For international fans, anime songs have long been an entry point into Japan’s music scene. In this series, I’ll be introducing some of the great artists behind this season’s anime openings and endings, to get to know the talented names (and faces!) behind the music.
The anime ending for this season’s major hit, The Summer Hikaru Died, comes from none other than TOOBOE.
Many fans will recognize him from one of Chainsaw Man’s ending themes - but before the anime credits, TOOBOE had already built a name for himself in the Vocaloid scene, under the name john.
Learn more about TOOBOE and “you are my monster” below!
Meet TOOBOE
TOOBOE is the solo project of Vocaloid producer john.
He originally gained popularity in the Vocaloid scene, and in 2020, launched TOOBOE to expand his work to the greater Japanese music scene.
Here are a few facts about him!
Musical roots: TOOBOE began playing piano as a child, later teaching himself guitar with old chord books he found at home.
Vocaloid hits: Around the end of middle school, he was experimenting with music production and soon discovered Vocaloid on Niconico Douga. Many of his tracks have since entered the Vocaloid Hall of Fame.
Losing dog’s howl: TOOBOE’s name comes from makeinu no tooboe (負け犬の遠吠え), meaning “the howl of a losing dog.” It’s less about being a loser1 and more about cherishing the feelings that come with losing. (The dog motif is a nod to his Vocaloid producer icon.)
Self-produced artist: TOOBOE writes, composes, sings, arranges, and even creates the illustrations and videos for his own music!
Chainsaw Man: TOOBOE first gained recognition overseas for “Tablet,” (錠剤) the fourth ending theme song of Chainsaw Man. He has shared that manga creator Tatsuki Fujimoto has had a direct influence on his own music.
Did you know? TOOBOE’s first public credit wasn’t for himself. He wrote “Masshiro” (真っ白) for yama’s major label debut, released just one week before his own.
If you want to learn more, you can check out this article about TOOBOE that I have up on the website!
“you are my monster”
“you are my monster” (あなたはかいぶつ) is the ending theme song for The Summer Hikaru Died.
In his official comment, TOOBOE shared that he created the song by immersing himself in the emotional landscape of the protagonist, Yoshiki.
He describes the track as “a kind of forgiveness I extended to the characters.”
You can read TOOBOE’s full comment (in English) on their official anime website.
Dig deeper
You can check out this article on TOOBOE (and also, this article on his anime songs) over on the utatune website - and be sure to support TOOBOE, via the links below!
Instagram | X (TOOBOE) | X (Staff) | YouTube | TikTok
TOOBOE explains this in more detail on a SCHOOL OF LOCK! radio appearance (text is in Japanese).