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Beautiful World (Hikaru Utada song)

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"Beautiful World"
A woman sitting on a ledge at the bottom of a concrete garage building while motion-blurred school children walk past
"Beautiful World" / "Kiss & Cry" cover.
Single by Hikaru Utada
from the album Heart Station
ReleasedAugust 29, 2007 (2007-08-29)
Recorded2007
StudioBunkamura Studio
Genre
Length5:18
LabelEMI Music Japan
Songwriter(s)Hikaru Utada
Producer(s)
Hikaru Utada singles chronology
"Kiss & Cry"
(2007) 		"Beautiful World"
(2007) 		"Do You"
(2007)
Alternate cover
"Beautiful World (Planitb Acoustica Mix)" digital download 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] The song was written and co-produced by Utada, while Akira Miyake and the singer's father Teruzane Utada served as producers. 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.

Musically, "Beautiful World" is an pop song that incorporates elements of house music, dance and trance. Lyrically, it delves upon themes of love and desire, being inspired by the character Shinji Ikari. Upon its release, "Beautiful World" received positive reviews from music critics, who commended Utada's lyrical abilities and production style; it won numerous accolades in Japan, and has subsequently been listed as one of her best releases.

Commercially, "Beautiful World" and "Kiss & Cry" experienced success in Japan. The single reached number two on the Oricon Singles Chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipping over 250,000 physical copies. "Beautiful World" individually sold over one million legal downloads and 500,000 ringtones throughout Japan, earning it a million and double platinum certification from the RIAJ. Utada has since performed the song on her Wild Life concert tour and additionally placed the recording on compilation albums such as Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2 (2010) and Science Fiction (2024).

Background and development

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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]

Composition and release

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Musically, "Beautiful World" is a love song, inspired by mid-tempo house and dance music.[10] According to Utada, she had already said everything she wanted to say in the song through the melody and arrangement, so she made the lyrics subdued so as not to get in the way. She also said that she created the song with a "wish" at its roots, with an elusive, fluffy feel like the wind or a smell in mind.[11] "Beautiful World" debuted on the radio and was released as a ringtone on July 23, 2007.[12] "Beautiful World" was released as a double A-side with "Kiss & Cry," which premiered on August 29, 2007, through Toshiba-EMI as a CD single and a digital download.[13][14]

Planitb Acoustica Remix

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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.[15] It was added as the final track of Utada's second compilation album Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2 in late 2010.

Da Capo Version

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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.[16]

Promotion

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In early September, Utada performed the song at many music entertainment programs in Japan: at Count Down TV on the night of September 1,[17] Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ on September 3,[18] Utaban on September 6,[19] and both Music Station and Music Fighter on September 7.[20][21] "Beautiful World" was performed during Utada's two date concert series Wild Life in December 2010.[22] 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.[23]

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.[24] This music video won a Japanese MTV Video Music Award for the best video used for a film.[25]

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.[26][27]

Critical reception

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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.[28][29] 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.[30]

Accolades

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Awards for "Beautiful World"
Year Organization Award Result Ref.
2008 Japan Gold Disc Awards Best 5 PC Streaming Songs Won [31]
MTV Video Music Awards Japan Best Video From a Film Won [32]
RTHK International Pop Poll Awards Top Japanese Gold Songs Won

Commercial performance

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Commercially, the single proved to be a success. "Beautiful World/Kiss & Cry" debuted at number three on the Oricon Singles Chart with 95,299 copies sold.[33] The single jumped to number two on the chart the following week, selling approximately 51,637 copies.[34] "Beautiful World/Kiss & Cry" sold 228,716 copies by the end of 2007, making it the 20th best-selling single of the year.[35] The physical single for "Beautiful World/Kiss & Cry" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for physical sales of 250,000 units,[36] and is Utada's 18th highest-selling single.[37] However, "Beautiful World" performed better digitally, with the song individually selling over one million downloads and 500,000 ringtones nationwide.[14][38] The song's Planitb Acoustica Mix was certified gold for selling over 100,000 legal downloads in August 2009.[39]

Track listings

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"Beautiful World" / "Kiss & Cry" single
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Beautiful World"Utada5:18
2."Kiss & Cry"Utada5:07
3."Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words) (2007 Mix)"Bart Howard3:24
4."Beautiful World (Original Karaoke)"Utada5:15
5."Kiss & Cry (Original Karaoke)"Utada5:08
6."Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words) (2007 Mix) (Original Karaoke)"Howard3:23
Total length:27:35

All tracks are written by Hikaru Utada

"Beautiful World (Planitb Acoustica Mix)" digital download
No.TitleLength
1."Beautiful World (Planitb Acoustica Mix)"5:15
Total length:5:15

Personnel

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Personnel details were sourced from "Beautiful World" / "Kiss & Cry"'s liner notes booklet.[40]

  • Goetz B. for 365 Artists – mixing
  • Atsushi Matsui – recording
  • Akira Miyake – production
  • Alexis Smith – additional programming
  • Yuzuru Tomita – additional programming
  • Hikaru Utada – arrangement, keyboards, programming, production, songwriting, vocals
  • Teruzane Utada – production

Chart rankings

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Certifications

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Certifications for Beautiful World
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[46]
Physical single 		Platinum 235,050[45]
Japan (RIAJ)[47]
Digital 		Million 1,000,000*
Japan (RIAJ)[48]
Ringtone 		2× Platinum 500,000*
Japan (RIAJ)[49]
PC Download 		Platinum 250,000*
Japan (RIAJ)[50]
Full-length ringtone 		Gold 100,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Region Date Format Distributing Label Catalog codes
Japan July 23, 2007 (2007-07-23)[12] Ringtone, radio add date EMI Music Japan
August 29, 2007 (2007-08-29)[1][14] CD single, digital download TOCT-40120
South Korea August 30, 2007 (2007-08-30)[51] Digital download Universal Music Korea
Taiwan August 31, 2007 (2007-08-31)[52] CD single Gold Typhoon 5099950581924
Japan June 27, 2009 (2009-06-27)[39] Digital download (Planitb Acoustica Mix) EMI Music Japan

References

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  1. ^ a b "Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry". Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
  2. ^ AFP (January 24, 2008). "Online music sales grow 40 percent in 2007: IFPI" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on April 19, 2008. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  3. ^ 宇多田ヒカル、デビュー以来全アルバムがミリオン達成 [Hikaru Utada has her first digitally million album] (in Japanese). Barks. March 13, 2008. Archived from the original on August 29, 2014. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  4. ^ "宇多田ヒカルが新記録を樹立！さらに新曲も発表" (in Japanese). Barks. April 20, 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  5. ^ レコード協会調べ 6月度有料音楽配信認定 [Record Association Investigation: June Digital Music Download Certifications] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. July 20, 2007. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  6. ^ a b "宇多田ヒカル、新曲はヱヴァンゲリヲンのテーマ" (in Japanese). Oricon. June 29, 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  7. ^ Twitter https://twitter.com/utadahikaru/status/1378156202069229569. Retrieved 2022-11-22. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ "EVANGELION.CO.JP". www.evangelion.co.jp. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  9. ^ "インタビューYahoo!ミュージック 宇多田ヒカルColors". 2021-03-14. Archived from the original on 2021-03-14. Retrieved 2022-11-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. ^ Amazon Japan Staff (August 29, 2008). "Utada Hikaru / Beautiful World/Kiss & Cry (single review)". Amazon.com (in Japanese). Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  11. ^ "宇多田ヒカルオフィシャルインタビュー掲載！" (in Japanese). evangerion.co.jp. July 23, 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  12. ^ a b "宇多田ヒカル、話題の新曲がついに解禁！" (in Japanese). Barks. July 23, 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  13. ^ Utada, Hikaru (2007). Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry (CD single; Liner notes). Utada Hikaru. Japan: Eastworld. TOCT-40120.
  14. ^ a b c レコード協会調べ 9月度有料音楽配信認定 [Record Association Investigation: September Digital Music Download Certifications] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. October 20, 2014. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  15. ^ a b "Japan Billboard Hot 100". Billboard Japan. July 13, 2009. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
  16. ^ "Hikaru Utada Official Website | NEWS".
  17. ^ "September 1, 2007". Count Down TV (in Japanese). September 1, 2007. Tokyo Broadcasting System.
  18. ^ "宇多田ヒカル Beautiful World" (in Japanese). Fuji Television. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  19. ^ "September 6, 2007". Utaban (in Japanese). September 6, 2007. Tokyo Broadcasting System.
  20. ^ 主演者ライナップ 2007/09/07 (in Japanese). TV Asahi. Archived from the original on December 30, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  21. ^ "September 6, 2007". Music Fighter (in Japanese). September 6, 2007. Nippon Television.
  22. ^ "宇多田ヒカル一時休止前ラスト公演で感涙＆Ust新記録樹立" (in Japanese). Natalie. December 13, 2010. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
  23. ^ 「Beautiful World」関連記事掲載予定メディア一覧 [Planned "Beautiful World" related article media list] (in Japanese). EMI Music Japan. July 30, 2007. Archived from the original on October 31, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  24. ^ "Beautiful World" (in Japanese). Space Shower. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  25. ^ "速報！MTVが贈るミュージックビデオの祭典VMAJ受賞者決定". white-screen.jp. Archived from the original on 2010-04-04. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  26. ^ "Beautiful World（2014 ver.)" (in Japanese). Space Shower. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  27. ^ EMI Music Japan. "Utada Hikaru「Beautiful World」 Directed by Tsurumaki Kazuya" (in Japanese). Youtube. Archived from the original on December 29, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  28. ^ "宇多田ヒカル / Beautiful World / Kiss&Cry" (in Japanese). CDJournal. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  29. ^ "宇多田ヒカル / HEART STATION" (in Japanese). CDJournal. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  30. ^ "Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry" (in Japanese). Hot Express. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  31. ^ "第22回日本ゴールドディスク大賞" [The 22nd Japan Gold Disc Awards]. Japan Gold Disc Awards (in Japanese). p. 3. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  32. ^ "MTV VMAJ 2008 受賞作品一覧" [MTV VMAJ 2008 Winner List]. MTV Japan. 2008-06-02. Archived from the original on 2016-09-19.
  33. ^ Oricon Style Staff (September 10, 2007). "Oricon Singles Chart – Chart Week September 10, 2007". Oricon Style; published through Yahoo! GeoCities (in Japanese). Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  34. ^ Oricon Style Staff (September 17, 2007). "Oricon Singles Chart – Chart Week September 17, 2007". Oricon Style; published through Yahoo! GeoCities (in Japanese). Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  35. ^ a b Oricon Style Staff (2007). "Oricon Singles Chart – Annual 2007 Chart". Oricon Style; published through Yahoo! GeoCities (in Japanese). Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  36. ^ ゴールド等認定作品一覧 2007年8月 [Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (August 2007)] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. September 10, 2007. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  37. ^ Oricon Style Staff. "Highest Ranking Singles by Utada Hikaru". Oricon Style (in Japanese). Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  38. ^ レコード協会調べ 9月度有料音楽配信認定 [Record Association Investigation: September Digital Music Download Certifications] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. October 20, 2007. Archived from the original on November 2, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  39. ^ a b レコード協会調べ 8月度有料音楽配信認定 [Record Association Investigation: August Digital Music Download Certifications] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. September 20, 2009. Archived from the original on November 29, 2010. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  40. ^ Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry (Media notes) (in Japanese). Hikaru Utada. Tokyo, Japan: EMI Music Japan. 2007.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  41. ^ 宇多田ヒカル Beautiful World/Kiss & Cry [Hikaru Utada Beautiful World/Kiss & Cry] (in Japanese). Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  42. ^ "レコード協会調べ 9月度有料音楽配信チャート（「着うた（R）」）＜略称：9月度レコ協チャート（「着うた（R）」）＞" (in Japanese). RIAJ. 2007-10-20. Archived from the original on October 22, 2007. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  43. ^ "レコード協会調べ 2009年07月01日～2009年07月07日 ＜略称：レコ協チャート（「着うたフル(R)」）＞" (in Japanese). RIAJ. 2009-07-10. Archived from the original on 2011-08-26. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  44. ^ "レコード協会調べ 2009年06月24日～2009年06月30日 ＜略称：レコ協チャート（「着うたフル(R)」）＞" (in Japanese). RIAJ. 2009-07-03. Archived from the original on 2014-08-28. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  45. ^ "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」" [Oricon Ranking Information Service 'You Big Tree']. Oricon. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  46. ^ "Japanese single certifications – 宇多田 ヒカル – Beautiful World/Kiss & Cry" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved September 11, 2021. Select 2007年8月 on the drop-down menu
  47. ^ "Japanese digital single certifications – 宇多田 ヒカル – Beautiful World" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved September 11, 2021. Select 2014年9月 on the drop-down menu
  48. ^ "Japanese ringtone certifications – 宇多田 ヒカル – Beautiful World" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved September 11, 2021. Select 2007年9月 on the drop-down menu
  49. ^ "Japanese digital single certifications – 宇多田 ヒカル – Beautiful World" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved September 11, 2021. Select 2012年10月 on the drop-down menu
  50. ^ "Japanese ringtone certifications – 宇多田 ヒカル – Beautiful World -PLANiTb Acoustica Mix-" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved September 11, 2021. Select 2009年08月 on the drop-down menu
  51. ^ "Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry" (in Korean). Bugs. 29 August 2007. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
  52. ^ "Beautiful World - Kiss & Cry". Books.co.tw. Archived from the original on December 30, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
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