Many anime series have already come out and gained popularity during Japan’s 2021 spring and summer season! The opening songs, ending songs, episodes, etc. of these works have left a deep impression on lots of audience members and fans alike! Have you heard about any of these pieces through social media, your friends or TV? Today, let’s find out together how much you really do know about this year’s biggest hit anime songs! It may also be fun to test your friends’ knowledge as well!!
11 Popular Anime Songs of 2021
A Cruel Angel’s Thesis
This opening song of the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, sung by Yoko Takahashi, is a famous song that many people know. As soon as fans hear the first lyrics, the memory of this piece is so strong that they will recognize it immediately as Evangelion’s famous theme. Even as the newest Neon Genesis Evangelion series movies are released in 2021, the status of ‘A Cruel Angel’s Thesis’ as the representative song of Evangelion remains unchanged for most fans.
Gurenge
This opening song of the recent hit anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is sung by the currently high-profile and powerful female singer LiSA. ‘Gurenge’ is also LiSA’s 15th single. The popularity of LiSA has soared in just this year alone. Whether it is on Japanese TV or other broadcast channels, LiSA always chooses Gurenge as the song for performance. It can be said that the partnership between the Demon Slayer series and LiSA has resulted in great publicity for both. Due to the vast number of Demon Slayer fans nowadays, we believe that their love of Gurenge has only increased its standing, even among people who don’t know the anime series so well.
Space Battleship Yamato
Isao Sasaki was a voice actor for the Space Battleship Yamato series among many others, but also sang its self-titled opening song. The song was released in 2005 and still leaves a deep impression on many fans in 2021. The first line of the lyrics, ‘Farewell to the earth, the Space Battleship Yamato embarks on its journey’, describes the story of the ship ‘Space Battleship Yamato’, helping to encourage the audience to watch its expansive story.
Kaibutsu
This seventh single by the Japanese duo YOASOBI is also the opening song of the second season of the anime ‘Beastars’. It was released in 2021, based on the new novel ‘Put My Own Ear to My Chest’ written as a prototype by Paru Itagaki, the original manga artist of Beastars, and was also included in the physical release CD “Monster/Gentle Comet”. The lyrics describe a carnivorous animal trying to coexist with herbivores in a cruel world. It strives to protect the herbivore, adheres to its ideals, and is determined to become strong while fighting against the world.
Kaikai Kitan
Kaikai Kitan is the first opening song of the anime Jujutsu Kaisen, and the fourth mainstream single of Japanese singer-songwriter Eve. Released in 2020, the song’s popularity has increased in tandem with the popularity of the Jujutsu Kaisen series. The name Kaikai Kitan also means “an unending, repetitive, incredible story”. The song shows the protagonist’s positive quality of not giving up in the face of their multiple difficulties, and working hard to keep moving forward.
Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari
This first single by the famous Japanese music group Supercell was released by Sony Music Records on August 12, 2009. It is also one of the popular ending songs of the anime series ‘Bakemonogatari’. Although Supercell used Hatsune Miku as the lead vocal part in their early days, the three singles from “Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari” all feature nagi as the main vocal, and were the first Supercell pieces that did not feature Hatsune Miku.
Butter-Fly
The first single from the late Japanese singer Koji Wada, and the theme song of the early days of the Japanese anime Digimon Adventure. The Digimon Adventure series, which began in 1999 as part of the Digimon series, was very popular with children from all over the world. There have been multiple new anime series made as part of the Digimon Adventure universe up to now. Many adult fans still feel strong nostalgic feelings towards this song. There are many versions of Butter-Fly, and there are three versions released in the form of singles, all sung by Koji Wada. Among them, Butter-Fly～tri.Version～ was used as the opening song for all six chapters of the OVA ‘Digimon Adventure tri.’ from 2015 to 2018.
Guren no Yumiya
The opening song of the Japanese animation Attack on Titan, which was written and produced by Japanese composer Revo. Revo is the leader and only permanent member of the fantasy band ‘Sound Horizon’, and when releasing music for other creations such as in this case, the band uses the alternate name ‘Linked Horizon’. In order to express the wartime atmosphere and heavy background of the Attack on Titan anime, the band added a brass instrument sound that crescendos through the song to express the violence and oppression of the Titans. The lyrics emphasize the violent struggle between the protagonist Eren Yaeger and the Titan threat.
Get Wild
‘Get Wild’ is a piece from Japanese music group TM NETWORK, abbreviated as TM, is composed of keyboardist Tetsuya Komuro, vocalist Takashi Utsunomiya, and guitarist Naoto Kine. It became especially popular as an ending song for the Japanese anime City Hunter, that began airing in 1987. The song was an instant hit, and it helped TM to become a popular band in the Japanese music scene at that time. They were even invited to perform at the 39th edition of the famous NHK Kohaku Song Festival in 1988!
only my railgun
The first single of the second reforming of the Japanese group fripSide, and the first theme song of the Japanese anime A Certain Scientific Railgun. Due to the high popularity of the anime series, ‘only my railgun’ has become one of the most well-known songs from the world of recent Japanese anime. The single sold approximately 26,000 copies in its first week of release, and it ranked third on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. In 2020, fripSide uploaded a re-arranged new version ‘only my railgun -version 2020-‘ on YouTube, which was also much-enjoyed by longtime fans.
Touch
‘Touch’ is the first opening song of the Japanese anime of the same name, an adaptation of one of the many masterpieces of famous Japanese manga artist Mitsuru Adachi. Although this piece is from a long time ago, it is still in the hearts of fans, and the anime is fondly remembered by Japanese viewers.
How many of the above songs did you already know about before reading this article? If you know them all, you are definitely a hardcore anime lover! Share this article with your friends and test their knowledge!
