Be a Flower

"Be a Flower" (花になって) is a song by Japanese pop rock band Ryokuoushoku Shakai. It was released on December 6, 2023, by Epic Records Japan, as the theme song for the Nippon TV anime The Apothecary Diaries. Commercially, it peaked at number 8 on the Oricon Singles Chart and the Billboard Japan Hot 100.

Release
On October 1, 2023, it was announced that Ryokuoushoku Shakai would be releasing "Be a Flower" as the theme song for the Nippon TV anime series The Apothecary Diaries, set to start broadcasting on October 22. They then announced that it would be released as a single on December 6, with advance distribution starting on October 29. The first press limited edition includes a Blu-ray with footage from their Pink Blue album tour 2023 as well as a photobook with images from the tour, and the limited edition includes a Blu-ray with the non-credit opening video of The Apothecary Diaries as well as a digipak with original illustrations from the anime. The music video was released on November 15.

The B-side "Dream, Devil & Fantasy" was released to commemorate the 30th anniversary of ZIP-FM, and was aired there from October 31 to December 5.

Recording and production
"Be a Flower" was composed by Shingo Anami, who first created the last piano phrase on the guitar and then wrote the melody. The clap at the beginning of the song was inspired by the manga of The Apothecary Diaries, which had a "continental Asia feeling". Production of the song began in early 2023, with recording in January when the band's album Pink Blue was being produced. Anami and Keita Kawaguchi co-arranged the song. Originally, Anami made a "thick rock sound", but Kawaguchi added traditional Chinese sounds like the erhu and gong. The team for the anime suggested self-love as a theme for the lyrics, and Nagaya wrote the lyrics with this theme by connecting it to Maomao, the protagonist of The Apothecary Diaries, whom she described as the opposite of a typical protagonist.

"Dream, Devil & Fantasy" evolved from a melody that Peppe and Shingo Anami had created in 2021 and was inspired by musical songs. Before writing the lyrics, Issei Kobayashi wrote a short story about "a young man who forgot his dreams", and the lyrics were adapted from the short story. Initially, the song ended with Nagaya singing, but the arranger Lastorder extended it to 30 seconds, and the song ended with piano.

Be a Flower

 * Ryokuoushoku Shakai
 * Haruko Nagaya – lyrics, lead vocals, guitar
 * Issei Kobayashi – chorus, guitar
 * Peppe – chorus, keyboard
 * Shingo Anami – music, chorus, bass, arrangement, programming


 * Supporting
 * Keita Kawaguchi – arrangement, programming
 * Hiroshi Kido – drums

Dream, Devil & Fantasy

 * Ryokuoushoku Shakai
 * Haruko Nagaya – lead vocals, guitar
 * Issei Kobayashi – lyrics, chorus, guitar
 * Peppe – music, chorus, keyboard
 * Shingo Anami – music, chorus, bass, arrangement


 * Supporting
 * Lastorder – arrangement, programming
 * Osamu Hidai – drums

Production

 * Nobuyuki Murakami – recording engineer, mixing engineer
 * Mitsuyasu Abe – mastering engineer

Studios

 * All songs recorded / mixed / mastered at Sony Music Studios (Tokyo, Japan)