The Anime Credits Thread - The OP-ED Section

[JBear]

8. Jujutsu Kaisen

Jujutsu Kaisen is a show I’m losing a bit of faith in. Its not bad but while it is very slick looking, I’m becoming a little less interested in the mythology and I feel like we haven’t been able to dig into the main character for a while in a way I’m interested it. Nonetheless, the intro has some very gorgeous animation. I like that it is bookended by the lead character falling asleep on a flooded train (whether this is a metaphor or a thing that will literally happen remains to be scene). This doesn’t reinvent the wheel in terms of shonen action openings. There’s some cool looking fights where the character use their powers. We see characters on their own doing their thing then preparing for battle. Images of villains and significant events. The duality as this is another main character with a darker, more powerful force hidden inside of him. It just does everything very well with pretty animation, good transition and a strong energy-packed pop song.

This OP has risen a lot in my estimation over the course of the season for two reasons. One, it keeps subtly updating over time, which I love (newest ep has the MC crying in the final shot), and, more importantly (big spoilers for episode 12): it looks like it has a spoiler in that it shows one of the young villains befriending the hero and joining the main cast, and then the show starts to indeed head towards that resolution, except lol, the show straight up fucking mercs him and it was an intentional idealized mislead all along.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Yeah, I really liked episode 12 and is winning me back a bit. I feel I'm not in it as much for the fights as slick looking as they are and I felt it becoming a bit dour but despite that it certainly continued the trend the show did good in making killing off that guy who we assume is going to be some sort of long term plant by the bad guys who joins the team for real (that was my read on the trajectory of the show) properly heartbreaking.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Some good OPs and EDs all around this season. Some of them didn't register as such at first because they are second seasons of shows where the bar was set to "fuckin' dope" the first time around but yeah, good new intros. Here's one I like that doesn't tell you the show is going to involve a girl battling a dream monster with four sagging torpedo breasts that shoot pink goo.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Shout out to Shadows House who kill it both the OP and ED game.

 

[Peklo]

Akai Kōdan Zillion (1987) OP - Pure Stone
Basically the ideal form of the bubble era's excesses: instead of commodified, rampant misogyny, there's just bright, extraordinarily lavish cartooning. Perhaps you know the Master System adaptations, but the Sega doesn't stop there: Opa-Opa features in as a constant supporting character in the show. What a wild world.

Aoki Ryūsei SPT Layzner (1985) ED - La Rose Rouge
Ending animations are often held back, or at least defined, by mostly static loops of a character engaged in their run cycle or other sedate scenery to facilitate credit rolls in clarity. This, on the other hand, goes for it hard.

Attack No. 1 (1969) OP - Attack No. 1
We pretty much owe the entire sports genre to Attack No. 1.

Aura Battler Dunbine (1983) ED - Mieru Darō Byston Well (disclaimer for "artistic" nudity)
Praise MIQ. Also this colour palette.

Battle Athletes Victory (1997) OP - Tsubasa
This got rebooted just this year, somehow. Now where is the Princess Nine revival?

Berserk (1997) ED - Waiting So Long
Did you know the show has ending credits? The OP tends to devour all notoriety for itself, but this is legitimately somber and good.

Blue Seed (1994) OP and ED - Carnival Babel / Touch and Go!!
Reaching some kind of '90s singularity with both Fumihiko Tachiki and Megumi Hayashibara handling vocal duties here.

Cat's Eye (1983) OP and ED - Cat's Eye / Dancing with the Sunshine (disclaimer: leotards, vigorous aerobics)
If you commit to any Tsukasa Hojo sex romp, make it this one.

 

[Purple]

Oof, at this point I'm just trying to think what slipped through the cracks for everyone else.

I mean, most obviously, shame on you all:

And keeping to the theme of guns...

And, I can't find a version without a cold open or spanish subs, but here's where that one guy everyone loves now, Masaaki Yuasa got started:

And then for good measure, YOU MISSED ONE:

... actually 2 because of the network hop:

And... I mean... it's anime. It's an intro. It counts, right?

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Blue Seed (1994) OP and ED - Carnival Babel / Touch and Go!!
Reaching some kind of '90s singularity with both Fumihiko Tachiki and Megumi Hayashibara handling vocal duties here.

Yeah, Shinji Ikari's mom and dad were big powerhouses in the 90s. I assume they must have shared a talent agency or something. What also is a fun little coincidence is that Tachiki performed the theme song for 3x3 Eyes, which Hayashibara was the star of. 3x3 Eyes and Blue Seed also share a common point of origin, as they're created by the same mangaka.

Also, I was mildly disappointed for a split second, when opening those webms for this show and seeing the video resolution, I got my hopes up ever so briefly that Production IG had finally remastered Blue Seed. That show is pretty problematic by today's standards with regards to regressive gender roles, casual sexual harassment, and male gaze galore. But I still think pretty fondly of it, it's got some decent moral/pacifist themes, and it's got some ridiculously stellar animation for the era.

Aura Battler Dunbine (1983) ED - Mieru Darō Byston Well (disclaimer for "artistic" nudity)
Praise MIQ. Also this colour palette.

Fantastic ending for a pretty solid show. I won't pretend it doesn't have problems, but it's a pretty fascinating watch. It's like, what if we made Zeta Gundam an isekai show, but we made it before Zeta, and it's also better in pretty much every conceivable way possible.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Found this one and... holy shit, I love it.



Bending the static image for an unreal effect. And that last shot.

 

[Peklo]

Going to ask for a source on this, and in this thread in general: part of why I stick to written links is that in case of uploads being taken down (or even regionally blocked), there's still something to cite in what was actually posted; otherwise no one would ever know especially if no commentary is given.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Its the opening to Ninpu Kamui Gaiden. Oh, and its also the origin of the Izuna Drop but here the drop is actually one of the lesser animated moments in the intro.