The premiere of Chainsaw Man has anime fans worldwide revved up, and has generated a lot of hype from fans who have read the manga, and those who have seen MAPPA's brilliantly animted promotional material. Given that it's being produced by the same studio known for shows like Attack on Titan and Jujutsu Kaisen, it's safe to say that Chainsaw Man is probably one of the most highly anticipated anime to release this fall with an expected high production quality.
One of the many ways Chainsaw Man is setting itself apart from the other blockbuster series is by featuring a different ending song each episode. Some artists are more well-known than others in the anime industry, having composed themes for other anime, while for some, Chainsaw Man will be their very first venture. Here is a quick run-down of whom each artist is, and some of their most popular work.
"KICK BACK" - Kenshi Yonezu
The opening theme of Chainsaw Man is composed by Kenshi Yonezu, one of Japan's top singer-songwriters. Yonezu began his career as a Vocaloid producer under the stage name Hachi before transitioning to using his real name for his other music. In 2020, he won Top Album of the Year at the Billboard Japan Music Awards for his album "Stray Sheep", which sold close to 900,000 copies in its first week. Yonezu's style spans a wide range, varying from lyrical rock to pop music.
Yonezu sang the upbeat opening "Peace Sign" from the second season of My Hero Academia, which won Best Opening at the 2017 Crunchyroll Awards. He also composed the second ending song for March Comes In Like a Lion, "Orion" In 2019, he participated in the anime film Children of the Sea and sang the achingly beautiful theme song "Spirits of the Sea." His new song, which will be used as the opening for Chainsaw Man, "KICK BACK," can be heard in the latest trailer and first episode.
"CHAINSAW BLOOD" - Vaundy
Singing the ending song "CHAINSAW BLOOD" for the premiere episode is Vaundy. Not only is Vaundy a singer-songwriter, he also composes, produces and even participates in directing the design of his music videos. On top of all of his artistic ventures, he's still a university student. His music takes on a more mellow, melancholic, and smooth vibe with his music videos exuding more of a nostalgic note in aesthetic structure. Vaundy's lyrics often depict an urban atmosphere with a reminiscent tone, longing for the purity of adolescence.
Vaundy sang the second opening song "Hadaka no Yūsha" for the critically-acclaimed series Ranking of Kings. He also wrote the lyrics and composed the music for "Gyakkou" -- "Backlight" in English -- for the anime film One Piece Film: Red.
"HAWATARI NIOKU CENTI" - MAXIMUM THE HORMONE
MAXIMUM THE HORMONE is a band composed of four members: bassist Ue-Chan, vocalist Daisuke-han, guitarist Maximum the Ryo and drummer Nao. Their music style leans heavily on being experimental in both genre and mood with the band incorporating metal, hard rock, punk, and funk into their music and using dramatic shifts of tempo throughout a song.
The band's first foray into anime was when they sang the first ending song "Rolling1000toon" for Air Master, but most notably, MAXIMUM THE HORMONE sang the second opening "What's Up, People?!" and the second ending song "Zetsubō Billy" of Death Note.
In addition to Death Note, the group also sang the opening "Kamigami" for the fantasy martial arts series Record of Ragnarok.
"ALL KINDS OF KISSES" - ano
ano began her music career in a Japanese idol girl group called You'll Melt More, and was there for six years before graduating from the group in 2019. After starting her solo career, she started another band called I's. ano's sweet and cutesy voice can be heard in her single "AIDA" that was featured as the ending theme for Tiger & Bunny 2.
"Fight Song" - Eve
Eve got his start by doing covers on Nico Nico Douga, a video-sharing site which allows people to comment directly on things happening in the video. His career took off when he began producing Vocaloid works, with "Nonsense Bungaku" being one of his most famous songs. His voice has been described as boyish and gentle.
Eve's voice can be heard in the second ending song of the 2019 reboot of Dororo when he sang "Yamiyo", where the lyrics symbolized the process in which Hyakkimaru developed his own identity. The next year, Eve sang "Shinkai" which was played when Tsuneo began his rehabilitation journey in Josee, the Tiger and the Fish. His biggest success in terms of anime songs occurred in 2020 when he sang the opening "Kaikai Kitan" for Jujutsu Kaisen.
"Deep down" - Aimer
Up until 2016, nobody knew what Aimer looked like. Any time she performed, the lights were deliberately dimmed so that her face was obscured. Aimer debuted in 2011 and released six albums that have all charted in the top 20 of the Oricon Albums Chart. Her first number one single came in 2019 when she released "I Beg You" for Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel II. lost butterfly.
Aimer has sung in a number of different anime, including No. 6, Natsuyuki Rendezvous, Bleach and Vinland Saga. In 2014, her voice was featured in another MAPPA-produced anime Zankyou no Terror where she sang "Dare ka, Umi wo." She sang the opening and ending songs for Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn RE:0096 in 2016 and sang "Kiro" and "Cold Rain" for the Japanese dub version of the Chinese boys' love series, Mo Dao Zu Shi.
Her voice can also be heard in the ending song "Akane Sasu" from Season 5 of Natsume Yujin-cho. Her most famous performance to date is "Zankyō Sanka," the opening theme song for Season 2 of Demon Slayer, which ranked on top of Billboard Japan 100 for nine total weeks and charted at #37 on Billboard Global 200.
"Rendezvous" - Kanaria
Kanaria is a fairly young and up-and-coming Vocaloid producer, known for their 2020 hit "KING" which garnered over 63 million views as of this article's publication. The song's popularity rose astronomically when it was covered by other artists like Risu of Hololive-ID.
An accompanying song "QUEEN" was released in August 2022 and currently has over 10 million views. As a Vocaloid producer, Kanaria uses Hatsune Miku and GUMI.
"In the Back Room" - syudou
Another Vocaloid producer joining the Chainsaw Man artist list is syudou who mainly uses Hatsune Miku in their works, which is fitting since it was Hatsune Miku that brought them into the music scene.
In an interview in June, syudou revealed that they decided to go in a different direction than the usual conventional cutesy sound that Hatsune Miku had. "Jama" has a darker and unsettling color to it and because it was so distinct, it put them on everyone's radar. In anime, syudou sang in Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy and Blue Reflection Ray.
"Violence" - Queen Bee
Like many bands, fashion punk rock band Queen Bee chooses not to divulge too much information about the personal details of their four members: Avu-chan, the lyricist and composer, who is of African American and Japanese descent and one of the few openly transgender artists in the Japanese music industry; Yashi-chan as the bass guitarist, Ruri-chan as the drummer, as well as Avu-chan's sister, and Hibari-kun as the lead guitarist. Fashion punk music has not only the aural but visual elements to characterize the style.
Aside from Chainsaw Man, Queen Bee is also singing the opening song "Mysterious" for the historical fantasy anime Raven of the Inner Palace that is currently airing. In the past, the band has sung "Kaen" for the opening theme of the 2019 reboot Dororo. Queen Bee has also sung the ending theme "Half" for Tokyo Ghoul:re and the theme song "Introduction" for the 2019 live-action adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul called Tokyo Ghoul S. "Half" describes Avu-chan's struggles living as a mixed-race person in Japan.
"Time Left" - ZUTOMAYO
The full name of ZUTOMAYO is Zutto Mayonaka de Iinoni which translates to "It would be good if it were always midnight." ZUTOMAYO is a bit of an enigma. Nobody knows who is part of this Japanese rock band, and has only identified a woman named ACA-Ne as their vocalist. Since ZUTOMAYO has never revealed the faces of their band, their videos are all animated and are distinct in that they connect to each other in some way.
Despite having their songs animated in music videos, ZUTOMAYO has never sung in an actual anime before until 2022. Their first and most recent anime song "It Seems I'm Fading Away" and "Summer Slump" were featured in the 2022 Netflix anime Drifting Home. Chainsaw Man will be the second time they'll be composing for an anime series.
"first death" - TK from Ling tosite sigure
Most anime fans probably know TK for the iconic opening song of Tokyo Ghoul. At one point, "Unravel" was the most viewed anime opening until it was unceremoniously taken down from YouTube. Formed in 2002 in Saitama Prefecture, Ling tosite sigure is a rock trio band with TK as the guitarist and vocalist, 345 on bass and vocals and Pierre Nakano on the drums. TK is known for possessing a raspy, wispy and sometimes wailing tone. One of the most notable aspects about their instrumentals are the very technical and complex guitar melodies and drumming.
The rock trio sang "abnormalize" for Psycho-Pass, and TK also participated in the second season of Tokyo Ghoul:re with the opening "katharsis." In 2016, he sang "Signal" for the crime drama 91 Days. In the Japanese release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, he sang "P.S. Red I" for the theme song.
"tablet" - TOOBOE
TOOBOE, also known as john, debuted as a Vocaloid producer in 2019 and mainly uses Hatsune Miku for his vocals. In 2020, he started his first solo project called TOOBOE which extends beyond his Vocaloid compositions.
Previously, TOOBOE had participated in 2.43: Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team, acting as the composer. This will be the first time that TOOBOE will be singing in an anime series.
"DOGLAND" - PEOPLE 1
Most of PEOPLE 1's usic videos are animated, and have worked with the animator coalowl several times for their work, the animation perfectly encapsulating the emotion in the music.
The trio consists of Ito who plays the guitar, Takeuchi who is on drums and Deu who does the songwriting. This will be PEOPLE 1's first time singing for an anime.