"Kick Back" is a song by Japanese musician

Kenshi Yonezu is a Japanese singer-songwriter and illustrator. He started releasing Vocaloid music under the stage name in 2009. In 2012, he debuted under his real name, releasing music with his own voice. He has sold at least 4.2 million physical copies and ...

. It was released as a single digitally by

Sony Music Records , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is opera ...

on October 12, 2022, as well as in three physical editions: a regular CD edition, a video edition, and a chainsaw edition. The song serves as the opening theme for the

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

series ''

Chainsaw Man is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuki Fujimoto. Its first Story arc, arc was serialized in Shueisha's Shōnen manga, manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from December 2018 to December 2020; its second arc began ...

''.

Background and release

This song is used as one of the opening theme for the anime series ''

''. Yonezu was in charge of the theme song for the TV anime ''

My Hero Academia is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from July 2014 to August 2024, with its chapters collected in 42 volumes. Set in a wor ...

'', the first opening of the second season. It has been about five years since the theme "

Peace Sign A number of peace symbols have been used many ways in various cultures and contexts. The dove and olive branch was used symbolically by early Christians and then eventually became a secular peace symbol, popularized by a ''Dove'' lithograph ...

King Gnu King Gnu is a Japanese band formed in 2013. It consists of Daiki Tsuneta (vocalist and guitarist), Satoru Iguchi (vocalist and keyboardist), Kazuki Arai (bassist) and Yu Seki (drummer). The band's main songwriter is Daiki Tsuneta, who also perfo ...

and Millennium Parade member Daiki Tsuneta participated in the production and arrangement with Yonezu. "Kick Back" also samples

Morning Musume , formerly and commonly known as and colloquially referred to as , is a Japanese girl group, holding the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon, Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most to ...

's 2002 song " Sōda! We're Alive". On September 19, 2022, the preview for ''Chainsaw Man'' was released, with "Kick Back" being used. In addition, it was also performed live for the first time at the

Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium is a sporting complex in Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Built in 1954 for the World Amateur wrestling, Wrestling Championship, it was also used as the venue for Gymnastics at the 1964 Summer Olympics, gymnastics at the 1964 Summer Olympics ...

performance on the first day of "2022 Tour / Henshin", which was held on September 23. In addition, the arranger Daiki Tsuneta appeared at the tour final at Saitama Super Arena on October 27, performing this song and "Ai Lily". The CD single was released in three formats: a chainsaw board, a video board, and a regular board, and it also came with a "Kenshi Yonezu 2023 Tour / Fantasy" advance lottery application serial number and a corporate privilege sticker. In the United States, the single was released by

Milan Records Milan Records is a record label located in Los Angeles, California specializing in film scores and soundtrack albums. In addition, Milan has an electronic catalog which features down-tempo, chillout, and eclectic electronic releases. In July 2 ...

. "Kick Back" became the first song with Japanese lyrics to be

certified Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...

gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA).

Music video

Prior to the song's release, the music video premiered on October 25, featuring Yonezu and Daiki Tsuneta. It was directed by , who also worked on the music video for "Kanden" and Yonezu's promotional photos. In the video, Yonezu devotes himself to training in a gym alongside Tsuneta. After a montage of vigorous working out and Yonezu shown with large muscular arms, Yonezu runs off a treadmill into a field and then onto a road, where he is hit by a truck, which launches him through the air and into doing parkour across shipping containers and city buildings. A group of men dressed in similar attire appear and run alongside him through an industrial site and across a quarry. The video ends with Yonezu shown back in the gym, walking on a treadmill alongside Tsuneta, with a security camera revealing Tsuneta is not really there. The opening sequence for the ''Chainsaw Man'' anime plays tribute to several films, including ''

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'', ''

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American independent horror film produced, co-composed, and directed by Tobe Hooper, who co-wrote it with Kim Henkel. The film stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, ...

'', ''

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'', '' Sadako vs. Kayako'', ''

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'', ''

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'', '' Messiah of Evil'', ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

Jacob's Ladder Jacob's Ladder () is a ladder or staircase leading to Heaven that was featured in a dream the Biblical Patriarch Jacob had during his flight from his brother Esau in the Book of Genesis (chapter 28). The significance of the dream has been de ...

'', ''

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine g ...

'', and ''

The Big Lebowski ''The Big Lebowski'' () is a 1998 crime comedy film written, directed, produced and co-edited by Joel and Ethan Coen. It follows the life of Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), a Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler. He is assaulted ...

''. The other references are the manga '' Goodbye, Eri'' and '' Fire Punch'' by the same author, the song " Sōda! We're Alive" by

and the anime ''

Neon Genesis Evangelion , also known as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and Tatsunoko Production, and directed by Hideaki Anno. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo and its affiliates from October 1995 to March 1 ...

''. The sequence was directed and storyboarded by Shingo Yamashita.

Track listing

Accolades

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Notes

References

{{Chainsaw Man 2022 songs 2022 singles Animated series theme songs Anime songs Billboard Japan Hot 100 number-one singles Chainsaw Man Kenshi Yonezu songs Oricon Weekly number-one singles Sony Music Entertainment Japan singles Songs written by Kenshi Yonezu