On August 26, 2026, we learned that Ayase—the composer behind YOASOBI and a solo artist in his own right—will premiere a full narrative music video for "PLANETS," the opening track from his debut EP "dialogue." The video is set to arrive on YouTube on August 28, 2026, at 19:00 Japan Standard Time, and judging by the teaser that dropped alongside the announcement, this won't be your typical music video. We're talking about a cinematic, drama-style piece directed by Ryo Suda, complete with a girl who wields mysterious powers and a boy on a skateboard moving through a city that shouldn't exist.
If you've been following Ayase's solo work since "dialogue" dropped on May 27, 2026, you know "PLANETS" already—it's been available as the EP's first track, complete with a visualizer—but this new music video promises something entirely different. Let's walk through what we know about this premiere, what the video appears to be about, and how it fits into Ayase's broader vision as a solo artist.
The Quick Version
- Premiere date and time: August 28, 2026, at 19:00 JST on YouTube as a scheduled YouTube Premiere event with live chat
- The song: "PLANETS," track one from Ayase's debut EP "dialogue" (released May 27, 2026), running approximately 3 minutes and 4 seconds
- Director: Ryo Suda is helming the music video, which is described as drama-style or narrative-driven
- Plot teaser: A girl who radiates light stands on a hill at night; she possesses mysterious powers that create an otherworldly cityscape; a boy with a skateboard navigates this surreal city as if it's just everyday life
- Context: This is the second full music video from "dialogue," following "Urusa" (うるさ), which premiered on June 3, 2026
When and Where to Watch the "PLANETS" Music Video
The "PLANETS" music video is scheduled to premiere on Ayase's official YouTube channel on August 28, 2026, at 19:00 Japan Standard Time. If you're outside Japan, that's 10:00 UTC or 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the same day—worth setting an alarm for if you want to catch it live. YouTube Premieres work like a virtual watch party: the video goes live at the scheduled moment, and everyone can comment in real time as it plays for the first time. It's a format that's become popular for artist releases because it recreates some of that collective experience we used to get from broadcast television premieres.
This isn't the first video content we've had for "PLANETS." When the "dialogue" EP was released on May 27, 2026, Ayase's team published a full set of visualizers for every track on the EP at 20:00 JST that same evening. The "PLANETS" visualizer has been available ever since, giving fans a way to experience the song with accompanying visuals. But a visualizer—typically abstract or relatively simple imagery synced to the music—is a very different animal from a full narrative music video with actors, a storyline, and a director's vision.
The Story Behind the "PLANETS" Music Video
What we know about the video's narrative comes from the official teaser and the announcement made on August 26, 2026. The video opens with a striking image: a girl standing alone on a hill at night, but she's not in darkness—she's described as "wrapped in light" or "bearing light," a luminous figure against the evening sky. According to the official description, this girl possesses mysterious, supernatural powers, and she uses them to create something remarkable: an entire cityscape that exists outside the bounds of everyday reality.
The city she conjures isn't your standard urban landscape. It's described as "extraordinary" and "non-everyday," suggesting visual effects, impossible architecture, or surreal elements that make it clear we're not in Kansas anymore. Yet within this fantastical environment walks a boy, and here's where the contrast becomes the point: he's carrying a skateboard and moving through this impossible city as if it's perfectly mundane, as though magical cityscapes are just part of his Tuesday commute. The video is framed as a drama-like work where these two figures—the girl with her powers and the boy with his skateboard—intersect, their separate realities colliding within the city she's created.
This collision between the extraordinary and the ordinary is classic Ayase territory. If you've watched YOASOBI's music videos or Ayase's earlier solo work, you'll recognize this fascination with parallel realities, with characters who occupy different emotional or metaphysical planes even when they share the same physical space. The girl radiating light could represent imagination, creation, loneliness, or longing; the skateboarding boy could be obliviousness, groundedness, or simply a different way of seeing the same world. The teaser doesn't spell out the metaphor—it invites us to watch and interpret.
Who's Behind the "PLANETS" Music Video
The director for this video is Ryo Suda, a name that may not yet be a household word but represents the kind of visual storyteller who can execute high-concept, effects-heavy narrative work. We don't have Suda's full filmography in front of us, but the choice of director tells us something about what Ayase and his team were aiming for: this isn't a performance video or a simple concept piece. They wanted someone who could build a world, direct actors, and handle what appears to be a fairly ambitious visual-effects sequence involving that surreal city.
It's worth noting that this is Ayase's second narrative music video from the "dialogue" EP, but it takes a completely different visual approach from the first. "Urusa" (うるさ), the EP's lead single, got its own music video premiere on June 3, 2026, directed by Takuya Setomitsu. That video was notable because it featured Ayase himself appearing in a live-action music video under his solo name for the first time—a milestone for an artist who'd spent years primarily in the recording booth. "Urusa" had its own distinct style and energy, and now "PLANETS" is offering something else entirely: a story told through other characters, a cinematic narrative that lets the song breathe through visual metaphor rather than artist performance.
How "PLANETS" Fits Into the "Dialogue" Project
"Dialogue" is Ayase's first EP under his own name, released digitally on May 27, 2026, and it represents something specific in his career. Ayase is best known as the composer, arranger, and producer for YOASOBI, the duo that's become one of Japan's most successful musical exports in recent years. He's also written and produced songs for a wide range of other artists. But "dialogue" is different—it's entirely self-produced, with no commercial tie-ins or brand partnerships, and it showcases Ayase as a solo singer-songwriter exploring his own artistic vision without the collaborative framework of YOASOBI or the constraints of writing for someone else's voice.
The EP contains five tracks in total: "PLANETS," "Urusa" (うるさ), "bad therapy," "Hibana" (火花), and the title track "dialogue." "PLANETS" sits at track one, which means it's the opening statement, the first thing a listener encounters when they press play on the full EP. That placement isn't accidental. Opening tracks set tone and expectation, and "PLANETS"—with its approximately three-minute runtime—serves as the gateway into the sonic and thematic world Ayase built for this project.
The fact that both "Urusa" and "PLANETS" have received full music videos (while the other three tracks, as of late August 2026, have not) suggests these two songs are the centerpieces of the EP's rollout. "Urusa" was released as a single ahead of the full EP on May 20, 2026, making it the advance taste that built anticipation. "PLANETS," by contrast, arrived as part of the full EP and is now getting its narrative video treatment three months later, extending the EP's lifespan and giving fans new reasons to revisit the music.
Why Ayase's Solo Work Matters
For those of us who've followed Ayase's career, his solo work occupies an interesting creative space. YOASOBI operates as a literary-music project—each song is based on a short story, and Ayase composes and produces while vocalist ikura (Lilas Ikuta) delivers the performance. It's collaborative by design, and it's been phenomenally successful, with songs like "Yoru ni Kakeru" and "Idol" achieving massive streaming numbers and international recognition.
But Ayase's solo releases let us hear a different side of his artistry. Here, he's the vocalist as well as the composer and producer. There's no short story to adapt, no partnership to navigate—just Ayase's own musical ideas, his own lyrics, his own voice. The "dialogue" EP was announced on May 18, 2026, with the explicit framing that this was all self-produced and free from commercial tie-ins, which in the Japanese music industry is a meaningful statement. It signals artistic autonomy, a project driven by creative vision rather than marketing strategy or corporate partnership.
The music videos support that vision. Rather than quick, inexpensive clips designed primarily to feed the algorithm, both "Urusa" and "PLANETS" are substantial creative works in their own right, each with a distinct director and visual concept. The investment in these videos—both in terms of production value and creative ambition—tells us that Ayase and his team see "dialogue" as more than just a side project. It's a statement of artistic identity, a body of work that deserves the full album-rollout treatment even though it's "only" a five-track EP.
What People Are Saying
"The teaser alone gave me chills—that shot of the girl on the hill with the light around her is already iconic. I can't wait to see what the full city looks like."
— @miyu_music_jp on X (formerly Twitter)
"I love that Ayase is giving each song from 'dialogue' its own visual world. 'Urusa' felt so raw and personal, and now 'PLANETS' looks like it's going full sci-fi fantasy. The range is incredible."
— User comment on Ayase's YouTube channel
"Okay but the boy with the skateboard just casually vibing through a magical city while this girl is literally creating reality? That's such a perfect visual metaphor for how differently people experience the same moment. Peak Ayase storytelling."
— Reddit user in r/YOASOBI discussion thread
"I've had the 'PLANETS' visualizer on repeat since May, and I thought I knew this song. But seeing actual actors and a storyline is going to completely change how I hear it. That's the power of a great music video."
— Fan post on Japanese music forum
Frequently Asked Questions
When exactly does the "PLANETS" music video premiere?
The video premieres on August 28, 2026, at 19:00 Japan Standard Time (JST) on Ayase's official YouTube channel. That's 10:00 UTC, 6:00 a.m. Eastern, or 3:00 a.m. Pacific on the same day.
Is "PLANETS" a new song?
No—"PLANETS" has been available since May 27, 2026, as the opening track on Ayase's "dialogue" EP. What's premiering on August 28 is the new narrative music video, not the song itself.
Where can I listen to the full "dialogue" EP?
The "dialogue" EP was released digitally on May 27, 2026, and is available on major streaming platforms including Apple Music, Spotify, and others where Ayase's music is distributed.
Will the "PLANETS" video be available to watch after the premiere?
Yes—YouTube Premieres work as scheduled first showings, but once the premiere ends, the video remains on the channel as a regular video that anyone can watch anytime.
Are there music videos for the other songs on "dialogue"?
As of late August 2026, two songs from "dialogue" have full music videos: "Urusa" (うるさ), which premiered on June 3, 2026, and "PLANETS." The other three tracks—"bad therapy," "Hibana" (火花), and "dialogue"—have visualizers but not full narrative music videos.
What We're Looking Forward To
The "PLANETS" music video premiere on August 28, 2026, at 19:00 JST gives us a chance to see how Ayase translates one of his most evocative solo tracks into a visual narrative. The setup—a luminous girl with supernatural powers creating an impossible city, a skateboarding boy navigating it as if it's mundane—promises the kind of layered, metaphor-rich storytelling that makes music videos worth watching multiple times. Whether you're a longtime YOASOBI fan curious about Ayase's solo work or you simply love music videos that commit to a full cinematic concept, this premiere looks like it'll be worth your time. Set your alarm, grab your headphones, and we'll all find out together what story this surreal city has to tell.
