< Soundtrack Dissonance

Soundtrack Dissonance/Anime and Manga

  • Neon Genesis Evangelion might as well be the king of this trope in the anime world. It has this down to an art form:
    • One episode ends on a blood-curdling shriek of horror, desperation, no small amount of fury... and promptly cuts, as every episode does, into a cover version of "Fly Me To The Moon." The effect is both disastrous and cathartic, but intentionally so: The ending music was always rather out of place, and becomes ever more ironic as the show turns darker.
      • The ending theme is sung by a different voice actress in different episodes. In one episode when Kaworu gets killed, the instrumental arrangement is exactly the same as all the others, but there's nobody singing. The silence is deafening.
      • Moreover, this particular rendition eschews the lush arrangement of the previous versions in favour of a jauntier, jazzy cover. An acoustic guitar takes the place of the singer, making it sound... happy, insofar as a song could be.
    • Special mention goes to the scene where Asuka gets Mind Raped by an Angel with the Hallelujah chorus playing in the background. Whether they did it intentionally or just because it's Ominous English Chanting, is unknown.
    • The fourth movement to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony plays while Kaworu invades Terminal Dogma and begs Shinji to kill him. Whatever relevance the lyrics may have to Shinji's fighting on behalf of all mankind, they are anything but applicable to Shinji himself.
      • Actually, I think more thought went into this than most people give it credit for. The lyrics serve as something of a de facto motto for SEELE (as demonstrated by Rebuild, in which an excerpt from the poem is NOW PART OF THEIR LOGO), and the themes of fate and divine deliverance also help to frame Kaworu's mentality. Interestingly, voice actor and Eva enthusiast Taliesin Jaffe, in the commentary for the first movie, reports watching this scene with a room full of people well-versed in mysticism and the occult, and apparently as soon as the music started they all knew immediately how that sequence was going to end. Just something to think about.
      • The way this troper sees it is that Kaworu is basically an angel who's been handed the extermination order on the human race. Being an angel, he's hard-wired to love humans, so he sees his assignment as kind of a "rejoice, for I will bring about your destruction, and therefore, the end of all your sufferings" kind of deal. Also, because in the beginning of the episode, he states that he sees the Ode to Joy as humanity's highest achievement, and that singing it brings happiness to humans, which is essentially all he wants.
        • Completely the wrong translation of Shito there. Kaworu is not that kind of Angel at all.
      • Also, the anime itself could be seen as Shinji's own quest for happiness (like the director AND composer themselves!), so the Ode to Joy is surprisingly fitting if you think about it from that way.
    • Then there's Komm, Süßer Tod's use in The Movie, (referenced in the main page) another example of Soundtrack Dissonance using a song with Lyrical Dissonance for a devastating combo.
      • Not to mention the fact that it is, to some extent, a sound alike of "Hey Jude", which is not exactly known for being a depressing song.
      • The first verse:

[[spoiler: I know, I know I've let you down<br/> I've been a fool to myself<br/> I thought that I could live for no one else<br/> And now<br/> Through all the hurt and pain<br/> It's time for me to respect<br/> The ones who love me more than anything<br/> So with sadness in my heart<br/> I feel the best thing I could do<br/> Is end it all and leave forever<br/> What's done is done, I feel so bad<br/> What once was happy, now is sad<br/> I'll never love again<br/> My world is ending]]

Imagine that set to a Suspiciously Similar Song version of "Hey Jude". Seriously, it's almost impossible to describe in typed form, so here you go. Now imagine that...but why imagine it when you can see it? Worse, it's unclear as to whether the entire human race is being killed off in a ritualistic mass suicide and screaming in terror or the ecstasy of being released from their separate forms and finally merging back into one complete being. Or maybe even both.
    • Really... even the opening music seems sickeningly sweet when contrasted to what follows in pretty much every episode.
      • Except then you get the piano version. Oh god, the piano version...
    • Probably the best example is the use of Bach's Air on a G string during the battle against the MP Evas. Also a Crowning Moment of Awesome for one of the characters.
      • That last part is arguable. I still found it pretty horrifying.
        • It was horrifying (and definitely the worse death in the series), but... the action and the lengths she goes to makes it a Crowning Moment of Awesome. I mean, unlimited power and their weapons can slice through anything. She only had a knife and 3 1/2 minutes. And she won. Once.
    • Another, less obvious example is the use of Pachelbel's "Canon in D" for the (absolutely beautiful) credits sequence of Evangelion: Death. So you've just gone over the important events of the series one last time, you've had a few more hints dropped your way, and more importantly, you know that the next thing you'll be watching is the big finale. Even if you're not yet aware of just how much horror you're in for, you know that, as far as the plot is concerned, Shinji and co. have already passed the point of no return. The overriding feeling as you watch a beautiful sunset over a ruined landscape while listening to this exquisite piece of music can only be described as deep, penetrating foreboding. You know the end is nigh.
    • And of course, the (in)famous DVD menu for End of Evangelion adds another example of this trope, this time using "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" (which is actually used in the film for * gasp* generally NON-ironic effect).
    • Really, this series is utterly in love with this trope. From the examples listed above, to the heavy use of jazz, soft rock and J-pop in the soundtrack, at least half the music in the series stands in direct contrast to the dark and twisted machinations of the plot. Just listen to Shiro Sagisu's Thanatos, either the original or the vocal version used in EoE. Nice, jazzy song, right? Well, "Thanatos" = "DEATH". There. That pretty much summarizes the mood of the entire soundtrack.
    • There's also this AMV set to "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles. The surprising thing is that it works.
    • In Rebuild 2.0, as the Dummy Plug controlled Eva 01 mutilates and disembowels the Angel possessed Eva 03, piloted by Asuka in this version, a delightfully cheery song starts playing. It made this scene even more of a Tear Jerker.
      • Then again, the song's title (Today Is the Time To Say Goodbye) is pretty explicit on exactly what is going to happen. Same goes for the lyrics - "Sayonara".
      • There's a second instance of Soundtrack Dissonance in 2.0 as well; Shinji setting off Third Impact, set to Tsubasa wo Kudasai.
    • Another example is Shinji's first fight: The Angel beats his Eva to a scary music, but that's to be expected. But then Eva starts to fight back! Time for a happy winning music (like in Digimon when a new mode is activated)...except what we get is "The Beast", which is ten times more terrifying than the music before. The meaning of the scene also changes from a regular "good wins" to "Oh Crap, what is happening?", making the dissonance hard to notice.
    • Overall, a large part of Evangelion's soundtrack is often described as something that shouldn't fit, but somehow it does.
  • And in an excellent example of Follow the Leader, RahXephon's final four episodes contain this trope as well. Two examples: Kunugi's Heroic Sacrifice in episode 23 which destroys Nirai-Kanai and Ayato's Freak-Out in episode 25 which fires a huge sonic blast and destroys much of Japan. Both has scenes of destruction overlaid by serene music, achieving an effect much like End of Evangelion.
  • Hanasaku Iroha uses a Catholic-esque choir and pipe organ during a Shinto festival in Episode 25. Unlike many other examples listed here, it's not mindscrewy and probably quite unintentional, since the music fits the uplifting, spiritual atmosphere of the festival, but some viewers find the difference in religious and cultural motifs really jarring.
  • Mobile Suit Victory Gundam does this quite well, both the openings and ending are quite happy and upbeat but the show itself is very dark and bloody.
  • As Stella dies in Shinn's arms in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, the typical happy, semi-romantic country music end theme starts up, growing more upbeat as Shinn begins sobbing, and cutting to the credits just as Shinn lets loose a rather convincing scream of pure, inarticulate rage and grief. The credits, of course, are shown over a pleasant, pastoral scene apparently depicting an Elseworld where everyone in the cast is alive and together with loved ones...
    • The lyrics to the song themselves qualify as Lyrical Dissonance; the climax goes "Is it really okay?/It's never going to be".
    • Also note that the climactic arc of the series was prefaced by the mind-boggling new opening song: The Earth, Wind & Fire-inspired "Wings of Words."
    • Any time Shinn attacks in Super Robot Wars K. His BGM is Zips, a light, energetic mecha opening that plays away while he goes all angsty-berserker on whatever poor sap you've sicced him on.
    • Another Destiny example is during episode 7, where the soothing "Fields of Hope" is played against footage of horrifying destruction, as Junius Seven's fragments crash to Earth, annihilating cities around the world. In an example of Tropes Are Not Bad, this actually proves to be one of the most powerful scenes in the series. It was purposefully done, Lacus Clyne singing it, a popular diva on the show, sings it to calm down the kids in her bombshelter.
  • Angel Beats! loves to abuse its ending song, always Played for Laughs. Someone gets pummeled by a giant hammer? Play the ED song. Slammed into the ceiling, three times? Play the ED song.
  • Heaven's Lost Property uses this heavily, always Played for Laughs, by playing extremely serious music over scenes that are completely impossible to take seriously in the first place to make them even more ridiculous. For example, the scene commonly referred to as "Tomoki vs Panties", which essentially consists of Tomoki attempting to save Sohara from panties that explode when he (and only he) looks at them (nope, it doesn't make sense in context either) accompanied by a techno-remix of "The Final Coundown".
  • The Remastered DVDs of Gundam Wing manages to pull this off with the menus for discs 6, 7 and 8. The animation leading up to the menu itself features various episode clips of characters getting shot at, from Heero to Lady Une, whilst the rather upbeat ending theme, "It's Just Love", plays in the background!
    • Speaking of Gundam Wing, in episode 41, "Rhythm Emotion", the show's second opening theme, is playing during the Gundam Team and White Fang's assault on Barge, ending with Zechs singlehandedly destroying the space station with Epyon. It also happened at the end of episode 36, after Relena surrendered to Romefeller and dissolved the Sanc Kingdom, and during Heero's ZERO System-induced rampage as he destroys several mobile dolls with Epyon.
      • Although in the episode 41 case, I think it's not so much of an unfitting music since in that part, Zechs was working alongside the gundams with a common goal. I see it as more of a "hero's finishing move music" that is often used for animes.
  • Mobile Suit Gundam 00 has children's choir playing during the final battle between Gundam Exia and 0 Gundam.
  • The jarringly up-beat and low-fi, diegetic pop music in the second chapter of 5 Centimeters Per Second to be an affront to the Scenery Porn and the lovely soundtrack. One song piped in to the convenience store crows "daijobu da yo (It's all right)" while Kaene suffers her unrequited love in silence. In another case Kaene on her bike is passed by her sister blasting similarly upbeat and indelicate tunes. This seems to be a mordant joke about the interference of the modern world with even the potential solace of Scenery Porn in the midst of disappointment. The sonic environment is being destroyed.
    • The third chapter, on the other hand, shows the protagonist browsing magazine racks with "One More Time, One More Chance" playing in the convenience store. Later the song moves from diegetic sound to the extradiegetic soundtrack: the effect is, at least meant to be, cathartic.
  • One of the original Bubblegum Crisis OVA episodes closes out at a graveyard, with a wide shot of many gravestones and mourners... then immediately kicks in the upbeat '80s anime pop music. Not quite putting The Fun in Funeral, but...
    • BGC is a repeat offender. In fact, whenever you hear some upbeat song, something dramatic is gonna happen. Just look at the scene where Priss' friend was killed and she's gearing up for some serious ass-kicking... despite the Knight Sabers explicit ban on personal revenge. Other Sabers show up just in time to make it a team mission.
      • On the other hand, Kizudarake no Wild, the song in question, has the almost supernaturally fitting lyrics, neatly averting Lyrical Dissonance. It's just that BGC in general has a preppy 80'es glam rock as its main soundrack.
  • Bokurano's second closing theme has a fairly upbeat sound with depressing lyrics, while the animation that goes with it depicts most of the dead or soon to be dead kids smiling, holding hands amongst the stars.
  • In Divergence Eve, the series is extremely creepy and dramatic, and sometimes the episodes end with horrible, horrible scenes... yet the end credits are an incredibly peppy J-Pop tune to pictures of the main character in incredibly Fanservicey outfits and revealing poses. It's akin to replacing the ending credits of Schindler's List with The Powerpuff Girls.
  • The Soul Society arc episodes of Bleach features the main characters being stabbed, cut up and bloodied. Then the credits are fun scenes with the song "Happy People".
    • Even more jarring example from earlier in the same arc: One episode ends with Momo, Captain Aizen's lieutenant, seeing Aizen's impaled corpse stuck to a building, and the last line in the episode is her screaming his name at the top of her lungs. Cut to the closing credits, set to a peppy, upbeat tune. Each of the credit reels for that song featured a different pair of shinigami; this one uses the dead guy and the person who was screaming ten seconds ago...
    • The 13th ending theme is the happy-sounding "Tane wo Maku Hibi", a song whose video shows Ichigo's family happily frolicking. Except that ending starts off the Hueco Mundo arc, which may well be the most violent one yet.
    • It keeps on rolling with ending 14, "Kansha", where the singer is singing about how thankful she is for her friends, and whose video is happy. Still the same arc.
  • At the end of Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis, Rock blows up the Ziggurat as Kenichi struggles to save the power-dizzy Tima. Ray Charles's "I Can't Stop Lovin' You" plays instead of sound effects. This editor wept. Her father did, too. This clip is from the Spanish dub, but it'll give you the picture.
    • The original Japanese version of the film (with English Dub) can be found here for those curious. It also bears mentioning that, while the mood of the song is an excellent example of the trope, the song may also be somewhat applicable under Lyrical Dissonance, as Ray Charles is cheerfully describing that he has decided to refuse to move on, and will instead live in an escapist fantasy in lieu of reality: interesting, considering that both of the antagonists in the movie are motivated primarily by a refusal to let go of people they love, but don't/can't love them back. Which only makes the final effect of the trope more pronounced.
  • In another Tezuka example, the 1980s Astro Boy anime had a few moments like this. The scene where Atlas first appears after his upgrade and massacres a squad of policemen is set to a rather upbeat, almost triumphant piece of classical music, probably to symbolize Atlas' view of himself as a hero, defending robotkind from the evils of humanity.
  • Variation: The non-canonical and deliberately poorly animated Omake of the .hack series, .hack//GIFT, plays the anime's dramatic and haunting music during scenes of slap-stick comedy.
  • Done on purpose and to very great effect in the finale of the seceand season of Ghost in the Shell:Stand Alone Complex when, after everything seems lost, The Tachikoma hijack the satelite that holds their AIs and crash it into a nuclear missile that is about to hit a major populated area. True to their nature they are unable to feel fear and are exited to experience the mystery of death, so they go down happily singing a childrens song that pretty much summs up that life is great. The show is well known for having an incredibly awsome soundtrack, but in this one scene, it's just very simple singing without any music.
  • As My-HiME has an overly optimistic and light-hearted opening, as well as the practice of ending nearly every episode either with a Cliff Hanger or at least on the most dramatic note, it just begs for Soundtrack Dissonance. Add the show's fondness for The Teaser, and you know the drill. A character is shown to have been quite unambiguously stomped into the dirt and rolled over with a road-roller; there are multiple battles between former friends going all over the place, and there has just been an explosion somewhere. Cut to the opening credits, with its shots of the blue sky with seagulls, characters glomping each other and smiling, and most unbearably, the upbeat "Shining Days". Aaah!
  • When Kafuka Fuura of Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei offers her ridiculously positive point of view on a decidedly dismal situation, the negative imagery is accompanied by her serene theme or other cheerful music. For example, her memories of her mother's demonic possession are paired with an upbeat accordion waltz.
    • And then in the second season, the time when Itoshiki-sensei tries to hang himself (again, surprise surprise...) while Happy Birthday to You plays in the background.
  • Elfen Lied also has a rather upbeat ending theme and a tendency to end episodes on a Cliff Hanger, or at least by showing us something unpleasant, and cue upbeat j-pop song. The naked, fetal-positioned Lucy/Nyu doesn't make it any less disconcerting at all.
  • While the openings and endings in Death Note fit the mood of the series, a clear example of Soundtrack Dissonance appears in one episode, where Misa walks through Tokyo singing gently, with the lyrics in sharp contrast to the continuous shots of people dying from her writing their names down.
    • actually, while the tone of the song is a little jarring, the lyrics fit quite well "god (referring in this context to to Light passing judgement through Misa) is watching you."
  • Downer Endings sometimes get a separate Ending Theme just to avoid this, but when they don't... well, if knowing about the upcoming sequel series didn't spoil the effect of Futari wa Pretty Cure's Downer Ending for you, the sudden cut to "LET'S GO! GET YOU! L! O! V! E! LOVE! LOVE! GET YOU!" probably did.
    • Yes! Pretty Cure 5's Bittersweet Ending suffered in exactly the same way.
    • In Fresh Pretty Cure, during episode 20 after winning the second battle against Eas's Nakisakebe, the girls faint from the exhertion of the battle and dance training finally taking a toll on them. The episode ends with them being taken to the hospital. Cue the fluffy, upbeat ending theme "You Make me Happy".
    • In fact, every single Pretty Cure Ending Theme ever, not counting the movie ones, is light-hearted, cheerful and happy-go-lucky, thus ruining the mood whenever a season reaches its climax or an episode ends on a depressing tone. The fact that nowadays all the endings are Dancing Themes does not help matters.
  • The light, happy bubblegum J-pop tune "Ai No Tenshi" underscores the gruesome carnage in Perfect Blue.
  • Despite its gradual progression into more depressing territory, Code Geass managed to avert this trope for most of its run. By the time most of the sadder episodes hit, the Ending Theme is a slow song with sad but hopeful lyrics.
    • In the Second battle of Tokyo, In Episode 18 of Season 2, they used strangely peaceful piano music. It is also used in Episode 23 when Lelouch explodes a volcano, and when he faces Nunally in the final chapter.
      • Episode 23 also plays a fairly peaceful tune over a montage of two opposing sides of characters that we've grown fond of making preparations to slaughter each other in a bloody battle.
    • It seems to fall into it at the season finale, where they play the peppy, upbeat original opening theme as an ending, but the director has said that the song is meant to be encouraging for the protagonist. Additionally, after the credits is a scene where the Mysterious Waif gives a hopeful soliloquy as an insert song that matches her mood plays in the background.
      • The second season's final opening theme basically mocks Lelouch toward the end of the season, with cheery music and lyrics mentioning how "kindness can't heal everything" and "everything is bright" playing over a montage of all the characters on both sides with smiles on their faces, including several beloved characters who have betrayed Lelouch, as well as one cheerful-looking unrepentant murderer, or people who are currently dead. Yeah, "everything is bright" indeed.
        • The director seems to be aware of this much, implying in the single's booklet that he intentionally wanted to make the characters smile in the opening, at least, even if they were facing a troubled, sad fate.
          • You think the original ending song was peppy and upbeat? Music-wise, sure, but with lyrics like, "Even if my body is sullied, my chastity muddied/Please believe in the brocade of my spirit"...
    • In the Grand Finale for R2, when Lelouch dies, possibly some of the happiest, prettiest music in the series plays as his little sister begs for him to open his eyes, then cries over his dead body.
      • But then, it's supposed to be a happy ending. Go figure that out.
        • The soundtrack shows how the rest of the world reacts, given that he was seen as a bad guy by most of the world at the time.
        • Even easier than that inference, though, is that the ending is happy because he won.
  • Mai-Otome follows the above examples, yet at the same time subverts it. The series' major Wham! Episode ends with Erstin dead, Nina deranged, Arika angry, and an explosion appearing over Garderobe. The Ending Theme plays its "Mellow Version". That is to say the beginning of the song is slower and more melancholy...then goes right into the usual pop music and continues with Arika running across a field of stars.
  • In Cowboy Bebop, the seamless blending of Jazz and sci-fi action-drama elements was the entire premise of the anime.
    • Special mention to the serene vocal ballad (ELM) played during the speedboat/spaceship chase at the end of Ganymede Elegy.
    • Then there is the Ave Maria recording snug by opera singer Jerzy Knetig in "Ballad of Fallen Angels". Faye Valentine attends a live performance, being invited by a mysterious gentleman. Turns out the gentleman is Vicious and to add insult to injury, the guy who actually bought the tickets is in their same opera box, rigor mortis setting in.
  • In Welcome to The NHK, the main character goes on a wild, disturbing hallucinatory fantasy with his neighbor blasting a sickeningly cute anime theme song in the background. Eventually the vocals alone accompany his visions, with an effect similar to an Ironic Nursery Rhyme.
  • Neither of Sailor Moon's opening songs go well with the seasons' final episodes, which are always dark. Especially disturbing in episodes that have a recap of some dramatic event before the opening sequence. Eyecatchers also provide a similar effect, particularly in Sailor Stars.
    • In fact, many Magical Girl anime series with typical love-themed soundtracks suffer from this when it comes to the multi-episode final fights. Tokyo Mew Mew, with its two extremely cheerful theme songs, is a good example. Prétear, while cutting the opening theme in the final two episodes, keeps the ending—in episode 12, it comes up right after Sasame sacrifices himself to save Takako, and even though it is slower than the opening, it still doesn't fit the mood.
    • I'd disagree with "Sailor Star Song" not matching the final episodes of Sailor Stars. If Sailor Moon didn't remain optimistic in the face of chaos, she'd cease to be Sailor Moon.
  • Black Lagoon puts "The World of Midnight", a beautifully sung ballade, right on top of the fade-out of a scene where a young boy has just bled to death on the ground after having had his hand shot off. The song is reused during the ending credits just after his sister is shot in the head on-screen, killing her in an an almost as gruesome a manner. The fact doesn't get better by the fact that, considering just how badly they had been messed up by what they had lived through, this was probably the best thing that could happen to them.
    • And then they use it again for Balalika's backstory!
  • Eureka Seven has this, too, cutting to the happy, upbeat Fly Away immediately after Renton brutally slaughters an army of enemy units, only realizing that he had been killing human pilots when he discovers a bloody, severed arm stuck to his mech's fist.
    • A bloody, severed arm with a wedding ring on its finger.
  • The English dub of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX suffers from this with its opening theme. The happy rock song about school and card games may have worked in the first season, but in the third season when characters are trapped in another world and are 'being sent to the stars' almost every episode, the opening jars so much.
    • There is also the Fourth Season duel between Yami and Weevil (Haga in the Japanese version) where heroic music starts playing as Yami wins. One problem. Yami is using his monster to beat the everlasting shit out of Weevil again and again even after Weevil's life points have hit zero in revenge for playing a cruel prank on him.
      • That cruel prank involves Weevil pretending to have Yugi's soul card, then ripping it in front of Yami's eyes. Seeing as how Yami was directly responsible for losing Yugi's soul, in the first place, Weevil's 'prank' quite understandably drives the guilt-wracked Yami absolutely berserk with rage.
  • Narutaru has one of the more unsettling instances of this trope in the opening. The song is an upbeat tune, played to a variety of images that looked drawn by little kids. It seems cute enough. Then watch the first few episodes. The cute opening suddenly becomes a major point of Mood Whiplash...
    • You think comparing the OP to the first few episodes is bad? Try comparing it to the last few, which place such events as Hiroko's kidnapping into frightening context. Or even worse, compare the OP to later volumes of the original manga...
    • That only goes for the tune and images, though. The lyrics to the song seem to be about someone waiting for a person who will never come—how that relates to the series' story is up to the audience, but it's a far cry from cheery.
  • Steam Detectives has Amazing Grace play during particularly poignant scenes where somebody falls from a high place, speaks their last, or an epic fight at the top of someplace high.
  • So far down the list, without mention of Super Dimension Fortress Macross? In The Movie, Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love, the entire final battle is set to the titular song, a soft and melodic love ballad supposedly taken from the ruins of a Protoculture outpost discovered by the Macross. It is one of the most iconic scenes in anime history, contrasting the message of the song with images of space warfare, swarms of beams and missiles flying everywhere, and, more particularly, Hikaru's final assault into Boddol Zer's inner sanctum. On the one hand, all of this drives home how the allied forces are fighting for the survival of "culture"—that is, the unique feelings and emotions that can create such a song in the first place—but then the audience is treated to a man being beheaded messily and graphically by falling debris, and the dissonance sets in.
    • Macross Frontier also uses the titular song from the movie in slow ballad form -- for an inverted purpose. Later in the battle after Ranka is freed, the song comes up again in quick form as one of the many mixed with Lion... not to mention how nearly every song in every Macross series has to do with love somehow, and are often used as backdrops and/or weapons in combat.
  • The 12th opening of One Piece sounds more like something one would hear from a bubbly high school romance/comedy than an epic adventure show. Even more jarring is the fact that the arc it's played for is about Luffy infiltrating a prison to save his brother from execution. This is the beginning of an arc that brutally subverts the long-standing principle that nobody will be killed off outside of flashbacks.
    • And on a similar note, "Ave Maria" is played during the Tear Jerker scene where Chopper's father-figure Hiruluk commits suicide-by-self-explosion.
  • In one of the last episodes of Black Cat, Saya's song is played over scenes of Creed being abused as a child.
    • Also the first ending theme.
  • Keroro Gunsou subverts this with most of its opening and ending songs. While they may sound like martial anthems and typical shounen pop, the lyrics are usually about failing at household chores and being lazy. The sheer upbeat attitude shoots it right into Mundane Made Awesome.
    • An even weirder variation of this occurs at the start of episode 37; when Kogoro's sister is attempting to hand out fliers, the background music is "Jingle Bells", for no reason whatsoever. (No it isn't a Christmas Episode.)
  • Averted in Fullmetal Alchemist. Most of the songs attached to the ending credits are really cheery. When Maes Hughes dies, his funeral and the appropriate dirge are played instead.
    • Played straight after Nina's death. The ending music is the same, the images however changed to show the dead character being cute and adorable.
      • The new animation, however, manages to make the upbeat music seem rather poignant.
    • There is Bratja though. This beautiful quiet music, whose lyrics are partly sung by a choral of children, is almost always played during a scene of massive destruction. But the lyrics (in Russian) are completely in harmony with the events of the anime.
      • Better; the lyrics are about the anime. A rare occurance for the media.
    • Also hilariously invoked in Brotherhood when Battle Scherzo plays in the background when the Armstrong siblings battle each other for inheritance rights.
  • In Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Kamina's death at the end of episode eight suddenly cuts to the quite upbeat closing song.
    • Made even worse by what Simon says: "That day, we lost something that could never be replaced." Manly Tears are flowing and, CUE J-POP
    • And the Bittersweet Ending of the whole series cuts to the ever more upbeat second closing song. Luckily, the Distant Finale had much more fitting music.
  • Detective Conan likes to occasionally end episodes with people sobbing with regret for their actions... and then launches right into the lighthearted rock ending song.
  • Arguably, the second Strawberry Panic ED. Just as the series is taking a turn for the dramatic the original ED is replaced by a very happy go lucky song filled with Les Yay overtones in which the singers are two dimensional paper dolls in several colourful settings. At one point the contrast is nothing short of appalling, after Nagisa breaks down crying in a very emotional moment the episode comes to an end with her sobbing and then Extreme Sugariness follows.
  • Simoun has a light-hearted accordion piece that likes to play every single time that the titular lesbian-powered airplanes draw a particularly effective Ri Maajon in the sky. This normally wouldn't be so bad except that, since they're at war, the prayers are usually "BLOW THE S*** UP NOW." Also, they played it when one of the main characters (a teenager girl) is busy cutting the cold dead fingers of an enemy pilot loose from her simoun, which he had died trying to hijack. He even apologized to them beforehand, and was shown to have a sympathetic background. Hell the main character got blood in her eye and yelled at her even younger partner to hide while she was cutting the dude's fingers off.
  • The Starship Troopers OVA mixes peppy, cheesy 80's music with two separate bar brawls, amongst other things.
  • The opening song of Xam'd: Lost Memories involves a heavy rock song descriptively titled "Shut up and Explode" accompanying many explosions, while implying that the series is all about fighting monsters with the power of xam'd. The series itself is pretty melancholy, and focuses much more on setting and characters than combat.
  • In Darker than Black, the "Now I've lost it I know I can kill" intro generally fits the show, despite the intentional irony in the lyrics.. But after sitting through an episode of the usual DtB action, the calm, relaxing, romantic closing song that plays as the credits scroll over a picture of Yin sitting in a field of flowers make it seem more like a minefield.
  • Scrapped Princess keeps the same upbeat sound for the commercial break bumpers as the series itself becomes more and more serious/dramatic. For that matter, its opening theme is a cheery little song about hope. It plays over a montage of the main characters fleeing their home as it is burned by the army trying to kill Pacifica.
  • In its original version, the first Digimon Adventure movie set a fight scene between Kaiju to the tune of Bolero, a ballet piece.
  • The opening theme of Mahoromatic has your sweet music and female vocalist typical of a Seinen series. The dissonance comes when it intersperses scenes of chibi Mahoro doing maid stuff and cast shots of her happy friends, with scenes of her dodging missiles and blasting stuff with her big fraggin' pistol.
  • Touka Gettan, episode 3. Touka having sex with Yumiko, his mother. With a cheery salsa tune as background music.
  • Pokémon of all things has this in its ending credits for the tenth movie. The Japanese ending, rather than the typical J-pop used in the series, is a love ballad in the style of "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic, over a cheery ending montage. This is extremely odd, especially given that Everybody Lives, and thus the only couple the song applies to are of different species, if the internet is to be believed.
    • The English dub of the first movie has the Blessed Union of Souls' "Brother My Brother" (a light, undramatic song) play while the regular and clone Pokémon are fighting each other to the death.
    • The dub adds an energetic song. Dawn appears on-screen in a pretty dress, releasing her Piplup and Buneary. All as we hear "-AS YOU FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL! NOTHING CAN STOP YOU! DIAMOND AND PEARL!"
  • Toward the Terra features this with its first ending, a hopeful ballad with a gentle piano introduction based on Pachelbel's Canon. This part is played over traumatic final scenes several times. Special points go to episode nine, which plays it over an alternate end credits sequence just to rub it in further.
  • Even the Dragon Ball series is victim to this, something tense or actiony happens, and in some cases some dies right before the end credits, and even when the episode ends on a sad note, the lighthearted endings of the three respective series play after the episode ends
  • And this happens numerous times in Magic Knight Rayearth
  • In the "Stinkbomb" segment of Otomo Katsuhiro's Memories, peppy jazz music accompanies the darkly humorous tale of a young man who unwittingly becomes a living bioweapon as the Japanese SDF ineptly tries to stop him.
  • In Toradora!, what song is playing after Taiga cries as she realizes she loves Ryuji, who she just sent to be with her friend, said friend seeing this and deciding she couldn't have him either and then rejecting Ryuji while Ami is left unable to express herself, leaving all four miserable and alone on Christmas? A happy Christmas song about togetherness and not being lonely, of course.
  • Brigadoon: Marin and Melan has a very upbeat, cheery outro, but a fair number of the episodes end on heart-wrenching cliffhangers. This can be rather disorienting, especially towards the end of the series when many of the characters have either been brainwashed, killed off, or brutally beaten. The final episode, thankfully, has a different and very appropriate ending theme.
  • The anime version of Les Misérables has the dramatic deaths of Les Amis d'ABC at the barricade set to a sparkly J-popish song.
  • In any given episode, there's about a 50/50 chance that Guyver's relaxing end theme will be playing moments after a bloody dismemberment.
  • The ending theme of Trigun is slow and methodical, and fits the shown scene of Vash walking what appears to be the desert ruins of a town... but then it falls into this when the rest of the images are all innocuous things like Vash eating lunch. Interestingly, the version that aired on Adult Swim avoided this by editing it so that only the appropriate initial image is shown in a continuous loop.
    • There were also scenes near the series' end that depicted numerous dead bodies overlayed with a pleasant-sounding slide guitar riff
  • The opening song to Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro Chan fits this to a T. A little girl singing gleefully with images of her torturing a young boy various ways playing throughout.
  • The theme song for Hell Girl. Ignoring the dark introduction, would you believe this is a show about condemning people to hell?
  • All of the Hellsing OVAs have different ending themes. After OVA 4, right after the viewer is treated to the... ahem, pleasant sight of Alucard devouring Rip Van Winkle alive, we are treated to this ending theme.
    • To be fair, that ending theme was actually, Dad Englandied, which was that infamous Nazi propaganda song back in WWII.
    • On the subject of Rip van Winkle, there's also a bit where she merrily sings opera while the crew of the Invincible are being slaughtered and turned into ghouls.
    • Not to mention the incredibly dull song playing during Integra's exciting car chase scene. Despite it being a tense, thrilling scene, the music in the background sounds more like something you'd hear during an ordinary conference meeting scene.
    • If you wanna talk about Hellsing, let us gleefully recall the Anime series: Its groovy, English opening that no one can understand, and its English ending...played by Mr. Big. This is a show about vampires, twisted relationships, gore, and a Combat Sadomasochist who likes the lolis; I highly doubt a romantic, upbeat ending them about how much you 'shine on me' is appropriate.
  • I was watching Sword of the Stranger recently and I noticed that the scenes where things seemed the most hopeless were the ones accompanied by the most triumphant music, which had the interesting effect of preluding whatever Badass thing the hero was about to pull to make things right again.
  • Revolutionary Girl Utena makes use of these fairly often, sometimes dramatic, sometimes...um, surreal. For instance, the soundtrack becomes beautiful opera—while in the foreground cow-Nanami charges at a red sweater held by Utena. Yeah, it's that kind of episode.
    • The duel songs are especially offensive about this. Upbeat music about death and deceptive things. The crown could probably be held by Mikage's I Am an Imaginary Living Body and Touga's Allegory Allegorier Allegoriest.
  • Alien Nine, most prominently with the bright, upbeat opening theme.
  • Umineko no Naku Koro ni has some of the absolute most beautiful music in all of anime. However, that means that you have songs like this playing during scenes with so much horror and Gorn that the Japanese TV networks had to censor them. Other examples go from epic to scary, epic to ominous, and both emotional, desperate action and tearjerking to dark, haunting action. The scenes tend to completely lose their effect accordingly.
  • Episode 24 of Planetes take the "episode's ending clashes with sudden shift to closing song": Tanabe is on the surface of the moon trying to carry Claire with her to safety, even after her knees start to experience immense pain, sure that something she's for someone else has to end well. However, her air starts running out when she's still 10km from a nearby city, but she refuses to take Claire's oxygen, even though Claire says she wants to die to redeem herself. But as she begins suffocating to death, every painful memory of people's lives cut short in spite of her beliefs flash before her eyes, and she really seems ready to take the life for her own. She desperately starts taking out Claire's oxygen tank--WONDERFUL LIFE HIJACK!
  • Full Metal Panic! : The Second Raid. While Yui-Lan is going berserk on some rebels, Gates is singing Ave Maria. Mind you, Ave Maria with screams and machine gun fire in the background.
  • Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 dumps the overly cheery J-pop number "M/elody" into the end of each of its episodes. While about 50% end on cliffhangers, and it's a Disaster Series, causing a major case of this in several places.
    • This Tropper would also like to include the opening theme for 8.0 which gives the feeling of a shounen adventure series more so than a serious and dramatic survival story.
  • In Clannad, think of just about about any episode that ends even somewhat dramatically or sad. Cue the Tastes Like Diabetes Dango Daikazoku. "Dango, Dango, Dango, Dango..."
    • Even worse in After Story, where some unbelievably sad moments cut directly to a really bouncy and upbeat song with footage of a young girl skipping happily.
  • Oh, The Naruto Pain arc. Bam! Konoha is now a smoking crater. Cut to cheery happy super fun song and Hinata riding a bicycle!
    • Oh Hey look Hinata just gave her life trying to rescue Naruto and then he starts to turn into his disturbing laden kyuubi form. Cue Hinata on a Bicycle AGAIN!
      • Speculation is that that is exactly why this ending was chosen, as the day this ending was first aired for this particular season, anyone who's read the manga saw this coming a mile away. The fact that the Omake of the episode immediately before this is about the ending shows this as being even more intentional.
  • Fushigi Yuugi episode 2 ends with the emperor making a dramatic announcement to the court; not a downer like some of the above examples, but certainly a solemn moment. Cue the ending music, with such perfect timing that it sounds like the court are throwing a celebratory disco.
  • This trailer for the movie Redline. Because when I hear a quiet love song, I think of fast-cut scenes of racing where veins bulge out of the drivers' eyes.
  • Soul Eater has the Asura resurrection arc episodes conclude with the happy, cute second ending theme 'Style' about wanting to be a child again. Unfortunately the children in this context are getting the crap kicked out of them by a pissed-off Eldritch Abomination. Although it does allow for the adorable Maka and Crona version in ep22.
  • Averted in Negima! The Episode where Asuna dies has its ending switched to show her funeral and cremation with a sad playing. And they also changed the OP of the next episode to avoid Mood Whiplash.
  • Monster has this in one scene where the series' Big Bad and Complete Monster, Johan Liebert, goes to the house of a "friend" who he got to start killing for him (maybe through manipulation). The "friend" asks who Johan wants him to kill next and Johan points at himself insisting that he, "woke up from the dream." It's later made clear that this is part of his plan to commit the perfect suicide and then, while incredibly peaceful music is playing, he casually shoots the other guy in the face.
    • The dissonance goes further than that - the song is actually Johan's leitmotif whenever he does or says something revealing about himself or his past. It also ties in somewhat with Schuwald's description of Johan as a man "at perfect peace with himself."
  • Used heavily in Samurai Champloo. A good example of this is one scene towards the end of an episode where Mugen, having just escaped from an ambush, meets the mastermind on the road. As they stand on the road cowering in fear, Mugen slowly walks towards them as an intense drum-loop plays... and nothing happens. Mugen just walks past them without doing anything.
  • The music played over the end credits of Chirin no Suzu is a happy tune played over a cheerful pasture of sheep.
  • Berserk's ending theme, "Waiting So Long" by SILVERFINS, is an ear wormy song composed of Gratuitous English, but it's still calm and mellow and peaceful. ... Apparently, it's the perfect thing to listen to right after seeing the lead man screaming and crying in agony in a pool of his blood at the sight of his lover getting raped to insanity by his best friend-turned demon and having no closure as to what happened immediately afterward. That ending is a downer in every way, shape, and form.
  • Prétear has this effect when the happy upbeat ending theme is playing after a really dark episode. Thankfully, near the end of the show they drop the opening theme altogether though the ending theme is still there. It's really apparent when watched on DVD which jumps right to the next episode: 'here have an uplifting happy song, and oh yeah, people are dead.'
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