"Undead" | ||||
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Single by Yoasobi | ||||
Language | Japanese | |||
Released | July 1, 2024 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:02 | |||
Label | Sony Japan | |||
Songwriter(s) | Ayase | |||
Producer(s) | Ayase | |||
Yoasobi singles chronology | ||||
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Licensed audio | ||||
"Undead" on YouTube |
"Undead" is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi, serving as the theme [upper-alpha 1] for anime series Monogatari Series: Off & Monster Season (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.
In January 2024, an anime adaption of two sagas of light novel series Monogatari —"Off" and "Monster" seasons—was announced, set to premiere in the same year. [2] Later, on May 1, the official website of the anime series teased the upcoming announcement by countdown with an image of the letter "Y" on a red-pink background, as well as posted the image by the official X (formerly Twitter) account for the writer Nisio Isin's anime project. [3] [4] The next day, the anime series confirmed that Yoasobi would perform the theme song for Monogatari Series: Off & Monster Season, titled "Undead". [5]
In the press release, Ayase stated: "The Monogatari series has such a strong attachment to me that when asked about my favorite anime, I always answers Bakemonogatari ." [6] He also revealed in a Comic Natalie interview that he wrote the song about the Monogatari character Hitagi Senjōgahara when he was 18–19 and often performed it live with his rock band. [7] A snippet of the song was previewed via the trailer of the anime's first two arcs Orokamonogatari and Nademonogatari on May 3. [8] Around two months later, on June 24, the duo additionally teased the song via their social media. [9] [10] Five days later, they revealed the song's release date, to be July 1, 2024, and its cover artwork, featuring the character Yotsugi Ononoki making a V sign with both hands. [11]
"Undead" was sourced from two short stories written by Nisio, Nadeko Past (なでこパスト) and Shinobu Future (しのぶフューチャー), published on the anime's website the same day as the song release. [12] Both stories told the Monogatari characters Nadeko Sengoku and Shinobu Oshino lying on a sofa and receiving counseling from Yotsugi Ononoki about their nervousness. [13] [7] Ayase compared the short stories to his mental gloom at the time he wrote about his musical novelty losing. Musically, he composed the "danceable and very bright" music based on the image of Monogatari as a whole, rather than the short stories. [7] Tomoyuki Mori from Real Sound described the song as a "perfect blend of kick and bass that reaches deep into the body," the track that "intertwines brilliant and sharp synth phrases," and the inorganic melody that reminisces about early Vocaloid music. [13]
"Undead" debuted at number two on the Oricon Digital Singles Chart for the issue dated July 15, 2024, with 18,199 digital sales, behind Be:First and Ateez's "Hush-Hush". [14] For Billboard Japan charts, the song entered the Japan Hot 100 dated July 10 at number ten. It also landed at number two on the component Download Songs and number 17 on the Streaming Songs, earning 17,284 downloads and 4,791,166 streams in its first week. [15] [16] Additionally, "Undead" debuted at number four on the specific-genre Hot Animation chart. [17]
Chart (2024) | Peak position |
---|---|
Global Excl. U.S ( Billboard ) [18] | 181 |
Japan (Japan Hot 100) [19] | 10 |
Japan Hot Animation ( Billboard Japan ) [20] | 4 |
Japan Combined Singles (Oricon) [21] | 14 |
Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Various | July 1, 2024 | Sony Japan | [22] |
Nisio Isin, stylized as NISIOISIN to emphasize the palindrome, is a pseudonymous Japanese novelist, manga author, and screenplay writer.
Monogatari is a Japanese light novel series written by Nisio Isin and illustrated by Vofan. The plot centers on Koyomi Araragi, a third-year high school student who survives a vampire attack and finds himself helping girls involved with a variety of apparitions, ghosts, beasts, spirits, and other supernatural phenomena, which often serve as proxies for their emotional and mental issues. Since November 2006, Kodansha published 29 volumes in the series under its Kodansha Box imprint. All of the series' story arcs share the common title suffix -monogatari (物語).
Yoasobi is a Japanese pop duo formed in 2019 by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It is composed of Vocaloid producer Ayase and singer-songwriter Lilas Ikuta, under the moniker Ikura. Represented by 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 the label. Sources later also come from various media like stories written by professional authors, books, letters, plays, etc.
"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.
"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.
Lilas Ikuta is a Japanese singer and songwriter. She is best known as the vocalist of the duo Yoasobi with producer Ayase, under the stage name Ikura, and a former member of the cover group Plusonica. After numerous singles and extended plays releases, Ikuta released her debut studio album Sketch in March 2023 and peaked at number four on the Oricon Albums Chart.
"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.
"Tsubame" is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi, featuring children group Midories, from their second EP, The Book 2 (2021). It was released as a single on October 25, 2021, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The song featured as a theme for SDGs children television program series Hirogare! Irotoridori.
"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.
"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).
"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, depicting the two-faced nature of a star in the Japanese idol industry from perspectives on the anime's character Ai Hoshino by her fans, her B-Komachi's groupmates, and herself.
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.
"Renai Circulation" is a song from the 2009 Japanese anime television series Bakemonogatari and performed by Kana Hanazawa as her character, Nadeko Sengoku. Composed by Satoru Kōsaki with lyrics written by Meg Rock, "Renai Circulation" serves as both Nadeko's character image song as well as the opening theme song in episode 10 of Bakemonogatari, which first premiered on September 11, 2009, to represent the "Nadeko Snake" story arc.
"Yūsha" is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi from their third EP, The Book 3 (2023). It was released as a single on September 29, 2023, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan, served as the first opening theme for the 2023 Japanese anime series Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.
"Biri-Biri" is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi. It was released as a single on November 18, 2023, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan to commemorate the first anniversary of the release of 2022 role-playing video games Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Commercially, "Biri-Biri" peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and number 19 on the Oricon Combined Singles Chart.
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