Kenshi Yonezu’s “IRIS OUT” is one of the most impactful Japanese pop releases of the last few years. 

Dropping in September 15, 2025, as the opening theme for Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc shattered Japan’s daily streaming records, became the fastest song in the country to hit 100 million streams, locked itself at No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, and even stormed the Billboard Global 200, peaking at No. 5.

“IRIS OUT” sits in that intersection, wired with the same pulse as the Reze Arc yet fully capable of standing on its own as a cultural moment. It’s a fast and feverish piece, built on frantic keys and sudden rhythm shifts that mimic the destabilizing pull woven into the lyrics.

The lyrics of “IRIS OUT” don’t describe a crush; they describe a collapse. Yonezu sketches a narrator spiraling under the force of emotional hunger — desire, fear, pleasure, and self-destruction all tangled together. The internal monologue is frantic and unfiltered, with their own mind the narrator is shouting warnings they can’t follow. Love becomes physical: ribs tightening, breath shortening, logic evaporating. Yonezu threads it with the kind of heat that blurs your vision.

“Darlin’, baby, darlin’, I love you like crazy. It’s a philosophy that got me giddy and sparking with anticipation, “ sings Yonezu.

The lyrics also contain ironic parts, which make the song come out as dark, and sly. Magical curses, game-board domination, arrows hitting weak spots, confessions bursting out like a biological malfunction. It’s theatrical and manic. Yonezu knows exactly how to warp surrealism into emotional truth. 

“You dominate / Pierce me here with an arrow, right here I’m the weakest,” these lyrics portray the irony perfectly. It sounds ridiculous, as he basically says “Here’s my Achilles’ heel, take your best shot.”

“IRIS OUT” ends the same way it begins: breathless, unsteady, and thrilling. Kenshi Yonezu turns obsession into art and lets the rest of us watch as the lights close in.