Saeko Higuchi -- Mirai e no Yakusoku（未来への約束）

 

Years ago, I had a copy of the famous "Ghost in the Shell" (the original 1995 anime) on VHS tape sitting on one of my bookshelves. Since it was a copy that didn't bother to put in the subtitles, I was mentally grasping at straws at what the minutiae of the plot was all about unfortunately. However, it didn't take away from the stunning sequences including Major Motoko Kusanagi dropping from a building into stealth mode and those metallic fingers flying over the keyboards at warp speed.

I found out yesterday that the voice behind Major Kusanagi, narrator and seiyuu Atsuko Tanaka（田中敦子）, had passed away on August 20th at the age of 61 due to illness. She had a huge variety of roles in anime going back to the early 1990s but her voicing of the Major is her most famous role. My condolences to her family, friends and fans.

"Mirai e no Yakusoku" (Promise for the Future) was used as the image song in commercials. Recorded by actress and singer Saeko Higuchi（樋口沙絵子）, it was written by Higuchi and Seiko Aoki（青木せい子）with Keisuke Murakami（村上啓介）providing the melody (which nearly takes things into Harold Faltermeyer's "Top Gun" anthem). It's a typically upbeat slice of 1990s J-Pop/rock with the undeniable air of hope...presumably for Kusanagi herself. I haven't seen any of the sequels but hopefully the Major is doing well. 

Beginning her career in 1990, Higuchi, who would later change her name to Saeko Hinaga（日永沙絵子）, released several singles and albums up to the late 2000s and also formed her own band known as groovy groupie in 1999. Sadly, she herself succumbed to illness in July 2022.