Why (Gen Hoshino song)

"Why" (光の跡) is a song by Japanese singer-songwriter and musician Gen Hoshino. It was released through Speedstar Records on December 27, 2023, as a double A-sided single with "Life", theme to the 2022 Asian Games and 2023 World Athletics Championships on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS). The song was written and produced by Hoshino for the anime film Spy × Family Code: White (2023), following the song "Comedy" (2022) which he wrote for the film's preceding TV-series. It is a mid-tempo Japanese rock and pop ballad with a nostalgic-like sound that lyrically questions why people make memories despite life only being temporary.

Hoshino traveled to Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, to find inspiration for the song. Upon returning home, Hoshino fell into a depressed state where he was unable to write the song's lyrics. He decided to attempt to write about his current worries and struggles, which he believed began to match with the plot of Spy × Family. Hoshino wanted "Why" to follow the lyrical content on "Comedy", but decided to go backwards for the sound and sought inspiration from 1980s rhythm and blues and 90s hip-hop.

"Why" was surprise revealed as the ending theme to Spy × Family Code: White on the day of the film's premiere. Upon release, it reached number three on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, and the double A-side single peaked at number two on Oricon's physical singles chart and Billboard Top Singles Sales ranking. "Why" was successful in airplay, taking first place on Plantech's Japanese radio chart. A music video to the song, directed by Kyōtarō Hayashi, was released on January 24, 2024, and intersects various scenes with Hoshino singing.

Background
In April 2022, Gen Hoshino wrote and released the song "Comedy" as the ending theme to the first season of the anime TV-series Spy × Family. The song's sound drew from early 2000s hip-hop influences, and lyrically aimed to represent a family that cares for each other without regard to connection by blood–something similar to what Hoshino believed had been represented by the Forger family in the Spy × Family manga. Alongside the opening theme "Mixed Nuts" by Official Hige Dandism, "Comedy" was commercially successful and ranked within the top 15 of Billboard Japan 2022 year-end anime song chart. It became Hoshino's second song to surpass 100 million streams after "Fushigi" (2021), and debuted Hoshino on the Billboard Global 200.

Hoshino released the song "Life" as a digital-exclusive single in August 2023, used for broadcast of the 2022 Asian Games and 2023 World Athletics Championships on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) channels. Hoshino announced in November that the song would be released as a double A-side single, and later unveiled the title of its partner track as "Why", or "Traces of Light" (光の跡) in Japanese, but did not elaborate on the song's details. It was surprise revealed on December 22 that the song had been written as the ending theme to Spy × Family Code: White (2023), a film continuation of the Spy × Family TV-series, which had premiered the same day as the announcement. Official Hige Dandism were also brought back for the film, and recorded the main theme "Soulsoup".

Writing and inspiration
Hoshino wrote "Why" as a continuation of "Comedy"; he thought the lyrics to "Why" should move forward from its predecessor, but decided to instead go backwards for the musical era of the sound. Unlike the 2000s hip-hop influences on "Comedy", Hoshino looked at 1980s rhythm and blues and the 90s hip-hop, which he described as the sound of his youth. He wanted to let these Western influences into the song alike much of the anime music he listened to growing up, such as Ushio Hashimoto's "Romantic Ageru yo" (1986) for Dragon Ball (1986–89). Hoshino aimed to have the sound vaguely represent a feeling from a particular point in time to focus on creating his own type of sound, instead of directly recreating genres.

Before writing "Why", Hoshino traveled to Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, to put himself into the film's plot of the Forger family going on a trip. During his trip, Hoshino was inspired by sights such as Kanazawa's sunsets or the ripples of water at the D. T. Suzuki Museum. Upon his return home, he had already finished the song's composition and thought to directly write the lyrics. However, he found himself in a depressed state of "nothingness" where everything he wrote felt out of place. In an interview with Billboard Japan, Hoshino theorized that the fatigue may have stemmed from a form of personal backlash after he had worked for three years during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eventually, Hoshino decided to forget about the song's tie-up to Spy × Family and tried to write a song based on his current worries. He wondered why, despite life's fragility, people make memories they don't want to forget, such as the photos they take on trips, or the rainy town lined with trees he had walked in Kanazawa. He quickly finished the song's first verse, which he felt fit, and found that his own situation and troubles thereafter naturally connected to the film. He based the song's motif on the word kōseki (光跡), referring to traces of a moving light. Hoshino had viewed such a trail on the sea in Kanazawa, and a similar sunset was filmed for the song's music video. Hoshino had not initially planned to release the song as a double A-side with "Life", but believed upon the completion of "Why" that the songs' themes connected.

Composition and lyrics
"Why" was written and produced by Hoshino, who co-arranged and programmed it with Mabanua. Hoshino performs on vocals, synthesizer, and Rhodes piano; Mabanua plays Rhodes and synth; Ryosuke Nagaoka features on electric guitar and backing vocals; Hirotaka Sakurada plays piano, upright piano, and Rhodes. Musically, "Why" is a Japanese rock and pop song, with a runtime of four minutes and ten seconds (4:10). It is a warm mid-tempo ballad above programmed beats. The song features a nostalgic-like sound brought out by the synths and piano, and is a modern rendition of 1980s rhythm and blues and 90s hip-hop genres according to Real Sound Tomoyuki Mori. A writer for Drums & Rhythm Magazine called the sound to "Why" more straightforward than the laid-back "Comedy" and reminiscent to sampled music.

Lyrically, "Why" reminisces about the sights that will be forgotten with death and questions why people create memories despite life being fleeting: "Kiete yuku noni naze" / "Tada wasuretakunai omoide o" / "Fuyasu no darō" ("If they're going to fade away" / "Why make memories we just don't want to forget?"). Emi Sugiura for Rockin'On Japan wrote that "Why" is not a lament for lack of meaning in life, but instead a song that does not seek out meaning. Sugiura believed that it continues the story on the lyrics to "Life", which urges listeners to start running before seeking meaning, despite their different musical styles. Mori wrote that the lyrics on "Why" aim to express Hoshino's emotions straighforwardly.

Promotion and release
The same day of its announcement as the ending theme to Spy × Family Code: White, "Why" was previewed in a video of film snippets released to Toho Animation's YouTube channel, and the song was made available to national radio in Japan. "Why" / "Life" was released via the Victor Entertainment label Speedstar Records on December 27, 2023, marking Hoshino's first CD single in almost two years following "Fushigi" / "Create" in 2021. On its B-side, the single features "Odd Couple" – a song written by Hoshino for the comedy duo Audrey's radio festival at the Tokyo Dome – and the instrumental "Beyond the Sequence", used in a commercial for UCC Ueshima Coffee Co. starring Hoshino. Hoshino gave a debut performance of "Why" during a two-hour special of Count Down TV on January 22, 2024.

First editions were released in DVD and Blu-ray editions, featuring live footage from March 2023 comprising Hoshino's one-time online concert YP Live Streaming: Enkai Hōō-hen, a new accompanying documentary, and Hoshino's appearance at Speedstar Records' Live the Speedstar festival. Enkai Hōō-hen was a part of the online Enkai concert series, livestreamed to subscribers of Hoshino' Yellow Magazine whilst physical venues were closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Live the Speedstar was a festival at the Marine Messe Fukuoka organized by Speedstar Records to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Hoshino's appearance saw seven acoustic performances of his own songs and a cover of Crazy Cats' "Sūdara Bushi". 2000 people who purchased the first edition of the single received tickets to the exclusive event "Nama" Commentary ("生"コメンタリー), hosted by Hoshino with director Santa Yamagishi in Tokyo and Osaka. Hoshino announced plans to hold similar events in the future, and temporarily released the Tokyo show via his Yellow Magazine+ website.

A music video to "Why", directed by Kyōtarō Hayashi, was premiered to YouTube on the day of the single's release, at 21:00 JST. The video features footage meant to encrave memories into listeners despite the fragility of life, intersected by scenes of Hoshino singing. The video was promoted with a teaser video, and a livestream featuring Hoshino was broadcast via YouTube Live half an hour before the full video's premiere. A behind-the-scenes video was released on January 24, 2024, and sees Hoshino discussing with Hayashi during the music video's creation.

Reception
"Why" was received positively by Japanese music critics. Real Sound Mori felt that Hoshino's vocals were "extremely appealing" for their elements of fragility and elegance and wrote that the song's attempt at directly expressing Hoshino's emotions was successful. In a review for Rockin'On, Sugiura praised the song as honorable for not seeking the meaning of life. Sugiura wrote that she felt the song "embrace [her] with a warmth and loneliness" and made her think of the lives that no longer exist.

Commercially, the double A-side single sold 48,122 physical copies in Japan upon release, debuting as the 8th best-selling single of December 2023 on Oricon's monthly chart. Powered by sales from the previous year, the single opened at number two on the weekly Billboard Japan Top Singles Sales and Oricon Singles Charts dated January 8, 2024, behind only KinKi Kids' "Schrödinger", which had outsold it by over 100,000 units. As an individual song, "Why" peaked at number three on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, beating "Schrödinger" by one spot but placing behind the long-time charting songs "Idol" by Yoasobi and "Show" by Ado. An anime song, it reached second place on Billboard Hot Animation chart, behind only "Idol" as the opening theme to Oshi no Ko (2023). The double A-side managed to reach first place on Oricon's Anime Singles Chart, which only counts physical sales. "Why" was also successful on Japanese radio, peaking at first place on Plantech's weekly airplay chart. A reporter for the chart described "Why" as a "landslide victory" for Hoshino, noting airplay on both FM and AM channels, spanning several regions.

Personnel
Credits adapted from Hoshino's website.
 * Gen Hoshino – vocals, background vocals, Rhodes piano (MK-80), synthesizer (Minimoog, Matrix-12, 3rd Wave), programming, songwriting, arrangement, producer, recording
 * Mabanua – Rhodes piano (MK-80), synthesizer (Minimoog, DX7, Prophet-5), programming, co-arrangement
 * Hirotaka Sakurada – Rhodes piano (MK-80), piano, upright piano
 * Ryosuke Nagaoka – electric guitar, background vocals, background vocals arrangement
 * Shojiro Watanabe – mixing, recording
 * Shu Saida – recording
 * Takahiro Uchida – mastering
 * Satoshi Goto – assistance

Track listing
All tracks are written by Gen Hoshino expect where otherwise noted.


 * Standard edition
 * 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: 14:00


 * Limited edition (DVD/Blu-ray – YP Live Streaming Enkai Hōō-hen)
 * 1) "Opening" –  2:03
 * 2) "Episode" –  2:28
 * 3) "Sun" –  4:11
 * 4) "Dust" –  4:29
 * 5) "Doraemon" –  4:13
 * 6) "Tomato" –  3:03
 * 7) "Dancer" –  3:17
 * 8) "Stove" –  3:37
 * 9) "Nothing" –  5:37
 * 10) "Record Noise" –  6:08
 * 11) "Fushigi" –  5:00
 * 12) "Gag" –  4:48
 * 13) "Hello Song" –  4:58
 * 14) "Documentary"
 * Limited edition (DVD/Blu-ray – Live the Speedstar)
 * 1) "Opening" –  1:04
 * 2) "Hirameki" –  3:19
 * 3) "Barabara" –  4:05
 * 4) "Sūdara Bushi" (writer: Yukio Aoshima, Hiroaki Hagiwara) –  3:55
 * 5) "Koi" –  5:35
 * 6) "Bakemono" –  3:01
 * 7) "Why Don't You Play in Hell?" –  4:17
 * 8) "Kuse no Uta" –  5:10
 * 9) "Kudaranai no Naka ni" –  5:19
 * Total length: 2:07:00