Billboard Japan spoke with KANA-BOON for its Monthly Feature series spotlighting currently notable artists and releases. The four-member pop-rock band’s hit from 2014 called “Silhouette” is currently enjoying immense renewed popularity.
“Silhouette” is the title track of the band’s fifth major-label single and served as the 16th opener for the anime series NARUTO Shippuden. Long cherished by anime fans at home and abroad as well as the band’s listeners, the song sparked a fresh wave of buzz around October 2025 via TikTok and other social platforms. It went on to spend nine consecutive weeks inside the top 10 of the Japan Hot Animation chart (from Nov. 12, 2025 to Jan. 7, 2026) and also cracked the top 10 of the Global Japan Songs Excl. Japan chart, Billboard Japan’s global chart tracking more than 250 countries and regions. More than a decade after its release, the track has logged a full-fledged revival hit.
Under its new lineup including two additional members, the band dropped a one-take performance of “Silhouette” on YouTube’s THE FIRST TAKE channel featuring newly added lyrics, attracting considerable attention. Overcoming a difficult period and relaunching with new bandmates, KANA-BOON opened up about how the current lineup came together and what “Silhouette” means to them today.
First, could you tell us how the band arrived at this new lineup?
Maguro Taniguchi (Vo./Gt.): When we announced a member’s departure in December 2023, two people DM’d me almost immediately. We’d never met and didn’t know each other at all, yet they said, “We want to help.” From there we actually met, talked, got into the studio, and they supported us for two years. That’s how we got to where we are now.
Masami Endo (Ba.): We were clear from the start that we were going to keep KANA-BOON alive, no matter what. Once those two stepped forward right away, we naturally started picturing the future with them included.
Taniguchi: So thankfully, there wasn’t really a period where it was just the two of us wondering what to do next. The agency and label said they’d stick with us too. It wasn’t so much, “We want to be a four-member band” — after meeting those two, it became, “We want to keep going as these four.” That’s really how it felt.
So Yokoi-san and Seki-san reached out via DM. Why did you decide to do that?
Takayuki Yokoi (Gt.): I saw the news about the departure and couldn’t sit still. I acted on impulse that night. I could vividly imagine playing together, and I sent the message while that feeling was still burning. About six months earlier, I’d happened to catch a KANA-BOON show at a “live house” (small concert venue) in Aichi. It was my first time seeing them, and the performance wasn’t what I’d imagined at all. It was incredibly intense and so cool, and I guess it stayed with me subconsciously. Still, I never expected a reply. I just wanted to convey how I felt, even if it was one-sided.
Yuriko Seki (Dr.): At the time, I was working freelance and also as a support musician, and was thinking about what my path as a drummer should be going forward. Playing rock drums suited me, and I was confident in that. A band I used to be in had clear KANA-BOON influences, and though it might sound arrogant, I honestly felt I could play cool drums in this band. So I first recorded a video of myself playing “Silhouette” and sent it via DM. They already had another support drummer then, so it wasn’t so much, “Please let me do this” as “What do you think of my drumming?” They watched it, and after I sent about six more videos, they said, “Shall we meet once?” We talked, and that led to me joining rehearsals.
Taniguchi: I just wanted to have a normal conversation. I met each of them casually, without even bringing an instrument. Once we talked, the chemistry was great, we were close in age, and it felt like, “This might really work.”
What has the reaction been like since you announced the new lineup?
Taniguchi: So far, no hate at all.
Yokoi: Yeah, it’s been nothing but positive.
Endo: We’re actually kind of bewildered.
Taniguchi: But that’s probably the result of what we’ve done over the past two years. Especially the effort Yokoi and Seki put in was huge. Some people were encountering KANA-BOON for the first time, others had followed us for years, and the challenge was how to make an impact while also blending naturally into the band. They pulled that off, and that’s why we’re being celebrated now. It’s not just because we went through hard times. This is something they earned through ability, and something the four of us reached after a real period of preparation. It’s a mix of gratitude and pride, knowing we stood at this starting line by our own strength.
In December, your second one-take performance of “Silhouette” was released on THE FIRST TAKE, alongside the announcement of the new lineup. At the same time, the song has regained massive attention thanks to its recent viral run. How do you feel about a song released more than 10 years ago now reaching people across borders like this?
Taniguchi: Honestly, all the pieces fit together a little too perfectly. It’s kind of scary. [Laughs]
Yokoi: True.
Taniguchi: I don’t know how to put it. I don’t really think of myself as religious, but in music it sometimes feels like there’s something you could call a deity watching over it. In the first place, as a formative experience, I started music after what felt like being struck by lightning. And as things kept coming true, music has always saved me. I’ve come to feel it’s my fate to live closely tied to music. Through all that, it’s like a goddess turned around and looked at us again, letting us meet these two and bringing “Silhouette” back into the spotlight. I can’t help but believe it. It feels like I’m right in the middle of something mysterious.
It might look sensational right now, but “Silhouette” has long been a signature song for the band, and the charts show it’s consistently been listened to both in Japan and overseas. In that sense, this viral hit also feels like renewed proof of the song’s inherent power.
Taniguchi: We’ve been through plenty of tough times, so maybe it’s OK to get a little reward like this. Still, “mysterious” feels like the right word. It’s that unexplainable feeling of, “Wow, people are listening.” I don’t really dig deep into things like chart placements or anime spreading as Japanese culture. For us, it’s a song we’ve always played, so it doesn’t feel especially different. But it did make me realize again that it’s something special to someone else.
Endo: I’ve been playing “Silhouette” constantly since I joined the band partway through, and it still makes me incredibly nervous. Each part has its own difficulty, and the bass itself isn’t doing anything overly complex, but you can’t approach it half-heartedly. There are days when I think, “That was terrible,” and others when I feel, “That ‘Silhouette’ was amazing.” That’s how big the song is. Every time, I’m reminded what an incredible songwriter Maguro is for creating something this loved, and at the same time, it boosts my self-confidence to think I get to play it.
Seki: When it comes to the song’s revival, that’s a testament to Maguro Taniguchi, who founded the band, and to the team that kept it going. And the connection between Marcy (Endo) and Maguro runs so deep that I don’t think it would have happened without them.
Yokoi: They never gave up, and that’s why we’re here. Pouring everything into music isn’t easy at all, so when he calls it a reward, I can’t help but agree. Even now, my hands shake when I play “Silhouette.” My body knows that many people’s feelings are packed into this song, and it keeps evolving every time we play it. More than ten years have passed since its release, and I think we’ll be playing it until we’re old. I get excited when I imagine how much energy it’ll hold then.
What feelings did you put into the new lyrics added for THE FIRST TAKE performance?
Taniguchi: You can’t force a song to become meaningful. But KANA-BOON already has “Silhouette,” and with this song, there’s a strong sense of “I’m glad we kept going.” That’s what I poured into the final push. Ideally, I hope it becomes something meaningful for listeners too. And it’s significant that I’m not the only one singing it. Those friends singing together (in the one-take performance) matters. Each of them is clearly the main character, but they also feel like representatives of everyone listening. I hope people can project themselves onto it. We’re there, you’re there, and I’d be glad if that kind of relationship comes through.
It almost feels inevitable that such a song was born as the opener for NARUTO Shippuden. We hear that Masashi Kishimoto (creator of the NARUTO manga series) also watched that THE FIRST TAKE performance.
Taniguchi: I’m truly grateful. I know he’s been watching over us all this time.
–This interview by Takuto Ueda first appeared on Billboard Japan
This story originally appeared on Billboard
