Mika Nakashima -- Hi no Tori （火の鳥）

Back in 2004, NHK produced an anime based on one of master comic artist Osamu Tezuka's（手塚治虫）greatest works, "Hi no Tori" (The Phoenix). According to Wikipedia, "Hi no Tori" was never finished due to Tezuka passing away in 1989.

I remember catching it on Sundays on the network following the 7pm news and although I couldn't understand the majority of what was going on, I couldn't deny the beauty of the animation and the fact that the story jumped back and forth among different eras in history.

I also couldn't deny the wonder of the ending theme of the show which was also called "Hi no Tori" as performed by Mika Nakashima（中島美嘉）. This was her 12th single released in June 2004. Unfortunately, the video above is for the short version but to hear Nakashima's voice even in a truncated format is better than nothing. Still, to see the ending credits for the NHK anime while the song was playing was truly marvelous...too bad that I haven't been able to see it on YouTube.

Written by veteran songwriter Reiko Yukawa（湯川れい子）and composed by Hidekazu Uchiike（内池秀和）, "Hi no Tori" was arranged by Keiichi Tomita（冨田恵一）, although I have used his project name, Tomita Lab（冨田ラボ）, to identify him in the Labels. Knowing that Tomita was on the case was my reassurance that this would be a splendidly soulful ballad. And I think fans were aware of that, too, since the song broke into the Top 10 and peaked at No. 9.

It was also included in Nakashima's 3rd album "MUSIC", released in April 2005. "MUSIC" hit No. 1 and went Double Platinum, becoming the 16th-ranked album of the year and selling over half a million copies.