The results of the "2022 Winter Anime ED Theme Popularity Poll" are in!

Akiba Research Institute held an official poll from March 4 to March 18, 2022, titled "Which song is your favorite? Here are the top 10 songs that caught our attention.

Now that the winter cool anime has finished airing, we would like to take a look back at the popularity vote for the ED theme of winter anime.

No.1 "Ichigo Sunset" by Hidenari Sasaki (CV. Yusuke Shirai) and Yumi Miyano (CV. Soma Saito) (Sasaki and Miyano) 310 votes
No.2 Sogo Nakamura "Nagareta" (Saiyuki RELOAD -ZEROIN-) 119 votes
No. 3 Luce Twinkle Wink☆ "FA "NTASY to! (Isekai Bishojo Bishonen Uncle Tomo to) 57 votes
No.4 Three ∞ Loop "Shuwashuwa" (Slow Loop) 38 votes
No.5 bicaso feat. EAERAN "OverThink" (JIKKOU AGENT -LINK CLICK- Japanese dubbed version) 37 votes
No.6 Akari Akase "Koi no Yukue" (That dress-up doll will fall in love) 26 votes
No.7 Aika Kobayashi "Makoto Period" (Kill Love) 22 votes
No. 8 AiRBLUE "Hajimari no Kane no Oto ga Ringing Sora" (CUE!) 15 votes
No.9 LACCO TOWER "Lie" (Genso Sangokushi -Tengen Reishin Ki) 11 votes
No.10 TADOKORO Azusa "Hakoniwa no Happiness" (In the Land of Liardale) 10 votes

No. 1 was "Ichigo Sunset" by"Sasaki and Miyano. Sung by Yusuke Shirai as Hidenari Sasaki and Souma Saito as Yumi Miyano. The song is a refreshing folk-song style song that is typical of adolescent BL works, and is a gem of a song that will warm the hearts of the audience with Shirai's and Saito's handsome voices.

Second place went to "Nagaretsu" from"Saiyuki Reload - Zeroin. Sogo Nakamura not only sings the song, but also writes the lyrics and music, demonstrating his true potential as a singer-songwriter. It is a song that should be listened to in its full version on a CD or other media.

While the top two songs were performed by male voice actors with good-looking voices, the third place goes to a cute idol song.
Luce Twinkle Wink☆, an idol group that aims to bridge the gap between idols and ani-songs, sings "Isekai bishojo nikushiku ojisanto" ED theme ""FA "NTASY to! sung by the idol group Luce Twinkle Wink☆, ranked in at No. 3.
It is a classic idol song with a great groove, and the interlude between the songs is a lot of fun to listen to. This is a song that one should definitely hear at a live concert.

No. 4 "Shuwashuwa" is a song by Three ∞ Loop, a unit consisting of Rin Kusumi (Hiyori Kainagi), Natsumi Hioka (Koharu Kainagi), and Tomomi Mineuchi (Koi Yoshinaga), who are the main cast members of "Slow Loop. It is a medium number with beautiful piano phrases, and you can enjoy the charm of the three voice actors' voices. If you want to enjoy the beautiful voices of voice actors, the tempo of this song may be just right.

Other top 10 songs included Aika Kobayashi's "Makoto Period" (Kill Ai) at No. 7, "Hajimari no Kane no Oto ga Ringing Sora" by AiRBLUE, a unit from the anime "CUE!" at No. 8, and "Hakoniwa no Happiness" by Azusa Tadokoro (In the Land of Liadale ) at No. 10. The trend of voice actors, who are the faces of the works, singing the ED themes and the popularity of their songs seems to be continuing.

On the other hand, the introduction of up-and-coming artists is another trend that is unique to anime ED themes.
One such artist is bicaso feat. EAERAN, who sings "OverThink," the ED theme for "Toki Hikari Jyugyo -LINK CLICK- Japanese dubbed version" (No. 5).
EAERAN is a unit of two Japanese brothers who are already very popular in China, creating HipHop-based music. The crossover between lyrical tracks and philosophical lyrics has a borderless appeal.

Akari Akase, ranked sixth, is another artist with many faces: gravure idol, cosplayer, and singer. Her career history makes it inevitable that she would sing "Koi no Yukue," the ED theme of "Sono Kise Kawase Ningyo wa Koi ni Suru" (That Dress-Up Doll Will Fall in Love). The refrain of the song, "kyun kyun kyun," is a catchy tune that will stay in your ears!

No. 9 was "Lie" by rock band LACCO TOWER. This song is the ED of "Genso Sangoku Shiki - Tengen Reishin Ki" and has an impressive guitar phrase with a slight Chinese flavor. The band has been in existence for more than 20 years, and since their major label debut in 2015, they have steadily built up their career. Their future successes will be closely watched.

As you can see, the ED theme poll for the 2022 winter anime featured a wide range of artists, from popular voice actors to up-and-coming artists.

For the results of the 11th place and below, please click on the link below.