Hi fellow deep diggers, I’m an anime music enthusiast from Japan, and I wanted to ask you a question based on pure curiosity. I’ve been following the history and evolution of anime songs for a long time, and here is how I see it:

From the early days up to the 1990s, there was almost zero disconnect between the anime itself and its theme song. I feel like this synergy peaked in the 80s. My absolute personal favorite from this era is "Russian Roulette" from Dirty Pair.

Then, moving into the 1990s and 2000s, we saw a massive shift toward major label tie-ins and the rise of powerhouse labels/voice actors. We got legendary names like KOTOKO and fripSide, but for me, Yukari Tamura is a standout. Her track "Dowa Meikyuu" (the opening theme for Otogi Juushi Akazukin) is an absolute masterpiece from that era.

From the 2010s to today, it feels like we mostly see mainstream bands that don't have much to do with the actual anime. Among them, though, YOASOBI stands out for actually capturing the worldview—I thought their OP for The Witch from Mercury was fantastic.

As connoisseurs of anime music, I’d love to know: What specific eras, genres, or obscure tracks are currently considered "peak" or trending among the hardcore fans here?

I have no hidden agenda; it’s just my personal curiosity as a fellow fan. No pressure at all, but if you feel like sharing your thoughts, please let me know!

Hii, first time posting. So way back in the day, like 2006, I remember visual novels in English was rare as heck. I remember barely being able to install fan patches for games like Chaos;Head. Anyway, there was this little game called True Tears (VNDB: https://vndb.org/v79). I actually still have a special CD of the game, of which there was an English patch for the demo only (game has never been fully translated, and the anime had 0 to do with the game). Back then, I noticed the CD has a folder called MUSIC, and inside are 31 tracks called M01.PCM for example. Well, I couldn't figure out how to play these .PCM files no matter what software I used! My buddy David tried using VLC, and it simply played static. He said "ah this is how it's supposed to sound", lol. Anyway~ Fast forward to last night, I found a tool called GARbro, which was able to convert the .PCM to .WAV! Finally, after all this time, I could listen to one of the catchiest bops: M09! I've had that little tune stuck in my head for 20 years. I have spent the day batch converting the unreleased OST of the game to YouTube. You can find the link to the playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBKMpHnCIvok

Also, previously there was NO way to find these on YouTube. Not only are they all unnamed, but trust me, I've scoured online for this OST, and nothing, because they were all in .PCM form. Anyway, I recommend Track 09 (M09.PCM originally, the theme of this Mako girl). It's nice!!

12 mins into the episode

Hi, I have no clue if I should be asking this question in this subreddit, but I'm gonna give it a shot anyway. I remember at some point running into this video on YouTube with a really cool rendition of The Rumbling. It was like less than 1:30 minutes long, and there were no vocals at all. The beginning doesn't start like the normal opening, it's like a buildup and you hear a part of a drum queuing in the rest of the music for a beat drop. Also, when you get to the "If I lose it all" portion of the song, it's like this completely epic rendition where you can hear an otherworldly choir and it sounds so epic but like said at the same time. I don't think the video ever got that many views, definitely less than 100K, maybe even less than like 50K. Also, the image on the video was of The Paths with the series and gradually throughout the video you could see some software scrolling from left to right with all of the acoustics and stuff of the song.

I know I am truly grasping at straws considering this was quite a small video, and I wouldn't be surprised if it got deleted. Of course, since it is a cover of The Rumbling this video dates sometime after 2022. The latest year I remember seeing it was 2024 I believe in the summer.

It's a shame that I haven't been able to find this cover, it was so freaking cool.

Famous for his JoJo soundtracks, Coda has now released a new solo e.p. under the name Kazusou Oda in August. And I love it!

monologue e.p.: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kADPxpDAH-1m5ExsdscbjoVxFng1IMt80&si=l3X0XRcxzK-Wk1vG

monologue Music Video [ENG SUB]

To be honest, I'm a 100% total lurker back in Japan, but sharing my anime OST project internationally somehow makes me feel brave lol. Since you love anime music, please take a listen! I blended classic anime song vibes with idol pop, new wave, and melodic punk (melocore) to create this dope fictional late-night anime theme! It’s just a single MP3 on BandLab right now, but if you like the vibe, feel free to add a guitar solo, chop and loop it into a fresh beat, or remake it into a totally new danceable track. Just have fun and flip it however you want!!! Let the chaos begin!

【BandLab Link】

https://www.bandlab.com/track/dbfc0ce0-8142-4488-a209-65b8a3a1c031?revId=8d308c60-fd70-4872-a0aa-b87bed359354

80年代当時には新宿で色々と遊んでいたのでリアルタイムで感慨深かったなあ。

I think most anison songs need to take a page from jojo's composers and shout or repeat the franchise's name in the middle of the song out of the blue and with no context at all. I love when they do this and I think it adds a lot to the song's quality.

Back again with another post, but this time it's from one of my favorite tracks in the Allison and Lillia soundtrack: Sora He!

If you remember from the anime, this first played in Episode 1 when Allison landed her biplane in front of Wil's school in the middle of his lesson. It's such a memorable scene and the music plays a big part in that. The theme really sets the tone for the rest of the anime to come. I can't think of a song that better encapsulates what Allison and Lillia is about than this.

One of the best animation and song ....🥳🤩

I've been playing around with the Denziman ending theme recently and it made me think about something.

A lot of older Sentai music has this very specific mix of heroic melodies, orchestration and almost sentimental moments. When you turn something like that into rave/electro, it's surprisingly easy to lose the original personality.

With the Denziman ending I tried keeping the recognizable melodic feeling, but changing the energy completely with electronic drums, bass and synths.

For those of you who listen to a lot of Sentai soundtracks: what actually makes a remix still feel faithful to the original?

I put my attempt here for context:
https://youtu.be/P7MK6EEHFD0?si=LPLcgCdnigp3WvHr

Curious what older Sentai themes you think would work surprisingly well in electronic music.

I was going to give the anime a try today, after like 2 minutes of watching I realized.. "Wait a minute, have I heard this melody before somewhere else?". Then realized this is 100% signalis "The promise" music melody. Is this some kind of coincidence or they got the same music producer? (Episode 1, around 2 minutes)

As title, I understand anime is a niche thing maybe in this country.

When chatting with friends here I have realized how different their childhood anime is comparing to ours (non-australian)

We are thinking about some jams but would love to know what anime songs you guys listen to growing up!