''Leo-Nine'' (stylized as ''LEO-NiNE'',

all caps In typography, all caps (short for "all capitals") refers to text or a font in which all letters are capital letters, for example: "THIS TEXT IS IN ALL CAPS". All caps may be used for emphasis (for a word or phrase). They are commonly seen in l ...

except the letter "i") is the fifth studio album by

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

singer

LiSA Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...

. It was released on October 14, 2020, through

Sacra Music Sacra Music (stylized as SACRA MUSIC) is a Japanese record label subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The record label was established on April 1, 2017, specializing in anison music. On September 25, 2021, SACRA MUSIC started an official ...

and Sony Music Japan. ''Leo-Nine'' marks the singer's first full-length project in over three years since ''Little Devil Parade'' (2017). Like ''Little Devil Parade'', ''Leo-Nine'' features a wide range of contribution from composers and producers, including long-time collaborators Pablo (

Pay Money to My Pain Pay Money to My Pain (stylized as Pay money To my Pain and abbreviated as P.T.P.) was a Japanese alternative rock/metal band. All of the band's lyrics are in English.

), Ryo Eguchi, Koichiro Takahashi, and Shota Horie. The album sold over 66,000 copies in its first week, reaching the number one spot on both Oricon Albums Chart and ''

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine '' Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway is a Japanese private railway compa ...

''s Hot Albums chart. Along with " Homura" debuting at number one on the Japan Hot 100, LiSA became the first artist ever to debut atop the ''Billboard Japan''s charts simultaneously. The album has since received a gold certification from the

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pr ...

(RIAJ). Four singles were released prior to the release of the album, with the first single "Akai Wana (Who Loves It?) / Adamas" peaking at number two on the Oricon Singles Chart. " Gurenge" marked LiSA's most successful single in the territory, reaching number three on Oricon as well as number two on the Japan Hot 100, and sold over a million downloads in Japan. "

Unlasting "Unlasting" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by Japanese pop singer LiSA. It was released as her sixteenth single digitally on October 21, 2019, and received a physical release on December 11, 2019. It reached number 4 on Oricon and number ...

" peaked at number four on the Oricon chart and number six on the Hot 100.

Background and release

LiSA released two compilation albums titled ''LiSA Best -Day-'' and ''LiSA Best -Way-'' on May 9, 2018. On August 12, 2020, the singer announced the release of her fifth studio album, '' Leo-Nine'' alongside a new single " Homura", which was slated to serve as the opening theme song of the anime movie '' Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train'' (2020). It follows her previous studio album ''Little Devil Parade'' released in May 2017, and marks her first full-length record in three years and five months. The track list was announced on September 2, 2020. The physical version was made available in four different editions: Regular Edition, Limited Edition, First Limited Edition A, and First Limited Edition B. The regular edition contained the album with 13 tracks. A limited CD+Blu-ray edition was offered with photo book. The album was also released under a First Press Limited Edition A, which comes with CD+Blue-ray disc and an exclusive booklet, while the First Press Limited Edition B contains a bonus DVD containing the jacket-shooting videos. The opening track from the album "play the world!" featuring LiSA's long-time collaborator Pablo (

Pay Money to My Pain Pay Money to My Pain (stylized as Pay money To my Pain and abbreviated as P.T.P.) was a Japanese alternative rock/metal band. All of the band's lyrics are in English.

), was pre-released on September 4. The track was later selected as the opening song of e-sports championship, Rainbow Six Japan Championship 2020. ''Leo-Nine'' was released on October 14, 2020, by

and Sony Music Japan.

Singles

The lead single "Akai Wana (Who Loves It?)/Adamas" was released as a

double A-sided The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

single on December 12, 2018. It was offered as the opening theme song of '' Sword Art Online: Alicization''. It peaked at number two on the Oricon Singles Chart and number four on the Japan Hot 100. Additionally, it topped ''Billboard Japan''s Hot Animation chart for two consecutive weeks. In April 2020, the single was certified platinum by the RIAJ, denoting sales of 250,000 copies. was served as the second single, being released on July 3, 2019. It was used as the opening theme song of the anime series ''

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge. It follows teenage Tanjiro Kamado, who strives to become a demon slayer after his family was slaughtered and his younger sister, Nezuko Kamado, Nezuko, turned into a ...

'' (2019). "Gurenge" was a commercial success in Japan, marking LiSA's most successful single. It reached number two on the Japan Hot 100 and number three on the Oricon Weekly Singles chart. Additionally, it topped the Animation chart 38 times during the tracking period of November 25, 2019 to November 22, 2020. "Gurenge" became the first single by a female artist to sell over one million digital copies in Japan, and the third single overall since

Kenshi Yonezu is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, record producer and illustrator who began releasing Vocaloid music under the stage name in 2009. In 2012, he debuted under his real name, releasing music with his own voice. He has sold at least 4.2 mi ...

's "

Lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

" (2018) and "

Uma to Shika "Uma to Shika" (馬と鹿, Horse and Deer) is the 10th single by Kenshi Yonezu is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, record producer and illustrator who began releasing Vocaloid music under the stage name in 2009. In 2012, he debuted unde ...

" (2019). In July 2020, "Gurenge" was certified Million by the

(RIAJ) for 1,000,000 full-track digital

music download A music download (commonly referred to as a digital download) is the digital transfer of music via the Internet into a device capable of decoding and playing it, such as a personal computer, portable media player, MP3 player or smartphone. T ...

s. The single was awarded as one of the Best 5 Songs by Download at the 34th Japan Gold Disc Awards. "

" was released as album's third single on December 11, 2019. It served as the first ending theme song of the anime series '' Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld''. The single reached number six on the Hot 100, and number four on Oricon's Weekly Chart. was served as a

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

from the album on August 17, 2020, receiving a lyric video. It was delivered as the theme song of the Japanese drama ''13''.

Commercial performance

''Leo-Nine'' debuted at number one on the Oricon Albums Chart on the chart issue dated October 20, 2020, selling 66,000 copies in its first week. The same week, LiSA also topped the Oricon Singles Chart with " Homura". By doing so, LiSA became the first female artist in 16 years and 6 months to simultaneously debut a song and an album in Japan since Hikaru Utada. It reached number one on ''

''s Daily Album Chart, pulling 41,451 copies in its first three days. It went on to chart at number one on the weekly Hot Albums chart, selling 66,165 copies in its opening week. With "Homura" simultaneously topping the Japan Hot 100, LiSA became the first act in history to have both a song and an album debut at number one on the chart. ''Leo-Nine'' has been certified gold by the RIAJ, denoting 100,000 copies sent to Japanese retailers.

Background and release

Singles

Commercial performance

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

Footnotes

Citations