Songs from ‘Weathering With You’ and ‘Demon Slayer’ Top the 2019 Anisong Downloads

When a song from a popular anime song or movie hits you, it’s expected that you will put this on repeat and jam it while you’re in your room, your office, or just going somewhere. Songs from anime are always the best to listen to!

Recently, Mora, the music download website announced the most downloaded anime theme songs of 2019. As expected, the song “Gurenge” (Red Lotus) from the series Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer) topped the charts. The song is a performed by popular Japanese singer LiSA and it reached certified platinum by the Japan Record Association on September 22. Aside from this, this powerful and catchy song is the most downloaded song of the Summer anime season with over 300,000 downloads in October.

Kimetsu no Yaiba is a popular shonen manga series written by Koyoharu Gotoge. It was first released in February 2016 in Weekly Shonen Jump and still ongoing. 16  compiled volumes have been released so far in Japan. The manga is released officially in English by VIZ Media.

The anime adaptation of the series premiered in April 6, 2019 with animation done by Ufotable, notable for their productions of the animated adaptations of the Fate franchise.

A summary of the manga series is found below:

“ Since ancient times, rumors have abounded of man-eating demons lurking in the woods. Because of this, the local townsfolk never venture outside at night. Legend has it that a demon slayer also roams the night, hunting down these bloodthirsty demons. For young Tanjiro, these rumors will soon to become his harsh reality. Ever since the death of his father, Tanjiro has taken it upon himself to support his family. Although their lives may be hardened by tragedy, they’ve found happiness. But that ephemeral warmth is shattered one day when Tanjiro finds his family slaughtered and the lone survivor, his sister Nezuko, turned into a demon. To his surprise, however, Nezuko still shows signs of human emotion and thought. Thus begins Tanjiro’s request to fight demons and turn his sister human again.”

Makoto Shinkai’s recent animated theatrical hit Weathering With You also landed rank #1 of the site’s most downloaded song albums for this year.

The Weathering with You anime film premiered in Japan on July 19 and immediately conquered box office charts in its first three days, earning US$15.22 million. It had a special North American premiere during the Toronto International Film Festival as part of its Special Presentations Category with screenings on September 8, 10, 14. Weathering With You was submitted for consideration for the Best International Feature Film category for the 92nd Academy Awards. It was announced that the film would have its official North America opening on January 17. The film was also screened in Anime NYC this month.

The film recently won the Best Animated Feature Film award during the 13^th Asia Pacific Awards, which was held Brisbane, Australia. The other nominees in the said category were the following: Penguin Highway by Hiroyasu Ishida, Mosley by Kirby Atkins, Underdog by Oh Sung Yoon, and The Unseen by Behzad Nalbhadi.

Here is a synopsis about the film as described by GKIDS:

The summer of his high school freshman year, Hodaka runs away from his remote island home to Tokyo, and quickly finds himself pushed to his financial and personal limits. The weather is unusually gloomy and rainy every day, as if to suggest his future. He lives his days in isolation, but finally finds work as a writer for a mysterious occult magazine. Then one day, Hodaka meets Hina on a busy street corner. This bright and strong­willed girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky…

Weathering With You has not only topped the box office worldwide but has also made it as one of the most top sell-selling light novels in Japan by volume this year.  According to the Oricon’s overall bunko ranking chart, the Weathering With You novel sold around 511, 159 copies in Japan alone. This is the second time that Shinkai has topped the charts in this category, with his first one being the your name. novel that was released three years ago.

Aside from the light novel version, the children’s book version of Weathering With You has also ranked in #1 in the children’s book category last Summer.

Below shows the complete list of Mora’s most downloaded anime songs of 2019:

1.       “Gurenge” by LiSA (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)

2.       “Umi no Yūrei” by Kenshi Yonezu (Children of the Sea)

3.       “Ai ni Dekiru koto wa Mada Arukai” by RADWIMPS (Weathering With You)

4.       “I beg you” by Aimer (Fate/stay night: Heaven’s Feel II. lost butterfly)

5.       “Haru no Hi” by Aimyon (Crayon Shin-chan Shinkon Ryokō Hurricane)

6.       “Love Dramatic” by Masayuki Suzuki ft. Rikka Ihara (Kaguya-sama: Love is War)

7.       “Grand Escape” by Tōko Miura featuring RADWIMPS (Weathering With You)

8.       “Onegai Muscle” by Ai Fairouz & Kaito Ishikawa (How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?)

9.       “RESISTER” by ASCA (Sword Art Online: Alicization)

10.   “from the edge” by FictionJunction feat. LiSA (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)

Mora’s most downloaded anime song albums of 2019 are:

1.       Weathering With You (High Resolution) by RADWIMPS

2.       I beg you/Hanabiratachi no March/Sailing by Aimer

3.       Kimi to Koi no Mama de Owarenai Itsumo Yume no Mama ja Irarenai/Barairo no Jinsei by Mai Kuraki

4.       Weathering With You by RADWIMPS

5.       FIRE BIRD by Roselia

6.       Sundance by Aimer

7.       Penny Rain by Aimer

8.       Face my Fears by Hikaru Utada

9.       BRAVE JEWEL by Roselia

10.   Safe and Sound by Roselia

Source: Mora via ANN