Makenaide

According to the song's composer Tetsurō Oda, Izumi Sakai was singing "strangely," but it proved to be good.^[2] The single reached #1 rank, the first time a Zard single had done so. It charted for 18 weeks and it sold over 1.64 million copies and became the highest-selling song for Zard.^[3] When she died, it was elected as the best song by Zard on the Oricon polls.^[4][5]

It was a song that greatly appealed to the Japanese public. Released at a time that is now seen as the beginning of Japan's post economic bubble era when the Nikkei 225 Index had shrunk in value by a third in only three years, "Makenaide" (Don't Give Up) became known as the theme song of the country's "Lost Decade." While Sakai commented on the television show Music Station that it would encourage men taking examinations, many people said this song helped them cope with difficult issues such as school bullying. Zard fans’ favorite phrase, "Run through until the End," was originally "Do Not Give Up until the End."

"Makenaide" has been used as a theme song for the Nippon Television program 24-hour TV, an annual charity program hosted live by celebrities for a day. Sakai said that she was honored and looked forward to watching 24-hour TV. The song was also adopted by high school baseball in Japan.^[6]