15 Music Videos Inspired by Anime

You might not recognize Takashi Murakami’s name, but many people would recognize his happy face flower or his super-flat aesthetic. Eilish is a renowned anime fan and this isn’t even the first animated music video she’s done.

Tyga is dealing with an isekai assination situation here folks.

One of the earlier anime references in our slideshow, t.A.T.u. leaned into cyberpunk aesthetics for “Gomenasai.”

Yuna’s take on immersive narratives draws from super sentai stories, Akira, and 1984.

Ever since Bjork changed the game with her incredible sexy robot music video for “All Is Full of Love,” people have been trying to replicate it. This video does a good job at homage, merging some epic space scenes.

Studio Gonzo animated this music video, and the director, Kazuto Nakazawa, created this film in the style of the O-Ren segment from Kill Bill, which he also worked on.

A real anime collaboration between the musicians and Crunchyroll, this short film is really great.

This style reminds me of Guadetama, and I really love the kind of laid back, almost Sanrio-meets-Jojo vibe here.

The Japanese version of Bad Habits got its own anime version, and it’s super charming, actually, mixing idol culture and supernatural horror.

The Sailor Moon references are all over this one.

The Weeknd’s anime-horror aesthetic is great, actually.

Cashmere Cat wants you to play JRPGs or die.

One of the original anime music videos, this banger from 2000 was directed by Kazuhisa Takenouchi who used these scenes as part of the feature film, Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, which he also directed.

Say what you want about this animation, this song is a bop.

Okay so I’m not going to wax poetic about Sturgill Simpson’s Sound & Fury, but the fact is that this country artist fell in love with anime and then went to Netflix and was like, “How about we produce a 40-minute episodic anime film that uses my newest album as a soundtrack.” What came out of the collaboration is a cypberpunk/country mashup that is a delight to watch and listen to, and I have not seen enough people talking about it. Japanese director Junpei Mizusaki took on the project, and everything about it is weird, wonderful, and works alongside Simpson’s outlaw country roots that have sprouted electronic flowers. So while this one single is available to stream, the whole thing is on Netflix, and it’s well worth your time. Also, if you do want to read me waxing poetic about this, I’ve got you covered.

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