Kenshi Yonezu (Japanese: 米津 玄師), also known by the name Hachi (Japanese: ハチ), is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter, record producer and illustrator, notable for being both a popular Vocaloid music producer and a massively popular mainstream Japanese pop producer.
Yonezu's initial foray into music was in 2006 in his junior high school, where he formed a band with a friend; this band lasted until 2010, but Yonezu felt like he did not work well with other people and left to focus on independent music-making. From 2008 to early 2009, Yonezu began uploading original songs to Nico Nico Douga featuring his own singing, using the username Hachi; these early songs were little-viewed and have since been deleted. In later 2009, Yonezu began producing Vocaloid songs, which rapidly gained popularity.
From 2009-2011, Yonezu produced many popular Vocaloid songs, with the most famous being "Matryoshka" until he released "Suna no Wakusei" in 2017. Yonezu debuted under his real name in 2012, shifting focus from Vocaloid to more mainstream fields (though he did occasionally return to Vocaloid in the years since). His popularity gradually rose and eventually skyrocketed in the years since his debut, with massive hits like "Uchiage Hanabi", "Loser," "Orion," "Peace Sign," "Lemon," and "Kick Back", turning him into a record-breaking national and even international (at least with regards to Asia) star.
Kenshi Yonezu provides examples of:
- The Cover Changes the Meaning: "Paprika" as officially put out by the children's music group Foorin seems to be a song espouting wonder and excitement, with a bit of nostalgia for summers gone by. Yonezu's self-cover of the song has a much more melancholy feel, as it and its music video clearly show remembrance for the youths killed in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.
- Desert Punk: The setting for the music video for "Suna no Wakusei"/"DUNE". A more somber Hatsune Miku and a group of hooded, masked figures representing the producers of the Vocaloid community walk the desert and the ruins of what was likely once a place where she performed, with old posters for Miku concerts everywhere.
- Goroawase Number: The number 524 is brought up twice in the song "Matryoshka", but interestingly the wordplay comes from not that number specifically, but rather the digits it lacks—1 and 3, which in Japanese can be read as "i" and "mi" respectively. "Imi" in Japanese means "meaning", so in keeping with the theme of the song, the number has no meaning.
- Grief Song: "Lemon", Yonezu's most famous song, is a song about an individual's experiences after the passing of a loved one. Being the ending theme of the Japanese drama Unnatural, a show with strong themes of personal familial loss, it is quite appropriately somber.
- Homage: "Shinigami" is a two-minute version of the Rakugo story of the same name. Despite the extremely short runtime it captures the most important bits— Yonezu's character warding Shinigami off one by one with a spell and a clap, and the one shinigami he couldn't shake off, represented by a drunk who wandered into the theater, blowing out his spiritual fire and killing him on stage.
- Invisible to Adults: The music video for Yonezu's self cover of "Paprika" has the video's focus character, a mysterious child, only interact with children and babies. The adults (save for the other focus character once he's grown) don't seem to notice him even when he makes a baby cry. This is because he's dead, and only children can see spirits.
- Literary Allusion Title:
- "DUNE" seems to be one for Dune, as the series is called Dune: The Sand planet (Dune - Suna no Wakusei) in the official Japanese translations.
- "Campanella" is based on Night on the Galactic Railroad.
- Meaningful Appearance: Yonezu wears high heels in the music video of "Lemon"; it is implied to serve as some form of memento for the character Yonezu portrays in the MV.
- Mind Screw: "Matryoshka" is a song with a chaotic melody, nonsensical lyrics, and a chaotic and nonsensical music video.
- The Ophelia: His song "Ward Room 305" is about a textbook one.
