Chainsaw Man, the popular shonen manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto, has been attracting countless readers since its debut in 2018, and soon became one of the most anticipated serializations of Shonen Jump magazine. With each volume, more and more fans joined its growing success.
In June 2021, during its tenth anniversary event, the famous studio MAPPA announced its next big production. It was the anime adaptation of Chainsaw Man, a news that undoubtedly thrilled the fans of this story. Since then, it was profiled as one of the most awaited anime of the fall 2022 season.
Chainsaw Man’s Kick Back is a hit
It is a fact that one of the success factors for an anime adaptation of manga is its soundtrack, especially its opening and ending themes. These are data that cannot be overlooked, because it is through music that part of the story is also expressed, whether in calm moments or in epic battles.
Chainsaw Man is no exception, although it announced twelve different ending sequences, one per episode, they did not have such a reception as its opening did. The opening sequence captivated the fans not only for its great visual content, its multiple references to great works of cinema and art and even metaphors, but also because the musical theme that accompanies them is simply amazing.
We are talking about the musical theme Kick Back, by the Japanese musician Kenshi Yonezu, who started from Vocaloid compositions and then debuted with his own voice as a soloist. He made his way in the music world, participating with franchises as famous as My Hero Academia, in his second opening “Piece Sing”, another success in his career.
Since the premiere of the first episode of Chainsaw Man, the opening Kick Back quickly accumulated millions of views on Youtube platform, becoming the most listened to musical theme of the fall 2022 season, surpassing opening themes such as “New Era” from One Piece or “Mixed Nuts” from Spy x Family, and leading the weekly Billboard Japan ranking for several weeks.
Recently, a fantastic recognition has been awarded to the composer Kenshi Yonezu. It is the Gold certification by RIAA: Recording Industry Association of America, as a result of Kick Back single having achieved 500 000 sales in physical format only in the United States of America.
During this event, Kenshi Yonezu was seen posing with the recognition that was given to him, with Chainsaw Man’s art and the gold disc and in another photograph with a Pochita in his hands. In delivering this award, Yonezu said a few words about it: “I have been listening to a lot of American pop music since I was a kid. I am very happy that I have been accepted.”
This great commemoration not only represents a great triumph in the soloist Kenshi Yonezu’s career, but it marks a watershed in music history, as it is the first Japanese song to obtain Gold certification by RIAA.
Meanwhile, Kenshi Yonezu continues to gather successes during his musical career, recently with the official theme of Studio Ghibli’s latest film , “The Boy and The Heron” and Kick Back as Chainsaw Man’s opening theme, he has become one of the most successful singles of Reiwa Era , which goes from 2019 to present.
