If nothing else, this decision certainly gave us a lot of bangers.
Summary:
Chainsaw Man had a different ending theme in every episode, which is unusual, and fans are wondering what the point was.
Chainsaw Man is not the first anime to invoke this trope.
Every episode’s ending theme fit the context perfectly, and fans are wondering if Season 2 (if it happens) is going to be the same.
Most anime stick to just one opening and one ending for the entire cour — or maybe even longer, as it is often the case with long-running anime. Yes, sometimes anime does change its ending mid-cour in case of a dramatic tone change, or has a one-episode ending song for special occasions. However, when Chainsaw Man was announced to have twelve different ending songs by different artists, most fans were perplexed. They weren’t really against it, but the question was: what’s the point?
Historical context
Now, it’s important to remember that while a different ending in each episode might sound wild to newer anime fans, Chainsaw Man didn’t actually invent the trope. Yes, it is not a very popular trope nowadays; during the late 00s and early 10s many anime used a different ending theme in every episode.
Anime from that era like Oreimo, Katanagatari and Ebiten come to mind — with circumstances being different for each of them. None of these was the first to use a different ED theme in every episode (of a TV anime), however — the achievement belongs to a now-obscure 90s series called Seraphim Call. Granted, that one was a collection of separate (albeit interconnecting) stories, so the use of 12 different ending songs was totally warranted.
The ending themes fit the episodes perfectly
As for Chainsaw Man, however, there’s no exact answer. Probably because the production committee decided they could do that, though. Most of the theme song artists are either incredibly popular in Japan already, or their popularity is on the rise right now. As such, having a new ending song every episode, with some of the most beloved artists, would seem like a good publicity stunt. After all, not many anime do this nowadays — and it’s never been done before in a Jump adaptation, or in a production of Chainsaw Man’s caliber. It also needs to be addressed that every ending theme fits its episode perfectly, and MAPPA actually went out of their way to create unique visuals for all of them, ensuring CSM’s memorability in this regard.
What about the potential sequel?
In the end, however, one question remains: in the case of Chainsaw Man’s potential Season 2, would the situation be repeated? On the one hand, it seems to make sense to do it — it would be weird if only the first season had unique endings for each episode — but on the other hand, commissioning so many songs by big-hit artists costs quite a lot of money. And in case of S2’s production also going for that, who would be some of the artists potentially invited to do songs for the anime? Among the fan favorites that still had no songs in Chainsaw Man, otaku seem to be expecting YOASOBI and Ado to perform some of the ending themes.
If nothing else, this decision certainly gave us a lot of bangers.
Summary:
Chainsaw Man had a different ending theme in every episode, which is unusual, and fans are wondering what the point was.
Chainsaw Man is not the first anime to invoke this trope.
Every episode’s ending theme fit the context perfectly, and fans are wondering if Season 2 (if it happens) is going to be the same.
Most anime stick to just one opening and one ending for the entire cour — or maybe even longer, as it is often the case with long-running anime. Yes, sometimes anime does change its ending mid-cour in case of a dramatic tone change, or has a one-episode ending song for special occasions. However, when Chainsaw Man was announced to have twelve different ending songs by different artists, most fans were perplexed. They weren’t really against it, but the question was: what’s the point?
Historical context
Now, it’s important to remember that while a different ending in each episode might sound wild to newer anime fans, Chainsaw Man didn’t actually invent the trope. Yes, it is not a very popular trope nowadays; during the late 00s and early 10s many anime used a different ending theme in every episode.
Anime from that era like Oreimo, Katanagatari and Ebiten come to mind — with circumstances being different for each of them. None of these was the first to use a different ED theme in every episode (of a TV anime), however — the achievement belongs to a now-obscure 90s series called Seraphim Call. Granted, that one was a collection of separate (albeit interconnecting) stories, so the use of 12 different ending songs was totally warranted.
The ending themes fit the episodes perfectly
As for Chainsaw Man, however, there’s no exact answer. Probably because the production committee decided they could do that, though. Most of the theme song artists are either incredibly popular in Japan already, or their popularity is on the rise right now. As such, having a new ending song every episode, with some of the most beloved artists, would seem like a good publicity stunt. After all, not many anime do this nowadays — and it’s never been done before in a Jump adaptation, or in a production of Chainsaw Man’s caliber. It also needs to be addressed that every ending theme fits its episode perfectly, and MAPPA actually went out of their way to create unique visuals for all of them, ensuring CSM’s memorability in this regard.
What about the potential sequel?
In the end, however, one question remains: in the case of Chainsaw Man’s potential Season 2, would the situation be repeated? On the one hand, it seems to make sense to do it — it would be weird if only the first season had unique endings for each episode — but on the other hand, commissioning so many songs by big-hit artists costs quite a lot of money. And in case of S2’s production also going for that, who would be some of the artists potentially invited to do songs for the anime? Among the fan favorites that still had no songs in Chainsaw Man, otaku seem to be expecting YOASOBI and Ado to perform some of the ending themes.
