Life (Gen Hoshino song)

"Life" (生命体) is a song by Japanese musician Gen Hoshino. The song was first released by Speedstar Records on August 14, 2023, as a digital-exclusive single. It was self-produced and written by Hoshino as the main theme to TBS broadcast of the 2022 Asian Games and 2023 World Athletics Championships, which were hosted closely together as a result of rescheduling in the COVID-19 pandemic. With gospel influences, the track has an upbeat rock and R&B sound through a small instrumental line-up, led primarily by piano. Lyrically, the song discusses competition and the exhilaration felt on the field, with international themes applicable to everyday life.

Upon release, "Life" took No. 7 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and No. 44 on Oricon's Combined Singles Chart. A digital-exclusive release, it took first place on both publications' download charts. A music video directed by GROUPN was premiered to Hoshino's YouTube channel the day of the single's release, featuring guest appearances from sprinter Yoshihide Kiryū, former Nogizaka46 member Asuka Saitō, and dancer THE D SoraKi. Throughout 2023, Hoshino promoted the song through five television performances, including at the 74th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen on New Year's.

On December 27, 2023, "Life" was reissued as a double A-side with "Why", the ending theme to the anime film Spy × Family Code: White (2023). The re-release peaked at No. 2 on the Oricon physical sales and combined sales charts, and on Billboard Japan Top Singles Sales ranking.

Background
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the 2022 Asian Games were postponed by a year to September–October 2023, only a month after the World Athletics Championships were held in August. With the close scheduling, Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) contacted Gen Hoshino requesting a theme song for their broadcast of both events. Hoshino accepted, feeling honored to have been asked in the unique circumstances. Since prior an active viewer of the TBS' athletic sports YouTube channel, Hoshino said in an interview with the network that he was glad to have received the offer. The stationary nature of his musical work often made him want to watch other people move and noted sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce as a favorite athlete.

The theme song was written and self-produced by Hoshino. Considering athletics as a particularly mental sport and "battle with oneself", Hoshino wanted to create a song that would bring an individual's physical and mental bodies into "perfect form", freed from pressures, ego, and all that binds the everyday: "a song that puts you in that mode, gives you that energy and the tension of your blood boiling." He thought this different from the typical fight song, that usually represent an "absolute justice". He chose the title "Life" (生命体, seimeitai, in Japanese, meaning "Life" in the sense of organism), and explained in an interview with Billboard Japan:

"I suddenly had this idea that people are put on this sort of race track almost immediately upon birth [...] It's almost as if something is decided in advance. Not just humans but even all microbes that we can't identify the feelings of, exist on this societal track. Even if they try to run, they can't escape it; living upon something already decided is a similarity shared by all living creatures. That's why I thought 'Life' was a perfect title. [...] I thought that the meaning of 'body of a living creature' perfectly aligned with [the song's] relation to physical sports."

Writing and recording
When writing the song, Hoshino immediately thought that a form of gospel would best accommodate the feeling of an athlete entering their zone when competing. He took use of only a small line-up of instruments, which he felt made it easier to notice the unusual voicing and chord progressions. For the vocals, Hoshino sang in a key higher than usual, giving more attention to elements such as flow and singing style rather than to the delivery of the words' message. Several elements uncommon in Japanese music, such as a saxophone solo after the first chorus, are featured on the track; for this, Hoshino feared that the song might not be accepted, but chose to ignore these worries as the song was the type he would himself enjoy listening to.

"Life" was mixed by Shojiro Watanabe at Victor Studio and mastered by Takahiro Uchida at Flair Mastering Works, both in Tokyo. The song's recording is credited to Watanabe, Shu Saida, Hoshino, bassist and pianist Mabanua, and saxophonist Satoru Takeshima, with Satoshi Goto credited for assistance. Watanabe wrote on his Instagram that the song was recorded in a Glyn Johns-style, and Hoshino told Billboard Japan that he had never seen Watanabe have so fun in their ten years of collaboration. Hoshino said that he had bored of the standard production process of "neatly" miking, recording, and mixing. Since Japanese mixing would usually focus on consistency, budget, and time, Hoshino instead wanted to make something irregular, which, for example, allowed Takeshima's saxophone to be recorded at home. Hoshino wanted the song to prove that sound doesn't need to be live to sound good, and included some pre-recorded handclaps.

The song features backing vocals from Hoshino, Ryosuke Nagaoka, and solo singer Ua. Hoshino would usually sing the chorus with Nagaoka alone; after attempting to sing "Life", they felt that a different concept would be needed and considered calling in an outsider. Upon a suggestion from their mutual manager, Hoshino contacted Ua, thinking that she would fit due to her deep origins in soul music. Hoshino thought that Ua's voice may be mixed to be unrecognizable due to the amount of voices, but the manager said this would likely make it easier for Ua to have fun recording. According to Hoshino, Ua eagerly accepted.

Composition and lyrics
"Life" is three minutes and eleven seconds long. Hoshino is credited with songwriting, vocals, and upright piano. He co-arranged the track with Mabanua, who also collaborated on upright piano and provided electric bass. Satoru Takeshima is credited on alto sax and Shun Ishiwaka is credited with drums. In addition to the background vocals, Hoshino worked together with Nagaoka and Ua for the track's handclapping.

"Life" has a fast-paced R&B sound with basis in gospel. Apple Music lists the song as alternative music and CDJournal categorized the double A-side release as Japanese rock and pop. The song's small line-up of instruments is led primarily by the piano, broken as the lead instrument during only a solo on sax. The drums serves as the track's drive, playing strong phrases in quick succession with occasional accented notes. The high-pitched range of notes in the melody and the sax solo gives "Life" an exciting sound, whereas the drums and Nagaoka and Ua's background chorus express a feeling of energy.

Music critic Imdkm (Real Sound) described the personnel's work as continuing Hoshino's musical style from 2021 and onwards while still delivering a new kind of sound. He called the instrumentality simple and the development straightforward, with a gimmick-less sound that gives the feeling of "quickly running a short distance in high tension". Rockin'On Japan Emi Sugiura reviewed "Life" as a supportive song celebrating existence, the type of song that makes listeners understand the meaning of life. In a review for the double A-side single, Sugiura felt that "Life" encouraged her to "start running before seeking for meaning." She wrote that the partner A-side "Why" felt like a continuation to the story of "Life", despite their different styles.

Lyrically, "Life" opens with description of an athlete's competition and their liberation from it, while keeping similarities with international topics outside this specific competition ("Before I knew it, I was part of a race" / " 'Win!' 'Keep running!' they said"). In the chorus, the song adds the feeling of an athlete getting into zone and the exhilaration of the field ("My skin melds with the wind and melts away" / "Boundaries disappear"). The text is ended by a return to reality ("Without a doubt, you're here" / "And life goes on"). Imdkm (Real Sound) wrote that the lyrics combines the engage of sports with a "univeral message" also present in the everyday life of most listeners. Tomoyuki Mori, also for Real Sound, described the lyrics as leading listeners towards "total freedom" by "transcending one's own consciousness".

Promotion and release
"Life" was announced as the theme song to the World Athletics Championships and Asian Games in June 2023. For the Athletics Championships, it would take over as theme song after Yūji Oda's "All My Treasures", which had been in use since the 2007 event. "Life" was announced for a single release on August 7, along with the publication of a new visual of Hoshino. It was released as a digital-exclusive single by Speedstar Records a week later on August 14, 2023, and marked Hoshino's first new song in almost a year. To promote the release, label parent company Victor Entertainment hosted a campaign that allowed listeners to acquire phone wallpapers based on the cover art to "Life" and an original illustrated by Hoshino, and a two-set of postcards featuring Hoshino.

On November 10, Hoshino announced a new double A-side single, to feature "Life" as the second lead track. The partner A-side was revealed a month later to be "Why" (光の跡), the ending theme to the anime film Spy × Family Code: White (2023). "Why" / "Life" was released by Speedstar on December 27, as Hoshino's first CD single in almost two years, following "Fushigi" / "Create" (2021). On the B-side, the single features "Odd Couple" – the main theme to the comedy tour Audrey no All Night Nippon in Tokyo Dome – and "Beyond the Sequence", an instrumental created by Hoshino for a series of UCC coffee commercials starring himself. First editions featured a Blu-ray disc of live performances, consisting of 12 songs from the 2021 online concert YP Live Streaming: Enkai, Hōō-hen and eight songs from Hoshino's acoustic setlist at Live the Speedstar in 2023.

On the day of its digital release in August, Hoshino promoted "Life" through a live performance on a special for Count Down TV. Hoshino returned to the program on September 18, performing "Life" and his debut single "Kudaranai no Naka ni". He gave a third performance of "Life" three days later on September 21, appearing on NHK's music program SONGS. Hoshino revisited Count Down TV for a third time in December, performing "Life" and "Comedy" as part of a Christmas special. On New Year's Eve, he returned to NHK to perform the song for the 74th annual Kōhaku Uta Gassen. Hoshino sang from the roof of Toranomon Hills, marking his ninth Kōhaku appearance. The New Year's performance was uploaded in full to YouTube on January 10, 2024.

Music video
A music video to "Life", directed by GROUPN, was premiered to YouTube on August 14, at 0:00 JST, with Hoshino participating in the live chat. Filmed over the course of four days, the video is splitscreened to showcase various people living in the present to bring a "video overflowing life." Among those featured in the video are Hoshino and several of his band members, sprinter Yoshihide Kiryū, former Nogizaka46 member Asuka Saitō, and dancer THE D SoraKi. A behind the scenes video was posted the same day as the main release. Standalone videos of Saitō and SoraKi's dance performances from the music video were uploaded to Hoshino's YouTube channel on August 29.

Commercial performance
In its first week of charting, "Life" moved 13,713 digital sales according to Billboard Japan, opening at peaks of No. 44 on Oricon's Combined Singles Chart and No. 7 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100. Oricon accounted 13,821 sales, moved up to 15,919 after its second and final appearance on their chart. "Life" secured first place on both Oricon's and Billboard digital-only charts, becoming Hoshino's sixth song to top the Oricon Digital Singles ranking.

The "Why" / "Life" double A-side single moved over 48,000 physical sales upon release, taking No. 2 on the Oricon Singles Chart, the Combined Singles Chart, and Billboard Japan Top Singles Sales ranking. It took first place on Oricon's Anime Singles chart. "Why" charted separately from the single, reaching No. 4 on the Hot 100 and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Animation.

Personnel
Credits adapted from Hoshino's website.
 * Gen Hoshino – songwriting, arrangement, vocals, background vocals, upright piano, handclap, producer, recording
 * Mabanua – co-arrangement, electric bass, upright piano, recording
 * Shun Ishiwaka – drums
 * Satoru Takeshima – alto sax, recording
 * Ryosuke Nagaoka – background vocals, handclap, background vocals arrangement
 * Ua – background vocals, handclap
 * Shu Saida – recording
 * Satoshi Goto – assistance
 * Shojiro Watanabe – mixing, recording
 * Takahiro Uchida – mastering

Track listing
All tracks are written by Gen Hoshino.


 * Digital single
 * 1) "Life" (生命体) – 3:11


 * "Why" / "Life" double A-side
 * 1) "Why" (光の跡) – 4:10
 * 2) "Life" (生命体) – 3:13
 * 3) "Odd Couple" (おともだち) – 3:12
 * 4) "Beyond the Sequence" – 3:25
 * Total length: 14:04


 * "Why" / "Life" double A-side, first edition (Blu-ray disc)
 * 1) "Opening" (YP Live Streaming: Enkai, Hōō-hen) – 2:03
 * 2) "Episode" (YP Live Streaming: Enkai, Hōō-hen) – 2:28
 * 3) "Sun" (YP Live Streaming: Enkai, Hōō-hen) – 4:11
 * 4) "Dust" (YP Live Streaming: Enkai, Hōō-hen) – 4:29
 * 5) "Doraemon" (YP Live Streaming: Enkai, Hōō-hen) – 4:13
 * 6) "Soshitara" (YP Live Streaming: Enkai, Hōō-hen) – 3:03
 * 7) "Dancer" (YP Live Streaming: Enkai, Hōō-hen) – 3:17
 * 8) "Stove" (YP Live Streaming: Enkai, Hōō-hen) – 3:37
 * 9) "Nothing" (YP Live Streaming: Enkai, Hōō-hen) – 5:37
 * 10) "Record Noise" (YP Live Streaming: Enkai, Hōō-hen) – 6:08
 * 11) "Fushigi" (YP Live Streaming: Enkai, Hōō-hen) – 5:00
 * 12) "Gag" (YP Live Streaming: Enkai, Hōō-hen) – 4:48
 * 13) "Hello Song" (YP Live Streaming: Enkai, Hōō-hen) – 4:58
 * 14) "Enkai, Hōō-hen Documentary"
 * 15) "Opening" (Live the Speedstar) – 1:04
 * 16) "Hirameki" (Live the Speedstar) – 3:19
 * 17) "Barabara" (Live the Speedstar) – 4:05
 * 18) "Sūda Bushi" (Live the Speedstar) – 3:55
 * 19) "Koi" (Live the Speedstar) – 5:35
 * 20) "Bakemono" (Live the Speedstar) – 3:01
 * 21) "Why Don't You Play in Hell?" (Live the Speedstar) – 4:17
 * 22) "Kuse no Uta" (Live the Speedstar) – 5:10
 * 23) "Kudaranai no Naka ni" (Live the Speedstar) – 5:19
 * Total length: 1:29:37