Explore RADWIMPS Anime Songs from Makoto Shinkai’s Movies
While RADWIMPS was already popular in Japan, their soundtracks for Director Makoto Shinkai’s acclaimed animated films brought them greater recognition worldwide.
This article takes a deep dive into some of the many great RADWIMPS anime songs featured in Makoto Shinkai’s movies: Your Name., Weathering With You, and Suzume.
Table of Contents
Note: Links to English interviews and content are bolded below!
RADWIMPS Anime Song Lists from Makoto Shinkai’s Movies
First, here’s an overview of theme songs for each movie, along with links to their soundtracks. (Be sure to check out the music playlist at the end of this article.)
Keep reading for a deep dive into several of these RADWIMPS anime songs!
Your Name.
Theme Songs
- Zenzenzense (movie ver.)
- Sparkle (movie ver.)
- Dream Lantern
- Nandemonaiya (movie ver.)
Soundtrack: RADWIMPS anime songs from Your Name.
Weathering With You
Theme Songs
- Is There Still Anything That Love Can Do? (Movie Edit)
- Grand Escape (Movie Edit) (feat. Toko Miura)
- Voice of Wind (Movie Edit)
- Celebration (Movie Edit) (feat. Toko Miura)
- We’ll Be Alright (Movie Edit)
Soundtrack: RADWIMPS anime songs from Weathering With You
Suzume
Theme Songs
- Suzume (feat. Toaka)
- KANATA HALUKA
Soundtrack: RADWIMPS anime songs from Suzume
We’ll dive more into each collaboration and some of the RADWIMPS anime songs below.
Your Name.
RADWIMPS and Makoto Shinkai joined forces for the first time with Your Name. With four theme songs and 22 instrumental tracks, the iconic soundtrack would become famous worldwide.
In an official comment, the band’s songwriter and vocalist Yojiro Noda shared that it was unusual for him to write such direct and heartfelt love songs. With Shinkai’s guidance, the band embraced the film’s core themes head-on.
The creative process began when Shinkai handed RADWIMPS the script and asked them to create a song “from the first image that came to mind.” Inspired by the brilliance of Taki and Mitsuha, Noda first created the two RADWIMPS anime songs below.
Zenzenzense (movie ver.) – From Your Name.
前前前世 (movie ver.)
Digitally released on July 26, 2016, “Zenzenzense (movie ver.)” is one of the hit theme songs of Your Name.
The title, meaning “past-past-past life,” is a made-up word that came to Noda naturally, through the chords and melody of the music. “I can’t write lyrics alone,” he shared in a TV show appearance, adding, “I’m pulled by the sound, I’m helped by the sound.”
“Without that motivator, a song like ‘Zenzenzense’ would never have been born.”
YOJIRO NODA
Paired with Your Name’s breathtaking visuals, Zenzenzense became a global hit. As bassist Yusuke Takeda puts it in an interview, “It’s the rhythm of the words and how they express the atmosphere of the film.”
For Noda, working within Shinkai’s vision provided the perfect spark. “I come up with more interesting things when I’m asked, “What can you do on this kind of theme?” he reflects in an interview.
“Without that motivator, a song like ‘Zenzenzense’ would never have been born.”
Sparkle (movie ver.) – From Your Name.
スパークル (movie ver.)
YouTube link to the movie version
Digitally released on August 17, 2016, “Sparkle (movie ver.)” is one of the theme songs of Your Name.
Noda wanted to capture the powerful feeling of being in love. “There are so many common-sense rules in life, but sometimes you feel like you can just jump away from them. Maybe falling in love is that moment,” he shares in an interview.
Over five months, the track underwent meticulous changes, with last-minute adjustments even after completion. New lyrics that were later written for the RADWIMPS’ original version resonated so deeply with Shinkai that he insisted they be added to the film.
At one point, the band considered splitting the nine-minute song into two. Yet, Shinkai stated, “In this part, I absolutely want to go with just this one song.”
Years later, “Sparkle” remains one of RADWIMPS’ beloved tracks.
Weathering With You
RADWIMPS teamed up with Makoto Shinkai once again, creating five theme songs and 26 insert tracks for Weathering With You.
In their official comment, the band shared that their journey with Weathering With You began unexpectedly in the summer of 2017 when Shinkai sent an email asking them to read the script.
Once the project took off, they became fully immersed in the creative process, exchanging messages with Shinkai daily and working closely with the production team.
Grand Escape (Movie Edit) (feat. Toko Miura) – From Weathering with You
グランドエスケープ (Movie Edit) feat.三浦透子
Digitally released on September 27, 2019, “Grand Escape (Movie Edit) (feat. Toko Miura)” is one of Weathering with You’s five theme songs.
While the climactic scene was initially meant to have softer music, for a year, Noda felt something was missing.
“I needed a powerful sound, that the energy Hodaka has to save Hina isn’t this soft.” he shared in an interview. This led to the song’s current arrangement, with a powerful chorus in Hodaka’s desperate determination to reach Hina.
“It’s a voice like the very resonance of the world itself.”
MAKOTO SHINKAI
Noda also envisioned a different approach for this film from the start, proposing that a female vocalist take the lead. A year-long audition process took place, to find a singer to express “both Hina’s soul and Hodaka’s emotions.”
Actress and singer Toko Miura’s voice had an “overwhelming, almost magical power that could clear any sky,” Noda explained in his official comment. Shinkai added, “It’s a voice like the very resonance of the world itself.”
Is There Still Anything That Love Can Do? (Movie Edit) – From Weathering with You
愛にできることはまだあるかい (Movie Edit)
YouTube link to Movie Edit version
“Is There Still Anything That Love Can Do? (Movie Edit)” is the theme song for Weathering with You This RADWIMPS anime song was also digitally released on September 27, 2019.
Upon hearing it for the first time, Shinkai felt an immediate connection. It brought a certainty that Weathering with You was a story that needed to be told. “It deeply reaffirmed why I had sent the script to Yojiro Noda in the first place,” he shared in an interview.
After pouring everything into Your Name., this song made Noda reflect on whether there was anything else he could do. “Even when we think we’ve done it all,” he commented, “we too, and surely Shinkai-san as well, continue to create after all.”
Suzume
RADWIMPS returns to Makoto Shinkai’s cinematic world for the third time with Suzume. This time, they are joined by renowned game and film composer Kazuma Jinnouchi.
The film’s original soundtrack took two and a half years to compose. It consists of two theme songs along with 25 instrumental pieces. (Additionally, two more vocal tracks, “Tamaki” and “Tears of Suzume,” are also included.)
In their official comment, RADWIMPS shared that they first received the script in the spring of 2020, a time of immense uncertainty. They thought about what they could do with music during this time and allowed “their imagination and fantasy to take flight.”
We’ll dive into the two theme songs below.
Suzume (feat. Toaka) – From Suzume
すずめ feat. 十明
Released digitally on September 30, 2022, “Suzume (feat. Toaka)” is one of two theme songs for the film.
“While this is a story about people living in the modern world, it also focuses on villages and towns that have fallen into decline, along with the energy and vitality of those who once lived there,” Noda explained in an interview.
“A transparent voice with an endless clarity…a voice with strength of will.”
YOJIRO NODA
Initially, Noda planned to sing the track, but as the arrangement took shape, he and Shinkai realized a female voice would capture its essence. After a year-long search, they found singer-songwriter Toaka.
“A transparent voice with an endless clarity…a voice with strength of will.” Noda described. “The moment she sang the opening phrase, I knew this song had to be sung by her.”
KANATA HALUKA – From Suzume
カナタハルカ
Digitally released on October 28, 2022, “KANATA HALUKA” is the second theme song for Suzume.
For this RADWIMPS anime song, Noda sought a timeless sound that “someone could have been playing a hundred years ago and could still be playing a hundred years from now.”
Noda revealed that this RADWIMPS anime song almost didn’t happen—until Shinkai requested one more. “I can’t come up with anything else!” he recalled in an interview, but ultimately gave it one last try.
That moment of inspiration led to “KANATA HALUKA”. With a core melody simple enough to be played with a finger, the song captures the growing bond between Suzume and Sota, and her determination to save him, no matter the cost.
Music Playlist: RADWIMPS Theme Songs from Makoto Shinkai’s Moviles
Check out this playlist of RADWIMPS anime songs listed as theme songs across each of the films mentioned above.
Follow RADWIMPS
Be sure to follow RADWIMPS (and learn about any upcoming RADWIMPS anime songs) through the links below!
Official website
Social media