Going through this exercise, I really like jazzy, hip hop, and, sometimes, heavy metal openings. (Still get chills from Attack on Titan’s “Rumbling” OP.) I’ve hyperlinked each song below for specificity (and nostalgia).
Going back 10+ years ago: Pokemon, Dragon Ball Z, Cowboy Bebop, Gintama, YuYu Hakusho, and One Piece are the anime openings that come to mind.
More recently: Love is War, Attack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen, Samurai Champloo, One Punch Man, My Hero Aca, Black Clover are all top tier.
Didn’t make the list, but shoutout to Bleach for having one of the most memorable soundtracks in all of anime.
Kaguya opening 1 for it’s smoothness
One Piece Opening 13, it has a very “complete” feeling for how encompassing the arc is
Gundam Wing Opening 2, is basically what made me enjoy music as a kid
Full Metal Alchemist (OG) opening 2. It’s got so much energy
Yu-gi-oh opening zero. For some reason it’s become so iconic that I think it’s more well known than the openings for the mainline series (I blame abridged but I remember listening to it before abridged came out)
Um…Sailor Moon?
Vinland Saga, Initial D, Cyberpunk Edgerunners
Probably kino’s journey, kino no tabi, the original. Captures the spirit of calm wanderlust perfectly. Itinerance.i love the ending too.
Cowboy Bebop
Trigun
One I have doubts anyone else might mention is Lupin the Third.
Cowboy Bebop, obviously
The first season intro of Dr. Stone.
Drifters! Gospel of the Throttle goes so hard.
Can’t choose between these openings so here’s a small list:
- Golden time s2
- The worlds finest assassin
- Death parade or really any BRADIO work
- Dr. Stone s1 and s2
- OddTaxi
- The helpful fox senko
Definitely a tie with a few:
• Mushishi (The Sore Feet song and not Shiver, which is also great)
• Logos Naki World (Hellsing)
• Kibou no Kakera by Nana Kitade (Demsahita Powerpuff Girls Z op 1)
• Rewrite by Asian Kung-fu Generation (FMA '03 op 4)
• Detective Conan op 1 (the one from the Funimation English dub)
Cruel Angel Thesis - Evangelion
Kuusou Mesorogiwi - Mirai Nikki
Bacchikoi amd Heroes Come Back - Naruto ShippudenBasically Everything from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. If I had to pick, sheet, I’d say Stone Ocean. Canzioni Preferite is the best non-opening song though!
Cowboy Bebop - Tank
Trigun - HT
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Cruel Angel’s Thesis
Lupin III Part 2 - Opening 1 bad video but best i could find sadly…
City Hunter - Love, Don’t Leave Me
Ping Pong the Animation - Tada Hitori
The Tatami Galaxy - Maigoinu to Ame no Beat
Gunbuster - OP
Samurai Champloo - Battlecry
Re: Cutie Honey - Cutie Honey Theme
Paranoia Agent - OP
Macross - OP
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Sorairo Days
Detective Conan - OP1 or OP3
Nadia the Secret of Blue Water - Blue Water
Dragon Ball Z - Cha La Head Cha La
Death Note - OP1
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 2 - OPI could probably do more…
Now, endings are another story…
Somehow I forgot about Ping Pong the Animation! Such a touching sports anime and the OP is great too.
I think it’s really easy to overlook Ping Ping.
I didn’t know or care about the sport at all going in, but the show presented it in such a way that you can’t help get invested in the characters. On top of that it’s just a excellently told story with a lot of good drama, and I think it says a lot about people and their relationship to sports/hobbies/art/etc. I hope other people will give it a try. :)
Attack on Titan - The Rumbling for me personally, had no right going as hard as it did!
Neon Genesis Evangelion’s intro is an absolute bop as well
