Eve begins a new chapter today with “AIYOU,” his first release since joining Sony Music Entertainment label Echoes.
Released digitally on October 2, the song was written for the first cour of season three of 薬屋のひとりごと (The Apothecary Diaries), which begins airing in Japan the same day. Eve wrote and composed the track, with Eve and Numa handling the arrangement.
The anime’s official site presents “AIYOU” as a song that stays close to Jinshi as he takes on new responsibilities as the Emperor’s younger brother, describing it as gentle but tinged with melancholy.
Eve’s own explanation focuses on the distance that can exist between people who are physically close. He describes emotions that cannot be put into words creating an almost immeasurable gap, while attraction persists despite logic, roles and social position.
That perspective fits a story in which Jinshi can no longer remain simply the enigmatic figure who has followed Maomao through the rear palace. As his position becomes harder to escape, “AIYOU” turns that distance into the starting point for Eve’s first release with Echoes.