Tori no Uta
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese trance
song
sung by Lia
, written by Jun Maeda
, composed
by Shinji Orito
, and arranged
by Kazuya Takase. The song was recorded at Paramount Studio
by the software company Key
through their record label
Key Sounds Label
for use as the opening theme
of Key's 2000 visual novel
Air. A short version of the song was first released on I've Sound
's July 2000 compilation album
Verge
. The full version of "Tori no Uta" first appeared on the limited edition remix album
Ornithopter (September 2000) originally bundled with the first printing release of the Air game, though "Tori no Uta" was not remix
ed on the album. The song was later widely distributed on the Air Original Soundtrack (2002), the soundtrack
of the visual novel. The song was later featured as the opening theme to the Air anime series in 2005. The Japanese variety
radio show
Moteken used "Tori no Uta" as the ending theme to their October 15, 2007 broadcast.
Shinji Orito commented on the song in the Air Original Soundtrack booklet where he remarked, "Even though I have made up my mind that the song "Tori no Uta" best captures the themes of Air, arriving at this was extremely difficult. Besides being under a lot of pressure, I'm still quite inexperienced in the field of music; this is the area I want to become stronger in most of all."
"Tori no Uta" is the longest track featured in Air, spanning 6:08 minutes, and is thus the longest track on all of the albums the song appeared on released by Key Sounds Label
. "Tori no Uta" is a trance
song in common time which begins in the B minor
key
and waits until the eighth measure
for Lia
to begin singing. The song is kept in B minor for the first verse
, shifts to B major
for the second, and again shifts to D-flat major for the third which continues into the first measure of the fourth verse where it shifts back to B minor for the rest of the verse. After a short break
, the key goes back to B major and continues the same pattern as before. At the end of this sequence in verse seven, the first verse is repeated as the sole chorus
in B minor. An instrumental coda
is used to close the song which lasts for about one-sixth of the entire piece's length. The song's instrumentation primarily uses a synthesizer
as a base, but does include a short piano
sequence lasting for the first eight measures, along with piano accompaniment throughout the song. The song moves at 120 beats per minute, and Lia's vocal range
spans almost two octave
s from F-sharp4 to D6.
versions. The song was first released as a shortened version spanning 3:09 minutes on I've Sound
's July 2000 compilation album
Verge
. The first release of the song on Key Sounds Label
, the record label affiliated with Key
, was on the 2001 album Humanity...
as a remix version subtitled "Bossanova
version" and was sung by Mina Minomo. The full-length original version of the song was first released on the limited edition remix album
Ornithopter (September 2000) originally bundled with the first printing release of the Air game. The song was later widely distributed on the Air Original Soundtrack (2002), the soundtrack
of the visual novel, in original, short, and instrumental versions. An instrumental piano
version of "Tori no Uta" was released on the album Re-feel (2003) by Key Sounds Label. A remixed version arranged by Cosmic Seekers was included on the albums Air Analog Collector's Edition, and OTSU Club Music Compilation Vol.1, both released by Key Sounds Label in 2006. Another instrumental piano version was released on the album Key 10th Memorial Score, and a remixed version arranged by Blasterhead was included on the album OTSU:Blasterhead, both released by Key Sounds Label in 2009.
The song also appeared on several albums released by Lia
. The first was a remix on her first independent album Prismatic (2004); the song carried the subtitle "2004 summer version: Relaxin' with lovers mix", and later appeared on Lia's best of
album Crystal Voice (2007). The original version appeared on Lia's best of album Diamond Days (2007), and a remix version by StripE
subtitled "StripE REMIX" was included on her best of album Spectrum Rays (2007). A new vocal recording of "Tori no Uta" was released on Lia's Enigmatic LIA 2 album in early 2007, and another remix by DJ Sharpnel subtitled "[the speed freak's noise rave remix]" was released on Lia's Enigmatic LIA 3 album in early 2009.
Live
versions of the song have appeared on two live album
s by Lia as recorded live track
s. The first was the June 2005 DVD
album Prologue featuring tracks performed at Lia's concert of the same name in Shibuya
, Japan
in January 2005. The second was the June 2008 DVD album The Limited featuring tracks performed at Lia's concert at Zepp Tokyo
in September 2007; this album also contained a bonus track of "Tori no Uta" subtitled "[Double Encore
]". Another live version appeared on Key Sound Label's KSL Live World 2008: Way to the Little Busters! EX live album featuring tracks performed at the second KSL Live World 2008 concert held in Osaka
, Japan in May 2008. Later, a live version appeared on Key Sound Label's KSL Live World 2010: Way to the Kud Wafter live album featuring tracks performed at one of the May 22, 2010 KSL Live World 2010 concerts held in Tokyo.
"Tori no Uta" was sampled for the second movement
of a symphony
on the bonus CD Shinwa e no Izanai released with the special edition DVD version of the Air film
in August 2005. A cover version
of the song, sung by Asami Imai, was released on a limited edition two-disc music album and audio drama
entitled Your Song. The album was released in January 2007 by Namco Bandai Games
for their video game The Idolmaster; Imai is the voice of Chihaya Kisaragi from The Idolmaster. A re-recording of the cover version was released in August 2007 on an image song
and audio drama CD entitled The Idolmaster Master Artist 05 Chihaya Kisaragi featuring songs sung by Imai. Another cover version, sung by Masaaki Endoh
, was released on Endoh's anime song cover album Enson2: Cover Songs Collection Vol.2 sold in December 2008. A cover version of "Tori no Uta" appeared in the sequel of Front Wing
's visual novel Time Leap
entitled Time Leap Paradise released in July 2009. "Tori no Uta"'s melody has also appeared in two of the medleys
in Kumikyoku Nico Nico Douga
. A portion of "Tori no Uta," sung by Nikki, is present in the Chinese hip-hop song "Looking Back" by Yin Ts'ang.
reported that Singapore
an musician Shaun Yu may have plagiarized
"Tori no Uta". Yu's current album, The Best of Shaun Yu, features a track called "Melody" which sounds like the Air theme. Though Key made no official statement at the time, an investigation was initiated.
On September 21, 2005, it was reported that a second song on The Best of Shaun Yu may have been plagiarized from a song composed by Hiroyuki Tōshima, "Tenshi no Kyujitsu". Yu had stated that his producers, YesMusic, had arranged both tracks, and that he was unaware of the situation. YesMusic, in turn, had stated that it licensed the rights to the song from Key/Visual Art's for mainland China
distribution, but that the album came out in Taiwan
before licensing could be arranged for that territory. However, Key/Visual Art's denied this, as per a statement on Key's website:
On September 29, 2005, Sony BMG Taiwan posted a statement of apology in both Chinese and Japanese on their official website. CD shipments were canceled and recalled.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese trance
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
sung by Lia
Lia (singer)
Lia is a female Japanese singer-songwriter who is a former member of I've Sound. Lia has also participated in happy hardcore singing, producing four such albums with this style of singing; these albums have her name in all capital letters. She is notable as the singer for the opening and ending...
, written by Jun Maeda
Jun Maeda
is a Japanese writer working for the software company Key; he has majorly contributed as a scenario writer, lyricist, and musical composer for the visual novels the company produces. His birth name in kanji was written as , though there is no change in pronunciation...
, composed
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
by Shinji Orito
Shinji Orito
is a Japanese musical composer originally from Hyōgo, Japan working for the software company Key. Before forming Key, Orito worked for another software company named Leaf where he contributed to four games...
, and arranged
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
by Kazuya Takase. The song was recorded at Paramount Studio
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
by the software company Key
Key (company)
Key is a Japanese visual novel studio which formed on July 21, 1998 as a brand under the publisher Visual Art's and is located in Kita, Osaka, Japan. Key released their debut visual novel Kanon in June 1999, which combined an elaborate storyline, an up-to-date anime-style drawing style, and a...
through their record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
Key Sounds Label
Key Sounds Label
Key Sounds Label is a Japanese independent record label formed in 2001 as a brand of the publishing company Visual Art's. Key Sounds Label was formed to catalog and release music related to visual novels produced by the brand Key, also under Visual Art's, known for developing such titles as Kanon...
for use as the opening theme
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
of Key's 2000 visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
Air. A short version of the song was first released on I've Sound
I've Sound
I've Sound, or simply called , is a Japanese techno/trance music production group based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. Led by Kazuya Takase, it features the talents of seasoned "sound creators" and many different female vocalists, known as to their fans....
's July 2000 compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
Verge
Verge (album)
Verge is a two-disc compilation album by Japanese music production unit I've Sound and volume two in their Girls Compilation album series. It was released on July 17, 2000, compiling the songs they have produced for various adult PC games as well as some new tracks. The album features vocals by...
. The full version of "Tori no Uta" first appeared on the limited edition remix album
Remix album
A remix album is an album consisting mostly of remixes or re-recorded versions of a music artists' earlier released material.One of the earliest remix albums was 1971's Aerial Pandemonium Ballet by Harry Nilsson, which was released by Nilsson after the successes of Everybody's Talkin and The Point!...
Ornithopter (September 2000) originally bundled with the first printing release of the Air game, though "Tori no Uta" was not remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
ed on the album. The song was later widely distributed on the Air Original Soundtrack (2002), the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
of the visual novel. The song was later featured as the opening theme to the Air anime series in 2005. The Japanese variety
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
radio show
Radio programming
Radio programming is the Broadcast programming of a Radio format or content that is organized for Commercial broadcasting and Public broadcasting radio stations....
Moteken used "Tori no Uta" as the ending theme to their October 15, 2007 broadcast.
Shinji Orito commented on the song in the Air Original Soundtrack booklet where he remarked, "Even though I have made up my mind that the song "Tori no Uta" best captures the themes of Air, arriving at this was extremely difficult. Besides being under a lot of pressure, I'm still quite inexperienced in the field of music; this is the area I want to become stronger in most of all."
Musical structure
Key Sounds Label
Key Sounds Label is a Japanese independent record label formed in 2001 as a brand of the publishing company Visual Art's. Key Sounds Label was formed to catalog and release music related to visual novels produced by the brand Key, also under Visual Art's, known for developing such titles as Kanon...
. "Tori no Uta" is a trance
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
song in common time which begins in the B minor
B minor
B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. The harmonic minor raises the A to A. Its key signature has two sharps .Its relative major is D major, and its parallel major is B major....
key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
and waits until the eighth measure
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
for Lia
Lia (singer)
Lia is a female Japanese singer-songwriter who is a former member of I've Sound. Lia has also participated in happy hardcore singing, producing four such albums with this style of singing; these albums have her name in all capital letters. She is notable as the singer for the opening and ending...
to begin singing. The song is kept in B minor for the first verse
Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
, shifts to B major
B major
In music theory, B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps....
for the second, and again shifts to D-flat major for the third which continues into the first measure of the fourth verse where it shifts back to B minor for the rest of the verse. After a short break
Break (music)
In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion section or interlude during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main parts of the song or piece....
, the key goes back to B major and continues the same pattern as before. At the end of this sequence in verse seven, the first verse is repeated as the sole chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
in B minor. An instrumental coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
is used to close the song which lasts for about one-sixth of the entire piece's length. The song's instrumentation primarily uses a synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
as a base, but does include a short piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
sequence lasting for the first eight measures, along with piano accompaniment throughout the song. The song moves at 120 beats per minute, and Lia's vocal range
Vocal range
Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...
spans almost two octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
s from F-sharp4 to D6.
Release history
"Tori no Uta" has been released many times in original and remixRemix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
versions. The song was first released as a shortened version spanning 3:09 minutes on I've Sound
I've Sound
I've Sound, or simply called , is a Japanese techno/trance music production group based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. Led by Kazuya Takase, it features the talents of seasoned "sound creators" and many different female vocalists, known as to their fans....
's July 2000 compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
Verge
Verge (album)
Verge is a two-disc compilation album by Japanese music production unit I've Sound and volume two in their Girls Compilation album series. It was released on July 17, 2000, compiling the songs they have produced for various adult PC games as well as some new tracks. The album features vocals by...
. The first release of the song on Key Sounds Label
Key Sounds Label
Key Sounds Label is a Japanese independent record label formed in 2001 as a brand of the publishing company Visual Art's. Key Sounds Label was formed to catalog and release music related to visual novels produced by the brand Key, also under Visual Art's, known for developing such titles as Kanon...
, the record label affiliated with Key
Key (company)
Key is a Japanese visual novel studio which formed on July 21, 1998 as a brand under the publisher Visual Art's and is located in Kita, Osaka, Japan. Key released their debut visual novel Kanon in June 1999, which combined an elaborate storyline, an up-to-date anime-style drawing style, and a...
, was on the 2001 album Humanity...
Humanity...
-External links:*...
as a remix version subtitled "Bossanova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
version" and was sung by Mina Minomo. The full-length original version of the song was first released on the limited edition remix album
Remix album
A remix album is an album consisting mostly of remixes or re-recorded versions of a music artists' earlier released material.One of the earliest remix albums was 1971's Aerial Pandemonium Ballet by Harry Nilsson, which was released by Nilsson after the successes of Everybody's Talkin and The Point!...
Ornithopter (September 2000) originally bundled with the first printing release of the Air game. The song was later widely distributed on the Air Original Soundtrack (2002), the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
of the visual novel, in original, short, and instrumental versions. An instrumental piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
version of "Tori no Uta" was released on the album Re-feel (2003) by Key Sounds Label. A remixed version arranged by Cosmic Seekers was included on the albums Air Analog Collector's Edition, and OTSU Club Music Compilation Vol.1, both released by Key Sounds Label in 2006. Another instrumental piano version was released on the album Key 10th Memorial Score, and a remixed version arranged by Blasterhead was included on the album OTSU:Blasterhead, both released by Key Sounds Label in 2009.
The song also appeared on several albums released by Lia
Lia (singer)
Lia is a female Japanese singer-songwriter who is a former member of I've Sound. Lia has also participated in happy hardcore singing, producing four such albums with this style of singing; these albums have her name in all capital letters. She is notable as the singer for the opening and ending...
. The first was a remix on her first independent album Prismatic (2004); the song carried the subtitle "2004 summer version: Relaxin' with lovers mix", and later appeared on Lia's best of
Greatest hits
A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...
album Crystal Voice (2007). The original version appeared on Lia's best of album Diamond Days (2007), and a remix version by StripE
Kosuke Saito
' , is a DJ and music game composer. He is best known for his work in the Konami Bemani series. He has produced music under a number of different aliases, such as kors k, StripE, and teranoid.- Career :...
subtitled "StripE REMIX" was included on her best of album Spectrum Rays (2007). A new vocal recording of "Tori no Uta" was released on Lia's Enigmatic LIA 2 album in early 2007, and another remix by DJ Sharpnel subtitled "[the speed freak's noise rave remix]" was released on Lia's Enigmatic LIA 3 album in early 2009.
Live
Live Music
Live Music is a reggaeton company owned by DJ Giann.-Artists:* Jowell & Randy* Tony Lenta* Watussi* De La Ghetto* Guelo Star* Galante "El Emperador"-Producers:*DJ Blass*Dexter*Mr. Greenz*DJ Giann*Los Hitmen*Dirty Joe*ALX...
versions of the song have appeared on two live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
s by Lia as recorded live track
Recorded live track
A recorded live track is a song or audio sequence recorded from live performances .Live song tracks typically have concert hall noise . Though often less precise than practiced, studio recordings, live recordings may offer a more exciting feel...
s. The first was the June 2005 DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
album Prologue featuring tracks performed at Lia's concert of the same name in Shibuya
Shibuya, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, it has an estimated population of 208,371 and a population density of 13,540 persons per km². The total area is 15.11 km²....
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in January 2005. The second was the June 2008 DVD album The Limited featuring tracks performed at Lia's concert at Zepp Tokyo
Zepp
The Zepp music halls are a group of Japanese music halls covering every area of the country. The Zepp halls play host to many international tours and are a popular stop among Japanese musicians. Each venue takes the Zepp name, along with the city in which it is located...
in September 2007; this album also contained a bonus track of "Tori no Uta" subtitled "[Double Encore
Encore (concert)
An encore is an additional performance added to the end of a concert, from the French "encore", which means "again", "some more"; multiple encores are not uncommon. Encores originated spontaneously, when audiences would continue to applaud and demand additional performance from the artist after the...
]". Another live version appeared on Key Sound Label's KSL Live World 2008: Way to the Little Busters! EX live album featuring tracks performed at the second KSL Live World 2008 concert held in Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, Japan in May 2008. Later, a live version appeared on Key Sound Label's KSL Live World 2010: Way to the Kud Wafter live album featuring tracks performed at one of the May 22, 2010 KSL Live World 2010 concerts held in Tokyo.
"Tori no Uta" was sampled for the second movement
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
of a symphony
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
on the bonus CD Shinwa e no Izanai released with the special edition DVD version of the Air film
Air (film)
Air is a 2005 Japanese animated drama film directed by Osamu Dezaki and written by Makoto Nakamura based on the visual novel Air by Key. Originally, the film was set for a release date in autumn 2004, but was delayed; the film finally premiered in Japanese theaters on February 5, 2005...
in August 2005. A cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the song, sung by Asami Imai, was released on a limited edition two-disc music album and audio drama
Radio drama in Japan
Radio drama in Japan has a history as long as that of radio broadcasting in that country, which began in 1925. Some consider the first Japanese radio drama to have been "" which was a radio broadcast of a stage play. Others consider the Japanese translation of Richard Hughes's "Danger" or to be...
entitled Your Song. The album was released in January 2007 by Namco Bandai Games
Namco Bandai Games
is an arcade, mobile and home video game developer and publisher based in Japan which is the product of a merger between the video game development divisions of Bandai and Namco. Namco Bandai Games is a wholly owned subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings and specializes in production and sales of...
for their video game The Idolmaster; Imai is the voice of Chihaya Kisaragi from The Idolmaster. A re-recording of the cover version was released in August 2007 on an image song
Image song
An image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album for an anime, game or dorama that is usually sung by the seiyū or actor of a character, in character...
and audio drama CD entitled The Idolmaster Master Artist 05 Chihaya Kisaragi featuring songs sung by Imai. Another cover version, sung by Masaaki Endoh
Masaaki Endoh
is a Japanese singer/songwriter who is prominent in the area of soundtracks for anime and tokusatsu productions. He is one of the founders of the anison supergroup JAM Project and has been a regular member ever since its inception in 2000. The group recently celebrated their 10th Anniversary with a...
, was released on Endoh's anime song cover album Enson2: Cover Songs Collection Vol.2 sold in December 2008. A cover version of "Tori no Uta" appeared in the sequel of Front Wing
Front Wing
is a Japanese visual novel studio that products that specializes in the production of adult visual novels. To date, the company has released 22 different games, came with three popular well-English released games/anime of Makai Tenshi Jibril, Majo no Ochakai and Canary...
's visual novel Time Leap
Time Leap
is a Japanese visual novel developed by Front Wing. It was first released as an adult game for the PC on December 27, 2007, and it was followed by an all-ages version release for the Xbox 360 on June 25, 2009. Time Leap is Front Wing's thirteenth title, along with previous titles such as Megachu!...
entitled Time Leap Paradise released in July 2009. "Tori no Uta"'s melody has also appeared in two of the medleys
Medley (music)
In music, a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces, usually three, played one after another, sometimes overlapping. They are common in popular music, and most medleys are songs rather than instrumental. A medley which is a remixed series is called a megamix, often done with tracks...
in Kumikyoku Nico Nico Douga
Kumikyoku Nico Nico Douga
is the name of a series of video medleys, and is also the title of one of the videos in the series. The original video was created by Shimo , a user of the popular video sharing site Nico Nico Douga.-Overview:...
. A portion of "Tori no Uta," sung by Nikki, is present in the Chinese hip-hop song "Looking Back" by Yin Ts'ang.
Controversy
On August 27, 2005, Anime News NetworkAnime News Network
Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...
reported that Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
an musician Shaun Yu may have plagiarized
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
"Tori no Uta". Yu's current album, The Best of Shaun Yu, features a track called "Melody" which sounds like the Air theme. Though Key made no official statement at the time, an investigation was initiated.
On September 21, 2005, it was reported that a second song on The Best of Shaun Yu may have been plagiarized from a song composed by Hiroyuki Tōshima, "Tenshi no Kyujitsu". Yu had stated that his producers, YesMusic, had arranged both tracks, and that he was unaware of the situation. YesMusic, in turn, had stated that it licensed the rights to the song from Key/Visual Art's for mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
distribution, but that the album came out in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
before licensing could be arranged for that territory. However, Key/Visual Art's denied this, as per a statement on Key's website:
- Official Announcement Regarding Plagiarism of "Tori no Uta":
- Thank you very much for supporting products of our humble company. According to information provided by fans, we've learned that Shaun Yu's distributed by Sony BMG Entertainment (Taiwan) is suspected plagiarizing our music—"Tori no Uta". We apologize for worrying supporting fans. We have filed a formal complaint to Sony BMG Entertainment and made following demands:
- Apologize publicly on the web.
- Credit the composer of "Tori no Uta" to Shinji OritoShinji Oritois a Japanese musical composer originally from Hyōgo, Japan working for the software company Key. Before forming Key, Orito worked for another software company named Leaf where he contributed to four games...
clearly. - If the above two requirements are fulfilled, we will not ask for financial compensations.
- We have been negotiating with Sony BMG Entertainment (Taiwan) with those terms. Regrettably, , director of YesMusic, the production company of this CD, has made a false announcement today that he had purchased distribution rights from us. It is a pity and is regrettable. In order to show our objection to his plagiarizing actions and his dishonest attitude, we shall not license any of our creation to them, including Tori no Uta. These days, we have received supports from both Japanese and Taiwanese fans. You have our immense gratitude. Please keep supporting our humble company, Key, in the future.
- Translation from Anime News NetworkAnime News NetworkAnime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...
, not the official website.
On September 29, 2005, Sony BMG Taiwan posted a statement of apology in both Chinese and Japanese on their official website. CD shipments were canceled and recalled.