Sword Art Online II Opening 2 - Courage

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I heard that Asuna will return as a strong character like the beginning of SAO1 (which I really liked). I might catch up to the episodes then~

And speaking of which, she sounds really good in this new opening, it's really catchy. This arrangement is the usual ishter style, although not over-the-top piano banging, but rather a more quiet, more refined performance and a slower tempo for a bit of romantic touch (especially at 1:18, I found this section really touching for some reason ;_; )

And this has a special extended ending in which I reference the very first Sword Art Online opening theme by LiSA - "crossing field". It's been over 2 years now... where has the time gone?

I wont be uploading randomly anymore, but rather, new anime piano videos every Friday! *DING*

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Piano arrangement by Tehishter

Original song:
Composed by Nori
-Arranged by Takahiro Furukawa
-Performed by Haruka Tomatsu

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[joannazheng]

Speed this up to 1.25x and listen to the awesomeness.
But the normal speed is so pretty, too. :)

[doyfkf]

I hear this song and really want to cry cuz all I think about is Yuuki

[nva-]

The feels :(

You will always be with us, konno yuuki. 

[petraral]

I played this at my Christmas concert and gained a tone of respect from my teachers and peers. Thanks so much for transcribing this amazing piece

[Ablesoir]

Till this day I still come here and I remember Yuuki and everything she went thru and this honestly helps me get thru hard days.

[CuddleCuttlefish]

I just came across one of your videos today, and I've been listening through your covers of openings/endings/themes for god knows how long now. All the while, feeling all those emotions I felt watching the anime, come surging back. All the pain, the joy and the laughs. I want you to thank you for what you do, for reminding me why I watch anime, and of all the great memories I have with it. I saw the video where you told you story, and I like many others, could relate. I decided to, if anyone's interested, share my own tale and what I have learned quite recently actually. My older brother was the one who introduced me to anime, and I liked it from the start. The fact that it was different didn't throw me off like with most people, quite the contrary. I found the difference from the normal western shows (the western world, not "western" like the old american west), to be refreshing. I, like you and many others, kept my love of anime hidden, out of fear of being teased. But quite a while ago, I just ended up thinking to myself: "screw it", "I like anime, and if people want to judge me for it they can go right ahead, I won't let other people discourage me. I'll proudly admit to being an anime fan".

Our family is pretty close, so i spend a lot of time with my cosines. We often have LAN's where we play League of Legends (I'm not really too much of a fan of the game, it's just they they don't play a whole lot else). One time when I was over there, I watched some anime, for the first time revealing to them, that this was something I watched (not that I was hiding it, they didn't ask and I didn't have any reason to tell them, so they didn't know per say). At first, my cosines met it with skepticism, "What is this anime stuff that you watch?", then it went over to insulting it. Because everything different is scary, and we must then throw shit at it till it disappears, like the monkeys we are (sorry for the sarcasm, just not a big fan of ignorance). So of course, I got comments like: "anime is shit, why you still watching that". But after not to long, when they realized that their comments didn't do anything: I still watched anime, and I still said it with pride when they asked. The comments stopped, and it was just left there, I watched anime, there was nothing more to it. So happy ending I'd call it.

As if that wasn't enough: Recently one of my cosines' skepticism, was replaced with curiosity. He said to me "I think I want to give this anime thing a try", so after I had gotten over the shock and surprise from the statement, I began coming with a few suggestions and whatnot. To be honest I never thought it would stick, that it was just words and nothing else. But today I got a message from one of my other cosines (the one that's most skeptical to new stuff), the text read "Fuck you! (jokingly, we are close, so I could tell) Now the only thing he talks about is anime fml". That's when I realized that I had successfully converted my cosine, who had previously shown disdain for anime, over to an anime fan, and all I did was to not hide it, thereby letting them get used to it, and over time start to see it for what it truly is. What I have learned from this, is that we anime fans should not give up. When someone says they don't like anime, we shouldn't just think "oh he/she is just one of those guys/gals, I should rather find someone who DOES like it". For if a person get's over that initial hurdle of skepticism, he/she might just find that they've become an anime fan as well. Sure, for some getting over that hurdle is harder than others, some might refuse to even try out of stubbornness and some might just straight up not like it. But we should at least allow them to try and truly find out, for them selves.

[BenLomonRail]

Not only is Asuna a strong character in Mother's Rosario, she is pretty much the main character along with Yuuki. Kirito is at best a secondary character until we get to Alicization.

[James-dgji]

2:02 That's like when my mom get angry

[PaintAMelody]

Love the IV64 passing chord ending. It's one of my favourite cadences to finish off a piece. Well done!

[Hororororo]

It's always your arrangements that move me, not any other. I salute to you, dear Ishter-senpai!

[Hereson]

Dear Tehishter and poor A-kun,

You've inspired me to arrange this song. I REALLY LOVE this kind of arrangement style, it reminds me of "theishter" back in the old times :p 
A splendid arrangement, performance followed by a strong ending. Well done!

I'll be putting this on repeat for a while! :)
~ Hereson 

[AnimePianoAngel]

Yes Asuna will be back!!! Now I must watch the latest episode! ^^ Too bad I still prefer Asuna over any other girls from SAO haha! 

[stillginger]

This truly brought a tear to my eye, great job.

[theawesomeali]

now that… was impressive. the melody felt a lot more slow and relaxing. also one of my favorite OPs from SAO, from the most peak arc. Wish the hate on SAO would stop, it doesn’t deserve it, it’s story and music are amazing

[gredofa]

You are so skilled and I I think you have a great sense for adjusting rhythm, power and sustain in your playing. One of my favorite pianists!

[PU_Nunu]

I played that song just like that at my recital at high school n I never saw so many people in tears of how beautiful this song sounds like.. it brings me back when I was young n my grandpa played piano for me but he passed away 8 months ago😢

[ihypocryt]

Loved how you played that note at 2:02. I fell out of my chair laughing... xD

[blahboy]

Awesome arrangement! I can't wait until you post your sheet music! It's crazy how you've improved since i subscribed, you're arrangements are more complex and your execution is so much cleaner.  Keep it up!

[skellysniperyt]

... holy shit. I was looking for a regular version of this, but this is better. Kudos to this man.

[ichirakuxvi]

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