So, naturally, openings are very popular among the truly enlightened members of the anime community that don't skip them. And one of my favorite things to do while writing up my posts for this blog is to find a video compilation of somebody's favorites and listen in the background. Now, obviously, not all opening songs are created equal, but sometimes I feel a bit bored by seeing the same entries over and over, and I feel a lot of great songs are being overlooked. I mean, sure, everyone loves Tank, Sakura Kiss, Again, Cruel Angels Thesis, The World, Brave Shine, Crossing Field, Departure, My Soul Your Beats and all the rest of the greatest hits, and it might not seem like much of a complaint when so many openings are celebrated by these lists (Top 100 lists are common), but there is so much overlap I feel like some great songs are still being snubbed here. And yeah, maybe I'm the only one who cares about this sort of thing, but it's my blog and this is a good topic to pull out when real life is getting in the way of bigger discussions, so there. Today, I'm going to share, in no particular order, five anime openings that I feel have been forgotten by the greater anime community and need more love.
So let's get started!
Yugioh GX Opening 4
So, let's get this out of the way. I love Yugioh GX more than any other generation of Yugioh. And I'll be the first to admit that it's dumb, it's silly, and the story doesn't really hold up, which are problems with Yugioh as a whole, but especially here. But, there's something unique about it that comes from its place as the second generation of Yugioh anime. After the overblown dramatic storylines of Duelist Kingdom, Battle City, Waking the Dragon, and Millenium World, Konami and Studio Gallop came to the realization that the show was about a card game and decided to take it easy, turning the show into a sports/slice of life hybrid with a tone that walks the line between laid back and serious in a way that I have yet to see replicated anywhere else. And then in season 3, they took that laid back attitude that they gave protagonist Jaden Yuki and put it through the ringer, reintroducing the supernatural elements of the series and subjecting him to torture and tragedy on a scale that would make Yugi wince in sympathy.
Which brings us to the season 4 opening: Precious Time, Glory Days by Psychic Lover. Jaden has just been through the worst experiences of his life, seeing his friends lose their bodies, being trapped in a dimension full of monsters, and even temporarily turning into an evil tyrant. Even worse, he is left trying to recover even while challenges still exist and enemies remain to be faced. But over the course of the opening, we see him regain his confidence and accept that even though bad things have happened and the road ahead may be difficult, he is far from alone and he can still succeed if he, as the song reminds us, kept holding on.
Samurai Flamenco Opening 1
Samurai Flamenco is a really good show that I need to get around to finishing, and one that I can only talk about in the broadest terms because not even I can talk spoilers this good without feeling guilty. It tells the story of Masayoshi, an aspiring male model and actor who secretly moonlights as a costumed hero, despite not having any special powers or weapons of his own. Basically, imagine Kickass, but instead of big storylines about fighting the mob you have small stories of people being inspired to be better.
So, naturally, Just One Life by Spyair leans into the fantasy and just how powerful that is. After showing a role call of all the people Masayoshi will go on to inspire, we get an incredible look at what drives him. The fight scene between him and the robot is a blast to watch as the chorus crescendos into its amazing title drop, and the follow up that it was all a dream right before he gets a phone call from his manager demanding to know why he is late for his latest gig is the best way to come down from that emotional high. There's not a lot of symbolic depth to this opening compared to some others -- in many ways it's a standard anime opening -- but compared to the more popular opening themes from Spyair like Imagination and Sakura Mitsutsuki, I feel like this is much more deserving of attention.
Panty and Stocking
Hey, did you guys know I like weird things? Here's another weird thing I like. Panty and Stocking isn't exactly unknown as far as anime goes, but it's not usually one that gets a lot of attention nowadays. Known for its raunchy humor, western style, and for being one of the last Gainax shows made before director Hiroyuki Imaishi split off to found Studio Trigger and save anime, this show never really set the world on fire, but it sticks out as a darn good time if you ever just want to take a break from shows with serious stories and laugh.
And this opening, simply titled "Theme for Panty and Stocking", is brilliant in that it's totally honest about what it is. With only a 30 second runtime, -- one third of what is typical for anime openings -- limited animation, and no deeper meaning to speak of, the opening primes the viewer for an atypical anime experience. The opening is more suited to play before a late night Adult Swim cartoon than a Gainax anime (lest we forget, this is the studio that gave us Evangelion and Gurren Lagann), which is only appropriate for a show that's basically "if Loony Tunes swore and had sex."
Food Wars: The Second Plate
So, Food Wars is pretty popular. I don't think anyone can deny this. Being a Shonen Jump adaptation with a strong cast of likable and sexy characters that manages to be both memeworthy and full of narrative depth will get you a pretty sizable fanbase, even if it's a bit more of a cult hit compared to fellow Jump adaptations like Dragon Ball and One Piece. I mean, hell, the most recent season that aired in 2018 has over 223,000 members of MyAnimeList alone having watched it, including yours truly. So you might be asking, how could any Food Wars opening be forgotten if the show is still so popular?
Well, would you believe that I struggled to even find a tv sized version of this opening on Youtube to embed on this post that wasn't part of a compilation? I mean, it's not impossible to find, by any stretch of the imagination, and it's not like that was the only reason I planned on including this. I feel like this song, Rough Diamonds by Screen Mode, is the quintessential shonen opening. This song can be repurposed to introduce One Piece, Naruto, Haikyuu, Dragon Ball, the list goes on. It's a song about rising up and becoming the best, for crying out loud! Maybe that makes it generic for some, and there's an argument for that,but I feel like that just makes it iconic, especially since this is associated with the tournament arc that introduces the second season. As far as I'm concerned, this opening is just as good as My Hero Academia's Peace Sign, and it basically does the same thing visually.
Zatch Bell Opening 1
Alright, let's wrap this up with an actual anime that is being forgotten. Zatch Bell was one of my favorite anime when I was in middle school, even if it was mostly just a mix of Pokemon and Stand battles. I don't know, maybe it's the nostalgia talking, but something about the lighthearted tones of Kasabuta by Chiwata Hidenori just makes me happy. This was the song that actually made me want to make this post, which really makes me wish I had more to say about it. But I don't really. I just really like this opening. There's nothing particularly special or interesting about it. I just like the song and the visuals.
Am I bad at this?
No comments:
Post a Comment