As requested by Karandi.

The title pretty much explains itself, so let’s count these OPs down. You might remember a few of these from the previous post I made on anime music.

10. Rocket Beat – Kiyono Yasuno (Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen)

I had to get off the bandwagon for the Cardcaptor Sakura sequel because I’m taking my sweet time with the original series, but in the meantime I read some of the Clear Card manga and while my mum was watching the anime, I heard this gem. Arguably, the other Clear Card OP should be emblematic of the show so that should probably be here instead, but I don’t really care.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuHuu2VYhMI

9. Stereo to Monologue – Kirisame Undertaker (Double Decker)

The only fall entry on this list, Stereo and Monologue isn’t the best musical effort from this show – that would be the catchy (and more rock-oriented) ED Buntline Special. However, it’s still pretty good, as expected of a show with music handled by Yuuki Hayashi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sidenote: If you really want to listen to the full Buntline Special, here it is…the song actually doesn’t make a lot of sense when you translate the Japanese lyrics and look at the English ones, but then again, “Don’t think, feel so good!” is a critical part of the show, so who am I to judge?

https://open.spotify.com/track/0T2e8YoQ9uMVXLivf0MifB?si=d21plzDIQV-Agh1PaSDR7g

8. Get Into My Heart – Miyavi vs. Kavka Shishido (Tsukumogami Kashimasu)

I remember dissing this OP when the show first came out…something about pop music being put in a blender…?

“It sounds like someone put traditional [Japanese] music into a pop music blender and put female vocals over the top…oh, Miyavi. That might explain something.” There you go, those were my exact words.

However, I’ve since found it on Spotify – in fact, Spotify’s how most of these shows managed to rank as high as they did – and my opinion of it has changed pretty drastically.

[Couldn’t find a YouTube version without terrible pitch-shifting, so have the Spotify version.]

 

7. Sirius – Bump of Chicken (Juushinki Pandora)

I was looking forward to watching this…and then it was announced to be taken by Netflix. *facepalm*

But still, the OP is cool. I mean, after Hello, world! (Kekkai Sensen) and Colony (live-action Parasyte), I’m pretty much gonna take a listen to whatever Bump of Chicken does.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2ftwOrinfg

6. DxDxD – Breakerz (Dame x Pri Anime Caravan)

The first time I heard this band would’ve been various songs (my favourite is probably Miss Mystery) for Detective Conan, so I’m pretty familiar with them and their sound.

Why have I got the web size MV here and not a full version? You can see the band’s cosplays better in this, which really shows their dedication to their songs…even if the lead singer’s blue contacts look kinda freaky on him…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Braver – Straightener (Angolmois)

Since the last post, I’ve found listening to this song helps to just rouse the spirit and give me some confidence if I need it. Sure, the OP visuals aren’t much compared to some of the more stellar fight scenes in this show, but that’s probably the only thing holding it back if you were to purely evaluate its merits as a package for selling Angolmois.

If you were to evaluate Angolmois including its story and characters…it would be a lot lower. Let’s just say that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Shiny Days – Asaka (YuruCamp)

The bright, fun feeling of this OP really just goes with the vibe the show gives off. It sounds like the sort of song you should play before going out to meet friends, and while the OP’s visuals can be a bit strange at first, they do make sense eventually.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCr-r0ZP9P8

3. Grand Blue – Shonan no Kaze (Grand Blue)

This is another song that grew on me as time went by. It sounds like summer and it’s almost as if the men of the cast sung this song (without actually resorting to that, because that would be cheap advertising), so the entire spirit of the song is on point.

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VvMKJ4IuWM

2. Otomodachi Film – Masayoshi Ooishi (Tada-kun Never Falls in Love)

Apparently this is by the artist that did the Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun OP, which gives it points for extra legacy in regards to that show. It helps it’s just so fun to listen to and that part where Nyanko Big falls in the OP visuals just makes me laugh every time.

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwpDSBkBYZo

1. Flashback – Miyavi vs. KenKen (Kokkoku)

Zero surprises here. Sure, it was a show I never saw in any capacity, but the song’s on Spotify and it’s so groovy you can’t help but dance once you hit “Play”. I think this song was what opened the door to listening to Get Into My Heart, for another thing, and if I had to put a caveat on it…it would be that the TV version loops the final lyric.

That’s it.

 

 

 

 

Sidenote 2: For some reason I remembered ID-0 when I was commenting on Karandi’s post. It actually comes from 2017 but it’s a cool OP, all the same.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzfVwKcDduA

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I’ve probably missed out on some great OPs, so what do you think are great OPs that came out of 2018?