Kagurabachi: I'll start with their biggest project for the near future.
I know many would go with Vaundy by default because he recommended the manga, but it feels so obvious and after he did the initial Sakamoto OP, I think it won't happen at first. Actually I'm afraid they may go with the awful idea Kaiju No. 8 had of going for an english speaking band. "Stop being a weeb, that's not bad!" It is! Of course, I think it's mostly a bad idea, but western music is incredibly unpopular in Japan nowadays, so it won't move the needle there and overseas fans are just fine with japanese music for their anime songs. No one cares about that Kaiju OP more than the songs from series like Dandadan and Mashle, that are less popular.
The first act will be the action packed Sojo Arc, so an energetic rock song would fit well and very possible what they'll go for. So an idea is that they could with MAN WITH A MISSION, a rock band that sings in both english and japanese, and has hits songs on major franchises like Gundam and Kimetsu no Yaiba.
Maybe a bit slower than this, but I hope Kagurabachi goes for the spectacle, its biggest strenght is how smooth it starts a first arc that already feels big in scale and has a very popular battle. Second cour can slow things down a bit and go for
Vaundy, but please ask him to go with a Kaiju no Hanauta style song instead of the awful Sakamoto Days opening he did.
As for the EDs, they'll likely take the typical mellow tone. Maybe an ED showing young Chihiro with his dad? They'll likely go for a strong singer with ballads and stuff like that.
milet maybe? She did Frieren and Kimetsu.
Ruri Dragon: Another major hit series that will blow up with an anime, Ruri Dragon also for sure will get major mainstream artists for it. The manga itself already got a zutomayo PV even!
That said, I bet that the anime will go for a different artist. With a cool, but soft pop rock style, I'll go with
Ryokuoushoku Shakai that shows up on anime often (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, Kakkou no Iinazuke, Hero Academia, etc), but is very normie friendly as well. I'm expecting a fun OP with Ruri showing off her powers, while presenting her normal school life. Maybe a song similar to mela's vibe.
As for ED, invest in Tiktok-bait dance stocks. A recent hit song there in Japan was Zenhoukou Bishoujo by
noa and, honestly, I can just imagine an animator having fun with a song like this with a stylized ED where Ruri wears many different clothes, makes funny expressions and dances.
Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi: Basically all Jump anime have popular artists and won't be different here.
As Kiyoshi seems to aim for that kid/teenager idea of Cool, I can see the OP also aiming for a Cool factor with a fast paced song. A good pick could be
MADKID, famous for Shield Hero songs, they recently did the opening song for Digimon Beatbreak and it's BOTH cool and "all ages friendly" in the sense that anyone of any age can have fun with it. Seems like a winning move for Kiyoshi.
But Kiyoshi just loves comedy, funny designs and goofing around as well, so let's bring back the energy from EDs like the fun filled ones from Toriko and bring back
Hyadain. I'm sure he can make something fun for Kiyoshi and he's involved with kids content as well, being a regular in Pokémon shows, so it's not like he's an unknown figure to anyone. Hits both nostalgia and younger folks.
Shinobi Undercover: another battle anime, but in a different style from the previous two.
As a manga that I see more of a Sakamoto Days replacement, Shinobi Undercover isn't as dark as Kagurabachi, but also not as goofy as Kiyoshi. It's kinda in that middle point where I think they'll go for cooler style pop songs. Not too heavy, but enough for newbies to know there are fights here, alongside a few romance and comedy scenes. The idol group
Snow Man could be a good fit as they had success with Black Clover before, are highly popular and often do tie-in songs to a ton of things, so another Jump anime would be fine for them. The recent hit Charisumasks is a tone that could fit Yodaka's adventures.
As for the ending, I can see them going for another "Jump" veteran to attract that classic Jump vibes. With a massive hit under his belt recently (Hai Yorokonde),
Kocchi no Kento would be a great pick. His recent Hero Academia Vigilante OP was pretty popular and shows he can do battle shounen just fine.
Hima-ten: music picks are very different for romcoms!
As Jump's current classic romcom, Hima-ten won't try to reinvent the wheel with its anime. It'll be as colorful and pop-ish as the manga and the OPs will go for that. A recent popular combination is
Honeyworks feat Hakoniwalily, that did a super popular for this year's Danjoru. The anime wasn't even well received, but the song did very well. It's cute, fun and captures the atmosphere of a romcom perfectly. This is such a winning combo that I will be mad when it likely doesn't happen!
For a second cour or alternative pick,
Nanawo Akari is both extremely popular with otaku anime songs, but also seems to have a somewhat more mainstream career as her songs almost always go viral. A song in a similar vibe to Watanare's Muri Muri Evolution would do well for Hima-ten and could improve its popularity.
Ending wise, romcom are often about the seiyuu of the heroines singing. This should be the route here. This doesn't mean Miku Itou is guaranteed, as I think the anime cast will go for more up and coming talents, so no Nao Toyama and such here. So, uh, my guesses here would be:
Misato Matsuoka for Himari as she's getting many major roles recently and got to be a main Precure, soft spoken
Youmiya Hina (Anna in Bokuyaba) for Honoka and
Tohno Hikaru (Anna in MakeIne) for Kanna. They all can sing well, so go for something catchy like the Idol Precure ED and don't forget to do a Tiktok Dance!!
Ichi the Witch: another major pillar for Jump's future, it'll for sure get extremely mainstream artists!
Something that makes Ichi different from Kagurabachi is that I think Jump sees it as more of a very long running type of adventure manga instead of a more battle focused manga like Jujutsu Kaisen, so they'll want a team that goes for a more "all ages" type of anime. Being a mainstream anime with multiple seasons that goes on for 10 years is what Ichi seems to be going for and I think they'll go for a sure fire hit artist and there are no better options for it than
Mrs Green Apple, absurdly popular in Japan and that did songs before for shows like Fire Force and Oblivion Battery to great success.
That said, I think the first opening needs to be fun and invite the viewer into Ichi's magical world. So let's go for something like Dance Hall. Show off Ichi, Desscaras, Kumugi and maybe even Gokuraku just travelling around and having fun, with hints of action to come.
And let's not stop here and go for another mainstream group for the ED as well.
Sekai no Owari has a ton of songs that are intentionally fantasy focused, I'm sure they could do a great job into making a popular and fitting ending song for Ichi.
Nue's Exorcist: of course I saved my favorite for last as I'm always thinking about its possible songs!
Let's be honest, Nue will NEVER be a normie popular series. It just isn't going for it, so I think the anime shouldn't even try to be anything it isn't is. Go for the anime crowd and they'll embrace it. Ideally it would go for fripside for that LN crowd appeal, but as Yozakura Family just got an OP by them, it wouldn't be as exciting anymore... So let's go for some goth rock for the full chuuni package,
Yousei Teikoku it is! They did the songs for Mirai Nikki, but something in this tone (Wahrheit) would be crazy cool with an OP that mixes spirits and shadows around Gakuro, but also showcasing the girls.
As we get to secound cour, it's fine to bring
fripside now. But instead of something like their Yozakura song, I would want a rhythm more similar to Hikikomari's Red Liberation. Cool, but also full of call and response moments for that live performance hype.
Nue's battle aspect is too strong for a seiyuu song nowadays probably, so how can you both make something that appeals to hardcore anime fans, while also having a shot at going viral, hmmm. The solution is simple... vtubers. There's always a few vtuber songs that break out every year in Japan even beyond their bubble, but just by having a popular one, Nue could attract a good otaku crowd and also bring a few overseas fans. It's your time to shine with a cool song,
Amane Kanata!
But yeah, Nue is one of these type of shows that will only get female singers. So for an alternative or a 2nd cour that they want an ED that goes more for the romcom tone, there's basically no better group for that currently in Japan than
Fruits Zipper. They're popular, go viral often, are said to embrace classic idol song qualities. Just have Nue, Suo, Shiroha and Shitotsu here and it will work.
And that's all! Akane will reveal its songs soon, so it won't be fun to try to guess it now. And... I guess Modulo will also have an anime eventually, but just keep King Gnu for that!
Hopefully I'll get at least something in this right.
