History Main / RealSongThemeTune

* Though it should be obvious, each of the ''VideoGame/RockBand'' games has one of the songs from the game play during the opening cutscene from each iteration. The original ''Rock Band'' has "Highway Star" by Music/DeepPurple, ''Rock Band 2'' has a rerecording of "Hello There" by Music/CheapTrick, and ''Rock Band 3'' has "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" by Music/TheDoors. In addition, both ''Music/GreenDay Rock Band'' and ''Music/TheBeatles Rock Band'' have mashups of several songs by each respective band, and ''Lego Rock Band'' uses "Grace" by Music/Supergrass.

* ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'' used Music/FranzFerdinand's "This Fire" for their opening.

* ''Series/HumanGiant'' uses "Romantic Rights" by dancepunk band Death From Above 1979

* Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}:

* The 1983 arcade game ''Commando'' by Sega (which is [[SimilarlyNamedWorks not the same]] as [[VideoGame/{{Commando}} the later Capcom arcade game]]) uses the ColonelBogeyMarch as its main theme.

* ''Series/AlexRider'' uses "The World is Mine" by Samm Henshaw as the theme song for season 1.

* Wrestling/BryanDanielson used "The Final Countdown" by Music/{{Europe}} during his time in the indies. When he became Daniel Bryan in Wrestling/{{WWE}}, he used "Ride of the Valkyries" for his first year in the company, and switched to a rock orientation of the song afterwards.

* ''VideoGame/SpyHunter'' has the theme from ''Peter Gunn'' as its theme, which was then updated into "The Spy Hunter Theme" by Saliva for the [=PS2=]/[=XBOX=] installment. The sequel to the [=PS2=]/[=XBOX=] game has "Dark Carnival", a Bond-esque tune by Vanessa Carlton.

* ''Anime/AfterWarGundamX'' uses Warren Wiebe's "Human Touch" as its ending from episode 1 to 26. The first 12 episodes use the English version and the rest uses a Japanese cover done by a female singer.
* ''Knights of the Zodiac'', the [[{{Bowdlerise}} DiC dub]] of ''Manga/SaintSeiya'', used the Music/BowlingForSoup cover of Music/AFlockOfSeagulls' song "I Ran (So Far Away)".
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': Every episode ends with a different cover of the standard "Fly Me To The Moon"; several were performed by Music/MegumiHayashibara, both in and out of character as Rei Ayanami.
** The ''Anime/{{Rebuild|OfEvangelion}}'' films have another cover of "Fly Me to the Moon", this time by Music/UtadaHikaru, as well as a cover (once again by Hayashibara) of the Japanese standard "''Tsubasa o kudasai''", originally released by the group Akai Tori in 1971.
* Speaking of Gainax, the ending theme of ''Manga/HisAndHerCircumstances'' is a cover of "''Yume no naka e''", a 1973 song by Yousui Inoue. In the West, [[CoveredUp it's known only through its use in this show]].
* ''Manga/ParadiseKiss'' used Music/FranzFerdinand's "Do You Want To" for its ending theme. Somehow, the American release managed to keep the rights for it.
* ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'' also utilizes Music/FranzFerdinand, specifically their song "This Fire" for their opening.
* In the older times, frequently used by MTV and VIVA for the various anime they showed in Germany. This had some, ah, "interesting" results, like the song "Star" from Nova International (which has the line "I wanna drive a big fat Cadillac" as part of its lyrics), set to the opening - of all things - of ''Manga/InuYasha''. Yep.
** They also changed one of the smoothest opening songs (Hellsing's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMNJwUUHMxc Logos Naki World]]) to some [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aloiiMQdBCc random heavy metal song]] by Keith Flint of the British techno group Music/TheProdigy.
** Speaking of Hellsing, the ending used the song ''Shine'' by Music/MrBig, a band who was actually quite popular over in Japan.
* ''Anime/SpeedGrapher'' uses Music/DuranDuran's "Girls on Film" in the original Japanese version. The song doesn't appear in the English language version due to licensing issues.
* ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain'' used "Duvet", by British rock band Boa, for its opening theme.
* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'' used "The Light Before We Land" by The Delgados for its opening theme.
* ''Manga/MariaHolic'' uses a cover of Music/YellowMagicOrchestra's [[Music/NaughtyBoys "Kimi ni Mune Kyun"]] for its ending theme.
* ''Anime/EdenOfTheEast'' uses "Falling Down" by Music/{{Oasis}} for its opening theme. Due to copyright reasons, The Dub uses Falling Down for the first episode and generic J-pop for the rest.

* ''Manga/{{Mushishi}}'' uses "The Sore Feet Song" by Ally Kerr as its opening theme, and the second season does it again by using "Shiver" by Lucy Rose as its opening theme.

* Every ending theme of ''Manga/HeavensLostProperty'' from episode two onwards. Most of them are covers by the anime's cast members, but episode five's song ("Yuke! Yuke! Kawaguchi Hiroshi") is a self-covered version by the original singer.

* The opening theme of ''Anime/ALittleSnowFairySugar'' is a Japanese remake of "Sugar Baby Love," the 1974 debut single of the British band The Rubettes.
* Speaking of Britain, the opening theme of the film version of ''Manga/ASilentVoice'' is "My Generation" by ''Music/TheWho''.
* ''Anime/TheLegendOfBlackHeaven'' uses a shortened version of John Sykes' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIZF50kMlKc "Cautionary Warning"]] both as the show's theme and as a song played by the main character...to save the universe.
* While not an entirely straight example ''Anime/FullMetalPanicFumoffu'' uses a variation of Santana and Michelle Branch's song "Game of Love" for the ending.

* The Italian opening for the first of the ''Anime/TimeBokan'' series is a cover of Music/TheBuggles' "Video killed the Radio star".
* ''Anime/DokiDokiSchoolHours'' used a cover version of "Furare Kibun de Rock'n'Roll" by TOM CAT as its ending theme.
* ''Literature/OkamiSan'' uses a cover of '78 pop hit "Akazukin-chan Goyoujin" ("Little Red Riding Hood Beware") as its ending theme. Given the motif of the show, an appropriate choice.
* ''Manga/AndYetTheTownMoves'' uses a cover of Sugar Babe's "DOWN TOWN". It makes it into a DancingTheme too.
* Another Shaft example is ''Manga/DanceInTheVampireBund''. It uses a cover of "Friends" by Rebecca.
* The ''Anime/DeltoraQuest'' anime uses Music/DeltaGoodrem's "In This Life" for one opening, likely because both the ''Literature/DeltoraQuest'' author and Delta Goodrem are Australians.
%%* Music/JAMProject was formed specifically to counteract this trend.%%
* The second opening theme to ''Manga/OnePiece'', "Believe", is a reworded version of Lolita's "Dreamin' of You".
** ''Anime/OnePieceFilmZ'' includes Music/JoanJett's Bad Reputation and Music/{{Nickelback}}'s How You Remind Me covered by Music/AvrilLavigne.
* ''Anime/{{Supernatural}}: The Animation'' uses "Carry on Wayward Son" as its ED. The original Japanese release uses a cover version, and the US release uses the original by Music/{{Kansas}} since Warner Bros. has the rights to the song in the first place.
* ''Literature/HeavensMemoPad'''s ED is Mr. Big's "Colorado Bulldog", of all things.
* The voice actors of the three female leads of ''Anime/AnoHanaTheFlowerWeSawThatDay'' [[DoItYourselfThemeTune did a cover]] of "Secret Base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~ (10 Years After Ver.)," which was sung beforehand by Scandal. The song itself was a revival of the song "Secret Base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~," which was originally sung by Zone--and this version was [[DoItYourselfThemeTune covered by the cast of]] ''Manga/KyouNoGoNoNi'', two and a half years before [[PortmanteauSeriesNickname AnoHana]]! Since the lyrics were essentially the same, this means that the song has been used in at least two shows!
* Each season of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' uses a new licensed ending theme song to pay homage to author Creator/HirohikoAraki's allusions to rock, prog rock, and pop music. They have included:
** Season 1 (''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood Phantom Blood]]'' and ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Battle Tendency]]''): Music/{{Yes}}'s [[Music/{{Fragile}} "Roundabout"]]; different parts of this eight-minute long jam session were used over the end credits, and in rare occasions the instrumental intro bled into the scene right before a "To Be Continued" freeze-frame, leading to a [[MemeticMutation video meme]] where dramatic events are cut off right as the screen turns sepia, freeze frames, the iconic "To Be Continued Arrow" appears, and the beginning chords of "Roundabout" begin.
** Season 2 (''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]''): the first 24 episodes use Music/TheBangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian", while episodes 25-48 use Music/PatMethenyGroup's "Last Train Home"
** Season 3 (''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]''): Music/SavageGarden's "I Want You"
** Season 4 (''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]''): episodes 1-19 use Music/{{Jodeci}}'s "Freek'n You"[[note]]Try to keep a straight face when the 90s R&B bass line starts and then goes immediately into the lyrics "Every time I close my eyes / I wake up feeling so horny"[[/note]], while episodes 22-39 use Music/{{Enigma}}'s "Modern Crusaders".
** Season 5 (''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]''): episodes 1-37 use Music/{{Duffy}}'s "Distant Dreamer", while episode 38 uses [[BookEnds Yes's "Roundabout"]].
* ''Manga/DeadmanWonderland's'' theme tune "One Reason" is a reworded version of Fade's song "Black Hearts and Dollar Signs"--performed ''by'' Fade.
* ''Manga/InitialD'' uses various Eurobeat tunes licensed from Avex Trax's Super Eurobeat library, just like its video game counterpart ''Initial D Arcade Stage''
* The obscure (in the West) anime ''Hanada Shonen Shi'' uses the Music/BackstreetBoys songs "The One" and "Drowning" as OP and ED respectively.
* The opening theme of ''Anime/{{Ingress}}'' is "Tessellate" by Music/AltJ.
* The opening theme of ''Anime/RollingGirls'' is a cover of "Hito ni Yasashiku" by Japanese punk rock band The Blue Hearts, as sung by [[DoItYourselfThemeTune the voice actresses of the four main characters]].
* ''[[Anime/GoGoTamagotchi GO-GO Tamagotchi!]]'' uses "Baby I" by Music/ArianaGrande as its second ending theme.
* ''Manga/{{Drifters}}''' opening theme is a remix of Thirty Minutes Til Midnight's "Gospel of the Throttle".
* Most famously, TRF's music has made their way into infamy as ''VideoGame/PrettySeries'' theme songs, especially in the ''Anime/PrettyRhythmRainbowLive'' continuity:
** "Boy Meets Girl" appears as the first opening and "EZ DO DANCE" appears as the second opening theme. You'll see this song pop up a lot in the rest of the series (especially in ''Anime/KingOfPrism''), but not as a theme song anymore. The former song was also used as the first ending theme of ''Manga/UFOBaby''.
** Speaking of ''King of Prism'', their third installment ''Shiny Seven Stars'' has nothing ''but'' TRF music as their opening and ending themes.
* ''Anime/PaRappaTheRapper'' uses a remix of "LOVE TOGETHER" by J-funk band Nona Reeves (released the year before the anime's debut) as its first opening theme; the remix ended up being released as a single in its own right to promote the series.
* The ending theme for ''Anime/GreatPretender'' uses the song [[TitledAfterTheSong from which the anime gets its title]] -- Music/FreddieMercury's cover of The Platters' "The Great Pretender". The ending animation even takes many visual cues from Mercury's music video, and features cats modeled after Mercury's cats.

* ''Anime/DiGiCharatNyo'''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUzqWGDqCfg first opening]] is a cover of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJyfT5snNZ0 Listen To Your Heartbeat]]" [[note]] "Lyssna till ditt hjärta" in its original Swedish [[/note]] (and by proxy its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0toDFPVLzEs English version]]) by the Swedish pop group Friends.
** The first ending, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS7epp-58DM Equal Romance]]" is a cover of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux3sT8WPnVE the 1989 [=CoCo=] song]] of the same name and was previously used as the 2nd ending of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''.

* ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973'' underscores its opening credits with a cover of "Whistle Stop" by Roger Miller (who voiced the Rooster in the movie).

* ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine'' used Music/TheBeatles' eponymous song.
* Creator/StudioGhibli:
** ''Anime/KikisDeliveryService'' uses two Yumi Matsutoya songs: it opens with "Rouge no Dengon" and closes with "Yasashiisa ni Tsutsumareta Nara".
** ''Anime/OnlyYesterday'' closes with a Japanese-language translation of "The Rose", originally a hit for Music/BetteMidler.
** ''Anime/WhisperOfTheHeart'' featured Music/JohnDenver's "Take Me Home Country Roads" performed by Olivia Newton-John. The song figures in the storyline; as part of a school assignment, Shizuku writes a set of original lyrics to the song.
* ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'' [[MemeticMutation (in)famously]] uses "All-Star" by Music/SmashMouth.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'' infamously has King Julien sing the classic dance song "I Like to Move It", originally released by Reel 2 Real in 1993.

** ''[[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedCarbon Carbon]]'' has as theme song "Bounce" by Dynamite MC.

* ''Sled Storm'', at least the [=PS1=] version, uses Rob Zombie's "Dragula" (Hot Rod Herman remix).