Leitmotif/Anime: Difference between revisions

** The strangest part about the dub is that every single situation had its own leitmotif. To the point where I can't remember a single scene where some sort of background music ''wasn't'' playing.

*** In fact argually leitmotifs weren't as strictly applied in DBZ as most other usages. Captain Ginyu, a minor character from the Frieza Saga, has his own epic theme for when he uses his body-switching technique, that is named after him. However, it was SO epic that it was used throughout the series for moments of awesome, whilst still being called 'Captain Ginyu's Transformation.' Also the Hyperbolic Time Chamber theme became Gohan's Super Saiyan theme near the end of the Cell Games Saga.

* In ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion (Anime)|Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''.

** Note how Asuka's leitmotif sounds quite American-ish.

* Some characters in ''[[Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt (Anime)|Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt]]'' have their own themes, like Corset. Neither Panty and Stocking nor their enemies Scanty and Kneesocks, however, have ''individual'' themes - rather, they only have ''duo'' themes that play when ''both'' of them are together.

* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (Anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh]]'' and its spinoffs ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh GX (Anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh GX]]'' and ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh 5 Ds (Anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh 5 Ds]]'' have themes for most of the major characters.

*** In one of the 'Deleted Scenes' videos, [[Little Kuriboh]] makes fun of this as well, with Tristan having found the remote for Duke's Theme Music. He then proceeds to browse through the several options and eventually chooses the least fitting...that is, after criticizing all the other options. Among those 'criticized' options are the second opening for ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'', the first opening for ''Yu-Gi-Oh! GX'', and the first opening for ''[[Pokémon (Anime)|Pokémon]]''.

** "You just brought sexy back for the last time."

* In the ''[[Pokémon (Anime)|Pokémon]]'' anime, Satoshi (Ash) has quite a few themes and songs (usually doubling as opening songs) with various variations. Haruka (May) has ''Haruka's Theme ~ Watashi Makenai'' and in the ''Diamond & Pearl'' series, Hikari (Dawn) has ''Hikari's Theme ~ Kimi no Soba de'' which is often played in scenes focusing on her (usually karaoke) and has many variations, including a slow version for sad scenes, a Christmas-y version used as the winter ending song, and more.

* ''[[Prétear (Manga)|Prétear]]'' has some examples as well. It's a [[Magical Girl]] anime, so predictably there is a transformation theme music (actually with three slight variations), a couple of battle themes, and a theme associated with [[Big Bad|evil]]. What makes it weird is that main characters don't seem to have any particular tunes reserved for them, but comic relief side characters do. Tanaka the butler even has his theme named after him; there is also a leitmotif played mainly during Yayoi's crazy speeches, and a leitmotif for Mayune's shower scenes.

** Don't forget Ten wo Tsuke, which whenever a scene that is filled with hope happens like where Simon, Kamina, and Yoko break the surface. And of course what happens, well, you know who dies. "Sniff"

*** Also, we have one of the most badass english song in the entire show, which plays in episode 3, when Viral activates Enki for the first time and proceeds to kick Gurren's shiny, metallic ass: Gattai Nante Kusokurae! (To hell with Gattai!)

** Also, the song [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM3cZsYubKM Destiny Awaits] might as well be named Byakuya's Theme.

** Even the arrancar have their own theme songs -- flamenco and salsa-type tunes that go well with their overall Spanish theme.

** On the third soundtrack, Yasutora "Chad" Sado and Uryu Ishida both received individual theme songs, Uryu's being [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mhMN0t9NAM Quincy's Craft] and Chad's being [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UKXlbwrn2M Dominio del Chad] (roughly "Chad's Domain" in Spanish, although if you translate it exactly, it becomes the much more hilarious "Domain of the Chad").

* ''[[Princess Tutu (Anime)|Princess Tutu]]'' has leitmotifs for most of the major characters, pulled from (mostly) Romantic-era classical music. Fakir's theme is [[Ludwig Van Beethoven]]'s ''Coriolanus'' Overture, Mytho's theme is the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from ''[[The Nutcracker (Theatre)|The Nutcracker]]'' (and later episodes use Siegfried's Funeral March from [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''[[The Ring of the Nibelung (Theatre)|Götterdämmerung]]'' when he's in danger, as well as "the Immortal Beloved" theme from the ''Siegfried-Idyll'' for his true prince form {{spoiler|which are appropriate since his true name is Siegfried}}), Princess Tutu's is "The Waltz of the Flowers" from ''The Nutcracker'', Drosselmeyer's is the Grande March from ''The Nutcracker'' (often arranged in a minor key and played on an ominous organ), Rue has several piano pieces by Satie for her themes, Ahiru has ''The Nutcracker'' Overture (that has several different arrangements for her changing moods), Edel's organ plays a slowed-down version of "The Dance of the Automatons" from Léo Delibes's ''Coppelia'' ({{spoiler|can you say [[Artificial Human|foreshadowing]]?}})...even Professor Cat gets one--the Wedding March, of course! This isn't even going into some of the ''other'' leitmotifs used to represent various themes in the anime, or the fact that every episode has its ''own'' major musical theme named in the title card.

** Though perhaps not a proper Leitmotif, "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TezDF1ybD-k Overtaken]" functions as a Leitmotif for anyone who goes into [[Determinator]] mode and is about to do something awesome.

** I would think that One Piece is full of obvious Leitmotifs. Throughout the series they recycle tunes such as designated tear-jerker, awesome, and ''[[Big Bad]]''-introduction music.

* ''[[Code Geass (Anime)|Code Geass]]'' has "All Hail Britannia" (for when [[The Empire]] does something epic), "Devil Created" (for when Lelouch uses his [[Evil Eye]]), and "0" (for when Lelouch's latest bit of [[Magnificent Bastard|magnificent bastardry]] comes to fruition.

** Beautiful Emperor plays when Lelouch {{spoiler|creates the UFN, and becomes Britannian Emperor.}} You know, Emperor-y stuff. The "beautiful" part is [[Bishonen|self-evident]].

** There's no way the ''[[Digimon Adventure 02 (Anime)|Digimon Adventure 02]]'' songs "Bokura no Digital World" (the season's memorial song) and "Mirai e no Message" (an image song) can contain the same six note melody (da-da-DAH dah dah ''daaah'') and similar chord progressions in the verses without some intention to tie the songs together by the composers. Even more, "3 Primary Colors" from ''Tamers'' (sung in the points of view of the three main kids, and it was used in that season's final episode) seems to use a variation of the aforementioned motif between vocal sections. Different characters, different continuity, same franchise...not surprised they sound alike.

** ''[[Digimon Xros Wars (Anime)|Digimon Xros Wars]]'' LOVES leitmotifs, with several variations of different songs. There's several, but special mention goes to the Bagra Empire's theme, which has no less than ''seven'' versions of the theme played throughout the series.

* ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn (Manga)|Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'' has a number but most notable is Hibari's which is about the only piece in the show on the piano and means that you know from the beginning just how awesome he is.

** Actually, each character has an epic theme song. The editors/writers just don't want to overuse them.

* ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya (Light Novel)|Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' has a few good examples, but the one used with the most consistency is definitely "Nagato's Confession," a cool, stoic electronic tune. "How Promising" is also used pretty often and usually means Haruhi's about to pull some harebrained scheme again.

* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam (Anime)|Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' has some memorable, if trippy motifs (it was 1979, after all!) "The Gallant Char" sounds downright heroic compared to the typical Zeon themes, which had a psychedelic spooky aspect. Music associated with the crew and suits of White Base featured triumphant horns - when not in battle.

*** The AEUG's theme also features triumphant horns, and features heavily even in battle scenes, while the Titans and Axis had unique themes as well. Many of these themes were carried over into ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (Anime)|Gundam ZZ]]'', as both were scored by Shigeaki Saegusa.

** ''[[Mobile Fighter G Gundam (Anime)|G Gundam]]'' made extensive use of themes for the main fighters, not to mention the themes used for the Shining and Bakunetsu God Fingers.

** "Never Lose Myself" for Black★Star (and by extension, we assume, his teammate Tsubaki--although he ''would'' [[Attention Whore|make it all about him]]). The second OST gives him another theme, with the ironic title "Lost Myself".

*** Black Star also has "harmoNIZE" as his battle theme.

** Similarly, Soul and Maka have "Soul-Eater (So Scandalous)" as a general theme and "PSYCHEDELIC SOULJAM" for their fight scenes.

** "Lady of Gorgon" for Medusa.

** There's also "M.Albarn" for Maka, "C.Mosquito" and "D.Mosquito" for Mosquito, "Mifune" and "Masamune" for the characters bearing those names, "Camellia" for Tsubaki, and "Lycaon" for Free.

** Let's not forget "STEP UP" for Justin Law.

* ''[[Daily Lives of High School Boys (Manga)|Daily Lives of High School Boys]]'':

** Literature Girl has a lonely piano piece, which resonates well with her seemingly solitary nature, but is also non-indicative of the [[Hilarity Ensues|hilarity that ensues]] from her interactions with Hidenori. It was even used as the [[Placeholder Titles|ED for the first episode]].