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10 BEST ANIME OPENINGS OF ALL TIME! RANKED

foldpaw

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LISTS OF TOP 10 BEST ANIME OF ALL TIME!!

1. "Guren no Yumiya” by Linked Horizon – Attack on Titan
2. "Unravel" by TK - Tokyo Ghoul
3. "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" by Yoko Takahashi - Neon Genesis Evangelion
4. "The World" By Nightmare - Death Note
5. "Pokemon Theme" By Jason Paige - Pokemon
6. "Tank" By the Seatbelts - Cowboy Bebop
7. "Colors" By FLOW - Code Geass
8. "The Hero" By JAM Project - One Punch Man
9. "Again" By YUI - Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
10. "The Day" By Porno Grafitti - My Hero Academia

That's all weebs!
 

Edweis

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OOOOOOOOOOOOOH, nice thread.

And really difficult question, as there are hundreds and hundreds of openings out there. And let's start by not using "best of all time" will we :lol:
Contrary to popular belief, I didn't watch many anime or read many manga, my knowledge is actually quite limited. But even if I didn't watch the media in question I still spend enough time on youtube to know many of them.

Now when it comes to opening quality, we need to know exactly what we're talking about : the music, the imagery or the general flow created by both ? When I judge an opening I tend to take into account that last one, as sometimes I love the song but the imagery is bad, which prevents me from liking it to its fullest, or the contrary there is some slick animation but the song is not that great.

You named quite a few legendary openings. Guren no Yumiya is one sick opening indeed, it throws you directly into the general atmosphere of the show, and even if we follow a quite repetitive rhythm line all along there are enough variations over it to get hyped (the fact the animation is top-notch helps).
Tank from Cowboy Bepop is certainly one of the best, I mean, which criticism can we make, really ? The animation's there, the song is great, uncommon for japanese anime and it has a wonderful mood.
While Again is not my fav FMAB opening song (it's the 4th), it is indeed the best opening. The music and animation fit perfectly together and the creators had some impressive ideas (ie, Winry being jostled by the wind after a scene where Ed and Al lost their respective body parts, a nice way to show she was affected by the events even if she didn't participate in them directly).
Everyone knows A Cruel Angel's Thesis obviously, but while it is indeed a legendary song, I don't think the opening in itself is that great. Rythm of the animation follows the music, but all in all it's quite simple.
In MHA, I'm fucking in love with the song from the 3rd opening, Sora ni Utaeba. In terms of song + animation I think the second one is the best.

Among the recent openings, I liked these two a lot as they manage to score high in both components of a great opening in my mind.

Beastars OP1 (ALI - Wild Side)
This one is really original for an anime opening, whether it be because of the music or the technique used, and let's not forget the symbolism.

Dororo 2019 OP1 (Ziyoou-vachi - Kaen)
It's quite soothing for an opening, the music and the color theme create a nice atmosphere, which is accentuated by the great animation in the second part.

And I kinda want to throw in the Yuri On Ice opening there too, I was so obsessed with it back in 2016 (omg already).
The first Fire Force opening (Inferno) has an amazing animation too with all the colors and effects.

When it comes to songs only, as I think it's the main subject of your topic, here's a list of some I like, heavily shonen inspired as they're basically the only op I care about lmao.

... and that's when I realize almost all songs I wanted to name are actually endings :LOL:



oopsie seems like i went a little too far
 
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Laepo1

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my anime years are long behind me. i don't remember many openings, but one closing theme that stayed with me was from Clannad. That song made me cry every single time.
 

tomos2019

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I do feel I should just say, even these days I highly doubt many people in real life know or care what a ''weaboo'' is even if that Saturday Night Live sketch did get made in America, I'm sure a lot of people have been accused of being one when they aren't actually solely interested in Japan or anything like that and I just tend to think it's best to stick to genuine insults if anything, not something a nerd started on 4chan, lol. But trying to stay on topic, I'm generally a tokusatsu fan and if I tried to make a top ten anime openings list chances are about 90% would be from Digimon and Shugo Chara! I also went off the Pokemon original English dub theme a long time ago when I looked up other songs from the franchise, even though I generally prefer Digimon I actually can tolerate some of the newer Pokemon stuff if I'm in the mood, like May and Max or Dawn era!
 

ESC94

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My favourite opening will always be the German version of "Butterfly" for Digimon Adventure:


You have absolutely NO IDEA how I f***ing loved this anime when I was a little boy. I watched every episode at least three or four times, my parents had to record them and I was always a bit mad when they forgot it. I still like this anime and I still have the official soundtrack and a sticker album from that time. xmusic
 
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tomos2019

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My favourite opening will always be the German version of "Butterfly" for Digimon Adventure:


You have absolutely NO IDEA how I f***ing loved this anime when I was a little boy. I watched every episode at least three or four times, my parents had to record them and I was always a bit mad when they forgot it. I still like this anime and I still have the official soundtrack and a sticker album from that time. xmusic

I like that Germany actually translated all the songs, maybe a bit obsessive but it always annoys me when a dub or sub doesn't translate every single thing 100% even though some US original openings I have liked!
 

foldpaw

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All of your recommendations are also good. You got a great taste of anime openings as well.
 

cilantrocrash

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My Top 5 Openings only are :
1. Jibaku Shounen Band - No.7 (Jibaku Shounen Hanako-Kun)
2. Flow - Go (Naruto)
3. Flow - Sign (Naruto)
4. TK - Unravel (Tokyo Ghoul)
5. Kana-Boon - Silhouette (Naruto)
 

heke1988

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Ginga Nagareboshi: Gin (also known as Silverfang or Hopeanuoli here in Finland) is for me the best anime opening of all time.

 
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esc87fan

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I bow down to the "Pokemon Theme". It would just feel right if it were used in the English dub climax of the Ash vs. Leon battle (seeing as how in the Japanese version, the original "Mezase Pokemon Master" was used)
 

esc87fan

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UPDATE: The English dub of the Ash vs. Leon finale DID use "Pokémon Theme" for the final Charizard-Pikachu clash (the episode aired April 8 here in Canada), however it was the version from the I Choose You movie as TPCI (The Pokémon Company International) does not have the rights for the Jason Paige original. All the same, it was the right call to use that song for that moment
 
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