A song of forbidden love. A heartrending, sorrowful love song.

PuzzleBAND-MAID

BAND-MAID / Puzzle (Official Live Video)

A connection that felt like destiny, yet a relationship that could never be.

This BAND-MAID song portrays the struggle of a forbidden love.

The way the narrator tells themselves it’s okay not to be someone special to the other person may resonate painfully with anyone in an unrequited love.

These helpless emotions are sung with delicacy over powerful beats and a passionate sound.

The track is included on the album “Just Bring It,” released in January 2017.

Even knowing it won’t be reciprocated, the feelings won’t stop—this is a work that stays close to that complex state of mind.

No PromiseChara

No Promise

A song by Chara that portrays the aching feelings of a woman torn by a relationship without promises.

She longs to hold on to someone who seems about to leave, yet she can’t secure any promise for the future.

That inner conflict is delicately rendered in a whisper-like vocal.

Featured on the album “Soul Kiss,” released in July 1992, the song captures the frustration of being unable to stop loving someone—knowing it won’t be reciprocated, yet unable to let go—which perhaps only those who’ve experienced it can truly understand.

A love in which only one person suffers is something that, at some point, we probably ought to bring to an end.

CountdownCocco

Cocco “Countdown” Music Video

This is Cocco’s shocking debut work, depicting the end of a forbidden love driven by sheer passion.

The provocative, self-destructive words that corner the other person may be a reflection of frustration and despair at a relationship with no way out.

Released in March 1997, the song is also included on the album Bougainvillea.

Because you love someone so much, you feel a twisted impulse to destroy the relationship with your own hands—knowing it’s selfish, yet unable to stop.

Perhaps such overwhelming passion comes from being consumed by a love that should never be.

A little more, just a bit moreZARD

Just a little more… a bit more…

A song by ZARD about a love that cannot come true.

Even while knowing it’s a forbidden relationship, the protagonist finds herself wishing to be loved “just a little longer.” The song captures her emotions, and because the love is taboo, her earnest feelings resonate with a striking purity.

There’s an anecdote that Izumi Sakai, who also wrote the lyrics, felt saddened while singing it—an episode that speaks to the song’s poignancy.

Released in September 1993, this work compels deep reflection on the weight of unrequited love and the intensity of loving someone.

nightSakamoto Maaya

MAAYA SAKAMOTO – Night (yoru)

This is a song by Maaya Sakamoto that evokes the protagonist’s aching emotions in a room after their lover has gone home.

Even as they desperately try to grasp the lingering fragrance of those happy moments, the memories slip through their fingers and vanish.

That elusive, fleeting quality seems to symbolize the poignancy of a forbidden love, making a deep impression.

The track is included on the acclaimed 2003 December release “Shōnen Alice.” Created during a period when Maaya Sakamoto was honing her expressive power as a stage actor, her vocals here exquisitely portray delicate emotions.

If you’re troubled by a relationship you can’t tell anyone about and find yourself savoring the loneliness of a solitary night, you’ll surely resonate with the protagonist’s solitary heart.

codependencyDomura Riu

Codependence / Riu Domura (Lyric Video)

A work by Riu Domura that candidly portrays the fragility and pain of a mutually dependent relationship.

This song depicts the heartrending figure of someone who, even while understanding it isn’t true love, cannot bear the loneliness and continues a false relationship.

Even knowing they’re just convenient, they can’t break away from the joy of being needed.

You can’t help but empathize with the protagonist’s conflicted feelings.

Released in May 2019 on the EP “Escape,” this piece suggests that, even knowing you’ll end up alone, being unable to stop may be the inescapable reality of a forbidden love.

even ifHirai Ken

Ken Hirai 'even if' MUSIC VIDEO

It’s a song by Ken Hirai that conjures up the image of a man at a bar counter, tilting his glass and hiding his true feelings as he sits beside someone gazing at their lover’s ring.

You can almost feel the protagonist’s painful frustration as he wishes they’d miss the last train, yet swallows the words instead.

Released in December 2000, the track reached No.

3 on the Oricon weekly chart and is also included on the classic album “gaining through losing.” For those entangled in a forbidden love—knowing it won’t come true yet unable to stop their growing feelings—this song may quietly keep you company.