The Book 2 | ||||
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EP by | ||||
Released | December 1, 2021 | |||
Genre | J-pop | |||
Length | 27:29 | |||
Language | Japanese | |||
Label | Sony Japan | |||
Producer | Ayase | |||
Yoasobi chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Book 2 | ||||
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The Book 2 is the second Japanese-language EP (third overall) by Japanese duo Yoasobi. It was released on December 1, 2021, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan, eleven months after their debut EP The Book (2021). It consists of eight tracks, preceded by their all singles released in 2021, and included the new song "Moshi mo Inochi ga Egaketara".
In support of the EP, the duo held their first face-to-face concert Nice to Meet You on December 4–5 at Nippon Budokan. Commercially, The Book 2 debuted at number two on the Oricon Albums Chart, and atop Billboard Japan Hot Albums and certified gold by Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).
In 2021, Yoasobi released the debut EP The Book , preceded by the singles released from 2019 to 2020. [1] It peaked at number two on both Oricon Albums Chart, and Billboard Japan Hot Albums, [2] [3] and atop the Oricon Digital Albums Chart for five consecutive weeks. [4] According to Oricon, the EP sold over 200,000 units in Japan in the first half of 2021 [5] [6] and was certified gold for physical release and later downloads by Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). [7] [8]
On September 30, 2021, Yoasobi tweeted "IOOI / NOON" with the mysterious four images of the cartoonish vertical and horizontal rotating bookshelf. They show the colored cover books with the title "Yoasobi Story", the dates, and the word "noon", and the book spines with the duo's English song title, the latest livestream concert title Sing Your World, and the slogan "novel into music" among mostly plain and a few colored book spines. [9] A day later, on the duo's second anniversary, they announced the second EP, titled The Book 2, alongside its track listing and cover artwork, scheduled for release on December 1. Pre-orders began on the same day of the announcement. [10] In 2024, the vinyl format was released elsewhere by Sony Music Germany and Black Screen Records in July 26, [11] and in Japan with the different cover artwork illustrated by EIM (Junhwi Kang) on October 23. [12]
On December 1, 2022, the same day as The Book 2 announcement, they also announced "Nice to Meet You Countdown" for the new announcement every Friday at noon (JST) for ten weeks until December 3, [13] The second revealing was the release as standalone single of "Tsubame" on October 25, [14] and the final announced the duo's appearance at the documentary program Jōnetsu Tairiku , broadcast on December 12. [15] On November 23, Yoasobi released the EP's snippets "crossfade movie" and announced a phone call campaign as they did when promoting The Book. Fans can make a telephone call on November 23–30 for commentary of The Book 2's tracks daily. On the last day of the campaign, during their radio show, Yoasobi's All Night Nippon X , fans can call directly with the duo. [16]
Yoasobi appeared on Best Artist 2021 , performing "Gunjō" for the first time via television on November 17. [17] They debuted the televised performance of "Mō Sukoshi Dake" on December 1 at 2021 FNS Music Festival . [18] The duo appeared on Songs the next day, and performed "Loveletter", "Taishō Roman", and "Tsubame" together with Midories for the first time. [19] They performed "Sangenshoku" at the six-hour special edition of Music Station , titled Music Station Ultra Super Live 2021 on December 24. [20] Yoasobi gave debut performances of "Kaibutsu", "Yasashii Suisei", and "Moshi mo Inochi ga Egaketara" on December 30 at the 63th Japan Record Awards, [21] and participated the 72nd NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen on the New Year's Eve to perform "Gunjō" and "Tsubame" with Midories. [22] [23]
One-off concert by Yoasobi | |
Location | Tokyo, Japan |
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Venue | Nippon Budokan |
Associated album | The Book 2 |
Date(s) | December 4–5, 2021 |
Duration | c. 110 minutes |
No. of shows | 2 |
Attendance | 14,000 (offline) [24] |
Yoasobi concert chronology |
On October 1, 2021, the same day as the EP announcement, Yoasobi announced their one-off concert, titled Nice to Meet You in support of The Book 2. It was held from December 4 to 5 at Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, marking their first face-to-face concert since their debut in 2019. [25] The performance of "Kaibutsu" from the first day of the concert was lived via YouTube as part of the virtual online music festival YouTube Music Weekend. [26] [27] In addition to in-venue, livestream was also available for the official fan club website Club Yoasobi via Stagecrowd. [28]
The first-day show was re-run via Wowow streaming service on January 22, 2022. [29] The footage of the concert was included on the duo's first video album The Film , released on March 23, [30] which use the concert performances of "Moshi mo Inochi ga Egaketara" and "Tsubame" to promote the album. [31] [32] The duo uploaded three shows from the first day of the concert, which originally broadcast through Wowow, between July 26 to 28 at 17:00 JST, consisting of "Kaibutsu", "Yasashii Suisei", and "Gunjō". [33]
This set list is representative of the show on both December 4 and 5, 2021. [34] [35]
The Book 2 debuted at number two on both Oricon Albums Chart and Combined Albums Chart of December 13, 2021, selling 80,015 CDs in its first week, behind HKT48's Outstanding . [36] [37] It also peaked atop Digital Albums Chart, collecting 10,448 downloads, scored Yoasobi their third number-one digital albums of the chart, after The Book , and E-Side . [38] For Billboard Japan , The Book 2 debuted at number one on the Hot Albums, making it the first number-one album of the chart. [39] It opened with 83,585 CD copies (number two on the Top Albums Sales), [40] and 8,717 download albums (number one on the Download Albums). [41] The EP certified gold for physical release by RIAJ on January 14, 2022. [42]
Ceremony | Year | Category | Result | Ref. |
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CD Shop Awards | 2022 | Grand Prize (Red) | Nominated | [43] |
Finalist Award | Won | |||
Special Award | Won |
All tracks are written by Ayase
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Tsubame" (ツバメ; featuring Midories) | 3:36 |
2. | "Sangenshoku" (三原色) | 3:40 |
3. | "Taishō Roman" (大正浪漫) | 2:46 |
4. | "Mō Sukoshi Dake" (もう少しだけ) | 3:38 |
5. | "Yasashii Suisei" (優しい彗星) | 3:33 |
6. | "Kaibutsu" (怪物) | 3:25 |
7. | "Moshi mo Inochi ga Egaketara" (もしも命が描けたら) | 3:21 |
8. | "Loveletter" (ラブレター) | 3:30 |
Total length: | 27:29 |
Weekly charts
Monthly charts
| Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Japan (RIAJ) [53] Physical | Gold | 133,974 [54] |
Japan Digital | — | 69,277 [55] |
Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
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Various | December 1, 2021 | Sony Japan | [56] | |
Japan | CD | |||
Taiwan | October 20, 2023 | Sony Taiwan | [57] | |
Various | July 26, 2024 | Vinyl |
| [58] |
Japan | October 23, 2024 | Sony Japan | [59] |
Yoasobi is a Japanese pop duo formed in 2019. It consists of musician and record producer Ayase and singer-songwriter Lilas Ikuta, under the moniker Ikura. With the slogan "novel into music", the duo originally released songs based on selected short stories posted on Monogatary.com, a social media website for creative writing operated by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Sources later also come from various media like stories written by professional authors, books, letters, plays, etc.
"Yoru ni Kakeru" is the debut single by Japanese duo Yoasobi from their debut EP, The Book (2021). It was released on December 15, 2019, by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The song was based on Mayo Hoshino's short story, An Invitation from Thanatos, which was published on the creative writing social media Monogatary.com, and won the Sony Music Award, and the Grand Prize from Monocon 2019.
"Gunjō" is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi, featuring an uncredited chorus by cover group Plusonica, from their debut EP, The Book (2021). It was released as a single through Sony Music Entertainment Japan on September 1, 2020. Inspired by Tsubasa Yamaguchi's manga Blue Period and based on a story text Ao o Mikata ni, the song is described as "a cheering song that inspires listeners by immersing themselves in what they like and expressing what they see."
The Book is the debut EP by Japanese duo Yoasobi. It was released on January 6, 2021, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan, the same date with their single "Kaibutsu", accompanied the second season of Beastars. A concept of "reading CD" with binder package, the EP consists of all singles released from 2019 to 2020, including other track "Encore". The track-by-track cover EP Mikunoyoasobi by Ayase with Vocaloid voicebank Hatsune Miku, was released on the same day exclusively at Tower Records Japan.
The year 2021 in Japanese music.
"Kaibutsu" is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi from their second EP, The Book 2 (2021). It was released as a single through Sony Music Entertainment Japan on January 6, 2021, the same date as the duo's debut EP, The Book. As an opening theme for the second season of the anime television series Beastars, "Kaibutsu" is about a carnivore trying to coexist with herbivores in a cruel world, based on Jibun no Mune ni Jibun no Mimi o Oshi Atete, written by the anime's writer Paru Itagaki.
"Yasashii Suisei" is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi from their second EP, The Book 2 (2021). It was released as a single on January 20, 2021, by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, and released as a double A-side CD single together with "Kaibutsu" on March 24. The song was featured as an ending theme song for the second season of the anime television series Beastars.
"Mō Sukoshi Dake" is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi from their second EP, The Book 2 (2021). It was released as a single on May 10, 2021, by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Written by Ayase and based on Chiharu's short story Meguru, the song is a pop song, telling about giving the courage to take a little more at the beginning of a day. The song featured as a theme song for Fuji TV's morning news, Mezamashi TV.
The discography of Japanese duo Yoasobi consists of seven extended plays, twenty-six singles, two promotional singles, two video album, and thirty-one music videos. Four of Yoasobi's songs—"Yoru ni Kakeru", "Gunjō", "Kaibutsu", and "Idol"—received diamond certifications for surpassing 500 million streams by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), the most among artists.
"Sangenshoku" is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi, from their second EP, The Book 2 (2021). It was released as a single on July 2, 2021, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The song featured as a background music for mobile service Ahamo advertisement. Based on Yūichirō Komikado's short story RGB, the song depicts relationships between childhood friends that are still connected even though they live in different places.
"Loveletter" is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi from their second EP, The Book 2 (2021). It was released as a single on August 9, 2021, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The song was written by Ayase and based on Hatsune's letter Ongaku-san e, which won the Letter Song Project, a collaboration with radio show Sunday's Post. "Loveletter" peaked at number three on the Oricon Combined Singles Chart, and number four on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.
"Moshi mo Inochi ga Egaketara" is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi from their second EP, The Book 2. It was first released on December 1, 2021, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan, and later released as a standalone promotional single on August 12, 2022. Written by Ayase, the song featured as a theme song of the stage of the same name, Moshi mo Inochi ga Egaketara, written by screenwriter Osamu Suzuki, and based on it.
E-Side is the debut English-language EP by Japanese duo Yoasobi. It was released on November 12, 2021, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The EP consists of eight tracks from the duo's songs in the English language, including their previous-release singles "Into the Night", "RGB", "Monster", and "Blue". Konnie Aoki is in charge of translating all tracks into English. Commercially, E-Side debuted at number 19 on the Oricon Combined Albums Chart and number nine on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums.
The Oricon Combined Albums Chart is a record chart released weekly by Oricon—a major provider of information on the Japanese music industry. First published on December 24, 2018, it ranks the top fifty albums through an equivalent unit system based on physical CD sales, digital downloads, and the streaming of songs. The Oricon Albums Chart only factors physical sales. The Combined Albums Chart is competed by Billboard Japan's Hot Albums, another multi-factor record chart.
The Film is the first video album by Japanese duo Yoasobi. It was released on March 23, 2022, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan, on Blu-ray exclusively. It consists of the duo's 2021 three concerts: Keep Out Theater, Sing Your World, and Nice to Meet You ; and the enlarged version of their episode of documentary program Jōnetsu Tairiku, broadcast in December 2021. The Film debuted atop both the Oricon Blu-ray Disc Chart, and the Music DVD and Blu-ray Chart, selling 21,000 copies in its first week.
"Shukufuku" is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi from their third EP, The Book 3 (2023). It was released as a single on October 1, 2022, by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, served as the opening theme of the first season of the Japanese mecha anime series Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury (2022).
E-Side 2 is the second English-language EP and fourth overall by Japanese duo Yoasobi. It was released on November 18, 2022, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The EP consists of eight tracks from the duo's songs in the English language which are not included in their first English-language EP E-Side, preceded by two singles–"The Swallow", and "The Blessing"–released in the same month.
The Book 3 is the third Japanese-language EP by Japanese duo Yoasobi. It was released on October 4, 2023, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan, one year and ten months after their second EP The Book 2 (2021). Continuing with the "reading CD" concept as previous records, the EP spans electropop and synth-pop genres, comprising ten tracks, which were solely written and produced by one half of the duo Ayase.
"Yūsha" is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi from their third EP, The Book 3 (2023). It was released as a single by Sony Music Entertainment Japan on September 29, 2023, serving as the first opening theme for the 2023 Japanese anime series Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.
"Kawaikute Gomen" is a song by the Japanese musical group HoneyWorks. It serves as the character song of Chizuru Nakamura, also known by her persona Chuu-tan, from the 2022 anime series Heroines Run the Show, which is part of the group's Kokuhaku Jikkō Iinkai: Ren'ai Series multimedia project.