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:

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood OP1 and OP2 (2009-2010)

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.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card – Maaya Sakamoto - "Clear" (2018)

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

The New Trials of Card Captor Sakura Season 4 ED Theme

One of the most common comments I receive in email is "I wish New Trials was made into an anime," which I feel very flattered about and yet rueful. It is fun imagining what New Trials would look like as an anime, because unlike when I write original stories, when I write this fanfiction, I am often envisioning scenes in animation and transcribing them into words. Hence, it has been fun coming up with songs to associate with New Trials "soundtrack," if it were indeed an anime. Since we have moved into the middle of Arc 4 of New Trials, it was fun making an ending theme for the "last season" of New Trials and culminating everything that New Trials is into a couple minutes.



Song: 紅茶 - Koucha/ Kōcha "Black Tea"
Singer: 坂本真綾, Maaya Sakamoto
Album: Lucy (2001), Everywhere (2010)
Composer: Yoko Kanno
Lyrics: Maaya Sakamoto

The clock-tower that tolls the end of love is waiting for the next hour
Can't stop this moment

The cherry-blossoms at the subway entrance will bloom again this year
So I guess we’ll grow older by another year
Spring has drawn near

As a sign of eternity,
The two of us at that time waited for a night when the meteors would come and made a wish

Embracing each other, saying things will never change
I was thinking I had obtained everything
What remains in these hands is but one thing
You were my first boyfriend

It felt like we could go anywhere we wanted by bicycle
I even remember the taste of the black tea I drank by the street-side on a cold day

It’s not that I’m lonely
This is supposed to be a choice I made myself
Yet there are times I want to do nothing but cry

What is there in the future beyond here?
How many more heartbreaking goodbyes will there be?
The clock-tower that tolls the end of love is waiting for the next hour
Can't stop this moment

Embracing each other, saying don't go anywhere,
I was thinking I had obtained everything
What remains in these hands is but one thing
You were my first boyfriend.

Lyrics referenced from Miyuki Mouse and Korean translations.

Maaya Sakamoto's 2001 album "Lucy" is probably here strongest collaboration album as a whole with Yoko Kanno (though she has had many other stronger individual songs). She wrote most of the lyrics on the album, including the lyrics for "Koucha," and if you pay attention to the lyrics, the album sort of unfolds like a love story. "Strobe no Sora" is the third song on the album and can be described as vibrant, upbeat and hopeful, which is why I chose it as the ending theme for Arc 2 of New Trials. In contrast, "Koucha" has a twinge of bittersweet nostalgia. (Ironically, the last song on the album is titled "I Throw a Vase from Atop the Hill." Koucha is one of my favorite of Maaya's non-anime songs because it has such a haunting yet lovely tone. I was glad to see the song included in Maaya's new 15th anniversary compilation album "Everywhere" because I think it deserves more recognition.

Because I envisioned this as the ending theme to arc 4 of New Trials, I felt obligated to include symbolism and whatnot in the video. I actually had two main themes going on. Because of the refrain in the chorus, "Everything is fading with the bell, ringing to me it's time to go," I had to use Cinderella theme. This is not the first Cinderella reference linked to Maaya and CCS; the B-side to Card Captor Sakura opening 3 single, "Purachina" (Platinum) is "24" (both Yoko Kanno songs), which is a homage to Cinderella. It's an adorable song, with lyrics in English. And of course, you can't forget the hilarious CCS episode where Touya and Yukito participate in their class production of Cinderella for the cultural fair. Cinderella is a good old happily-ever fairytale but really is an allegory of the persistence of time, as the spell breaks after 12'o'clock. What happens when the clock-tower strikes midnight?

The other theme was the rain scene, which I don't know if you recognize from the end of Chapter 59: Thundercloud. I mentioned that I get inspiration from many different things when writing New Trials, and I think this is a situation where I drew the scene before writing the scene. The idea probably started with me wanting to draw Sakura and Syaoran sharing a green umbrella in the summer rain. Most of the key S+S artwork in this AMV is from over a year ago, because I conceptualized this video before my first ending theme for New Trials to Maaya Sakamoto's "Strobe no Sora" and then didn't have time to work on it. My first New Trials AMV was the Arc 3 season finale trailer. I never studied film or animation or anything of the sorts, so it's been a fun process figuring out how to do things. The first New Trials trailer was painstakingly made frame by frame in Windows Movie Maker on my old laptop which really didn't have enough RAM capacity to render videos, so working with Sony Vegas makes editing so much easier. I still dream of having a large screen monitor and all the proper equipment for digital art and video editing, which is sort of out there for me because I am far from the art field and in the meantime have to work with the small screen of a widescreen laptop which seems to stretch out everything I draw.

I probably had the most fun making the 10 second preview for the "Next Episode of New Trials," Episode 62: Sakura and Syaoran and the Fashion Show (aka Chapter 62: Designs in Crime), same as how I had most fun making the preview for Episode 1: Sakura and Syaoran and the New Beginning (named after the fashion all CCS anime episodes are named--it's all Sakura + something something). I love how Irino Miyu's voice has matured, and it's a pity I can't bring Makino Yui and Irino Miyu and make them act out S+S scenes. My next goal is making an opening theme to New Trials with Utada Hikaru's "Sakura Drops," which I think I have wanted to make since 2001, but back then, I didn't have any video editing skills whatsoever. Most of the main characters of New Trials make an appearance in the ending theme. Can you identify them all?

Card Captor Sakura: The New Trials Anime Ending Theme

ストロボの空 - Sutorobo no Sora - A Sky of Strobes
Singer: Maaya Sakamoto
Album: Lucy
Composer: 菅野よう子 , - Yoko Kanno
Lyrics: 坂本真綾 - Maaya Sakamoto

It’s like the brightness that hits you right after coming through a long and narrow tunnel
For a while it’s nothing but a world of pure white
No one’ll wait for you to prepare yourself emotionally
When I noticed it had already begun, a tale with no end

I know
I know, the weakness I crushed in my hands
What was that sound that I heard at such a time?

Where is it coming from?
Who is calling me to stop?
That’s the sound of life that spilled out from the body, pulsating with certainty

Those who make dreams come true
Those who are loved
are fighting while accepting with all their being
Joys and equal pains

It’s like the brightness that hits you right after coming through a long and narrow tunnel
From between the clouds, the path of a new wind

What was that sound that unexpectedly knocked at my heart?

It’s okay to rely on someone
It’s okay to have more faith
The sound of life that continuously rings out as if to so whisper in my ear

The fact that rainbows disappear
The fact that there is moist ground
The miracles that I had always overlooked
were shining more beautifully than anything else

I felt like I had been forgiven for being born

Those who make dreams come true
Those who are loved
Are fighting while accepting with all their being
Joys and equal pains

It’s like the brightness that hits you right after coming through a long and narrow tunnel
For a while it’s nothing but a world of pure white

Lyrics from http://www.animelyrics.com/jpop/sakamoto/strobonosora.htm translation by Miyuki Mouse and Korean translation.


Over the years, I have received so many emails stating "I wish New Trials really is an anime or the Fourth Season of Card Captor Sakura," which made me very happy. I've always mentioned that if New Trials was an anime, I would use Utada Hikaru's "Sakura Drops" as the opening and Maaya Sakamoto's "Strobe no Sora" as the ending theme.

The first time I ever heard "Sutorobo no Sora" I immediately knew it was perfect for Card Captor Sakura because the song gives such an uplifting, refreshing feeling. First off, we already have the Maaya Sakamoto and Yoko Kanno tie-in, since the pair also did the CCS third season ending "Platinum." The song is from their collaboration album, "Lucy," which is one of my favorite albums. I mentioned before that "Koucha" from that album would be perfect as the New Trials Fourth Arc ending (if it were an anime). The album is beautiful because if you listen to the lyrics (or read the translations in my case), the songs unfold like a story of a girl's process of falling in love and heartbreak. Secondly, the lyrics of this song are truly beautiful, and I think everything about it simply embodies "Kinomoto Sakura," as you can read below.

I made this video because I got distracted while I was making the ending for Arc Four ending "Koucha," which is a bit bittersweet. I drew a ton of artwork for that video, but I had more fun making this video because it's sort a flashback to all of my favorite S+S moments. I am rather pleased with how the flashback sequence turned out. The video itself is inspired from Second Season ending "Honey" by Chihiro with Sakura watching the rain out the window. And the last frame from "Fruits Candy." Lol... This actually took longer to make than I anticipated because my computer is so slow. But it's my first time using Sony Vegas 9.0, a big improvement from the always crashing Windows Media Player. The scene itself probably happens in Arc 2 when you-know-who lives with you-know-who. Yes, it's Syaoran's house if you can't tell by the green curtains. keke... I also recreated a typical CCS preview using voice clips from Irino Miyu and Makino Yui which were very annoying to extract. I love Irino Miyu as a teenage Syaoran in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles. ^_^ hanyaan... Next will be Arc Four ending theme "Koucha." Anyhow, making this video was a trip down the memory lane for me and just proves the durability and longevity of our beloved Card Captor Sakura even after a decade (with a comeback in BluRay).

Full version of song:

Tsubasa Shunraiki 1 and Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Brotherhood 1

"I want to be together, forever, with the person I love. Before this simple wish can be granted, we go our separate ways."

- "Sonic Boom" - Maaya Sakamoto, Tsubasa Chronicle Shunraiki Opening

I finally got to watch the Tsubasa Shunraiki OAD/OVA. As I thought, I definitely like the new opening, "Sonic Boom," sung by our Tomoyo-hime's seiyuu Maaya Sakamoto after another listen. The lyrics are quite beautiful, as expected from Maaya. I have mixed feelings about the actual episode itself. Overall, I was more awed by the production quality of Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations. It annoys me that the whole Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles franchise has gotten such a shoddy animation treatment. Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic about the possibility of getting even these OVAs, but I would have preferred a solid third season without missing arcs, without having to wait months for a single episode. Lol. I don't mind that we skipped several arcs straight to the Nippon arc because we get to see our darling Tomoyo-hime again!

The best part about this first episode is Tomoyo-hime. Some of the character designs were unstable throughout the episode, but Tomoyo-hime was very lovely as usual. And it was so nostalgic to hear Maaya Sakamoto using a princess-voice again after her run of boyish-sounding characters, ie. Haruhi, Ciel and Crona. Nippon Arc is all about Kurogane, so we see little of Sakura-hime and Syaoran. But next episode will be exciting with Syaoran vs. Clone!Syaoran. Kurogane is a character that has really grown on me through the course of TRC.

On a side note, I have grown very desensitized to limbs chopped off here and there and eyeballs gouged out and whatnot. Sighs... I'm so squeamish with gore, too. Watching the scene where Kurogane chops off his arm in color made me wince a bit. But it segues very nicely into my next review.... The return of Fullmetal Kurogane!... Oops, I meant, Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric.

Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Brotherhood is awesomeness! I was a little wary at first, as I mentioned earlier, but the first episode brought me straight back into nostalgic mode for good old Edward, Al, Roy Mustang and Maes Hughes! It's taking me time to get adjusted to Roy's new seiyuu (who is King Touya in Tsubasa), but then again, Roy is one of the characters who diverges a lot from the manga to the first Bones anime adaptation. I actually like the first Bones character designs better because they're more suited for fluid animation, whereas this adaptation sticks closer to the original Hiromu Arakawa manga designs. But as can be expected from a Studio Bones project, the action, the production quality, the music, everything is executed superbly. I noticed a bit more manga elements in this first episode though, which was just an action-packed, character-slammed, never still for a moment introduction episode. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to the upcoming episodes which return back to the beginning.

I think I'm going to get very addicted to the new opening and ending soon. I originally thought Sid's "Uso" would be a better Opening Theme and Yui's "Again" a better Ending Theme, because I heard it first and was addicted immediately. But both songs are so catchy, I bet they'll wind up on my playlist. I've always liked Yui, and I wasn't sure if I would like the new opening for FMA 2, but it's grown on me really fast. The chibi ending animation for Sid's "Uso" is cute, but I would have preferred a more serious animation to match such a beautiful song (but Bones seems to have used up their budget on the Opening sequence.)

Chapter 59.5: New Trials Halloween Special

Happy Valentine's Day!

I wrote a Halloween Special for Valentine's Day. Lol... http://wishluv.revolutionhosting.net/nt59-5.htm

I only spent two days or so on it, so it's just a short fluff chapter. I'm working on Chapter 61 also.

This chapter was inspired from Maaya Sakamoto's song 24:



And one of my favorite male voices and love songs: