This is my piano arrangement of Ao no Sumika – the first OP theme of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 by Tatsuya Kitani. It’s definitely one of my favorite Anime OP songs in 2023 because I simply love how “blue” the song is: The sudden quiet dynamics in the intro 0:04, the endless calm atmosphere in the verse 0:10, the subtle “school bells” echoing in the bridge 1:53. It’s like the music is inviting us to dive into a clear blue summer sky and I tried to capture the “blue” atmosphere in the piano as much as possible.
① Allowing the piano to “breathe”
I included many horizontal movements in the piano to give the piano a vast and open texture, mirroring the “blue” atmosphere of the original song. For example, in the first verse 0:10 the left hand is playing a subtle counter melody without being too rhythmic. And in the 2nd verse 1:28, the right hand is playing an ornamentation in a very high range without interfering with the main melody too much.
② The true MVP of the powerful chorus melody
The unique left-hand pattern played an important role in the chorus 0:48. I wanted to emphasize the syncopation of the drums as much as possible and as a result I used precise pedaling to give the left hand a short moment of pause before each syncopation. There is always a lot of trial and error involved to find the best pattern for the left hand. But once I can “hear” the original song with the left hand alone, it’s a good accompaniment.
③ Finale: From Blue to Purple
Since the atmosphere of the song is “blue”, I let the piano soar into the blue sky in 3:13 by playing a seemingly endless scale which goes higher and higher. It ends with an “open” chord Gbmaj7 (IV) in 3:20, which is quite rare for my arrangement because I usually end with a Tonic chord (I). But in this case, the “open” chord is perfect to make the arrangement sound “infinite”. Which means, the arrangement has finally reached new limitless state - Hollow Technique: Purple.
Last but not least, have you noticed the genius sound direction in episode 5? The “applause” sound has been haunting Geto for a long time after his failed mission and I love how they overlapped the sound of the showers and the rain drops with the sound of applause in certain scenes. It’s an excellent depiction of Geto's deteriorating mental state by using that cursed “applause” sound. I hope we can look forward for more of these creative sound direction in future Jujutsu Kaisen episodes!
Alright, that would be everything for today. In every new upload I try to explain my arranging philosophy a little bit and I hope other pianist might find it helpful to create their own arrangement.
See you next time again!
Animenz
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Original Song: Ao no Sumika (Where Our Blue is)
Anime: Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2
Published by: Sony Music Labels Inc. (2023)
Composed by: Tatsuya Kitani
Performed by: Tatsuya Kitani
Piano arrangement by Animenz
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