Ayase (born April 4, 1994) is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as aVocaloid producer and songwriter forYoasobi, a musical duo composed of himself and vocalistIkura. He was also a vocalist of therock band Davinci until its disbandment in 2020.
In 2012, at age of 16, Ayase formed the rock band Davinci with classmates from high school, performing under the name Keiichirō, and he served as both the vocalist and leader of the band. Due to his band activity, he later dropped out of high school, and in 2016, the band relocated to Tokyo.[7] In October 2018, the band went on hiatus due to Ayase's medical treatment forpeptic ulcer disease.[12] Eventually, the band announced their disbandment two years later in July 2020.[13]
During Davinci's hiatus, Ayase started making music using theVocaloid software voicebankHatsune Miku during his stay at the hospital. He released his first song "Sentensei Assault Girl" via video-sharing websiteYouTube andNiconico on December 24, 2018.[14] Following this, he continued to self-publish several songs, including "Last Resort" in April 2019, which was his first song to gain popularity.[15] Eventually, Ayase released his debut extended playGhost City Tokyo, recorded by Hatsune Miku vocals, on November 17, 2019.[16][17]
Around the time "Last Resort" became popular,[18] in mid 2019, Ayase received an offer fromSony Music Entertainment Japan's Yohei Yashiro and Shuya Yamamoto, to collaborate on a project to produce songs inspired by short stories published on creative writing social mediaMonogatary.com [ja].[19] He found Ikura onInstagram, where she covered the song,[20] and later checked her YouTube channel, and contacted her directly to persuade her to form the duo, calledYoasobi.[11] Their debut single "Yoru ni Kakeru", which was released in December 2019, wentviral and became a musical success in Japan, which resulted in Yoasobi increasing in popularity in the Japanese music scene.[21][22]
In 2020, Ayase wrote and produced the song "Saikai", performed by singersLisa andUru, to promoteSonynoise-cancelling headphones.[23] His second EPMikunoyoasobi was released exclusively on CD toTower Records Japan on January 6, 2021. The EP contains cover versions by Hatsune Miku of seven tracks from Yoasobi's debut EPThe Book, including "Yoru ni Kakeru", which previously appeared onGhost City Tokyo.[24] Ayase's self-cover of two tracks fromGhost City Tokyo, "Yoru Naderu Menō" and "Yūrei Tōkyō", were released to streaming platforms on September 8, 2021, after previously being published on YouTube and Niconico during 2019 to 2020.[25] He collaborated withCreepy Nuts andLilas Ikuta on the single "Baka Majime", which featured onAll Night Nippon 55th-anniversary stage dramaAno Yoru o Oboe Teru.[26]
Ayase released his first non-Vocaloid single "Hōwa", alongside self-cover of "Cinema", on September 30, 2022.[27] In 2023, he recorded two anime opening themes: "Shock!" forBuddy Daddies,[28] and "Hiten" withR-Shitei [ja] for the2023 edition ofRurouni Kenshin.[29] Ayase and Vocaloid producers Syudou, Surii, and Tsumiki collaborated for the EPRyūgūjō, as Dreamers; Ayase wrote the song "Kira Kira Kira". It was released exclusively at the Creators Market of Hatsune Miku: Magical Mirai 2023 festival inOsaka on August 11.[30] In 2024, Ayase wrote and performed the song "From Now!", which was also co-composed and arranged byYasutaka Nakata, and was released on September 6.[31] It was used for limited event quests and commercials for the mobile gameMonster Hunter Now.[32] He was in charge of writing and producing the theme song for the 2024medical filmDoctor-X: The Movie, titled "Episode X", which was performed byAdo.[33]
^Japan physical and digital combined sale figures forMikunoyoasobi[38][39]
^ab"Yoru Naderu Menō" was first voiced byHatsune Miku and was non-commercially published through YouTube and Niconico in early 2019. A self-cover of the song was commercially released on EPGhost City Tokyo in late 2019. The same self-cover was re-released in 2021, alongside "Yūrei Tōkyō".
^"Yūrei Tōkyō" did not enterBillboard Japan Hot 100, but peaked at number 36 on the Download Songs.[44]
^"Hōwa" did not enter Oricon Combined Singles Chart, but peaked at number 25 on the Digital Singles Chart.[46]
^"Hōwa" did not enterBillboard Japan Hot 100, but peaked at number 36 on the Download Songs.[47]
^"Cinema" did not enter Oricon Combined Singles Chart, but peaked at number 42 on the Digital Singles Chart.[46]
^"Cinema" did not enterBillboard Japan Hot 100, but peaked at number 56 on the Download Songs.[47]
^"Hiten" did not enter Oricon Combined Singles Chart, but peaked at number 9 on the Digital Singles Chart.[48]
^"From Now!" did not enter Oricon Combined Singles Chart, but peaked at number 47 on the Digital Singles Chart.[50]
^"From Now!" did not enterBillboard Japan Hot 100, but peaked at number 47 on the Download Songs.[51]
