Music Rate the Anime Song above! OP, ED & OST

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

I watched the insert song first and couldn’t really make heads or tails of it, despite it sounding decent enough for what I would presume is a fairly climactic scene. I had more fun with it in its original form, though, with its solid vocals and instrumentation, actually fun and non-cringy English, and overall infectious energy winning me over. The fact that there are subtitles for said video probably helped a lot too, as songs like this kind of rely on knowing the lyrics to form some kind of real connection with it beyond just nice sounds. I’ll give the insert song a 7/10 and the original version a solid 8/10.

First ending theme from the Aria anime (“Rainbow”) below:



(And perhaps rather ironically of me, there are no subtitles for the one video I could find of this; sorry! While I can’t vouch for its absolute accuracy, there are translated lyrics here.)

 

[Juliko]

7.5/10 Pretty cute, though the singer's voice sounds a little muffled.

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

9/10
The song is really fun and energetic, and I really like the use of the visuals. Being mostly fun fluffy family shots to fit with the song, but also the occasional flash of darker imagery, to remind you that, yes, these people are a spy, an assassin, and a telepath. A lot like I'm lead to believe the show is like.

The Japanese dub of an American show about the American version of a Japanese toyline counts, right? I mean, it's JAM Project.

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

That was… over-the-top in ways that I can’t even begin to describe. Yet somehow, even with absolutely no context in the form of subtitles or anything else of the sort, that all felt wholly appropriate from beginning to end! Color me kind of surprised, really! While I’m not exactly itching to hear it again, this is definitely solid stuff for what I presume is either an opening theme or a particularly epic insert song of some sort. Let’s go with a 7.5/10 for that one.

First opening theme from Cardcaptor Sakura (“Catch You Catch Me”) below:



(As usual, an alternate link can be found here if necessary.)

 

[Juliko]

8/10 Ah yes, this one. Definitely cute and catchy, with a fun beat and lots of fast-talking.

 

[Ryoma Maser]

8/10 - Honestly, like that better than I thought it would.

I was going to post one of the Cutie Honey openings to continue on the magical girl trend with one of the originals, but it after looking them over, they're a bit too risky for the forum.

So have Flip Flappers instead, it is a magical girl series.

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

flip flap/flip flap


But seriously…
I just learned that Masumi Ito did this (composition, not vocals) while I was searching for the full version, which probably increases the score by at least half a point by itself, haha. She does some really good stuff, including this song. I think I might’ve underestimated just how good it would be, actually. There a lot of proverbial cooks in the kitchen here, indeed with Ito’s composition, TO-MAS’s arrangement, and Chima’s vocals. In lesser hands, all of these could easily clash into something not-so-great. But everything comes together beautifully, the song invoking an image of a bizarre fairytale world where things work by their own rules, mystifying you even as it simultaneously draws you in. While all of the individual aspects of this song are great, I think that it’s Chima’s gentle vocals that perfectly compliment and enhance the music rather than fighting with it for attention along with the ridiculously catchy title drop in the chorus (“flip flap, flip flap!” is still in my head even now, haha) that really top things all off. Very impressive work by all involved, and it makes me want to check out this anime now (which is apparently extremely underrated). 9/10.

Choo-choo, I suppose, with an ending theme (for the latest, currently airing Precure) that I didn’t expect to grow to like as much as I do:



(Or if necessary: this.)

 

[Emmy]

^ 8/10. Extremely funky bassline to a pretty fun song. My only real criticism is that it got a bit repetitive after the 2 minute mark.

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This has got to be the cutest OP I've seen in a long time~

 

[Juliko]

6/10 The animation is cute, but the song sounds too much like other cutesy moe J-pop songs I've heard before. Plus one girl's screechy voice hurts my ears.

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

As strong as this song (full version with subs here, by the way) is right off the bat, there’s always a chance that songs like these won’t always keep up that power through its remainder. That said, this particularly song began to hit more than a bit differently before too long. I think it’s the vocals, which are extremely powerful and effective here and pair well with the dramatic yet darkly beautiful music. I’m of two minds about the key change near the end, though (which I usually dislike by default). While one part of me finds the song to sound especially pretty at that key, another part of me wonders if was, I don’t know, really necessary? I was already pretty immersed in the original key at that point and the shift took me out of things a little bit, especially given that the song in the new key doesn’t really have much time to breathe, so to speak, before the song ends not long after. Oh well! Just one relatively minor imperfection in what’s otherwise quite the stunning ending theme here, one that almost sounds more fitting for a movie than a TV anime! 8.5/10.

I initially classified this vocal piece from the Memories Off series as video game music, but then I learned that the franchise has also had its share of OVA adaptations over the years. This turned out to be the ending theme to one of them (“Usual Place”, from Memories Off 2nd). Apologies for the lack of English subtitles:

 

[Emmy]

^ Hmm... 7.5/10. It's an interesting melody and props to what I assume is the actors singing in character. But without any knowledge of the source material I can't rate it higher as I don't know what emotions it's trying to evoke out of me.

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Speaking of ED's, here's one to my favourite 80's anime - "Can You See Byston Well"



Fun fact: According to the creator, the name of the fantasy world that the hero gets Isekai'd into: "Byston Well" comes from the phrase "By the stone well" and is inspired by a similar fantasy story "The Water Babies" by Charles Kingsley which also features the protagonist getting transported to a Fairyland after falling into a body of water.

 

[Giri]

6.5/10

 

[Ryoma Maser]

7/10-I've been debating watching this for a while now, I like the song, unsure about the visuals of the opening though.

U by Millennium Parade for Mamoru Hosada's film Belle released in 2021. This is the Japanese Version press CC for English Subtitles, apologies for any problems if it gets region locked for some people.

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

The powerful percussion certainly does pull its weight in setting the mood here, besides the visuals. It leaves me in kind of a weird place after listening to it, but I suspect that’s part of the point. All in all, pretty engaging if again perhaps slightly weird stuff here, albeit in a good way. 7.5/10.

A certain famous ending theme (“Fly Me to the Moon”, a standard in its own right) from a certain infamous anime (Evangelion):



(There’s also an instrumental version.)

 

[Dreary_Rowlet]

10/10! It's the best anime ending song and you can fight me on that.

Anyways, here's the ending song for Clannad, I like the animation.

 

[Juliko]

8.5/10 Super cute and nostalgic!

 

[Ryoma Maser]

8/10-Like it a lot better than I thought I would.

Time for the anime that hit my soul in ways it shouldn't this season.

 

[Emmy]

^ I've heard nothing but good things about Bochi this season, but as far as an OP goes...it was only average at best. For what I presume is a music based anime, I've certainly seen many that hit harder personally. 7/10.



This is "Super Hero" by Tommy Snyder, You & the Explosion Band, from the OST of the seminal Lupin III anime.

 

[Ryoma Maser]

5/10-I was liking it at first but it then really went downhill for me.

Going very recent for this:
Cardfight Vanguard Will+Dress Season 2 Ending


Full version if the TV version doesn't play since it's a Japanese video:

Spoiler

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

There’s a lot going on here, both musically and in the ending sequence itself, but somehow it all works. The full version especially impresses with that guitar solo to go along with the fun and surprisingly intricate instrumentation and the spirited, energetic vocals. It could almost serve just as well as a solid if perhaps unconventional opening theme, I think, and overall it sounds unlike what I’d expect the ending theme of a card game anime to sound or look like, actually. The caveat there being that I haven’t watched much card game anime, haha… but overall, 8.5/10!
(And I can’t believe that it took me such a long time to see that’s supposed to be Times Square there in that cover art… what kind of New Yorker am I?)

Also going very recently for this one, with the latest Precure that just aired a little over an hour ago. Title is “Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure ~Hero Girls~”:



(In case the above disappears, try this or this.)