Fans take their anime songs very seriously you know. Why wouldn’t they, as the best of them can remind us why we love of our favorite shows as well as being good listening for the years. We all our have favorite openings that have stick with us years down the road. TV Asahi recently conducted their latest mass Anisong Poll and the results have been a mix of pretty surprising and absolutely predictable. The poll was naturally limited to a mostly Japanese audience though, so some of the results could still surprise you!
Sorry Demon Slayer fans. As huge as a hit LiSA’s ‘Gurenge’ has been, even it could not overtake the reining Anison champion. As if there was ever any doubt, the winner of the latest TV Asahi Anisong poll is, of course, ‘A Cruel Angel’s Thesis.’ It’s a song truly everyone in Japan knows, even if they’ve never watched Evangelion. As good as something like The Sopranos is, no one that hasn’t seen that seminal TV show would know its theme song if they heard it but Yoko Takahashi’s reached a state of immortality with her eternal contribution to the culture.
There are some interesting points to glean from these Anisong Poll results. First, The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya was the only show strong enough to have two spots on the top 30 with neither being an opening! Another; ‘Renai Circulation’ might be a bigger meme in the west with a different Bakemonogatari song making the cut. Also, ‘Get Wild’ by TM Network absolutely deserves its spot in the top ten. Regarding what didn’t make the cut, no Flow or Asian Kung-Fu Generation tracks making the top 30 really does home in the fact we’re now living in a different era. Also, a Zeta Gundam track beating out the original Mobile Suit Gundam’s opening? That’s a twist!
You can see the full TV Asahi Anisong Poll Results below:
30 | Hare Hare Yukai Aya Hirano, Minori Chihara, Yuki Nagato, Mikuru Asahina, Yūko Gotō The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya |
29 | Stories Snow Man Black Clover |
28 | Catch the Moment LiSA Sword Art Online -Ordinal Scale- |
27 | Ray of Light Shoko Nakagawa Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood |
26 | Mazinger Z Ichiro Mizuki Mazinger Z |
25 | Lupin the Third Theme Pete Mac Jr. Lupin the Third |
24 | Mizu no Hoshi e Ai wo Komete Hiroko Moriguchi Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam |
23 | Connect ClariS Puella Magi Madoka Magica |
22 | Odoru Ponpokolin B.B. Queens Chibi Maruko-chan |
21 | Orion wo Nazoru UNISON SQUARE GARDEN TIGER & BUNNY |
20 | Donten DOES Gintama |
19 | Song of Tetsuwan Atom Kamitakada Junior Choir Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy) |
18 | Snow halation μ’s Love Live! |
17 | CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA Hironobu Kageyama Dragon Ball Z |
16 | Galaxy Express 999 Godiego Galaxy Express 999 |
15 | Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari Supercell Bakemonogatari |
14 | Sekai ga Owaru Made wa… WANDS SLAM DUNK |
13 | Maji Love 1000% ST☆RISH Uta no Prince-sama |
12 | Moonlight Densetsu DALI Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon |
11 | Sazae-san Yuko Uno Sazae-san |
10 | Inferno Mrs. GREEN APPLE FIRE FORCE |
9 | God Knows… Aya Hirano The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya |
8 | Get Wild TM Network City Hunter |
7 | Guren no Yumiya Linked Horizon Attack on Titan |
6 | only my railgun fripSide A Certain Scientific Railgun |
5 | Touch Yoshimi Iwasaki Touch |
4 | Butter-Fly Koji Wada Digimon Adventure |
3 | Space Battleship Yamato Isao Sasaki Space Battleship Yamato |
2 | Gurenge LiSA Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba |
1 | A Cruel Angel’s Thesis Yoko Takahashi Neon Genesis Evangelion |