"Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari" from 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.
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 ClariS, the singers who gave us the Tsundere anthem in Oreimo, have teamed up with Supercell to give us the ballad of the Unlucky Childhood Friend.
One could include "We", Squad 11's Image Song from Bleach. It's this adorably cute, happy tune which has a section sung by a little girl in sing-song, and is, as one would expect from Kenpachi Squad, about killing people and battle.
Except for some oddly haunting bits, the melody of "Uninstall", the OP to 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 to the cover by Masaaki Endoh... which has veryHot-Blooded rhythm and voice work. Basically, he sings about futile life with the most upbeat melody ever.
The second opening of Brynhildr in the Darkness has a very crazy, wild, and aggressive melody and you barely understand the Gratuitous English 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
Kallen Stadtfeld/Kouzuki's post-Code GeassImage Song"One More Chance" is an extremely catchy and upbeat pop song, but the fairly straightforward lyrics seem to be directed to Lelouch, whom she had loved, thanking him for his love and 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, who died in order to create a peaceful world for the people he loves (including her) to live in.
Cowboy Bebop: "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. The lyrics start after he has already jumped. It's worth noting that this song is on the Knockin' on Heaven's Door OST, but the song itself is never heard at any point in the series or the movie.
From Digimon Tamers: 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 Villain Song, after all. The title, by the way, is "Black Intruder".
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 Villain Song 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.
In the 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 Ouran High School Host Club, 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 that she is loved, even if its a lie.
The opening to Fist of the North Star, "Ai Wo Torimodose". The music behind can make anyone feel brave and better about themselves. A closer look at the lyrics reveals that it is actually a love song. When translated into English, "Ai Wo Torimodose" comes out as "Bring Back My Love".
In the 2005 version of Glass Mask, 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 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 shojo bubbles, and glittering confetti and/or flower petals) are a pair of fourteen year-old girls.
"Ai Senshi" from Mobile Suit Gundam 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", his survivor's guilt, and finally, asking about if those left behind by the dead will give up their lives too.
"After All" from ∀ Gundam, 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.
Guilty Crown'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.
"Aura" from .hack//SIGN 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 scary.
HappinessCharge Pretty Cure! has Cure Honey's 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
On Ryoko Asakura's character album, 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 With a warp, this looping feeling Swirls everything together and destroys them
Speaking of "Hare Hare Yukai", how about Kyon's version? Same lyrics as the original, much more slower paced and with snark in his lyrics.
Ryoko also sings an upbeat, inspiring song called "COOL EDITION":
My name isn't even in the ending credits (See, it's not there, I was never meant to stay)
The song "God Knows" also qualifies. The song is awesome, but the upbeat sound is overlayed with lyrics about a girl's love for/attempts to reach out to a man who's on the brink of despair.
In the same vein, "Lost My Music" is a fast-tempo, energetic song about a girl pining for her lost love.
Mikako's character song from Heaven's Lost Property'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.
Germany's Image Song "Germany's Anthem (I Am German-Made)" is a threatening-sounding military march, but 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, along with a few bits about how he wants to eat sausages and drink beer. The Gratuitous German he's chanting so menacingly means "unity and justice and freedom", which is Real Life Germany's national motto. Granted, he's cutting the air with his right hand and 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 ending song as well. His deep, menacing-sounding voice feels especially scary after hearing the original version by Italy, but the lyrics and melody are still a cheerful tune about how wonderful the world is.
The 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 Rika desperately begging for forgiveness for the sin of how she survived... assuming you can understand the lyrics.
Subverted in "Nii-Nii Suki". While Satako does slip into depression that doesn't fit the tune in a few spots, she forcefully pulls 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.
Higurashi No Koro Nis "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 song "Inori" ("Prayer"), a character song, 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 squickier if you know from the anime that said eyes are entirely literal. Oh, and the the prayer from the the title? That he'd never stop being angry.
The anime's first OP sounds at first hearing like a 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, "Boys Be Smile", is much, much worse: despite its happy, sweet-sounding tune, it's actually about 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
Macross Frontier: The first opening, "Triangular", is a cheery, upbeat J-Pop song with a lyrics about (quite obviously) a Love Triangle and all the uncertainties it brings.
The first hint that Magical Witch Punie-chan is not a normal Magical Girl series is when the opening Theme Tune, 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.
Episode 2's Insert Song, "Kisaragi Attention", sounds very upbeat, but then you see a subtitled version and find out that it's actually about a downbeat Idol Singer (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 subverts this, as by this pointshe's met the Mekakushi-Dan, and resolves to give her next performance all she's got.
Episode 10's Insert Song, "Imagination Forest", goes similarly; upbeat tune, depressing lyrics about a 140-year-oldHikikomori who wants to see the world, but is too scared of her own powers to try. Again, the final verse ends up being hopeful, subverting 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.
In My-HiME, Nao's character song is slightly upbeat, but in it Nao sings about her loneliness and despair 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.
"Komm, süsser Tod", which is every bit as disturbing as you'd think — appropriate, given the series, and when the song is played: during the Third Impact/Instrumentality sequence in Evangelion. Doubly ironic, the film synchs the line "my world is ending" with apocalyptic imagery of the The End of the World as We Know It, in the literal sense of the words. And all of this deep commentary and lyrics based around giving up and "leave(ing) forever" are set to a bright and upbeat piece played with a grand piano, an acoustic guitar, and a percussive organ. The lyric "I wish that I could turn back time" plays as the 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 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 that Lilith is supposed to hold the souls of all humanity, that part of the sound represents all the souls inside her. The song begins to sound insidiously convoluted near the end, like an LSD trip or an exorcism... or both, culminating in the voices of thousands of people. The worst part is, perhaps, that it's such a Suspiciously Similar Song to "Hey Jude" by The Beatles, but the lyrics sound more like something that Linkin Park would come up with.
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
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? It could also be interpreted as the bubbly, ecstatic demeanor a person suffering from depression very often gets following the decision to commit suicide.
The song also shares its name with a Johann Sebastian Bach song, which is about a man seemingly praying for the peace of Death, as he is tired of a cruel "torture chamber" of a world, and wants nothing more than to see Jesus and stand amongst the angels. This isnotin any way symbolic.
"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
Similarly, the ending theme tune is a cutesy, upbeat song... about Tomoko desperately trying to reassure herself that her life doesn't suck.
As part of its overall Mind Screw, the AnimeParanoia Agent has an uptempo opening theme accompanied by images of the characters laughing hysterically, often in devastated surroundings, and the lyrics mention, among other things, a "magnificent mushroom cloud in the sky".
The opening has a very upbeat tune, but the lyrics are incredibly sad. Especially when it's played at the end of "I Won't Rely on Anyone Anymore", and it becomes clear that it's about Homura.
And then there's Madoka's image song, which sounds perfectly happy and cheery, but is actually about how Madoka smiles outwardly but feels miserable and alone inside.
R15 has one eyebrow-raising song: "Kannou no Eden", with a majestic melody and lewd (as in erotic) lyrics. Expected though, as the canonic lyricist is young porn writer.
The opening credits music from Rurouni Kenshin, 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, I Guess I can't trust them after all
The DanceDanceRevolution version of the 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. However, in a subversion, the song is 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.
The animetal version of the opening "Moonlight Densetsu", while brilliant, is just a bit hard to take seriously when they're singing about a miracle romance.
Sailor Jupiter's Image Song from Sailor Moon Ris pretty catchy and sounds like another fun song on the soundtrack. The lyrics is about how she loves someone that she knows that she can't have, and how lonely she is.
Sailor Venus's theme song "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. It also doubles as an in-universe example, as in the final season of the original anime, Minako sings the song in public. Minako being Minako, she sings it at an idol audition she takes part in just to see if she can once her battles as Sailor Venus are over, and actually feels she has to have Usagi's permission to even try out.
The ending of the original anime, called "Absolute Beauty", is about a lover's suicide — set to a catchy tune with jazz-like instrumentals.
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.
Taken up to eleven in the main theme of School-Live!. Who would expect a theme that upbeat to have subtle lyrics about corpses and zombies? And each episode the opening goes From Bad to Worse. Justified, as it's a Zombie Apocalypse story in a comedy's clothing.
Sgt. Frog plays with this a great deal. What sounds like funeral marches and burning courage is really about failing to do the household chores and the joys of building Gundam models.
The lyrics to the relentlessly cheery opening of Shadow Star, "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 the actual tone of the series.
The ending theme of Straight Title Robot Anime, "Reason for Freedom", is a rare example that's Played for Laughs. 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 Saying Sound Effects Out Loud] 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, subverting this trope.
The theme song for Tenchi Muyo! (Tenchi Universe 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 switches every other one). The English lyrics start:
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
"Libera Me From Hell". While the background of the song is a soft, vaguely sad melody backed by 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. It's peppy and upbeat, until you realize that she is singing about carrying on after the one she loved died.
From You're Under Arrest!: 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.
The ending of the third season of YuruYuri is a merry song about how 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-Fiction Examples
"Galactic Mermaid" in Carole & Tuesday is a upbeat pop song that has Cluster F-Bomb lyrics. While it's hilarious, it's understandable why the Mermaid Sisters were kicked out by the judges before they could finish it.
In Girls und Panzer, 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 one episode of Kill la Kill, Mako sings a cheerful little song about getting into car crashes and going to hell.
Mako:[singing] 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.
In Macross Frontier, 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 "Anata". It doesn't help that half of the song is in Zentran.
In chapter 11 of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid (episode 3 in the anime), Tohru sings a cheerful tune about bringing about the end of the world while she's dusting.
Umino's father in Satou Kashi no Dangan wa Uchinukenai is famous for singing a song about a mermaid who falls in love with a human. It being a victim of the Second Verse Curse 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. This is foreshadowing, as he ends up killing Umino and tries to dispose of her body by cutting it up.
by Masaaki Endoh... which has very Hot-Blooded rhythm and voice work. Basically, he sings about futile life with the most upbeat melody ever.