<p>The vast majority of the time (easily upwards of 95% of the time, by my estimate), OPs/EDs are produced specifically for the anime they're used in. Reuse of existing songs is rare. </p>

<p>There are counterexamples, though, which by their very rarity prove the rule. A few select examples:</p>

<ul>
<li><em>Erased</em> reused Asian Kung Fu Generation's 2004 song "Re:Re".</li>
<li><em>JoJo's Bizarre Adventure</em> (2012 version) reused <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes_(band)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Yes</a>'s 1968 song "Roundabout".</li>
<li><em>Speed Grapher</em> reused Duran Duran's 1981 song "Girls on Film". (<a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/31790/are-anime-op-ed-theme-songs-original/31792#comment44253_31792">Thanks, @ConMan.</a>)</li>
<li><em>One Week Friends</em> reused Sukima Switch's 2004 song "Kanade", though in this case, it was re-recorded with Amamiya Sora (voice actor of the character Fujimiya Kaori) as the vocalist.</li>
<li>And, of course, <em>Neon Genesis Evangelion</em> uses <a href="http://vgmdb.net/album/19791" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a great many different recordings and mixes</a> of the classic "Fly Me to the Moon" as its ending theme. </li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-02T05:18:50.803Z
A few other notable ones include *Speed Grapher*, which in Japan used Duran Duran's "Girls on Film" as its opening, and if you include cover songs then there are also ones like *One Week Friends* whose ED was Sukima Switch's Kanade reworked as a character song for Kaori, or the thousand-and-one covers of the jazz standard "Fly Me To The Moon" on *Neon Genesis Evangelion*, although in all of those cases they were definitely recorded for the show, just not written for it.
ConMan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-30T17:02:18.653Z
2016-06-11T23:57:16.247Z
2017-04-13T12:54:48.953Z
senshin
<p>Are anime OP/ED theme songs original? Is it like after creating an anime, the producer hires a singer to sing a song for the OP/ED theme for that anime, or do they just use songs that the singer already sang for his album or something like that?</p>

<anime-history>
Are anime OP/ED theme songs original?
# Are anime OP/ED theme songs original?
Posted by: username_0 on 2016-04-30
Are anime OP/ED theme songs original? Is it like after creating an anime, the producer hires a singer to sing a song for the OP/ED theme for that anime, or do they just use songs that the singer already sang for his album or something like that?
**Tags:** anime-history
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## 1 answers
### Answer by username_1 on 2016-04-30. Score: 10 | Accepted answer
The vast majority of the time (easily upwards of 95% of the time, by my estimate), OPs/EDs are produced specifically for the anime they're used in. Reuse of existing songs is rare.

There are counterexamples, though, which by their very rarity prove the rule. A few select examples:

* *Erased* reused Asian Kung Fu Generation's 2004 song "Re:Re".
* *JoJo's Bizarre Adventure* (2012 version) reused [Yes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes_(band))'s 1968 song "Roundabout".
* *Speed Grapher* reused Duran Duran's 1981 song "Girls on Film". ([Thanks, @ConMan.](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/31790/are-anime-op-ed-theme-songs-original/31792#comment44253_31792))
* *One Week Friends* reused Sukima Switch's 2004 song "Kanade", though in this case, it was re-recorded with Amamiya Sora (voice actor of the character Fujimiya Kaori) as the vocalist.
* And, of course, *Neon Genesis Evangelion* uses [a great many different recordings and mixes](http://vgmdb.net/album/19791) of the classic "Fly Me to the Moon" as its ending theme.
> **Comments:**
> **username_2** (2016-05-02): A few other notable ones include *Speed Grapher*, which in Japan used Duran Duran's "Girls on Film" as its opening, and if you include cover songs then there are also ones like *One Week Friends* whose ED was Sukima Switch's Kanade reworked as a character song for Kaori, or the thousand-and-one covers of the jazz standard "Fly Me To The Moon" on *Neon Genesis Evangelion*, although in all of those cases they were definitely recorded for the show, just not written for it.  
---
