DAM Announces Top 50 Anime Theme Song Karaoke Rankings for Winter 2026: Mrs. GREEN APPLE's "lulu." for Frieren Season 2 Takes First Place

Daiichikosho Co., Ltd. investigated the karaoke rankings for anime theme songs broadcast or distributed in Winter 2026 on DAM.

Music critic Akihiro Tomita, an authority in the anison world, explains the winter anime rankings.

Survey Period: March 1, 2026 - March 31, 2026

Commentary on Winter Anime Theme Song Karaoke Rankings by Music Critic Akihiro Tomita This is an incredibly luxurious ranking, as if top-tier J-POP artists are battling fiercely on the main stage of anime theme songs. The #1 spot goes to "lulu.", the opening theme for "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Season 2", performed by Mrs. GREEN APPLE, who are undeniably leading the current J-POP scene. Second place is King Gnu's "AIZO", who have had a deep collaboration with "Jujutsu Kaisen". While Mrs. GREEN APPLE's win is unsurprising given their status as [national popularity x sequel theme song for a hit anime], "AIZO" might be popular in karaoke due to its uncharacteristic anison-like speed and the powerful pop sensibility of its chorus, which is typical of King Gnu.

Amidst strong hits like Chanamina's "TEST ME" (5th place), the opening theme for "Oshi no Ko Season 3", which powerfully resonated with its intense message, and Natori's "Serenade" (3rd place), which created a vivid afterglow as the ending theme, "ray" from the Netflix original anime "Kaguya-sama: The First Kiss That Never Ends", which was also a major hit despite limited theatrical release, bravely fought its way to 4th place. This is a cover of BUMP OF CHICKEN's massive hit song by Yuko Natsuyoshi (as Kaguya) and Saori Hayami (as Yachiyo Tsukimi), both boasting top-tier vocal talent in the voice acting world, and TAKU INOUE's arrangement is also superb. Re-experiencing the resonance of a moving work through karaoke is one of the joys of anison karaoke. Although BUMP OF CHICKEN's original was released in 2014, it seems "ray" has become a new anison anthem more than 10 years later.

Also noteworthy is the strong performance of "anison"-style songs amidst artists like Ohishi Masayoshi with "Ningen" and "GA-TAN GO-TON", who continues to be active as a top runner in the anison scene, and Rei Nakashima with "Ochiraku ze~shon" who has begun to stand out as an anison artist after their smash hit. Amidst the anison scene becoming the main battlefield for J-POP, this ranking makes us reconsider, "What constitutes a good, singable anison?"

DAM 2026 Winter Anime Theme Song Karaoke Ranking TOP 50 (1