Jiyū e no Shingeki

"Jiyū e no Shingeki"
Standard edition cover, featuring Attack on Titan characters
Single by Linked Horizon
from the album Shingeki no Kiseki
Language	Japanese German
A-side	"Guren no Yumiya" "Jiyū no Tsubasa"
B-side	"Moshi Kono Kabe no Naka ga Ikken no Ie da Toshitara"
Released	July 10, 2013 (2013-07-10)
Studio	Bernie Grundman Mastering Tokyo (Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan)
Length	14:56
Label	Pony Canyon
Songwriter(s)	Revo
Producer(s)	Revo
Linked Horizon singles chronology
"Luxendarc Shokikou [ja]" (2012) "Jiyū e no Shingeki" (2013) "Rakuen e no Shingeki [ja]" (2018)
Alternative cover
Limited and digital editions cover, featuring Linked Horizon's Revo

"Jiyū e no Shingeki" (Japanese: 自由への進撃, lit. 'March to Freedom') is the second single by Japanese band Linked Horizon. It was released on July 10, 2013, through Pony Canyon. A three-track single, it has been certified Platinum by the RIAJ for sales in the band's home country of Japan,[1] with over 250,000 copies sold, peaking at number two on the Oricon chart.[2] Its double A-side tracks "Guren no Yumiya" and "Jiyū no Tsubasa" are used as the opening themes of the 2013 anime adaptation of Attack on Titan. "Guren no Yumiya" was a hit, peaking at number one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100[3] and fourth place on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales,[4] and received a digital download song certification of Double Platinum from the RIAJ for sales of 500,000.[5]

Overview

The CD single includes full versions[6] of the two opening themes to the Attack on Titan anime series, performed by Linked Horizon, the unit formed by Revo for collaboration projects.[7]

Both opening themes contain German lyrics[8] in the choral and vocals.

"Guren no Yumiya" (紅蓮の弓矢) / Feuerroter Pfeil und Bogen,[7] lit. 'Fiery-red Bow and Arrow', played as the opening music to the anime which premiered April 6, 2013, and this television-version opening sequence was digitally released on April 8, 2013.[9] Subsequently, "Guren no Yumiya" became extremely popular, its following extending beyond anime fandom.[7] Before the CD was available, the 90-second television-sized karaoke version of the song hit top of the charts at Joysound [ja] service, despite the fact that the furigana lyrics do not flash on screen.[6][10]

In June 2013, it was announced that another track from Linked Horizon, "Jiyū no Tsubasa" (自由の翼, lit. 'Wings of Freedom'), styled in German as "Die Flügel der Freiheit" in the song's lyrics, would begin usage as the second opening theme of the anime.[11]

The single was released July 10, 2013. The title "Jiyū e no Shingeki" means "March to Freedom".[12]

Chart performance

As a digital single, the opening sequence length edit of "Guren no Yumiya" was successful, reaching number 1 on Recochoku and the iTunes Store's daily anime ranking charts and number 2 on Dwango's daily anime ranking charts.[9] On Billboard's Hot Animation charts, the TV size edit debuted at number 7.[13]

On the Oricon's Weekly Single Charts, "Jiyū e no Shingeki" reached the number 2 spot, charting for a total of 3 weeks,[14] and reaching number 1 in the Daily Rankings. The Oricon reported that the single sold 129,000 copies in its first week, making it Revo's first-ever release to sell over 100,000 copies in a single week.[15][16][17] It is also the second such theme song to sell so many copies within the first week of sales in 2013, following T.M.Revolution and Nana Mizuki's collaboration "Preserved Roses" for Valvrave the Liberator.[16][17] On the Billboard Japan Hot 100, "Guren no Yumiya" debuted at number 1.[18] It repeated this feat on the Hot Animation chart[19] and remained at the top for two weeks.[20] The single itself hit number 1 on the Japan Hot Single Sales chart. On the iTunes Store, "Guren no Yumiya" and "Jiyū no Tsubasa" held the number 1 and number 2 spots following their release, while only "Guren no Yumiya" topped the Recochoku, Dwango.jp, Music.jp, Mora, and the Amazon MP3 stores.[17] Karaoke company Joysound's June 2013 rankings also show "Guren no Yumiya" at number 1, unseating Golden Bomber's "Memeshikute", which held the top ranking for 9 months.[17]

Kōhaku

At NHK's 64th annual Kōhaku Uta Gassen on New Year's Eve 2013, Linked Horizon performed a "Kōhaku Special Size" (紅白スペシャルSize, Kōhaku Supesharu Saizu) version of "Guren no Yumiya".[7][12] It was released for digital download on New Year's Day 2014. This version of the song quickly reached the top of the daily charts on Dwango, Amazon MP3, animelo, mora, and Recochoku Anime, while it ranked within the top 5 on Recochoku overall; the original version of the song was also found in the Top 10 of the retailers.[21]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Revo

Jiyū e no Shingeki standard edition

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Guren no Yumiya" (紅蓮の弓矢, "Crimson Bow and Arrow")	5:16
2.	"Jiyū no Tsubasa" (自由の翼, "Wings of Freedom")	5:28
3.	"Moshi Kono Kabe no Naka ga Ikken no Ie da to Shitara[22]" (もしこの壁の中が一軒の家だとしたら, "If Everything Within These Walls Were Just One House")	4:12
Total length:		14:56

Jiyū e no Shingeki limited edition – disc 2 (DVD)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Guren no Yumiya" (music video)	5:16
Total length:		20:15

Guren no Yumiya TV size

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Guren no Yumiya" (TV size)	1:34
Total length:		1:34

Guren no Yumiya Kōhaku Uta Gassen

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Guren no Yumiya" (Kōhaku special ver.)	2:28
Total length:		2:28

Cover version

Dutch symphonic metal band Epica covered the single in English on their second EP Epica vs Attack on Titan Songs.[23]

Personnel

Musicians

• Revo – lyrics, music, vocals (tracks 1–2), programming, producer
• Mami Yanagi – vocals (track 3)
• Sascha Böckle – narration (tracks 1–2)
• Yuki – electric guitar, steel-string acoustic guitar
• Atsushi Hasegawa – bass
• Koji Igarashi – piano, keyboards, electronic organ, cembalo
• Jun-ji – drums
• Mataro Misawa – percussion
• Tomoyuki Asakawa – harp
• Gen Ittetsu – strings, 1st violin
• Yoshiko Kaneko, Maki Nagata, Kaoru Kuroki, Yuko Kajitani, Yayoi Fujita – 1st violin
• Takuya Mori, Osamu Iyoku, Masayoshi Fujimura, Leina Ushiyama – 2nd violin
• Shouko Miki, Daisuke Kadowaki – viola
• Kaori Morita, Masahiro Tanaka, Toshiyuki Muranaka – cello
• Yoshinobu Takeshita – contrabass
• Masanori Suzuki, Shiro Sasaki, Shinichi Yamashita, Yuki Urata – trumpet
• Kanade Shishiuchi, Makoto Igarashi, Hiroki Sato, Koichi Nonoshita – trombone
• Takashi Naitoh, Naoki Ishiyama, Takato Saijyo, Satoshi Matsuda, Yasushi Higa, Toyohide Watanabe – horn
• Masashi Kina, Atsushi Matsunaga – tuba
• Hideyo Takakuwa – flute, piccolo
• Satoshi Shoji – oboe
• Kimio Yamane – clarinet
• Toshitsugu Inoue – fagotto
• Choir -Kyo-, Ensemble Otonoha – chorus
• Yoshinori Koba – choir conductor

Production

• Hirokazu Ebisu – sound effects editor
• Suminobu Hamada, Akihiro Tabuchi – recording engineers
• Kosuke Abe, Eriko Iijima, Hiroyuki Kishimoto, Satoshi Yoneda, Chie Sato, Akiyoshi Tanaka, Satoshi Akai, Kazunori Okamoto, Yoshinori Kashiwagura – assistant engineers
• Suminobu Hamada – mixing engineer
• Yasuji Yasman Maeda – mastering engineer

Studio

• All tracks recorded / mixed / mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering Tokyo (Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan)

Charts

Weekly chart performance records for the single

Chart (2013)	Peak position
Japan Top Singles Sales (Billboard)[24]	1
Japan Weekly Singles (Oricon)[2]	2

Weekly chart performance records for the individual songs of "Jiyū e no Shingeki"

Title	Year	Peak chart positions
		JPN	KOR	US World
"Guren no Yumiya" (紅蓮の弓矢 Crimson Bow and Arrow)	2013	1[3]	27[25]	4[26]
"Jiyū no Tsubasa" (自由の翼 Wings of Freedom)		25[3]	76[25]	15[27]
"Moshi Kono Kabe no Naka ga Ikken no Ie da to Shitara" (もしこの壁の中が一軒の家だとしたら If Inside These Walls Was a House)		52[3]	—	—

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[28]	Platinum	250,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Work/Nominee	Result
2013	Newtype Anime Awards	Best Theme Song	"Guren no Yumiya" (from anime Attack on Titan)	Won[29]
	Animation Kobe Awards	Theme Song Award	"Guren no Yumiya" (from anime Attack on Titan)	Won[30]
	Billboard Japan Music Awards	Hot Animation of the Year	"Guren no Yumiya" (from anime Attack on Titan)	Won[31]

References

1. "Japanese single certifications 2013" (Select 2013年08月 on the drop-down menu) (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 2018-11-22.
2. "自由への進撃 | Linked Horizon" [Jiyū e no Shingeki | Linked Horizon] (in Japanese). Oricon, Inc. 2013-07-22. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
3. "Japanese Music: Top Japanese Songs Chart". Billboard. 2013-07-27. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
4. "World Digital Song Sales". Billboard. 2014-06-07. Retrieved 2019-08-28.
5. "Paid Music Distribution Certifications 2014" (Select 2014年05月 on the drop-down menu) (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 2018-11-22.
6. Sports Nippon Newspapers (July 1, 2013). "「進撃の巨人」が金爆食い！カラオケランキング初登場奪首". Sponichi Annex. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
7. Komatsu, Mikikazu (November 25, 2013). "Nana Mizuki, Linked Horizon to Perform in New Year's Kohaku Uta Gassen". Crunchyroll.
8. kayserlein (2014-08-05). "FEATURE: Attack on Titan Q&A Panel at Animagic in Bonn, Germany". Crunchyroll.
9. "配信チャート席捲 アニメ『進撃の巨人』OPテーマCD化決定│Daily News│Billboard JAPAN". Billboard-japan.com. 2013-04-10. Retrieved 2013-08-06.
10. "進撃の巨人：主題歌「紅蓮の弓矢」が異例の"歌詞なし"先行カラオケ配信 - MANTANWEB（まんたんウェブ）" (in Japanese). Mantan-web.jp. 2013-05-23. Archived from the original on 2016-10-11. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
11. "Attack on Titan Giants Eat at Pizza Hut, Too". Anime News Network. 2013-06-05. Retrieved 2013-06-06.
12. Kikuchi, Daisuke (Oct 16, 2014). "Music showcase brings out anison acts, J-rock heavyweights for three days of gigs". The Japan Times.
13. "Billboard Japan Hot Animation│Charts│Billboard JAPAN". Billboard-japan.com. 2013-04-22. Retrieved 2013-08-06.
14. "自由への進撃 Linked Horizonのプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
15. Loo, Egan (2013-07-15). "'Attack on Titan' Opening CD Sells 129,000 in 1st Week". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2018-11-22.
16. "【オリコン】リンホラ、『進撃の巨人』OPで快進撃！ 初の10万枚突破 (Revo) ニュース-ORICON STYLE". Oricon.co.jp. 2013-07-16. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
17. "Linked Horizon : Linked Horizon、「自由への進撃」が音楽チャート首位を席巻 / BARKSニュース". Barks.jp. 2013-07-17. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
18. "アニメ『進撃の巨人』主題歌、Linked Horizon「紅蓮の弓矢」が初登場首位獲得│Daily News│Billboard JAPAN". Billboard-japan.com. 2013-07-17. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
19. "Linked Horizonが『進撃の巨人』テーマ曲で10週目にしてアニメチャート首位│Daily News│Billboard JAPAN". Billboard-japan.com. 2013-07-17. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
20. "Linked Horizonがアニメチャートを"進撃"2週連続首位│Daily News│Billboard JAPAN". Billboard-japan.com. 2013-07-24. Retrieved 2013-08-06.
21. グローバル・プラス株式会社 (2014-01-03). "Linked Horizon、「紅蓮の弓矢[紅白スペシャルVer.]」1位獲得、イェーガー！ | Linked Horizon | BARKS音楽ニュース". Barks.jp. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
22. ANN (December 27, 2013). "Attack on Titan Openings Posted in N. American iTunes". Anime News Network.
23. "Epica's Simone Simons says Attack on Titan EP was 'A little out of our comfort zone'". Blabbermouth.net. 2018-07-22. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
24. "Top Singles Sales". Billboard JAPAN. Hankyu Hanshin Holdings. July 17, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
25. "Digital Chart | 2013 Weeks 30". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). 27 July 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
26. "World Digital Song Sales". Billboard. 2014-06-07. Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
27. "World Digital Song Sales". Billboard. 2014-02-15. Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
28. "Japanese single certifications – Linked Horizon – "Jiyū e no Shingeki" (自由への進撃)" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2013年08月 on the drop-down menu
29. Loo, Egan (2013-10-14). "'Attack on Titan' wins Top Prizes in Newtype Anime Awards". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
30. Loo, Egan (2013-10-25). "Hayao Miyazaki, 'Attack on Titan', 'Garden of Words' win Anime Kobe Awards". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
31. "ビルボードジャパン2013年間チャート" [2013 Billboard Japan Music Awards | Charts] (in Japanese). Billboard Japan. 2013-12-14. Retrieved 2018-08-16.

External links

• Linked Horizon's official site for Attack on Titan
• "Jiyū e no Shingeki" at MusicBrainz