Kenshi Yonezu Unveils MV for 'Karasu,' the 2026 NHK Football Theme — A Song on Competition and Individuality
- 5 days ago
- 1 min read
Kenshi Yonezu has released the music video for 'Karasu' (Crow), a new song written as the 2026 NHK football theme, and it is drawing wide attention. Arriving in the World Cup season, the track reflects on competition and the place of the individual, and the response has been spreading.
Yonezu wrote 'Karasu' around football, a sport he has long loved. The song affirms that even within a group united by the shared goal of winning, each person can remain an independent individual, quietly letting a draft of air pass through the structure of competition.
Theme songs for major sports broadcasts create cross-generational points of contact and tend to support a song's long-term streaming. Tie-up design has become an established way to balance an artist's reach with a work's sense of story.
The MV was filmed at a large shipyard in Saijo, Ehime, where the weight of the industrial space resonates with the track's hard-edged sound. A face-paint social effect was also prepared, spanning broadcast, streaming and short-form video.
Also worth a listen: 'IRIS OUT'
Yonezu has also won support at home and abroad with 'IRIS OUT,' a theme song for an animated film, whose rapid streaming pace became a talking point. Tie-up-driven work has helped him reach overseas listeners.
ZEN editorial view: The way tie-up-driven songs spread across broadcast, streaming and short-form video is easy to apply to independent artists' own planning. ZEN PROJECT supports rollouts that combine visuals and audio, placing weight on building a work's context.
Sources: USEN encore / Skream! / OTOTOY and others
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