Give a Reason

"Give a Reason" was used as opening theme for the anime series Slayers Next, series in which Hayashibara also voices the main character, Lina Inverse.^[2] In 2009, the song was again used on the Slayers anime franchise, this time as an insert song on the sequel Slayers Evolution-R, nine years after its original release.^[4]

For the single release, the song was coupled with "Jama wa Sasenai" by Masami Okui, which was used as ending theme for the same series.

The single was made available for streaming worldwide on March 30, 2021, along with the entire Megumi Hayashibara discography.^[5]

"Give a Reason" debuted and peaked at number 9 on the Oricon charts,^[6] becoming Hayashibara's highest charting single at the time and selling 70,180 copies on its first week. The single charted for thirteen weeks, with reported sales totaling 232,950 copies.^[7]

The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan.^[8]

"Give a Reason" marked a significant milestone in the history of anime music and voice actor recording artists, as it became the first music release by a voice actress to enter the Top 10 of the Japanese charts.^[9][10] This achievement broke new ground for songs sung by voice actors, which had previously rarely achieved high chart positions with anime theme songs or related releases.^[10] The success of "Give a Reason" served as a pivotal step that helped pave the way for the subsequent rise of voice actress music in the mainstream Japanese music industry, which subsequently led to Nana Mizuki's album Ultimate Diamond reaching number one on Oricon, illustrating the growing dominance of voice actresses and anime songs in the charts and contributing to the foundation of the modern era of idol voice actresses.^[10]

The song also received the Voice Actor/Actress Song Award in the Heisei Anison Grand Prize for the 1989-1999 period.^[11]

"Give a Reason" has been covered by several other artists. Masami Okui recorded her own version of the song for her cover album Masami Kobushi (2003);^[12] Haruko Momoi included her own take on the song for her cover album More & More Quality Red: Anime Song Cover (2008);^[13] Chihiro Yonekura recorded a new version of the for her cover album Ever After (2008)^[14]; Eri Kitamura covered the song for the compilation album Hyakka Seiran: Jōsei Seiyū Hen II (2008);^[15] Ryōko Shintani covered the song for the compilation album Hyakka Seiran: Jōsei Seiyū Hen III (2009);^[16] m.o.v.e recorded their own cover of the song for their the album Anim.o.v.e 01 (2009);^[17] Shoko Nakagawa also covered the song on her album Shokotan Cover 3: Anison wa Jinrui wo Tsunagu (2010);^[18]

In 2021, voice actress Reina Ueda covered the song as the character Juna Doma for the television anime series How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom.^[19] The track was used as insert song during the third episode of the series.^[19]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the CD single.^[20]