History LyricalDissonance / Anime

* ''LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}}'':

** ''Nisemonogatari'' has for its ending a song set to a peppy tune that is easy to get into. However, the ''lyrics'' are about a girl who wants her crush to notice her when she has been with him for a long time and he only considers her a friend. That's right, and Music/ClariS, the singers who gave us the {{Tsundere}} anthem in ''LightNovel/{{Oreimo}}'', have teamed up with Music/{{supercell}} to give us the ballad of the UnluckyChildhoodFriend.
* One could include "We", Squad 11's ImageSong from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''. It's this adorably cute, happy tune which has an entire section sung by a little girl in sing-song, and is, as one would expect from [[BloodKnight Kenpachi Squad]], about killing people and battle.

* ''LightNovel/BludgeoningAngelDokuroChan'' has a cutesy, upbeat J-Pop tune as its intro. Then it gets to the parts where Dokuro starts singing about extreme violence and body mutilation before ending it with [[{{Yandere}} "but that's just how I show my]] [[MadLove love for you"]].

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'':

* ''LightNovel/{{R15}}'' has one eyebrow-raising song: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KLPuRnsR84 "Kannou no Eden"]], with a majestic melody and ''lewd'' (as in erotic) lyrics. Expected though, as the canonic lyricist is young porn writer.

* ''Anime/WeissKreuz'': "Moonflower", sung by Creator/TomokazuSeki, is a cheerful little number about being soul-crushingly isolated and hiding it.

* Taken UpToEleven in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNjHxhljAck main theme]] of ''Manga/SchoolLive''. Who would expect a theme ''that'' upbeat to have subtle lyrics about corpses and zombies? And each episode the opening goes FromBadToWorse. Justified, as it's a ZombieApocalypse story in a comedy's clothing.

* ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'':
** The anime has one as an in-show [[spoiler:ExecutiveMeddling]] -- Ranka's sweet, soothing love song "Aimo", set to a lullaby-like tune, the only thing that [[TraumaInducedAmnesia she remembers from her past]], [[spoiler:has its lyrics rewritten by her new manager [[BigBad Grace O'Connor]]. She manages to make it a victory anthem]] -- one more step to TheReveal, and certainly not a good thing in context.
** The first opening, "Triangular", is a cheery, upbeat J-Pop song with a lyrics about (quite obviously) a LoveTriangle and all the uncertainties it brings.

Then it dissolved like it was just a sugar cube.\\

Those silly horoscopes lie\\

** Sailor Venus's theme song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp-LmGp4uA4 "Route Venus"]]: a happy and cheerful tune until thirty seconds in, with Minako's voice actress singing "Kiss me for the ''last'' time", about heartbrokenly leaving her true love in favor of duty.

* ''ABC Starting With C'' from ''Manga/{{Kaiji}}'', in all its hard rock cheerfulness, laments how a young man's life in the modern world is wasted away meaninglessly.
* ''Anime/GuiltyCrown'''s two openings while seemingly very sad are about the singer's unwavering belief in the protagonist and how she will support him through Hell and back.
* The ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'' OP sounds at first hearing like perfectly upbeat, happy song about seizing the day. And then lines like 'until you can move on past the day we'll have died' and 'these legs will keep on moving forward / even in the face of the oncoming grief' catch your attention and you realise that it's actually about learning to pick yourself up again and move on after something terrible has happened. Not necessarily unhappy, but definitely a very different feeling than you'd first think.
** The second OP, [[GratuitousEnglish Boys Be Smile]], is much much worse: despite its happy, sweet-sounding tune, it's actually about [[spoiler:Riki learning the secret of the world and having to leave his friends behind as he exits the dream and they all die.]] Wow.
-->''Just like the night after a festival,''\\
''Only loneliness awaits''
* ''Anime/DeadmanWonderland'': the cheerful sounding song Shiro sings in the first and last episodes. Cheerful, until you realize what the lyrics are.
* The opening to ''Anime/FistOfTheNorthStar'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-POzIrRh0c Ai Wo Torimodose]]''. The music behind it is reported by many to make anyone feel better about themselves and also feel courageous. A closer look into the lyrics reveals that it is actually a love song. When translated into English, ''Ai Wo Torimodose'' comes out as "Bring back my love!".
* The introduction for [[Manga/NoMatterHowILookAtItItsYouGuysFaultImNotPopular WataMote]] qualifies in a weird way, the song has all the trappings of DeathMetal, but the lyrics are about [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the singer lamenting that]] [[TitleDrop No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!]]
** Similarly, the ending theme tune is a cutsey, upbeat song... about Tomoko desperately trying to reassure herself that her life doesn't suck.
* Then there's the track entitled ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3alvOcc4LKw&feature=g-hist The Memory of My First Love]]'', used as the ending theme in ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'' (for the first OVA and the final episode of ''The Goddesses Arc''). While the melody is as upbeat as a bright, sunny day, the lyrics speaks of breaking up with your loved one, with only memories of him to hold on to. [[spoiler:Which is apparently [[TearJerker/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows what happened to the character who sang this very song]] at the end of the ''Goddesses Arc''.]]
* ''Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure'' has [[ActualPacifist Cure Honey]]'s [[MagicMusic battle song]], "Shiawase Gohan Ai no Uta". It sounds beautiful and soothing, but the title (which translates to "Happy Rice Love Song") should give you a clue of what to expect:
-->My dream is a bowl of rice filled to the brim
-->Come on, everyone! Eat your fill
-->Then you'll be full of energy
-->Rice is the energy of love
-->Aah, rice is delicious
* In ''Anime/MyHime'', [[http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=55143 Nao's character song]] is slightly upbeat, but in it Nao sings about her loneliness and despair [[spoiler:after her father was killed and her mother was left in a coma]], a part of her character that isn't touched on until late in the series.
* ''Anime/MekakucityActors'':
** Episode 2's InsertSong, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsR7kxXsxcI Kisaragi Attention]]'' sounds very upbeat, but then you see a subtitled version and find out it's actually about a downbeat IdolSinger (the eponymous Momo Kisaragi) begging for her fans to leave her alone, and how horrible being famous is. If you listen to the whole song, the final verse averts this, [[YouAreNotAlone as by this point]] [[TrueCompanions she's met the Mekakushi-Dan]], and resolves to give her next performance all she's got.
** Episode 10's InsertSong, ''Imagination Forest'' goes similarly; upbeat tune, depressing lyrics about a [[OlderThanTheyLook 140-year-old]] {{Hikikomori}} who ''wants'' to see the world, [[PowerIncontinence but is too scared of her own powers to try]]. [[spoiler:Again, the final verse ends up being hopeful, averting this, when Seto arrives and gives Mary hope that the outside world isn't so bad. The song ends as she leaves for the city with him]].
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ-0XASP1-I ''Aura'']] from ''Anime/DotHackSign'' is a very ominous sounding song with very optimistic lyrics. It symbolizes that for abuse victims like Tsukasa, hope, and seeking help to get out of their toxic situation can be [[HopeIsScary scary]].
* Taken UpToEleven in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNjHxhljAck main theme]] of ''Manga/SchoolLive'', who would expect ''that'' upbeat theme has subtle lyrics about corpses and zombies? And each episode has the opening goes FromBadToWorse. Justified, it's a ZombieApocalypse story in a comedy's clothing.
* ''LightNovel/{{R15}}'' has one eyebrow-raising song: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KLPuRnsR84 Kannou no Eden]] with majestic melody and LEWD (as in erotic) lyrics. Expected though, as the canonic lyricist is young porn writer.
* The ending theme of ''Straight Title Robot Anime'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB3NjhqxYGM Reason for Freedom]], is a rare example that's PlayedForLaughs. The melody is gentle and slightly melancholic, something you'd expect from a robot anime... But the lyrics are about how the singer (who's apparently also the writer and the composer) didn't get any reference materials, was told to improvise, and then just said "screw it" and wrote whatever the hell came to mind.
-->Even though I was told to write "a song that feels good"
-->I didn't get the reference materials
-->Even though I was told "please improvise freely"
-->It's just way too difficult
-->Ah, it's the chorus already. I have to do it now
-->Robot, robot, peace is really great...like that?
-->Robot, robot, *lots of SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud*... like that?
-->There's nothing to say, what do I do?
-->Will somebody help me...
** Though the lyrics do get more serious in the second verse and even more so in the last verse, averting this trope.
* The ending of the 3rd season of [[Manga/YuruYuri Yuru Yuri]] is a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbdM-kSgb9E merry song]] about how [[OdeToYouth youth goes by in a flash]], with a line like "Blink and you'll miss all the great parts. Be warned!". Granted, most of the lyrics still have a positive aspect.

* In ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'', Yukari and Erwin cheerfully sing ''Yuki No Shingun'' while performing some reconnaissance on foot in the snow during the semi-final match against Pravda. The song is about the soldiers of the First Sino-Japanese War being sent into battle with inadequate equipment and no food with the intention of being killed. The upbeat melody is true to the actual song, as well.
* In ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', Ranka's signature song ''Aimo'' is later modified into a war song. The dissonance doesn't fully set in until the last episode when it's revealed that ''Aimo'' is a love song. In fact, they let the first line (Aimo, aimo, netel lhushe) intact - and Aimo means [[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns Anata]].
** It doesn't help that half of the song is in [[ConLang Zentran]].
* Umino's father in ''Manga/SatouKashiNoDanganWaUchinukenai'' is famous for singing a song about a mermaid who falls in love with a human. It being a victim of the SecondVerseCurse is a part of the reason no one remembers that this cute romance song ends with him killing her, chopping her up, and making her into sashimi. [[spoiler:This is {{foreshadowing}} as he ends up killing Umino and tries to dispose of her body by cutting it up.]]
* In the final season of the original ''Manga/SailorMoon'' anime, Minako sings in public her ImageSong "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp-LmGp4uA4 Route Venus]]", a song with a cheery melody about [[MarriedToTheJob giving up her love life for duty]]. Minako being Minako, she sung it at an idol audition she took part in just to see if she could ''once her battles as Sailor Venus were over'', and actually felt she had to have Usagi's permission to even try out.

-->'''Kobayashi''': Well, that's nice and disturbing.
* In one ''Anime/KillLaKill'', Mako sings a cheerful little song about getting into car crashes and going to hell.
--->'''Mako''': "We're all going on a ridey-ride to hell...."
--->'''Gamagoori''': "Matoi, make her stop that God-awful singing."
--->'''Ryuko''': "Hey, when she's on a roll, no one can make her stop."
* "Galactic Mermaid" in ''Anime/CaroleAndTuesday'' is a upbeat pop song that has ClusterFBomb lyrics. While [[Funny/CaroleAndTuesday hilarious]], it's understandable why the Mermaid Sisters were kicked out by the judges before they could finish it.
* ''Manga/NonNonBiyori'': The adorable [[TokenMiniMoe Renge]] sings an upbeat song, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt-qJRLRzws Yabure Kabure]], about a quack doctor implied to be DrivenToSuicide. Kaede lampshades how harsh the song is.

-->''Even if we could map out all of Earth's mysteries\\

* Pick a ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed'' or ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny'' opening or ending. They all sound like poppy dance music. Almost all of them have incredibly depressing lyrics.

* 'Ai Senshi' from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' does this very intentionally. It sounds like an uplifting, inspiring song, but the 'Ai' means 'Sorrowful', and the uplifting music is accompanied about lyrics about a soldier's fear of the 'blazing God of Death', and his survivor's guilt, and finally, asking about if those left behind by the dead will give up their lives too...
** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8xoI6BWJYA&feature=relmfu After All]]'' from ''Anime/TurnAGundam'', sung by Donna Burke sounds like something out of a Don Bluth or Disney film. The lyrics on the other hand come across as melancholic and a tad apocalyptic for an otherwise wistful song.
* The song [[http://www.animelyrics.com/anime/hunterxhunter/inori.htm "Inori"]] ("prayer"), a character song from ''Manga/HunterXHunter'', sounds cheerful and even triumphant...but if you read the translation of the lyrics--well, it ''starts'' with "A smile stolen from the eyes I watched / That distant night when blood was shed...". And the refrain's mention of "bringing home the flame-colored eyes" is a lot [[{{Squick}} squickier]] if you know from the anime that [[spoiler: said eyes are [[BodyHorror entirely literal.]]]] Oh, and the the prayer from the the title? That he'd never stop being angry.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzPy5h3Rjuk Just to expand the example]]: Said character has yet another song that falls victim to this trope: his duet with another character in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA2moQAQM2U&feature=related "Tobira"]] ("door"). At first the song looks cheerful, but then [[http://www.animelyrics.com/anime/hunterxhunter/tobira.htm "The world is the sum of all unhappiness".]] Kurapika is the ''king'' of LyricalDissonance.
* From ''Anime/DigimonTamers'': [[https://youtu.be/R2U3oNuPNsk Beelzebumon's theme]] -- funky with a slight island flavor, the perfect rhythm for a song about a howling storm, betrayal, tearing his opponents apart (he literally can), and controlling the powers of darkness. It's a VillainSong, after all. The title, by the way, is "Black Intruder."
** In ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'', Kouichi's image song, "With Broken Wings". Upbeat rock song? Check. Depressing lyrics about crippling metaphorical inabilities and stray dogs laughing at him? Check.
** To an extent, his VillainSong as Duskmon, "Blader." It's similarly catchy and upbeat, but among what's mentioned in the lyrics is doing nothing but fighting and not forgiving anyone.
* From ''Manga/YoureUnderArrest'': the second ED ''Sora Wo Miagete'' ("Looking at the Sky") is very upbeat and catchy (and sounds somewhat similar to Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven is a Place on Earth"), but the lyrics describe someone mourning a lost love.
* Mikako's character song from ''Manga/HeavensLostProperty'''s first season set of songs. It can be translated as "Princess Kill Them All", which describes the song well. It's a lighthearted J-Pop tune with a guitar backing that has Mikako earnestly singing about what she wants. Massacring everyone and ruling the Earth.
* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'':
** The Seatbelt's song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKL88_jLYgM "Flying Teapot"]] is a flighty, happy tune with questionably happy lyrics at best.
** "No Reply" is a somber-turned-uplifting orchestral-filled love song about the singer wishing that he could have given more than he had to his love. [[DrivenToSuicide The lyrics start after he has already jumped]]. It's worth noting that this song is on the "Knocking on Heaven's Door" OST, but the song itself is never heard at any point in the series or the movie.
* ''Anime/WeissKreuz'': "Moonflower", sung by Tomokazu Seki, is a cheerful little number about being soul-crushingly isolated and hiding it.
* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT6LFOIofRE Libera Me From Hell]]. While the background of the song is a soft, vaugely sad melody, backing tearful opera singing, this is interspersed, and later on blended, with the triumphant and badass rap lyrics of Row Row Fight The Power.
** Yoko's image song trust is this, its peppy and upbeat, until you realize that she is singing about carrying on after the one she loved died.
* The lyrics to the [[MoodDissonance relentlessly cheery opening]] of ''Manga/ShadowStar'', "Nichiyoubi no Taiyou" (The Sun of Sunday) are about someone sitting in a park waiting for someone who will never show up, with the implication that the other person is dead and the singer is struggling to cope with that loss. This actually serves as good foreshadowing for [[FridgeBrilliance the actual tone of the series]].
* ''Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari'' from ''LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}}'', where Senjougahara points out Altair, Vega and Deneve to Araragi, seemingly taken from the song. However, the whole song is about the singer lamenting their lost chance at love in the past, in spite of the upbeat and catchy tune.
** The title means "The Story You Don't Know", as in the voice never confessed to her love interest.
* In the 2005 version of ''Manga/GlassMask'', the upbeat credits song from Episode 14 onward is about the "warmth of our love," "the warmth of our skin," and how "Excitement is burning brightly like the sun." Okay, that's vague enough to be all right for shojo. Then the [[GratuitousEnglish Gratuitous Engrish]] refrain takes the song straight from passionately romantic to just plain perverted: "Make it make it naked! Make it make it naked!" The characters that appear in the ending credits (among sparkling pink stars, sparkling [[LoveBubbles shojo bubbles]], and glittering confetti and/or flower petals) are a pair of fourteen year-old girls.
* One could include "We", Squad 11's Image Song from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''. It's this adorably cute, happy tune, which has an entire section sung by a little girl in sing-song, and is, as one would expect from [[BloodKnight Kenpachi Squad]], about killing people and battle.
* ''[[LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}} Nisemonogatari]]'' has for it's ending a song set to a peppy tune that is easy to get into, however ''[[http://suisei.kokidokom.net/2012/02/01/claris-naisho-no-hanashi-lyrics-translation/ the lyrics]]'' are about a girl who wants her crush to notice her when she has been with him for a long time and he only considers her a friend. That's right, and [=ClariS=], the singers who gave us the {{Tsundere}} anthem in ''LightNovel/{{Oreimo}}'', have teamed up with Music/{{supercell}} to give us the ballad of the UnluckyChildhoodFriend.
* The opening for ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' has a very upbeat tune, but the lyrics are incredibly sad. [[spoiler:Especially when it's played at the end of episode ten, and it becomes clear that it's about ''Homura''.]]
** And then there's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__q9fsZa5vk Madoka's image song]], which sounds perfectly happy and cheery, but is actually about how Madoka smiles outwardly but feels miserable and alone inside.
** Your Silver Garden (''Kimi no Gin no Niwa''), an ending theme for [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion Rebellion Story]], easily counts as one, if you have watched this movie.

* The lyrics formerly in the trope entry are a real song: "Komm, süsser Tod" (in German, "Come, Sweet Death"), from the ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' soundtrack. And yes, it's every bit as disturbing as you'd think -- appropriate, given the series, and when the song is played: [[spoiler: during the Third Impact[=/=]Instrumentality sequence in ''Evangelion'']]. Doubly ironic, the film synchs the line, "my world is ending" with [[spoiler: apocalyptic imagery of the TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, in the literal sense of the words.]] And all of this deep commentary and lyrics based around giving up and '[[DrivenToSuicide leave(ing) forever]]' are set to a bright and upbeat piece played with a grand piano, an acoustic guitar, and a percussive organ. The song begins to sound [[SanitySlippageSong insidiously convoluted near the end]], like an LSD trip or an exorcism...or both, culminating in the voices of thousands of people.
-->So with sadness in my heart
-->I feel the best thing I could do
-->is end it all and leave forever.
-->What's done is done, it feels so bad,
-->what once was happy now is sad.
-->I'll never love again, my world is ending.
-->[...]
-->It all returns to nothing,
-->It all comes tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down.
-->It all returns to nothing,
-->I just keep letting me down, letting me down, letting me down.
** The worst part is, perhaps, that it's such a SuspiciouslySimilarSong to "Hey Jude" by Music/TheBeatles, but the lyrics sound more like something that Music/LinkinPark would come up with.
** Ironically, this piece would later play in the background of one of the Rebuild movies during the [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds ''Near''-Third Impact as the characters work together to avert the situation which happened in EoE]], creating a severe case of MoodWhiplash in which you have to try and ignore the lyrics of the song in favour of watching the heroism of the cast in averting a catastrophe.
** Further enforcing the theme of suicide, the chaotic second half of the piece concludes with the disembodied voices of thousands of people cheering, laughing and calling out to each other in a state of ecstasy and extreme joy, representing the souls rising into space. Is this merely an escape from the physical form, or escaping the mortal plane?
** [[FridgeBrilliance Though the actual decision to commit suicide in real life very often results in a bubbly, ecstatic demeanor]] as the person suffering from depression has, for once, a very concrete plan that addresses her suffering and a strong hope that she will be able to follow through on something that will make a real difference. Sudden improvement in demeanor is considered a BIG warning sign in depressed people. FridgeBrilliance? YES! FridgeHorror? '''EVEN MORE SO!!'''
** The song also shares its name with the Music/JohannSebastianBach song, which is about a man [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komm,_s%C3%BC%C3%9Fer_Tod,_komm_selge_Ruh seemingly praying for the peace of Death]] as he is tired of a cruel "torture chamber" of a world, and want's nothing more than to see Jesus and stand amongst the angels. [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial This is NOT]] [[RuleOfSymbolism in any way]] [[FauxSymbolism symbolic.]]
** Evangelion also has another song by the same vocalist, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tSW6QbV3no "Everything You've Ever Dreamed,"]] which was excluded from ''End of Evangelion'' and only appears on some albums. The tune is very airy and pleasant, but of course, the lyrics make some rather disturbing references to what happens in the film:
--->Did she promise you the world\\
and did that girl just throw your love away?\\
Leave you like a lonely solitaire\\
with just despair for company?\\
Do you think you'll find revenge so sweet?\\
Make it so your hearts will never beat\\
squeeze the very last dying breath\\
from everything you've ever dreamed.
** The lyric "I wish that I could turn back time" plays as the [[spoiler: Rei/Lilith creature grows to the size of a small planet]]. It's quite disturbing to watch the first time, because it just doesn't seem like it should fit, but uncannily does.
** And when [[spoiler: Unit-01 enters the Giant Rei/Lilith]] in the song, random voices are heard, at first it doesn't make sense, but when you remember [[spoiler: Lilith is supposed to hold the souls of all humanity]], that part of the sound represents [[spoiler: all the souls inside her]].
** On the note of SoundtrackDissonance, how about [[MindRape Arael]] and [[spoiler:Tabris/Kaworu]]'s use of what is effectively the 'Hallelujah' chorus during some of their most horrifying [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxFmbeDzcyU scenes]]?
*** The lyrics of Ode to Joy (Kaworu's theme tune) are pretty much the plot of End of Evangelion:
--->We enter, fire-drunk,\\
Heavenly one, your shrine.\\
Your magics bind again\\
What custom has strictly parted.\\
[[AssimilationPlot All men become brothers.]]\\
Where your tender wing lingers.\\
Be embraced, millions!\\
...\\
Whoever has succeeded in the great attempt\\
To be a friend's friend;\\
Whoever has won a lovely woman\\
Add in his jubilation!\\
Yes, who calls even one soul\\
His own on the earth's sphere!\\
And whoever never could achieve this,\\
[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXJ73Wsi3UA Let him steal away crying from this gathering!]]\\
...\\
A friend, proven in death.\\
Pleasure was given to the worm,\\
[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfui68QVBxw&feature=related And the cherub stands before God.]]
** ''Rebuild'' has two: one that plays during the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XVHGWYYCvE#t=4m39s activation of the Dummy Plug system]] and in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LpnOuuU08Y&feature=related fight against Zeruel.]] Both are ridiculous when out of context, but make the scene more disturbing with their accompaniment.
*** The first of these two is actually a traditional Japanese song that is often sung by children to the year above them when they graduate or move to the next level of education. The irony in this is that while this song is playing, Shinji is unable to stop Unit-01 from nearly ''murdering his best friend'', [[spoiler:Asuka]].
* Kallen Stadtfeld/Kouzuki's post-''Anime/CodeGeass'' ImageSong [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDXON8jAfcI One More Chance]] is an extremely catchy and upbeat pop song, but the fairly straightforward lyrics seem to be directed to Lelouch, [[BodyguardCrush whom she had loved]], thanking him for his love and [[spoiler:promising to live on, as he had wanted her to, ''and'' to "live [his] share of life too'']].
** As if an upbeat song about a girl promising the boy she loved that she will live on happily without him wasn't depressing enough, in the bridge of the song, she confesses that truthfully she just wants to see him again so he can hold her as she cries, implying that her seeming contentment as she promises to keep living without him is actually a front. Suddenly the song's title makes more sense, as she is essentially singing about wanting to have ''one more chance'' with the man she loves, [[spoiler:who died in order to create a peaceful world for the people he loves (including her) to live in]].
* On Ryoko Asakura's character album from ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', she has her own version of "Hare Hare Yukai", replacing all the happy lyrics from the original with depressing ones while keeping the exact same tune and instruments. This might lead to some confusion about the point of the song to people who don't know Japanese and haven't read the translated lyrics.
-->Even if we could map out all of Earth's mysteries,\\
I still wouldn't be able to go anywhere.\\
I spent my life with anticipations and hopes,\\
But no one is there to grant them.\\

Swirls everything together and destroys them.
** Ryoko also sings an upbeat, inspiring song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns6GqJboWCE COOL EDITION]].
---> My name isn't even in the ending credits (See, it's not there, I was never meant to stay)

** Speaking about "Hare Hare Yukai" how about [[DeadpanSnarker Kyon's]] version. Same lyrics as the original, much more slower paced and with snark in his lyrics.

* ''LightNovel/BludgeoningAngelDokuroChan'', similar to the above, has a cutesy, upbeat J-Pop tune. Then it gets to the parts where Dokuro starts singing about extreme violence and body mutilation before ending it with [[{{Yandere}} "but that's just how I show my]] [[MadLove love for you"]].
* The animetal version of the ''Anime/SailorMoon'' opening Moonlight Densetsu, while brilliant, is just a bit hard to take seriously when they're singing about a miracle romance.
** Sailor Jupiter's ImageSong from ''Anime/SailorMoon R'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD5CBrOwkq0 is pretty catchy]] and sounds like another fun song on the soundtrack. [[http://sailormusic.net/lyrics/wasureru-tameni-koi-wo-shinaide/ Check out the lyrics.]]
** Sailor Venus' theme song ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp-LmGp4uA4 Route Venus]]'': a happy and cheerful tune until thirty seconds in with Minako's voice actress singing "Kiss me for the ''last'' time", about heartbrokenly leaving the true love in favor of duty.

* Except for some oddly haunting bits, the melody of "Uninstall", the OP to ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'', could pass for an upbeat, soaring mecha series theme. The lyrics discuss how all human life is insignificant, and the main characters' plight of being trapped in a meaningless battle where the only escape from the pointlessness of their efforts is self-delusion or their inevitable deaths.
** The dissonance is even stronger when you listen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZCwNbeGXPk to the cover]] by Masaaki Endoh... which has VERY HotBlooded rhythm and voice work. Basically, he sings about futile life with the most upbeat melody ever.
* The opening credits music from ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'', entitled (in English) "Freckles," is frantically happy and bouncy, but features lyrics such as "all the memories that I have are beautiful in my mind, but they can't hide the sorrow deep inside my soul." Here's an excerpt:
-->I brush against the freckles that I hated so,
-->But life goes on and I heave a little sigh for you.
-->It's heavy, the love that I would share with you,
-->Then it dissolved like it was just a sugar cube.
-->Now the little pain sittin' in my heart,
-->Has shrunk in a bit, but it really does hurt me now.
-->Those silly horoscopes lie,
-->Guess I can't trust them after all.
** The ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'' version of this song has different English lyrics but the exact same meaning, and ups the ante by removing the heavy guitar riffs in favor of a whimsical toy piano sound.
** ALL of JUDY&MARY's songs are incredibly upbeat and catchy, their lyrics notwithstanding. But with ''Sobakasu'' it's little bit more complicated -- it's typically shortened to just one stanza to fit into the opening credits. The full version has a second stanza with the ''exact opposite'' meaning, somewhat balancing it out.
* As part of its overall MindScrew, the {{Anime}} ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'' has an uptempo opening theme with [[http://www.animelyrics.com/anime/paranoiaagent/yumenoshimash.htm these lyrics]], accompanied by images of the characters laughing hysterically, often in devastated surroundings. (Suffice to say that it mentions "magnificent mushroom cloud in the sky".)
* The theme song for ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' (''Anime/TenchiUniverse'' to some) is a happy, hoppy, techno song about how someone (presumably Tenchi himself) isn't quite ready for love. The English version of the song even starts with the words "Get ready/love will leave you crying". The song ends with the lyrics, "You're a broken man, poor you". The ending theme for the show is also similar in that it's a high-energy rock song that ends up being a big "screw you" to either Ayeka or Ryoko (depending on the episode, it switched every other one). The English lyrics start with "When you go fishing/You catch a boot/or some other trash/When you play at cards/you lose all your cash/you're so pathetic/you never win/and you never will/not the kind of girl/who'd make any guy/feel a thrill".

* The ending of ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' called "Absolute Beauty" is about lover's suicide -- set to a catchy tune with jazz-like instrumentals. This is pretty much a requirement for a song from this series - one of the ending songs in ''Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei'' is a very dark song about the "despair restaurant" with a strong implication that it doubles as a brothel!
* In the ''Manga/ElfenLied'' manga, Lucy/Nyu/Kaede starts singing "Elfenlied" in what is apparently a very sad voice. However, the lyrics are rather childish and innocent -- a far cry from what's happening at that moment. The anime ending ''Be Your Girl'' goes the other way; the song is sung by Chieko Kawabe, better known for ''Sakura Kiss'' from ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'', and the tune is very catchy, but the lyrics themselves are about being desperately in love with someone the singer knows doesn't love her back and begging to be told she is loved, ''[[MadnessMantra even if its a lie]]''.
* ''Manga/ElfenLied's'' SpiritualSuccessor ''Manga/BrynhildrInTheDarkness'' has a similar case. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX7qnJC873Y second opening]] has a very crazy, wild and aggressive melody and you barely understand the GratuitousEnglish lyrics. However, it's an anti-war song.
-->''Don't know what's being misunderstood''\\
''Missiles flying, children getting shot''\\
''Swindles everywhere''\\
''People who should be the most loves ones, killing each other''
* ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'' has one as an in-show [[spoiler: ExecutiveMeddling]] -- Ranka's sweet, soothing love song "Aimo", set to a lullaby-like tune, the only thing that [[TraumaInducedAmnesia she remembers from her past]], [[spoiler: has its lyrics rewritten by her new manager [[BigBad Grace O'Connor]]. She managed to make it a victory anthem]] -- one more step to TheReveal, and certainly not a good thing in context.
** Its first opening, ''Triangular'', also qualifies, as it's a cheery upbeat J-Pop song with a lyrics about (quite obviously) a LoveTriangle and all the uncertainities it brings.
* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'''s first season ending has shades of this. The tune is oddly soothing, but it gets sadder when coupled with the revelation that the lyrics are basically [[OlderThanTheyLook Rika]] desperately begging for forgiveness for the sin of how she survived... [[GratuitousEnglish assuming you can understand the lyrics.]]
** A few of the character songs are like this, too. Have you ever heard the translation for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa02dnodb38 Futari no Birthday]]"?
*** The other songs are usually subversions of this though. Nano Desu stays very fitting for the tune (and especially the character) the whole way through, while Nii-Nii Suki does have Satako slip into depression that doesn't fit the tune in a few spots, only to have her forcefully pull herself out. One scene in particular has her say how much she misses Satoshi, at which point the background music stops until she turns cheerful again.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyhKX3TaOu8 This song]] from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' sounds like an insanely cheerful and catchy song, right? Well, only if you ignore what the lyrics mean...
** Higurashi No Koro Ni's Taishou A's first verse is translated as," I pile soil onto your corpse. Even if that was forbidden, in the bliss of your innocent gaze there was an incompletely hidden temptation." It's really peaceful until you know what it's about. Then it's merely creepy.
* The first of Ludwig/Germany's two [[ImageSong image songs]] in ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' has a song that sounds rather scary, but it's really just about sausages and beer.
** German Anthem is the epitome of this trope: The first few lines are about how he fights for justice, faith and love. Most of the song is him trying to inspire Italy to act courageously on the battlefield. The GratuitousGerman he's chanting so menacingly means "unity and justice and freedom", which is RealLife Germany's national motto. Granted, he's [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything cutting the air with his right hand]] and [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII calling the Rhine his birthright]], but the song borders on {{Narm}} when you consider most of what he's saying and how he's saying it.
** His version of the [[AnimeThemeSong ending song]] as well. Especially scary after hearing the original version by [[TheCutie Italy]].

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'': The Seatbelt's song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKL88_jLYgM "Flying Teapot"]] is a flighty, happy tune with questionably happy lyrics at best.

* From ''Anime/DigimonTamers'': [[https://youtu.be/R2U3oNuPNsk Beelzebumon's theme]] -- funky with a slight island flavor, the perfect rhythm for a song about a howling storm, betrayal, controlling the powers of darkness, and tearing his opponents apart (and he literally can). It's a VillainSong, after all. The title, by the way, is "Black Intruder."

* From ''Anime/DigimonTamers'': [[https://youtu.be/R2U3oNuPNsk Beelzebumon's theme]] -- funky with a slight island flavor, the perfect rhythm for a song about a howling storm, betrayal, and tearing his opponents apart (and he literally can). It's a VillainSong, after all. The title, by the way, is "Black Intruder."

* From ''Anime/DigimonTamers'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reJH5MvegRo Beelzebumon's theme]] -- super funky with a slight island flavor, the perfect rhythm for a song about a howling storm, betrayal, and tearing opponents apart (and he literally can). Go figure. It's a VillainSong, after all. The title, by the way, is "Black Intruder."

* The first hint that ''Anime/DaiMahouTouge'' is not a normal MagicalGirl series is when the opening ThemeTune, while remaining traditionally bubbly in harmony, suddenly mentions death and destruction halfway through the first verse -- and goes on in that vein for the next forty seconds.

* Except for some oddly haunting bits, the melody of "Uninstall", the OP to Manga/{{Bokurano}}, could pass for an upbeat, soaring mecha series theme. The lyrics discuss how all human life is insignificant, and the main characters' plight of being trapped in a meaningless battle where the only escape from the pointlessness of their efforts is self-delusion or their inevitable deaths.

* The first of Ludwig/Germany's two [[ImageSong image songs]] in ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' has a song that sounds rather scary, but it's really just about sausages and beer.

* [[Anime/CowboyBebop The Seatbelt's]] song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKL88_jLYgM "Flying Teapot"]] is a flighty, happy tune with questionably happy lyrics at best.
* "[[Anime/WeissKreuz Moonflower]]", sung by Tomokazu Seki, is a cheerful little number about being soul-crushingly isolated and hiding it.

* One could include "We", Squad 11's Image Song from Bleach. It's this adorably cute, happy tune, which has an entire section sung by a little girl in sing-song, and is, as one would expect from [[BloodKnight Kenpachi Squad]], about killing people and battle.

* In ''Anime/MaiHime'', [[http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=55143 Nao's character song]] is slightly upbeat, but in it Nao sings about her loneliness and despair [[spoiler:after her father was killed and her mother was left in a coma]], a part of her character that isn't touched on until late in the series.

* The lyrics to the [[MoodDissonance relentlessly cheery opening]] of ''Manga/{{Narutaru}}'', "Nichiyoubi no Taiyou" (The Sun of Sunday) are about someone sitting in a park waiting for someone who will never show up, with the implication that the other person is dead and the singer is struggling to cope with that loss. This actually serves as good foreshadowing for [[FridgeBrilliance the actual tone of the series]].

-->[[EarWorm It all returns to nothing,]]
-->[[EarWorm it all comes tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down.]]
-->[[EarWorm It all returns to nothing,]]
-->[[EarWorm I just keep letting me down, letting me down, letting me down.]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyhKX3TaOu8 This song]] from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' sounds like an insanely cheerful and [[EarWorm catchy]] song, right? Well, only if you ignore what the lyrics mean...

** The UsefulNotes/{{DVD}}[=/=]Blu-ray ending of the first two episodes (sung by Madoka's [[Creator/AoiYuuki seiyuu]]) has an even more cheerful melody with a very sweet singing voice, but the lyrics are even sadder than the opening's.

** The song also shares it's name with the Music/JohannSebastianBach song, which is about a man [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komm,_s%C3%BC%C3%9Fer_Tod,_komm_selge_Ruh seemingly praying for the peace of Death]] as he is tired of a cruel "torture chamber" of a world, and want's nothing more than to see Jesus and stand amongst the angels. [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial This is NOT]] [[RuleOfSymbolism in any way]] [[FauxSymbolism symbolic.]]

* "Galactic Mermaid" in ''Anime/CaroleAndTuesday'' is a upbeat pop song that has ClusterFBomb lyrics. While [[FunnyMoments hilarious]], it's understandable why the Mermaid Sisters were kicked out by the judges before they could finish it.