On October 7th, 2023 TV Asahi aired a program tallying votes of 10,000 people who chose their favorite anime songs from Reiwa, Heisei, and Showa, giving international fans a sense of Japanese tastes across different ages and generations.
TV Asahi is one of the largest broadcasters in Japan, and if the scale of the survey wasn’t seismic enough, the program ended up being a gathering of legends and some of the most iconic people in anime. Pitting the Showa era (25 Dec 1926 – 7 Jan 1989), Heisei era (8 Jan 1989 – 30 Apr 2019), and Reiwa era (May 1, 2019 — present) against each other, voices like Akira Kamiya (Kenshiro, Fist of the North Star), Yuko Miyamura (Asuka, Neon Genesis Evangelion) and Kikunosuke Toya (Denji, Chainsaw Man) were in attendance.
Pictured above and from the top left are Yurie Igoma (Ruby, Oshi no Ko), Kento Ito (Hirotaka Nifuji, Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku), Miyu Tomita (Chuchu, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, and Kikunosuke Toya (Denji, Chainsaw Man). From the bottom left are Akira Kamiya (Kenshiro, Fist of the North Star), Yuko Miyamura (Asuka, Neon Genesis Evangelion) Shiori Izawa (Pochita, Chainsaw Man), and Yuki Iwai (writer from the comedy duo, Haraichi).
The ranking from the Showa era (1926 – 1989) was as follows:
| Year | Song | Anime | Performer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1985 | “Touch” | Touch | Yoshimi Iwasaki |
| 2 | 1979 | “The Galaxy Express 999” | Galaxy Express 999 | Godiego |
| 3 | 1974 | “Space Battleship Yamato” | Space Battleship Yamato | Isao Sasaki |
| 4 | 1987 | “Get Wild” | City Hunter | TM Network |
| 5 | 1972 | “Mazinger Z” | Mazinger Z | Ichiro Mizuki |
| 6 | 1969 | “Sazae-san” | Sazae-san | Yuko Uno |
| 7 | 1984 | “Ai wo Torimodose!!” | Fist of the North Star | Crystal King |
| 8 | 1963 | “Astro Boy” | Astro Boy | Kamitakada Boys’ Choir |
| 9 | 1977 | “Lupin the 3rd Theme” | Lupin the 3rd Part II | Yuji Ono |
| 10 | 1988 | “Anpanman’s March” | Let’s Go! Anpanman | Dreaming |
| 11 | 1981 | “Lum’s Love Song” | Urusei Yatsura | Yuko Matsutani |
| 12 | 1983 | “Cat’s Eye” | Cat’s Eye | Anri |
| 13 | 1984 | “Do you remember love?” | Macross: Do You Remember Love | Mari Iijima |
| =14 | 1986 | “Makafushigi Adventure!” | Dragon Ball | Hiroki Takahashi, Ushio Hashimoto |
| =14 | 1979 | “I’m Doraemon” | Doraemon | Fujiko F. Fujio |
| =14 | 1973 | “Cutie Honey” | Cutie Honey | Yoko Maekawa |
| 17 | 1976 | “Candy Candy” | Candy Candy | Mitsuko Horie, The Chirps |
| 18 | 1979 | “Fly! Gundam!” | Mobile Suit Gundam | Ko Ikeda |
| 19 | 1985 | “For Us to Decide” | Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam | Hiroko Moriguchi |
| 20 | 1983 | “Omoidegaippai/10% no Ameyohou) | Miyuki | H2O |
The ranking from the Heisei era (1989 – 2019) was as follows:Year Song Anime Performer 1 1995 “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis” Neon Genesis Evangelion Yoko Takahashi 2 1989 “Cha-La Head Cha-La” Dragon Ball Z Hironobu Kageyama 3 1990 “Odoru Ponpokorin” Chibi Maruko-chan B.B. Queens 4 1994 “Sekai ga owaru made wa…” SLAM DUNK WANDS 5 1992 “Moonlight Legend” Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon DALI, Sakura Sakura 6 1974 “Yasashisa ni tsutsumareta nara” Kiki’s Delivery Service Yumi Matsutoya 7 1999 “We Are!” One Piece Hiroshi Kitadani 8 1997 “Mezase Pokemon Master” Pokemon Rica Matsumoto 9 1996 “Sobakasu” Rurouni Kenshin JUDY AND MARY 10 1993 “Kimi ga suki da to sakebitai” SLAM DUNK BAAD 11 1997 “Princess Mononoke” Princess Mononoke Yoshikazu Mera 12 1999 “Butter-Fly” Digimon Adventure Koji Wada 13 1993 “Anata dake mitsumeteru” SLAM DUNK Maki Oguro 14 1975 “Rouge no Dengon” Kiki’s Delivery Service Yumi Matsutoya 15 2016 “Zenzenzenzense” Your Name. RADWIMPS 16 1996 “DAN DAN Kokoro Hikareteku” Dragon Ball GT FIELD OF VIEW 17 1999 “Magical Carnival” Magical Doremi MAHO-do 18 2001 “Itsou nandodemo/Inochi no Namae” Spirited Away Yumi Kimura 19 2000 “Secret of my heart” Detective Conan Mai Kuraki 20 2013 “Guren no Yumiya” Attack on Titan Linked Horizon
The ranking from the Reiwa era (2019 – present) was as follows:
| Year | Song | Anime | Performer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2023 | “Idol” | Oshi no Ko | YOASOBI |
| 2 | 2019 | “Gurenge” | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba | LiSA |
| 3 | 2020 | “Homura” | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Train | LiSA |
| 4 | 2022 | “Mixed Nuts” | SPY x FAMILY | Official Hige Dandism |
| 5 | 2021 | “Zankyosanka” | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Entertainment District Arc | Aimer |
| 6 | 2022 | “KICK BACK” | Chainsaw Man | Kenshi Yonezu |
| 7 | 2023 | “Utsukushihire” | Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine | Spitz |
| 8 | 2022 | “New Genesis” | One Piece: Film Red | ADO |
| 9 | 2020 | “Niji” | Stand by Me Doraemon 2 | Masaki Suda |
| 10 | 2019 | “Is There Still Anything That Love Can Do?” | Weathering With You | RADWIMPS |
| 11 | 2021 | “Cry Baby” | Tokyo Revengers | Official Hige Dandism |
| 12 | 2022 | “Dai Zero Kan” | The First Slam Dunk | 10-FEET |
| 13 | 2020 | “Kaikai Kitan” | Jujutsu Kaisen | Eve |
| 14 | 2021 | “One Last Kiss” | Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Time | Hikaru Utada |
| 15 | 2022 | “The Blessing” | Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury | YOASOBI |
| 16 | 2023 | “Where Our Blue Is” | Jujutsu Kaisen | Tatsuya Kitani |
| 17 | 2019 | “Inferno” | Fire Force | Mrs. GREEN APPLE |
| 18 | 2023 | “Kizuna no Kiseki” | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba | Man with a Mission, milet |
| 19 | 2023 | “Mephisto” | Oshi no Ko | Queen Bee |
| 20 | 2021 | “Kaibutsu” | BEASTARS | YOASOBI |
Many of the current Reiwa era inclusions are unsurprising, as hits such as YOASOBI’s “Idol,” Man With A Mission & milet’s “Kizuna no Kiseki,” and QUEEN BEE’s “Mephisto” all ranked in anime corner’s first-ever Best Opening and Ending Theme Songs of Anime Spring 2023 poll. Additionally, “Where Our Blue Is” topped the recent Summer 2023 edition which dropped on October 9. Despite this, there were notable omissions throughout the eras. Some of the most popular anime adaptations, such as Naruto, Hunter x Hunter, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Ranking of Kings, and Mob Psycho didn’t feature at all, while One Piece‘s only inclusions are its first and more recent theme songs.
To document international differences, TV Asahi also conducted a random street poll of 151 foreigners in Japan about their favorite anime songs, and the top 8 were quite surprising when compared to their Japanese counterparts:
| Year | Title | Anime | Song | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2008 | “Blue Bird” | Naruto Shippuden | Ikimonogatari |
| 2 | 1999 | “We Are!” | One Piece | Hiroshi Kitadani |
| 3 | 2023 | “Idol” | Oshi no Ko | YOASOBI |
| 4 | 1995 | “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis” | Neon Genesis Evangelion | Yoko Takahashi |
| 5 | 2019 | “Gurenge” | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba | LiSA |
| 6 | 2014 | “unravel” | Tokyo Ghoul | TK from Ling tosite sigure |
| =7 | 2022 | “KICK BACK” | Chainsaw Man | Kenshi Yonezu |
| =7 | 2004 | “Go!!!” | Naruto | Flow |
YOASOBI’s “Idol” quickly went viral both Japan and in abroad, owing greatly to the easy accessibility to anime that fans now have. The Deputy-in-Chief at Shonen Jump+ shared this sentiment in his statement via X (formerly Twitter) while announcing recent overhauls of their international MANGA Plus platform:
“Instead of a series gaining popularity abroad only after becoming popular in Japan, or a manga becoming recognized after an anime adaptation, we are entering an era where when an interesting new serialization starts, readers around the world can enjoy it in their preferred language, leading to worldwide popularity right from the beginning.“
The success of “Idol” meant that YOASOBI quickly put out an English version of the song which soon topped the charts. Like newer anime, such as Oshi no Ko and Chainsaw Man, Naruto served as one of the earliest introductions to anime for many abroad, suggesting that while things can and often do go viral at the same time, what remains iconic to viewers, and the subcultures of anime that grow as a result of separate histories may slightly differ.
Source: TV Asahi, Oricon
Featured image: Oshi no Ko © Akasaka Aka x Mengo Yokoyari / Shueisha / Oshi no Ko Production Committee
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