The Book 3 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
EP by | ||||
Released | October 4, 2023 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 29:31 | |||
Language | Japanese | |||
Label | Sony Japan | |||
Producer | Ayase | |||
Yoasobi chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from The Book 3 | ||||
The Book 3 is the third Japanese-language EP (sixth overall) 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.
Eight singles preceded The Book 3, including top-five anime opening theme songs: Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury 's "Shukufuku", Oshi no Ko 's "Idol", and Frieren: Beyond Journey's End 's "Yūsha". Commercially, The Book 3 peaked at number two on both the Oricon Albums Chart and Billboard Japan Hot Albums, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipments of over 100,000 units. The EP won Finalist Award (Red) at the 16th CD Shop Awards.
Yoasobi released their first two extended plays in 2021— The Book and The Book 2 —with the concept of a "reading CD" with a binder package. [1] [2] The EPs peaked at number two on the Oricon Albums Chart, [3] [4] In 2021, the duo collaborated with Naoki Prize-winning four novelists Rio Shimamoto, Mizuki Tsujimura, Miyuki Miyabe, and Eto Mori for the short story collection Hajimete no , published in March 2022. It inspired four songs "Mr.", "Suki da", "Umi no Manimani", and "Seventeen", which were included on a companion EP. [5] Apart from the project, the duo released the theme song for Universal Studios Japan's 2023 Unibaru campaign "Adventure", [6] and two anime series opening themes: "Shukufuku" for Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury and "Idol" for Oshi no Ko , which the latter became the duo's most successful song to date in both Japan and overseas. [7] [8] [9]
On September 1, 2023, Yoasobi announced their third extended play, titled The Book 3, alongside its track list and album cover, set to be released on October 4. Pre-orders of the EP began on the same day, being made available only as a limited-edition binder package. [10] The Book 3 consists of all singles from 2022 to then-recent September 2023, including all songs from Hajimete no – EP; and three new tracks, which two are interludes "Awakening" and "Worship", an intro of "Shukufuku" and "Idol", respectively, and another is an opening theme for anime series Frieren: Beyond Journey's End , titled "Yūsha", which was announced the same day as the EP via a promotional video of the anime. [11] The song was released as a single ahead of the EP on September 29. [12] The Book 3's trailer was uploaded on October 1. [13] A year later, in 2024, the vinyl record format was released elsewhere by Sony Music Germany and Black Screen Records on July 26, [14] and in Japan with the different cover artwork illustrated by Qingyi on October 23. [15]
The Book 3 is an electropop and synth-pop record, [16] and contains ten tracks. The opening track "Yūsha" incorporated the Frieren titular character's emotional changes and memories towards the hero Himmel. [17] Despite funky and upbeat music, [18] it expresses the lonely and melancholy atmosphere of the anime. [19] "Shukufuku" narrates perspective from Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury's character XVX-016 Gundam Aerial to its host Suletta Mercury to fight alongside her and watch her lead-up to the events of the anime. [20] "Umi no Manimani" talks about a girl who runs away from home and gets off at a train station by the sea at night, and she is called out to by a mysterious girl. [21] Described as a "painfully ephemeral" city pop track, "Mr." is about the desire of an android towards their owner. [22]
A combination of Japanese idol-styled pop, hip hop, rock, and video game music, [23] "Idol" depicts the two-faced nature of idols in the entertainment industry [24] via various perspectives on Oshi no Ko's character Ai Hoshino from her fans, her groupmates, and herself. [25] It is followed by "Seventeen", expressing a 17-year-old girl who decided to bid farewell to the world she lived in and her parents to save the crisis in the parallel world. [26] "Adventure" is described as "a bright and refreshing spring-like song packed with fun memories at the [Universal Studios Japan] park." [27] The Book 3 concluded with "Suki da", telling the protagonist's fourth attempt to confess her crush, who is her childhood friend while struggling across space and time to erase her past love confessions. [28] [29]
After The Book 3 announcement, on September 14, 2023, Yoasobi appeared at the television special NHK Music Expo 2023 , where they discussed their favorite music with South Korean acts Seventeen's Woozi and NewJeans, [30] and broadcast the performance of "Idol" filmed at the 2023 Summer Sonic Festival. [31] The duo performed "Idol" on television for the first time at South Korean music show M Countdown on September 21. [32] They also gave interviews and appeared on magazine covers for NME , [33] Rockin'On Japan , [34] Separate Volume Kadokawa , [35] Rolling Stone Japan with Bring Me the Horizon's Oliver Sykes, [36] Anan , [37] and only interview with With . [38]
Just like with their previous EPs, Yoasobi commemorated the release with the telephone campaign Denwa o "Yoru ni Kakeru" Shisaku for commentaries of each track from The Book 3 from September 27 to October 4; on the last day, fans were able to call the duo directly. [39] The duo appeared on several television shows during the promotion: Mezamashi TV , [40] Nichiyōbi no Hatsumimi-gaku , [41] Ano-chan no Den Den Denpa , [42] Ogen-san no Sabusuku-dō, [43] and The Weekly 99 Music . [44] They performed "Adventure" on television for the first time at CDTV Live! Live! on December 18, [45] and gave the televised performance of "Idol" at the 74th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen on the 31st. [46] In support of the EP, Yoasobi embarked on their first Asia Tour from December 2023 to January 2024, including appearances at Clockenflap in Hong Kong and Simple Life Festival in Taiwan, [47] and continued with the Pop Out Zepp Tour in Japan between January and March 2024. [48]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Financial Times | [49] |
Mie Sugiura from Rockin'On Japan praised The Book 3 as a "wonderful EP" with an "ultimate level of perfection", and a "collection of short stories expressed through magnificent yet delicate music." [50] Financial Times 's critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney rated the EP three out of five stars for the "manic coding sessions, at once hectic and precisely put together." [49] Sara Delgado of Teen Vogue listed the EP as one of the fifteen best non-English albums of 2023. [16]
In Japan, The Book 3 debuted at number two on the Oricon Albums Chart, selling 71,556 copies, behind only Mr. Children's Miss You . [51] It also topped the Digital Albums Chart, Yoasobi's fourth album to do so, gaining 11,021 downloads in its first week, [52] for four non-consecutive weeks. [53] Overall, the EP landed at number two on the Combined Albums Chart. [51] The Book 3 entered the Billboard Japan Hot Albums at number two, blocked from Miss You. [54] In its first week, the EP earned 72,927 physical copies (number two on the Top Albums Sales), [55] and 9,094 downloads (number one on the Download Albums); the latter was the second biggest digital sales week in 2023, behind 15,190 units of Kessoku Band's self-titled album, [56] and topped for three consecutive week. [57] In November, The Book 3 received gold certification for physical format from the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), exceeding 100,000 shipments. [58]
Ceremony | Year | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
CD Shop Awards | 2024 | Grand Prize (Red) | Nominated | [59] |
Finalist Award | Won |
All tracks are written by Ayase.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Yūsha" (勇者) | 3:14 |
2. | "Interlude 'Awakening'" | 0:48 |
3. | "Shukufuku" (祝福) | 3:12 |
4. | "Umi no Manimani" (海のまにまに) | 4:16 |
5. | "Mr." (ミスター) | 3:05 |
6. | "Interlude 'Worship'" | 1:07 |
7. | "Idol" (アイドル) | 3:31 |
8. | "Seventeen" (セブンティーン) | 3:18 |
9. | "Adventure" (アドベンチャー) | 3:18 |
10. | "Suki da" (好きだ) | 3:37 |
Total length: | 29:31 |
Weekly charts
Monthly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Japan (RIAJ) [68] Physical | Gold | 152,712 [69] |
Japan Digital | — | 49,134 [70] |
Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Various | October 4, 2023 | Sony Japan | [71] | |
Japan | CD | |||
Taiwan | October 20, 2023 | Sony Taiwan | [72] | |
Various | July 26, 2024 | Vinyl |
| [73] |
Japan | October 23, 2024 | Sony Japan | [74] |
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.
"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.
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.
The Book 2 is the second Japanese-language EP 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".
"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.
Mikunoyoasobi is the second extended play (EP) by Japanese Vocaloid producer and songwriter Ayase. It was originally released exclusively on CD to Tower Records Japan store on January 6, 2021, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Subsequently, the EP was available on streaming platforms on September 21, 2023, two years and eight months after its original release. Mikunoyoasobi contains cover versions of seven tracks from Yoasobi's debut EP The Book recorded by Vocaloid software voicebank Hatsune Miku, including "Yoru ni Kakeru", which originally appears on the CD version of Ayase's debut EP Ghost City Tokyo.
"Mr." is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi from their EPs, Hajimete no – EP and The Book 3 (2023). It was released on February 16, 2022, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan, as the first single from the short story collection project Hajimete no. Written by Ayase and based on 159th Naoki Prize-winning Rio Shimamoto's short story Watashi Dake no Shoyūsha, the song is about the desire of an android for their owner. Commercially, "Mr." reached number 11 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, and number 19 on the Oricon Combined Singles Chart.
"Suki da" is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi from their EPs Hajimete no – EP and The Book 3 (2023). It was released on May 30, 2022, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan, as the second single from the short story collection project Hajimete no following "Mr." Based on the short story Hikari no Tane written by 135th Naoki Prize-winning Eto Mori, the song depicts a high school girl's fourth confession to her crush and efforts to erase her past confessions through time travel. "Suki da" peaked at number 23 on the Oricon Combined Singles Chart and number eight on the Billboard Japan Hot 100. The accompanying music video, directed by Kazuaki Seki, was uploaded on November 13.
"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.
"Adventure" is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi from their third EP, The Book 3 (2023). It was released as a single on February 15, 2023, by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Written by Ayase, the song is a theme for 2023 Universal Studios Japan's campaign Unibaru, based on Nagi's short story Lens Goshi no Kirameki o. Its accompanying music video, showing an animated girl dancing in the theme park, premiered on March 11. Commercially, "Adventure" peaked at number 48 on the Oricon Combined Singles Chart and number 30 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.
"Idol" is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi from their third EP, The Book 3 (2023). It was released as a single on April 12, 2023, by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, serving as the opening theme of the 2023 Japanese anime series Oshi no Ko. Written by Ayase and based on Aka Akasaka's short story 45510, "Idol" is a combination of Japanese idol-styled pop, hip-hop, rock, and video game music, and depicts the two-faced nature of a star in the Japanese idol industry. The lyrics delineate multiple different perspectives on the anime's central character, the idol Ai Hoshino, namely those of her fans, her fellow groupmates, and her own self. It additionally features shouts by B-boy group Real Akiba Boyz and gospel-like background vocals.
Ayase is a Japanese musician and record producer. He is best known as a Vocaloid producer and composer for Yoasobi, a musical duo composed of himself and vocalist Ikura. He was also a vocalist of the rock band Davinci until its disbandment in 2020.
"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.
E-Side 3 is the third English-language EP by Japanese duo Yoasobi. It was released on April 12, 2024, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The EP consists of eight tracks from the duo's songs recorded in the English language, including four preceding singles: "Idol", "The Brave", "Biri-Biri", and "Adventure".
"Undead" is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi, serving as the theme for the Off & Monster Season of the Monogatari anime series (2024). It was released as a single on July 1, 2024, by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Written by Ayase, the song was based on the light novel Monogatari writer Nisio Isin's short stories Nadeko Past and Shinobu Future. Commercially, "Undead" reached number ten on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, and number 14 on the Oricon Combined Singles Chart.