Yakusoku wa Iranai

"Yakusoku wa Iranai"
Single by Maaya Sakamoto
from the album Grapefruit
LanguageJapanese
ReleasedApril 24, 1996 (1996-04-24)
Recorded1996
Genre
LabelVictor Entertainment
ComposerYoko Kanno
LyricistYuho Iwasato
ProducerYoko Kanno
Maaya Sakamoto singles chronology
"Yakusoku wa Iranai"
(1996) 		"Gift"
(1997)

"Yakusoku wa Iranai" (約束はいらない; lit. "No Need for Promises") is the first single by singer Maaya Sakamoto. Released on April 24, 1996, it was her debut single under composer Yoko Kanno. The song and "Tomodachi" appear in her debut anime, The Vision of Escaflowne. Both songs were included on Sakamoto's solo debut Grapefruit, with "Tomodachi" re-recorded in English as "My Best Friend."

Background and release

Sakamoto began her career as a child actress at age 8, with experience in commercial jingles for brands such as Seibu Department Store and Nestlé, as well as voice acting for Japanese dubs of films like Jurassic Park, My Girl, and The Piano Lesson.[1] At age 15, she auditioned for a voice acting role in the anime The Vision of Escaflowne, marking her first regular role in a TV anime. She recalled the opportunity to take on something new was initially nerve-wracking, but her fresh and unpolished demeanor was seen as a positive, leading to her selection for the lead role of Hitomi Kanzaki.[1]

"Yakusoku wa Iranai" was the song created by Yoko Kanno as the theme song for the anime, and Yuho Iwasato was commissioned to write its lyrics. Regarding the creative process, Iwasato explained that she did not received detailed scripts for Escaflowne instead, she would get an email from Kanno along with the music, explaining things like, “This is the kind of anime, with this theme, and this kind of girl.”, and she did not know the anime's details all that well when coming up with the lyrics.[2] Sakamoto was not initially considered to perform the theme song, and Kanno and her team struggled to find a suitable vocalist. Eventually, Kanno suggested Sakamoto to record a demo of the song, and this eventually led to her selection as the singer in a spontaneous decision.[3] Sakamoto approached the recording with enthusiasm, guided by Kanno's direction, and treated it similarly to acting, aiming to meet the producer's vision.[4] She described the transition from 15-second jingles to a full song as natural,[1] but she approached it with a mix of excitement and nervousness, lacking a strong sense of artistic identity.[4] Nevertheless, she approached the recording with enthusiasm, guided by Kanno's direction, and treated it similarly to acting, aiming to meet the producer's vision.[4]

Recounting this period, Sakamoto stated, "My debut as a singer happened by chance, so I didn’t have any grand resolve or long-term goals. I stepped into this world with a very neutral mindset, so I truly had no sense of myself as an artist. I loved singing, and I was happy about the CD debut, of course, but looking back, I was very childish (...) I had sung for commercials before, but releasing a CD under my own name for others to listen to as a product was surprising even to me."[4] Furthermore, Sakamoto remembered being shocked after visiting a local record store and seeing her name printed on "Yakusoku wa Iranai", commenting that "It felt completely different from performing on stage as a child actor. I loved the song and wanted people to hear it, but I also felt a bit embarrassed, thinking, “What if my friends see this?” It’s contradictory for someone in this line of work, but I’ve never been the type to want to stand out."[4]

"Tomodachi", the b-side to the single, was also written by Iwasato and composed by Kanno. Regarding this song, Sakamoto commented: "[I] recorded "Yakusoku wa Iranai" when I was fifteen, but even though I was singing lines like Kimi o, Kimi o aishiteiru (I love you, I love you) at that age, I was more like, “What is love even?”. I can’t honestly say I understood the meaning of the lyrics back then. But the B-side song, “Tomodachi,” was something I could relate to as a high school student at the time."[2]

Critical reception

Writing for Animate Times, entertainment critic Junichi Tsukagoshi praised "Yakusoku wa Iranai" as a defining piece of 1990s anime music, crediting it with reshaping the concept of voice actors as musical artists. He described the song’s melody as "just purely beautiful" and highlighted its rare three-quarter time signature, noting that Yoko Kanno’s "somewhat eccentric" arrangement perfectly captures the fantastical essence of The Vision of Escaflowne. He emphasized that Yuho Iwasato's lyrics, which weave in Hitomi Kanzaki's name and echo the show's themes of destiny and otherworldly adventure, are "very good" and carry a prophetic quality. Tsukagoshi argued that the song’s magic lies in the balance between the "pure" vocal performance of a 15- to 16-year-old Maaya Sakamoto and the sharp, skillful contributions of Kanno and Iwasato, calling it a "classic" that stands out for its authenticity.[3]

Cover versions

"Yakusoku wa Iranai" has been covered by several artists, including Ikuko Inoue,[5] Eri Kawai,[6] Mikuni Shimokawa,[7] and Junko Iwao.[8] In 2015, The Band Apart covered the song for Sakamoto's tribute album Request.[9]

In 2023, the song was sampled by JPEGMafia and Danny Brown on their song "Kingdom Hearts Key", (which features additional vocals by rapper Redveil), the ninth track off their collaborative album Scaring the Hoes.[10][11]

In 2024, Nagi Yanagi covered the song for the CrosSing project.[12] This version was released on digital platforms on June 26, 2024.[12]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Yuho Iwasato; all music is composed by Yoko Kanno.

Yakusoku wa Iranai - 8-cm CD single
No.TitleLength
1."Yakusoku wa Iranai" (約束はいらない)3:32
2."Tomodachi" (ともだち)3:40
3."Yakusoku wa Iranai" (Original Karaoke)3:32
4."Hitomi's Tarot Reading" (ひとみのタロット占い) (voice monologue)3:13
Total length:13:57

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Yakusoku wa Iranai.[13]

  • Maaya Sakamoto – vocals
  • Yoko Kanno – keyboards, arrangements, music production
  • Masayoshi Furukawa – acoustic guitar
  • Shunsuke Sakamoto – synthesizer manipulate (track 1)
  • Keishi Urata – synthesizer manipulate (track 1)
  • Gabriela Robin – backing vocals (track 1)
  • Hitoshi Watanabe – bass (track 2)
  • Shigeo Miyata – drums (track 2)
  • Yoichi Okabe – percussion (track 2)
  • Members of L'Orchestra Dell'Unione Musicisti Roma – strings (track 2)
  • Hajime Mizoguchi – music and arrangements (track 4)

Charts

Chart Peak
position 		Sales
Oricon Weekly Singles 44[14] 30,140

References

  1. ^ a b c "坂本真綾ロングインタビュー". Zigsow (in Japanese). April 2008. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "岩里祐穂×坂本真綾が語り合う、それぞれの作詞の特徴と楽曲にこめた思い". Pia Ongaku (in Japanese). April 19, 2018. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  3. ^ a b Tsukagoshi, Junichi (June 19, 2020). "【今日のおすすめアニソン】TVアニメ『天空のエスカフローネ』坂本真綾「約束はいらない」【塚越淳一のアニソントラベラーvol.47】". Animate Times (in Japanese). Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e Mori, Tomoyuki (July 15, 2020). "坂本真綾インタビュー【前編】　自らの意思と個性に影響を与えた、25年間のキャリアでの数々の"出会い"】". Real Sound (in Japanese). Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  5. ^ "Kikuko Inoue - Anime Toonz Presents Kikuko Inoue". Apple Music. Fuego Recordings. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
  6. ^ "animage アニメヒーリングシリーズ アニマージュ / 河井英里". Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
  7. ^ "下川みくに「Remember ～青春アニソンハウスアルバム～」 | PCCA-2239". Billboard Japan. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
  8. ^ "Anison Acoustics | 岩男潤子". Oricon. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
  9. ^ "坂本真綾、20周年記念トリビュートアルバム『REQUEST』のジャケット公開". rockinon.com. March 11, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
  10. ^ Pearce, Sheldon (April 14, 2023). "JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown are here to blow up your function". NPR. Archived from the original on January 30, 2025. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  11. ^ "Kingdom Hearts Key". WhoSampled. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  12. ^ a b "やなぎなぎ、坂本真綾の人気曲「約束はいらない」カバー". Natalie (in Japanese). June 26, 2024. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
  13. ^ Sakamoto, Maaya (1996). Yakusoku wa Iranai (8-cm CD-single). Victor Entertainment, Inc. VIDL-10764.
  14. ^ "Yakusoku wa Iranai's Oricon Page". Retrieved 2009-11-17.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakusoku_wa_Iranai