The apathy even native speakers have towards their own language certain feeds into it, but I don’t really think the Japanese discard grammatical rules on purpose. It may just be too much trouble to correct it if they know no one most won’t really care.

I do agree that using Western music might be an indication of a higher budget though, so if you’re not as familiar with stuff like studio, director, or the source material, it could work well enough to judge based on music.

On the other hand, in the few instances I know of when Western music was used, the productions have been of high quality. It probably has less to with artistic freedom (as I originally stated) and more to do with the how much money the creators were given to work with.

Now that I’ve thought about it a bit more, it’s not really different than if a big name composer is attached to a show – it’s a sign that the creators have money and are trying to create a quality product. However, I’m not familiar with Japanese composers (except for Yoko Kanno) so I probably wouldn’t realize that.

In fact I kind of think that Japanese artists have a greater chance of composing something specifically for a series than a Western equivalent because it’s much easier to communicate ideas without a language barrier, no matter how universal the ideas in the series might be. Also, I don’t really feel as if Radiohead’s ending for Ergo Proxy suits it too well even if the song itself is of good quality — but I guess I really shouldn’t say anything until after I’ve seen at least some of the series.

I’ve heard of the themes for Eden of the East and Texhnolyze, the latter of which I was thinking of checking out eventually.

A point about specifically Western music, however: As I understand it, the music used for OPs and EDs is often selected based on whoever is bankrolling the show and what bands they are trying to push. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when I see a show features music from Westerner artists it’s a sign to me that the creators were given the artistic freedom to select the music that they felt was most appropriate for the show, and is potentially a sign of good quality across the board (not that this can’t happen with bands from Japan or other parts of Asia).

I’m particularly fond of the of the openings for Lain and Mushishi, every time I see/hear them it psyches me up for the particular mood the show is trying to bring across.

Some other noteworthy songs are:

-”Falling Down” by Oasis (Eden of the East)
A good song but not great, IMO, but I think it’s a good example of my original point about Western music being a sign of good quality.

-”The Light Before We Land” by the Delgados (Gunslinger Girl)
A very haunting piece of music used to devastating effect.

-”Guardian Angel~Xavier’s Edit” by Juno Reactor (Texhnolyze)
Okay, so the only English used is a voiceover at the beginning of the song. I don’t care, I really enjoy Juno Reactor, and this is probably my favorite song by them. I haven’t gotten very far in the show so I can’t comment on how well the song fits, but the opening sequence never fails to get my blood pumping.

“Lithium Flower” was GitS:SAC’s first season end theme, so if you didn’t make it to the second season, I suppose you might have heard “living inside the shell.” The former is still pretty catchy though, so it might also just be more memorable even though I still think the latter is a better song.

Yuki Kajiura’s involvement in .hack is its only high point for me.

Reading through the songs you highlighted, my limited exposure thought of “Life is like a boat” (then I see it in hono[u]rable metnions) and, well, Square Enix songs. You have “Eyes On Me” and “Melodies Of Life” from the PS1 FFs, and the English variations of the KH vocal themes (“Simple And Clean” for “Hikari”, “Sanctuary” for “Passion”). All sung by Asian artists, if I’m right (wanna say Faye Wong is Chinese, but I’unno).

Of yours, though, the only one I knew by description was Bebop’s ending. I may recognize the other Bebop, Lain, and GitS ones (especially the last, though what readily comes to mind is the mentioned “Lithium Flower”). I only have a few anime songs in my playlist(s), and only one soundtrack on my comp (Outlaw Star’s, though I only have “TEARS” and maybe one/two of Melfina’s songs in circulation). Do know how pretty .hack’s music can be, though, especially since a friend used to play it aloud.

Also, “though”.