KID PHENOMENON released I’m still breathing on 12 October 2026, and the CD single followed in Japan on 21 October. The song is the ending theme for the second part of Mission: Yozakura Family season 2, the anime about a boy who marries into a family of spies, which returned to Japanese television on 11 October and streams on Disney+ in the UK.
Its music video premiered on YouTube at midnight Japan time on 22 October. The single also brings something new for the group from LDH’s EXILE TRIBE family: their first covers of other artists’ anime theme songs, each one picked by a member from a series he loves.
The I’m still breathing music video, directed by Keisuke Nakashima, on KID PHENOMENON’s official YouTube channel.
I’m still breathing: Loneliness, Strength and Taiyo Asano
Zinee wrote the lyrics and composed the music with Ryosuke Imai and Yoshi, who also arranged it. The group’s label describes a mid-tempo track caught between strength and loneliness, written to match the anime’s lead, Taiyo Asano, who refuses to give up however bad things get.
The lyrics stay with the hard parts: regret, the fear of repeating old mistakes, and the feeling of being unfinished. What moves the song on is a choice to keep going anyway and protect what matters, which is also Taiyo’s story across the series.
In an official interview with Pia, the members explained how they approached it. Kota Yamamoto said the song mixes rock and hip-hop, and that switching between bright moments and melodies full of sadness made the vocals hard to sing. Kohaku Okao said the rap parts were kept calm so the words come through, with the power saved for the chorus. Leader Kensuke Sorematsu compared the anime’s hero, who keeps getting back up with help from family and friends, to the group’s own start: after an audition that did not end in a debut, EXILE HIRO gave them another chance.
Nakashima, who has also directed videos for Mrs. GREEN APPLE, Travis Japan and LIL LEAGUE, sets the music video between natural landscapes and bare, minimalist rooms, to show hope and doubt living side by side in the same person.
Mission: Yozakura Family Season 2 Part 2: Taiyo and the Yozakura Spies
Mission: Yozakura Family (夜桜さんちの大作戦, Yozakura-san Chi no Daisakusen) follows Taiyo Asano, a high school student who has found it hard to connect with anyone since his family died in a car crash. His one close friend is Mutsumi Yozakura, head of a family of elite spies. Her overprotective eldest brother Kyoichiro wants Taiyo out of the picture, so to survive, Taiyo marries Mutsumi, joins the family and starts training as a spy himself.
The story comes from Hitsuji Gondaira’s manga, which ran in Weekly Shōnen Jump from August 2019 to January 2025 and is published in English by VIZ Media. SILVER LINK animates the series, with Takahiro Nakatsugawa directing season 2 and Mirai Minato as chief director. Reiji Kawashima voices Taiyo and Kaede Hondo voices Mutsumi.
The season 2 part 2 trailer, published by NBCUniversal Anime/Music. It gave fans their first listen to I’m still breathing.
The first part of season 2 aired from April 2026 and ended on the series’ 39th episode. Part 2 began on 11 October, airing on Sundays at 5pm Japan time on the MBS and TBS network across 28 stations, with Humbreaders (ハンブレッダーズ) singing the new opening, Forever Song. In the UK the series streams on Disney+. Cast and staff are listed on the official anime site, in Japanese.
Silhouette and Imagination: The Single’s First Anime Covers
The CD single comes in two editions in Japan, and each carries a different cover. The regular edition (SRCL-13846, ¥1,500) includes Silhouette, KANA-BOON’s 16th opening for Naruto Shippuden from 2014. The limited edition (SRCL-13847 and 13848, ¥2,500) swaps it for Imagination, SPYAIR’s first opening for Haikyu!!, also from 2014, and adds a DVD of the anime’s ending sequence without credits, in a sleeve with new artwork from the anime’s production team.
The picks came from the members. In the same interview, Shunnosuke Sato said he chose Silhouette because Naruto is his favourite anime, a series whose music fans still debate, right down to who composed Sadness and Sorrow. Rui Suzuki put forward Imagination as a fan of Haikyu!!, the volleyball series at the top of our list of the best sports anime. Soma Kawaguchi said the group added new rap sections so all four of their rappers could bring their own style to each song.
Both editions also carry remastered versions of the group’s two earlier anime themes, Sonzai Shōmei (存在証明), known in English as Existence, and Black Flame. Prices and editions are on the single announcement, in Japanese.
KID PHENOMENON: From an LDH Audition to SXSW and Singapore
KID PHENOMENON came together in 2022 through iCON Z Dreams For Children, a large audition run by LDH JAPAN, the agency behind EXILE and the wider EXILE TRIBE. EXILE HIRO named them for the new phenomenon he hoped they would start in music. Their debut single, Wheelie, came out on 23 August 2023, and they call their style TOKYO NEO POP, drawing on the city’s music, fashion, anime and gaming scenes.
The members are leader Kensuke Sorematsu, Tsubasa Endo, Kohaku Okao, Soma Kawaguchi, Shunnosuke Sato, Kota Yamamoto and Rui Suzuki.
Anime has been part of their story almost from the start. Existence, their second single, was the ending theme for the second half of the 2023 Rurouni Kenshin anime. It reached No. 1 on Spotify’s weekly viral chart for two weeks running and No. 2 on the Oricon singles chart, and three months after their debut the group performed it on the YouTube channel THE FIRST TAKE. Black Flame, the opening for The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess in October 2025, reached No. 3 on Oricon.
KID PHENOMENON performing Existence in a single take, with a live band arrangement, on THE FIRST TAKE in November 2023.
Abroad, they played SXSW in Austin, Texas, in March 2026. On 3 October they closed the main stage on the second night of Music Matters Live at Clarke Quay in Singapore, and Bandwagon’s festival report has Sorematsu’s reaction to the Singapore crowd.
Anime themes are how many overseas listeners first find Japanese pop, and our J-pop for beginners guide explains that route and where to go next. The best-known case is LiSA, whose Demon Slayer opening Gurenge turned anime fans into full-time listeners, and our guide to LiSA shows which of her songs to start with. I’m still breathing is one of several new anime themes this autumn, alongside HANABIE.’s Bari Bari Buddy for Reincarnated as a Sword II.
You can stream I’m still breathing on Spotify now, with new episodes of Mission: Yozakura Family each week.
