From our other sites
The story
On 5ch’s Livegalileo (anything-goes live-commentary) board, a thread titled ‘It bugs me that Field Marshal Yonezu acts like he’s the top of Japanese music’ (a sarcastic nickname playing on his name, 玄師/Genshi vs 元帥/Gensui, “Marshal”) sparked a wide-ranging debate after a poster said they couldn’t accept Kenshi Yonezu being ranked as Japan’s top musician. Rivals like Mrs. GREEN APPLE, Fujii Kaze, and Hoshino Gen were floated as alternatives, but none proved decisive, and the thread ultimately settled on the conclusion that Yonezu’s position was unshakable given his track record of coverage across Asia.
What people said
So if I said EXILE, you'd laugh at me, right?
Then who do you think was on top in the 1990s?
No idea… Michael Jackson maybe?
Probably Southern All Stars, I guess? Not sure.
Anyone but Yonezu or Creepy Nuts
You seem like the type who's into anime
Sad era we live in. Poison. (a sarcastic 5ch meme, from the Fist of the North Star theme song 'Poison')
Would you accept it if Mrs. GREEN APPLE were the top?
Not really a fan of Mrs. GREEN APPLE either, honestly…
https://youtu.be/HCSKnLPFTzg?si=0iQemXgXTtPD7gwt
Popularity at Korean shows
Mrs. GREEN APPLE ranks dead last among recent J-pop acts
Making Mrs. GREEN APPLE Japan's representative would just cause more confusion
They're way too unpopular overseas
Then who would you pick among recent artists?
Fujii Kaze?
Not really into Fujii Kaze or Hoshino Gen either, honestly…
Isn't it just that you're an old man now and can't get into recent music at all?
Well, I did think 'what's even good about this' with songs like IRIS OUT or KICK BACK
And here you usually can't stand China and Korea
Those are just songs where he tried a new style to match the anime — Yonezu's roots are really in Vocaloid and ballads
I actually like Vocaloid stuff, just not Yonezu's
Am I obligated to like something just because it's popular?
You don't have to like it, but complaining won't change anything — he's reported as the top act all across Asia
So it's an era where only forced anime tie-in songs sell, huh. Poison.
Normally you'd just think 'not my taste, but I guess it's popular'
People talk about being sick of 'Ohtani overload' too (a meme about excessive Shohei Ohtani coverage) — maybe it's just about needing a trigger?
Even looking at stats like this on overseas popularity, you still won't accept it?
Would you accept it if Mrs. GREEN APPLE were the top instead?
I'm not gonna sit and watch some YouTube video, I'm not that bored
Why are you still complaining? lol
Everyone has celebrities they don't like
But you're always the only one making a fuss
Kind of funny how the guy claiming he's 'not bored' and it's 'a waste of time' has posted this many times in the thread — is that some kind of joke?
It's just tit-for-tat at this point
Did somebody start something with you?
Well, I don't think it's hatred exactly. It's more like, isn't the taste just kind of off?
Why are you complaining about this every single day?
Just name someone else specifically
If Mrs. GREEN APPLE sells well, then just insist they're the top
Why act defeated instead of just insisting on it?
Taste is different for everyone
People who like him will say it's not off at all
People who dislike him will say he's no good
What are you even trying to accomplish by asking that?
It's just a question of whether people genuinely accept that weird singing style of his
But even if fans say they accept it, you'll just doubt them and go 'really though?', won't you?
Like take IRIS OUT for example — the singing is really weird, right? But it was a hit. Makes me feel like everyone except me is an alien or something
I feel that way about other celebrities too
My taste is so out of sync with everyone else that I stopped talking about Japanese entertainment altogether
I don't think Mrs. GREEN APPLE or BACK NUMBER are any good either, and nobody gets it, so I only talk about overseas stuff now
Background and Key Points
Kenshi Yonezu isn’t a fringe figure by any measure of the mainstream Japanese charts: he broke through as the Vocaloid producer “Hachi” before going mainstream around 2012, and since then has supplied theme songs to some of the biggest anime and drama franchises of the past decade — “Lemon,” “KING,” and, mentioned directly in the thread, “KICK BACK” (Chainsaw Man) and “IRIS OUT” (Kaiju No. 8). That anime-tie-in pipeline is central to why he dominates Oricon and Billboard Japan streaming charts: original theme songs for hit anime get guaranteed exposure to a huge, captive audience in a way most standalone singles don’t, which is also why posters gripe about it being “an era where only anime songs sell.”
What the thread actually splits on isn’t whether Yonezu sells — nobody disputes that — but whether chart dominance should settle the informal, purely subjective question of who is “Japan’s top musician.” Several posters concede they can’t name a more commercially convincing rival (Mrs. GREEN APPLE, Fujii Kaze, and Hoshino Gen all get floated and shot down) yet still resist calling him the best, framing it as a taste objection to his vocal style rather than a chart argument.
Readers should be aware there’s no such thing as an official “top musician of Japan” title; it’s shorthand for chart placement, streaming numbers, and media coverage, not any certifying body. The claim that “Taiwan, China, and Korea all report him as top” is also asserted by posters without a source beyond a single YouTube concert clip, so it should be read as thread lore, not verified fact.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Livegalileo board) thread ‘It bugs me that Field Marshal Yonezu acts like he’s the top of Japanese music’.
Leave a Reply