...because I want you to smile.

Echoes line 16.

So that no one cries any more.

Expresses wish or purpose.

I want to become stronger, much stronger.

Repetition intensifies the force.

So that I can remain myself.

Echoes line 19.

Simply for that purpose: to protect you.

そのために (sono tame ni) = “for that sake”.

I run, I run, I run.

The repetition creates urgency and momentum.

I surpass the me inside myself.

A striking image of self-overcoming: going beyond one’s inner fear, weakness, or former self.