"More Than Words" (Japanese: モアザンワーズ, Hepburn: Moa Zan Wāzu) is a song by Japanese singer and voice actress Maaya Sakamoto, released as her twenty-first single on July 25, 2012, by FlyingDog.
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Background and release
The song was first announced in early May 2012, as it was selected to be the as the theme song for the OVA Code Geass: Akito the Exiled, which premiered in theaters on August 4, 2012. The production team marks a reunion of the collaborators who worked together on Sakamoto's debut single "Yakusoku wa Iranai" (1996) for the anime The Vision of Escaflowne, which launched Sakamoto's singing career. This also marked the first time in nine years that Kanno and Iwasato worked together on a single for Sakamoto, since the 2003 single "Tune the Rainbow."
The song was specifically requested by Code Geass director Kazuki Akane, who was also the director of The Vision of Escaflowne. According to Sakamoto, the track was developed by entrusting Kanno with her creative vision for the music and Iwasato with a long-held lyrical theme centered on "freedom" and "growth," tailored to Sakamoto's personal journey from child actress to adult artist. Sakamoto described it as song with a "a heavy, melancholic atmosphere filled with sorrow", and praised the track's "genre-defying, mysterious feel," stating it did not resemble any of her previous works.
The phrase "Isn't freedom a little heart-wrenching?" (Jiyū tte Setsunakunai desu ka?) that appears in the lyrics originated from a private conversation between Sakamoto and Iwasato several years earlier, which Iwasato had kept in stock until the day she could have Sakamoto sing it. Whereas previously Iwasato had created lyrics to fit the melody, for this work she was requested to write freely without being constrained by the melody and to include more lyrics than usual. As a result, Sakamoto, Kanno, and Iwasato worked together as a trio to brainstorm phrases.
The single's b-side "Dekoboko March (Tairetsu wa Kimi ni Tsuzuku)" (lit. 'Uneven March (The Formation Follows You)') was also composed, arranged and produced by Kanno, with lyrics written by Sakamoto.
Critical reception
Tetsuo Hiraga of Billboard JAPAN and HotShotDiscs described it as "pop music as a work of art that makes you realize that you are alive by facing reality instead of lining up easy-to-understand positive words."
Commercial performance
"More Than Words" debuted and peaked at number 16 on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart, selling 10,722 copies on its first week. The single charted for six weeks, with reported sales totaling 16,091 copies.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of More Than Words.