Board 8 > Logicblade Ranks the Top 100 Anime OP's of the Decade

(+) Yeah! (+)

The Ancient Magus Bride OP song is good but I hate the visuals so much that it doesn't even come close to mattering.
---

If you want a place for anime OP links that's not Youtube, https://www.reddit.com/r/AnimeThemes/ is the place to go.

holy shit that Bang Dream OP is ugly as fuck

Black Clover's OP was solid. Made me go back and watch Soul Eater's first OP though, which is... way better. What a fucking great OP.

oh hey that Beastars OP is real cool hadn't seen it before

don't think I ever paid much attention to the My Hero animation before. It looks real good! The song is no Raise Your Flag, though.

Island's animation is great.

whoa that Fuuka OP is real good! always neat when OPs do stuff like that
---

Hype for Flip Flappers #1.

flip flappers ed was way better than the op
---

It's a very good ED!

But he isn't ranking those.

Flip Flappers ED easily a top 10 ED.

I don't actually remember the OP at all but I remember thinking it was solid.
---

pyresword posted...

I don't actually remember the OP at all but I remember thinking it was solid.

https://data.whicdn.com/images/265597651/original.gif

I will also second a sever dislike for the Magus Bride OPs. What a waste of excellent songs.

yeah fuuka op was another bait classic that made me watch the show

---

Ok caught up on this topic. Some comments on stuff I didn't already mention:

I didn't really like the Aquarion Evol OP at first but yeah the last 20 seconds are great.

I prefer the S1 Kimi ni Todoke OP. That being said I think that technically did not air in this decade and this one is also great anyways. (also a similar-ish style)

I never liked the Terror in Resonance OP. I don't like the song much in a vacuum and the ephemeral nature of the song makes it hard to get me interested in anything about the show itself.

I've seen the Dimension W OP before this (not the show though), but I'm a fan. I really like the song also actually--it's got a nice groove that sounds high-energy and laid-back at the same time while somehow being good at both styles. Visuals are also great obviously.

Blast of Tempest another popular OP that never agreed with me. The song style is not one I'm a huge fan of and this particular example sounds too cheesy to me. The anime is amazing though.

Kids on the Slope on the other hand has always been a favorite of mine. The ending trumpet is pretty much divine but I love everything about the OP. The ED is really cool also though obviously not what's being ranked here. (Really the show just as fantastic music in general, unsurprisingly.)

Definitely not the SAO OP I would have gone for. In fairness though, this one itself is probably also good enough for a top 100 list I would make--I just love Crossing Field too much.
---

I appreciate having a new link to get some openings for. Some shows are very stringent about their copyrights and shit. In any case, here's number 60 for you all.

60. Let Me Hear - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Parasyte
2015 (9/11)
Fall 2015 (4/4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm8UjBAS3cs

Typically I'm not a big fan of the autotuned to all hell kind of music, but for some reason the combination of poppy autotune and heavy metal screamo just seems to work really well for this anime about parasites embedded in people. The imagery is really crisp and stark, and it's just something that grows on you after a few relistens.

---

Fear and Loathing always good times. Been listening to Let Me Hear and Chase the Light (Kaiji 2nd OP) a lot recently since I finally finished the latter

---

59. Hikaru Nara - Goose House - Your Lie in April
2014 (6/12)
Fall 2014 (2/3)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkdi6eK05OA

This seemed like an opening that would have been a lot higher if I was just making this list primarily off my memory. It's a song that really sticks out, the animation is really lovely, and it's just beautiful to watch in action. However I just found myself placing more and more songs above it, as it was in the borderline of really liking the song, but just not quite as much as some others which I knew had to be on the list. It's real good, and Poppin Party made a really good cover of it.

---

58. Even If... - Tamaru Yamada - Full Metal Panic: Invisible Victory
2018 (8/16)
Spring 2018 (4/7)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rSPh3uuoQM

Been waiting for a new season of Full Metal Panic for what, 12 years? The new opening definitely delivered though, it's got some great action shots, some really neat imagery, and a very driving passionate song that gets your attention immediately. You can tell a lot of time and effort was put into getting it done just right. I especially love how the Lambda Driver animation syncs up perfectly with the right moments of the song. It's pretty much ticks all the boxes for me.

---

and one more for tonight, the last of my imposed A tier of songs.

57. The Asterisk War - Shiena Nishizawa - The Asterisk War OP 2
2016 (5/11)
Spring 2016 (2/4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reD36nDWGaM

Well, you can always count on those battle academy animes to have some ace openings. I'll admit to having never watched the show, becoming far more enthralled in it's sister show that hit so many of the same plot beats in the first episode I almost couldn't believe I was watching different animes to begin with. In any case, this one got a second season, and man is this second opening hype as fuck. The action sequences are crazy, the guitar riffs are sick, but my favourite part is probably when MC and main girl are walking towards the arena and the music starts to build in intensity, ahhh it's so good. In any case, this was the top of my third tier, so now I'm left with all the openings I absolutely adore, to the twenty or so openings that could have all been considered for my favourite opening of the decade.

---

On one hand I'm really glad the high school magic academy (harem) fad died like it did

On the other hand, the isekai trash fad took its place, and I'm not sure it's any better...

Some stats, just for the hell of it:

By Year:
2011 (9/12)
2015 (8/11)
2010 (7/7)
2018 (7/16)
2013 (6/8)
2014 (5/12)
2019 (5/9)
2016 (4/11)
2017 (3/6)
2012 (2/8)

Yes I have songs from 2010 on this list, I just haven't gotten to any yet. Between the amount of long running shonen, reps from the Raildex verse and others, there were at least a few honorable mentions kicking around, but nothing else that cleared the top 100 for me. 2011 and 2015 have the most representatives remaining, while 2012 is nearly out of them.

By Season
Spring (17/29)
Winter (16/29)
Fall (14/26)
Summer (9/16)

Other than summer being a bit low on representatives, every season having just a bit over half of their list left means there isn't any season bias! Not that I'm sure how that would even come up.

---

Did not know there was a new FMP season.

---

Maniac64 posted...

Did not know there was a new FMP season.

Yep, and it was really good! Hopefully it gets one more season to finish the story off!

Second Raid's is my favorite FMP OP.

---

Just Awake is my Fear and Loathing song of choice. Great animation too.

Asterisk War OP is damn good yeah. Like it better than Failed Knight's!!
---

One thing I haven't commented on yet...

Logicblade posted...

Papapa - Shuka Saito

Shukashuu did an OP?

---

Into the A tier we go, and we've nearly removed 2012 from the list.

56. Choir Jail - Konomi Suzuki - Dusk Maiden of Amnesia
2012 (2/8)
Spring 2012 (1/4)
https://animethemes.moe/video/TasogareOtomeAmnesia-OP1.webm

It's hard to believe the singer was only 15 when she did this song, the melody is dark, entrancing, and the OP is very atmospheric. You're just instantly drawn into this spooky, dream like world with a yandere ghost girl watching your every move. Ok, I don't know if Yuuko is actually a yandere or not, but I really like this opening and it ended up being a sort of gatekeeper on my list.

---

Hikaru Nara is at least 50 spots too low tbqh
---

55. Binary Star - Hiroyuki Sawano - Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These
2018 (7/16)
Spring 2018 (3/7)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5fk80I3orw

No this is not Nothing's Going to Stop Us by Starship even though it feels really damn evocative of it. In any case you have a really lovely song, with a beautiful melody. As it slowly picks up in tension, moving from Reinhard and his closest confidantes, you get the Free Planets Alliance in the throes of combat as it spends far less time on their establishing shots. I'm kind of a bitter about that, but Yang Wen-li is my boy, he needs more opening screen time. In any case, it's just a really nice song with some beautiful shots. Get up there.

---

Hikaru Nara is exactly where it's supposed to be. :D Anyway, have another this morning.

54. Killy Killy Joker - Kanon Wakeshima- Selector Infected Wixoss
2014 (5/12)
Spring 2014 (2/3)
https://animethemes.moe/video/SelectorInfectedWIXOSS-OP1.webm

So uh... is this a magical girl anime? A card game anime? I dunno, but damn this opening is catchy as fuck. I love the strings, the singers voice takes you on a journey. From a wistful feeling to a chaotic maelstrom of battle, the whole opening just harmonizes really well. I think my favourite shots are with each of the girls and their card game avatar right before it gets to the creepy scene of main girl's avatar looking like an Anti-Spiral.

---

Choir Jail is at least 50 spots too low tbqh

---

Love Your Enemies is the best Wixoss OP
---

Oh come on, they can't all be 50 spots too low. >_>

53. Kuchikuze Diamond - Weaver - Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches
2015 (8/11)
Spring 2015 (2/3)
https://animethemes.moe/video/YamadaKun-OP1.webm

I love the style of this opening, it's simple but it works really well. It does a great job of establishing the witches and just how they change when they aren't pretending to be ordinary. Then of course there's the real draw to this opening and that's the song. God damn is this an ear worm, the drums and bass do an excellent song driving the song forward, and the vocals are just so fluffy and cute. Also I am totally based for the last ten or seconds or so of the OP, that's the kind of content I'm here in life for.


---

Logicblade posted...

Oh come on, they can't all be 50 spots too low. >_>

Koala was just making fun of lefty because Hikaru Nara is shit
---

if anything Choir Jail is 50 spots too high
---

Mac Arrowny posted...

Love Your Enemies is the best Wixoss OP

it's an ED though

It's literally the credits theme to the (recap) movie

Wixoss recap movie best recap movie

52. Hoshi to Hana - Sanshu Chugaku - Yuki Yuna is a Hero
2014 (4/12)
Fall 2014 (1/3)
https://animethemes.moe/video/YuukiYuuna-OP1v2.webm

God this is a pretty opening. So it ticks a lot of boxes on things I like. Flower imagery? Sucker for that? Cute girls beating the shit out of eldritch abominations? You know that's my jam. This opening has a few variants, but I like this one the best for very slight splitting hair reasons. It's not like the song changes at all, just the timing of certain things. In any case, the song is really warm and comforting, and picks up perfectly for the climatic last 30 seconds. It's got everything you could possibly want, right?

---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7xqleImX_Q

Is my favorite Yuki Yuna OP song, but the visuals aren't quite there. I do kinda like the regular Sumi Washio OP better though.

Reg posted...

it's an ED though

It's literally the credits theme to the (recap) movie

Ah, good to know. Thanks.
---

Huh, I didn't know Hikaru Nara was Shingatsu's OP. I only know it because my friends like to sing it at the karaoke and it's pretty catchy.

---

51. Destin Histoire - Yoshiki*Lisa - Gosick
2011 (9/12)
Winter 2011 (2/4)
https://animethemes.moe/video/Gosick-OP1.webm

And the last song on the bottom half of the list is the Gosick opening. I love the art style for this opening, it's kind of like those old tarot cards, just a really aesthetically pleasing look about it. The song is really lovely, the vocals really drive the song, and I just think it ends up looking really cute, even if I have no desire to actually watch the show.

---

50. Peace Sign - Kenshi Yonezu - My Hero Academia
2017 (3/6)
Spring 2017 (1/1)
https://animethemes.moe/video/BokuNoHeroAcademiaS2-OP1-NCBD1080.webm

My Hero Academia is definitely a mixed bag. In terms of song selection, they vary from amazing, to utter trash, the visuals vary from interesting to remarkably dull, and the synergy between them tends to be... well not as good. I think there were two openings that were done really well. This one obviously, it made the list, but the other big shout out I'd need to give to is Odd Future because it hits all of the notes of that arc perfectly, and deserve at least an honorable mention for that bass drop.

Anyway, I went with Peace Sign, a perfect song to really get you pumped for the big tournament arc they had going on. Just slowly showing Deku's changes as he becomes more and more confident with his 'destroy my entire body' quirk, the rest of the cast doing their stretches, and Shoto stretching in the shade as the sun comes overhead, changing the pace of the song into something more action packed and chaotic. Peace Sign really does it's job perfectly, having great synergy with the rest of the arc as Deku finally stops tryna break his bones to solve his friends mental hangups.

---

One more for today.

49. Found and Lost - Survive Said the Prophet - Banana Fish OP 1
2018 (6/16)
Summer 2018 (1/2)
https://animethemes.moe/video/BananaFish-OP1-NCBD1080.webm

It's edgy, it's dark and it's hella gay. Hello world, this is what I'm here for. Banana Fish had two very good openings, and picking just one was a real challenge. In the end, I went with Lost and Found over Freedom because I liked the song better. Yeah, deal with it. I think the heavier style suits the nature of the show better, and I really really liked the knife fight scene in the opening. Ash staring into the fire as the main antagonists of the scene appear in the flames is also really fucking cool. Love me some banana fish.


---

Logicblade posted...

went with Lost and Found over Freedom because I liked the song better.

I do not agree with this, but I can at least respect it

Banana Fish may have legitimately been AotY 2018 too.

48. Zoetrope - Nagi Yanagi - Amnesia
2013 (6/8)
Winter 2013 (3/3)
https://animethemes.moe/video/Amnesia-OP1.webm

This opening is pretty as all get out. The show itself was really painful to watch since the main character was a complete and utter doormat, but hey it looked really good, and sometimes that's what it's all about. Nagi Yanagi killing it once again on the vocals and the art style being just gorgeous to look at gives it a lot of style points for me, and a spot on this list.

---

47. Nirvana - MUCC - Inu X Boku SS
2012 (1/8)
Winter 2012 (1/3)
https://animethemes.moe/video/InuBokuSS-OP1.webm

And my top opening of 2012 goes to Nirvana by MUCC. Honestly didn't think I'd be eliminating a year right out of the first half of the list, but hey that's just how things go sometimes. Some of the honorable mentions for this year include the Eureka Seven AO openings (Escape by Hemenway and BravBlue by FLOW), No Pain No Game by Nano for Btoom, Flip by Wonderland for Gintama (There was an opening for that series I liked more), Magi's OP V.I.P by SID, and Key Plus Words for the first Persona 4 Anime. There were some winter 2012 animes with good second openings as well, but their first opening made the list ahead of them.

Anyway, I love the bass in this song it really does a good job of driving the whole opening forward. The visuals catch your eye immediately, and the vocals have this desperate clingy feeling to it that works perfectly for the animation. It's absolutely well done, and it's definitely worth top billing for the year of 2012. Perhaps fox boys are too powerful for this world...

---

el bumpo

---

46. Connect - ClariS - Puella Magi Madoka Magica
2011 (8/12)
Winter 2011 (1/4)
https://animethemes.moe/video/MadokaMagica-OP1-NCBD1080.webm

Hey guys, can you believe Madoka is almost 9 years old already? jesus christ... way to just make a guy feel old. Madoka was a pretty light hearted and fun anime about cute girls doing cute things and-

Yeah, that's not true at all. I do love the dis'connect' between the opening and the actual source content of the show. It's a cute fluffy happy opening with the charming voices of ClariS to soothe you while you deal with people's souls getting corrupted, heroic sacrifices, endless despair, and tea time for witches. I love the art style of the opening, and the song is just really fluffy and feel good. And about the only reason to actually watch baby's first magical girl show. >_>

---

45. Shinkakei Colours - Character Voices - Toji No Miko OP 2
2018 (5/16)
Spring 2018 (2/7)
https://animethemes.moe/video/TojiNoMiko-OP2-NCBD1080.webm

Toji No Miko was a real treat of an anime. On the surface it just looks like basic cute girls doing cute things, but also with swords... turns out it ends up running a bit like a spy movie, a bit like The Fugitive, and then there's interesting character development and stakes throughout, it was a surprisingly good watch for someone who was really only drawn to it because the main girl is cute.

Me being a basic bitch aside, Toji No Miko had two really good openings, but I preferred Shinkakei Colours for it's instrumentation, focus on both Kanami and Hiyori and their relationship, and how they're connected by their swords, and all of the associated imagery with that. The girls voices have a really nice harmony with each other, and in the end it makes for a really good opening.

---

44. Ranbu No Melody - SID - Bleach
2010 (7/7)
Fall 2010 (2/2)
https://animethemes.moe/video/Bleach-OP13.webm

I had songs from 2010 on here, it's just all of the ones that made the list ranked really high for some reason. I'd just call it a quick of the list, but this was definitely Bleach's best opening of the 2010's, and arguably it's best opening period. If Bleach could have been as cool as this intro all the time... that would certainly be an interesting world to live in. Anyway, I love the film grain effect, as they slowly set establishing shots of the fake town before they go ham and cheese with the action, timing perfectly with the rising tempo of the song. It's a really clever way to mash a bunch of character establishing shots together, and something I really enjoyed.

---

Logicblade posted...

46. Connect - ClariS - Puella Magi Madoka Magica
2011 (8/12)
Winter 2011 (1/4)
https://animethemes.moe/video/MadokaMagica-OP1-NCBD1080.webm

Hey guys, can you believe Madoka is almost 9 years old already? jesus christ... way to just make a guy feel old. Madoka was a pretty light hearted and fun anime about cute girls doing cute things and-

Yeah, that's not true at all. I do love the dis'connect' between the opening and the actual source content of the show. It's a cute fluffy happy opening with the charming voices of ClariS to soothe you while you deal with people's souls getting corrupted, heroic sacrifices, endless despair, and tea time for witches. I love the art style of the opening, and the song is just really fluffy and feel good. And about the only reason to actually watch baby's first magical girl show. >_>

Aww yeah. This song is good.

---

all ClariS songs are bad imo

Magia rocks tho
---

43. Redo - Konomi Suzuki - Re:Zero
2016 (4/11)
Spring 2016 (1/4)
https://animethemes.moe/video/ReZero-OP1-NCBD1080.webm

I'm sure many people guessed Re;Zero's opening would be somewhere on this list, and for good reason, it's a bop. The imagery is really cool, I'm a sucker for the whole opening and ending on the same shot thing they did, the influence of Satella with the creepy shadow hands, this opening has a lot of love poured into the fine details of it, and it manages to really stand out as a result.

...

I love Emilia.

---

Connect is great.

Ranbu no Melody definitely the best Bleach OP which is saying something for a series with a ton of good OPs. Think I'd place Velonica second.

---

Ranbu no Melody also has the rewinding of stuff from early in the series at the end of the OP, fitting for what happens at the end of the arc.

---

42. Jiyuu No Tsubasa - Linked Horizon - Attack On Titan OP 2
2013 (5/8)
Summer 2013 (1/2)
https://animethemes.moe/video/ShingekiNoKyojin-OP2.webm

Well hey, Attack on Titan finally got a representative on this list. I'm really splitting hairs when it comes to this series openings, because for as good as they are, a lot of them are pretty much exactly the same. It's not a bad thing if their good, but you get tired of eating pizza every day. In any case, I like the second opening slightly more than Guren no Yumiya, and Sasegeyo, in large part for the weedle dee dragonforce as fuck guitars in the intro, the bloodstained windows of the town being a really cool shot, and of course, the dragonforce as fuck guitars in the outro.

---