As opening theme songs for Chinese donghua go, you do not get much better than Bai Yao Pu‘s Season 3 OP ‘Unspeakable’ by Su Yunying.
Bai Yao Pu (aka Fairies Album), of course, is one of the biggest Chinese anime hits in China, as well as highly rated by anime/donghua fans on My Anime List.
It tells the story of Tao Yao, a mysterious physician with the ability to heal both humans and supernatural creatures known as yao (妖). She travels the land accompanied by little monk Moya and Liu Gongzi, a skilled but enigmatic swordsman, and a man with his own hidden agenda.
Each episode introduces a different yao, exploring their tragic, heartwarming, or morally complex stories.
Tao Yao helps them—sometimes by curing their ailments, other times by resolving their emotional burdens—while revealing fragments of her own past.
Bai Yao Pu’s Season 3 OP ‘Unspeakable’ by Su Yunying
Along with its wonderful characters and plot, its gorgeous art style and world-class animation, the donghua also features a beautiful soundtrack — both with its OP and ED, and its accompanying music.
Its opening theme song — ‘Unspeakable’ by Su Yunying (“不可说” by 苏运莹) is a particular standout as, not only does it feature Chinese singer Su Yunying’s superb vocals, the song also does a wonderful job of musically illustrating the mysteriousness of the donghua series.
The just-released music video for the Bai Yao Pu, Season 3 OP does a similarly nice job as it features Su Yunying in the studio performing the theme song, with her face and hands beautifully expressing the emotions of the song, while scenes from the anime come and go.
The ‘Unspeakable’ lyrics go like this:
Verse 1)
Unspeakable—
Demons and specters lurk along the path, monsters in the dark.
Unspeakable—
Without greed or wrath, who can judge good from evil?
Cause or effect,
A flower blooms on the cliff’s edge,
Beneath the bronze mirror—
Perhaps it’s the soul that redeems me.(Chorus)
Listen— it’s kindness answering.
How gentle, even fangs hold no fear.
Even something cold as this clings to warmth.
Dark thoughts fade into silence.
Look— life forged from warmth’s embrace.
This rugged world, beautiful as art.
Sun and moon’s glow, all but dust in the wind.
Ghost or demon, I won’t cower.
Lay down the butcher’s blade.(Verse 2)
Shadows sway—
On the journey home, rumors cling like drought-fiends and rain-imps.
The storm nears—
Without obsession, how to tell right from wrong?
You and I,
Scars become our armor.
Underneath this skin,
Truth reveals itself in a flash.(Chorus – Repeated)
Listen— it’s kindness answering.
How gentle, even fangs hold no fear.
Even something cold as this clings to warmth.
Dark thoughts fade into silence.
Look— life forged from warmth’s embrace.
This rugged world, beautiful as art.
Sun and moon’s glow, all but dust in the wind.
Ghost or demon, I won’t cower.
Lay down the butcher’s blade.(Bridge)
What’s the difference—demon or Buddha?
A lotus blooms within the heart.
‘Unspeakable‘, by the way, is also sometimes seen as titled ‘Can’t Say‘, along with various other translations of the same Chinese title 不可说. Literally, though, the correct translation would be ‘Unspeakable’.
Listen to Bai Yao Pu, Season 3’s stunning OP in its new music video below.
You can watch every season of Bai Yao Pu via Crunchyroll.