Successful Mission
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| "Successful Mission" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 8-cm CD single cover | ||||
| Single by Megumi Hayashibara | ||||
| from the album Irāvatī | ||||
| Language | Japanese | |||
| B-side | "I'll Be There" | |||
| Released | October 23, 1996 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:10 | |||
| Label | Starchild | |||
| Composer | Hidetoshi Sato | |||
| Lyricist | Megumi | |||
| Megumi Hayashibara singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio | ||||
| "Successful Mission" on YouTube | ||||
"Successful Mission" is a song by Japanese voice actress and recording artist Megumi Hayashibara. Written by Hidetoshi Sato with lyrics penned by Hayashibara,[a] the song was released as a single on October 23, 1996, via Starchild.[1]
"Successful Mission" was written as the opening theme song for the television anime series Saber Marionette J, in which Hayashibara voiced the main character, Lime.[2] The anime was broadcast in Japan via TV Tokyo from October 1995 through January 1996.[2] The song is characterized for its Eurobeat influence combined with heavy guitar use, a common feature of anime songs from that era.[3]
For the single release, the song was coupled with "I'll Be There", which served as ending theme song for the same anime.[2] The full-length versions of both tracks were first included on the Saber Marionette J soundtrack album Japanese Poem Anthology Collection Volume 2 released on April 9, 1997,[4] and later on Hayashibara's studio album Irāvatī released on August 6, 1997.[5][b] "Successful Mission" was also used as opening theme of the PlayStation fighting game Saber Marionette J: Battle Sabers released by Bandai on March 28, 1997.[6]
The original single was made available for streaming on March 30, 2021, along with the entire Megumi Hayashibara discography.[7]
Commercial performance
"Successful Mission" debuted and peaked at number 7 on the Oricon Singles chart, marking Hayashibara's second Top 10 entry on the Japanese charts since "Give a Reason."[8][9] The single sold 66,450 copies on its first week and charted for seven weeks, with cumulative reported sales totalling 139,120 copies.[9]
The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) in April 1997.[10]
Impact
Since its release, "Successful Mission" has become one of Hayashibara's signature songs, being described as a "classic, quintessential anime theme song" as well as a "legendary track in anime song history."[3][11]
This track further boosted Megumi Hayashibara's mainstream popularity, leading to her being invited to perform the song live on the Nippon Television show Sokuhō! Uta no Daijiten in 1996,[12] which marked her first appearance as a pop star on a TV music program.[3]
Cover versions
"Successful Mission" has been covered by various artists. Yoko Ishida first covered the song on her 2001 album Ultra Anime Eurobeat Series Para Para Max 5: The Power of New Animation Songs.[13] Masami Okui recorded her own version of it on her 2003 cover album Masami Kobushi.[14] Eizo Sakamoto and his heavy metal band Eizo Japan covered the song on their 2010 album Super Anime Song: Legend of the 1990s.[15] Voice actress Kanae Itō recorded her own version of the song for the compilation album Shin Hyakka Seiran: Josei Seiyū Hen released that same year.[16] Anime song group Trefle also recorded their own version of the song for their 2014 album Anison Shinkyoku Plus.[17]
Track listing and versions
All lyrics are written by Megumi; all music is composed by Hidetoshi Sato.
| No. | Title | Arrangement | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Successful Mission" | Toshiro Yabuki | 5:34 |
| 2. | "I'll Be There" | Keiji Soeda | 4:15 |
| 3. | "Successful Mission" (off vocal version) | 5:34 | |
| 4. | "I'll Be There" (off vocal version) | 4:13 |
Official versions
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of the CD single.[21]
- Megumi Hayashibara - vocals, lyrics, chorus
- Toshiro Yabuki - synthesizer programming, keyboards, guitars, mixing
- Gota Wakabayashi - guitar solo
- Masami Okui - chorus
- Hiroyuki Tsuji - recording
- Yuichi Nagayama - mixing
