TV Asahi runs poll to determine the best Showa, Heisei and Reiwa anime songs. Dragon Ball is very represented

[Adamant]

https://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/animesong_ranking/
This aired on Tv Asahi yesterday. A group of 10000 people, evenly distributed between both sexes and all age groups in order to cover all demographics, were polled on their favorite anime songs in order for the show to produce a top 20 list for each of the three eras anime has existed for:

Top 20 Showa songs:

20) Omoide ga ippai (Miyuki)
19) Mizu no hoshi e ai wo komete (Kido Senshi Z Gundam)
18) Tobe! Gundam (Kido Senshi Gundam)
17) Candy Candy (Candy Candy)
14) Cutie Honey (Cutie Honey)
14) Boku Doraemon (Doraemon)
14) Makafushigi Adventure (Dragon Ball)
13) Ai oboeteimasu ka (Cho Jiku Yosai Macross: Ai oboeteimasu ka)
12) Cat's Eye (Cat's Eye)
11) Lum no love song (Urusei Yatsura)
10) Anpanman no march (Sore ike! Anpanman)
9) Lupin III no thema (Lupin III Part 2)
8) Tetsuwan Atom (Tetsuwan Atom)
7) Ai wo torimodose!! (Hokuto no Ken)
6) Sazae-san (Sazae-san)
5) Mazinger Z (Mazinger Z)
4) Get Wild (City Hunter)
3) Uchu Senkan Yamato (Uchu Senkan Yamato)
2) Ginga Tetsudo 999 (Gekijoban Ginga Tetsudo 999)
1) Touch (Touch)

Top 20 Heisei songs:

20) Guren no yumiya (Shingeki no kyojin)
19) Secret of my heart (Meitantei Conan)
18) Itsumo nando demo (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi)
17) Ojamajo Carnival!! (Ojamajo Doremi)
16) DAN DAN kokoro hikareteku (Dragon Ball GT)
15) Zenzenzense (Kimi no na wa.)
14) Rouge no dengon (Majo no Takkyubin)
13) Anata dake mitsumeteru (Slam Dunk)
12) Butter-Fly (Digimon Adventure)
11) Mononoke-hime (Mononoke-hime)
10) Kimi ga suki da to sakebitai (Slam Dunk)
9) Sobakasu (Rurouni Kenshin)
8) Mezase Pokemon Master (Pocket Monsters)
7) We Are! (One Piece)
6) Yasashisa ni tsutsumareta nara (Majo no Takkyubin)
5) Moonlight densetsu (Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon)
4) Sekai ga owaru made wa... (Slam Dunk)
3) Odoru Ponpokorin (Chibi Maruko-chan)
2) CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA (Dragon Ball Z)
1) Zankoku na tenshi no these (Shinseiki Evangelion)

Top 20 Reiwa songs:

20) Kaibutsu (Beastars)
19) Mephisto (Oshi no Ko)
18) Kizuna no kiseki (Kimetsu no Yaiba: Katanakaji no Sato-hen)
17) Inferno (Enen no Shobotai)
16) Ao no sumika (Jujutsu Kaisen 2: Kaigyoku/Gyokusetsu)
15) Shukufuku (Kido Senshi Gundam: Suisei no Majo Season 1)
14) One Last Kiss (Shin Evangelion Gekijoban)
13) Kaikaikitan (Jujutsu Kaisen 1 Cour 1)
12) Dai Zero Kan (The First Slam Dunk)
11) Cry Baby (Tokyo Revengers)
10) Ai ni dekiru koto wa mada aru kai (Tenki no Ko)
9) Niji (Stand By me Doraemon 2)
8) Shinjidai (One Piece Film Red)
7) Utsukushii hire (Gekijoban Meitantei Conan: Kurogane no Submarine)
6) Kick Back (Chainsawman)
5) Zankyo Sanka (Kimetsu no Yaiba: Yukaku-hen)
4) Mixed Nuts (Spy X Family)
3) Homura (Gekijoban Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Ressha-hen)
2) Gurenge (Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kamado Tanjiro Risshi-hen)
1) Idol (Oshi no Ko)

The show also had a bonus segment where they traveled around the world and polled people in various countries (including Norway!) to produce a top 7 foreigners' picks list:
7) GO!!! (Naruto)
7) Kick Back (Chainsawman)
6) unravel (Tokyo Ghoul)
5) Gurenge (Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kamado Tanjiro Risshi-hen)
4) Zankoku na tenshi no these (Shinseiki Evangelion)
3) Idol (Oshi no Ko)
2) We Are (One Piece)
1) Bluebird (Naruto Shippuden)


Do you agree with these lists? Should the Dragon Ball songs have placed differently? Are there any songs you miss? Discuss away.

[Soppa Saia People]

Makafushgi Adventure being relatively low somewhat surprised me, it's definitely better then the Mazinger theme, which isn't even the best Go Nagai show theme. Cat's Eye is better though, I remember listening to that album before I even knew it was connected to anime, really good stuff. Cha La is pretty fair where it is, though I'd say it's better then Cruel Angel's Thesis, that is a pretty solid rank though Moonlight Densetsu sucks in my opinion, both the original DoReMi theme and Sailor Star's opening crushes it, as far as those 90s Toei Magical Girl shows go. Dan Dan deserves higher but it's not a big deal, cool it's even on there.

[FortuneSSJ]

DAN DAN kokoro hikareteku should be first.

[JulieYBM]

Honestly, I think I like the insert and image/character songs better than I do Cha La Head Cha La or Makafushigi Adventure. I feel like it's kinda inevitable that these songs always wind up on the same silly lists, so I just don't find it impressive when they do.

[GhostEmperorX]

Makafushgi Adventure being relatively low somewhat surprised me

In general there are numerous good anime songs from the Showa era alone (and also from Heisei really), take it from someone who actively collects JP anime CD's from most of these eras (and works on a place that has an extensive catalog of most of them).

Kikuchi himself made a lot of them in the Showa era for shows that aren't DBZ (and I could list them but they do vary in popularity so most of them might not necessarily make it to this list unless it's something like the Doraemon OP or some other heavyweight).

it's definitely better then the Mazinger theme, which isn't even the best Go Nagai show theme

One thing that's important to remember is that it was done by the late great "anison emperor" Ichiro Mizuki (and composed by Michiaki Watanabe, also departed), and it's a classic in its genre, one that it largely helped redefine and kick off in the beginning of the 70's. It's no surprise that it's rated so highly regardless of whatever its quality may be.

I would question why Pegasus Fantasy isn't there, but there's still a lot of material and Saint Seiya may not be that high up there with what most people remember.

[Adamant]

something like the Doraemon OP or some other heavyweight

Interestingly that one DIDN'T make it.

But yeah, for Showa and Heisei there's just so many super iconic themes it's always going to be a bit of a crapshot whether your favorite makes it in or not. There's a bunch of songs I expected to see that didn't make it too (Kinnikuman theme, Gatchaman theme, Ashita no Joe theme, first Ranma OP etc)

[MasenkoHA]

I'm kind of surprised Head Cha La didn't place in the international list. I know a lot of dubs didn't use it (the Funi/Ocean English dubs, the French dub and all those based on it, the Italian dub) but I figured it was still prolific enough to place

[Adamant]

I'm kind of surprised Head Cha La didn't place in the international list. I know a lot of dubs didn't use it (the Funi/Ocean English dubs, the French dub and all those based on it, the Italian dub) but I figured it was still prolific enough to place

Nah, that makes sense. When a huge chunk of the international fandom are only familiar with some dub that replaced the opening theme, the theme song is not going to be able to compete against iconic songs everyone DO associate with the show.
Moonlight densetsu is also missing despite the massive international popularity of Sailor Moon, for the same reason.

[M16U3L2015]

I'm kind of surprised Head Cha La didn't place in the international list. I know a lot of dubs didn't use it (the Funi/Ocean English dubs, the French dub and all those based on it, the Italian dub) but I figured it was still prolific enough to place

It depends on which countries they surveyed, for example, if they had surveyed several Latin American countries, CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA would be higher since it is well remembered in the Latin American anime fandom.

[Adamant]

I'm kind of surprised Head Cha La didn't place in the international list. I know a lot of dubs didn't use it (the Funi/Ocean English dubs, the French dub and all those based on it, the Italian dub) but I figured it was still prolific enough to place

It depends on which countries they surveyed, for example, if they had surveyed several Latin American countries, CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA would be higher since it is well remembered in the Latin American anime fandom.

The footage showed them talking to some people in Chile (one guy who sang a pretty passable rendition of Kimi ga suki da to sakebitai), but other than that it was mostly Europeans. Most of the footage was from Spain, where they went to the Japan Weekend Madrid 2023.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I'm kind of surprised Head Cha La didn't place in the international list. I know a lot of dubs didn't use it (the Funi/Ocean English dubs, the French dub and all those based on it, the Italian dub) but I figured it was still prolific enough to place

Nah, that makes sense. When a huge chunk of the international fandom are only familiar with some dub that replaced the opening theme, the theme song is not going to be able to compete against iconic songs everyone DO associate with the show.
Moonlight densetsu is also missing despite the massive international popularity of Sailor Moon, for the same reason.

I don't think Cha-La Head Cha-La would be alien to a huge chunk of the international fandom. Maybe a huge chunk of the North American fandom? Even then there's likely many US fans that watched Dragon Ball on the International Channel and through tape trading that would be very familiar with the Japanese version. Its also worth noting while Funimation's dub may be more popular in the territories it aired in the Japanese version is more popular internationally.

I also don't think theres an alternative English opening that's anywhere close to being universally associated with the show. US, UK, Irish, Finnish, Dutch, South African, Oceanic and Belgian fans would be familiar with Rock the Dragon from back when the Saban dub was first airing, but conversely Canada always had the Westwood OP, and fans that were introduced to the show from the Ultimate Uncut DVDs on were exposed to a different OP. Also, as far as I know the South Asian airings of Funimation's dub used season set footage, so it's likely plenty of those fans never heard Rock the Dragon either.

[MasenkoHA]

. Its also worth noting while Funimation's dub may be more popular in the territories it aired in the Japanese version is more popular internationally.

It wasn't just the Funimation dub that jettisoned Head Cha La though.

Still, I assumed Head Cha La was well know enough either through the Japanese version, the Latin American dub doing a translation, and Head Cha La finding its way in some English releases (the Pioneer movie dubs,most of the remastered releases of the Funi Z movies, Kakarot) and its remixes like in Battle of Gods.

I also don't think theres an alternative English opening that's anywhere close to being universally associated with the show. US, UK, Irish, Finnish, Dutch and Belgian fans would be familiar with Rock the Dragon from back when the Saban dub was first airing, but conversely Canada always had the Westwood OP, and fans that were introduced to the show from the Ultimate Uncut DVDs on were exposed to a different OP.

True, Rock the Dragon is probably the closest the English dub has to an iconic theme song and even then huge portions of the English fandom probably don't even remember it exist.

[Adamant]

I never mentioned Rock the Dragon or any other specific song, I said that when you're doing a poll to find the 7 most popular songs, it's hard for a song a considerable chunk of that show's international fanbase has never even heard to be able to compete.

And there's a difference between "heard Cha-La a couple times" and "consider Cha-La your favorite anime song ever".

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I never mentioned Rock the Dragon or any other specific song, I said that when you're doing a poll to find the 7 most popular songs, it's hard for a song a considerable chunk of that show's international fanbase has never even heard to be able to compete.

And there's a difference between "heard Cha-La a couple times" and "consider Cha-La your favorite anime song ever".

Fair, but my point is that there isn't really an iconic English OP that a large portion of the international fandom perceives as a competitor to Cha-La Head Cha-La. Rock the Dragon is the closest to being iconic but it's nowhere close to, say, the original 4Kids Pokemon OP.

[GhostEmperorX]

Fair, but my point is that there isn't really an iconic English OP that a large portion of the international fandom perceives as a competitor to Cha-La Head Cha-La.

Although I think it was likely referring to how OP's like the French, Italian, and even Arabic versions were different from the song itself.
Seems as though Latin America were the only ones internationally to adapt that OP into their own languages (Spanish or Portuguese).

[Adamant]

Fair, but my point is that there isn't really an iconic English OP that a large portion of the international fandom perceives as a competitor to Cha-La Head Cha-La.

I never said there was. Where are you getting this from? Why are you talking about English OPs anyway when most of the people they polled weren't from English speaking countries?

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Fair, but my point is that there isn't really an iconic English OP that a large portion of the international fandom perceives as a competitor to Cha-La Head Cha-La.

I never said there was. Where are you getting this from? Why are you talking about English OPs anyway when most of the people they polled weren't from English speaking countries?

I guess this comment confused me.

the theme song is not going to be able to compete against iconic songs everyone DO associate with the show

My point was that there isn't really a competing iconic song everyone associates with the show because of the diversity of OPs fans introduced to Dragon Ball Z through a dub, English or otherwise, were likely to be exposed to.

Since there isn't a universal iconic OP or anything close to it Head Cha-La is more likely to be the more familiar song for the international fandom because the Japanese version is more widely available than any dub.

[GhostEmperorX]

My point was that there isn't really a competing iconic song everyone associates with the show because of the diversity of OPs fans introduced to Dragon Ball Z through a dub, English or otherwise, were likely to be exposed to.

Just a moment there, this refers to other iconic anime songs (that didn't get changed out) in general rather than to the different dub songs made for DBZ around the world.

[Adamant]

Yeah, what GhostEmperorX said. People were asked what their favorite song was, not whether or not they had heard Cha-La before.

[MuscleRobo]

I'm surprised the second Slam Dunk ending was what placed highest for it, although the first ED and first OP being there are pretty nice too.