"mumei" is the second original song by Nanashi Mumei. The song was digitally released on 10th October, 2023[1] with the music video's premiere releasing later that same day.[2]
[Verse 1]
Wasurete shimatta koto dake o oboete iru
Pokari to aita ana no saki de kimi to deatta
[Pre-Chorus]
Namae mo kao mo wakaranai kimi
Nandaka natsukashii youna ki ga shita
Tagai ni ana umete iku you ni
Fuzakeatte waraiatte
[Chorus]
Seka-a-a-a-a-a-ai no doko ka ni iru kimi no tame
Ima-a-a-a-a-a ikiteiru yo bokura mumei no mama
[Drop]
(Mumei no mama)
[Verse 2]
Tatoeba kore ga utsushidasareta maboroshi de mo
Tashika ni kanjiru ima kimi ga soko ni iru koto
[Pre-Chorus]
Namae mo kao mo wakaranai kimi
Sayonara shite shimaeba owari da
Kimi ga inakya ana wa ookikunaru
Kamawanai sa sugu mitsukaru
[Chorus]
Seka-a-a-a-a-a-ai no doko ka ni iru kimi wa doko
Ima-a-a-a-a-a koko ni iru yo atashi "mumei"
[Bridge]
Atari wa ichimen makkurana sekai
Massakasama ni ochiteiku
Mumei dakara kono sekai ni wa
Wasurerare kiechau no
Soredemo kimi ga motomeru no nara
Kono mune ni aita ana ni ima
Kimi kara atashi e kaze wa toorinuke
Ichiwa no tori ga ima kimi no moto е to iku
[Chorus]
Seka-a-a-a-a-a-ai no doko ka ni iru kimi no tame
Ima-a-a-a-a-a ikite iku yo atashi "Mumеi" no mama
[Verse 1]
All I remember is that I forgot
Leaving a void within, but now I've met you
[Pre-Chorus]
I don't know what your name is or what you look like
Yet you feel so familiar
Making up for what we're missing
We laugh and we smile
[Chorus]
Within this world, you are somewhere
For now, we'll keep going on without a name
[Drop]
(Without a name)
[Verse 2]
Even if all of this turns out to be a mirage
I'll still feel your presence out there
[Pre-Chorus]
I don't know what your name is or what you look like
Say "goodbye" and it will all be over
Without you, this void will only grow
No matter what, I'll find you soon
[Chorus]
Within this world, where are you?
Right now I am here, I am nameless
[Bridge]
A world of darkness surrounds me
As I fall headlong
Because I am nameless, this world
Will forget me, and I'll disappear
But if I am what you are looking for
Through the void of my heart
A wind will blow from me to you
And a bird will come meet you
[Chorus]
Within this world, you are somewhere
Now, I'll keep going as "Mumei"
The music video reached 1,000,000 views only four days after release, on 14 October, 2023.[3]
The lyrics contain a lot of wordplay around the name "Mumei", which in Japanese can mean "without a name", "not famous", "obscure", or "anonymous".
This is the main reason the song is in Japanese, and also why the song is named "mumei" despite potentially causing confusion with Mumei's VTuber name. She said that if she hadn't named herself "Mumei" she would still think the song should be called "mumei", which was the deciding factor for why she ultimately settled on that name.[4]
Mumei studied the lyrics of the song very closely because she wanted to understand exactly what she was singing despite being a non-native speaker of Japanese.[5]
When Ootori presented Mumei with potential concepts for the cover art, Mumei asked if she could use all three of them. She used the first concept for the music video's thumbnail, and the second concept as the cover art. She didn't have anything in mind for the third concept but requested to use it anyway because she really wanted to see it finished.[6] It was later tweeted as promotional art.[7]
Mumei actually forgot to use the third concept at all, and the promotional tweet from hololive English's official twitter was not planned by her. However, she was happy that the artwork ended up being used.[8]
Mumei was initially overwhelmed by the sheer creative freedom she had in Hololive. When developing her first original song A New Start, the demos brought back to her by Cover were not quite what she envisioned, but she did like them and decided to move forward with them anyway. After the song was released, she realized she could reach out directly to specific producers that were closer to the style of music she enjoyed rather than relying on Cover's interpretation of her requests. This inspired her to reach out to TKN for her second original song.[9]
Mumei has been a fan of TKN's work for a while, discovering him during a time where she got really into Vocaloid EDM. She has a strong appreciation for many of the niche artists she discovered at that time, and was grateful for the opportunity to give him more exposure through Hololive.[10]
Mumei decided to make the song Japanese because she felt having TKN write and compose in his native language would be more natural for him. When the first draft came back featuring the wordplay around "Mumei", she felt confident it was the right choice.[11]
The first draft of the lyrics and the melody were very different from what would become the final song. However, they surprised Mumei with how deep they were, and the themes present had a major influence on the direction the song would ultimately take.[12]
The song's development took a year.[13] She cited her lack of confidence singing in Japanese and health issues with a persistent cough as being the major reasons for the delay. This was exacerbated by the song becoming more and more important to her over the course of its development, which caused her to become anxious that her Japanese wasn't good enough to do it justice.[14]
However, the delays due to her health also gave TKN more time to develop the lyrics and the melody of the song, which resulted in the finished version that was ultimately released.
When asked why she decided to include a whale in the music video, Mumei said that the void being depicted in that part of the video felt a little too empty, so she requested a whale to fill the space.[15]
