Yūsha (song)
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is a song by Japanese duo
Yoasobi Yoasobi is a Japanese pop duo formed in 2019. It consists of musician and record producer Ayase (music producer), Ayase and singer-songwriter Lilas Ikuta, under the moniker Ikura. With the slogan "novel into music", the duo originally released Y ...
from their third EP, ''
The Book 3 ''The Book 3'' is the third Japanese-language EP (sixth overall) by Japanese duo Yoasobi. It was released on October 4, 2023, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan, one year and ten months after their second EP '' The Book 2'' (2021). Continuing ...
'' (2023). It was released as a
single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
by
Sony Music Entertainment Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation and is ...
on September 29, 2023, serving as the first opening theme for the 2023 Japanese
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
series '' Frieren: Beyond Journey's End''. Written by Ayase and based on the short story ''Fanfare for Frieren'' written by Jirō Kiso, the song expresses the protagonist
Frieren is a Japanese manga series written by and illustrated by . It has been serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' since April 2020; its chapters have been collected in 14 volumes as of March 2025. It is license ...
's emotions and memories towards the hero Himmel. Commercially, "Yūsha" peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' Japan Hot 100, and number three on the
Oricon Combined Singles Chart The is a record chart released weekly by Oricon, a major provider of information on the Japanese music industry. First published on December 24, 2018, it ranks the top fifty singles in Japan based on an album-equivalent unit system factoring phys ...
, and was certified double platinum for streaming by the
Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pro ...
(RIAJ).


Background and release

In September 2022, an
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
adaptation of manga series by and , '' Frieren: Beyond Journey's End'', was first announced. One year later, on September 1, 2023, the anime released the third trailer, teasing its first opening and ending themes, "Yūsha" by
Yoasobi Yoasobi is a Japanese pop duo formed in 2019. It consists of musician and record producer Ayase (music producer), Ayase and singer-songwriter Lilas Ikuta, under the moniker Ikura. With the slogan "novel into music", the duo originally released Y ...
and " Anytime Anywhere" by
Milet Miletus (Ancient Greek: Μίλητος, Mílētos) was an influential ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in present day Turkey. Renowned in antiquity for its wealth, maritime power, and e ...
, respectively. On the same day, the duo also announced their third EP ''
The Book 3 ''The Book 3'' is the third Japanese-language EP (sixth overall) by Japanese duo Yoasobi. It was released on October 4, 2023, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan, one year and ten months after their second EP '' The Book 2'' (2021). Continuing ...
'', set to be released on October 4, which "Yūsha" appears as the first track. Prior to the release of "Yūsha", Yoasobi, alongside Milet, appeared via a screen at the completed screening event of ''Frieren: Beyond Journey's End'' on September 23, talking about the themes. On September 27, the duo announced that the song would be released as a single to
digital music Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, samp ...
and streaming platforms the next two days, the same day as the two-hour first four episodes premiere. The
buried treasure Buried treasure is a literary trope commonly associated with depictions of pirates, alongside Vikings, criminals, and outlaws in the Old West. According to popular conception, these people often buried their stolen fortunes in remote places ...
-styled limited
CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...
was released on December 13, including the English version, "The Brave", translated by Konnie Aoki, which was released ahead of on November 24, and appeared on the duo's third English-language EP ''
E-Side 3 ''E-Side 3'' is the third English-language EP (seventh overall) by Japanese duo Yoasobi. It was released on April 12, 2024, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The EP consists of eight tracks from the duo's songs recorded in the English langua ...
'', released on April 12, 2024.


Lyrics and composition

A source for "Yūsha" is the short story , written by Jirō Kiso and supervised by the manga writer Yamada. It tells about protagonist
Frieren is a Japanese manga series written by and illustrated by . It has been serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' since April 2020; its chapters have been collected in 14 volumes as of March 2025. It is license ...
visiting a small town called "Music City" five years after the death of the hero Himmel. She receives a difficult request from an old woman whom she meets in a place filled with music. Despite
funky Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the mi ...
and upbeat sounds, "Yūsha" incorporates the main character Frieren's emotional changes and memories towards the hero Himmel, expressing the anime's lonely and melancholy atmosphere. Originally, the opening theme would focus on the worldview of Frieren's journey, but Ayase and Shuya Yamamoto, the duo's creative director, were not satisfied due to the song's "little too much emphasis on the atmosphere". So, Ayase decided to rework the song though he submitted the song to the anime team.


Critical reception

''
Rockin'On Japan ''Rockin'On Japan'', often stylized in all caps, is a monthly magazine that covers the Japanese music scene and various cultural events in Japan, such as art venues and culinary expos. History The magazine was founded in 1972, and focused on prov ...
''s Mie Sugiura praised "Yūsha" for the structure expressing the story of ''Frieren: Beyond Journey's End'' itself densely and interpreted to have a connection with Yoasobi's 2022 single "
Shukufuku is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi from their third EP, ''The Book 3'' (2023). It was released as a single on October 1, 2022, by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, served as the opening theme of the first season of the Japanese mecha anime series ...
", an opening theme for '' Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury'', highlighting the "meaning of life" and "the miracle that we have met". Writing for ', Eriko Ishii admired the lyrics that look like the words popping out one after another from the anime's story and
oriental The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...
-styled
phrase In grammar, a phrasecalled expression in some contextsis a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English language, English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adject ...
. She also praised
Ikura Red caviar is a caviar made from the roe of salmonid fishes (various species of salmon and trout), which has an intense reddish hue. It is distinct from black caviar, which is made from the roe of sturgeon.Nichola Fletcher, ''Caviar: A Globa ...
's vocals, which "keeps running to the next melody without leaving any trace, and conveys a tremendous sense of speed, independent of the actual
tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
." ''The Nerd Stash'' ranked the song as the sixth-best anime opening song in 2023.


Commercial performance

With three days of tracking, "Yūsha" debuted at number nine on the ''Billboard'' Japan Hot 100 for the issue dated October 4, 2023, with 22,086 digital sales, 2,426,245 streams, and 5.2 million video views. In its full-tracking second week, the song ascended the peak at number two, behind only Ado's " Show". The song's digital sales slightly decreased to 21,267 units, while the audio streams and video views were increased to 8,139,175 and 9 million, respectively. The song also peaked at number one on the component Download Songs for two consecutive weeks, and number four on the Streaming Songs. Additionally, the song landed at number four on the Hot Animation and ascended to number one the next week. For
Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...
charts, "Yūsha" entered the Digital Singles (Single Track) Chart at number one for the issue dated October 9, 2023, with 25,958 downloads, becoming Yoasobi's thirteen chart-topper, the second most behind only
Kenshi Yonezu is a Japanese singer-songwriter and illustrator. He started releasing Vocaloid music under the stage name in 2009. In 2012, he debuted under his real name, releasing music with his own voice. He has sold at least 4.2 million physical copies and ...
(14); and topped the chart for three-consecutive weeks. The song also peaked at number four on the Streaming, number three on the Combined Singles, and number seven on the physical Singles charts. As of October 2024, "Yūsha" received double platinum certification from the
Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pro ...
(RIAJ), surpassing 200 million on-demand streams in Japan.


Music video

An accompanying music video for "Yūsha" premiered on September 29, 2023, at 23:00 JST, shortly after the first four episodes of ''Frieren: Beyond Journey's End'' premiere. It was directed by , and produced by Madhouse studio, who both worked on the anime. The visual depicts an adventure of the heroic group consisting of Frieren, hero Himmel, warrior Eisen, and priest Heiter with the same visuals as the anime. The music video of the English version was uploaded on November 24.


Promotion and other uses

To promote "Yūsha" alongside the anime, Yoasobi gave interviews at news programs ', and ', as well as the November edition of ', and the 2024 second issue of ''
Weekly Shōnen Sunday is a weekly manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan since March 1959. Contrary to its title, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' issues are released on Wednesdays. ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' has sold over 1.8billion copies since 1986, making it ...
'' magazines. The duo gave the debut performance of "Yūsha" at music festival Nex_Fest on November 3, 2023. The song was added to the setlist for the opening act at British rock band
Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...
's
Music of the Spheres World Tour The Music of the Spheres World Tour is the ongoing eighth concert tour undertaken by British Rock music, rock band Coldplay. It is being staged to promote their ninth and tenth studio albums, ''Music of the Spheres (Coldplay album), Music of t ...
in Tokyo, and the duo's 2023–2024 first Asia Tour, Pop Out Zepp Tour, and
Coachella Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...
, etc. The duo performed "Yūsha" on television for the first time at the special two-hour debut episode of '' With Music''. "Yūsha" was added to the video game ''
Fortnite Festival ''Fortnite Festival'' is a 2023 rhythm game developed by Harmonix and published by Epic Games. In the game, players perform songs while attempting to achieve the highest score possible based on their performance. Each song features four differen ...
'' in December 2024.


Accolades


Track listing

* Digital download and streaming # – 3:14 * Digital download and streaming – English version # "The Brave" – 3:14 * CD single # "Yūsha" – 3:14 # "The Brave" – 3:14 # "Yūsha" (anime edit) – 1:32 # "Yūsha" (instrumental) – 3:14


Credits and personnel

* Ayase – writer, producer *
Ikura Red caviar is a caviar made from the roe of salmonid fishes (various species of salmon and trout), which has an intense reddish hue. It is distinct from black caviar, which is made from the roe of sturgeon.Nichola Fletcher, ''Caviar: A Globa ...
– vocals * Jirō Kiso – based story writer * Konnie Aoki – background chorus lyrics, English lyrics * Imani J. Dawson – background chorus * Ebony Bowens – background chorus * Mimiko Goldstein – background chorus * Marrista – background chorus * Sofia Ray – background chorus * Shore Cienna – background chorus * Haley Lewis – background chorus * Jonas Gen Whitaker – background chorus * Missy Suzuki – background chorus * Ivy – background chorus * Velvet – background chorus * Emily – background chorus * Takayuki Saitō – vocal
recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...
* Kunio Nishikawara – background chorus recording * Yūki Iwata – background chorus recording * Masahiko Fukui – mixing * Hidekazu Sakai – mastering


Charts


Weekly charts


Monthly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications and sales


Release history


References


External links

* * {{Frieren 2023 singles 2023 songs Animated music videos Animated series theme songs Anime songs Frieren Music based on short fiction Song recordings produced by Ayase (music producer) Songs in Japanese Songs written by Ayase (music producer) Sony Music Entertainment Japan singles Yoasobi songs