Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Great OPs in Anime(Part the First)

Like many people on the Information Super Highway, I love anime. And like many people who watch anime, I watch the opening title sequence. First to see what song plays before the show, and secondly to get a sorta general vibe about the show. Now, for those of you unfamiliar with anime, what usually happens is that the anime studios and the writers approach bands or their managers for a song. Or the studio contacts a record label and they pick a band and one of their singles. And there are a couple of other ways that OPs(opening songs), but explaining how that happens is boring, and I'm not too sure all the ways songs get there anyway.

Anyway, most OPs are usually either okay, inoffensive, kinda lame, or good. Once in a while, an anime will have a really top shelf OP song. Like, so good  that you hunt down that OP through any means necessary. A great OP can change an anime too, it can colour your experience of the show. Great OPs can make a good show great, a great show a classic, or a bad show tolerable. This is a post devoted to such OPs, along with an explanation of which anime the OP is from and a bit about the anime in question.

First off is the OP from the absolutely amazing Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Second Gig.


The song here is called Rise, it's performed by Origa, a Russian pop singer. The programming and instrumentation is all done by the show's composer Yoko Kano. Now, this OP really fits the theme of the show, because the show is about a group of SWAT-esque police officers in the near future. And yeah, I know that sounds silly, but trust me, this show is really great. But watching the original 1995 movie and the first season of Stand Alone Complex(Second Gig being the second season). A link to the show's wikipedia page, for a better explanation of the show

Next we have the rather over-the-top, balls out metal OP from the equally over-the-top anime Needless


The song is written and performed by GRANRODEO, and the song is called Modern Strange Cowboy. And if I may say, this song should go with everything. I mean, like, everything. Car commercials, skin-care ads, McDonald's Happy Meal ads, depression medication ads, you name it. Anyway, Needless is a parody of almost every action anime ever, it's very much the Stephen Colbert of anime. Not as subtle, but still. Where you can watch this amazingly awesome show

And now for a show which Needless probably parodied, but which has a bitchin' OP, 11eyes.


This piece of bitching music is written and performed by Ayane(whose name is Japanese for sound design). The song is entitled Arrival of Tears. Now, 11eyes was well.....................................okay. It's not a great anime, it's just a kinda goodish anime. My reveiw of the anime says it all. In fact I'll just post a link to the show page and you can read the reveiw for yourself. I'm Elicoor13 on there too.



Making up for the lame show preceding it comes Durarara!! A rather well done, Tarantino-esque anime.


Now, this song really kinda encapsulates the series and the attitude so well. I dunno the lyrics, but the music and the way it's sung really kinda give a sense of what kind of anime it is. It's actually very similar to another FUCKING AMAZING show called Baccano!(the exclamation point is in the title by the way). Watch Durarara!! here. And totally go check out Baccano, seriously. But give it a few episodes, things may not make sense at first. Actually, think of Baccano kinda like Pulp Fiction. It'll help, trust me.

And last but certainly not least comes one of the greatest anime ever, Serial Experiments Lain.



This OP is one of the few OPs that is actually done in English, and was written by an English band. Which is actually really unheard of. And it really does make sense that the OP would be so unique, because this is a very unique show. The show is very unique and is not for everyone. Hell, most people really don't like this show because it's pretty confusing. But if you roll with it and actually think about the show while watching, you will be rewarded by one of the most profound anime shows to ever come out of Japan. If you're up to it, watch Serial Experiments Lain here. Good luck, and I don't blame you for not watching the show all the way through.


 Well, that was fun. I'll definitely do more of these sometime later. Also if the videos don't work on Sky7, make a user account and click the broken link button. One of the amazing linkers will go and find another mirror.