Mr. (Yoasobi Song)

is a song by Japanese duo Yoasobi, taken from their EP '' Hajimete no – EP''. It was released as a standalone single on February 16, 2022, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Written by Ayase, the song is about the desire of an android for their owner, based on 159th Naoki Prize-winning novelist Rio Shimamoto's ''Watashi Dake no Shoyūsha'', one of four stories from the novel collection '' Hajimete no'', which was published on the same day as the single. Commercially, "Mr." reached number 11 on the ''Billboard'' Japan Hot 100, and number 19 on the Oricon Combined Singles Chart.

Background and release

On December 1, 2021, the same day as the EP ''The Book 2'' release, Yoasobi announced a collaboration with four Naoki Prize-winning novelists: Rio Shimamoto, Mizuki Tsujimura, Miyuki Miyabe, and Eto Mori; for writing and singing songs based on the novelists' stories under the theme of "a story to read when you first did". All four novels were published as a book, titled '' Hajimete no'', on February 16, 2022. With the theme "a story when you first fell in love", Shimamoto's novel is about a "first feeling" of android Boku towards their owner Mr. Naruse.

On January 26, during their radio show '' Yoasobi's All Night Nippon X'', Yoasobi revealed the title of the song "Mr.", based on Shimamoto's novel. They made a poll on Twitter for fans to guess the single's release date between February 16, 18, or 21. On February 8, Yoasobi revealed the snippet at Fuji TV's morning show '' Mezamashi TV'' and announced that the single would be released on February 16 to digital music and streaming platforms, alongside the teaser video. The full song was aired for the first time at the radio show hosted by the duo on the same day. The single's cover artwork was designed by Tomoko Kikuchi.

Composition

"Mr." is described as a "painfully ephemeral" city pop song about the desire of an android to their owner, written by Ayase, a member of Yoasobi. The band member Zaquro Misohagi participates in the song's chorus. It was composed in the key of C♯ minor, 120 beats per minute with a running time of three minutes and seven seconds. Shimamoto commented the song "gently evoked memories of people I could not meet anymore."

Music video

An accompanying music video for "Mr." was premiered on May 22, 2022, at 8:00 PM ( JST), preceded by the teaser video on May 9. Produced by Ijiken Tokyo, who previously handled Yoasobi's " Halzion" music video, the music video depicts the android Boku reminiscing a memory with their owner Mr. Naruse before the owner is severely injured and dies in a large-scale catastrophe.

Commercial performance

"Mr." entered the Oricon Combined Singles Chart at number 19 and the Digital Singles (Single Track) Chart at number two with 18,914 downloads in its first week. For '' Billboard Japan'', the song debuted at number 11 on the Japan Hot 100. It sold 16,227 download units in its first week, charting at number two on the Download Songs, behind only Aimer's " Zankyōsanka". The song also debuted at number 46 on the Streaming Songs, and peaked at number 33. Globally, "Mr." reached number 143 on the ''Billboard'' Global Excl. U.S.

Live performances

Yoasobi gave the debut performances of "Mr." at 2022 Rock in Japan Festival on August 6, 2022, and Rising Sun Rock Festival on the 12th.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from YouTube.

Song
* Ayase – songwriter, producer
* Ikura – vocals
* Zaquro Misohagi – chorus
* Rio Shimamoto – based story writer
* Tomoko Kikuchi – cover artwork design

Music video

* Toshitaka Shinoda (Ijiken Tokyo) – director
* Yūki "Youkiss" Ōkubo (Ijiken Tokyo) – producer
** Mahiru Kurumizawa (Ijiken Tokyo) – assistant
** Rina Satō (Ijiken Tokyo) – assistant
* Pomodorosa – character draft
* Liberty Animation Studio Co., Ltd. – animation work
* Hyōe Ishida – episode director, CG, photography, composite
* Yutaka Satō – episode director, photography, composite
* Rio – character design, key animation director
* Michael Tanaka – key animation
* Tokito Satō – key animation
* Aoumi Nishihara – key animation
* Hana Nagao – key animation
* Mayuko Konosue – key animation
* Ai Tsuda – key animation
* Yuuta Kevin Kenmotsu – key animation
* Taku Kondō – key animation
* Shōhei Nishijima – key animation
* Ayaka Miura – key animation
* Ruki Matsui – key animation
* Tatsuya Miki – key animation
* Saranrappu – key animation
* Shirokuma – key animation
* Mizuki Ihara – key animation
* Tomomi Ise – in-between animation, touch-up animation
* Studio Hibari – in-between animation, touch-up animation
* Tomoko Tsuchiya – CG
* Chihori Muro – CG
* Yusuke Takeda (Bamboo) – art, setting
* Kentarō Ōnuki (Bamboo) – art, setting
* Fujisaki Teru – photography, composite
* Takuya Sakamoto – work producer
* CALF – image scene animation
* Yūta Kuniyasu – animation director, animator
* Eri Okazaki – animator
* Rino Shōda – animator
* Shin Hashimoto – animator
* Shūma Hirose – producer
* Leol (A4A Inc.) – motion graphics director
* Masaru Ishii – management
* Shū Horiuchi (.MP) – art director
* Muniku (.MP) – imageboard graphic design
* MN3 (.MP) – imageboard graphic design
* Takayuki Oguma – book editor
** Kōsei Nozaki – assistant

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

External links

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{{Yoasobi

2022 singles
2022 songs
Japanese-language songs
Songs about robots
Sony Music Entertainment Japan singles
Yoasobi songs