My top 3 would be probably
1. Chainsaw Man - Kick Back. It’s the gift that keeps giving; every time that you watch it you’ll find something new, and the more that you like it.
Don’t get distracted by Power wearing a bikini, or the movie references - look at the details. Makima taking Denji for a walk, Denji seeing carnivorous flowers (a dangerous love), golden balls rolling… Mother’s Basement does an amazing job exploring it, way better than I could.
2. Elfen Lied - Lilium. The anime aged poorly, and it’s a weak adaptation of the manga, but damn! This OP is beautiful. And the Latin mass actually makes sense in the light of the manga’s story:
translation of the lyrics into English
The mouth of the just will practice wisdom
and his tongue will utter judgement.
Blessed the man who endures temptation
Since, as he’s being tested, he’ll take the crown of life.
O Lord, source of virtue
O Lord, divine fire, be merciful
Oh, how holy, how serene, how kind
how lovely the virgin is believed to be.
Oh, how holy, how serene, how kind
how lovely, oh chastity lilySwitch the genders for a moment and everything falls in place: the “man” enduring temptation is Lucy, asking for forgiveness to a “chastity lily” called Kouta. And she’s devoted to him almost religiously - because, even if she’s a sinner, he’s the one accepting her, giving her peace and serenity, pleading in her defence, as if he was her personal Virgin Mary.
3. Sorairo Days - Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. The song is great, don’t get me wrong, but what makes the OP really special for me is that it isn’t just “a single OP”. The scenes shown in the opening evolve alongside the story in the anime, while keeping the same catchy song. For example, here’s what the first ten seconds of the opening tells you:
- up to ep8 - it’s the story of three people: Kamina, Yoko, Simon.
- from ep9 to ep16 - it’s the story of a whole team that includes Yoko and Simon but much more people.
- from ep17 to the end - it’s the story of a boy growing up, Simon.
Except that it isn’t just those ten seconds. It’s the whole opening that evolves, throws back at earlier events just to push forward, in a way that feels completely natural and consistent with the theme of the anime series - evolving and going forward.
Huh. So… it finally occurred to me to check this. Elfen Lied and Sora no Woto share the same director – Mamoru Kanbe / 神戸守. I probably should’ve figured that out sooner given that Sora no Woto’s OP also references Klimt’s paintings heavily, but I had no idea.
To be honest I never heard about Sora no Woto, but as soon as I saw the intro that you’ve linked: yup, they’re really similar.
Except that it isn’t just those ten seconds. It’s the whole opening that evolves, throws back at earlier events just to push forward, in a way that feels completely natural and consistent with the theme of the anime series - evolving and going forward.
Perfect way to describe how the OP feels while watching the show. What also enhanced it for me was listening to the full version and reading the translated lyrics. I love how the second verse reveals that
Gurren Lagann Spoilers
the song is Simon sending a post-humous message to Kamina about the experiences he went through following Kamina’s death: from lost and aimless to carrying on Kamina’s legacy by pushing forward and cherishing every day.
It’s very moving and adds a lot of depth to such an upbeat and energetic song.
You’re right - and the lyrics are so well in-tune with the show that I feel a bit ashamed to not have dug a bit deeper into them, in my earlier comment.
And there’s also some depth in the first part (that appears in the opening), not just the second (that you explained rather well) - how you interpret the lyrics of the first part changes, depending on the events that you’ve seen already.
Gurren Lagann spoilers
Before Kamina’s death
A boy who digs tunnels in the dark, but wants something further than that. He doesn’t know the colour of the endless sky because the village is underground. Eventually, he leaves for the outside world. There’s no time to lament that Yoko doesn’t like him or other trivialities - they still need to chase their tomorrows. And the answer is always there because he got dreams and hopes for the future, finally living under the sky.
After Kamina’s death
A boy who falls into depression after his bro dies, and wants him back. He doesn’t see the endless sky, because he’s hiding himself in the shadows, digging statues. But there’s no time to lament Kamina’s death - he still needs to lead the team to fight the beastmen. And the answer is always there because Kamina lives in Simon’s heart.
I tend to like catchy, pop-rock kinda songs. Like @[email protected], I don’t really care about the visuals. Some of my favourites - excluding those from this season - are:
ADAMAS by LiSA (Sword Art Online: Alicization)
Blessing a.k.a. Shukufuku by YOASOBI (Gundam: The Witch from Mercury)
THE HERO!! by JAM Project (One Punch Man)
TIT FOR TAT by MYTH & ROID (Cautious Hero)
01 by QUEEN BEE (Undead Unluck)
Edit
Noticed the question specified openings. Gonna leave the endings and insert songs here:
Don’t say ‘lazy’ by K-ON! cast (K-ON!)
Hey! Smith!! by Monster Musume cast (Monster Musume)
My Feelings a.k.a. kanashikute lulululu, Herthaka version by Hanamori Yumiri (Kaguya-sama: Love Is War - Ultra Romantic)
Red:birthmark by AiNA THE END (Gundam: The Witch from Mercury)
STYX HELIX by MYTH & ROID (Re:Zero)
Don’t Say Lazy is so good, I can’t believe I forgot about it!
I love how Blessing’s upbeat, quirky, but thoughtful vocals and electronic elements paint the perfect picture of Suletta. It’s like listening to her character turned into music.
THE HERO!! is so goddamn iconic!
Here are some of mine:
- Rewrite - Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) OP4. I can’t think of another opening for a long(-ish) show that feels like a culmination of everything that led up to that point. There’s the immediate impact of the guitars and drums crashing in from the very first second, and then for the next thirty or so seconds everything is kind of downbeat: the vocals are low and meandering, and all of the characters on-screen stand still in deep contemplation. And yet, the guitars and drums are still going ham in the background, and in almost every shot there’s some kind of movement being animated even while the characters are still. All of this builds an insane amount of tension beneath the surface – which finally explodes at the chorus along with Gotoh’s iconic “KESHITE” scream and some god-like action cuts with jaw-dropping animation. It’s hella cathartic every time I watch it and matches the final arc of the show being about letting go of the past and rewriting those regrets into actions for seizing your own future.
- Answer - March Comes In Like a Lion OP1. Even before I got very deep into the show and understood the full context of what this song was conveying, it made me super emotional. The music strikes that perfect balance between being uplifting and encouraging but also soft and reassuring, which matches up with the visuals of a troubled individual literally pulling themselves up after drowning in depression. I love the glockenspiel accents during the chorus that sound like stars lighting the path through darkness.
- Toki Wo Kizamu Uta - Clannad After Story. I LOVE how they took one of the best piano songs from the Visual Novel’s soundtrack and turned it into a breathtaking vocal ballad. Lia’s sustained notes in the chorus hit hard and make the song sound immense while still being intensely emotional and personal. Perfect song for what After Story puts its audience through.
My answers to this question probably change every time I have answered it. Also, I tend to heavily favor the song over the visuals, so keep that in mind. Here are some that have stuck with me and popped into my head when seeing this:
- GO!!! by FLOW - Naruto
- Onegai Muscle - How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift?
- Shinda! by Masayoshi Ooishi - The Legendary Hero is Dead
- Change the World - Inuyasha
Of course, one of the all time greats that will always live in my head rent-free is Tank, but that felt like too obvious an answer.
Always loved the Lain opening! OPs that use an original English song are rare but always a treat.
Onegai Muscle - How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift?
Good taste👍
Cowboy Bebop OP - “Tank!” by The Seatbelts
Re:Zero OP 1 - “Redo” by Konomi Suzuki
Death Parade OP - “Flyers” by BRADIO
Origin spirits of the past OP - “Chouwa oto ~with reflection” by KOKIA
Noragami OP - “Goya wa Machiawase” by Hello Sleepwalkers
Noragami Aragoto OP - “Kyouran Hey Kids!!” by The Oral Cigarettes
Ore Monogatari!! OP - “Miraikei Answer” by Trustrick
Valkyrie Drive OP - “Overdrive” by Hitomi Harada
Durarara!!x2 Shou OP - “HEADHUNT” by OKAMOTO’S
Princess Principal OP - “The Other Side of the Wall” by VoidChords ft.MARU
Juuni Taisen OP - “Rupture” by PanoramaPanamaTown
The Promised Neverland OP - “Touch off” by UVERworld
Oshi No Ko OP - “Idol” by YOASOBI (Holy shit the full song has almost half a billion views)
So I’m a Spider, So What? OP - “Keep weaving your spider way” by Riko Azuna
Made in Abyss OP 1 - “Deep in Abyss” by Miyu Tomita and Mariya Ise
Nice, came here to make sure somebody had mentioned “Tank!” 🙂
Tank! deserves to be immortalized in a Hall of Fame at this point.
I love the Oshi no Ko OP so much. YOASOBI are awesome!
Tangential mini-rant, sorry
I generally love YOASOBI but don’t get why their song was chosen for Frieren’s OP. Probably just because of how popular they are as a performer. It’s a catchy song, but the style clashes so much and the Ending song (Anytime Anywhere by Milet) is way better of a match with that anime. Sorry to be a downer
Gonna avoid stepping on other toes.
Also shout-out toSayonara Zetsubou Sensei who’s op feels drastically different with context.
Re: Ya Boy Kongming/Paripi Koumei
Aside from the OP screenshot, I’m glad you brought that up
Every song in that series is worth listening to!
My favorite OPs are bangers that I can’t get out of my head or are visually stunning. Here’s some of my favorites that haven’t already been mentioned:
Easy Breezy - Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken
Easy Love - Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro
Bling-Bang-Bang-Born - Mashle Season 2
This Fffire - Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Just about every OP from Gintama but if I had to pick one it would be Tougenkyou Alien
Sobakasu - Rurouni Kenshin
Some of my favorite EDs:
Yofukashi no Uta - Call Of The Night
Answers - Boruto
The Great Pretender - The Great Pretender
Bling-Bang-Bong-Born is such an earworm and the visuals are insane. Huge glowup from the S1 OP! It’s one of the many reasons I look forward to Mashle every week.
I couldn’t agree more. My brother hosts shitty anime night on discord once a week where we watch all the trashy/bad anime airing during the season with drinking rules. We watched Mashle thinking it was going to end up being so bad that it becomes good, but it stayed good all through the first season… but by the time we got around to watching the episodes I was already so drunk that I didn’t remember the plot.
When I saw the S2 OP for the first time I knew I had to go back and rewatch the show sober and fell in love with how good the humor and pacing is.
My favorite OPs then the visuals and music come together to make something great.
- Maria+Holic Alive - OP 1 - Mousou Senshi Miyamae Kanako by Sugita Tomokazu
- Blood Plus’ Openings are good OP 1 - Aozora no Namida by Hitomi Takahashi, OP 2 - SEASON’S CALL by HYDE, OP 3 - Colors of the Heart by UVERworld, & OP 4 - Raion by Jinn
- Trigun - H.T. by Tsuneo Imahori
- Both of Gundam Wing’s openings are good OP 1 - JUST COMMUNICATION by TWO-MIX & OP 2 - RHYTHM EMOTION by TWO-MIX
- Bleach - OP 1 - *Asterisk by Orange Range
- Death Note - OP 2 - What’s up, people?! by Maximum the Hormone
Kiznaiver - Lay Your Hands On Me
Absolutely hated the anime. One of Triggers rare misses. It establishes ironclad rules around a plot device, and then the big twist is that those rules get ignored.
The MCs entire schtick is that he’s a boring empty shell with no personality, and few of the remaining cast are remotely likeable.
The opposite, the plot is built around redeeming hateable characters, but it fails.
But damn I love that OP to death. It’s so different from the typical pattern, and the kaleidoscopic visuals really work with it.
It shows off the fantastic visual design of the show, which I still adore despite the narrative and character writing being total let downs.
Even though I haven’t watched the show, this is a favorite of mine too! According to the friend who shared it with me, this was apparently the band’s last song shortly before the vocalist passed away from a medical condition. The lyrics and vibe of the song feel a whole lot heavier with that context 😢
“Puzzle” by ROUND TABLE feat. Nino - (Welcome to the N.H.K)
“Sakasama Bridge (逆様ブリッジ)” by Suneohair - (Arakawa Under the Bridge)
“Akai Coat (赤いコート)” by Suneohair - (Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge)
These are some of my favorite OPs/EDs.
I really like the songs from both Suneohair and ROUND TABLE feat. Nino, and Welcome to the N.H.K is one of my favorite series :)Mushi-Shi’s second season. Didn’t expect to hear something like this opening an anime.
Maical destroyers the OP is a banger but anime itself is garbage mobile game ad
Welcome to chaos dumpling man, dumpling man
Glad you gave the disclaimer about Magical Destroyers, the OP made it seem really hype lol. Dorohedoro has nothing but bangers, I love D.D.D.D.
Lots of fantastic ones in here that I agree with but I don’t see these two yet:
Slime s2 op Like Flames - MindaRyn
Mob Psycho s1 op 99 - Mob Choir
The counting in 99 is the definition of hype! 99.9 is fantastic too, I love how hard the bass goes. And the animation is Bones flexing like crazy.
Nagi no Asukara OP2 perfectly nailed the melancholic vibe and the song is so emotional and fits well with the episode.
Violet Evergarden’s is also very emotional and the artist carried hard with her expressiveness of her voice. This is perhaps the only OP where I noted the singer’s sheer raw talent.
Ao Ashi OP2 gorgeous cut at 0:08 and the song and visuals jived (jove?) very well. Puts a smile to my face every time.
Gintama OP 15 aka Gintama° OP2 rewarded viewers who watched all the way from the start. Adds more feels after you finished it once you know what would happen afterwards…
Stardust Telepath’s has a pseudo-morse code beat with a gorgeous final couple cuts and the transition between them.
Agh, can’t believe I completely forgot what Nagi no Asukara’s second OP sounded like. The way the breezy but melancholic vocals match that first scene of them all standing out in the wind deep in thought is just perfect.
I was going to add Ao Ashi OP2 also as it immediately stood out but I don’t think it hits as hard without context. It is better produced but the same vibes as Ace of Diamond OP3 where when you are invested in the character it hits way better
I was obsessed with the entire Bocchi soundtrack so of course Seishun Complex has to go here. https://youtu.be/dlSbEP4V-gI?si=9qtlg4EyHa7vx7cA
The Beastars season 2 opener got stuck in my head big time. I wasn’t really into the j-pop scene yet at that point at this was kinda my gateway drug. https://youtu.be/-5M4lbEpn6c?si=J3DcHv1VVViZ8sw3
I just finished watching FMA Brotherhood so I’ll toss out the first opener as well. https://youtu.be/elyXcwunIYA?si=6QyqE-1clyEBfk_r
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