(Michael)
You may be confused on why I am bringing up anime when taking about Utada Hikaru; and for those who don't know much about anime, that is understanding. But for those who do know, Utada Hikaru has produced the ending theme song for every movie adaptions of Neon Genesis Evangelion. This show is by all standards considered a classic and I highly recommend everyone to watch at least the newly released movies. The story is about a futuristic/apocalyptic world where giant monsters called "Tenshi" (Angels) ravage the Earth and an organization called "NERV" is humanity's last hope, using artificially created humanoid machines to combat the monsters. The manga, which is the origin of the series, was first released in 1994, and has been adapted to a TV series and 3 movies with a 4th movie releasing soon.
"Beautiful World" was used as the ending theme
song for the first movie: "Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone." The
song is exactly what the title describes: Beautiful. The melody and Hikki's
wonderful voice really resonate with the theme of the movie. Below is
a remix of the song used as the ending song for the second movie:
"Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance." This may just be personal
bias but I really like the creativity with the title of each movie. It is
symbolic to the entire series and provides a nice
Lastly, the last movie: Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo. 桜流し (Sakura Negashi) is an epic song filled with passion and emotion. I find it perfect for the ending of the 3rd film since well the movie was intense and emotional. I still feel the chills when I hear this song because it brings up memories of the movies.
I find that it is extremely rare for one artist to do songs for an entire series. Utada Hikaru and the staff who produced the movies were very dedicated to providing such a unique experience. Recently, Utada Hikaru went into retirement to enjoy her life with newly married husband. But, it has been reported that she will provide the ending theme to the last movie: "Evangelion 4.0." I find her dedication to her craft truly amazing and I look forward to hearing the new song by her.
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