YOASOBI’s ‘Idol’ tops global charts, creating a new streaming milestone for Japanese music

YOASOBI’s song ‘Idol’ is strutting its stuff on the global stage. The theme song for the televised anime adaptation of Aka Akasaka and Mengo Yokoyari’s manga, Oshi no Ko, has shot to the #1 spot on Apple Music’s Top 100: Global chart as of Wednesday, June 21. Its reign began back in April on the Billboard Japan streaming song chart, dominating the #1 spot a week after its digital debut.

It’s not just about chart-topping fame, though. ‘Idol’ holds two records in Japan: it’s the quickest song to zoom past the 100 and 200 million streams milestone, pulling off these feats in a mere five and nine weeks, respectively.

In a surprising twist, the English version of ‘Idol’ swept the #1 spot on Billboard’s Global Excl. U.S. survey on June 10, making it the first Japanese-origin song to conquer the global charts. It had already made its mark on the Top 10 with the original Japanese version six weeks prior.

The anime featuring this chart-topper premiered on April 12 in Japan, accompanied by a riveting 90-minute first episode. HIDIVE has been broadcasting the anime in sync with its Japanese release, and it’s proven to be their “#1 series launch in streamer’s history.”

The man behind the manga, Akasaka, gave life to the ‘Idol’ song, based on his short story “45510”. The series, under the expert direction of Daisuke Hiramaki and Chao Nekotomi, flaunts character designs by Kanna Hirayama, while Queen Bee wraps up each episode with the catchy ending theme ‘Mephisto.’

Akasaka and Yokoyari released the Oshi no Ko manga in April 2020 through Shueisha’s Weekly Young Jump magazine, and it’s been a roaring success, with over 3 million copies currently in circulation. The tantalizing tale of a gynecologist-cum-idol fan, Gorou, who forms a wild bond with his favourite star, Ai, was recognized as the Best General Manga at the 46th annual Kodansha Manga Awards and scored first place in the seventh ‘Next Manga Awards.’ It seems that ‘Idiot’ is not the only thing from this series that’s hitting high notes!