Today Is A Beautiful Day
Encyclopedia
Today Is A Beautiful Day is the second studio album
by the Japanese J-pop
band Supercell
, released on March 16, 2011, by SME
. The album contains 13 music tracks written by Ryo, and sung by Nagi Yanagi, though officially Yanagi is not a member of Supercell. Five of the tracks were previously released on three of Supercell's singles. Two different editions of the album were released: a regular CD version and a CD+DVD limited edition. Today Is A Beautiful Day peaked at No. 3 on the Japanese Oricon
weekly albums chart, and in July 2011 was awarded a Gold Disc by the Recording Industry Association of Japan
for having exceeded 100,000 copies shipped in a single year.
Five of the songs were used as theme songs for various media: "Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari" was used as the ending theme to the 2009 TV anime
Bakemonogatari
; "Hero" was the theme song to Shueisha
's manga magazine Aoharu, a special edition version of Young Jump; "Love & Roll" was the theme song to the 2009 anime film Cencoroll
; "Hoshi ga Matataku Konna Yoru ni" was used as the ending theme to Type-Moon
's visual novel
Mahōtsukai no Yoru
; and "Utakata Hanabi" was used as the 14th ending theme for the Naruto: Shippuden
anime series.
(2009), songwriter
Ryo had been using the Vocaloid
singing synthesizer software Hatsune Miku
for the vocals of the songs he produced. In transitioning to a human singer, then 21-year-old singer Nagi Yanagi was approached by Ryo to sing the vocals for Supercell's debut single "Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari
" (2009). Yanagi had previously submitted cover version
s of songs to the Nico Nico Douga
video sharing
website under the name Gazelle, and Ryo had been a fan of her voice even before uploading his own songs to Nico Nico Douga in late 2007. According to Ryo, other staff members wanted to try having all the songs on the album sung by different artists, but Ryo wanted her for the entire album. Thus, Supercell decided to stick with Yanagi as the vocalist for their second album. The album's title was partially inspired by the 2010 film Confessions
and it's accompanying theme song "Last Flower
" by Radiohead
. Ryo was impressed by the melancholic feel of the song in a film that expresses the theme that "life is wonderful," and he wanted to go with a title whose meaning would change depending on how it is perceived. In doing so, Ryo suggests that the title Today Is A Beautiful Day can be taken literally or sarcastically.
. Ryo did not want to copy the tone or style of the original Bakemonogatari novels, because he felt the author Nisio Isin
would enjoy the song more if it was more original. Thus, Ryo wrote a different story after borrowing the general setting of the novels. While creating the album, Ryo thought it would be interesting if the first song on the album was the end of the story. The album's first track "Owari e Mukau Hajimari no Uta" (literally: "The First Song That Heads Toward the End") was composed with the image of starting with a flashback scene, diving into the past, and once again returning to the present.
For "Hero", Ryo was asked to compose a theme song for Shueisha
's manga magazine Aoharu, a special edition version of Young Jump. The artists whose manga would be serialized in Aoharu were asked to draw "heroines they think are cute," and Ryo was asked to compose the song with the same theme. Ryo thought of a boy aiming to be a manga artist as the song's protagonist, and wrote it with the concept of wanting to support those who get victimized for being otaku. Since the song reflects different points of view between the protagonist and the heroine, Nagi Yanagi switches her singing style from cool to cute sounding. Ryo describes "Perfect Day" with an image close to the album title and feels the song symbolizes the album. "Perfect Day" was born from the nuance that undoubtedly tomorrow will be a perfect day.
Ryo wrote the song "Fukushū" (literally: "Revenge") with the theme of anger, and was influenced by "Snow White
" to include a line in the song describing someone being told to wear red hot iron shoes and dance. Ryo wanted a song to describe emotions that would continue past adolescence, compared to the rest of the songs on the album. Yanagi found it difficult to capture the right emotions in the song. "Rock 'n' Roll Nan desu no" (literally: This Is Rock 'n' Roll
) was composed with a strong drum component as the initial concept and Ryo wanted to create a song with a fast tempo
and rock and roll nuance to it; the song's tempo is over 200 beats per minute. Ryo worked in collaboration with Nagi to write the song based on the initial demo. Ryo did not initially intend on putting "Love & Roll" on the album, but others in the staff convinced him to include it.
For the middle of the album, Ryo wanted a lower tempo song with a different mood and composed "Feel So Good" based on this concept. When it was decided Ryo would compose the theme song to Type-Moon
's visual novel
Mahōtsukai no Yoru
, he first read the original novel by Kinoko Nasu
the visual novel is based on to get a feel for the work. Ryo wrote "Hoshi ga Matataku Konna Yoru ni" (literally: "The Stars Twinkle on a Night Like This") for the theme song, and there was not much trial and error in the composition of this song. Fireworks
were an influence in the writing of "Utakata Hanabi" (literally: "Bubble Fireworks"). Ryo wanted the song to reflect how fireworks, which are initially brilliant, are hard to vividly remember afterwards. "Yoru ga Akeru yo" (literally: "Dawn Will Break") was the last song on the album Ryo composed, and was born from the feeling of lying in bed being unable to sleep. Ryo was inspired by the layout of the room where he works and how when dawn is breaking, the temperature slowly starts to rise, and a school near his home starts to bustle. Since "Sayonara Memories" was initially released in February 2010, Ryo used that month as the song's theme. He attempted to write a song that reflected February as the time of year in Japan when people are reminded of farewells they made the previous year, as well as the time when people think about meeting others for the first time. The last song "Watashi e" is meant to convey perseverance through tough times.
While Ryo writes all the music, an assortment of session musician
s perform the songs on the album, including four guitarists and bassists, five drummers, three pianists, and a violinist. Ryo cites drummer Masayuki Muraishi as an influence in the composition of "Rock 'n' Roll Nan desu no"; Muraishi contributes on several songs on the album. In composing "Feel So Good", Ryo employed bassist Kenji Hino, son of Terumasa Hino
, after he became interested in a performance of his on a TV music program. Ryo felt using strings
in "Hoshi ga Matataku Konna Yoru ni" was an essential part of the song; Crusher Kimura provides the strings for three songs on the album. Haruko Ohinata is credited for the chorus of the song "Utakata Hanabi". Today Is A Beautiful Day was mixed
by Takeshi Hara, Yasuhisa Kataoka, Keiji Kondo, Masashi Kudo, Eiji Makino, Koji Morimoto, Okuda Supa, and Shuji Yamaguchi. Yuji Chinone provided the mastering
.
and shows a girl in a blue dress smiling in front of an assortment of flowers on a tan background. The limited edition came with a design case illustrated by Redjuice
featuring a girl with luggage in tow in a rural setting walking next to an old-fashioned blue car.
of the song "Perfect Day". Also on the DVD are trailers for the anime film Cencoroll
, the visual novel Mahōtsukai no Yoru
, and Shueisha
's manga magazine Aoharu, as well as a commercial for "Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari" and the anime Bakemonogatari
. For the week of March 14, 2011 on Oricon
's weekly albums chart, Today Is A Beautiful Day was reported to have sold over 34,000 copies in its first week of sales, peaking at No. 3, and charted for 22 weeks. In July 2011, Today Is A Beautiful Day was awarded a Gold Disc by the Recording Industry Association of Japan
for having exceeded 100,000 copies shipped in a single year.
of the song "Perfect Day" produced by Madhouse
. It was directed by Ryōsuke Nakamura, with animation direction by Meiko Hosoi. The character design is based on original designs by Shirow Miwa. The video shows a girl with short, blue hair coming back to the town where she used to live. The girl reminisces about the time she spent with another girl with long, light brown hair years before when they were children. The two had fun around town, and during one day the wind blew the hat off the girl with brown hair. While walking around town, the two girls meet by chance, shocking both of them, but both are happy to each other again. The hat from years before lands in front of the blue-haired girl, much to her surprise, and she puts it on. Contrail
s are mentioned twice in the song as a part of the chorus
and images of them are seen throughout the video. Nakamura says the video is about life and dreams, and he used the song as inspiration to make the video as a side story to the song's lyrics. He explains that the two girls are actually one person that chose different paths in life, and describes their chance meeting as a "somewhat magical winter day."
Additional musicians
Production
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by the Japanese J-pop
J-pop
, an abbreviation for Japanese pop, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in 1960s music, such as The Beatles, and replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene...
band Supercell
Supercell (band)
Supercell is a Japanese 11-member music group led by composer and lyricist Ryo which formed in 2007 as a dōjin music group. Supercell started out by making use of the Hatsune Miku singing synthesizer to produce vocals for songs submitted to the Nico Nico Douga video sharing website...
, released on March 16, 2011, by SME
Sony Music Entertainment Japan
is Sony's music arm in Japan. SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Corporation and independent from the United States-based Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry....
. The album contains 13 music tracks written by Ryo, and sung by Nagi Yanagi, though officially Yanagi is not a member of Supercell. Five of the tracks were previously released on three of Supercell's singles. Two different editions of the album were released: a regular CD version and a CD+DVD limited edition. Today Is A Beautiful Day peaked at No. 3 on the Japanese Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
weekly albums chart, and in July 2011 was awarded a Gold Disc by the Recording Industry Association of Japan
Recording Industry Association of Japan
The Recording Industry Association of Japan is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved the music industry...
for having exceeded 100,000 copies shipped in a single year.
Five of the songs were used as theme songs for various media: "Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari" was used as the ending theme to the 2009 TV anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
Bakemonogatari
Bakemonogatari
is a Japanese popular light novel series written by Japanese novelist Nisio Isin and illustrated by Taiwanese illustrator Vofan; the series is published by Kodansha under the Kodansha Box imprint...
; "Hero" was the theme song to Shueisha
Shueisha
is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...
's manga magazine Aoharu, a special edition version of Young Jump; "Love & Roll" was the theme song to the 2009 anime film Cencoroll
Cencoroll
is a 2009 Japanese animated science fiction film nearly singlehandedly written, designed, directed, and animated by manga author Atsuya Uki. Produced by Anime Innovation Tokyo and Aniplex, the film had its world premiere at Canada's Fantasia International Film Festival on July 28, 2009. The film...
; "Hoshi ga Matataku Konna Yoru ni" was used as the ending theme to Type-Moon
TYPE-MOON
is a Japanese game company, best known for their visual novels, co-founded by author Kinoko Nasu and illustrator Takashi Takeuchi. It is also known under the name for its publishing and corporate operations...
's 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...
Mahōtsukai no Yoru
Mahotsukai no Yoru
, officially subtitled as Witch on the Holy Night, is a novel written by Type-Moon co-founder Kinoko Nasu, initially released on July 28, 1996...
; and "Utakata Hanabi" was used as the 14th ending theme for the Naruto: Shippuden
Naruto
is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become the Hokage, the ninja in his village who is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of...
anime series.
Production
Up to and including the release of Supercell's debut album SupercellSupercell (album)
Supercell is the eponymous debut studio album of Japanese J-pop band Supercell, released on March 4, 2009, by Sony Music. Supercell had originally released a dōjin version at Comiket 74 on August 16, 2008, before the band signed a record deal with Sony Music...
(2009), songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
Ryo had been using the Vocaloid
Vocaloid
is a singing synthesizer application, with its signal processing part developed through a joint research project between the Pompeu Fabra University in Spain and Japan's Yamaha Corporation, who backed the development financially—and later developed the software into the commercial product...
singing synthesizer software Hatsune Miku
Hatsune Miku
is a singing synthesizer application with a female persona, developed by Crypton Future Media. It uses Yamaha Corporation's Vocaloid 2 synthesizing technology. The name of the character comes from a fusion of the Japanese for , and future , referring to her position as the first of Crypton's...
for the vocals of the songs he produced. In transitioning to a human singer, then 21-year-old singer Nagi Yanagi was approached by Ryo to sing the vocals for Supercell's debut single "Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari
Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari
is a J-pop song by the Japanese band Supercell, written by Ryo. Supercell released it as their debut single in August 2009 by Sony Music. The title track was the ending theme song to the 2009 Bakemonogatari anime series, and the B-side track "Love & Roll" was the theme song for the 2009 Cencoroll...
" (2009). Yanagi had previously submitted 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...
s of songs to the Nico Nico Douga
Nico Nico Douga
is a popular video sharing website in Japan managed by Niwango, a subsidiary of Dwango. Its nickname is "Niconico" or "Nico-dō", where "nikoniko" is the Japanese ideophone for smiling. Nico Nico Douga is the thirteenth most visited website in Japan...
video sharing
Video sharing
Video hosting services refers to websites or software where users can distribute their video clips. Other sites such as file hosting services image hosting services and social network services might support video sharing as an enhancement to their primary mission, but in general, they are not...
website under the name Gazelle, and Ryo had been a fan of her voice even before uploading his own songs to Nico Nico Douga in late 2007. According to Ryo, other staff members wanted to try having all the songs on the album sung by different artists, but Ryo wanted her for the entire album. Thus, Supercell decided to stick with Yanagi as the vocalist for their second album. The album's title was partially inspired by the 2010 film Confessions
Confessions (film)
is a 2010 Japanese drama film directed by Tetsuya Nakashima.-Plot:Yuko Moriguchi , a junior high teacher, announces she will resign. She reveals that her daughter, Manami, was killed by two pupils in her class, whom she dubs "Student A" and "Student B"...
and it's accompanying theme song "Last Flower
In Rainbows
In Rainbows is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was first released on 10 October 2007 as a digital download self-released, that customers could order for whatever price they saw fit, followed by a standard CD release in most countries during the last week of 2007. The...
" by Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
. Ryo was impressed by the melancholic feel of the song in a film that expresses the theme that "life is wonderful," and he wanted to go with a title whose meaning would change depending on how it is perceived. In doing so, Ryo suggests that the title Today Is A Beautiful Day can be taken literally or sarcastically.
Composition
Ryo likes expressing human emotions in his music, so for Today Is A Beautiful Day, he wanted to combine feelings such as life-long experiences and memories. He describes the process as expressing each memory as an individual story. Ryo composed the songs on the album around the idea of starting and ending with "Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari" (literally: "The Story You Don't Know"). As such, the second track on the album is "Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari", and the final track "Watashi e" (literally: "To Me") uses the same tune. For "Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari", Ryo was offered to compose the ending theme song to the 2009 anime series BakemonogatariBakemonogatari
is a Japanese popular light novel series written by Japanese novelist Nisio Isin and illustrated by Taiwanese illustrator Vofan; the series is published by Kodansha under the Kodansha Box imprint...
. Ryo did not want to copy the tone or style of the original Bakemonogatari novels, because he felt the author Nisio Isin
Nisio Isin
, frequently written as NisiOisiN to emphasize that his pen name is a palindrome, is a Japanese novelist and manga writer. He attended and left Ritsumeikan University without graduating. In 2002, he debuted with the novel , which earned him the 23rd Mephisto Award at twenty years of age...
would enjoy the song more if it was more original. Thus, Ryo wrote a different story after borrowing the general setting of the novels. While creating the album, Ryo thought it would be interesting if the first song on the album was the end of the story. The album's first track "Owari e Mukau Hajimari no Uta" (literally: "The First Song That Heads Toward the End") was composed with the image of starting with a flashback scene, diving into the past, and once again returning to the present.
For "Hero", Ryo was asked to compose a theme song for Shueisha
Shueisha
is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...
's manga magazine Aoharu, a special edition version of Young Jump. The artists whose manga would be serialized in Aoharu were asked to draw "heroines they think are cute," and Ryo was asked to compose the song with the same theme. Ryo thought of a boy aiming to be a manga artist as the song's protagonist, and wrote it with the concept of wanting to support those who get victimized for being otaku. Since the song reflects different points of view between the protagonist and the heroine, Nagi Yanagi switches her singing style from cool to cute sounding. Ryo describes "Perfect Day" with an image close to the album title and feels the song symbolizes the album. "Perfect Day" was born from the nuance that undoubtedly tomorrow will be a perfect day.
Ryo wrote the song "Fukushū" (literally: "Revenge") with the theme of anger, and was influenced by "Snow White
Snow White
"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
" to include a line in the song describing someone being told to wear red hot iron shoes and dance. Ryo wanted a song to describe emotions that would continue past adolescence, compared to the rest of the songs on the album. Yanagi found it difficult to capture the right emotions in the song. "Rock 'n' Roll Nan desu no" (literally: This Is Rock 'n' Roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
) was composed with a strong drum component as the initial concept and Ryo wanted to create a song with a fast tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
and rock and roll nuance to it; the song's tempo is over 200 beats per minute. Ryo worked in collaboration with Nagi to write the song based on the initial demo. Ryo did not initially intend on putting "Love & Roll" on the album, but others in the staff convinced him to include it.
For the middle of the album, Ryo wanted a lower tempo song with a different mood and composed "Feel So Good" based on this concept. When it was decided Ryo would compose the theme song to Type-Moon
TYPE-MOON
is a Japanese game company, best known for their visual novels, co-founded by author Kinoko Nasu and illustrator Takashi Takeuchi. It is also known under the name for its publishing and corporate operations...
's 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...
Mahōtsukai no Yoru
Mahotsukai no Yoru
, officially subtitled as Witch on the Holy Night, is a novel written by Type-Moon co-founder Kinoko Nasu, initially released on July 28, 1996...
, he first read the original novel by Kinoko Nasu
Kinoko Nasu
is a Japanese author, best known for writing the novel Kara no Kyoukai and visual novels Tsukihime and Fate/stay night. Renowned for a unique style of storytelling and prose, Nasu is amongst the most prominent visual novelists in Japan.-Biography:...
the visual novel is based on to get a feel for the work. Ryo wrote "Hoshi ga Matataku Konna Yoru ni" (literally: "The Stars Twinkle on a Night Like This") for the theme song, and there was not much trial and error in the composition of this song. Fireworks
Fireworks
Fireworks are a class of explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event is a display of the effects produced by firework devices...
were an influence in the writing of "Utakata Hanabi" (literally: "Bubble Fireworks"). Ryo wanted the song to reflect how fireworks, which are initially brilliant, are hard to vividly remember afterwards. "Yoru ga Akeru yo" (literally: "Dawn Will Break") was the last song on the album Ryo composed, and was born from the feeling of lying in bed being unable to sleep. Ryo was inspired by the layout of the room where he works and how when dawn is breaking, the temperature slowly starts to rise, and a school near his home starts to bustle. Since "Sayonara Memories" was initially released in February 2010, Ryo used that month as the song's theme. He attempted to write a song that reflected February as the time of year in Japan when people are reminded of farewells they made the previous year, as well as the time when people think about meeting others for the first time. The last song "Watashi e" is meant to convey perseverance through tough times.
While Ryo writes all the music, an assortment of session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
s perform the songs on the album, including four guitarists and bassists, five drummers, three pianists, and a violinist. Ryo cites drummer Masayuki Muraishi as an influence in the composition of "Rock 'n' Roll Nan desu no"; Muraishi contributes on several songs on the album. In composing "Feel So Good", Ryo employed bassist Kenji Hino, son of Terumasa Hino
Terumasa Hino
is a Japanese jazz trumpeter. Currently based in New York, Hino is widely acknowledged as one of Japan's finest jazz musicians. His instruments include the trumpet, cornet and flügelhorn.-Biography:...
, after he became interested in a performance of his on a TV music program. Ryo felt using strings
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
in "Hoshi ga Matataku Konna Yoru ni" was an essential part of the song; Crusher Kimura provides the strings for three songs on the album. Haruko Ohinata is credited for the chorus of the song "Utakata Hanabi". Today Is A Beautiful Day was mixed
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
by Takeshi Hara, Yasuhisa Kataoka, Keiji Kondo, Masashi Kudo, Eiji Makino, Koji Morimoto, Okuda Supa, and Shuji Yamaguchi. Yuji Chinone provided the mastering
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
.
Artwork
The limited edition of Today Is A Beautiful Day came bundled with a 36-page full-color illustration booklet titled Supercell Works 2: 2009 Summer–2011 Spring. The booklet contains color illustrations for the songs, as well as comments by Ryo, Nagi Yanagi and the illustrators, an interview of Supercell members, and other details about the songs and artwork, including lyrics. The albums' packaging, designed by Yoshiki Usa, includes the song lyrics and some of the illustrations featured in Supercell Works 2. Each song is given an illustration by an artist, which include members outside of the band in addition to members of Supercell. These illustrators are listed below with the track listing. The cover art is by Shirow MiwaShirow Miwa
is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator. He is best known as the writer and artist for the Dogs manga series, but has also contributed illustrations to various tribute books, and magazines, including Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan. Miwa sometimes publishes under the circle name of m.m.m...
and shows a girl in a blue dress smiling in front of an assortment of flowers on a tan background. The limited edition came with a design case illustrated by Redjuice
Redjuice
Redjuice is a Japanese illustrator and member of the dōjin music group Supercell.-Printed works:*Artbooks**INSIDE**SQUAD**EXT**IGNITION**BEYOND**GUILTY CROWN - redjuice's notebook*Other...
featuring a girl with luggage in tow in a rural setting walking next to an old-fashioned blue car.
Release and reception
Today Is A Beautiful Day was released on March 16, 2011 in two editions: a regular CD version and a CD+DVD limited edition. The DVD contained an anime music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
of the song "Perfect Day". Also on the DVD are trailers for the anime film Cencoroll
Cencoroll
is a 2009 Japanese animated science fiction film nearly singlehandedly written, designed, directed, and animated by manga author Atsuya Uki. Produced by Anime Innovation Tokyo and Aniplex, the film had its world premiere at Canada's Fantasia International Film Festival on July 28, 2009. The film...
, the visual novel Mahōtsukai no Yoru
Mahotsukai no Yoru
, officially subtitled as Witch on the Holy Night, is a novel written by Type-Moon co-founder Kinoko Nasu, initially released on July 28, 1996...
, and Shueisha
Shueisha
is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...
's manga magazine Aoharu, as well as a commercial for "Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari" and the anime Bakemonogatari
Bakemonogatari
is a Japanese popular light novel series written by Japanese novelist Nisio Isin and illustrated by Taiwanese illustrator Vofan; the series is published by Kodansha under the Kodansha Box imprint...
. For the week of March 14, 2011 on Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
's weekly albums chart, Today Is A Beautiful Day was reported to have sold over 34,000 copies in its first week of sales, peaking at No. 3, and charted for 22 weeks. In July 2011, Today Is A Beautiful Day was awarded a Gold Disc by the Recording Industry Association of Japan
Recording Industry Association of Japan
The Recording Industry Association of Japan is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved the music industry...
for having exceeded 100,000 copies shipped in a single year.
Music video
The DVD bundled with the album's limited edition included an anime music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
of the song "Perfect Day" produced by Madhouse
Madhouse (company)
is a Japanese animation studio, founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro animators including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. It has created and helped to produce many well known shows, starting with TV anime series Ace o Nerae! in 1973, and including western favourites Ninja...
. It was directed by Ryōsuke Nakamura, with animation direction by Meiko Hosoi. The character design is based on original designs by Shirow Miwa. The video shows a girl with short, blue hair coming back to the town where she used to live. The girl reminisces about the time she spent with another girl with long, light brown hair years before when they were children. The two had fun around town, and during one day the wind blew the hat off the girl with brown hair. While walking around town, the two girls meet by chance, shocking both of them, but both are happy to each other again. The hat from years before lands in front of the blue-haired girl, much to her surprise, and she puts it on. Contrail
Contrail
Contrails or vapour trails are artificial clouds that are the visible trails of condensed water vapour made by the exhaust of aircraft engines...
s are mentioned twice in the song as a part of the chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
and images of them are seen throughout the video. Nakamura says the video is about life and dreams, and he used the song as inspiration to make the video as a side story to the song's lyrics. He explains that the two girls are actually one person that chose different paths in life, and describes their chance meeting as a "somewhat magical winter day."
Track listing
Personnel
Supercell- Ryo – writerSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
- Shirow MiwaShirow Miwais a Japanese manga artist and illustrator. He is best known as the writer and artist for the Dogs manga series, but has also contributed illustrations to various tribute books, and magazines, including Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan. Miwa sometimes publishes under the circle name of m.m.m...
– cover illustration, illustrations - RedjuiceRedjuiceRedjuice is a Japanese illustrator and member of the dōjin music group Supercell.-Printed works:*Artbooks**INSIDE**SQUAD**EXT**IGNITION**BEYOND**GUILTY CROWN - redjuice's notebook*Other...
– cover illustration, illustrations - Huke – illustrations
- Yoshiki Usa – art direction, design
Additional musicians
- Nagi Yanagi – vocals, chorus
- Haruko Ohinata – chorus
- Masato Ishinari – guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, acoustic guitar - Yukio Nagoshi – guitar
- Susumu Nishikawa – guitar
- Okiya Okoshi – guitar
- Kenji "Jino" Hino – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Chiharu Mikuzuki – bass
- Yuichi Takama – bass
- Hirō Yamaguchi – bass
- Noriyasu "Kaasuke" Kawamura – drums
- Masayuki Muraishi – drums, tambourine
- Masuke Nozaki – drums
- Jay Stixx – drums
- Tom Tamada – drums
- Makoto Minagawa – pianoPianoThe 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...
- Yasuharu Nakanishi – piano, Wurlitzer electric pianoWurlitzer electric pianoWurlitzer 200A|250px|thumbThe Wurlitzer electric piano was one of a series of electromechanical stringless pianos manufactured and marketed by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, Corinth, Mississippi, U.S. and Tonawanda, New York...
, electronic organElectronic organAn electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds.... - Shunsuke Watanabe – piano
- Crusher Kimura Strings – stringsString instrumentA string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
Production
- Shunsuke Muramatsu – executive producer
- Takayuki Ishiyama – director
- Eiichi Maruyama – director
- Takeshi Hara – mixerAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
- Yasuhisa Kataoka – mixer
- Keiji Kondo – mixer
- Masashi Kudo – mixer
- Eiji "Q" Makino – mixer
- Koji Morimoto – mixer
- Okuda Supa – mixer
- Shuji Yamaguchi – mixer
- Yuji Chinone – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Keiko Koishi – products coordination
- Kumiko Torigoe – products coordination
- Kosachi Hata – artist management