The creative market is inundated with books, movies, comics, animations, and other media that tell various stories. In such a saturated market, it really helps if there's something about a particular series that makes it stand out. For anime, animation studios brainstorm ways to draw attention to their product, often in the form of PVs or other short, animated advertisements.
An anime's opening and ending theme are great places to start when thinking about how to capture an audience's attention because openings and endings are usually going to be the first and last thing audiences see while watching a show. Many animation studios have used dance choreography as an inspiration for their opening and ending themes, and some dances have managed to become even more iconic than the anime they originate from.
10 "Chikatto Chika Chika" Captured Audiences In Early 2019 (Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War)
At the end of the third episode of Kaguya-sama: Love is War, fans were treated to a special ending sequence featuring Chika Fujiwara. The song "Chikatto Chika Chika" sung by Chika's voice actress, Konomi Kohara, played in the background as Chika performed an energetic dance during the ending animation. This dance became known as the Chika Dance online, and it's been parodied hundreds of times online in both meme and video format. Some videos have received thousands of views, boosting the show's popularity even further.
9 "Easy Breezy" Got A Lot More Eyes On Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! is a relatively easy anime to write off since it's a slice-of-life series without many bells and whistles to draw eyes to it... except for its opening theme. "Easy Breezy" is a song performed by Japanese rap duo chelmico, and the wacky opening animation paired with it garnered thousands of parodies and memes online. Fanart and fan-made animations of other anime characters dancing to "Easy Breezy" flooded the internet in 2020 when Eizouken! was first released.
8 "Splash Free!" All But Defined Free! Iwatobi Swim Club
Originally released in 2013, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club is a swimming, sports-centric anime produced by Kyoto Animation. If the eye-catching visuals aren't enough to draw in viewers, the popularity of its main characters dancing during the ending credits might be worth investing time in.
"Splash Free!" is performed by Style Five, a group made up of the voice actors of the main characters in the anime. Animated videos and gifs featuring different anime characters mimicking the dance moves during the ending proliferated in anime communities after Free!'s release.
7 "Flyers" Completely Misled Audiences Regarding The True Nature Of Death Parade
As an anime that tackles the heaviness of existence and what it means to be human, Death Parade has a completely misleading opening sequence. During the opening, Death Parade's main cast poses and performs various dances while the insanely catchy track "Flyers" by BRADIO plays in the background. The choreography of the opening animation has been parodied both in fan animations and by actual people. BRADIO themselves also performed a parody of this opening dance that currently sits at over one million views on YouTube.
6 The Torture Dance Introduced Many To JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
While JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is already a massively popular franchise, the Torture Dance in Part 5: Golden Wind definitely boosted JoJo's in the anime community. Originally drawn in manga form in 1995, the iconic Torture Dance scene was animated in 2018 during Episode 7 of Golden Wind. This scene spread like wildfire after it aired, and one of the YouTube videos of the dance sits at over 32 million views. Several fan parodies including live dances and fan animations still exist online, elevating JoJo's popularity even higher.
5 Popotan's Most Known For The Parodied Flash Loop Featuring "Caramelldansen"
Originally released as an adult visual novel in 2002, Popotan eventually earned itself an anime release in 2003. During the opening sequence for the visual novel, two of its characters, Mii and Mai, are seen dancing in a silly, repetitive fashion that was replicated as a gif and spread online. Around 2006, a user online combined the gif with a remixed version of "Caramelldansen," a pop song released by Swedish pop group Caramell, and posted it as a Flash animated loop on his website. The rest is internet history.
4 "Lost In Paradise" Spawned Numerous Fan Animations (Jujutsu Kaisen)
While there's a lot about Jujutsu Kaisen that makes it stand out as a shonen series for a new generation, the dancing in the first ending animation helped spread its popularity. Not only does the first ending sequence feature the smooth and catchy track "Lost in Paradise feat. AKLO" by ALI, but it also displays unconventionally drawn animation with smooth dance moves of some of the main cast.
Many fan animations of different anime characters dancing in place of Jujutsu Kaisen's characters continue to catch people's attention.
3 "Fiction" Helped Boost Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku's Popularity
Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku is an anime that can easily slip through the cracks since it's a slice-of-life romantic comedy featuring adults rather than kids. In a medium that's frequently marketed toward children and teenagers, many anime fans might have passed over Wotakoi if not for its adorable dance moves in the opening sequence. The opening theme "Fiction" by Sumika easily captures the spirit of the show and its opening animation. Fans completed Tiktok challenges of the opening dance, and some even attempted fan animations.
2 "Motteke! Sailor Fuku" Is One Of The Oldest Anime Dance Memes
Originally released in 2007, Lucky Star took the anime community by storm with its cute characters and catchy opening title sequence. Dances in anime opening themes are pretty popular, but "Motteke! Sailor Fuku" is one of the oldest anime dances to take the internet by storm. Many live-action dance challenges by fans dominated the internet soon after Lucky Star was released, helping boost its popularity to mainstream status. More than a decade later, "Motteke! Sailor Fuku" remains one of the most iconic aspects of Lucky Star.
1 "Hare Hare Yukai" Continues To Promote The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, featuring the all-powerful Haruhi, was released a year before Lucky Star and likely provided a blueprint for the new type of infectious anime dances seen in anime openings and endings. Kyoto Animation took inspiration from idol groups when designing the choreography for "Hare Hare Yukai" and the finished result enraptured anime fans the world over. Several parodies, covers, and remixes were produced while fans both in Japan and overseas filmed themselves copying the dance in live-action. To this day, "Hare Hare Yukai" is still a beloved anime dance sequence.