Luminous (ClariS song)

"Luminous" (ルミナス, Ruminasu) is a pop song by the Japanese duo and idol unit ClariS, written by Shō Watanabe. It was released as the unit's sixth single on October 10, 2012 by SME Records. The song was used as the opening theme to the first two Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime films.[1] A music video was produced for "Luminous". The single peaked at No. 4 on Japan's weekly Oricon singles chart, and was later awarded a Gold Disc by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for having exceeded 100,000 copies shipped in a single year.

"Luminous"
Single by ClariS
from the album Second Story
ReleasedOctober 10, 2012
Recorded2012
GenreJ-pop
Length4:08
LabelSME
Songwriter(s)Shō Watanabe
ClariS singles chronology
"Wake Up"
(2012)		 "Luminous"
(2012)		 "Reunion"
(2013)
Audio sample
A 23-second sample from "Luminous", featuring ClariS singing the end the first verse and chorus.
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Composition

"Luminous" is a J-pop song with instrumentation from piano, violin and drums. It is set in common time and moves at a tempo of 173 beats per minute. Beginning in the G major key, the introduction starts with only piano and adds drums and violin to transition into the first verse in C-sharp minor, followed by the chorus. After a bridge in G major, the key shifts back to C-sharp minor for the second verse and chorus, which use the same music with different lyrics. The key shifts from C-sharp minor to G major with a short break used to transition into the third verse, immediately followed by the chorus in C-sharp minor as the outro. A short coda is used to close the song.

Release and reception

"Luminous" was released in a regular edition and two limited editions on October 10, 2012 as a CD by SME Records in Japan.[2][3][4] One of the limited edition versions was packaged with Puella Magi Madoka Magica artwork and instead of containing an instrumental version of "Luminous" as in the other two editions, it has a short version of the song in addition to a short orchestral version of "Connect".[4] The other limited edition version came bundled with a DVD containing the music video for "Luminous".[3] The song peaked at No. 4 on Japan's weekly Oricon singles chart, selling over 39,000 copies in its first week of sales, and charted for 18 weeks.[5][6] In December 2014, "Luminous" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for having exceeded 100,000 copies shipped in a single year.[7] "Luminous" debuted and peaked on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 at No. 5.[8]

Music video

The music video is entirely animated. It features throughout the video semi-animated illustrations of ClariS by Hideyuki Morioka blended with scenes from the first Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime film, Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Beginnings.

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."Luminous" (ルミナス Ruminasu)Shō WatanabeShō WatanabeAtsushi Yuasa4:08
2."Friends"Toshikazu KadonoToshikazu KadonoToshikazu Kadono3:49
3."Blossom"Ryōsuke ShigenagaRyōsuke ShigenagaRyōsuke Shigenaga4:04
4."Luminous (Instrumental)" (ルミナス Ruminasu) Shō WatanabeAtsushi Yuasa4:08
Total length:16:22
Madoka Magica limited edition
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."Luminous" (ルミナス Ruminasu)Shō WatanabeShō WatanabeAtsushi Yuasa4:08
2."Friends"Toshikazu KadonoToshikazu KadonoToshikazu Kadono3:49
3."Blossom"Ryōsuke ShigenagaRyōsuke ShigenagaRyōsuke Shigenaga4:04
4."Luminous (Movie Mix)" (ルミナス Ruminasu)Shō WatanabeShō WatanabeAtsushi Yuasa1:42
5."Connect (Orchestra ver.) (Short Edit)" (コネクト Konekuto)Shō WatanabeShō WatanabeAtsushi Yuasa1:37
Total length:15:35
DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Luminous" (Music Video)4:08

Personnel
ClariS
  • Clara – vocals
  • Alice – vocals
Production
  • Takashi Koiwa – mixer
  • Kōtarō Kojima – mastering
  • Tatsuo Murai – art direction, design

Charts
Chart (2012) Peak
position
Japan Billboard Japan Hot 100[8] 5
Japan Oricon Weekly Singles[6] 4
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References
  1. "Madoka Magica Films' Ad Aired With New Theme by ClariS". Anime News Network. August 25, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  2. "ルミナス (通常盤)" [Luminous (regular edition)] (in Japanese). Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  3. "ルミナス【初回生産限定盤】" [Luminous (limited edition)] (in Japanese). Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  4. "ルミナス【まどか☆マギカ盤/期間限定】" [Luminous (Madoka Magica disc / limited production edition)] (in Japanese). Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  5. "ClariS、自己最高の初動売上3.9万枚で4位に" [A Self-record for ClariS with 39,000 Initially Sold at No. 4] (in Japanese). Oricon. October 17, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  6. "ルミナス" [Luminous] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  7. ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2014年12月 [Gold etc. Certified Works Summary December 2014] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  8. "Billboard Japan Hot 100 2012/10/22" (in Japanese). Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
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