My Choices Part Two

Okay, so my very good friend M. made a post about anime openings, ending with a question of what other’s favorites are, so here are some of mine.

In truth, I had never really thought about show openings before.

Sure, everyone knows that the A-Team had an awesome opening, and, yes, Star Trek is classic, but I really didn’t contemplate this until today.

And, of course there’s this, which is probably my favorite opening of any series ever:

Here we go with a few of my anime favorites. I’m not certain if these are my favorite openings, or just some favorite anime. Then again, some major titles didn’t make the list, so maybe I did go for favorite openings.

This post is in two parts, with the part prior to the cut being identical.

In case you missed Part One…

Two more on the cliché end.

First, Cowboy Bebop

• What can I say that hasn’t already been said about this anime? I won’t say it’s the best, because it’s not. It’s really, really good, but not the best (not if you’re a big plot fan, though it is one of the top characterization series out there). Based on what I’ve seen of the other series, I would say that it compares in many ways to Firefly. Yeah, I went there. I’ve more than once heard this referred to as “the anime that people who don’t like anime will probably like.” Cowboy Bebop has some of the best music (if not the best) in an anime that I’ve encountered, and it’s opening is no exception.

Second, Trigun

• Trigun is great. It’s got a good story, it’s alternately hilarious and heartbreaking (as is the next title), and it all asks some interesting moral questions. Also, some of the best action sequences ever animated. Vash rocks, so of course his opening has to as well.

Next are two anime quite removed from the previous two (just about the other end of the spectrum, actually).

Fruits Basket

• This is one of Amanda’s favorite anime, but it’s also one of mine. It’s sweet, it’s poignant, and it honestly made me teary-eyed on more than one occasion even on a SECOND viewing. Unfortunately, the ending is a screw-up of Fullmetal Alchemist proportions, as the original manga, like that one, was not finished yet when the anime ended. Still, highly recommended to anyone who doesn’t mind watching something honestly nice. The opening song is bittersweet, like the show.

Kare Kano aka. His and Her Circumstances

• This is akin to Fruits Basket, in that it’s very sweet. Sadly, it’s another victim of “the story isn’t over but the anime is” syndrome. It’s really just a show about a high school romance. Two teenagers fall in love and try to deal with life and love. Mostly, they’re not dealing with whacky hijinx or any of that, they’re just dealing with tests, parental pressures, and peer pressure. It’s really good (until the company ran out of money around episode 18, leaving 8 very sloppy episodes). Why should you care? Hideaki Anno adapted the screenplay and directed those first 18 episodes. Google his name if you don’t know why that matters.

Now, here’s the thing. None of these has managed to be my favorite.

You know why?

Because I can’t think of anything that matches the awesomeness of this:

Animal Yokocho

• Yeah, a really, really cute kids show has my all-time favorite opening. Maybe it’s because of the music, maybe it’s because of the line “Door, door, I open you and out comes incredible nothing,” maybe it’s the use of parody. In any case, this show is great. Hilarious. It’s crazy in ways that we Westerners don’t allow our children’s shows to be anymore. And hey, Godzilla reference in the opening credits.

~ by truth9 on February 9, 2008.