"Beautiful World" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Hikaru Utada | ||||
from the album Heart Station | ||||
Released | August 29, 2007 | |||
Recorded | 2007 | |||
Studio | Bunkamura Studio | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 5:18 | |||
Label | EMI Music Japan | |||
Songwriter(s) | Hikaru Utada | |||
Producer(s) |
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Hikaru Utada singles chronology | ||||
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Alternate cover | ||||
"Beautiful World" is a song by Japanese American musician Hikaru Utada. It served as the theme song for Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone , the 2007 film reboot of the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion . It was released as a double A-side single on August 29, 2007 along with her song "Kiss & Cry", which had been released digitally three months earlier. [1] In 2009, a remix of the song, "Beautiful World (Planitb Acoustica Mix)" served as the theme song of the second film in the series, Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance .
In 2006, Utada released her fifth studio album, Ultra Blue , led by the digital single "This Is Love". In February 2007, Utada released "Flavor of Life", the theme song for the drama Hana Yori Dango Returns , which became one of her most commercially successful singles, selling over eight million downloads and becoming the second most digitally successful song of 2007 globally. [2] [3]
On April 20, Utada's song "Kiss & Cry" began to be used in commercials for Nissin Foods' Freedom Project advertising campaign, and was released as a digital download on May 31. [4] [5] Utada's recording of the jazz standard "Fly Me to the Moon", originally found on her "Wait & See (Risk)" (2000) single, was rearranged and released as a digital download on June 29. [6] Renditions of this song had previously been used in the original Neon Genesis Evangelion animation's soundtrack, and Utada's version was used in trailers for Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone. [6]
Since Utada had not read the movie's script before writing the theme songs for any of the first three Rebuild movies, [7] Utada took her inspirations from Shinji wanting to see his friends and the real world again at the end of End of Evangelion , and Asuka's realization that she did desire love from other people. [8] Utada's relationship with her mother, a musician herself, and her mental illness later in life influenced her Evangelion songs. For this reason, out of all Eva characters she identified the most with Asuka. [9]
"Beautiful World" debuted on the radio and was released as a ringtone on July 23, 2007. [10] In early September, Utada performed the song at many music entertainment programs in Japan: at Count Down TV on the night of September 1, [11] Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ on September 3, [12] Utaban on September 6, [13] and both Music Station and Music Fighter on September 7. [14] [15] "Beautiful World" was performed during Utada's two date concert series Wild Life in December 2010. [16]
Articles about Utada appeared in music and fashion magazines in August and September 2007, to promote the single. This included R&R Newsmaker, What's In?, CD Data, Barfout!, Oricon Style, Pia, Pop Teen and Patipati. [17]
In 2009, the song was rearranged for the second film of the Rebuild of Evangelion series, as "Beautiful World (Planitb Acoustica Mix)". It was released as a digital download on June 28, 2009. Utada worked with Russell McNamara, who had previously made remixes of her songs "Distance", "Traveling", "Hikari" and "Simple and Clean" between 2001–2002. The song was commercially successful, reaching number 8 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100. [18] It was added as the final track of Utada's second compilation album Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2 in late 2010.
In 2021, Utada re-recorded the song (specified as a "self cover") for the last film of the Evangelion series, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time , entitled "Beautiful World (Da Capo Version)", which featured on her 2021 EP, One Last Kiss . Musically, the Da Capo version immediately follows on from the preceding song, "One Last Kiss".
Director Hideaki Anno specifically requested the version be created as he believed "One Last Kiss" would not be long enough for the credit sequence. [19]
Two animated music videos were produced for the song, depicting scenes from Evangelion. The first was released at the time of the single's release, and featured scenes of Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, directed by the film's chief director Hideaki Anno. [20] This music video won a Japanese MTV Video Music Award for the best video used for a film. [21]
In 2014 to promote Utada's 15th anniversary, as well as the tribute album Utada Hikaru no Uta, a music video of Evangelion scenes was produced by Kazuya Tsurumaki, one of the co-directors of the Rebuild of Evangelion film series. [22] [23]
CDJournal reviewers described Utada as singing about "earnest love and deep prayers in a rhythmic tempo", and noted "a painful beauty where transience and passion live together" in the song. They praised the "melancholy" way that Utada sings the lyric "it's only love", as well as the lyrics' sense of ironic while coming from an everyday perspective. [24] [25] Tetsuo Hiraga of Hot Express gave an extremely positive review of the song, feeling in awe of the emotional sensitivity of Utada's lyrics and how well they resonated with Evangelion. [26]
Year | Organization | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | Japan Gold Disc Awards | Best 5 PC Streaming Songs | Won | [27] |
MTV Video Music Awards Japan | Best Video From a Film | Won | [28] | |
RTHK International Pop Poll Awards | Top Japanese Gold Songs | Won |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Beautiful World" | Utada | 5:18 |
2. | "Kiss & Cry" | Utada | 5:07 |
3. | "Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words) (2007 Mix)" | Bart Howard | 3:24 |
4. | "Beautiful World (Original Karaoke)" | Utada | 5:15 |
5. | "Kiss & Cry (Original Karaoke)" | Utada | 5:08 |
6. | "Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words) (2007 Mix) (Original Karaoke)" | Howard | 3:23 |
Total length: | 27:35 |
All tracks are written by Hikaru Utada
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Beautiful World (Planitb Acoustica Mix)" | 5:15 |
Total length: | 5:15 |
Personnel details were sourced from "Beautiful World" / "Kiss & Cry"'s liner notes booklet. [29]
Charts (2007) | Peak position |
---|---|
Japan Oricon weekly singles [30]
| 2 |
Japan Oricon yearly singles [31]
| 20 |
Japan RIAJ Reco-kyō ringtones Top 100 [32] | 2 |
Charts (2009) | Peak position |
Billboard Japan Hot 100 [18]
| 8 |
RIAJ Digital Track Chart Top 100 [33] | 59 |
RIAJ Digital Track Chart Top 100 [34]
| 8 |
Chart | Amount |
---|---|
Oricon physical sales [35]
| 235,000 |
RIAJ digital download certification [36] | Million (1,000,000) |
RIAJ ringtone certification [37] | 2× Platinum (500,000) |
RIAJ physical certification [38]
| Platinum (250,000) |
RIAJ cellphone download certification [39]
| Gold (100,000) |
Region | Date | Format | Distributing Label | Catalog codes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Japan | July 23, 2007 [10] | Ringtone, radio add date | EMI Music Japan | |
August 29, 2007 [1] [36] | CD single, digital download | TOCT-40120 | ||
South Korea | August 30, 2007 [40] | Digital download | Universal Music Korea | |
Taiwan | August 31, 2007 [41] | CD single | Gold Typhoon | 5099950581924 |
Japan | June 27, 2009 [39] | Digital download (Planitb Acoustica Mix) | EMI Music Japan |
First Love is the debut Japanese-language studio album by Japanese-American recording artist Hikaru Utada, released on March 10, 1999, by Toshiba-EMI.
"Be My Last" is Hikaru Utada's 14th Japanese single, released on September 28, 2005. It was used for the 2005 film Spring Snow, an adaptation of the 1966 Yukio Mishima novel of the same name.
"First Love" is a song by the Japanese-American singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada. It was released on April 28, 1999, as the third Japanese language single from her second studio album, First Love, which was issued a month previously. It was certified double platinum for 800,000 copies shipped to stores in Japan.
"Keep Tryin'" is a song recorded by Japanese American recording artist Hikaru Utada for her sixth studio and fourth Japanese album, Ultra Blue (2006). It premiered on February 22, 2006 as the fifth single from the album in Japan. It was written and composed by Utada, whilst production was handled by Utada, her father Teruzane Utada, and Miyake Akira. It included the B-side track "Wings", which also appeared on the parent album. Musically, "Keep Tryin'" is a pop song with lyrics that contain self-empowerment themes. Upon its release, the track received generally mixed reviews from music critics.
"Ultra Blue" is the sixth album by Japanese–American singer Hikaru Utada, released on June 14, 2006 by EMI Music Japan. It is the first original Japanese language album under Hikaru Utada's name in four years since her third album Deep River (2002). While the arrangements for her album Deep River were done collaboratively, all but one of the songs on Ultra Blue were written, composed, and arranged solely by Utada, who also did the programming herself.
The discography of Japanese-American R&B and pop singer Hikaru Utada consists of eleven studio albums, three compilation albums, eleven video albums and numerous singles and promotional singles. Utada began as a musician in the early 1990s as a member of U3, a family unit made up of her, her mother Junko Utada, also known as 1970s enka singer Keiko Fuji, and her father, musical producer Teruzane Utada. U3 released their debut album Star in 1993, with the hope to debut in America. In 1996, the group was rebranded as Cubic U, an R&B project focusing on Hikaru Utada, resulting in the English language album Precious in 1998 with record label Toshiba EMI.
"Final Distance" is a song by Japanese recording artist Hikaru Utada for her third studio album Deep River (2002). Written by Utada herself, the song was produced and composed by long-time collaborators Akira Miyake, Utada's father Teruzane Utada and herself. "Final Distance" was originally recorded as "Distance" which was taken from the album with the same name, despite not being a single. The song was re-recorded, re-arranged, and dedicated to Rena Yamashita, a six-year-old victim of the Osaka school massacre who had written an essay about being inspired by Utada.
"This Is Love" is Hikaru Utada's first Japanese digital single. It was released on May 31, 2006 as a promotional single for her fourth Japanese studio album. "This Is Love" was tied-in as the CM song for a Nissin cup noodle campaign and the opening theme for an anime "Freedom," which was also tied into the Nippon campaign. The digital single reached number one in virtually every online music store in Japan prior to the ULTRA BLUE album's release, including the most used store in Japan, iTunes Japan, as well as OnGen, among others. Utada herself is quoted to have said that this song is about expressing that "Love is like a mix of extremes: anxiety and peace."
"Boku wa Kuma" is a song by Japanese American singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada, serving as their 17th Japanese single and 24th single overall. The single was released on November 22, 2006, following the release of their previous studio album, Ultra Blue (2006). It came two months after the conclusion of Utada's United 2006 tour.
Heart Station is the seventh studio and fifth Japanese-language album by Japanese–American recording artist Hikaru Utada. It was released on March 19, 2008, by EMI Music in Japan, and globally on March 26, 2008. It is Utada's eighth consecutive studio album to be fully written and produced by her, with the help of her father Teruzane Utada and long-time collaborator Miyake Akira through the production. Recorded between 2006 and 2008, it was worked on whilst she was recording her ninth studio and second English-language studio album, This Is the One (2009). With the album artwork photographed by Japanese photographer Mitsuo, Heart Station was released in two formats: a physical CD, and as a digital download.
"Heart Station" is a song by Japanese musician Hikaru Utada, which was released as a double A-side single alongside her song "Stay Gold" on February 20, 2008. The title track for her album Heart Station, the song was heavily promoted on radio stations, for three weeks it was the number one song on the newly established Billboard Hot Top Airplay chart, despite only managing to reach number two on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.
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Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2 is Japanese pop singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada's second compilation album, released on November 24, 2010, by EMI Music Japan, the same day as her Universal-released English language compilation album, Utada the Best. The album includes two discs, with the first being a 13-track greatest hits album spanning 2004–2009, while the second is an extended play featuring new material. Along with Utada the Best, this remained Utada's last album release for six years, until 2016's Fantôme, due to an announced hiatus. Several of the new songs achieved commercial success, with "Goodbye Happiness" reaching number one on Billboard's Japan Hot 100 chart, and "Can't Wait 'Til Christmas" reaching number one on the Recording Industry Association of Japan's digital track chart. Both songs have been certified by the association as gold records for full-length cellphone downloads.
"Goodbye Happiness" is a song by Japanese American singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada. It was released as the lead track from Utada's second Japanese compilation album, Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2, in November 2010. The song was commercially successful, topping Billboard's Japan Hot 100 chart in December 2010, and in January 2011 was certified gold by the RIAJ for more than 100,000 full-length downloads to cellphones.
"Can't Wait 'Til Christmas" is a song by Japanese singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada. It was released on Utada's second Japanese compilation album, Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2, on November 24, 2010.
"Sakura Drops" is a song by Japanese-American musician Hikaru Utada. It was released as a double A-side single with the song "Letters" on May 9, 2002.
"Stay Gold" is a pop song by Japanese American musician Hikaru Utada. Used in a high-profile campaign for Kao Corporation's Asience shampoo commercials in 2007, the song was released as a double A-side single with Utada's song "Heart Station" on February 20, 2008.
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