Anime songs that were hits in the 1990s. Recommended masterpieces and popular tracks.
Back in the 1990s, it still wasn’t the age of the internet.
These days, late-night anime and VOD subscriptions are the norm, but when you think of 90s anime, it was all about those early evening broadcasts.
Many of you probably spent your grade-school days rushing home after classes and turning on the TV right away.
This time, we’re featuring anime songs from that nostalgic 90s era!
Be sure to look for tracks from the shows you were obsessed with.
They’re great picks to keep in mind for karaoke, too!
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- Recommended anime songs for people in their 50s. Classic and popular anime theme songs.
- A coming-of-age song that was a hit in the ’90s. A classic and popular track in Japanese music.
- [Nostalgic] A special feature on legendary anime theme songs: revisiting those classic tracks
- [Top 20] Anime Song Sales Ranking of the Heisei 30 Years!
- [Nostalgic Songs] A compilation of classic anime themes that hit home for those born in the Showa and Heisei eras
- Including global smash hits! Anime songs recommended for Gen Z
- [Nostalgic & Latest] A Special Feature on Anime Songs Recommended for People in Their 20s
- 1990s J-Pop to listen to in summer: classic and hit summer songs
- [Hot & Cool] Up-tempo, hype-inducing anime song
Anime songs that were hits in the 1990s: Recommended masterpieces and popular tracks (31–40)
Driver’s HighL’Arc〜en〜Ciel
It was the opening theme for episodes 1 through 16 of GTO, which aired from June 30, 1999 to September 2000, and the ending theme for the final episode.
The engine sound in the intro is so cool, and I remember getting totally hooked on L’Arc at the time because of this song.
The track matches perfectly with the protagonist, Eikichi Onizuka—he’s a hopeless guy, but he always ends up looking awesome—and I looked forward to it every week.
RomancePENICILLIN
The power of the chorus is irresistible! This song was used as the theme for Sexy Commando Gaiden: Sugoi yo!! Masaru-san.
It was released as a single in 1998 by the visual kei rock band PENICILLIN.
Despite being the theme for a gag anime, its energetic and cool sound is captivating.
Once you hear it, it won’t leave your head.
Wind Climbing ~Played by the Wind~Aki Okui
The popular manga Magical Circle Guru-Guru, serialized in Monthly Shonen Gangan, was adapted into an anime in 1994 and later became a major hit with a film version as well.
The ending theme for the TV anime was Aki Okui’s “Wind Climbing ~Kaze ni Asobarete~.” She later handled the ending theme as well, and has gone on to produce many other anime theme songs.
A night when the moonlight softly fallsNanao Ogawa
Many ending themes from old anime tended to leave you with a touch of melancholy, didn’t they? This is Nao Ogawa’s debut single, used as the ninth ending theme for the nationally beloved TV anime Crayon Shin-chan.
Her distinctive vocals, heartwarming lyrics, nostalgic atmosphere, and subtly oriental sound arrangement are all superb.
In the 2010s, artists like Nagi Yanagi and Wednesday Campanella covered the song, so it’s fun to listen while comparing their versions with the original.
Feelings in your colorSMAP / Shoko Sawada
Broadcast in 1994, Red Riding Hood Chacha is a TV anime based on a girls’ manga serialized in Ribon.
Its opening theme was SMAP’s Kimi Iro Omoi.
The song is very popular—it was even included in a best-of album selected by SMAP fan votes—but when the anime was released on home video, rights issues arose, so the song was replaced with a cover version sung by Seiko Sawada instead of SMAP.
Anime songs that were hits in the 1990s. Recommended masterpieces and popular tracks (41–50)
The radiance is within you.Yume Suzuki
The opening theme of the anime NINKU, which aired in 1995, is Kagayaki wa Kimi no Naka ni by singer-songwriter Yumi Suzuki.
It’s a distinctive song that, unusually for a boys’ anime, conveys a somewhat dark worldview, so many people may still remember it.
Incidentally, the original manga, serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, went on repeated hiatus and remained unfinished for a long time, but it was revived with serialization in Ultra Jump and concluded in 2011.
Parched CryFIELD OF VIEW
Yu-Gi-Oh!, a card game with worldwide popularity, originally began as a manga and was adapted into an anime in 1998.
“A Cry for the Dry” was its opening theme.
Incidentally, the original Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, which focuses on the card game, are different works; the latter depicts stories of characters playing various games with different settings, as in the early parts of the original series.