the Fourth Avenue Café

"the Fourth Avenue Café" is a song by L'Arc-en-Ciel that served as the fourth ending theme for the 1996 TV anime Rurouni Kenshin (るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚-), the Studio Gallop and Studio Deen adaptation. The track first appeared on the band's 1996 album True, placing its anime use within the same year as the series.

Musically, it sits in the band's rock catalogue with a gentle mid-tempo pulse, clean guitar textures, and a melody that leans more wistful than forceful. The vocal line stays controlled through the verses and opens wider in the chorus, giving the song a reflective lift without losing the crisp drive of a J-rock single.

That restrained, slightly melancholy tone fits a story about a former assassin trying to live peacefully while violence still shadows the present. The song was planned as a 1997 single, withdrawn at the time, and finally issued on August 30, 2006 as L'Arc-en-Ciel's seventh single with "Anemone" as its B-side. It later reached No. 5 on Oricon's weekly singles chart.