Kenshō Ono Turns a Film Ballad Into a Character Cover
The results come from a reader poll by Anime!Anime!, a Japanese anime news site that surveyed fans on their favorite Summer 2026 theme songs from July 16 to July 23. The gender split was close to even, and respondents in their 30s made up about 35 percent, with teens and twentysomethings at roughly 20 percent each. This installment covers ending themes, and votes reached 34 different shows.
Votes piled up for sequels, and Bungo Stray Dogs Wan! 2 shows why. The comedy spinoff closes each episode with "Bokura (Akutagawa Ryūnosuke Ver.)," performed in character by Kenshō Ono (Tetsuya Kuroko in Kuroko's Basketball). The track covers "Bokura," the song rock band Luck Life contributed as the ending theme of the film Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple. One reader called Ono's singing voice "too beautiful," while another was simply happy to hear the familiar ballad again in an Akutagawa version.
Returning Shows Swap In New Songs
Two more comment magnets came from series in their second cour, the back half of a split broadcast. Daemons of the Shadow Realm, the adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromu Arakawa's manga, switched its ending theme to "Peacock" by Kei Sugawara. Readers praised the oil-painting look of the new ending animation and said Sugawara's clear, cool vocals suit the show's somber, weighty atmosphere.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4 handed its second-cour ending theme, "Hymnal," to Azusa Tadokoro, who voices Chloe in the series. Readers noted this is her first TenSura theme song since Season 1. They also enjoyed the ending visuals, which send Shizu traveling across a sugoroku board, a classic Japanese dice game.
Brand-new shows earned votes as well. Queen Bee's "Hoshi" (Star), the ending theme for Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia, struck readers as a match for heroine Sitara. One commenter heard both her vow of revenge against the Mongol Empire and the past she can never return to in the band's powerful yet delicate vocals.
A Masked Novelist and an Artist With No Name
Let's Go Kaikigumi has the season's oddest credit line. Its ending theme "Norowashite ne?" was written, composed, and sung by Uketsu (雨穴), the masked mystery author whose novels Strange Pictures and Strange Houses were published in English by HarperVia. Uketsu is active on Omocoro, the Japanese web outlet behind the original Kaikigumi manga, and readers were delighted by the family connection.
Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs 2 goes a step further. Its ending theme, "Ashita wa Ashita no Que Sera Sera!," is credited to an artist whose name has not been made public. Readers are happy to focus on the visuals instead, singling out new character Hertrauda's dance routine as "sharp down to the fingertips."
Rich Girl Caretaker adds a personal touch of its own. Ami Maeshima, who plays Karen Asahi, wrote the lyrics for the ending theme "Kanpeki ja Nai Watashi" herself, and readers felt the light melody and character-first lyrics fit the romantic comedy.
Looking Ahead
Anime!Anime! published its companion opening-theme results on August 13, and the full list of all 34 shows that received ending-theme votes appears in the original Japanese article.
For international viewers, the highlighted shows are mostly easy to reach. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime and Daemons of the Shadow Realm both stream on Crunchyroll, and Daemons of the Shadow Realm has carried an English dub since its April 4, 2026 premiere. Rich Girl Caretaker is part of Crunchyroll's Summer 2026 simulcast lineup. And if the Kaikigumi credit sparks curiosity, Uketsu's Strange Pictures and Strange Houses are already on English-language shelves.