Some songs hit hard in their first week and then disappear. And then there’s IRIS OUT. The song by Kenshi Yonezu has just crossed 500 million accumulated streams in Oricon’s weekly ranking, and it did so in just 37 weeks since its debut on the chart. That’s not just a nice number: it’s the fastest record in Oricon history for any solo artist.

A record only two songs surpass, and neither is by a solo artist

To understand the significance, context is key. In Oricon’s streaming ranking history, only two songs reached 500 million plays in fewer weeks than IRIS OUT: Idol by YOASOBI and Bling-Bang-Bang-Born by Creepy Nuts. Both did it faster, but they’re both groups. IRIS OUT is the fastest result ever recorded by a solo artist, placing it in its own category on that list.

The song debuted on Oricon on 29 September 2025, just two weeks after its release on 15 September. Since then, it hasn’t lost momentum. In the latest ranking week, it recorded 5,976,691 plays, bringing its total accumulated to 500,523,439 streams. Nearly six million plays in a single week after nine months on the chart is exactly the sign that the song isn’t living off its initial moment but continues finding new listeners constantly.

What makes this kind of accumulation particularly hard to achieve isn’t the initial peak—many songs start strong—but maintaining weekly numbers in the millions for dozens of weeks in a row. IRIS OUT has done so for 37 consecutive weeks without dropping from the ranking, which in streaming terms equals uncommon resilience in Japan’s current music market.

Kenshi Yonezu is one of the most influential artists in contemporary Japanese music, with a career blending pop, alternative rock, and electronic production. For the anime and Japanese pop culture community, his name is tied to some of the most iconic themes in recent years: he was behind Lemon, Paprika, and Kick Back —the opening of Chainsaw Man—, among many others. His ability to create songs that work both inside and outside the anime ecosystem makes him a unique case in the industry, and IRIS OUT confirms that his reach knows no bounds.

Do you think IRIS OUT has room to break more records, or is the pace of nearly six million streams per week already near its limit?