This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Dark Sasami: Does The Simpsons count? It is, after all, the only lyric.
Harpie Siren: In my opinion, the cartoons of the early ninties had the best theme songs... espicially Warner Bros. and Disney's, and Animaniacs had the best of them all...
Brickie: I'd give the Teenage Mutant Ninja/Hero Turtles theme as a definitive example of this. The lyrics go something like
"Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles! Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles! Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles! Heroes in a half-shell! Turtle Power!"
Thus neatly reinforcing the shows name a lot and gives two marketing catchphrases.
Red Shoe: Re The Big O — is it really "We have come to team"? I always thought it was "We have come to terms" when it appeared on-screen.
Arutema: cut "More or less averted since the (very Bond-esque) theme tune is about three minutes long and the words 'Snake Eater' are mentioned once." The background singers start with "Snake eater" around 00:57. Between lead and backup vocals it's said about 6 times.
Shay Guy: Am I imagining it, or did this use to be a LOT more common in anime than it is now? I looked on YouTube for the OPs to Mazinger Z, Cutie Honey, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Uchuu Senkan Yamato, and some other series - I didn't find one from that era that wasn't one. Even going as late as 1981, the Urusei Yatsura theme was called "Lum's Love." (Okay, so not quite, but close.)
Of course, it's not the only difference I've noticed. The older themes seem to be much heavier on the brass.
Kendra Kirai: Yeah, they used to do it a lot more in the earlier days of anime, especially with giant robots and sci-fi stuff...but they didn't usually beat you over the head with it, making it the only lyrics, etc. They usually melded the Title Theme Tune with Expository Theme Tune, with the shows title said only once or twice. (Cutey Honey is the big exception in that short list you gave)
Of course, that's only the whole title...partial and common titles crop up all the time. Gao Gai Gar for example, has a good piece of the song as "GAGAGA GAGAGA GAO GAI GAR!" but only has the full title "Yuusha-Oh Gao Gai Gar" once. American shows usually go the route of putting the entire title in the theme song as many times as possible.
o/~ Bokura no Yuusha-Oh! GA GA GA GAGAO GAI GAR! o/~
God I love that song. One of the best series ever, in my opinion. Definitely top ten material, at least of the series I've watched.
In case anyone's wondering, the appearance of Stingray under both "Puppet Shows" and "Live Action TV" is not a mistake; the former is the 1960s Gerry Anderson series, the latter is the (unrelated) 1980s show.
