Japanese YouTuber Hikaru (ヒカル) and his masked collaborator Kaitou Pinky (怪盗ピンキー) released the music video for “Kamen Butoukai 2” on YouTube, a sequel to a 2018 single that spent years circulating online as an internet meme.
Hikaru and Kaitou Pinky previously formed the music duo Karu x Pin (カルxピン), releasing a string of songs together before the unit disbanded in April 2020. Their 2nd single, 2018’s “Kamen Butoukai,” became a cult favorite online not for its musical merits but for its cheap-looking sets and bizarre choreography, which online commenters mockingly branded “dasasugiru” (way too uncool) — a label that helped turn the video into a long-running internet meme.
Now, roughly eight years later, “Kamen Butoukai 2” arrives with both Hikaru and Kaitou Pinky returning to reprise their roles. They are joined this time by entrepreneur Yuji Mizoguchi (溝口勇児), who appears in the video performing the same signature dance alongside the pair.
The song’s lyrics and composition were handled by Chibanyan (チバニャン), who also posted a separate behind-the-scenes video on his own YouTube channel documenting the making of the MV. Hikaru, for his part, did not sound especially enthusiastic about the project: in a post on X (formerly Twitter), he wrote that he “didn’t want to do it, but Chibanyan kept begging me over and over, so I reluctantly did it.”
Who are Hikaru, Kaitou Pinky, and Yuji Mizoguchi?
Hikaru is one of Japan’s best-known YouTubers, with a large subscriber base built on prank videos, large-scale giveaways, and content centered on business and money-making schemes. Kaitou Pinky is a mysterious, mask-wearing YouTuber who performs under a “phantom thief” persona and has frequently collaborated with Hikaru on videos and music projects, including the original Karu x Pin unit. Yuji Mizoguchi is a Japanese entrepreneur known for his work running a health and fitness-related company, who has become a familiar face in online business and entertainment crossover content.
Author’s Comment
I did not have "business mogul doing the Kamen Butoukai dance in 2026" on my bingo card, and yet here we are. The fact that Hikaru is publicly complaining about being guilt-tripped into this is exactly why the bit works — the original video’s so-bad-it’s-iconic charm never would have survived him actually trying hard. Japanese social media is already treating this less like a comeback single and more like a meme restoration project, and honestly, I respect the commitment. Add an entrepreneur who spends most of his year talking in suits about KPIs cheerfully doing the dumbest dance on the internet, and you’ve got one of the sillier crossovers YouTube has produced in a while. Sometimes the best content strategy really is just: bring back the thing people loved being embarrassed by.
