History SoundtrackDissonance / Anime

* Regularly used briefly in ''Manga/SetoNoHanayome'' for comedic effect, often with cute/angelic music playing over something that is clearly neither of those things.

* ''Manga/{{Narutaru}}'' has one of the more unsettling instances of this trope in the opening. The song is an upbeat tune, played to a variety of images that looked drawn by little kids. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIF5BLyh3Mk It seems cute enough]]. Then watch the first few episodes. The cute opening suddenly becomes a major point of MoodWhiplash...

* In ''Anime/DivergenceEve'', the series is extremely creepy and dramatic, and sometimes the episodes end with horrible, horrible scenes... yet the end credits are an incredibly peppy J-Pop tune to pictures of the main character in incredibly {{Fanservice}}y outfits and revealing poses. It's akin to replacing the ending credits of ''Schindler's List'' with ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''.

** The English dub of [[Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie the first movie]] has the Blessed Union of Souls' "Brother My Brother" play while the regular and clone Pokémon are fighting each other to the death While the lyrics, are somewhat fitting as they tie in to the movie's message and the idea that the Pokémon fighting their clones is tragic, the light, undramatic tone of the song is rather unfitting.

** The English dub of [[Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie the first movie]] has the Blessed Union of Souls' "Brother My Brother" (a light, undramatic song) play while the regular and clone Pokémon are fighting each other to the death.
*** Despite the film's dark and troubling themes and near-constant violence during the third act, its soundtrack is made up almost exclusively of late-'90s bubblegum pop, whereas industrial rock or nu-metal, which were readily available at the time, would arguably have fit much better. (To be fair, though, most of the songs were present only in the credits, after the story had lightened up, and too much distortion and angst might have scared younger viewers.)
*** The lyrics of 'Brother My Brother' do work quite well with the scene however, all ties in nicely with the film's messages, and the idea that the pokemon and their clones (which could, in a way, be compared to twins) fighting with each other is tragic. Particularly so with Pikachu refusing to attack their clone, the words of the song feel like they could well line up with Pikachu's perspective on the scene.

*** This also happens in the eleventh dub opening. The main villains, Team Rocket, look forward and smile to the camera, then all of their Pokémon jump over them smiling and filled with joy, all while the the lyrics "''Forever friends! You and I!''" are sung.

* ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'''s ending theme, "Waiting So Long" by SILVERFINS, is an [[EarWorm ear wormy song]] composed of GratuitousEnglish, but it's still [[SolemnEndingTheme calm and mellow and peaceful]]. ... Apparently, it's the perfect thing to listen to right after seeing [[spoiler: the lead man screaming and crying in agony in a pool of his blood at the sight of his lover getting raped to insanity by his best friend-turned demon]] and [[LeftHanging having no closure as to what happened immediately afterward]]. That ending is a {{downer|Ending}} in ''every'' way, shape, and form.

** During episode 7, the soothing "Fields of Hope" is played against footage of horrifying destruction, as [[ColonyDrop Junius Seven's fragments crash to Earth]], annihilating cities around the world. In an example of TropesAreNotBad, this actually proves to be one of the most powerful scenes in the series. It was purposefully done, Lacus Clyne singing it, a popular diva on the show, sings it to calm down the kids in her bombshelter.

* At the end of ''Creator/OsamuTezuka's Anime/{{Metropolis}}'', Rock blows up the Ziggurat as Kenichi struggles to save the power-dizzy Tima. Ray Charles's "I Can't Stop Lovin' You" plays instead of sound effects. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPRkU9gOKF4 This]] clip is from the Spanish dub, but it'll give you the picture.

*** It is, to some extent, a sound alike of "Hey Jude", which is not exactly known for being a depressing song.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYrlSjQyrzY Hey Digimon]], if you watched the second part of the first season of Digimon, I don't need to go on. For those who haven't, this song plays at the ending, where it fit as a 'what good times we had', and when a hero's digimon get the upper hand, where it come off as jarring as it lack the bite for a fight song.

* ''Anime/DeathParade'' has ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjjTMNDZi-A "Flyers"]]'', the absurdly upbeat OP for a show that features cruel physical torment and equally cruel mind games, all in the service of judging souls in the afterlife.
* ''Manga/GirlsLastTour'': the OP ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF5MKNwbRhg "Ukogu, Ukogu"]]'' and ED ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ybhLXebppU "More One Night"]]'' are awfully catchy tunes for a show about two girls facing the extinction of the human race. Then again, GLT can be fairly described as [[{{MoodDissonance}} Mood Dissonance: The Manga.]]

* ''Manga/GirlsLastTour'': the OP ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF5MKNwbRhg "Ukogu, Ukogu"]]'' and ED ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ybhLXebppU "More One Night"]]'' are awfully catchy tunes for a show about two girls [[spoiler: facing the extinction of the human race]].

* ''Manga/RoseOfVersailles'' provides an example in the various dubs. Where the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJhhVqaSPRk original opening]] and the soundtrack are appropriate to an anime telling the tragic story of Marie Antoinette, dub versions tend to have cheerful and happy songs, with the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJJwr8tGjIY French one]] being one of the perkiest[[note]]Sort of {{Justified}} with FridgeLogic: the anime switches the focus on Oscar, who is an officer who ultimately sided with the Revolution and gave her life to help the Storming of the Bastille. To a Frenchman who didn't watch the actual series or didn't read the original manga, this actually sounds happy (and the opening is actually centered on that).

* ''{{Manga/Saki}}'', as well as Achiga-hen and Zenkoku-hen, take steps to avert this trope. There's usually at least two ending themes per season, one more upbeat song (two for the original series) that features SuperDeformed cast members playing around and cheerful lyrics that make references to mahjong, and a more serious song that features the characters shown normally. The latter ones are played on episodes that end on a relatively serious note.

* ''Anime/DeathParade'' has ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjjTMNDZi-A "Flyers"]]'', the absurdly upbeat OP for a show that features cruel physical and emotional mind games, all in the service of judging souls in the afterlife.

* ''Anime/DeathParade'' has ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjjTMNDZi-A "Flyers" performed by BRADIO]]'', the absurdly upbeat OP for a show that features cruel physical and emotional mind games, all in the service of judging souls in the afterlife.

* ''Anime/{{gintama}}'' sometimes fall into this trope due to the CerebusRollerCoaster nature of the show. A serious opening showcasing some [[ActionHoggingOpening cool action]] might be used on a comedic episode, and a serious arc might roll out when the anime is using a light-hearted opening song. The most striking exemple is the song "beautiful one day" which is just as upbeat as the title imply, being used on the first few episodes of the story arc that broke the [[StatusQuoIsGod Status Quo]] once and for all and led to a succession of several serious arcs.

* In the fourth ''LightNovel/KaraNoKyoukai'' movie, Shiki is attacked in the hospital by a living corpse while Mikiya softly sings [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUgHR9X6qnA Singing in the Rain]]. Is also GratuitousEnglish

** Invoked in-universe in "WebVideo/{{Hellsing Ultimate Abridged}}" where Millennium is about to begin their attack on London. The Major reveals that a poll was taken by the battalion to decide what song they would slaughter the people of London to, and the song was chosen for "ironic reasons. The best reasons." What was that song? [[spoiler:War by Edwin Starr]]
''The Major:'' [[spoiler:Induction, then destruction! NOW WHO WANTS TO DIE?!]]