Let’s Get Musical Part 2: Top 10 Openings 5-1

Part 2, wherein we become immersed in J-Pop.

#5 Clannad ~After Story~

Toki wo Kizamu Uta – Lia

Surprising change ofs tyle from the other half of the list, showing that block rockin’ beats can only get you so far. What really makes this OP stand out is the fact it has moe girls in it! MOEMOEMOEMOEMOE the animation is so beautiful, by which I mean, it’s really shiny with lots of particle effects and cherry blossoms. I’m a sucker for flowing hair and/or clothing in the breeze, so sue me. Also of note: The flow of the song perfectly matches the animation, and the technique of placing flowing images of different skies in the girl’s shadows is fantastic.

#4 Shakugan no Shana – Tie

Joint – Kawada Mami

Blaze – Kotoko

I truly cannot decide between these two openings. They’re both awesome in terms of animation, (though Blaze has a slight edge on Joint) and music, (though Joint has a slight edge on Blaze). Beyond those two (the most important) aspects, there’s not much to distinguish them from each other; were I to take into account the fact the first half of the series sucked, I might be able to make a decision in favor of Blaze, but then again that seems harsh considering the fact the OP still suited the focus on romance the first half of the show had. Rather than read me rambling on about my ambivalance, just accept the fact that two OPs from the same show both rock equally.

#3 The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Bouken Desho Desho – Hirano Aya

By instinctual feeling is to condemn this opening due to the fact 1. I hate Haruhiists and 2. a KyoAni song’s already on this list. But hey, I’ve already shown a complete disregard for the lack of actual rules in this list (^) so what the hell. No matter how much I wish to deny it, the opening is well animated with an infectiously catchy song and demonstrates the most endearing characteristics of all the show’s main chracters. It also has the irritating and obstinate Haruhi as a traffic conductor, the most underrated of all civil servants.

#2 ef ~a tale of memories~

Euphoric Field – Tenmon feat. ELISA

Unique animation (though what’s to expected from Shaft) and a passionate and energEtic performance make this OP one of my favourites. It has everything a good opening shoulD have and the mixture of relevant imagery and amazing flow is unlike anything I’ve seen from anime openings before. It doesn’t feel, as I think it should do, pretentious or pointless to have text scrawling across the screen. My opinion of the opening was much like that of the show: I disliked it at first, but the more I watched it, the more I realised it for the great piece of work it was.

#1 Elfen Lied

Lilium – Kumiko Noma

Much like my number 2, Elfen Lied’s OP should feel pretentious as well; Latin opera with lyrics taken from bits and pieces of historical text; strange artistry used for a show that’s relatively simple in terms of characters and plot and simply gory and disturbing in terms of everything else. But it’s so amazing and moving that I can’t deny its excellence. There’s something grand and powerful, yet fragile and tragic about it, especially in regards to Lucy being cradled by a mere shape of a man. It’s undoubtedly mournful in tone, yet the lyrics are both decreeing the way of god and and praising the beauty of chastity, something which should be seen as uplifting but is completely undercut by the music. The more I try to describe it, the more the words elude me. If anything, it can be classified in two words: hauntingly beautiful.

Look forward to tomorrow’s post, where we start on EDs.