Passion (Utada Hikaru song)
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"Passion" is a song recorded by Japanese-American singer
Hikaru Utada , who is also known by the mononym Utada, is a Japanese-American pop singer, songwriter and producer. By 2010, Utada had become one of the most influential, and best-selling, musical artists in Japan. Born in the United States to Japanese parent ...
, taken as the fourth single from their studio album ''
Ultra Blue adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park. '' ...
'' (2006). It premiered on December 14, 2005, in two physical formats and for digital consumption, distributed by
EMI Japan , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. Whe ...
and EastWorld. "Passion", alongside its English counterpart "Sanctuary", were used as the national and international theme songs to the
Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...
video game ''
Kingdom Hearts II is a 2005 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix in collaboration with Disney Interactive Studios, Buena Vista Games for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The game is a sequel to ''Kingdom Hearts (video game), King ...
'' (2005); the tracks serve as the successors to "
Hikari may refer to: Places *Hikari Station, a station on Sanyō Main Line in Hikari, Yamaguchi * Hikari, Chiba, a former town in Sousa District, Chiba, Japan *Hikari, Yamaguchi, a city in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan People *Hikari (name), people and ...
" and its English counterpart, "Simple and Clean", which are found on
Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square (video game company), Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company and is under the leadership of Tetsuya ...
. The creator of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, Tetsuya Nomura, sought to collaborate with Utada as they previously wrote "Hikari", alongside his prospects for to break into foreign and international markets. The conception of the two tracks were to emphasize a "dusk"-like vibe to the game, in comparison to "Hikari" which they described as the "dawn". Musically, "Passion" has been described by music commentators as a multi-genre tune, noting elements of
alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
,
ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...
and "ethereal" music. The song's lyrics delve into themes of nostalgia, and discuses the circumstances of past, present and future. Upon its release, both songs received critical acclaim from music critics, who strongly opined their musical departure and the Utada's progression in production and singing. Additionally, several publications ranked the songs on their year-end lists of 2005–06 and soundtrack lists. Commercially, "Passion" was successful in Japan, peaking inside the top ten 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 TBS's
Count Down TV (also known as CDTV) is a Japanese late-night music television program, broadcast on TBS since 1993. The program is shown weekly, and features a Japanese music video hit chart countdown, live performances from musicians and music information. ...
chart; despite this, "Passion"'s sales were much lower than previous releases. However, it was certified Gold in three categories by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). An accompanying music video was directed in China by their then husband
Kazuaki Kiriya , born April 20, 1968, is a Japanese photographer and director of films and music videos. His birth name is . He is represented by Paradigm Agency. Early life and career In 1983, in his second year of junior high school, he moved to the Unite ...
, which depicts Utada in a dreamscape filled with animated clouds, figures and a cathedral-like architecture. The clip was inspired by numerous anime films and aesthetics, along with the atmosphere portrayed in ''Kingdom Hearts II''. The music video for "Passion" was generally well received, but critics questioned the lack of footage from the video game. In order to promote the single, Utada performed the tracks on television shows such as '' Music Station'' and '' Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ'', and has appeared on one concert tour: Utada: In the Flesh 2010. Since its release, "Passion" and "Sanctuary" have been widely considered as two of the best songs in video game history and has been recognized as a major factor in Utada's commercial rise in the western market.


Background and conception

In early 2003,
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and
Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...
confirmed the sequel to ''
Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square (video game company), Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company and is under the leadership of Tetsuya ...
'' (2002). That July, the creator of Kingdom Hearts, Tetsuya Nomura, aimed to have the game in stores by 2004, but several legal issues regarding the approval of characters and aesthetics from the Disney franchise obscured this, such as the
Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...
world being denied due to a change in ownership. Regarding the theme song, Nomura only had Utada in mind as he felt they were part of the franchise's family, and felt that her music could break both foreign and international markets. But scheduling time with Nomura proved to be difficult, as Utada worked on their second English language album
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in her hometown
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; they had been signed to Island Def Jam the previous year as their headquarters discovered her success in Japan. ''Kingdom Hearts II'' was publicly announced in July 2005, and Nomura confirmed Utada's second involvement with the series, "When we were creating the original game, there were a lot of factors that were influenced by Utada-san's theme song. That influence will once again be felt in ur development ofKingdom Hearts II ..." Nomura's second stance of choosing them over another singer was because he noted that fans from the first ''Kingdom Hearts'' associated Utada with the franchise. Regarding the song's concept and connection with the game, Utada derived their inspiration from the worlds and characters in ''Kingdom Hearts'' and received in-depth explanations and clues from Nomura. Conversely, Nomura noticed that Utada's theme song "
Hikari may refer to: Places *Hikari Station, a station on Sanyō Main Line in Hikari, Yamaguchi * Hikari, Chiba, a former town in Sousa District, Chiba, Japan *Hikari, Yamaguchi, a city in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan People *Hikari (name), people and ...
" influenced several factors in creating the games.


Writing and recording

"Passion" and "Sanctuary" were already written by Utada prior to the game's release, but re-wrote certain aspects in order to represent elements of the game. Utada noted the game's visual aesthetics and storyline as a major influence towards the songwriting, and that the finished versions would lead up to the ending version of the track—which appears during the credits of the video. Utada made their second song appearance in ''Kingdom Hearts II'' as they felt the experience was better than "Hikari", which they believed was difficult to accomplish because of the "soulless vibe" the game has portrayed; though they believed the visual appearance was "crucial", the singer based their thinking process on the characters personalities instead. In a special interview with Oricon Style in December 2005, Utada talked about the process: Utada first completed the lyrics to "Sanctuary" as they felt it was easier than writing it in Japanese. Furthermore, they said that they found it difficult to write the lyrics for "Passion". Retrospectively, Utada stated to Oricon Style that both of the songs' lyrics were some of their favorite lyrics to date. Knowing that the compact discs of the single would be insufficient with the lack of additional material, they decided to create a
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
track that was identical to the first song; this was titled the "After the Battle" version, the composition played during the credits of the game. They traveled to
West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...
, to record their vocals at Westlake Audio Studios with Pat Woodward, whilst the Japanese version was recorded at Bunkamura Studios,
Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷 区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...
, Tokyo with Matsui Atushi. Additionally, they re-recorded her vocals for the "After the Battle" version in order to blend it with its new arrangement. The tracks were produced by Utada, with additional production credits to Akira Miyake and Utada's father Teruzane.


Composition

"Passion" is composed as a multi-genre tune that emphasizes the core elements of
alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
,
ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...
and ethereal music. MuuMuse's Bradley Stern asserted that "Passion" was Utada's "most complex" recording, noting the use of "passionate drumming" and ambient sounds. He described Utada's vocals as having an "ethereal"-like vibe. David Jeffries of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
compared it to " A Whole New World" and the work of
Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...
. With instrumentation of drums, keyboards, electric guitars and synthesizers, the track was distinctive for its overuse of echoing throughout the composition. Additionally, critics noticed the overlapping technique of Utada's singing, along with the use of reversing certain sections of her voice to hide messages within the song. According to the sheet music on Musicnotes.com, which was published by the BMG Rights Management and Walt Disney Music Publishing, the recording is composed in the key note of
F♯ major F-sharp major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has six sharps. The F-sharp major scale is: : Its relative minor is D-sharp minor (or enharmonically E-f ...
. It is set in
time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...
of common time with a tempo of 109 beats per minute, whilst its chord progression develops in the sequence of B♭m7–Dm7–B♭m7–Dm7–Dm7–Dm. "Passion"'s lyrics delve into themes of nostalgia, and discuses the circumstances of past, present and future, which she noted was relatable to the characters in the video game. However,
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's Miko Amaranthine said "Passion" is "another love song that resembles a missing love but leaving life without him/her." Furthermore, "Passion", "expresses moments of nostalgic childhood memories that either fold or, sometimes intertwine" and eventually introduces a "new world". A member at Channel-Ai stated that the theme encompassed the parent album ''
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'', but highlighted on "hope" more than "sadness". '' Vibes Mio Yamada said that the lyrics, "expressed weakness and strength simultaneously," and that the material was more mature than Utada's previous work. Executive producers for ''Kingdom Hearts'' and head composer Yoko Shimomura said that the track needed to be more dramatic for the remaining of the accompanying score. In order to adapt to the remaining material on the soundtrack, Japanese musician Kaoru Wada arranged an orchestral version of "Sanctuary" and was performed by New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, which included the instrumentation of trumpets, several string sections and percussion.


Release

"Passion" premiered on December 14, 2005, in two physical formats and for digital consumption, distributed by
EMI Japan , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. Whe ...
and EastWorld. Subsequently, the single and its B-side "Passion" (After the Battle) were included on the ''Kingdom Hearts II'' soundtrack; the video game that also included the single as its theme song was issued on December 22 that same year. Global distributions of the CD single commenced on December 26, whilst South East Asian editions were made available in stores on December 28. The DVD version came with the music video, alongside an
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strip. The cover art was photographed by Mitsuo Shindo, who was alongside Utada's then husband
Kazuaki Kiriya , born April 20, 1968, is a Japanese photographer and director of films and music videos. His birth name is . He is represented by Paradigm Agency. Early life and career In 1983, in his second year of junior high school, he moved to the Unite ...
when shooting the clip; it depicts Utada in a vast corn field, which appears at the end. Various versions of "Passion"—such as the opening version, ending edit and orchestral instrumental—have been issued on three of the ''Kingdom Hearts'' soundtracks, including the ''Original Soundtrack Complete'' box set, and its special 10th anniversary edition. The single was also included on the soundtracks for the "remix" versions of the games, but "Sanctuary" served as its official theme song under her Western name Utada. "Sanctuary" did not premiere in North America until March 28, 2006, with the video game, along with an end-September date in Australasia and Europe. Furthermore, EMI Music Japan distributed two versions of "Sanctuary"—the album edit and the "After the Battle" version— in Japan as a promotional single on January 1, 2009, through
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. On July 20, Island Def Jam premiered the track through radio stations in Japan, and subsequently served the album edit as the second single from her English album ''
This Is the One ''This Is the One'' is the third English studio album by Japanese American pop singer-songwriter Utada, released by Island Records in the United States digitally on March 24, 2009 and physically on May 12, 2009. The album was originally set to ...
'' (2009) two days later; only the North American editions feature the single. "Passion" and "Sanctuary" have appeared on compilation albums conducted by Utada, such as the ''
Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2 ''Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2'' is Japanese pop music, pop singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada's second compilation album, released on November 24, 2010, by EMI Music Japan, the same day as her Universal Music Group, Universal-released Englis ...
'' (Nov 2010) and ''
Utada the Best ''Utada the Best'' is Japanese pop/R&B singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada's first English language compilation album, released on November 24, 2010, the same day as ''Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2''. The album is a "best of" album featuring h ...
'' (Nov 2010).


Critical response

Both songs received general acclaim from music critics. An editor of ''CD Journal'' praised the production, calling it "impressive". The reviewer praised the composition, stating that the sound as a "fantastic atmosphere" and her vocals as "beautiful". A reviewer from Channel-Ai gave "Passion" four-and-a-half stars out of five, but favored the track over "Sanctuary". For future releases, the reviewer also recommended Utada's Japanese counterparts over English dubs. Lex from VGMO.com gave the song eight stars, commending the production and sound. However, she said that she found "Passion" more "satisfying" than Sanctuary. Writing from the same publication, Harry Simons praised the single and said that it was better than Utada's previous contribution "Hikari", but stated that the "After the Battle" version should have been served as the single. In his article for MuuMuse, Bradley Stern said that Utada's vocals and production, "brings the track to another level, transcending the patterns and limitations of most modern pop". Stern also valued the Japanese version as a "defining moment" to her artistic craft. An editor of
Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...
Music rated it nine out of ten points, commending the production and sound; he/she labelled it to be a "masterpiece".
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' Michael Pascua praised Utada's decision to add "Sanctuary" as the final track to ''This Is The One'', stating, " anctuaryshowcases a strong musical style that isn't necessarily in the R&B flare that ''This is the One'' provides. They also help connect any video game player who hasn't necessarily listened to any of her Japanese albums or even knew that she had another English album ..." Céire Ní Dalaigh from The Arcade commented that "This track builds from the very beginning making it the perfect tune for any occasion. Whether it just be walking to work, building the pace at the gym or even just chilling out at home."


Commercial performance

Commercially, "Passion" experienced success in Japan, although sales were much lower than their previous releases. It debuted at number three on the daily
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 ...
, one of her lowest peaks. Based on a six-day statistic, the single opened at number four on the weekly chart, selling 49,242 copies, making it their lowest first-week sales at the time. The following week, dated January 2, 2006, it slipped to number 10 with 18,868 copies sold. Because Oricon accumulated two weeks worth of sales due to their New Years policy, the company did not publish an update until January 16, where "Passion" moved two places down with 22,877 copies. The track made its final appearance inside the top 40 at number 16 selling 6,061 copies, dated on January 23. Overall, it spent 16 weeks inside the top 200 chart and sold 112,345 units by the end of its initial chart run, marking this the singers lowest selling single of her career, until their 2008 double A-side release " Stay Gold" / " Heart Station". At the end of 2006, Oricon ranked the single as the 91st best selling single in Japan. "Passion" debuted at number four on
Tokyo Broadcasting System formerly is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network and radio network . It has a 28-affiliate television network called JNN (Japan News Network), as well as a 34-affili ...
(TBS)
Count Down TV (also known as CDTV) is a Japanese late-night music television program, broadcast on TBS since 1993. The program is shown weekly, and features a Japanese music video hit chart countdown, live performances from musicians and music information. ...
chart, a similar opening to Oricon. The single charted for nine weeks, one of her shortest spans within the Count TV archive. Despite this, "Passion" was certified Gold twice by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for digital and cellphone sales of 100,000 units.


Music video


Background and direction

An accompanying music video for "Passion" was directed by Utada's ex-husband
Kazuaki Kiriya , born April 20, 1968, is a Japanese photographer and director of films and music videos. His birth name is . He is represented by Paradigm Agency. Early life and career In 1983, in his second year of junior high school, he moved to the Unite ...
, where it was filmed at the Gung-Ho Films studios in
Beijing, China } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. At the start of the video, an animation sequence was created and produced by Kōji Morimoto, whom helmed a design-based campaign for the singers album ''Exodus'', which was recognized as Fluximation-style animations. The remaining additions of computer generated imagery were generated by the company N-Design. Several workers had hand-made the scenery including the infrastructure of the grand-hall (seating for the drummers, floor design, etc.) and the cathedral (the walls, platform for Utada, floor); Kiriya placed a blue screen behind these structures in order to expand them to higher lengths. Utada said that majority of the dancers and drummers had choreographed intensely before commencing the video shoot; Utada had jokingly stated that they apologized several times whilst messing up the routines. For the final scene, several producers hired horse riders in order to lead a herd of horses to run through the corn field. After this scene was complete, Utada wore the same outfit designed by Kozue Hibino, which is a large coated–dress with a trail of puffy inserts, and sung it in the same location. The ending scene was co-directed by Emmanuel Previnarie, Sze Kwan Chong and Marc Asmode, where they used a flying camera on a small helicopter to accomplish an aerial shot of Utada on the corn field. Regarding the female animation at the start, Utada stated that it was a representation of then and said that the inspiration of the video was from the 1997 film ''
Princess Mononoke is a 1997 Japanese animated epic historical fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network and Dentsu. The film stars the voices of Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida ...
''; "The people who were doing the on-the-spot filming seemed to have my sort of make. Like, not very adult-like and not very feminine ... much like as if we were all Princess Mononoke. Uggh, it looks like I'll be getting more female fans now!" Utada continued:


Synopsis and reception

The visual opens with a small microscopic organism-like figure, eventually zooming out on an animated woman. Dancing in the wind, the opening chorus has the woman gliding through a vast field of clouds, often flying in front of the sun. A strong force field follows her as she is about to land onto buildings, but intercuts into Utada walking through digitized clouds. The camera then changes positions, aimed towards the singer, and showcases her walking through a large grand hall with purple colored
Kachina A kachina (; also katchina, katcina, or katsina; Hopi: ''katsina'' , plural ''katsinim'' ) is a spirit being in the religious beliefs of the Pueblo peoples, Native American cultures located in the south-western part of the United States. In th ...
's in cloaks, hitting drums to the song's beat. She walks into a large cathedral-like infrastructure and summons numerous pink kachina's dancing to the tune. By the third chorus, the interior expands and more kachinas are summoned; this sequence also has flowing
cherry blossom A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally ...
leaves. The bridge replays sections of the animated lady but with Utada singing the song, both overlapping each other. From there, the interior of the cathedral starts to disappear and move but then focuses on a herd of horses running through a vast corn field. The video ends with Utada stretching her arms against the sunlight, as the camera zooms away from her via bird's eye view, all shot by a toy airplane which was controlled by the director of the video. The music video premiered exclusively to the Japanese website ''Hot Express'' on November 21, 2005, and was first broadcast on television networks, such as
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
, in early 2006; "Sanctuary" was dubbed over the video and premiered as well. The video attracted positive reviews from commentators. Simon Smith from VGMO.com noted that the visual "involve anime Utada, lots of drum banging, even more horses, and even more dancing kachinas!" He concluded that the video was a "visual spectacular", but believed fans would be disappointed with the lack of visuals from ''Kingdom Hearts II''. The visual was added to the video compilation, ''Singles Collection Vol.4'' (2006); a special live version was placed as the final track.


Promotion and other usage

Apart from its inclusion on the ''Kingdom Hearts'' video games, Utada had performed the track on several television and concert shows. They first sung the track on Japan's '' Music Station'', where it premiered on December 2, 2005; the backdrop featured architecture similar to the song's music video. Three days later, she made an appearance on the Fuji TV show '' Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ''. Subsequently, they performed the track again on music shows ''Utaban'', ''Music Fighter'' and ''CDTV'' between December 8–10; the latter performance was a repeat of her at ''Utaban'' but showcased different camera angles. To celebrate the 2005 Christmas season, Utada hosted a live special where they sung a piano-driven version of the track in a studio. "Passion" was performed on Utada's United 2006 concert tour as the opening track, and furthermore on her Utada: In the Flesh 2010; the singer had combined both "Passion" and "Sanctuary", performing both Japanese and English throughout the performance. A live version was published on her
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account, and again on
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with the rest of the show. The most recent performance was on her 2011 Wild Life concert, which was then distributed on
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
in May 2011. "Passion" and "Sanctuary" have been sampled several times by different musicians. Its first recorded sample was for Stevey Jay's track "Kingdom of Hearts", which appeared on his extended play ''The Streets and Watching'' (2008); the title is loosely derived from the video game title. American rapper XV sampled the ending version of "Sanctuary" for his song "When We're Done", which was included on his
mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...
''Zero Heroes'' (2010). Lil B., an American rapper, released a remix version of his single "Pretty Boy", which sampled the melody of "Sanctuary". British rapper and grime artist
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sampled the track in his single "London City", which appeared on his album ''
Bud, Sweat and Beers ''Bud, Sweat and Beers'' is the debut studio album released by English rapper Devlin, via Island Records and the Universal Music Group. The album was released on 29 October 2010 via digital download, and 1 November 2010, physically. The album w ...
'' (2010); the rapper credited Utada as a featuring artist. The following year, American rapper
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sampled the composition for a song with the same title, which then ended up on his mixtape ''
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'' (2012). Electronic musician Groundislava remixed "Sanctuary" in 2013, and was noted for its
chillout Chill-out (shortened as chill; also typeset as chillout or chill out) is a loosely defined form of popular music characterized by slow tempos and relaxed moods. The definition of "chill-out music" has evolved throughout the decades, and generally ...
musical elements. In 2014, rapper Tony Moxberg released his single "Still Ridin'", which sampled the intro of "Sanctuary". That same year, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, whom worked with Utada nearly 13 years prior on her album ''
Distance Distance is a numerical or occasionally qualitative measurement of how far apart objects or points are. In physics or everyday usage, distance may refer to a physical length or an estimation based on other criteria (e.g. "two counties over"). ...
'', and Peabo Bryson covered "Sanctuary" for ''Utada Hikaru no Uta'', a tribute album celebrating 15 years since Utada's debut. Jam and Lewis stated that they wanted to leave the "haunting aspect" as it was, but wanted to add different yet dynamic instrumentation. Both producers also said that Bryson was perfect to add as the sole vocalist to the track. "Passion" was sampled on UK rapper
Devlin Devlin may refer to: * Devlin (surname) * Devlin (given name) * Devlin (rapper), a British rapper * ''Devlin'' (TV series), a 1974 animated TV series by Hanna-Barbera * ''Devlin'', a 1988 novel by Roderick Thorp * ''The Devil and Max Devlin '' ...
's song "London City", from his 2010 album ''
Bud, Sweat and Beers ''Bud, Sweat and Beers'' is the debut studio album released by English rapper Devlin, via Island Records and the Universal Music Group. The album was released on 29 October 2010 via digital download, and 1 November 2010, physically. The album w ...
''. "Sanctuary" was sampled on AC's song "She Fallin'", from the 2017 album ''Slappin' in the Trunk Presents: Flight School 2''.


Cultural impact

Similarly to "Hikari" and "Simple and Clean", both "Passion" and "Sanctuary" were successful worldwide, due to its success with ''Kingdom Hearts II''; by March 2007, the English adaption of the game sold over four million units worldwide. According to Bradley Stern, reporting from MuuMuse, he said the recordings were her only entries that gained a global fanbase because of its influence through the video game phenomenon, which was rare of Asian markets to capture outside of their native countries. Similarly, Emily Goodman from Axs.com published an article on January 4, 2015, with the headline stating that Utada was "best known for her work on ''Kingdom Hearts''". In the article, Goodman said that while Utada became popular with "Passion" and "Sanctuary", "Utada's musical success goes far beyond a single video game line. In addition to her work on the video game series, Utada has seen an incredible amount of success both in America and in Japan." Similarly, Alicia Joy from Culture Trip said the songs brought prominence to the rise of Utada's sales worldwide. Both tracks have been recognized by publications as some of their best work, and even entered several top lists as the best video game theme song; Pete Schiecke from AOL Radio put the songs atop of his "10 Best Video Game Music Soundtracks". A large fan poll on Enix Origin hosted a list that ranked their top 10
Final Fantasy is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...
/Kingdom Hearts songs, and "Passion" / "Sanctuary" were placed a number four respectively. Miko Amaranthine from
Yahoo! Music Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds of ...
listed "Passion" as his sixth best Utada song. "Sanctuary" was listed on the All Womans Talk website by Cassandra Rose for being her sixth inclusion on the "7 Ingenious Songs Based on Video Games". A member at Buzznet listed "Passion" and "Sanctuary" on their top playlist, whilst Joy mentioned the tracks in their "An Intro to Japanese Music in 5 Artists". Jenni Lada from Technology Tell recommended "Passion" over "Sanctuary", and also listed it as a "Recommended track" from the singers discography.
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
listed it as number four in their top ten list of RPG title tracks, commenting that the song "lifted the doubts they had about the game's potential". Despite commercial success, "Passion" was not able to match the sales of "Hikari"; "Passion" sold over 112,000 physical units (with an additional 200,000 digital and cellphone units), coming to a total of over 350,000 units. However, the latter track sold over 860,000 units in Japan, making it one of her best selling singles. "Passion" also became her lowest selling single until her 2008 double A-side release " Stay Gold" / " Heart Station". In early 2013, an announcement confirmed the development of the third instalment of the Kingdom Hearts console game. In October that year, Utada's father, Teruzane Utada, was asked on
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about their contribution towards the third installment, to which Teruzane replied, "Yes." The reply prompted a large response through
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in Japan and America. However, the following day Teruzane took to Twitter again to clarify that he and Hikaru are "undecided" on contributing towards the song, stating that he was "confused" by the question when he was asked.


Track listing and formats

;CD single #"Passion" – 4:44 #"Passion" (After the Battle) – 5:58 ;CD and DVD #"Passion" – 4:44 #"Passion" (After the Battle) – 5:58 ##"Passion" (music video) – 4:50 ;Digital download 1 #"Sanctuary" (Opening) – 4:15 ;Digital download 2 #"Sanctuary" (Ending) – 5:58


Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the single's CD and DVD release. Recording and pro-tools *Recorded at Westlake Audios studios by Pat Woodward in California, and Bunkamura Studios in
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by Matsui Atsushi. Mixed by Goetz B. at Bunkamura Studios. Mastered by Tom Coyne at
Sterling Sound George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...
Studios,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Music credits *
Hikaru Utada , who is also known by the mononym Utada, is a Japanese-American pop singer, songwriter and producer. By 2010, Utada had become one of the most influential, and best-selling, musical artists in Japan. Born in the United States to Japanese parent ...
– songwriting, composing, arrangement, production, vocals, vocal production, keyboards, programming *Matt Rohde – keyboards, programming, piano *Alexis Smith – additional programming *Ben Mauro – guitar *Glenn Erwin – pro-tools *Akira Miyake – production * Teruzane Utada – production Visual credits *
Kazuaki Kiriya , born April 20, 1968, is a Japanese photographer and director of films and music videos. His birth name is . He is represented by Paradigm Agency. Early life and career In 1983, in his second year of junior high school, he moved to the Unite ...
– art direction, photographer, video director * Mitsuo Shindō – art direction, design *Takayuki Aoya – design *Kozue Hibino – stylist, costume designer *Ryoji Inagaki – hair and make-up *Hidenobu Okita – direction *William Cheng – co-director *Emmanuel Previnarie – flying camera *Sze Kwan Chong – flying camera *Marc Asmode – flying camera *Ma Qingyuan – Gaffer *Kang Yabiao – key grip *Yuji Hayashida – production design *Yoshi Akatsuka – art department *Etsuko Aiko – art direction *Huang Xinming – art direction, choreographer *Motegi Yutaka – set decorator *Wang Pu – set decorator Animation credits *N-Design Productions – GCI production *Koji Nozaki – CGI director *Takuya Fujita – CGI producer *Shusuke Osanai – CGI chief designer *Akihiro Nakamura – CGI designer *Taketu Kosaka – CGI designer *Naoko Ishibashi – CGI designer *Hideaki Tajima – CGI designer * Studio 4°C – animation production *Koji Morimoto – director *Takayuki Kusaki – CG director *Marefumi Nihayashi – art director *Mutsuko Kajigaya – in-between supervisor *Tomoko Washida – color stylist *Rika Hatakeda – animation producer *Kotaro Hirukawa – animation producer Management credits *Gung-Ho Films – production *Michael McDermott – line producer *Gao Jingxin – production manager *Amanda Bi – production supervisor *Eriko Miyagawa – production co-ordinator *Wang Bin – key production assistant *Jasper Thomlinson – producer *Teruzane Utada – executive producer


Charts and certifications


Weekly and daily charts


Year-end chart


Certifications and sales


Release history


See also

* Music of ''Kingdom Hearts'' *
Video game music Video game music (or VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to ...


Notes


References


External links


"Passion"
at Hikaru Utada's official website.
Passion
– Special website provided by
EMI Music Japan , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. When ...
. {{Kingdom Hearts series Hikaru Utada songs 2005 singles Kingdom Hearts songs Songs written by Hikaru Utada Disney songs Video game theme songs 2005 songs