"Kick Back" (stylized in all caps) is a song by Japanese musician Kenshi Yonezu. It was released as a single digitally by Sony Music Records 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 series Chainsaw Man.
Background and release This song is used as one of the opening theme for the anime series Chainsaw Man. Yonezu was in charge of the theme song for the TV anime My Hero Academia, the first opening of the second season. It has been about five years since the theme "Peace Sign".
King Gnu and Millennium Parade member Daiki Tsuneta participated in the production and arrangement with Yonezu. "Kick Back" also samples Morning Musume'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 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.
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.
"Kick Back" became the first song with Japanese lyrics to be certified both gold and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song achieved gold certification in 2023 and platinum certification in 2025.
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 Reservoir Dogs, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Pulp Fiction, Sadako vs. Kayako, No Country for Old Men, Fight Club, Messiah of Evil, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Don't Look Up, Jacob's Ladder, Constantine, and The Big Lebowski. The other references are the manga Goodbye, Eri and Fire Punch by the same author, the song "Sōda! We're Alive" by Morning Musume and the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. The sequence was directed and storyboarded by Shingo Yamashita.
Track listing
Personnel Credits adapted from the liner notesKenshi Yonezu (2022). Kick Back (liner note). Japan: Reissue Records. SECL-2819.
Kenshi Yonezu – vocals, songwriter Daiki Tsuneta – guitar, bass Shun Ishiwaka – drums Jun Miyakawa – organ Shuntaro Tsuneta – violin Sonoko Muraoka – cello Haruka / Haruka to Miyuki – chorus Chainsaw: 放生多加男, 石川猛 Yuichi Kitamura – Drum Technician Ryuma Annaka – recording engineer Masahito Komori – recording engineer, mixing engineer Randy Merrill – mastering engineer
Accolades + Awards and nominations for "Kick Back" Ceremony Year Award Result Anime Grand Prix 2023 Best Theme Song Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2024 Best Anime Song Best Opening Sequence Japan Expo Awards 2023 Daruma for Best Opening Music Awards Japan 2025 Best Japanese Song in Europe Best Japanese Song in North America Reiwa Anisong Awards 2022 Best Work Award Best Anime Song Award Composition Award Arrangement Award
Charts
Weekly charts + Weekly chart performance for "Kick Back" Chart (2022–2025) Peakposition Hong Kong (Billboard) 16 Japan Hot Animation (Billboard Japan) 1 Japan Combined Singles (Oricon) 1 Singapore Regional (RIAS) 15 South Korea (Circle) 87 Taiwan (Billboard) 4 US World Digital Song Sales (Billboard) 3
Monthly charts + Monthly chart performance for "Kick Back" Chart (2022–2025) Position Japan (Oricon) 4 South Korea (Circle) 92
Year-end charts + 2022 year-end chart performance for "Kick Back" Chart (2022) Position Japan (Japan Hot 100) 30 Japan Hot Animation (Billboard Japan) 9 Japan (Oricon) 25 Japan Digital Singles (Oricon) 4
+ 2023 year-end chart performance for "Kick Back" Chart (2023) Position Global 200 (Billboard) 149 Japan (Japan Hot 100) 4 Japan Hot Animation (Billboard Japan) 2 Japan Combined Singles (Oricon) 9 US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard) 81
+ 2024 year-end chart performance for "Kick Back" Chart (2024) Position Japan (Japan Hot 100) 56
+ 2025 year-end chart performance for "Kick Back" Chart (2025) Position Japan Streaming Songs (Billboard Japan) 75
Certifications
Release history + Release dates and formats for "Kick Back" Region Date Format Version Label Various October 12, 2022 Standalone Sony Japan November 23, 2022 Regular Japan CD+DVD Video CD+chainsaw necklace Chainsaw CD Regular
Frost Children remix To commemorate the streaming release of Chainsaw Man: Compilation, which brings together all 12 episodes of the TV anime, a remix version of "Kick Back" by Frost Children with a visualizer was released on September 5, 2025.
Notes
References