Top 5 Anime Ending Themes

Welcome, one and all, to another list post! There are some excellent anime ending themes out there, right? So, I figured it was time to pick my top 5. Let’s dive right in!

 

Wolf’s Rain: Gravity by Maaya Sakamoto

This is such a beautiful song. It’s a slow, piano-led piece that captures the sadness that runs throughout the series. It builds up nicely, but remains understated, and is accompanied by an equally understated video of Kiba in wolf form running endlessly through the night. In all honesty, the whole soundtrack to this series is excellent, but the ending theme is one of my favourite pieces from it.

 

Attack on Titan: Utsukushiki Zankoku na Sekai by Yōko Hikasa

Another piano-led piece that caught my attention instantly. The song title translates to ‘A Beautiful Cruel World’, which is about as fitting as you could hope for! Attack on Titan was always a cruel series, but one that not only looked stunning, but that showed some beautiful bonds between friends and allies. The song builds into a harder chorus that feels more defiant in tone, standing against the cruelty of the world. Great stuff with an interesting art style.

 

Vampire Hunter D: D no Teemu (Wakare) by Tetsuya Komuro

The first anime ending song that I fell in love with. After all the violence and darkness in the film, the sun shines again and we get a heroic, uplifting piece. The first time I heard it, I was humming it for days afterwards, and it still pops into my head now. That makes sense though when you consider the composer is a pop artist; catchiness is a big part of pop music, after all!

 

Vampire Knight: Still Doll by Kanon Wakeshima

Now, I was fairly mixed on this anime as a whole. My word though, how gloriously creepy is this song? The beat of the vocals feels deliberately broken to me, like a doll dancing through the room. It’s so fitting for a vampire tale and makes for some wonderful listening. This was one I knew had to be on the list from the get-go, largely because it stuck with me far longer than the story did.

 

.Hack//SIGN: Yasashii Yoake by See-Saw

Translated to ‘A Gentle Dawn’ this was the closer from one of the first anime OSTs I hunted down. Blending Celtic tones with Japanese vocals, it’s a perfect cultural blend that encompasses the feel of the setting beautifully. The chorus melody too is wonderfully catchy and is eclipsed by only one track on the OST for me.

 

So, those were my top 5. There’s no doubt that I’ll look at this again later and realise I missed a few though. But what are your favourites? Let me know in the comments below!