Profile of YOASOBI, a Japanese Music Duo Whose Songs Are Often Used as Anime Soundtracks

Kapanlagi.com - Written By: Cynthiya Navthali Johan

Yoasobi is a music duo from Japan formed by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, consisting of lead singer-producer Ayase and singer-songwriter Ikura. With the slogan 'Novel turned into music', both songs were released based on novels on the social media platform Monogatary.com, which focuses on the novels they operate. These songs also originate from novels, books, and other media written by professional writers and letters.

Yoasobi's debut single in 2019, Yoru ni Kakeru, gave them a breakthrough after going viral on social media, topping the Billboard Hot Japan 100 and the year-end charts in 2020 for six consecutive weeks, becoming the first song to achieve this by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). Followed by other successful albums such as Gunjō, which takes inspiration from the Blue Era, and Kaibutsu, the theme song for the second season of Beastars. In addition to releasing two English EPs, E-Side and E-Side 2, the group released their first two EPs, The Book and The Book 2, which were released in 2021 and reached number two on the Oricon Albums Chart.

Yoasobi gained attention after being announced for the Head In The Clouds music festival in Jakarta on December 3-4, 2022. This news is certainly very exciting for their fans, especially since this Japanese music duo consisting of Ayase and Ikura is famous not only in their home country but also in Indonesia. Even, each duo releases a new album or single on YouTube, the number of viewers who listen to them may reach millions, you know, gang. So, even more curious about their profile, right? Read more..

1. The Story of YOASOBI's Formation

(Instagram.co/ayase_0404)

Ayase and Ikura were active in the Japanese music industry before forming YOASOBI. Ayase is a Vocaloid member who has released their first song, 'Sentensei Assault Girl,' and is also the producer of the album 'Host City Tokyo.'

Meanwhile, Ikura started his career as a solo singer and has released three albums: '15 no Omoi' (2016), 'Rerise' (2018), and 'Jukebox' (2019). Ayase was contacted by the Japanese novel website Monogatary in the same year as the release of YOASOBI's first song. They offered him to join a band whose stories are based on the website.

Therefore, Ayase started looking for a vocalist for his new band. After Ayase saw Ikura's Instagram post singing the song 'Kimi wa Rock wo Hearing,' Lilas Ikuta, now known as Ikura, joined.

Therefore, Ayase started looking for a vocalist for his new band. After Ayase saw Ikura's Instagram post singing the song 'Kimi wa Rock wo Hearing,' Lilas Ikuta, now known as Ikura, joined.

2. YOASOBI Profile

(Instagram.co/ayase_0404)

YOASOBI comes from the Japanese language and it means "Night Life". As stated by composer Ayase, the name can bring hope during the day and career of YOASOBI during the night.

YOASOBI Group Profile: Originating from Tokyo, Japan; Active from 2019 until now; Genre: J-pop; Label: Sony Music Entertainment Japan; Group Members: Ayase (Composer); Date of Birth: April 4, 1994; Yamaguchi Ikura (Vocal); and YOASOBI (Website), @yoasobi_staff (Twitter), @yoasobi_ayase_ikura (TikTok); and Ayase YOASOBI (YouTube Channel).

3. YOASOBI Career Journey

(Instagram.co/ayase_0404)

YOASOBI released their first song Yoru ni Kakeru based on Hoshino Mayo's book The Temptation of Thanatos, which has a rating of one million. A year later, they released their second song Ano Yume o Nazotte based on the book Souta Ishiki Yume no Shizuku to Hoshi no Hana.

After that, YOASOBI's third song Halzion, based on the book Soredemo by Shunki Hashizume, was released on May 11, 2020. The teaser video for their fourth song Tabun was released two months later. YOASOBI continues to grow in the Japanese music industry until they released their first CD, The BOOK, on January 6, 2021.

4. YOASOBI Performs Monster Live at Head in the Clouds Jakarta 2022

(kpl/cyn)