The Book 2

The Book 2 (stylized in all caps) is the second Japanese extended play (EP) (third overall) by Japanese duo Yoasobi. It was released on December 1, 2021, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan, eleven months after their debut EP The Book (2021). It consists of eight tracks, preceded by the release of their singles in 2021, and included the new song "Moshi mo Inochi ga Egaketara", which serves as its promotional single. Commercially, The Book 2 debuted at number two on the Oricon Albums Chart, and atop Billboard Japan Hot Albums.

The Book 2
EP by
Yoasobi
ReleasedDecember 1, 2021
GenreJ-pop
Length27:29
LanguageJapanese
LabelSony Music Japan
ProducerAyase
Yoasobi chronology
E-Side
(2021)		 The Book 2
(2021)
Singles from The Book 2
  1. "Kaibutsu"
    Released: January 6, 2021
  2. "Yasashii Suisei"
    Released: January 20, 2021
  3. "Mō Sukoshi Dake"
    Released: May 10, 2021
  4. "Sangenshoku"
    Released: July 2, 2021
  5. "Loveletter"
    Released: August 9, 2021
  6. "Taishō Roman"
    Released: September 15, 2021
  7. "Tsubame"
    Released: October 25, 2021

Background

In 2021, Yoasobi released the debut EP The Book, preceded by the singles released in 2019–2020.[1] It peaked at number two on both Oricon Albums Chart, and Billboard Japan Hot Albums,[2][3] and atop the Oricon Digital Albums Chart for five consecutive weeks.[4] According to Oricon, the EP was sold both physically and digitally over 202,000 units in Japan as of June 2021[5][6] and certified gold for physical release by Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), surpassing 100,000 copies.[7] The duo also released six singles: "Kaibutsu", "Yasashii Suisei", "Mō Sukoshi Dake", "Sangenshoku", "Loveletter", and "Taishō Roman",[8] and three English version songs: "Into the Night", "RGB", and "Monster" in the year before The Book 2 announcement.[9]

Release

The Book 2 was released in the limited edition only on a CD with a ring binder package, and to digital music and streaming platforms.[10] Pre-order began on the same day of announcement at several record store.[10] It consists of eight tracks, i.e., six previous-release singles in 2021: "Kaibutsu", "Yasashii Suisei", "Mō Sukoshi Dake", "Sangenshoku", "Loveletter", and "Taishō Roman", and two new songs: "Tsubame", a theme song of NHK's SDGs children television program series Hirogare! Irotoridori featuring special group Midories, based on Nana Ototsuki's novel Chiisana Tsubame no Ōkina Yume,[11] and "Moshi mo Inochi ga Egaketara", a theme song of the stage of the same name, written and directed by Osamu Suzuki.[10]

Promotion

On September 30, 2021, Yoasobi tweeted "IOOI / NOON" with the mysterious four images of the cartoonish vertical and horizontal rotating bookshelf. They show the colored cover books with the title "Yoasobi Story", the dates, and the word "noon" and the duo's English song title, latest livestream concert title "Sing Your World", and slogan "novel into music" on the book spines among mostly plain and a few colored book spines.[12] A day later, on the duo's second anniversary, they announced the second EP, titled The Book 2, and its cover artwork, scheduled for release on December 1, alongside their first face-to-face one-off concert, titled Nice to Meet You, which would be held at Nippon Budokan, on December 4–5.[8]

The duo also announced "Nice to Meet You Countdown" for the new information announcement every Friday at 12:00 PM (JST) for ten weeks until the concert,[13] including, the stand-alone single version of "Tsubame" on October 25,[14] the English-translated song of "Gunjō", titled "Blue" on October 29,[15] the debut English-language EP E-Side on November 12.[16] and the accompanying music video of "Mō Sukoshi Dake" on November 22.[17] On November 23, Yoasobi released the EP's snippets "crossfade movie" and announced a phone call campaign as their did when promoted The Book. The duo's fans can make a telephone call 0570-046-506 on November 23–30 for commentary of The Book 2's tracks daily. On the last day of the campaign, during their radio show, Yoasobi's All Night Nippon X, fans can call directly with the duo.[18]

Live performance

After the EP release announcement, Yoasobi appeared on Nippon TV's Best Artist 2021, performing "Gunjō" for the first time via television.[19] They gave a television debut performance of "Mō Sukoshi Dake" on December 1 at Fuji TV's 2021 FNS Music Festival.[20] The duo appeared on NHK's music show Songs on December 2, and performed "Loveletter", "Taishō Roman", and "Tsubame" together with Midories for the first time.[21] Yoasobi was perform "Kaibutsu" in the visual online music festival YouTube Music Weekend, which lived from their concert Nice to Meet You.[22][23] They will appeared on the 6-hour special edition of TV Asahi's Music Station, titled Music Station Ultra Super Live 2021 on December 24.[24]

Commercial performance

The Book 2 entered both Oricon Albums Chart and Combined Albums Chart at number two, selling 80,015 physical copies in its first week of December 13, 2021, behind only HKT48's Outstanding.[25][26] It also peaked atop Digital Albums Chart, collecting 10,448 downloads, scored Yoasobi their third number-one digital albums of the chart, after The Book, and E-Side.[27] For Billboard Japan, The Book 2 debuted at number one on the Hot Albums, making it the first number-one album of the chart.[28] It opened with 83,585 CD copies (number two on the Top Albums Sales),[29] and 8,717 download albums (number one on the Download Albums).[30]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ayase.

The Book 2 track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Tsubame" (ツバメ; featuring Midories)3:36
2."Sangenshoku" (三原色)3:40
3."Taishō Roman" (大正浪漫)2:46
4."Mō Sukoshi Dake" (もう少しだけ)3:38
5."Yasashii Suisei" (優しい彗星)3:33
6."Kaibutsu" (怪物)3:25
7."Moshi mo Inochi ga Egaketara" (もしも命が描けたら)3:21
8."Loveletter" (ラブレター)3:30
Total length:27:29

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[31]

  • Ayase – writer (all), producer (all)
  • Ikura – vocals (all)
  • Midories – chorus (1)

Charts
Chart performance for The Book 2
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[32] 2
Japanese Combined Albums (Oricon)[26] 2
Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[33] 1

Release history
Release dates and formats for The Book 2
RegionDateFormatLabelRef.
Various December 1, 2021 (2021-12-01)
Sony Music Japan [34][35]
Japan CD [10]

References
  1. "YOASOBI、自身初のCDとなるEP『THE BOOK』のリリースが決定". OK Music (in Japanese). October 1, 2020. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  2. "1/18付週間アルバムランキング1位はSixTONESの『1ST』". Oricon (in Japanese). Oricon ME. January 15, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  3. "【ビルボード】SixTONES『1ST』が総合アルバム首位　YOASOBI『THE BOOK』が2位に続く". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Hanshin Contents Link. January 13, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  4. "YOASOBI、1stEPがオリコン週間デジタルアルバムランキング5週連続1位を獲得　バレンタインデーには初のオンラインライブも". Spice (in Japanese). Eplus. February 10, 2021. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  5. "オリコン上半期ランキング2021 アルバム 1位～25位". Oricon (in Japanese). June 29, 2021. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  6. "オリコン上半期ランキング2021 デジタルアルバム 1位~10位". Oricon (in Japanese). June 29, 2021. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  7. "Snow Man「Snow Man ASIA TOUR 2D.2D.」がダブル・プラチナ認定＜3月度GD＞". Modelpress (in Japanese). Netnative Inc. April 9, 2021. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  8. "YOASOBI、12月に新作リリース&日本武道館2daysで初の有観客ライブ決定". Oricon (in Japanese). October 1, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  9. "YOASOBI、「怪物」の英語バージョン「Monster」7/30配信リリース決定。本日24時からの"YOASOBIのオールナイトニッポンX"で初フルOA". Skream! (in Japanese). Geki-Rock. Skream!. July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  10. "本日結成2周年！12月1日(水) 2nd EP『THE BOOK 2』リリース決定！". Yoasobi Official Website (in Japanese). Sony Music Entertainment Japan. October 1, 2021. Archived from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  11. "YOASOBI、NHK新こどもユニット「ミドリーズ」と共演「披露する場が紅白だったらうれしい」". Oricon (in Japanese). September 28, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  12. YOASOBI [@YOASOBI_staff] (September 30, 2021). "IOOI / NOON" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved October 1, 2021 – via Twitter.
  13. "YOASOBIが新作CDリリース、12月には初の有観客ライブを日本武道館で". Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. October 1, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  14. "YOASOBI、新曲「ツバメ」配信リリース　ジャケット＆MVは「夜に駆ける」のクリエイター・藍にいな". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Hanshin Contents Link. October 8, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  15. "YOASOBI「群青」の英語版楽曲「Blue」スッキリの高校生ダンス部応援企画テーマ曲をアレンジ". Fashion Press (in Japanese). Carlin Inc. October 15, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  16. "YOASOBI、初の英語版第1弾EP『E-SIDE』11/12リリース。"群青"英語Verの"Blue"配信＆MV公開も". Rockin'On (in Japanese). October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  17. "YOASOBI、人々の優しさや思いやりの連鎖を描いた「もう少しだけ」MV公開". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Hanshin Contents Link. November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  18. "YOASOBIの電話番号は0570-046-506". Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. November 23, 2021. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  19. "【ベストアーティスト】YOASOBI、人気曲「群青」TV初披露 来年の抱負は「有観客ライブを頑張りたい」". Oricon (in Japanese). November 17, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  20. "YOASOBI「もう少しだけ」テレビ初披露に反響「FNS歌謡祭」初出演". Modelpress (in Japanese). Netnative Inc. December 1, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  21. "YOASOBIが「SONGS」で語る紅白の舞台裏、ミドリーズとの初共演も実現". Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  22. "RADWIMPS、岡崎体育、YOASOBI、阿部真央、ビッケブランカ、インディゴ、クリープ、Uru、ビーバーら参加。"YouTube Music Weekend vol.4"、12/3-5開催". Skream! (in Japanese). Geki-Rock. November 29, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
  23. YOASOBI [@YOASOBI_staff] (December 4, 2021). "#YOASOBI武道館 より「怪物」をお届けしました！長らくお待たせしてしまいごめんなさい！ご覧いただいた皆さまありがとうございました！ / 明日もライブあります。全編ご覧になりたい方はこちらから。" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Twitter.
  24. "「Mステ」SPにジャニーズ13組、NiziU、ラルク、EXILE TRIBE、UVER、事変、TWICE、YOASOBI". Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. December 3, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
  25. "週間 アルバムランキング 2021年12月13日付" (in Japanese). Oricon. December 13, 2021. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  26. "週間 合算アルバムランキング 2021年12月13日付" (in Japanese). Oricon. December 13, 2021. Archived from the original on December 10, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  27. "YOASOBI最新アルバム『THE BOOK 2』が通算3作目の「デジタルアルバム」1位【オリコンランキング】". Oricon (in Japanese). December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  28. "【ビルボード】YOASOBI『THE BOOK 2』が総合アルバム首位　HKT48／ケツメイシが続く". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Hanshin Contents Link. December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  29. "【ビルボード】HKT48『アウトスタンディング』が98,649枚を売り上げてALセールス首位　YOASOBI／ケツメイシが続く". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Hanshin Contents Link. December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  30. "【ビルボード】YOASOBI『THE BOOK 2』がDLアルバム制す、ケツメイシ／MISIAがトップ5デビュー". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Hanshin Contents Link. December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  31. Yoasobi (December 1, 2021). "Credits / THE BOOK 2 / YOASOBI". Tidal. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  32. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2021-12-13" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  33. "Hot Albums [2021/12/08 付け]". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). December 8, 2021. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  34. Yoasobi (December 1, 2021). "THE BOOK 2". Apple Music (JP) (in Japanese). Apple Inc. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  35. Yoasobi (December 1, 2021). "THE BOOK 2". Apple Music (US) (in Japanese). Apple Inc. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
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