Let's Go Karaoke!

Satomi Oka, the third-year head of a junior high school choir, is in preparations for his final performance before graduating. After seeing him perform, yakuza lieutenant Kyouji Narita asks Satomi to coach him in singing in advance of an annual karaoke competition held by his boss.

Satomi Oka (岡 聡実, Oka Satomi)

Voiced by: Shun Horie^[2]

Portrayed by: Jun Saitō^[3]

Kyouji Narita (成田 狂児, Narita Kyouji)

Voiced by: Daisuke Ono^[2]

Portrayed by: Go Ayano^[3]

Wada (和田)

Voiced by: Shinnosuke Tokudome^[4]

Series creator Yama Wayama originally approached the manga magazine Morning to write a manga series about the yakuza, though the editors of the magazine declined her pitch. Having previously authored doujinshi (self-published manga), Wayama elected to instead publish the story in this format.^[5] She originally conceived of the story as one where a yakuza becomes a school teacher, but decided to instead make a story about a "bromance" between two characters with a significant age difference, ultimately settling on the final concept of the story.^[5]

The doujinshi was originally sold at the 129th edition of the doujinshi convention COMITIA on August 25, 2019.^[6][7] It sold out at the event and was re-released several times via mail order, but nevertheless sold out frequently and became difficult to obtain.^[6][5] Enterbrain acquired the series to publish as a collected edition, which was released on September 12, 2020.^[8] The collected edition contains a newly illustrated chapter depicting Kyouji's past,^[6] as well as general additions and corrections to the art and dialogue.^[6][5] An English-language translation was published by Yen Press on May 24, 2022.^[9]

A one-shot sequel, Fami-res Iko (ファミレス行こ。; lit. 'Let's Go to the Family Restaurant'), was published in the December 2020 issue of Enterbrain's manga magazine Comic Beam on November 12, 2020, and ended in the March 2026 issue on February 12th, 2026^[10]. The one-shot depicts Satomi as a freshman in college.^[11] The bonus chapter from the Enterbrain edition was re-published in the May 2021 issue of Comic Beam, published on April 12, 2021.^[12]

By October 2022, Let's Go Karaoke! had over 500,000 copies in circulation.^[3]

The series was nominated for the 14th Manga Taishō in 2021, placing third;^[26] it was nominated for the 17th edition in 2024.^[27] It ranked fourth in the 2021 edition of Kono Manga wo Yome! [ja];^[28] and was also ranked in the women's edition of the 2021 Kono Manga ga Sugoi!, placing fifth.^[29]

The live-action film debuted at eighth at the Japanese box office on its opening weekend,^[30] and seventh on the following weekend.^[31]

Jeremy Tauber from Anime News Network gave the 2025 adaptation a B+ rating. Tauber concludes that the anime succeeds in making its absurd premise feel credible and in fleshing out the "odd relationship" between two people as opposite as Satomi and Kyouji, though the review also points out that little changes in the fundamental nature of the two leads over the course of the anime's five episodes, including Kyouji's character as a yakuza member.^[32]