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Tokyo Olympics Ends With LiSA's Demon Slayer Opening Song — as Ska

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics finally came to a close, one year behind, on Sunday with a ceremony that reflected the muted opening. However, the festivities found a way to incorporate LiSA's "Gurenge" opening theme song from Demon Slayer — well, as a ska song. Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, not LiSA herself, played the song and others to welcome the ahtletes into the Japan National Stadium.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra's set list included "Ue o Muite Arukō" a.k.a. "Sukiyaki," the Kyū Sakamoto ballad that was popular during the last time Tokyo hosted the Olympics in 1964 (as referenced in Ghibli's From Up On Poppy Hill). While probably not an anime reference, the band also played a ska version of "Ode to Joy" from Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (heard in a more traditional arrangement in Evangelion and other works.) Singer-songwriter milet joined Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra for "Hymne à l'amour" ("Ai no Sanka"), a possible nod to the Summer Olympics returning in 2024 in Paris.

Update: LiSA wrote the lyrics, and Kayoko Kusano wrote the music for "Gurenge." Rokusuke Ei wrote the lyrics, and Hachidai Nakamura wrote the music for "Sukiyaki." Édith Piaf wrote the original French lyrics, and Marguerite Monnot wrote the music for "Hymne à l'amour." (Tokiko Iwatani wrote the Japanese lyrics.) Thanks, tsog.

Source: Oricon

Image via Don Quijote