YOASOBI's 2023 hit "Idol" seems like the last song that would break the internet. Over less than four minutes, it jumps between glitchy pop, rap, choral moments, and darker textures while vocalist ikura shifts between voices with theatrical range. It's not built around the clean 15-second clips that define TikTok success.

And yet it did exactly that. The song has over 689 million YouTube views and 588 million Spotify streams. It became a dance, a cover template, an edit, a meme—the kind of track people encounter online without ever knowing it was written for the anime Oshi no Ko.

But Ayase, YOASOBI's songwriter and producer, doesn't see that as a formula to replicate. In a conversation with Mashable, he explained that he actively resists the pressure to write songs engineered for algorithmic success.

"I don't want to get in a situation where I'm thinking about that with intention," Ayase said through an interpreter, referring to the push to build tracks around moments that clip easily or inspire dances.

In Japan, he noted, commercial pressure around TikTok virality has intensified. Labels and artists are keenly aware that a song's reach depends partly on its shareability. Ayase understands the logic, but he doesn't operate that way. His goal is balancing art and commerce at roughly 60-40 in favor of art. Writing for a meme or viral moment, he said, flips that ratio to 30-70 in favor of commerce. "That's not something that I want to do for the songs that we make."

It's a striking stance from someone at the center of one of the most internet-native acts in Japanese pop. YOASOBI itself was born online—Ayase built an audience uploading Vocaloid songs before the duo formed, while ikura posted covers. The group's concept of adapting novels into songs grew directly from web ecosystems and user-submitted stories. Their recent collaboration, "Orion," took source material from Overwatch, the online game, expanding the model even further.

That foundation in internet culture doesn't mean chasing every trend. For Ayase, the goal remains making music that stands on its own.