Friday, September 28, 2018

Best Anime Openings Part 3: Top 5 Favorites from 2010 ~2018 (21st Century Edition)

My favorite anime openings post-2010 was much easier for me to pick from than previous decades, since it's freshest in my mind, and I've seen less shows in the past several years. I think the only new anime I watched this year was Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Arc. Unfortunately, none of the openings from CCS:CC made this list, despite my love for Maaya Sakamoto. Since this decade is not completely over, I chose five songs instead. This time around, I can clearly rank my favorite songs in order, starting with my most favorite as #1. The others songs have been tested with the passage of time, and I don't know if this will be the case for the songs I've chosen here, but I'm pretty sure I will enjoy these five songs for a long time to come.

I think I can't help having a 1990s taste in anime openings, which featured stronger hooks and a certain level of old school cheesiness. I realized I'm generally not a big fan of chaotic openings, both in terms of music and animation, which I think is more in vogue these days especially for shounen genre anime, not that I don't deny it works for some series. Neither do I like overly cutesy type openings (especially the gratingly squeaky kind), but again, I'm pretty open-minded as the list below probably covers a pretty wide range of anime genres and types of songs. I'm sure I must be forgetting some good opening themes but my rule of thumb for the test of time is if I don't remember it, it mustn't have been that great anyway.   




1. Guilty Crown OP1 - Egoist - "My Dearest" (2011)
This is one of my favorite openings in recent years, and was a chance find on Youtube recommendations. Because I liked it so much, I forced myself to watch the anime, which was not particularly as impressionable as the soundtrack. I wouldn't be able to summarize the plot of the anime for the life of me, but it was nicely animated and the character designs were good. The second opening, "The Everlasting," also by Egoist (of Supercell) is equally as excellent. Something about the vocals, the melody, the visuals all hits the right notes and embodies what the modern 21st century anime OP is all about. I think it'll remain one of the best openings of the decade to an otherwise lackluster anime TV series. Sometimes, the music is the best part of a series (Macross Frontier feat. Yoko Kanno).



2. Shingeki no Kyojin OP1 - Linked Horizon - "Guren No Yumiya" (2013) 
There are some anime openings that are so intense that you forget to breathe. Attack on Titan is probably THE shounen/fantasy anime of recent years, perhaps the only anime that could serve as a successor to the epic gritty shounen fantasy action that Fullmetal Alchemist was (though it will never come close to FMA in my heart). Actually that may be the main difference which sets apart FMA from others in its genre--the heart. The FMA characters, from Ed and Al, to the older military crew and even the side characters and villains are so well fleshed out and likeable. And the titans in Shingeki are just so ugly. In the AoT OP1, the German chanting, the smooth action sequences with detailed, rich backgrounds and the awesome composition by Linked Horizon (of Sound Horizon) make for the perfect anthem to a pretty chaotic anime. I admit, I put off watching this anime for a year before giving in because the opening sequence was so awesome. OP2 "Jiyuu no Tsubasa" is equally superb, with a more uplifting, anthem like tone to it, where as the first OP is urgent and frantic. I don't even remember what Season Two's OP3 was, however, though it had a too similar vibe to the other two. Anyhow, OP1 perfectly embodies the tone of the series in terms of music and animation in every way. 



3. Hanasakeru Seishounen - J-Min - "Change" (2009-2010)
I absolutely love J-Min's voice, and I chose this for the song more than the animation sequence, which is pretty generic limited-budget shoujo fare. My pet peeve over the past decade especially is how little effort goes into making shoujo series look good. You don't need a huge budget, but having consistent character designs and smooth animation and proper backgrounds can't be too hard. I'm not referring to this anime but just cookie-cutter shoujo series in more recent years. I recall enjoying this shoujo anime based off a manga by Natsumi Itsuki (who also wrote Jyu Oh Sei) since it had a splash of romance, political intrigue, a strong heroine, and that cheesy eighties romance novel feel. It is a reverse harem anime of sorts, done right. J-Min is a Korean singer, with a rock vibe, associated with SM Entertainment. This is also the most listenable song in this list.  



4. Magic Kaito 1412 OP2 - CHICO with HoneyWorks - "Ai no Scenario" (2015)
I love this opening song to pieces, and I've always enjoyed the various reincarnations of the Kaitou Kid franchise. Great job by HoneyWorks for writing a catchy, addictive hook. The opening animation sequence appears to have a more limited budget than Detective Conan, but it works well with the excellent song--I actually like the original HoneyWorks MV even more though!



5. Yuri!!! on Ice - Dean Fujioka - "History" (2016)
This was my favorite anime of that year, though I'm not really a sports anime genre fan generally. Ironically, several of my top favorite anime of the 1990s were sports anime ie. Slam Dunk and Cyber Formula. The opening animation sequence and choreography is fluid and beautiful in a minimalist way, which is attractive to me, since it's just Yuri, Yurio, and Victor skating--for a show centering around these characters about figure skating. I especially like it when animators update the opening sequence to progressively fill out with more color. Sometimes, openings have too many flashing images, psychedelic rendering, fan service character shots, random CGs and chaos, which suits some genres, like mecha and action series. But the appeal of this opening is how streamlined it is, how simple, and how well it suits its genre. I also find the singer Dean Fujioka to be a very hot and multi-talented actor as well. This is the most feel-good, inspiring song of the bunch.


Honorable Mentions:


The last last three openings are good and fall in 2010, but at the end of the day, I still prefer Yui's "Again" and Nico Touches the Walls' "Hologram," OP1 and OP2 respectively, as I mentioned in the previous list.Technically, both songs missed out making it onto the 2000-2009 list by just a hair because that decade had such strong contenders. After some consideration, I decided that unlike the previous list, I might like OP1 "Again" by Yui as a song a hair more that "Hologram," though I love all the thoughtful manga reference put into the OP2 animation sequence, such as the Roy Mustang vs. Lust scene. Cumulatively, I still think "Hologram" is the best opening theme of Brotherhood though for its animation sequence and shounen action anime tone in general--parallel to "Ready Steady Go." I could have included an FMA Brotherhood OP3~5 song into the list above, but at the end of the day, the first two songs are better. But I also like the original FMA OST better in general. Truthfully, I was just too emotional drained from the original FMA anime by the time I got to Brotherhood. The difference between the FMA franchise, and many other shounen anime out there, is that I got very emotionally invested in the characters and their life's voyage, and I love that both FMA series tries to imprint very strong visual messages, including the stop watch engraving of "Don't forget," the railroad, the sky, the hand/automail reaching to the sky, and so on. I suppose out of the 2010 opening themes, OP4, Chemistry's "Period" would be my pick as best theme song. It reminds of me of FMA's OP3 "Undo" a bit. OP5 was just depressing and a bit philosophical. 

Angel Beats! Lia - "My Soul, Your Beats" (2010)
This was a heavily music themed anime, and I went in not expecting much, but the OST was good and it was a more heartwarming anime than expected. Yui Makino (TRC's Princess Sakura) plays a character with like five words the entire show. Jun Maeda is like a male version of Tomoyo and does everything one his own from writing the script to composing the memorable music.

Selector Infected Wixoss OP - Kanon Wakashima - "Killy Killy Joker" (2014)
I have not watched the anime, nor have any clue what it's about, but the song is so darn catchy. It missed the top 5 list because I have an inkling I might get sick of the song if I listen to it too many times, but this song made me take another look at Kanon Wakeshima of Vampire Knight fame and her awesome cello skills. 

Umineko Nako Koro Ni (When the Seagulls Cry) - Akiko Shikata - "Katayori no Tori" (2009-2010)
The horror genre is usually not my slice of pie, but I do enjoy a good psychological thriller and mystery, and where as I couldn't watch Higurashi, I was drawn into Umineko initially because of Beatrice's awesome character design. Beatrice reminds me of Yuuko on crack and is likewise voiced Sayaka Ohara (Yuuko from xxxHOLIC). This operatic opening remains probably one of the more memorable openings of 2010, though unfortunately, fans of the original visual the anime was based on heavily criticized Studio Deen's production of the story. The ending is very unusual, a rock opera by Jimang from Sound Horizon, "la divina tragedia ~Makyoku~ and yes, you've heard Sound Horizon because of Attack of Titan.

Truthfully, I don't think this song will make it to my Top 10 list of the decade because I find the song a bit more forgettable than Maaya's other songs, and you all know how much I love her. This song was included for nostalgia's sake and a kickback to CCS OP3 Purachina, which I think is standing the test of time to be my Top 3 best anime opening theme of all time. The best part of the opening sequence is Sakura's feather dress, and I almost like the animated sequence of OP2 "Rocket Beat" by Kiyono Yasuno with the darker tone a bit more. But I found the song a tad bit forgettable and too bright compared to the imagery. Please, another collaboration between Yoko Kanno and Maaya Sakamoto for Season 2 of CCS:Clear Card so that we can close out this decade with another CCS song on the Top 10 list.

I'm pretty confident that my Top 5 best anime opening theme choices for the 2010~2019 decade will not change, but we'll see if I can even draw out a Top 10 next year. I think part of the reason I'm releasing this list early is because deep in my heart, I doubt there's going to be any strong game-changer or any challenger to the Top 5 list I have right now. I actually began writing this list in 2015, when I posted the Top 10 Openings Part 2, and the only new song I added since then was the Yuri!!! on Ice OP.  I'm kind of impressed at the range I covered as well, from Sci-Fi, Post-apocalyptic fantasy adventure, Shoujo, Shounen, and Sports. Truthfully, I can do away with all of the honorable mentions above and not bat an eye, and just have a Top 5 list for this decade. Most of the songs on the honorable mentions list I feel like won't stand the test of time for me, or I just included because they're supposed to be popular. For example, I debated including the opening for "Your Lie in April (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, 2014)" because I think it was a very solid, well-made anime about classical music, and I do love Goose house, and the soundtrack was great, but it's a song I would forget in a couple years' time. In the list above, Guilty Crown's "My Dearest" is the best song, but I would say Attack of Titan's "Guren no Yumiya" is the best opening theme of the decade, though it's my least favorite song to listen to on my playlist of the Top 5 because it's too intense to listen to often. 

Please do weigh in and give me your recommendations in the comments below, and let me know if I've been missing out a great song!
 

Check out my list of:
Top 10 Anime Opening Themes Part 1: The 1990s
Top 10 Anime Opening Themes Part 2: 2000-2009
Top 10 Anime Ending Themes



13 comments:

  1. Wish-chan, it's so nice to hear from you. I'm happy to hear that you've been missing blogging since CCS:CC wrapped up. Unfortunately I have no recommendations. CCS was the first anime that I was incredibly invested in back in 2002 and thanks to New Trials it's the only one that I remain interested in to this day.

    Looking forward to the spooky season and I hope there will be some fun surprises by the fans. I have a surprise lined up for October 1st! I was going to wait until Halloween but it's too amazing to keep to myself.

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  2. @Amethyst Teehee you are such a tease! Oct. 1 is not far off I just realized. This month's short. I always like October though--fall's generally my favorite season. I'm so glad you still remain interested in CCS to this day. It's sad when time passes and you watch something again and find it hasn't aged yet, but I still get the same tingles when I watch the original CCS episodes as I did back in 2000ish. Well, I know what's going to happen and all, so no butterflies of anxiety, but CCS has kept up remarkably well, so no wonder people are so invested in it these days. (Beats any other shoujo anime to this day, IMO). Have a good weekend!

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  3. Yay, so glad to hear from you Wish-chan~~

    It actually took me a while to get into Guren no Yumiya, I think it was because I was not as into SnK when the series first came out.

    Along with some of your choices (i.e. Yuri on Ice, haha), I think for me, my some of my favorite songs from the 2010s would be the following (no order in particular):
    1. Pride Kakumei / CHiCo with HoneyWorks (Gintama S4 OP2)
    2. heavenly blue / Kalafina (Aldnoah.Zero OP1)
    3. &Z / SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:mizuki (Aldnoah.Zero OP2)
    4. Re:Re: / Asian Kung-fu Generation (Boku Dake ga Inai Machi OP)
    5. ebb and flow / Ray (Nagi no Asukara OP2)
    6. Reset / Makino Yui (Sagrada Reset OP)
    7. Crossing Field / LiSA (SAO OP1)
    8. courage / Tomatsu Haruka (SAO2 OP2)
    9. Kanashii Ureshii / Frederic (Kimi to Uso OP)
    10. Fiction / sumika (Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii OP)

    Other honorable mentions: Hikaru Nara (KimiUso OP), Know Know Know (Gintama S4 OP4), Zettai Reido θ Novatic (Macross Delta OP2). There's probably others but these are the ones off the top of my head XD

    Hope to hear from you again soon!

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    1. @Jiri-chan, You have impeccable taste so excited to check out all your recommendations but off the top of my head, Pride Kakumei and especially Re:Re are great. Gintama seems to be anime that I should check out but I never seem to be able to get into just because of the sheer length of it, same as One Piece. Well, better for the New Trials community. If I was was watching anime series with 100s of episodes, no more writing. Actually, the No Game No Life OP "This Game is really good as well, I remembered. No idea what it's about though.

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    2. Gintama is indeed really long--the manga is in it's final arc, except it's moved from weekly Shounen Jump to monthly Jump Giga, so I'm not sure when the end will come. When I first watched Gintama, I skipped episodes here and there and just watched major arcs, and then later on I went back to rewatch everything.

      No Game No Life's OP is good too, I have a piano cover version saved on my YT playlist of anisong piano covers ^^ I'm horrible at summaries, but the series itself is about these two hikkikomori/neet siblings who end up in a game world where everything must be resolved by games.

      I noticed a few mentions of Kyoukai no Kanata by Chihara Minori--I actually forgot about those, but I would put those as honorable mentions too :3 I think we had this conversation before on the Yahoo Group (kinda drifts away from OP songs) but songs from like Aoi Eir, or Sawano Hiroyuki's collab projects (as SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] with other artists (Mizuki, Gemie, Tielle, Aimer, etc) are really great too.

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  4. I think this may be my first comment in your blog Wish-chan. Glad to hear from you again ^_^

    I have to check out some of the openings you mentioned.
    Here are some that I like from this decade (in no particular order).
    1. "Nirvana" - Mucc (Inu x Boku SS)
    2. "Aoi Shiroi" - Galileo Galilei (Anohana)
    3. "Friendship" - Ritsuko Okazaki (Sukitte Ii na Yo/Say I love you). I prefer to listen to the two endings, Slow Dance and Sarari, which are sung by Suneohair (same guy who sings the endings to Honey and Clover), but I like how the opening is very calm and minimal but still capturing the main character's essence.
    4. "Yasashisa no Riyuu" - ChouCho(Hyouka OP 1)
    5. "Mikansei Stride" - Saori Kodama (Hyouka OP 2)
    6. "Kyoukai no Kanata" - Minori Chihara (Kyoukai no Kanata)
    7. "Flyers" - BRADIO (Death Parade). This has to be the best misleading opening. The opening and the darker tone of the series do not match at all!
    8. "Hikari no Hahen" - Yu Takahashi (Orange)
    9. "Answer" - BUMP OF CHICKEN (3-gatsu no Lion)
    10. "Sakamichi no Melody" - YUKI (Sakamichi no Apollon). I haven't seen it but I saw the trailer for the movie and it has Dean Fujioka. And YUKI sings "Dramatic" for Honey and Clover OP1.

    Honorable mention??? (Arakawa Under the Bridge) I haven't seen the anime but I had to mention the endings, "Akai Coat" and "Sakasama Brdige" by Suneohair. The opening is very random o_O

    Hope you're doing fine! :)

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    1. @Bubulona is this really your first time commenting here? Welcome^^ I think you have similar music taste as me (mellower) based on your list. How can I forget Bump of Chicken's Answer? I actually listen to it more as a song, which is why I don't associated it as an anime OP. I'll someday marathon 3-gatsu no Lion based on how much I loved Honey and Clover. I think the Sakamichi no Apollon is supposed to be good (Yoko Kanno), but I've never been the biggest fan of jazz. Orange is the only anime on the list I have watched and it was very depressing. :(

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    2. Thank you! ^_^ I do? I feel flattered. You always have cool music and anime recommendations. ~('-'~)
      I started 3-gatsu no Lion because I wanted more of Chica Umino's work. Honey and Clover is such a jewel. I still haven't finished 3-gatsu no Lion but so far it's good.

      I really have no words for Orange. It was just a roller coaster of emotions. I remember just buying the manga out of curiosity and just not expecting the story to be depressing and heart wrenching. And it was even more so because I was reading it as the episodes were airing so I sort of tortured myself twice. By the end I just wanted everyone to be happy. I grew too attached to them. I'm still debating whether to watch Orange: Mirai Movie. Idk I can handle Suwa's POV :(

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  5. The anime that I've seen on your list, I have to agree that they have good openings! This will be hard but I'll try to add my top 10 too :D

    (in no particular order)
    1. "My Soul, Your Beats" - Lia (Angel Beats!)
    2. "Yasashisa no Riyuu" - ChouChou (Hyouka OP1)
    3. "Utauyo!! MIRACLE" - HTT (K-On!! OP2)
    4. "Kyoukai no Kanata" - Minori Chihara (Kyoukai no Kanata)
    5. "ebb and flow" - Ray (Nagi no Asukara OP2)
    6. "Goya no Machiawase" - Hello Sleepwalkers (Noragami)
    7. "Fight Together" - Namie Amuro (One Piece OP14). This was hard choosing between this and OP13 "One Day" by The Rootless since I get emotional watching/listening to them due to their melodies and the arc they're in. But at the end of the day, I think "Fight Together" made a bigger impression on me.
    8. "Crossing Field" - LiSA (Sword Art Online OP1)
    9. "Dried Up Youthful Fame" - OLDCODEX (Free! OP2). The 3rd OP is also a good contender, but OP2's visuals are slightly better overall.
    10. "Takarabako" - Sasanomaly (Natsume Yuujinchou OP5). These openings just get better and better as they go, OP6 is the best because it's the most visually appealing but I like the feel of OP5.
    11?? "Sawakaze" - Tomofumi Tanizawa (Kimi ni Todoke OP2). I almost forgot how much I loved this OP so I'm adding it in lol.

    Some repeats from Jiri-chan and Diana haha. Here are my honorable mentions: "ANNIVERSARY" (Magi OP3), "See visionS " (Toaru Majutsu no Index OP4), "Kimi ja Nakya Dame Mitai" (Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun), "database" (Log Horizon), and Guren no Yumiya. I have a whole list of my fav themes and surprisingly picking up to 8 was really easy. Deciding which ones would make the last 2 slots or be mentioned was hard!

    Will we be seeing a top ED list from this decade too? It's great hearing from you!

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    1. @ Mesel Wow blogspot now is gobbling up posts! Oh no. Thank you for your recommendations (especially One Piece.) Also, I might make an updated top ED list, but I doubt any of the Ending Themes will beat my previous list. I'll probably to a Top Classics/Oldies Theme Songs, perhaps Top J-Drama/K-Drama themes, Top K-Pop love songs or Top Movie OSTs/insert songs next.

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