Midnight Blue (Megumi Hayashibara song)

"Midnight Blue"
8-cm CD single cover
Single by Megumi Hayashibara
from the album Bertemu
LanguageJapanese
B-side"Shining Girl"
ReleasedJuly 21, 1995 (1995-07-21)
Genre
Length5:34
LabelStarchild
ComposerHidetoshi Sato
LyricistSatomi Arimori
Megumi Hayashibara singles chronology
"Get Along"
(1998) 		"Midnight Blue"
(1995) 		"Going History"
(1995)
Audio
"Midnight Blue" on YouTube

"Midnight Blue" (stylized in all caps) is a song by Japanese voice actress and recording artist Megumi Hayashibara. Written by Hidetoshi Sato with lyrics penned by Satomi Arimori, the song was released as Hayashibara's single on July 21, 1995, via Starchild.[1]

Background and release

"Midnight Blue" became the first solo release by Hayashibara associated with the Slayers franchise. The title track served as theme song for Slayers The Motion Picture, which premiered in Japanese theatres on July 29, 1995.[2][3] Although uncredited, voice actor Sōichirō Hoshi provides backing vocals on the track.[4]

For its release, the song was coupled with "Shining Girl", which served as image song for the same movie.

Both songs were first included on the movie soundtrack released on September 6, 1995,[5] and later on Hayashibara's studio album Bertemu released on November 1, 1996.[6]

The single was made available for streaming on March 30, 2021, along with the entire Megumi Hayashibara discography.[7] The soundtrack album of Slayers The Motion Picture featuring the song was made available for streaming worldwide on September 10, 2025.[8]

Critical reception

J-Pop Time Traveler described "Midnight Blue" as "a mysterious and powerful medium-tempo track that symbolizes the golden era of 90s anime songs."[4] Jonathan Leiter of The Cinema Warehouse, described it as a "darker" track compared to the endings of later Slayers films, such as Slayers Return and Slayers Great, characterized for being lighter and more upbeat.[9] Leiter commented that the song had "more grit," as well as a more “weird” angle compared to subsequent Slayers movie theme songs, with "a bit more rough, perhaps a slight bit more dated sounding with the particular synth sounds utilized in its answer section of the sort of question (lyric) answer (synth riff) sections of the chorus."[9] Anime Fringe also gave a positive review on the song.[10]

Commercial performance

"Midnight Blue" debuted and peaked at number 27 on the Oricon charts,[11] becoming Hayashibara's first Top 30 entry on the Japanese charts with 19,560 copies sold on its first week.[12] The single charted for seven weeks, with cumulative reported sales totalling 71,550 copies.[12]

Track listing and versions

All lyrics are written by Satomi Arimori; all music is composed by Hidetoshi Sato.

CD single/digital release track listing[13]
No.TitleArrangementLength
1."Midnight Blue"Shō Goshima5:34
2."Shining Girl"Goshima4:15
3."Midnight Blue" (off vocal version) 5:34
4."Shining Girl" (off vocal version) 4:13

Charts

Weekly chart performance for
"Midnight Blue"
Chart (1995) Peak
position
Japan (Oricon)[11] 27

References

  1. ^ "「スレイヤーズ」～ミッドナイト・ブルー [廃盤]". CD Journal (in Japanese). Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  2. ^ "スレイヤーズ". Kinema Junposha. Archived from the original on 15 January 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  3. ^ "劇場版 スレイヤーズ". Animate Times (in Japanese). 25 November 2025. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  4. ^ a b "MIDNIGHT BLUE / 林原めぐみ". J-Pop Time Traveler (in Japanese). Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  5. ^ "「スレイヤーズ」ザ・モーション・ピクチャー [廃盤]". CD Journal (in Japanese). 1995. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  6. ^ "林原めぐみ / ブルトゥム [廃盤]". CD Journal (in Japanese). 1996. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  7. ^ "【林原めぐみ】全シングル41枚＆全オリジナルアルバム14枚がサブスクにて一挙配信開始！". EnterJam (in Japanese). 30 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  8. ^ "「スレイヤーズ」関連楽曲18作品がサブスク解禁、林原めぐみと神坂一がコメント". Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha Inc. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  9. ^ a b Leiter, Jonathan (7 July 2015). "Slayers The Motion Picture (1995)". The Cinema Warehouse. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  10. ^ Kou, Diana. "Review: Megumi Hayashibara - "Bertemu"". ANIMEfringe. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  11. ^ a b "MIDNIGHT BLUE | 林原めぐみ". Oricon News (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  12. ^ a b "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」" [Oricon Ranking Information Service 'You Taiju']. Oricon. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  13. ^ "Midnight Blue - EP by Megumi Hayashibara". Apple Music (in Japanese). 2002. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
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