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INTEREST: Japanese Anime Fans Pick Best Opening Songs


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Merengues.Pop



Joined: 20 Mar 2015
Posts: 22
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 12:22 am Reply with quote
I believe that an important part of an OP is to tell a bit of what the show is about and make you care enough or hype you into watching it... Rewrite from FMA or the AoT intro really fill the role. But I've never watched that railgun thingy and its OP certainly does not even make me bother to watch it. (Should I believe this is a show of moe girls just walking around?)

As for all time best, I still go for Steins;Gate OP as my choice... Beyond the boundary a close second, but maybe because the show it's attached to was a bummer for me.
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KH91



Joined: 17 May 2013
Posts: 6176
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 12:37 am Reply with quote
I'm just glad a 90's anime is in the list, and one of my favorites as well. All these current anime cloud your judgment more times than not when making a tough decision like this.

I have so many favorites that I couldn't choose, but Railgun is not #1(I really like it) tho IMO. lol I'd pick "No Buts!" over that.
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Usagi-kun



Joined: 03 Jul 2013
Posts: 877
Location: Nashville, TN
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:01 am Reply with quote
I know the show is kind of hit or miss, but I really liked the Boom Boom Satellites for Xam'd. Death Note had the killer 'What's Up, People?!' from Maximum the Hormone. Samurai Champloo was funky, and Ergo Proxy actually makes me a little emotional. I liked 19sai for xxxHolic, and the first Gunslinger OP was kind of odd, but it grew on you after a few episodes. Arakawa Under the Bridge had several small intros that were memorable.

That's all I can think of at the moment, but I feel like Yoko Kanno should be somewhere on that list. Maybe that is just my Western impression on terms of show success, but with all of her compositions and series involvement, she packs a punch.
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whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2242
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:03 am Reply with quote
Woah, Rurouni Kenshin's OP made the list! Shocked I'm surprised since it's kind of old (and doesn't really fit the show very much at all, IMO). But I have to admit, it's super catchy.

I don't mind the Railgun OP, but it sounds very...Gundam-y? I dunno, there's just something about the singer's voice that feels like it doesn't suit the genre very well for me.

My personal list would definitely have Connect, Guren no Yumiya, My Soul, Your Beats!, and Hacking to the Gate (Steins;Gate's OP) in it though. Maybe also the Gatchaman Crowds OP; I remember liking that a lot.
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SilverTalon01



Joined: 02 Apr 2012
Posts: 2401
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:04 am Reply with quote
Well, I pretty much expected those top 3 to all be really high up there.

Merengues.Pop wrote:
I believe that an important part of an OP is to tell a bit of what the show is about and make you care enough or hype you into watching it... Rewrite from FMA or the AoT intro really fill the role. But I've never watched that railgun thingy and its OP certainly does not even make me bother to watch it. (Should I believe this is a show of moe girls just walking around?)


If this were a poll about best openings, I'd agree with you that I think the animation of the opening is a very important part. This was just a poll asking what the best opening song was though.

As for Railgun, it does do the moe girls thing, but it isn't slice of life. It is actually a spin off, and while the plot doesn't really require that you watch the original, I think the opening animation works better if you have. To me it is showing these new characters' places in the setting we already knew, and I think that works as an opening.
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Agent355



Joined: 12 Dec 2008
Posts: 5113
Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready...
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:08 am Reply with quote
Gosh, I feel a poll like this needs limiters...best OP of this season? The year? The decade? Maybe best op of a certain genre or demographic?

Best anime OP of all time, though. How is Cruel Angel's Thesis not on the list?
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SilverTalon01



Joined: 02 Apr 2012
Posts: 2401
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:16 am Reply with quote
Agent355 wrote:
Best anime OP of all time, though. How is Cruel Angel's Thesis not on the list?


Yeah, I definitely expected that to be on there. I'm guessing NGE isn't as popular with younger viewers who made the majority of the voter base?
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BodaciousSpacePirate
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Joined: 17 Apr 2015
Posts: 3017
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:28 am Reply with quote
Back when "Only My Railgun" won the 2010 "Best Theme Song" Animation Kobe Award, I wasn't really into shows like Railgun, and I remember hearing the song and thinking, "huh, that's it?" It sounded like just about every eurobeat-inspired anime theme song I had ever heard.

Now that I'm more familiar with the Index/Railgun franchise, I still don't think it's a "great" song (and you're right, KH91, "No Buts!" is certainly better), but I get why people would vote for it in a "favorite anime OP" poll. It's catchy, easy to recognize, and really fits into that character's whole "are you done feeling sorry for yourself yet? Good, let's go save the world" spunky tsundere idealism thing. Plus... well, it's the Railgun franchise, you kind of have to expect this kind of thing.

I was surprised to see Hozuki's Coolheadedness on this list. I didn't know the show was that popular. It's also interesting that "Colors" didn't make the list, considering how loudly people proclaimed it to be the "best anime song ever" a few years ago.

Oh, and personally, my favorite anime opening song is See-Saw vocalist Chiaki Ishikawa's "That Which is Beautiful Is Good", from Simoun.
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AnimeLordLuis



Joined: 27 Jan 2015
Posts: 1626
Location: The Borderlands of Pandora
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:28 am Reply with quote
Seriously no Gurren Lagann that show was all about music that gets you all Fired up and no gundam ether Confused
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18137
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:29 am Reply with quote
Definitely a bit of an upset that the eternally-present "Cruel Angel's Thesis" isn't up there, but there are some other very solid choices. I have seen "only my Railgun" on top of similar lists within the past year, so it's no surprise.
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Arale Kurashiki



Joined: 24 Aug 2015
Posts: 744
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:46 am Reply with quote
It's all recent stuff... how boring.

Didn't Uninstall used to be popular in Japan too? At least on NicoNico, given that it showed up in the medley videos.
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Kougeru



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 5521
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:58 am Reply with quote
ugh @ #3. The rest tho...very nice choices. And I wouldn't call "air" or kenshin recent...
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H. Guderian



Joined: 29 Jan 2014
Posts: 1255
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 2:08 am Reply with quote
I get suspicious of any top OP list without Slayer's "Give A Reason." Hayashibara isn't as popular as she once was, but at least the song is still frequently covered at events like ANIMAX MUSIX and such. And while I like Connect as the OP song for Madoka, I think it pales in comparison to that shows ED. If an OP isn't as good as its ED, how can that OP be among the top 10? Probably 'cause that ED would also crush a top10 poll as well.

The REAL test is if the shows in the past 10 years can still claw their way onto these lists.
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XerneasYveltal



Joined: 09 Jun 2015
Posts: 667
Location: Philippines
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 2:09 am Reply with quote
As far as I can remember, some people do get burned out belting to A Cruel Angel's Thesis in karaoke.
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sim0n2170



Joined: 15 Jan 2013
Posts: 153
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 2:14 am Reply with quote
Kougeru wrote:
ugh @ #3. The rest tho...very nice choices. And I wouldn't call "air" or kenshin recent...
What wrong with Attack on Titan's theme song.
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