Boy, vacations are immediately negated when you return to work and have to make up for everything that happened while you were gone. And then having to work Memorial Day Saturday adds insult to injury!
In any case, this is something that stemmed from a discussion between my husband and I while we were away. What would you name as your top 5 opening songs for anime? For me, this is a super easy list with very little contest, but I’m interested in hearing what all you fine people have to say on the topic.
5. Driver’s High- L’arc~en~Ciel (Great Teacher Onizuka, intro 1)
I do have a touch of bias because I just love L’arc (you’ll see them again on this list), and perhaps this song shines a little brighter because the second intro (Hitori No Yoru by Porno Graffitti) just did not fit the show (I do love Porno Graffitti as a whold but this wasn’t the right mood for GTO). Driver’s
Onizuka's attitude is clear
High was so appropriate for this show because Onizuka was wild and careless and aptly compared to driving in a lot of ways. The whole song just sounded like it had the right energy for the show and the lyrics were so fitting
My adrenaline’s always flowin’
so it feels like it’s me that’s gonna overheat
Even if I explode and turn into ashes
I’ll probably still be laughing, just like this
Pure Onizuka right there.
4. D-technolife by UVERworld (Bleach- intro 2)
This is not the kind of song that I would normally pick as a favorite- it’s very fast and a little too pop for my taste. What makes this song is where it featured in the show- it was right at the first half of the Soul Society arc where everything was shaken up and you were meeting several dozen new, powerful characters. D-technolife fit the emotions of Ichigo heading into an unknown battle against seemingly dozens of enemies both in tone and lyrics. The part that sticks out most in my mind is where we see Hitsugaya jumping across the water and hear:
Injured with pain and sadness, the you that cannot be healed
Don’t say words like you can’t smile or you hate people
Everything that happens in the unseen future has a meaning
So stay like this, there’ll come a time when you will realize
There is just such foreshadowing… I love it. Even though there are other songs from Bleach that I like better as music (like Rolling Star, Alones, or Asterisk), this song really sticks out as my favorite intro to date.
3. Ready, Steady, Go by L’arc~en~Ciel (Fullmetal Alchemist, intro 1)
I told you we’d be seeing L’arc again! Funny enough, we’ll be seeing FMA again too.
Ready, Steady, Go was a great intro because it got you geared up for the show- this is especially true since FMA was such an action-filled series (of course I’m talking about FMA round 1, not Brotherhood which I am equally enthralled with). It was one of those songs that went so well with the animation that I can still see it in my head whenever the song comes up. It represents Ed & Al’s fighting spirit and how well they worked together as a team to accomplish unthinkable things; no matter what happened, they were ready to go.
2. What’s Up People? by Maximum the Hormone (Death Note, intro 2)
Am I perhaps biased because this is really and truly my kind of music? It’s possible. But more than anything, what makes this my almost-favorite is the fact that it told me exactly what was coming. This song comes up after Light has been working with L to catch Kira for quite some time. Even when Light wasn’t Kira himself, the tension between him and L and the depth of their relationship was incredibly interesting. However, Higuchi was a lousy Kira, and at this point you’re starting to wonder what’s going to happen when he is
Chaotic, laughing Ryuk
inevitably caught.
When the first episode with What’s Up People? came on and I saw the collage of Light’s evil, laughing faces, I knew in that very instant that Light was coming back as Kira and that L was in deep sh*t. The chaotic metal sound of the song showed several episodes in advance that all of the order and progress that was being made in the investigation was going to fall apart and that the entire scenario had gone exactly as Light intended.
Not to mention, this is just a great song to rock out to.
1. Rewrite by Asian Kung-Fu Generation (Fullmetal Alchemist, intro 4)
Asian Kung-Fu Generation is another amazing band (After Dark from Bleach is fairly high on my internal list, but not top 5 material). Out of all of the FMA intros, Rewrite is by far the song that best captures the essence of the show. The entire song is about cutting away the past and rewriting it- making your life what you want out of the chaos that it was. This is so, so suitable for the end of the show. Ed and Al have gone through so much together, their relationship has fallen apart and come back together again. They’re at a point of frustration and desperation, coming to find that life isn’t what it seemed and that they may never accomplish their ultimate goals. They want nothing more than to change their pasts and rewrite them; erase their undeniable sins and recreate life in their own way. By far, this is the introduction that has the most impact of any anime I’ve seen.
So I’m sure lots of people disagree with me; I’d love to hear all of your favorite songs! There are so many good ones to choose from.
