"Kick Back" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Kenshi Yonezu | ||||
from the album Lost Corner | ||||
B-side | "Hazukashikutte Shōganē" | |||
Released | October 12, 2022 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 3:13 | |||
Label | Sony Japan | |||
Songwriter(s) | Kenshi Yonezu | |||
Producer(s) |
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Kenshi Yonezu singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Kick Back" on YouTube |
"Kick Back" is a song by Japanese musician Kenshi Yonezu. It was released as a single digitally by Sony Music Records on October 12, 2022, as well as in three physical editions: a regular CD edition, a video edition, and a chainsaw edition. The song serves as the opening theme for the anime series Chainsaw Man . [1] [2]
This song is used as one of the opening theme for the anime series Chainsaw Man . [3] Yonezu was in charge of the theme song for the TV anime My Hero Academia , the first opening of the second season. It has been about five years since the theme "Peace Sign".
King Gnu and Millennium Parade member Daiki Tsuneta participated in the production and arrangement with Yonezu. [4] "Kick Back" also samples Morning Musume's 2002 song "Sōda! We're Alive".
On September 19, 2022, the preview for Chainsaw Man was released, with "Kick Back" being used. In addition, it was also performed live for the first time at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium performance on the first day of "2022 Tour / Henshin", which was held on September 23. In addition, the arranger Daiki Tsuneta appeared at the tour final at Saitama Super Arena on October 27, performing this song and "Ai Lily".[ citation needed ]
The CD single was released in three formats: a chainsaw board, a video board, and a regular board, and it also came with a "Kenshi Yonezu 2023 Tour / Fantasy" advance lottery application serial number and a corporate privilege sticker. [5] [6]
In the United States, the single was released by Milan Records. [7]
"Kick Back" became the first song with Japanese lyrics to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). [7] [8]
Prior to the song's release, the music video premiered on October 25, featuring Yonezu and Daiki Tsuneta. It was directed by Yoshiyuki Okuyama , who also worked on the music video for "Kanden" and Yonezu's promotional photos. In the video, Yonezu devotes himself to training in a gym alongside Tsuneta. After a montage of vigorous working out and Yonezu shown with large muscular arms, Yonezu runs off a treadmill into a field and then onto a road, where he is hit by a truck, which launches him through the air and into doing parkour across shipping containers and city buildings. A group of men dressed in similar attire appear and run alongside him through an industrial site and across a quarry. The video ends with Yonezu shown back in the gym, walking on a treadmill alongside Tsuneta, with a security camera revealing Tsuneta is not really there. [9]
The opening sequence for the Chainsaw Man anime plays tribute to several films, including Reservoir Dogs , The Texas Chain Saw Massacre , Pulp Fiction , Sadako vs. Kayako , No Country for Old Men , Fight Club , Messiah of Evil , Once Upon a Time in Hollywood , Don't Look Up , Jacob's Ladder , Constantine , and The Big Lebowski . The other references are the manga Goodbye, Eri and Fire Punch by the same author, the song "Sōda! We're Alive" by Morning Musume and the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion . The sequence was directed and storyboarded by Shingo Yamashita. [10]
All tracks are written by Kenshi Yonezu
No. | Title | Arrangement | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Kick Back" |
| 3:13 |
2. | "Hazukashikutte Shōganē" (恥ずかしくってしょうがねえ; lit. "I Can't Help Being Embarrassed") | Yonezu | 3:41 |
3. | "Kick Back" (anime edit) |
| 1:27 |
Total length: | 8:21 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "TV Anime Chainsaw Man Non-Credit Opening Movie" | 1:39 |
2. | "M87" (music video) | 4:46 |
Total length: | 14:46 |
Ceremony | Year | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Reiwa Anisong Awards | 2022 | Best Work Award | Nominated | [11] |
Best Anime Song Award | Won | |||
Composition Award [a] | Nominated | |||
Arrangement Award [b] | Nominated | |||
Japan Expo Awards | 2023 | Daruma for Best Opening | Won | [12] |
45th Anime Grand Prix | 2023 | Best Theme Song | 5th place | [13] |
8th Crunchyroll Anime Awards | 2024 | Best Opening Sequence | Nominated | [14] |
Best Anime Song | Nominated |
Weekly charts
| Monthly charts
Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Japan (RIAJ) [40] CD single | Platinum | 250,000^ |
Japan (RIAJ) [41] Download | Gold | 100,000* |
United States (RIAA) [42] | Gold | 500,000‡ |
Streaming | ||
Japan (RIAJ) [43] | 3× Platinum | 300,000,000† |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format | Version | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Various | October 12, 2022 | Standalone | Sony Japan | [44] | |
November 23, 2022 | Regular | [45] | |||
Japan | CD+DVD | Video | |||
CD+chainsaw necklace | Chainsaw | ||||
CD | Regular |
Kenshi Yonezu is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, videographer and illustrator. He began releasing Vocaloid music under the stage name Hachi (ハチ) in 2009. In 2012, he debuted under his real name, releasing music with his own voice. He has sold at least 4.2 million physical copies and over 7 million digital copies in Japan.
Diorama is the first album by Japanese musician Kenshi Yonezu, which was released on May 16, 2012. It was the first studio album released under his real name, and the first to use his own voice as opposed to his Vocaloid albums released under the name Hachi. The album was one of the top independent releases in Japan in 2012, and was one of the winners of the 5th CD Shop Awards.
"Santa Maria" (サンタマリア) is the debut major label single by Japanese musician Kenshi Yonezu, released on May 15, 2013. It was Yonezu's first release on Universal Music Japan, and features a musical shift to using a live band.
"Mad Head Love" is a song by Japanese musician Kenshi Yonezu. It was released as a double A-side single alongside the song "Poppin' Apathy" on October 23, 2013, by Universal Signma, on the same day that Yonezu's two self-released Vocaloid albums, Hanataba to Suisō and Official Orange, were re-issued by independent label Boundee by SSNW.
"Poppin' Apathy" is a song by Japanese musician Kenshi Yonezu. It was released as a double A-side single alongside the song "Mad Head Love" on October 23, 2013 by Universal Signma, on the same day that Yonezu's two self-released Vocaloid albums, Hanataba to Suisō and Official Orange, were re-issued by independent label Boundee by SSNW. Though recorded during sessions for Yonezu's album Yankee (2014), the song was not present on the final track list of the album.
Yankee is the second studio album by Japanese musician Kenshi Yonezu and fourth original album release. It was released on April 23, 2014, followed by his first live concert on June 27, 2014. It was selected as best album of the year by iTunes in 2014.
"Koi" is a song by Japanese singer-songwriter Gen Hoshino. It was released on 5 October 2016 through Victor Entertainment and Speedstar Records as Hoshino's ninth single, and served as the theme song for the TBS television series The Full-Time Wife Escapist, in which he starred alongside Yui Aragaki.
The discography of Japanese singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu consists of eight studio albums, and twenty-three singles.
"Lemon" is a song by Japanese singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu, released as a single through Sony Music Entertainment Japan on March 14, 2018. It is the theme song for the TV series Unnatural. It has sold more than 500,000 physical copies and 3,000,000 digital copies in Japan.
"Uchiage Hanabi" is a song by Daoko featuring Kenshi Yonezu released in August 2017. "Uchiage Hanabi" means "launching fireworks". The song is used for the 2017 anime film Fireworks and the album Thank You Blue. There are two solo versions, Yonezu's solo version released for Bootleg for minimalist rearrangement, and Daoko's solo version for Shiteki Ryoko. It ranked number one in Billboard Japan Hot Animation for 25 weeks. It won Song of the Year of Space Shower Music Awards in 2018.
"Peace Sign" is a song by Japanese musician Kenshi Yonezu. It was released as a single by Sony Music on June 21, 2017. The song was used as the first opening theme for the second season of the anime series My Hero Academia.
Bremen is the third album by Kenshi Yonezu. It was released by Universal Sigma on October 7, 2015.
Bootleg is the fourth album by Kenshi Yonezu, released on November 1, 2017. It is his first album with Sony Music and won the Album of the Year award at the 60th Japan Record Awards.
"Gurenge" is a song by Japanese pop singer Lisa from her fifth studio album Leo-Nine. It was released as her fifteenth single digitally on April 22, 2019, and received a physical release on July 3, 2019. Commercially, the single peaked at number three on the Oricon Singles Chart, and number two on Billboard Japan Hot 100. It was used as the first opening theme song for the Japanese anime series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.
Stray Sheep is the fifth album by Kenshi Yonezu, released on August 5, 2020. The song "Kanden" has been used as the theme song of the comedy TV series MIU404. The album sold over 879,000 copies in its first week, debuting atop the Oricon Albums Chart. It was the top selling album of 2020 in Japan according to both Billboard Japan and Oricon. The latter calculated that the album had sold 1,970,930 copies in Japan by the end of 2020, summarizing CDs, vinyls, downloads, and streaming equivalents.
"Pale Blue" is a song by Japanese singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu. It was released as a single by Sony Music Records on June 16, 2021. It reached number one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.
Midnight Sun is an extended play (EP) marketed as the sixth single of Japanese boy group JO1, featuring lead track "SuperCali". It also served as the lead single of their third studio album, Equinox (2023). Consisting of four songs and four instrumental version, the EP single was released digitally by Lapone Entertainment on October 10, 2022, while the three physical editions were released on October 12, 2022. It features the group's frequent collaborators such as Teito, Jung Ho-hyun, Full8loom, Nmore, and Poptime.
"Spinning Globe" is a song by Japanese singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu. It was released as Yonezu's 14th single on July 26, 2023, by Sony Music Records. The song served as the theme song for Hayao Miyazaki's animated fantasy film The Boy and the Heron (2023).
Lost Corner is the sixth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu, released on August 21, 2024, through Sony Music Records. It included number-one singles "Pale Blue", a theme for 2021 television series Rikokatsu and "Kick Back", an opening theme for 2022 anime series Chainsaw Man; the latter became the first Japanese-language song to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album also features the theme for Hayao Miyazaki-directed animated fantasy film, The Boy and the Heron (2023), "Spinning Globe".