Yoasobi (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese music superduo formed by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, composed of Vocaloid producer Ayase, and singer-songwriter Ikura. Represented by the slogan "novel into music", the duo has released songs based on novels posted on Monogatary.com[ja], a novel-centered social media operated by their label, which is also from various media like novels written by professional authors, books, and letters.
After going viral on social media, Yoasobi's 2019 debut single, "Yoru ni Kakeru", gave them their breakthrough by reaching atop the Billboard Japan Hot 100 for six non-consecutive weeks and the 2020 year-end chart, and becoming the first song to be certified diamond for streaming by Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). It was followed by other successful singles, such as Blue Period-inspired "Gunjō", and Beastars' second season theme "Kaibutsu". The group's first two EPs, The Book and The Book 2 (both 2021), both peaked at number two on the Oricon Albums Chart. They also released the English EP, titled E-Side.
History
2019–2021: Formation, "Yoru ni Kakeru" and The Book
Both members of Yoasobi had active music careers before forming the duo. Ayase, a producer, songwriter, and former vocalist of rock band Davici,[1] began using Vocaloid to produce a song. He uploaded his first song, "Sentensei Assault Girl", on the video hosting website Niconico in 2018 and gained popularity with his 2019 song "Last Resort". Then, he released his debut extended play (EP) Ghost City Tokyo in December of that year.[2][3] Lilas Ikuta, performing under the stage name Ikura in Yoasobi, is a singer-songwriter and a then-member of the cover group Plusonica from 2017 to 2021.[4] She released her solo demo CD: 15 no Omoi (2016),[5] and two EPs: Rerise (2018) and Jukebox (2019) through independent label After School.[6][7]
In 2019, Ayase received an offer from Monogatary.com[ja], a novel-centered social media website operated by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, to collaborate on a project to produce songs inspired by novels written on the website. After discussion about vocalists, he found Ikura on Instagram, where she had uploaded some of her music, and formed the superduo.[1][8] The duo's name Yoasobi originates from the Japanese word 夜遊び (yoasobi), which means "nightlife", as a wish that they could take on various playful challenges by comparing their individual career as daytime and their Yoasobi career as a nighttime.[9] The duo uses the slogan "novel into music" to represent themselves.[10][11]
The first song released by Yoasobi, "Yoru ni Kakeru", based on Mayo Hoshino's short story Thanatos no Yūwaku, published on Monogatary.com and won the Monocon 2019.[12] The music video was initially uploaded via YouTube on November 16, 2019, before subsequently officially released on December 15.[13] During the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, the song went viral on social media,[14][15][8] as well as Ikura's The Home Take performance on YouTube,[16][17] bringing it to top several music streaming service charts in Japan.[18][15] Five months after its release, "Yoru ni Kakeru" ascended to number one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100[19] for three consecutive weeks[20] and spent six weeks atop the chart.[21] The single finished 2020 as the year's top Japan Hot 100 song, making it the first non-CD single to top the year-end chart.[22] It also became the first diamond-certified song for streaming in Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) history, surpassing 500 million streams.[23] "Yoru ni Kakeru" won the Song of the Year at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards Japan[24] and the 2021 Space Shower Music Awards.[25]
Following the debut single, Yoasobi released their second single "Ano Yume o Nazotte" on January 18, 2020. Like "Yoru ni Kakeru", the song also based on Monocon 2019-winning short story, Yume no Shizuku to Hoshi no Hana, written by Sōta Ishiki.[26] The next song, "Halzion", based on Shunki Hashizume's Soredemo, Happy End, was released on May 11. It was marked as the first song collaborated with a professional novelist, whereas the first two were amateur writers,[27] as a promotional project by Suntory to advertise energy drink branded Zone.[28] In the second half of the year, they released the single, "Tabun", on July 20. It was based on the short story of the same name by Shinano, which won Yoasobi Contest Vol. 1.[29] Inspired by the manga Blue Period and based on the brand's short story Ao o Mikata ni, "Gunjō" was released on September 1, to accompany Bourbon's Alfort Mini Chocolate advertisement.[30] On December 18, the duo released "Haruka", a song based on screenwriter Osamu Suzuki's novel, Tsuki Ōji.[31]
On December 31, the New Year's Eve, Yoasobi concluded the year at 71st NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen with "Yoru ni Kakeru" performance, which was also their debut live performance as a duo with band members for a year after their debut.[32] The duo released their debut EP and first physical release, The Book, on January 6, 2021.[33] It consists of their six previous-release singles in 2019–2020, and three new tracks, including "Encore", based on Kanami Minakami's Yoasobi Contest Vol. 1-winning Sekai no Owari to, Sayonara no Uta and used for Google Pixel 5, Pixel 4a (5G) advertisement.[34] The EP debuted at number two on both the Oricon Albums Chart,[35] and the Billboard Japan Hot Albums,[36] selling over 150,000 copies as of 2021.[37] It topped the Oricon Digital Albums Chart for five consecutive weeks and the year-end chart with 100,000 downloads in 2021 alone, making it the only album to reach this milestone in the year.[38][39]The Book certified gold for physical release by RIAJ.[40]
2021: The Book 2 and E-Side
"Kaibutsu" and "Yasashii Suisei" featured as themes of the season two of Beastars.
In November 2020, Yoasobi announced that they would handle the second season of the Japanese anime series Beastars themes.[41] Its opening theme, "Kaibutsu", was released digitally on January 6, 2021, the same date as The Book,[42] while its ending theme, "Yasashii Suisei", on the 20th.[43] Both songs were based on the anime's writer Paru Itagaki's novels Jibun no Mune ni Jibun no Mimi o Oshi Atete, and Shishiza Ryūseigun no Mama ni, respectively.[44][43] Later, the double A-side CD single of the themes was released on March 24,[45] debuting at number two on the Oricon Singles Chart.[46] Their first livestream concert, Keep Out Theater, was held on February 14 at Shinjuku Milano-za former construction site for 40,000 online audiences.[47][48] "Kaibutsu" was ranked number five on American magazine Time's 10 Best Songs of 2021, becoming the only Japanese act on it.[49]
The group released "Mō Sukoshi Dake", a 2021 theme song for the Fuji TV's morning show Mezamashi TV, on May 10. It was based on the Yoasobi Contest Vol.3 with Mezamashi TV-winning novel Meguru, written by Chiharu.[50] "Sangenshoku", a song used as a jingle for NTT Docomo's mobile network operator Ahamo commercial and based on scriptwriter Yūichirō Komikado's RGB,[51] was released on July 2,[52] as well as the standalone version of "Encore".[53] In June, Uniqlo's T-shirt brand UT partnered with Yoasobi to produced T-shirts with patterns inspired by the duo's song visuals.[54][55] To promote the collaboration, they held and broadcast the free livestream concert at Uniqlo City Tokyo, titled Sing Your World, via the duo's official YouTube channel on July 4. It received 280,000 online viewers around the world.[56]
On August 9, Yoasobi released the song "Loveletter", based on Hatsune's letter Ongaku-san e, which won the Letter Song Project, a contest held in 2020 by Tokyo FM's radio show owned by Japan Post Service, Sunday's Post.[57][58] In the next month, the duo released "Taishō Roman" on September 15, based on Natsumi's novel Taishō Romance, won Yoasobi Contest Vol.2.[59] Additionally in September, they were chosen to be a mascot for the 59th Sendenkaigi Award, an advertising award held by Sendenkaigi,[60] and held an exhibition at Ginza Sony Park, titled Semiconductors Create New Realities, as part of Sony Park Exhibition.[61] A theme of NHK's SDGs children's television series Hirogare! Irotoridori, "Tsubame", featuring children group Midories, was released on September 15, based on Nana Ototsuki's short story Chiisana Tsubame no Ōkina Yume.[62][63]
Yoasobi's second EP, The Book 2, was released on December 1, preceded by the singles released in 2021, and "Moshi mo Inochi ga Egaketara",[64] a soundtrack for Suzuki's 2021 stage of the same name and based on it.[65] The EP debuted at number two on the Oricon Albums Chart,[66] and atop the Billboard Japan Hot Albums.[67] Additionally, it topped the Oricon Digital Albums Chart.[68] The EP was certified gold for physical release by the RIAJ.[69] The duo held their first face-to-face one-off concert since their debut in 2019, Nice to Meet You, at Nippon Budokan on December 4–5 for 14,000 offline audiences[64][70] and participated in the 72nd NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen on December 31,[71] to perform "Gunjō" as main show, and "Tsubame" as part of special show.[72][73]
Furthermore, Yoasobi has started releasing English-language songs in 2021. The first English single, "Into the Night", translated from "Yoru ni Kakeru" by Konnie Aoki, was released on July 2.[52] After that, they also released three other tracks: "RGB"[74] and "Monster" in July,[75] and "Blue" in October.[76] All singles preceded the group's debut English-language EP E-Side, released digitally on November 12.[77] The EP debuted atop the Oricon Digital Albums Chart,[68] and number nine on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums.[78] Yoasobi won two Artist of the Years at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards Japan[79] and the 2022 Space Shower Music Awards,[80] and Special Achievement Award at the 63rd Japan Record Awards.[81] "Kaibutsu" won four awards for Song of the Year (Japan) and Best 5 Songs at the 36th Japan Gold Disc Award in both download and streaming categories.[82]
2022–present: Hajimete no series
In December 2021, Yoasobi announced a collaboration with four Naoki Prize-winning novelists to write and sing four songs based on the novelists' stories under the theme of "a story to read when you do [something] for the first time". They contain Rio Shimamoto's Watashi Dake no Shoyūsha, Mizuki Tsujimura's Yūrei, Miyuki Miyabe's Iro Chigai no Trump, and Eto Mori's Hikari no Tane. All novels were published as a book, titled Hajimete no, on February 16, 2022, by Suirinsha.[83][84] The first single of the project, "Mr.", based on Shimamoto's story, was released on the same day as the book.[85][86] "Suki da", the second single based Mori's novel, was released on May 30.[87][88]
Outside the project songs, Yoasobi collaborated with hip hop duo Creepy Nuts to release "Baka Majime" on March 20, as Ayase and Lilas Ikuta, due to the song was not based on a novel like the previous.[89] The ballade version of "Ano Yume o Nazotte", featured on CalorieMate's television advertisement 2021, Midnight Train,[90] was released on March 30, to accompany the Smash live action movie based on the song's based novel of the same name.[91] The duo surprise-released the standalone version of "Moshi mo Inochi ga Egaketara" on August 12, to commemorate the anniversary of the stage of the same name premiere.[92] Yoasobi released the single "Shukufuku" on October 1 digitally, and will release physically on November 9, to feature as the opening theme of the Japanese mecha anime series Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury.[93] It was based on the anime's writer Ichirō Ōkouchi's Yurikago no Hoshi.[94]
Additionally, Yoasobi released their first video album, The Film, on March 23, containing the duo's three concerts held in 2021, and the enlarged version of their episode of MBS TV's documentary program Jōnetsu Tairiku.[95][96] The duo partnered with Book Truck to launch pop-up bookstore and café, called "Tabi Suru Honya-san Yoasobi-gō: Books & Café", on July 16–18 at Curry & Music Japan 2022 festival.[97] From August to December, Yoasobi participated three 2022 Japanese annual music festivals: Rock in Japan Festival,[98] Rising Sun Rock Festival,[99] and Sweet Love Shower,[100] and the first overseas festival 88rising's Head in the Clouds in Jakarta, Indonesia and Manila, Phlippines in December.[101][102] The duo is scheduled for embarking on their first concert tour, titled Yoasobi Arena Tour 2023, from April to June 2023 in six cities throughout Japan.[103]
Japan physical and digital combined sale figures for The Book[109][110]
E-Side did not enter the Oricon Albums Chart, but peaked at number one on the Digital Albums Chart.[112]
Japan physical and digital combined sale figures for The Book 2[114][115]
The English version of "Yoru ni Kakeru", titled "Into the Night", was released on July 2, 2021,[52] and included on the duo's first English-language EP E-Side.[77]
"Halzion" did not enter the Billboard Global 200, but peaked at number 125 on the Global Excl. U.S.[126]
"Tabun" did not enter the Billboard Global 200, but peaked at number 139 on the Global Excl. U.S.[129]
The English version of "Gunjō", titled "Blue", was released on October 29, 2021,[76] and included on the duo's first English-language EP E-Side.[77]
"Haruka" did not enter the Billboard Global 200, but peaked at number 121 on the Global Excl. U.S.[133]
The English version of "Kaibutsu", titled "Monster", was released on July 30, 2021,[75] and included on the duo's first English-language EP E-Side.[77]
Originally, "Kaibutsu", and "Yasashii Suisei" peaked at number 7, and 16 on the Combined Singles Chart, respectively before the CD single release.[135][136]
"Yasashii Suisei" did not enter the Billboard Global 200, but peaked at number 97 on the Global Excl. U.S.[139]
The English version of "Sangenshoku", titled "RGB", was released on July 16, 2021,[74] and included on the duo's first English-language EP E-Side.[77]
"Loveletter" did not enter the Billboard Global 200, but peaked at number 96 on the Global Excl. U.S.[146]
"Mr." did not enter the Billboard Global 200, but peaked at number 143 on the Global Excl. U.S.[149]
"The Japan Gold Disc Award 2021". Japan Gold Disc Award (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Archived from the original on March 14, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
"The Japan Gold Disc Award 2022". Japan Gold Disc Award (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
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