My Favorite Anime Opening Theme

Welcome to day 5! I did a 30-day anime challenge last year and had a blast with it. It would be fun to do it again this year. Let’s see if my tastes have changed at all in a year.

Here is day 4 in case you missed it.

The purpose of these challenges is to post a picture, but I, being the extra person I am, will write a blog about each topic.

This differs from what I am used to blogging, which excites me to test my creativity and go back to find the answers to these writing prompts.

Feel free to join me in the comments below! I’d love to hear your answers too!!

Now, I am going to be honest with you. I am a person who skips the theme songs. I know shame on me for missing out on such beautiful animation accompanied by an incredible song. Trust me, I know how shameful that is, but I do always give the theme song a listen on the first episode but then just skip it after.

This list was a lot more challenging to think of than the previous days. I went back and relistened to every anime opening I had seen, and I put the anime openings on this list for these three reasons.

#1 The Music

I am a musician so of course, I will judge a song based on the instruments, melody, and creativity. This did cut out a lot of slice-of-life anime I had seen which only had catchy beats but relied heavily on the lyrics and making it as cute as possible. I was surprised that most of the anime from this list are in the horror or thriller genre, as they are not afraid to go all out in their songs to make them as epic as possible.

#2 The Animation

I feel as if animators can let loose when creating anime openings. There are some anime openings I have seen that are stunning and almost make the anime they are opening look bad. I wanted this to also be a factor because if I watch an anime with 26 episodes with even a 2-minute opening that is almost 2 full episodes of just openings. I wanted to make sure that it was worth watching that many times on repeat.

#3 Would I listen to this without watching the anime

I wanted to see if while driving or on a walk would I naturally want to listen to these anime openings as songs. This was the biggest factor for me. If I wasn’t going to listen to it while doing day-to-day tasks I wasn’t going to watch it opening 26 episodes of an anime.

With those reasons in mind here are my favorite anime openings and why. I will also link YouTube videos to the openings for you to check out as well as the storyline of the anime if you are interested in watching after seeing the opening.

Demon Slayer Opening 1

I think almost everyone can agree Demon Slayer slayed their first opening. I loved that it was short but extremely catchy. The biggest reason this opening made its way onto my list was the animation. I talked more about Demon Slayer’s animation in my full review, but the creators let the animators have fun with the opening. I enjoy watching it and this was one of the few openings I didn’t skip once while watching the show.

The Future Diary

This opening was insane the first time I watched it. The music is creepy and fast pace just like the show. But the biggest thing that I loved about this opening is they spoil the whole show for you in the opening but you don’t know until you rewatch it after finishing the show. The whole thing is foreshadowing and is one big spoiler and yet we are clueless about the flashing images appearing in front of our screens. I like to believe the animators doing this opening were giggling the whole time they were animating it. The Future Diary is a creepy and intense show and I believe they did it justice in the opening. Again another short but very catchy opening.

Deadman Wonderland

This is a perfect example of an opening that hit all three marks for me. The music is epic and I even listen to the full version. I am sure the animators had a blast animating the opening. For this anime to be released over 10 years ago and for the opening, animation is still this epic is very impressive.

Attack on Titan Opening 1

I just started Attack on Titan in December and I already knew all of the words to this theme. I would argue this is one of the most popular anime openings of all time and it is well deserved. It makes you feel the seriousness of the show while adding epic fights and character scenes. This was one of the few on this list that I didn’t skip throughout season 1. I think Attack on Titan has one of the best soundtracks of any anime, But as far as openings go this is one of my recent favorites.

Death Note Opening 1 & 2

Both Death Note openings are epic! This is another classic anime that is 15 years old and still has an opening that puts others to shame. The animation is insanely epic and the music is catchy and fits the show perfectly. I couldn’t skip the intro when I first watched Death Note and even when I re-watched it last year I couldn’t skip the intro.

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Opening 2

Whenever I heard this song I knew I was about to watch my heart get broken. This is one of the most badass anime openings. I love how there are hidden easter eggs throughout the opening. The music is deep and epic with the guitar taking the spotlight. I still listen to this song on repeat.

DanDaDan

Yes, I fell into the catchy tunes from Creepy Nuts. I loved the DanDaDan opening. It was catchy, and entertaining, and captured the bazaar nature of the show. I didn’t skip the intro once. Even though I loved the DanDaDan intro there was one that I loved before this.

Mashle: Magic and Muscles Opening 2

I am proud to say I loved this intro before it became trendy. This was one of my favorite shows last year and the intro was something I looked forward to every week. It's catchy, fun to watch, and creative. If you look up the English translated version the lyrics match the show perfectly. I listen to this song more than I’d like to admit.

Durarara!! Opening 1

If I only had to pick one anime opening to listen to for the rest of my life this would be it. I watched this anime over 10 years ago and I recorded the opening on my iPod to listen to it whenever I wanted. That in itself speaks for how incredibly catchy the opening is. I also put Durarara!! in most nostalgic anime. The theme song shows how incredible this show is. Catchy song, a fun way to show all the characters and transitions that would put TikTok trends to shame. If you like this opening listen to the full version and then put it on repeat.

This was more fun than I thought it was going to be. I genuinely enjoyed going back and watching all the anime openings. I know I normally would skip them but this brought an appreciation for the work and talent that goes into these openings.

What is your favorite anime opening? Do you normally watch the openings or skip them?

I’d love to hear in the comments below

Thanks for Reading!!

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