It’s time for the seasonal OP/ED roundup! I want to hear about your favorite OPs and EDs for the season (alternatively, your least favorites!). If you are looking for a collection of them all for this season, you can find almost all of them at the link below:
Just a note that you can absolutely use this thread like you would any other general discussion thread. So, feel free to post questions/comments/recommendations like any other week.
As always, remember to be mindful of spoilers. If you want to know more about how to handle spoilers in this community, check the guide here (also linked in the sidebar).
I picked out my top three OP/EDs of the season for shows I am watching as well as shows I am not watching. I then threw in a couple rapid fire honorable mentions that I liked, but didn’t make the top three cut. I should mention that I tend to pay more attention to the audio than the visuals for OP/EDs, so keep that in mind as you go through my list. Without further ado, in no particular order…
From shows I am watching
- Konosuba OP - Growing Up - I had a hard time picking the OP or the ED for this show as they are both great. However, I really like the animation and storytelling of the OP. It is essentially a whole story arc of Konosuba in 90 seconds.
- Spice and Wolf ED - Andante - I love this ED. It is a lot of fun and a bit cheeky, just like Holo herself. I always listen to this one after each episode.
- Delicious in Dungeon ED2 - Kirakira no Hai - Another cour of my liking the ED for this show more than the OP. While last cour’s ED was super fun and upbeat (literally titled Party!!), this cour’s ED tones it down a little to reflect a change in tone of the show, while still retaining some of the fun that is never completely gone in this series.
Honorable Mentions
- Level 2 Cheat Skills OP - Danna-sama to no Love Love Love Song - for all you !kemonomoe@ani.social fans out there
- Go! Go! Loser Ranger! ED - Seikai wa Iranai - Paying tribute to the longstanding tradition of Sentai series and choreographed dance numbers
From shows I am not watching
- The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases ED - Meritocracy - Some killer bass guitar playing in this song. The song literally slaps (the bass)!
- Kaiju No. 8 OP - Abyss - There are some wild 3DCG visuals in this one. Pair that with a song that does an excellent job building up over 90 seconds and it is a winning combination. Though, I could imagine the visuals might be quite polarizing to some.
- Yuru Camp ED - Asaka - I have not watched Yuru Camp, but from what I know of it, this song fits the vibe perfectly. It is such a laid back, but still fun song. I am a big fan.
Honorable Mentions
- Himitsu no AiPri OP - Zenryoku Joshi Kakumei! - I am decidedly outside this show’s target demographic, but I did like the OP.
- A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics OP - Gifu ni ted - Interesting mix of visual styles that I had fun with.
- Mushoku Tensei ED1 - Mamoritai Mono - These kinds of slow ballads live or die by the vocal performance, and this one was great.
Finally, I just wanted to shout out the team over at animethemes.moe that have been making improvements to their site. The latest feature I have been enjoying is their shuffle feature. I have been having a lot of fun setting it to play random OPs/EDs with no limits. Just one thing to keep in mind that it can and will play NSFW things occasionally (it played this NSFW OP for me randomly, that is how I learned). As far as I can tell, there isn’t a way to toggle that off.
Weekly ranking roundup:
- Anime Corner - Full Results - Weekly Winner: Date a Live V
- Anime Trending - Full Results - Weekly Winner: Date a Live V
- Reddit Karma - Weekly Winner: Mushoku Tensei
Credit to /u/Abysswatcherbel for making the chart for reddit karma and /u/Nooble5 for the Anime Trending chart.
Date a Live tops 2/3 charts this week. An interesting tidbit this week is that Blue Archive is in the top 10 on the AT chart, but is down at #30 on both the AC and reddit charts. Just thought it was interesting that it landed at exactly the same rank on both of those.
In general, having compared these charts for a couple weeks now, there are pretty big differences between them. In general, the reddit chart is a lot less volatile compared to the other two, with shows not moving all that much week to week. MHA showing up on next week’s charts might shake things up though.
Date A Live being so high up is wild. Last ep was pretty good, but that good?
No particular OP has stood out to me in a good way this season. I like Mysterious Disappearances’ and Astro Note’s OPs the most, but nothing I love. Same for EDs.
A few have stood out in a bad way though. I’m quite disappointed in Spice & Wolf’s OP. It starts out good, but once it builds up it loses me. It’s not a bad song (though not my thing), but not a good fit either. Tbf though, the original’s OPs are god like OPs, so that’s hard to match. I also really don’t like Kaiju no.8’s ED. It’s just bog standard and really generic western pop with (imo) no real distinguising properties that could easily be confused with many other western pop songs. I wonder if Japanese people sometimes think that way about Japanese OPs.
Me trying to name an OP / ED from this season:
I agree for the most part. I picked out my favorites of the season in my comment, but overall, I haven’t liked this season’s choices as much as I did this past winter season.
I haven’t watched the original Spice and Wolf, so I can’t really compare completely, but I don’t particularly mind this version’s OP; it just doesn’t really stand out either. In that regard, I like the ED a whole lot more and that is why it ended up on my list.
Also, I completely agree about Kaiju’s ED. I had seen people making a big deal about how they got OneRepublic to do the ED, but it is completely forgettable to me. At least the OP makes a much stronger impression on me, though I could see how it is polarizing with its extremely stylized CG visuals.
I had seen people making a big deal about how they got OneRepublic to do the ED,
Yeah same, probably because it’s apparently a big western pop artist and we’re obviously not used to western artists making OPs or EDs. I can’t really imagine that it’d be hard to get them to do a song though. The label’s probably part of the production committee, so it’s just a matter of asking and offering enough money.
At least the OP makes a much stronger impression on me, though I could see how it is polarizing with its extremely stylized CG visuals.
Yeah, I like the OP better too. I don’t mind the visuals at all and the song’s okay.
My favourites were Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night OP and all its EDs (each episode has a different ED except episode 1). If I had to choose one I would probably pick the 2nd. I also liked Konosuba OP and Train to the End of the World both OP and ED.
Jellyfish had some good ones. I haven’t been watching the series, but after watching them, I imagine that knowing the characters/story behind each one adds a lot of value.
So, I have been doing a lot of traveling recently and because of how fried I am after a whole day on the road, I have found myself watching more anime than reading manga. This has resulted in two recent developments:
First, I finished season 2 of Zombie Land Saga. Overall, I really enjoyed this show. The lore they introduced this season was a bit weird…but what isn’t weird about this show. The final 10 seconds of the finale makes me wonder what could possibly come next in the announced movie that is in production.
Second, I started watching Apothecary Diaries. Since the theme of this thread is OP/ED, let me just say that OP1 for this show is fantastic. Also, I have seen lots of people compare this show to House. I get it…but I think this is more like Sherlock Holmes since Maomao is asked about mysteries/puzzles that go pretty far beyond just medical/poison stuff. I am partway through the series right now, so there has been a series of mysteries that she has tackled so far. However, if this is following a typical Sherlock structure, I am expecting a Moriarty-type character to show up sooner or later. This will reveal some grander scheme that they have orchestrated will connect a lot of dots that didn’t seem related before.
I’m not sure if Bravern would fall into Spring or Winter, but that would be my favorite OP and ED for sure.
Bravern was a winter show, but both the OP and ED are absolutely top tier. In the Winter version of this thread, I wrote about both. I hadn’t watched Bravern yet at that point, but the OP alone was enough to convince me to give it a shot and it far exceeded all my expectations. Just a fantastic series that not enough people watched outside Japan. I have a couple clips I made and will be posting over time from the show (the first one was here). Really just want to preach the Bravern gospel.
My fave OP/EDs this season:
Highspeed Etoile OP - “ADRENALIZED” by Mizuki Nana the ED, Fanfare by SCANDAL is good too.
TP Bon ED - “Tears In The Sky” Sounds like something for LotGH:DNT
Girls Band Cry OP - TOGENASHI TOGEARI “Wrong World” Rockin!
The Fable ED - Odd Numbers by Umeda Cypher Nice rap!
Viral Hit OP - Wild Boy by MA55IVE THE RAMPAGE Another nice rap!
Rinkai ED - Override! Completely rockin’ girls harmonizing
Tonari No Yokai OP - Obake Himawari by Pii Super chill, positive song supporting the show’s vibe
The OP for Wind Breaker is good too. As it turns out, the actual music video for the song, Absolute Zero by natori, is also animated, and very cool https://skipvids.com/?v=LFoyXEFaz2Q
I tend to judge OP/EDs by the music moreso than the animation, or the actual quality of the show itself.
TP Bon wasn’t on the list I was looking at, so thanks for bringing them to my attention. The ED is pretty good and I like it a lot. One thing that surprised me is that it is ~2 minutes long as opposed to the ~90 seconds that is standard.
I do really like the ED for The Fable, but the visuals are such a letdown by comparison. It’s the opposite for me with the Tonari no Yokai OP where I really like the comfy visuals, but the song just didn’t really do it for me.
Like most OP/EDs these days, there’s an actual music video for the Odd Numbers song. That’s the version that I actually have bookmarked on my list.
https://skipvids.com/?v=XFOUs58nrM0
If you watch long enough, you can see R-Shitei from Creepy Nuts, of Maschle S2 OP, Call Of The Night OP+ED fame, dropping some bars.
After some reflection, Tonari No Yokai’s OP is definitely a case of positive association with the show on my part, but it is a perfect song to put the audience in the mood for this show.
How do you as an individual judge OP/EDs? Song? Visuals? Editing? Concept? How much you actually like the show?
It’s nice to have all factors working in favor of an OP/ED, but that’s very rare.
Like I said in my list of favorite OP/EDs this season, I tend to judge them by the music, but I have noticed that a good show makes me like their OP/ED more because of positive emotional associations.
For example, this season I would probably like the OP/EDs for Touken Ranbu Kai, Black Butler Public School Arc, and Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai if I actually watched the show, or liked the show.
For me, the one necessary component is that I have to really like the song. Everything else can be great, but if I don’t like the song, it isn’t going to stick with me. When it comes to visuals, I am not too picky, but I do like it when shows get experimental with things. I think that is one of the reasons why things like Kaiju and Salad Bowl OPs ended up on my list, due to how different they looked.
I am definitely influenced by how I feel about a show though. It usually is more impactful when the OP/ED is used as part of the storytelling. I mentioned elsewhere in this thread that Jellyfish is one of those shows where, if I was watching it, I can imagine the EDs that they are making would be more impactful. I also think that Konosuba benefits in this regard since I watch and enjoy the show.
A clever concept like Jellyfish EDs definitely helps.
One of my favorites with a great concept is the 1985 Dirty Pair TV OP, which is a commercial for the titular characters’ WWWA (World Wide Welfare Association), a private-investigator/security type service, and has their phone number at the end.
