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{{trope}}
The
Conversely, the
Anime series are more likely to have separate opening and closing theme songs. Western series usually use an instrumental version of the opening theme for the
Anime endings are also more likely to change more frequently than anime openings.
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== Anime and Manga ==
* The upbeat, super deformed, dancing version is used in the anime version of [[Kodomo
* ''[[
* ''[[Dragon Half]]'' closes with a nonsense patter song about an omelette, sung to [[Ludwig Van Beethoven|Beethoven's]] 7th symphony.
* One season of ''[[Ranma
* The Ending Theme in ''[[Love Hina]]'' is noticeably lower-key than the upbeat opening theme (except for the last episode of season one, which ends with the upbeat "Hajimari wa koko kara", a perfect bridge to season two. Of course, the story arc trajectory promised by that song came to a crashing halt with the cancellation of season two...). ''[[Love Hina Again]]'' continues this, but the theme shifts from focusing on Naru to a Gothic themed Kanako and back again, reflecting the two and their struggle over Keitaro.
* The second Ending Theme of ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' is if anything MORE [[Hot-Blooded]] than the Opening Theme.
* The Ending Theme of ''[[Spice and Wolf]]'', in contrast to its beautiful, soaringly dramatic Opening Theme, is an utterly silly tune filled with [[Gratuitous English]] lyrics that clearly aren't supposed to make any sense whatsoever.
* The Ending Theme of ''[[Excel Saga (
* One of the more... interesting examples comes from the original anime of ''[[Hellsing]]''. The closing theme was a [[Real Song Theme Tune]], called "Shine", which was an '80s power ballad about belief in one's self. The interesting part? It was a song by ''American'' '80s hair metal band Mr. Big. Proof that ''This is Spinal Tap'' wasn't exaggerating too much about making it big in Japan.
* Exception: ''[[
* Of course, there's ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi|The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' with its famous "[[Dancing Theme|Hare Hare Yukai]]". The dance has been copied worldwide and later animated in full, and a variation of the song was featured in every [[Image Song|character album]].
* ''Negima!?'', the [[Alternate Continuity]] version of ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', has had two so far, because it keeps changing around its OP and ED at a speed far exceeding other series.
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** Also of note is the third ending theme, which featured a completely different animation sequence each time it ran (for a total of thirteen!) Each sequence spotlighted the captain and lieutenant of one of the thirteen Court Guardian Squads. Yet more [[Soundtrack Dissonance]] resulted: {{spoiler|the episode with Aizen's death had Aizen and Hinamori in the spotlight.}}
*** [[Fridge Logic|Planned?]] Possibly.
* The ending theme of the [[OVA]] ''[[Project
** There's two versions: the Japanese version isn't on the soundtrack but they have the music video for it after the credits run (and it is HILARIOUSLY farm themed). [[Be Be]] is the Japanese band, and they are credited with Caryan for the English version.
* ''[[
* ''[[Maison Ikkoku]]'' seemed to adopt endings that fit one of the main characters with the opening fitting the other main lead. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHiHy6R-6Wg Ashita Hareru Ka] as the 1st ending theme was particularly moving to me, even before I read the translation.
* Averted completely on [[One Piece]] which since season seven has had NO ending sequence at all. At the end of each episode, we simply get a TO BE CONTINUED card, then it's right on to the next-episode preview and then the show is over. To compensate, they extended the opening sequence, which is now nearly THREE MINUTES long, and include all the credits there.
* The first season closing theme of ''[[Keroro Gunso]]'' was "Afro Gunso," roughly translates to "The Sergeant has an Afro." It's some kind of disco funk anthem by the eccentric Japanese performer Dance Man. The closing montage features the titular sergeant donning a huge afro wig and Saturday Night Fever duds, while disco dancing IN SPACE.
* ''[[Pani Poni Dash!]]'' had six ending themes (in a single-series show!), all of them sung by characters on the show. One of them is a slow ditty by Rebecca, the [[Child Prodigy]] teacher, while the rest are... well, pretty much what you'd expect from a [[Widget Series]].
* ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]'' ended on a special form of one of these entitled "Mata Ashita." Most of the characters sang, and the two that didn't had speaking lines during it. This song is effectively this trope, Anime Theme Song, and a Cover Song for all of the characters.
* ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', from the band that brought us the [[Crowning Music of Awesome]] ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6zDfxZ4NcE Tank!]'', also managed to give us the amazing ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuMtH8fw4d4 The Real Folk Blues]''. It's [[Exactly What It Says
** Unfortunately [[Adult Swim]] cuts out the ending theme in their recent airings.
* ''[[
* ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou
* ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' ends, in most cases, on a despair-tinged string piece that ends with a sudden outbreak of percussion. The majority of the piece stands in stark contrast to the aggressive opening and darkens the end of even the more upbeat episodes. They replace it once in the second season with the even sadder song [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CzHeS-WCr0&feature=related "The World of Midnight"], which also appears in-series to highlight the saddest scenes. The only time the ending ''isn't'' depressing is the heart-pumping end of the second season.
* ''The Meaning of Truth'' that plays during the final episode of the F-Zero Anime before, during, and after Captain Falcon {{spoiler|sacrifices himself to defeat Black Shadow.}}
* The different versions of the very popular Jazz Standard ''Fly me to the Moon'' used for great [[Soundtrack Dissonance]] in ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''.
* ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' has in absence of an opening song, an extremely catchy ending theme that almost all characters have sung
* ''[[Brigadoon
* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' has one for each season. Most of them are mellower tunes, but the one for the silliest "comedy relief" season is an upbeat dance song ("Rashiku Ikimasho").
* An early example of this is "Shiroi Tennis Court" from ''[[Aim for
* ''[[Sora no Otoshimono]]'' goes over the top with different ending songs for each episode. Equally unusually, there's no [[Stock Footage]] in any of the endings, each one featuring original animation.
* Interestingly, ''[[Record of Lodoss War]] OVA'' has two different versions of the ending theme - the original, and an English-language version for the dub. It's very well-done at that.
* ''[[Sonic X]]'' had three different ending songs. Run&Gun's "MI-RA-I" and Aya Hiroshige's "Hikaru Michi" are noticeably a lot slower and in case of the latter, [[Tear Jerker|sadder]], but the third one "T.O.P" by KP was more [[Hip Hop]]-esque.
* The first ending theme for ''[[
* [[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'s ending is a little special: the theme in question, Kalafina's awesome "Magia," isn't revealed until episode 3 when the tone of the series got significantly darker. The song itself is also used for [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] parts in the anime.
* ''[[
* [[Anime of the Game|The anime of]] [[The Idolmaster (
* In the early episodes of the 1968 ''Kaibutsu kun'' series the closing credits was a slightly different rendition of the opening theme song. Half-way through the run the first closing sequence was replaced by "Kaibutsu Ondo", which, oddly enough, didn't actually have any credits (they were moved to the opening); the purpose was to get the kids to sing and dance to the song.
* ''[[Hakushon Daimao]]'' has an interesting case. Like most anime it had its opening and closing themes, but halfway through the run they switched places (what was originally the opening song became the closing song, and vice versa).
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* The ending theme to the ''[[Degrassi High]]''/''[[Degrassi Junior High]]'' series were upbeat and catchy, which didn't jive too well when an episode would end with a morally ambiguous (and in many cases, depressing) final scene.
* The end theme for ''[[The Wire]]'', entitled "The Fall", is a fitting and downright unsettling track that plays during the credits.
* ''[[
** The show occasionally replaced this with an episode-specific variation: two examples being an Elvis impersonator singing the theme, and a Hammond Organ version.
* Several of [[Gerry Anderson]]'s shows have separate opening and closing themes.
** ''[[Fireball
** ''[[Stingray (1985 TV series)|Stingray]]'' has an all-action opening theme and ends with the romantic ballad "Aqua Marina".
** ''[[Thunderbirds]]'' was all set to have a separate, lounge-esque theme with vocals for its closing credits, but it was scrapped weeks before the premiere. (However, "Flying High" - the song in question - is heard ''very'' briefly in the episode "Ricochet," and is also included on one of the soundtrack albums.)
** ''[[Captain Scarlet]]'' (original version) begins with a tense, atmospheric theme and opening narration, and closes with an [[Lyrical Dissonance|upbeat theme tune]] (both instrumental and vocal versions were used over the course of the series).
** ''Joe90'' has a fast synthesizer-based instrumental opening theme. A slower orchestral version is used for the close.
** ''[[UFO]]'' has a fast-paced opening theme, while the closing theme is an almost-ambient piece of atmospheric electronica.
* ''[[
* The sitcom ''[[WKRP in Cincinnati]]'' has a closing theme where a rock band plays a catchy tune and sings gibberish; this was intended to be just a test and warm-up for the real lyrics, but the producer liked it so much he used it as-is.
* ''[[The Incredible Hulk (TV series)|The Incredible Hulk]]'' had "The Lonely Man," [[Lonely Piano Piece|a wistful soft piano piece that when combined with the iconic imagery at the end of each episode of Banner hitchhiking to the next town]], burdened by the Hulk curse, creates the defining imagery of the superhero.
** This was discussed by [[Character Blog|DRUNKHULK's]] [[Twitter]] [http://twitter.com/#!/DRUNKHULK/status/9873344425 once].
* British police show ''[[The Sweeney]]'' used a slower and mellower version of its opening theme on the end credits, accompanying images of Carter and Regan packing up their stuff and going home for the night.
* Variation: With all but two Heisei era ''[[Kamen Rider]]'' shows lacking ending '''credits''', what are listed as ending songs in the opening are in fact [[Theme Music Power-Up|Theme Music Power Ups]]. Nevertheless, the two Heisei series that do have ending credits (''[[Kamen Rider Kuuga|Kuuga]]'' and ''[[Kamen Rider Hibiki|Hibiki]]'') have slow, uplifting themes on them.
* ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'' played a particular arrangement of "Archer's Theme" over the end credits of each episode, with the exception of the pilot (which had an instrumental arrangement of the opening theme "Faith of the Heart".) Funnily enough, "Archer's Theme" was originally ''intended'' to be the ''opening'' theme, until [[Executive Meddling]] ensued.
* ''[[3-2-1 Contact]]'' used the same credits theme from 1983 until its cancellation, even after they rearranged the [[Opening Theme]]. The first season had two ending theme variations, one was an instrumental version of the opening theme, the other was an extended version of the trailer/promo theme.
* Three words: '''[[Where in
* Just about [[The West Wing|any]] [[Early Edition
* ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]'' used different opening and closing themes, both by series creator/writer John Sullivan.
* ''[[Felicity]]'', ''[[Lost]]'', ''[[Alias]]'', ''[[Fringe]]''... you name it, if it's produced or devised by [[
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* ''[[Wonder Pets]]'' plays an instrumental version of the main character's [[Leitmotif]].
* Parodied on ''[[The Simpsons]]'' with "Itchy and Scratchy"; the opening theme's cheerful tune and "They fight and bite . . ." lyrics are transformed into a mellow "they fought and bit . . .".
* ''[[
* [[The Raccoons]] ended with an '80s new-wave song performed by Steve Lunt for the first season, and Lisa Lougheed for the rest of the series. [[Crowning Music of Awesome|You can RUN with US! We've got EVERYTHING you NEED! RUN with US! WE are FREE!]]
* [[
* Used for ''[[
* [[Invader Zim]] was one of the few western animated shows to have an end theme that wasn't just an instrumental of the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrQXYlu9hkA opening theme].
* ''[[
* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' ended with their [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTWoIXKZGOg self-titled ending theme].
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr04UBmVKqw Remixed]
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* ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'' had a ''very'' catchy ending theme (not a reprise of the opening)
* The ending theme for ''Linus the Lionhearted'' (1964) was...[[Tear Jerker|sad]].
* ''[[
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
** "[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
** "[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
* ''[[The Angry Beavers]]'' had an organ theme that was markedly different from the brassy opening theme.
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== Video Games ==
* The video game ''[[Portal (
** In a rare case of Western cross-game contamination, the song is available to download (for free) on Rock Band.
** The ending theme to the flash game [http://www.brainjuicegames.com/games.html Super Energy Apocalypse: Recycled], which was inspired by [[Portal (
* [[Drawn to Life]] is composed of mainly instrumental music. The end theme is a full length song WITH VOCALS about the 2 main Raposa, Mari and Jowee, trying to deal with their separation {{spoiler|after Jowee decides to join a band of pirates so that he can see the world. It turns out later that he never boarded the ship because he wanted to stay with Mari}}. It's very suprising, but even cuter. D'aww.
* "Lullaby for You" from ''[[
* ''[[
** ''[[
* The ending of [[Super Smash Bros.]] ''Brawl'' is an unique variation: the theme is the same as the opening, except this time, the lyrics to the [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] are shown, allowing the player to catch the meaning of it.
* The video game ''Ō[[
* ''[[Backyard Sports|Backyard Skateboarding]]'' has an ending theme called "Skate Rock," performed by the Knights of Rockville.
* The final part of the trilogy, ''[[
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' does this at the last scene just before the credits.
* ''[[Sega Superstars|Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing]]'' has "So Much More..." which even got its own EP from the singer of the song.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Theme Tune]]
[[Category:
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