Stray Sheep Explained

Stray Sheep (stylized in all caps) is the fifth album by Kenshi Yonezu, released on August 5, 2020.^{[1] [2] [3]} The song "Kanden" has been used as the theme song of the comedy TV series MIU404.^[4] The album sold over 879,000 copies in its first week, debuting atop the Oricon Albums Chart.^[5] It was the top selling album of 2020 in Japan according to both Billboard Japan^[6] and Oricon. The latter calculated that the album had sold 1,970,930 copies in Japan by the end of 2020, summarizing CDs, vinyls, downloads, and streaming equivalents.^[7]

According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Stray Sheep was the world's third-best-selling album of 2020, with 2.54 million sales worldwide.^[8]

Release

The album was released digitally worldwide on August 5, 2020. It was available on physical formats in South Korea and Taiwan on October 16, 2020.^[9]

Singles

"Lemon" is the first single of the album and was released on February 27, 2018. It served as the theme song for the TBS television drama Unnatural.^[10] "Spirits of the Sea (Umi no Yuurei)" was chosen as the theme song of the animated film Children of the Sea. "Uma to Shika" is the theme song of TBS television drama No Side Manager.^[11] "Paprika" is the representative song for 2020 Summer Olympics.^[12]

Commercial performance

The song "Kanden" was released on YouTube on July 10, 2020, and reached 10 million views in four days, breaking Yonezu's own record.^[13] The studio album has sold one million copies within 10 days.^[14] Besides, the album hit number one under the J-Pop category in over 30 countries in iTunes Chart and hit number one in 54 countries under the J-Pop Apple Music Albums Chart. And the topped 20 All Genres category in 22 Countries/Regions, 6 of which hit Number one.^{[15] [16]}

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2020)! scope="col"

Peak position
Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[17]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (2020)! scope="col"

Position
Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)	1
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[18]	1

Chart (2021)! scope="col"

Position
Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[19]	11
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[20]	37

Chart (2022)! scope="col"

Position
Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[21]	72

Notes and References

1. Web site: 米津玄師、ニュー・アルバム『STRAY SHEEP』トラックリスト公開。 . Tower Records.
2. Web site: 米津玄師の新アルバム『STRAY SHEEP』Lemon、パプリカなど新曲9曲を含む全15曲収録 . 2024-08-22 . www.fashion-press.net . ja.
3. Web site: ３年かけて磨き上げた傷だらけの宝石 . Natalie.mu . "性懲りもなく迷ってるなという感じですね。だからアルバムのタイトルも「STRAY SHEEP」になった。".
4. Web site: 米津玄師の新曲"感電"が主題歌の綾野剛＆星野源W主演ドラマ『MIU404』第1話を観た！ . Yahoo.co.jp.
5. Web site: オリコン週間 アルバムランキング 2020年08月03日～2020年08月09日. Oricon. August 14, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200814134751/https://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/w/2020-08-17/. August 14, 2020.
6. YOASOBI Tops Billboard Japan's 2020 Year-End Charts With Song Not Released on CD. Billboard. December 3, 2020. December 10, 2020.
7. Web site: [Oricon Annual Ranking 2020] Arashi wins the top spot for the ninth time in total]. Oricon. December 28, 2020. December 28, 2020.
8. Web site: IFPI Global Top 10 Album Sales Chart 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210814100802/https://www.ifpi.org/our-industry/global-charts/ . August 14, 2021 . 2022-01-20 . IFPI.
9. Web site: http://www.billboard-japan.com/d_news/detail/92979/2. ja:米津玄師『STRAY SHEEP』、韓国と台湾でも現地盤の発売が決定. 2020-10-07. Billboard Japan. 2021-05-16. ja.
10. Web site: Parker. Esme. 2020-06-09. Kenshi Yonezu To Release Fifth Album STRAY SHEEP. 2020-07-06. OTAQUEST.
11. Web site: G Andrew White. 2019-09-12. Kenshi Yonezu belts out a ballad in "Uma to Shika". 2020-08-25. JROCK NEWS. en-US.
12. Web site: 2019-12-04. Japanese hit song "Paprika" goes global with English version by new singers and dancers. 2020-08-25. SoraNews24 -Japan News-. en-US.
13. News: 2020-07-14. 米津玄師さん「感電」MV、公開4日と7分で自身最速1000万再生達成. Tokoshima Shinbun. 2020-07-15.
14. Web site: 米津玄師『STRAY SHEEP』ミリオン突破 . Billboard Japan.
15. Web site: Kenshi Yonezu's album, Stray Sheep hits #1 in over 54 countries .
16. Web site: KENSHI YONEZU STORM THE CHARTS AND GETS A COLLAB .
17. Web site: Billboard Japan Hot Albums: 2020/08/17 付け. Billboard Japan. ja. August 14, 2020.
18. Web site: オリコン年間 アルバムランキング 2020年度. Oricon. ja. February 19, 2021.
19. Web site: Hot Albums Japan 2021. Billboard Japan. ja. June 21, 2022.
20. Web site: オリコン年間 アルバムランキング 2021年度. Oricon. ja. June 21, 2022.
21. Web site: Billboard Japan Hot Albums Year-End 2022 . . December 9, 2022.