Today on Crunchyroll, I directly explored a topic that’s always been very interesting to me, but I’ve never really handled explicitly before. That’s frankly become a rarity at this point, given the hundreds of articles I’ve written, so I was happy to do a very specific dive into the various ways a smartly chosen ending song can actually elevate the drama of a show. I hope you enjoy the piece!
The Dramatic Power of a Great Anime Ending Song
Glad to see you address the music side of anime. I think the Yuru Camp ED did a great job in reflecting the mood of the show.
Mondaji Tachi isn’t very good, but it’s ED is entertaining in its own right, but it also represents the main characters pretty well (Back Rabbit tries hard, but no pne cares. the guy is just effortlessly strong.)
There’s also Dantalian no Shoka that is greatly elevated by both its Opening (with its melancholic Latin song) and its Ending theme (a mysterious, creepy story with live action footage).
I know you generally don’t enjoy Attack on Titan that much, but I think the ED of the second season does a great job at selling this mysterious-creepy vibe, which suits that season as it is more mystery focused than the first, which was mostly action. The mixture of a kind of childish but creepy tone put together with the visuals that have this gothic mosaic style, makes it all seem like your watching some old, forbidden book of history, the horrible history of a world your not really familiarized with. I don’t think AoT is the best anime ever, but that’s personally one of my favorites ED’s because of just how well it fits and how much it adds on its own to the show’s tone.