YOASOBI (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese music duo composed of vocaloid music producer Ayase and vocalist Ikura (幾田りら/Lilas Ikuta). The group has released four music videos, all of which are based on short stories posted on Monogatary, a website operated by Sony Music Japan, later also from various novels and book tie-ups. The name "YOASOBI" originates from the Japanese word 夜遊び, meaning "nightlife". Ayase, who is a producer of the group said he named it as a wish that he could take on various playful challenges by comparing the appearance of acting as an individual to the appearance of daytime and the appearance of two people acting as YOASOBI as the appearance of the night. The group has a slogan "novel into music" (小説を音楽にする, shōsetsu o ongaku ni suru), , which goes along with their amazing ability to create songs with incredibly meaningful lyrics, especially when it comes to their themes for various anime and games. 2019-2020: Formation and rising up with "Yoru ni Kakeru" Both members of YOASOBI had active music careers prior to forming the group. Ayase gained a following on the video hosting site Niconico since his first upload on 24 December 2018, a song titled Sentensei Assault Girl (先天性アサルトガール). On 23 November 2019, he released an EP, Yūrei Tōkyō (幽霊東京), which reached third on iTunes' album chart. Ikuta, performing under the name Rira Ikuta (幾田りら), had already released two EPs: Rerise in 2017 and Jukebox in 2019. The first song released by the duo was "Yoru ni Kakeru", based on Mayo Hoshino's short story "Thanatos no Yūwaku" hosted on Monogatary. The music video was released first on 16 November 2019, where it broke 10 million views in five months on YouTube as well as being popular on TikTok. It was subsequently released as a single on 15 December 2019, where it topped the popularity charts on both Spotify and Line Music. More than five months after its release, the single would top the Billboard Japan Hot 100 on 1 June 2020. Following the success of their first release, on 18 January 2020, YOASOBI released their second single, "Ano Yume o Nazotte", this time based on Sōta Ishiki's "Yume no Shizuku to Hoshi no Hana". On 20 April 2020, Yoasobi released a teaser for their third single, "Halzion", which is based on Shunki Hashizume's "Soredemo, Happy End". "Halzion" marked the first time that YOASOBI collaborated with a professional novelist, whereas the first two were amateur writers. The single was released as a promotional project by Suntory to advertise their new energy drink named Zone. The single was official released on 11 May 2020. In the second half of the year, Yoasobi released their fourth song, "Tabun", on July 20. The song was based on the short story of the same name by Shinano.[15] Their fifth song, "Gunjō" was released September 1. The song collaborated with a manga, Blue Period for Bourbon's Alfort Mini Chocolate advertisement. The song was based on Alfort's television advertisement story text Ao o Mikata ni.[16] On December 18, the duo released their sixth song, "Haruka", based on Osamu Suzuki's novel, Tsuki Ōji.[17] On December 31, 2020, they debuted in 71st NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen and performed "Yoru ni Kakeru", which is also their first live performance. 2021–present: The Book On January 6, 2021, Yoasobi released their first extended play and first physical release The Book, which included the six previous songs and three new songs, "Encore" as a lead single, "Epilogue" as an intro, and "Prologue" as an outro.[19] The duo also released their seventh song, "Kaibutsu", on the same day.[20] The song has been featured as the opening theme song for the second season of the anime television series Beastars.[21] The anime's ending theme song and duo's eighth song, "Yasashii Suisei", was released on January 20.[22] Both were released as a double A-side single in physical format on March 24.[23] On January 20, the duo opened their fan club website "Club Yoasobi" (CLUB 夜遊)[24] and announced that they would hold their first concert, Keep Out Theater on February 14[25] at the inside of the building under construction at the former site of Shinjuku Milano for an online audience of 40,000 people.[26] The duo released the ninth song for the Fuji TV's morning show Mezamashi TV, titled "Mō Sukoshi Dake" on May 10, and was based on a novel Meguru, which won the Yoasobi Contest Vol.3 with Mezamashi TV by Chiharu.[27] "Sangenshoku", an upcoming tenth song for the advertisement for the NTT Docomo's mobile service Ahamo, was based on a novel RPG by scriptwriter Yūichirō Komikado.[28] It will be released in the early summer of 2021. Members: ‣ Ayase – producer (lyrics, composition, arrangement, synthesizer, keyboard, sampler, manipulator) ‣ Ikura – vocals Supporting members: ‣ Zaquro Misohagi – keyboard chorus ‣ AssH – guitar ‣ Honogomu – drum ‣ Hikaru Yamamoto – bass Official website: https://www.yoasobi-music.jp/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/yoasobi_staff YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvpredjG93ifbCP1Y77JyFA