Hana Hope has been tapped to perform the ending theme for the upcoming anime Sayonara Lala, which launches July 5 on TOKYO MX and other networks. The new song, titled "Hearts Glow," arrives as a digital release July 22, followed by a CD single on August 5.

Sayonara Lala is an original anime celebrating Studio Kinema Citrus's 15th anniversary. The story reimagines Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid," following a mermaid princess who awakens in Japan's Lake Biwa 200 years after the original tale. Director Takashi Koide leads the project.

"Hearts Glow" carries a message about embracing your authentic self—"it's okay to be different" and "I want to be as I truly am." The track opens with acoustic guitar and builds into a full band arrangement. David Baron, a notable producer, helmed recording sessions at Woodstock, New York.

Hana Hope, born in 2006 in Tokyo, has built an eclectic career path. She first performed publicly at age 13 during Yellow Magic Orchestra's 40th-anniversary tribute concert in 2019. She voiced a character in Mamoru Hosoda's 2021 film The Bell and the Seahorse, then began releasing original music in 2022. Her debut album HUES dropped in March 2023, and she signed to Sony Music that July with the digital single "flowers."

In her artist statement, Hope connected the song's themes to her own experience growing up with dual heritage. "I sometimes felt like I didn't belong anywhere," she wrote, reflecting on moving between two worlds. She describes the song as "a precious letter to everyone searching for where they belong, and to Lala." The track's central concept—"wild glow," representing each person's unique inner light—became central to her understanding that authenticity itself is a home.

The anime's PV featuring "Hearts Glow" is available on YouTube. Sayonara Lala marks an ambitious original project for the studio, and Hope's introspective contribution signals a mature artistic direction for both creator and anime alike.