''The Book'' is the debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

(EP) and first physical release recorded by

Yoasobi Yoasobi (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese music superduo formed by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, composed of Vocaloid producer Ayase, and singer-songwriter Ikura. Represented by the slogan "novel into music", the duo has released songs ba ...

. It was released through

Sony Music Entertainment Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is opera ...

on January 6, 2021, the same date with their single " Kaibutsu", accompanied the second season of ''

Beastars ''Beastars'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Paru Itagaki. It was serialized in Akita Shoten's ''Weekly Shōnen Champion'' from September 2016 to October 2020, with its chapters collected in 22 ''t ...

'', "

Encore An encore is an additional performance given by performers after the planned show has ended, usually in response to extended applause from the audience.Lalange Cochrane, in ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Alison Latham, ed., Oxford University Pres ...

" serves 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 ...

of the EP. Ayase, a member of the duo, also released the cover version of ''The Book'', on the same day as the EP, titled '' Mikunoyoasobi'', recorded by

Hatsune Miku , also called Miku Hatsune, and officially code-named CV01, is a Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media and its official moe anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mascot character, a 16-year-old girl with long, turquoise bu ...

, exclusively at

Tower Records Japan Tower Records is an international retail franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when Tower Records ...

Commercial performance

''The Book'' debuted at number two on the

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Albu ...

, behind SixTones's '' 1ST'', selling 72,238 copies in its first week. and 146,745 copies as of 2021. It topped

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

Digital Albums Chart for five consecutive weeks and the year-end chart with 100,656 downloads in 2021 alone, becoming the only album to reach this milestone in the year. For ''Billboard Japan'' Hot Albums, ''The Book'' entered at number two with 74,601 CD copies, and 10,069 download units. ''The Book'' received a gold certification for both physical and digital release by

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). All tracks of the EP except the intro and outro are also certified platinum or higher for streaming by RIAJ.

Accolades

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the EP liner notes. * Ayase – songwriter, producer * Ikura – vocals * Rockwell – guitar * AssH – guitar * Takeruru – guitar * Plusonica – chorus * Takayuki Saitō – vocal recording * Masahiko Fukui – mixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Book, The 2021 debut EPs 2021 EPs Japanese-language EPs Sony Music Entertainment Japan EPs Yoasobi EPs