My Top 25 Anime Theme Songs

My blog is rapidly turning into a dumping ground for all the nerdy stuff I like, which is okay since it's my blog and I can do what I want with it.

I've been watching a series of Top 10/25/50 lists of Anime J-pop music on YouTube. Some lists I like and agree with. Some I like and disagree with. Most are filled with post-2000 anime I've never watched or even heard of (Nothing wrong with that, but it's just not my era. I'm a 45 year old grognard who's watched only a small sample of post-2000 anime.) But this has inspired me to put together my own list and rather than do it as a YouTube video, I'm going to make the list here.

First, one rule. Only one song per series. TV series, movies, and OAV will count separately, but no two songs from the same TV series or OAV set. If I didn't implement this, the list would be 75% Macross Frontier and Kimagure Orange Road with a smattering of other songs.

I'll also be mixing the Japanese titles and the English translations thereof when titling the songs. Bear with me.

Here we go. Staring with the Honorable Mentions that almost made the cut.

Shine in the Storm - Gundam 08th MS Team OP

This one pops up on more than a few other lists. It's good song to a fantastic series, but my list just didn't quite have enough room with all the other great songs (including several from Gundam).

Safari Eyes - Dirty Pair: Project E.D.E.N. movie

I'd be torn here between this song and "Over the Top" (which has the same tune, but different lyrics.) Over the Top seems strangely absent from YouTube. This opening animation for the Dirty Pair movie (which does not feature either main character) is pretty incredible and sells this song over the other. But not quite good enough to make the main list.

Eternal Wind - Gundam F-91

One of the mellowest tracks you'll see here today. I just love this theme. F-91 was the very first Gundam I ever saw. But like the other Honorable Mentions didn't quite prove good enough to make the list.

Cyborg Mermaid - Gunmn

Another mellow track and one of the more obscure songs on this list. Gunmn is my hands-down favorite manga series and I've been reading it (translated into English by the more famous title Battle Angel Alita) for 20+ years now. Back in the 90s, the first few volumes were made into a two-episode OAV and this was the theme.

Yes, I am looking forward to the American live-action version, strangely big eyes and all.

And now my TOP 25 ANIME SONGS OF ALL TIME...

25. Russian Roulette - Dirty Pair TV

We start off with a seriously kick-ass theme from the mid 1980s. I love the Dirty Pair stories, particularly the exceptional Flight 005 Conspiracy and the already mentioned Project E.D.E.N. movie. But this song for the TV series started it all.

24. Choose Me - Kimagure Orange Road OAVs

I'll get this out of the way now. If my favorite anime series were mountains, Kimagure Orange Road would be Olympus Mons on Mars, towering three times as tall as the Everest of my collection. I cannot say enough about how much I love this series and it'll show up a lot here. Choose Me is the OP for the KOR OAVs. I was torn here, since Toki Doki Blue (the ED) is also a very good song.

23. Omoide ga Ippai - Ranma 1/2 TV

Another favorite from my days at VTAS (Virginia Tech Anime Society), we were into the third season of Ranma 1/2 when I started attending regularly. Thus, this became the first Ranma theme I heard and it remains a favorite to this day.

22. Just Communication - Gundam Wing

Here's an example that'll pop up a couple of times on here: A song I love from a series I dislike. Gundam Wing was ok, but I much prefer the UC series or Seed. Still, for anime fans active in the 1990s, nothing quite prepared us for this kind of anime song. Rock songs, yeah. Soft ballads, sure. Pop songs, of course. Hard beat techno? Woah! Now it's hard to imagine an action anime without a powerhouse techno theme.

21. Invoke - Gundam Seed

Very much so the inheritor of the legacy Just Communication created for Gundam, the first OP for Gundam Seed takes the techno tradition of previous Gundam series and takes to 11. Incredible song. Too bad I can't seem to find the original singer on YouTube anywhere.

20. You Get Burning - Martian Successor Nadesico

A fantastic series that got seriously overshadowed by that other mecha series that everyone loves, but I hate (MSN launched around the same time as EVA). Nadesico has a kick ass opening theme to boot.

19. Giraffe Blues - Macross Delta

Ok, here's proof I do watch the occasion current show, particularly if they're part of a legacy franchise like Gundam or Macross or a remake of a legacy show (looking at you, Legend of Galactic Heroes). I went into Mac Delta with some trepidation, since it looked like it was going to downplay the mecha action to show off Walkure and their music. (Not that Macross in general isn't a little guilty of that in every series). But I really enjoyed Delta a lot and this song and its context really helped sell me.

18. Blue Water - Nadia TV

I'm pleased this one shows up on more than one of the other lists I referenced at the beginning of this post. I always felt Nadia was a bit obscure, but, I suppose the unending and nonsensical popularity of EVA has made people seek out other Gainax series.

17. Cinema - Maison Ikkoku

And speaking of the obscure, I'm really surprised Rumiko Takahashi is no longer a household name in anime circles anymore. Uretsei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, Inuyasha, Rumic World, and this series, Maison Ikkoku, were all the products of her fertile imagination. The J-Pop band Picasso did several songs for this show (and they show up again in the next slot with one of the songs they did for Ranma 1/2) and this is my favorite.

16. Piece of Love - Ranma Movie 2: Nihao My Concubine

Second song by Picasso on this list. The ED to the second Ranma 1/2 movie. And the second Ranma song on this list. Hmm....

15. Cruel Angel Thesis - Evangelion

I really did not want to put this song on this list. One, it's on EVERY list like this out there and sometimes we nerds just want to reject the popular for the sake of being iconoclastic. Two, I really hate EVA as a series. It's a confusing mismash of mecha series, whiny kids, and Christian legendry that it's obvious Hideki Anno knew nothing about. All that said, I can't help but admit that this song is seriously cool.

14. Tank! - Cowboy Bebop

The only instrumental piece on this list (although the OP to Tenchi Muyo almost made it.) Most everyone's seen Cowboy Bebop. This track, along with the series it opens, lives up the hype in a way EVA doesn't.

13. Yakusoku wa Iranai - Escaflowne

The #2 anime fantasy series in my estimation after Lodoss War, this series replaces magic with mecha and creates a compelling storyline. The opening theme is great too.

12. Ureshii Namida - Video Girl Ai

Another obscure one, although having Bennett the Sage review this a couple years ago may have introduced some folks to this series. This is an absolutely amazing anime and it hits you in the feels the way few anime do. The tone of the ED (which almost made the list) is sad and bittersweet, while this OP is more upbeat. It was hard to choose.

11. My Heart - Ah! My Goddess

You'll notice there's a lot of romantic comedy themes here. Yeah, I'm a sucker for them, but not the American BS ones with their forced plot hooks and placing the comedy over the romance. Anime romantic comedies have a bittersweet element to them that I really like and AMG is no exception. Funny, fun, but also a bit sad.

10. Say Yes - Bubblegum Crisis

The picks are getting harder with my self-imposed rule of only one song per series. There are a ton of songs I could have chosen for BGC, not the least of which is the one that usually graces these lists, Konya wa Hurricane. But I've always felt Say Yes was the better track and that's not changed over the years.

9. Love, Do You Remember? - Macross: Love, Do You Remember?

I wanted this song to be higher. It's so good and is truly an anime classic. I have debates over some of my friends over Minmei (who is portrayed terribly in Robotech) and this song is where I point to her value as a character. Yes, she's an anime crush in part because of the emotional power of this track. I count myself very lucky. A number of years ago Mari Ijima attended one of the anime cons I staffed and got to see her perform this live. Goosebumps just thinking about it.

8. Men of Destiny - Gundam 0083

As good as much of the later Gundam music is, you will never convince me that there is no Gundam song more kickass than this one. Definitely riding the wave of hard rock anime themes after the popularity of Bubblegum Crisis, this song just makes me want to blow crap up with a big stompy robot.

7. Where do We Go From Here - Ranma 1/2 OAV

From kickass to just fun, it's hard not to start swaying in your seat to this track. Sung by the voice actresses of the Ranma characters, this is a good song to dance and enjoy. It also marks the third appearance of Ranma 1/2 on this list.

6. Information High - Macross Plus

The techno revolution in anime music during the mid-90s really reached its peak with this track. Fitting that it's from a Macross series, which always did music better than Gundam. I DJed a church summer camp final dance one year in the late 90s. No one much liked the first few songs I played, but when this came on, the crowd went nuts. I don't think any of them had ever seen MacPlus, but that didn't seem to matter. They knew this was an awesome song and it is.

5. Embrace that Sky - Kimagure Orange Road "I Want to Return to that Day"

I don't speak Japanese but this song will get me weepy nonetheless. Like I said, anime romantic comedies have a bittersweet element to them and none do that better than the first Orange Road movie. Considering I watched this film around the time my first love walked away only makes the song all the more powerful for me.

4. Talent for Love - Tenchi Muyo

Imagine a movie theater, like the one we used at VTAS back in the early 90s. Full of crazy anime fans, all of them swaying side to side in time with the animation and music of this song. To this day, I still can't help but do the same. That's the power of good music.

3. Kiseki no Umi - Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight

This song is a masterpiece. Hands down. The emotion it conveys is almost unreal in its power. The abbreviated version you see in the opening credits of the show gives you a taste. The full track is something else entirely. Again, I don't speak Japanese but even I can't help but feel uplifted by this music.

2. Lion - Macross Frontier

And speaking of power songs, this one just barely edges out the previous in that regard, more because I like Macross Frontier as a series better than Lodoss TV. Here's where my self-imposed rule of one song per series truly hurts. There are so many incredible tracks connected to Macross Frontier: Diamond Crevasse, What About My Star?, Aimo, and Trianglar could all have fit here, but Lion's my favorite. The dueling duet between the two female leads sells it.

1. Mirror of an Actress - Kimagure Orange Road

Anyone who knows me would know this list would not end without an Orange Road song at the top. What may surprise folks is that it's not Orange Mystery, which is the song most KOR fans rate at the top. Again, because of my rule, I couldn't include Orange Mystery, but I can assure you it would have been top 5 on any list of mine without that rule. I've always liked Actress more.