HYBE girl group ILLIT, the same idols of "Magnetic" fame, are doing the opening music for season 2 of the anime 'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess. The 5th generation group is the latest in a decades-spanning history of Kpop idols singing songs for the Japanese animation industry, to include collaborations like aespa with Beyblade X and IVE with Pokemon Horizons.

It's not only just for Japanese works either, as idols have been working alongside industries in other countries as well, with collabs such as Stray Kids and the Korean manhwa I'm the Queen in This Life as well as TWICE with the American movie Kpop Demon Hunters.

There's something noticeable about it all though. Yes, there has been a history of Kpop idols doing songs for animation projects, but number has been increasing significantly lately (see Figure 1). What's behind the increase? And is it a longterm trend or just a temporary fad?

Figure 1. Number of songs by Kpop idols for animation works from 2016 to early 2026. Gold colored bars = Japanese anime; Dark blue colored bars = non-Japanese animation. N = 61.

It's all in the source

The primary driver of Kpop idols doing more songs for anime OSTs seems to be that they're doing them for manhwa that are getting turned into Japanese anime. Solo Leveling, Tower of God, and Noblesse are all original Korean works that have recently been made into anime, with each of them having multiple pieces of music done by idols. This results in those songs comprising a significant volume of the increased activity seen in the chart.

However, despite so many projects being of Korean origin, there is also an increase in Kpop idols doing OSTs for creations that started in Japan. Separating the songs between the creative source of each work results in about a 50/50 split between them (30 Japanese, 31 non-Japanese; see Figure 2). Yet even though this reduces the island country's total tally, the final values reveal that the number of soundtrack songs is still elevated for all productions regardless of origination.

Figure 2. Number of songs sung by Kpop idols for animated projects. Gold colored bars = works of Japanese origin; dark blue colored bars = works originating from outside of Japan. N = 61.

Why is there an increase in Kpop idols doing songs for soundtracks of either origin anyway? It's because the songs are selected by commmittees that oversee the creation of the anime and their decision is often based on the story. For example, a shonen might choose a heavy hitting metal banger to get audiences hyped. For works of Korean origin, the committee would use the same methodology to pick Kpop idols as they might vibe better with the setting of the project. Like since anime openings are supposed to give viewers a taste of things to come, then using those idols could help alert the viewer to the fact that a show includes some sort of Korean representation.

I couldnt find a specific reason for why Japanese originated projects increasingly picked Kpop acts, but one could make an educated guess when interpreting the data. The year 2020 saw 3 Korean manhwa getting turned into anime with Kpop idols singing for the OSTs. Those shows may have intrigued the anime industry, resulting in idols getting involved in more of those productions. The trend peaked in 2023 though, with works originating outside of Japan getting most of the songs in the years following.

Perhaps this is all something of a short-lived Hallyu movement in the anime industry where instead of a big wave it was more like a ripple? Whatever the case is, maybe the continued use of our idols in animation outside of Japan, along with the success of Kpop Demon Hunters will encourage more of those projects to bring on Kpops to sing for their OSTs in the future.