10 Popular Anime Openings from the First Half of 2025

Anime continues to be a powerful gateway for global listeners to discover Japanese music. 

This article introduces 10 popular anime openings from the first half of 2025, based on public streaming data from Spotify and YouTube Music. 

• Check out the 2024 year‑end collection (and keep an eye out for the full 2025 list towards the end of this year).

*Curation Process: This list pulls from Spotify and YouTube Music streaming data until June 30, 2025. Learn more about the process (and why some favorites are not included).

Kaiju – From Orb: On the Movements of the Earth

Artist: sakanaction
Japanese title: 怪獣
Season: Fall 2024, Winter 2025

While Orb fans eagerly anticipated the release of “Kaiju,” the anticipation was far greater for Sakanaction listeners. It was the band’s first song in three years (and their first anime opening in the band’s 20+ year career).

“Kaiju” made history in Japan, setting the record for the highest number of streams on a song’s release day, across major music streaming services. It would later exceed 100 million streams via the Billboard JAPAN charts. 

Note: While this opening theme was for the fall 2024 and winter 2025 episodes of Orb (24 episodes in total), its 2025 release would put this song on this year’s list.

ReawakeR (feat. Felix of Stray Kids) – From Solo Leveling

Artist: LiSA, Felix of Stray Kids
Season: Winter 2025

The international hype surrounding Solo Leveling was matched by its opening, “ReawakeR feat. Felix of Stray Kids.” The hit song features a powerhouse trio: anison queen LiSA, K-pop superstar Felix, and hit composer Sawano Hiroyuki. 

For weeks, “ReawakeR” kept the top spot on the Global Japan Songs excl. Japan chart, which tracks the international impact of Japanese songs outside their home country.

As LiSA wraps up her first North America tour, her anison reign shows little signs of slowing down. 

KUSUSHIKI – From The Apothecary Diaries

Celebrating their tenth anniversary, Mrs. GREEN APPLE continues to dominate Japan’s major music charts, with new releases consistently breaking into the top ten rankings. 

Following their 2024 long-hit “Lilac,” the band continued its chart-topping streak with “KUSUSHIKI,” the opening theme for the spring season of The Apothecary Diaries.

The hit song reached #1 on the Billboard JAPAN Hot 100, Spotify Top 50, and many other music charts. 

Plazma – From Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX

Artist: Kenshi Yonezu
Season: Spring 2025

The first half of 2025 marked an exciting time for Kenshi Yonezu; coming off of his first global tour, JUNK, he also released two anime songs back-to-back. 

“Plazma” was originally released alongside the show’s compilation movie; it was later used as the opening theme for the spring GQuuuuuuX TV series. 

It’s a track that made Kenshi Yonezu think about the paths he didn’t take, such as pursuing his love for manga, while still moving forward with the one he chose. 

BOW AND ARROW – From Medalist

Artist: Kenshi Yonezu
Season: Winter 2025

Released just one week after “Plazma,” “BOW AND ARROW” also became a streaming hit. 

BOW AND ARROW came from his love for Medalist, and unlike most tie-ups, it was Yonezu who first reached out to the production team to create a song for the series. 

A sequel to his 2017 My Hero Academia track “Peach Sign,” the figure skating anime opener (which featured the legendary Hanyu Yuzuru in the MV) glided into the hearts of listeners.

Hyakka Ryouran – From The Apothecary Diaries

Artist: Lilas Ikuta
Japanese title: 百花繚乱
Season: Winter 2025

Before rising to fame as ikura of the popular YOASOBI, Lilas Ikuta was a singer-songwriter who got her start performing on the streets and live houses of Tokyo. 

Despite a demanding international schedule, her solo career takes the spotlight with her first opening theme song for the hit TV series, The Apothecary Diaries.

Kekka Orai – From My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

Artist: Kocchi no Kento
Japanese title: けっかおーらい
Season: Spring 2025

Kento Sugo, better known as Kocchi no Kento, broke out in 2024 with his viral Morse code-inspired hit, “Hai Yorokonde.”

This year, he delivered yet another catchy and uplifting track with My Hero Academia: Vigilantes. “Kekka Orai” was the first anime opening theme for both the series and for Kento himself.

Watch me! – From WITCH WATCH

Artist: YOASOBI
Season: Spring 2025

YOASOBI capped off a busy first half of 2025 with their Asia Tour, Primavera Sound set, and sold-out Wembley shows. They also returned to the anime world with “Watch Me,” their first anime opening theme in two years, for the spellbinding WITCH WATCH.

A fan of Kenta Shinohara’s work since his 2007 series SKET DANCE, Ayase wrote the track by putting himself in the shoes of the protagonist, Nico.

RUN SAKAMOTO RUN – From SAKAMOTO DAYS

Artist: Vaundy
Japanese title: 走れSAKAMOTO
Season: Winter 2025

Soon to become the youngest artist to ever headline a Japanese Dome Tour, Vaundy continues to push his artistic boundaries.

For his latest anime project, he aimed to capture “the inspirational protagonist Sakamoto’s overwhelming, unmatched strength” with “Run Sakamoto,” the opening theme for SAKAMOTO DAYS.

Fun fact: Vaundy also wrote “Somebody help us,” the special ending song in episode 7.

Martian – From Shoshimin: How to Become Ordinary

Artist: Yorushika
Japanese title: 火星人 
Season: Spring 2025

After 2024’s buzz surrounding their Frieren opening and Orb ending songs, hit duo suis and n-buna continue to deliver with another standout anime track, Martian. 

Like many other Yorushika tracks, n-buna draws from literary inspiration. This anime opening references a line in to free-verse poet Sakutaro Hagiwara’s 1917 piece Cat. 

Fun fact: In the song’s YouTube description, n-buna shared that he used to think he was a Martian.

Curating this collection

Here is a breakdown of the process used to create this collection. 

Disclaimer: As this list relies on streaming numbers, an artist’s existing fanbase, the popularity of an anime series, streaming differences by platform, and many other external factors directly impact results. For these reasons, songs are not ranked. Feedback is always welcome.

Initial review: I reviewed 2025’s weekly rankings for the following music charts: Billboard JAPAN (Japan Hot 100, Hot Animation, Global Japan Songs Excl. Japan, Heatseekers), Spotify (Anime Hits, Top 50 – Japan), Apple Music (Top 100: Japan)

Selection Criteria: I pulled streaming data from Spotify and YouTube Music, starting from each anime opening’s release through June 30, 2025.

Two metrics were used:

• Total Streams: Combined play counts from both platforms.
  
• Daily Average Streams: Total streams divided by the number of days since digital release.

Songs were ranked equally on both metrics to balance long-term and recent popularity, and 10 songs were selected for this list.

Check out the 2024 year end list, and other anime song lists on utatune.