is the second track created by the Japanese singer for their fourth album . Originally released in a shortened version on 10 January 2022 to be used as the seventh ending for the anime ''

Attack on Titan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. It is set in a world where humanity is forced to live in cities surrounded by three enormous walls that protect them from gigantic man-eating humanoids referred to a ...

'', the full version would be released as part of the album about two months later on 2 March 2022.

Background and release

The song would first be released on 10 January 2022, as the

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

of a single made for the ending of the '' Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2''. The song would be directed and edited by Sotaro Ishii, produced by Kosuke Nakaya, and released under a

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966, which distributes music, films, home video, and video games. It is affiliated with the Japanese media group Fujisankei Communications Group. Pony Canyo ...

label. On 23 January 2022, an "anime special version" of the song was released by Ai Higuchi to YouTube, which displayed edited footage from primarily the

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and final season of the anime. The full version of the song would be released on 2 March 2022 as the second track of Ai Higuchi's fourth album Saiaku Saiai.

Performances

Along with other songs from her album Saiaku Saiai, Higuchi would perform the song live on multiple occasions. The song would first be performed live on a solo tour in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

on 11 March 2022 and

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

on 17 March. From April to May 2022, Higuchi would perform the song again on a national tour in cities including

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

Kanazawa is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Etymology The name "Kanazaw ...

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, Nagano,

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

, Tokyo, and

Takamatsu file:Takamatsu City Hall.jpg, 270px, Takamatsu City Hall file:Takamatsu city center area Aerial photograph.2007.jpg, 270px, Aerial view of Takamatsu city center file:Takamatsu200910cut.JPG, 270px, View from Yashima to Takashima port is a capital ...

. From 22 November to 24 December 2022, Higuchi would sing the song on a solo tour in the cities of Fukuoka, Nagano, Nagoya, and Osaka, before reaching the final location at Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX in Tokyo. In May 2023, a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the song would be performed by Nagisa Aoyama as part of a project named "CrosSing", aiming to have musical artists create covers of songs of each music genre.

Reception

Upon its initial release on 10 January 2022, the song would have a strong national and overseas appeal, reaching the top position on multiple

music streaming service A music streaming service is a type of online streaming media service that focuses primarily on music, and sometimes other forms of digital audio content such as podcasts. These services are usually subscription-based services allowing users to s ...

charts. On the

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

J-Pop rankings, the song would reach the top spot in 120 countries including France, Germany, Italy, and South Korea, and reach the top 10 spot in 135 countries. The song would see similar success on the iTunes Store J-Pop rankings: reaching the top spot in 48 countries including in Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, and United States, and reach the top 10 spot in 56 countries. The song would also reach the top spot on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

's Viral Top 50 chart in six countries and peak at 5th place on the global chart, and reach 6th place in Shazam's Top 200 ranking for Japan, and ranked in 30 countries other countries. On 22 November 2023, the "anime special version" of the song on YouTube released on 22 January 2022 reached 100 million views.

Chart performance

Accolades

References

Notes

Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akuma no Ko 2022 in Japanese music 2022 songs Attack on Titan songs Songs in Japanese