

I have noticed that much, but by no means all, of the anime that I've seen has
had lyrics onscreen during either its OPs, EDs, or both. Why is this so?

I know karaoke is fairly popular in Japan, so do people actually sing along
while they wait for their shows to start? Perhaps it is done to promote the
songs licensed for the openings/endings?

Some examples of what I'm talking about include:

  * **Shirokuma Cafe**

    ![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/5MJFm.png)

  * **Pokémon**

       ![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/RnwbS.png)

  * **Dragonball Kai**

    ![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/SOv9S.png)

  * **Doraemon** ![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/uN5Ju.png)

_Note: Emphasis mine in all of these images._

As a bonus if you could include some information on these side issues, that'd
be great:

  * Is this exclusive to anime, or does it appear in other forms of Japanese media (e.g. music videos? OPs of live action dramas? etc.) 
  * Why are they almost never included in licensed English versions?
  * What was the first anime to include them?

Perhaps this is a slightly broad question, but I assume there must be some
general consensus on the matter. Does anyone have an explanation for this
phenomenon? :)


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tropes theme-song
Why do many anime OPs and EDs have onscreen lyrics?


I think you hit it on the nail with the Karaoke connection. Karaoke is
extremely popular in Japan, so offering song subtitles is something of a no
brainer. Also, OPs and EDs are an integral part of an anime franchise, both as
an identity and as a source of sales. Putting the lyrics in plain view makes
singing along with the songs a lot easier, which in turn makes them _stick_ to
a listener's brain. This could lead to increased loyalty for the title and
increased sales for its merchandise, especially musical ones.


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2013-04-02T22:21:21.660
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I think this is only common among shows aimed at children. All of the examples
you gave were shows which are, at least partly, aimed at children. Having
karaoke for the song helps the younger viewers sing along, and also has some
educational benefits in terms of learning more advanced characters. If you
watch anime targeted at older viewers, they rarely have karaoke.

It's also notable that those anime aimed at younger children are using only
very common kanji that even children would probably know, and is giving
furigana. Those aimed at older children tend to have more complex kanji and
sometimes omit the furigana as well. This isn't apparent from just the exam


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Some music animes or Idol animes such as Love Live gather fanbases that love
to sing along. This is also done when an anime is dubbed (the op/ed is some
times given an eng translation along with karoake words. Other animes seems to
have no reason.


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