"Red Swan" is a song by Japanese musician

Yoshiki Yoshiki is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yoshiki can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *義樹, "justice, tree" *義基, "justice, foundation" *義機, "justice, opportu ...

, featuring vocals by Hyde. Written and produced by Yoshiki, it is the opening theme song of the first 12 episodes of the third season of the ''

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 as ...

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series. The television edit of the song was published on digital platforms on July 23, 2018, while the full single version was released on October 3, 2018. The single debuted at No. 4 on the

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In J ...

and number 5 on ''Billboard Japan''s Hot 100. It also topped the

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

Rock Chart in 10 countries, making it the best-performing anime song in the chart's history, and reached the top ten on the iTunes mainstream charts in 16 countries. In 2019, the song won Top Japanese Gold Song at the 30th International Pop Poll Awards.

Background and release

On July 8, 2018, it was revealed at

Anime Expo Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first we ...

in Los Angeles that

X Japan was a Japanese rock band from Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power/speed metal band with heavy symphonic elements, they later gravitated towards a progressive soun ...

had teamed up with Hyde from

L'Arc-en-Ciel L'Arc-en-Ciel ( French: 'The Rainbow', stylized as L'Arc~en~Ciel), also known as Laruku, is a Japanese rock band, formed in Osaka in 1991 by bassist tetsuya and vocalist hyde. Following the departure of original members hiro and pero, guitarist ...

to create the theme song of the third season of the ''

'' anime. "Red Swan" was originally announced as an X Japan song, that would only feature

and

Sugizo , born and better known by his stage name Sugizo, is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist and violinist of the rock band Luna Sea since 1989. Sugizo started his solo care ...

, with Hyde on vocals. However, later that month the song was announced to now be credited to "Yoshiki feat. Hyde". "Red Swan" was inspired by a section of X Japan's 1994 number-one single " Rusty Nail". Its standard edition cover art was designed with elements from the cover art of "Rusty Nail", namely the blood dripping from a woman's mouth. On September 15, Yoshiki revealed that "Red Swan" was actually completed just days earlier in Los Angeles. Two days later, Yoshiki and Hyde performed the song live on ''

Music Station is a Japanese music television program. Broadcasting live weekly on TV Asahi since October 24, 1986, it currently airs from 9PM-10PM on Fridays. The program is also colloquially known as , , and . The show is currently syndicated throughout th ...

''. The television edit of the song was published on digital platforms on July 23, 2018, while the full song was released digitally and on CD, in two different versions, on October 3, 2018.

Reception

Michelle Minikhiem of ''J-Generation'' called "Red Swan" "grand in the way only songs written by Yoshiki can be," with a vocal performance that "absolutely aches with longing." She described the track and its "swelling percussion, passionately romantic lyrics, and murmured philosophical questioning about life" as telling the story of a bittersweet love. In 2019, the song won Top Japanese Gold Song at the 30th International Pop Poll Awards in Hong Kong.

Chart performance

"Red Swan" debuted at No. 4 on the

and charted for 19 weeks. It also debuted at No. 3 on the Oricon Digital Singles Chart. The song debuted at number 5 on ''Billboard Japan''s Hot 100. It also reached number 6 on ''Billboard Japan''s Top Singles chart, which is based only on physical sales, and topped ''Billboard Japan''s Hot Animation chart, which tracks anime and video game music. The single topped the

Rock charts in Japan, Finland, Greece, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Brazil and Hong Kong, making it the best-performing anime song in the chart's history. It also reached No. 6 on the US Rock chart and No. 8 on the UK Rock chart. The song reached the top ten on the iTunes mainstream charts in 16 countries.

Track listing

Personnel

– drums, piano, guitar, bass, synthesizers, production, orchestration * Hyde – vocals Special guest appearances *

– guitar * Pata – guitar * Heath – bass Production *

Mark Needham Mark Needham is an American music engineer, mixer and producer. He has worked with many prominent names in music, including: Blue October, Newsboys, Fleetwood Mac, The Killers, Imagine Dragons, Chris Isaak, John Hiatt, Michelle Branch, P!nk, O.A ...

– mixing * Stephen Marcussen – mastering *

Shelly Berg Shelton "Shelly" Glen Berg (born August 18, 1955) is an American classical and jazz pianist and music educator. He is the dean of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida and the school's Patricia L. Frost P ...

– orchestration * Daniel Sternbaum – recording engineer * Ryan Boesch – recording engineer * Yuji Sugiyama – recording engineer * Toshi Minesaki – recording engineer * Hisayuki Watanabe – recording engineer * Steve Churchyard – orchestra recording * Brian Fedirko – programming

Charts

Sales

References

External links

Official website
{{Attack on Titan, state=collapsed 2018 singles 2018 songs Anime songs Attack on Titan Japanese rock songs Pony Canyon singles Songs written by Yoshiki (musician)