The Bird Without Wings

"The Bird Without Wings" is a song by Japanese musical act Superfly. It was released as a double A-side single along with "Kagayaku Tsuki no Yō ni" on August 15, 2012. It was used as the theme song for the film Ushijima the Loan Shark.

Background and development
Superfly's fourth album Force was first announced on April 4, during a live streaming concert broadcast on Ustream and Niconico Douga. In July 2012, Superfly released "Stars", a collaboration with Ulfuls lead singer Tortoise Matsumoto that was recorded for Fuji Television's coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

The song was announced as the theme song of the film version of Ushijima the Loan Shark on June 20, 2012. Vocalist Shiho Ochi based the song's lyrics on the film, and gave the song a "fighting anxiety" theme. Ochi was inspired to write about people moving on in their lives despite their own handicaps and anxieties. The song's release as a double A-side single was announced on June 21, 2012.

In 2014, for the film's sequel, Superfly was enlisted again, and the musical unit released the song "Live" for the theme song.

Music video
A music video was produced for the song, directed by Shūichi Banba. It features Ochi singing the song on a wooden structure on a plain, as well as scenes showing a frenetically moving man on the same plain.

Critical reception
Dai Tanaka of Rockin' on Japan praised the song's allegorical lyrical style, and felt that "The Bird Without Wings" was one of the stand-out songs on Force, calling it a "wonderful song that gives you the courage to accept yourself as you are". CDJournal reviewers described the song as a rock song that has a comfortable tempo with a lightly developing structure, and similarly praised the song's message. Aki Ito of EMTG praised the song for its comfortable and honest melody, and felt that the center of both this song and "Kagayaku Tsuki no Yō ni" was Ochi's bold and expressive voice. She noted the song's strong blues rock-sound, and felt that the guitar backing added to the song's distinctiveness.