My Favourite 2025 OPS!
10. To Be a Hero X
It’s not infrequently that I get a show I don’t watch to be on the list. It’s not easy to do; some intros strength work largely when the context starts coming into play and you can see the cleverness of what it is doing. I have not seen To Be a Hero X. From what I understand it is a spiritually (but non-canon) sequel to a series called To Be a Hero and it’s about superheroes but that’s all I know. Oh, except people say this Chinese production looks REALLY good.
I haven’t seen it. Often due to the way seasons are scheduled, it’s tough and seeing it as a sequel to a show I never watched (even if there are no returning characters) probably made me check it off before giving it a chance. But man, this thing is gorgeous. If this is the kind of animation coming out of China these days, I’m sorry I slept on it! Maybe I’ll come back around to check this show out but at least the intro is basically the kind of eye melting shit that One Punch Man abandoned with its second season.
9. Sakamoto Days Part 2
Sakamoto Days was a show I was really excited about when it was announced. I was hoping for something in the same line of Spy x Family, a mix of heart and blistering action and laughs. It… turned out to be less than that. It’s not a bad show and there are definitely the times it is funny with it’s silly set pieces and big characters but overall, it feels more akin to a more straightforward shonen action show albeit with an older main character. Even the animation is just OK most of the time (though there’s are some cases where it rises to the occasion).
Now the first season did have a pretty kick ass theme song but I don’t think the intro did a lot for me visually. But I love this second one, which is a lot more fun. The action looks fresher, the humour is stronger and the music really makes you want to get up and dance. Watching Sakamoto turn a credit into an improvised weapon makes my heart smile. There’s some fun stuff in this season, too, but really the show is outshined by its own intro.
8. With You and the Rain
This isn’t my usual kind of go-to for OPs. Usually I want something that is eye popping or even lyrical. This one is more chill coffeehouse vibes, which is generally not me at all. There aren’t amazing flourishes to it, though it is somewhat visually arresting due to it’s look that feels a bit like the VH1 version of Patrick Nagel. And that sounds like I’m mocking it, but it does look quite slick.
It’s a really relaxing vibe for an appropriately relaxing slice of life show. The series does get some big laughs but mostly it’s a hang out show between a woman and her pet, which barely even shows up in this intro. But it’s not misleading, it sets the tone exactly, a sweet show that comes down like a gentle rain.
7. Call of the Night season 2
Call of the Night season 2 is still a hang out show but this season gives it more clear direction. This is neither a positive nor a negative. The first season gives the two leads a clear goal by the end but not one that threatens to disrupt the flow of hanging out at night too much. Season two throws in some actual real complications and even a villain. An interesting one. I think it would be fair if by the end of the season some fans feel the antagonist’s master plan is kinda weaksauce. This is something the show admits itself because by the end, it’s not about disrupting the brilliant master plan of an evil detective but figuring out what is wrong with them and how to help.
So the intro is primarily about the “villain”. One of the co-leads barely shows up, though they tie in well. This is all about the tragedy and sadness of the villain, how in this colourful series, there is someone living a sepia tone life. Fo them, the night doesn’t hold the joy it does for the leads. Once again, we have a killer Creepy Nuts track but the difference here is this feels considerably darker and sadder than the other one.
6. SANDA
It took Science Saru a while to get into the shonen action game after most of their career prior being more unorthodox series designed to last a single series (that said, I hope if they are doing more multiple season shows, they can bring back Keep Your Hands Off Eizoken!). Dan Da Dan may be quirkier than most Shonen Jump series but by Saru standards, it’s kinda typical. But when the creator of BeaSTARS is doing a shonen action show about Santa Claus with Saru, you know you are in for a weird, wonderful time.
In this case, we have an opening that looks like the Shonen Jump version of Saul Bass, with abstracted imagery (as well as some representing the actual look), all with a white, red and black colour scheme. I also love that there are sections with GIF like animations. I swear, the title character in his human form walking while stucking in an ill-fitting box-shaped screen will life in my head forever. And it ends with the real thesis, our adult and child sides coming to embrace each other in the most awkward time in many of our lives.
5. Anne Shirley
I think I am a little down on Anne Shirley, more than a lot of folks. I think the problem is it’s an adaptation of the Anne book series and it feels increasingly corny going forward after the main series and with it being from the books I know less about, I’m not as enamored. But the adaptation of the initial book is a very strong one. And the intro does a good job representing the joy of the first book about a precocious and melodramatic child bringing joy to a couple of aging siblings and also learning to find her place in the community.
The intro represents this, showing her prancing through her cozy, humble world, wishing greeting friends and family, represented by some gorgeous animation. I also think she is subtly being aged up any time she goes behind someone in the green background section, which I like. But it also gets a bit wistful as we move forward. I love the little moments between characters in this and the lighting for some of the moments is top notch but the best moment is the end where we see too moments of Anne and the Blythes in what is presumably them getting a photo taken between when Anne is quite young and when she is a tall teenager.
4. The Summer Hikaru Died
The Summer Hikaru Died is a series full of comedy and thrills but I primarily think of it in the genre of horror and romance. The Intro goes hard for the horror and action but it really picks up a little of everything that makes the special. But mostly, this intro gets in because A) it looks beautiful and B) holy shit, this song is a bop! Usually, if you have a Vaundy song, probably the best J-Pop/Rock band about now (that I’m aware of), boy are you going to have a leg up.
But while the intro leans into the spooks and spectres, it feels like nothing is left behind. I love intros that have innocuous shots that actually have deeper meanings and it definitely recognizes the romance, in short clips of longing and even in more subtler bits like the Hunter X Hunter finger puppets. But it really is an intro with everything. Many series will have a lot of shots of key moments but this really deftly navigates them to get you all the feels; thrills, longing, joy, fear. It’s an amazing and fun intro for a series that works with a lot of effective tones within it.
3. Takopi’s Original Sin
Takopi’s Original Sin is not an easy watch. The story takes a classic archetype more-or-less started by the beloved Doraemon and asks “what if these cute little mascot characters did not have the emotional intelligence to help a child”. Especially the children in this show, who endure some intense stuff. The intro is clever in a lot of ways. It doesn’t overtly let anyone know how dark things are going to get and implies it’s a kid drama with a magical pet.
But it also works in a number of ways. At first it seems sincere but considering the events that happen over the course of the series, it all feels ironic, as a magic ribbon is being used to bring characters together when we the audience know it hard a darker meaning, that something more horrifying binds these characters. But as the series comes to a close, it comes around to being something that isn’t a mockery, it’s real and it’s powerful and though what binds these characters is unpleasant, perhaps that bond is even more important because of that. It’s clever but while the series seems like a deconstruction of cute mascot shows for kids, it is also a reminder that love is the greatest magic, trite as that sounds, and the way to activate it is just communicating. Also, the first 15 seconds may be canonical but the show never mentions it...
2. Witch Watch OP 1
I’ll be honest, my number 1 and number 2 picks changed a lot. Back and forth. I could post this and immediately change my mind. But man, Witch Watch’s first intro is just… amazing. The show itself… it’s merely fine. As a comedy show it is hit and miss (sometimes hits good sometimes just kinda bland) and in the times where it is more of a shounen action show, it’s even more forgettable. It has a decent enough cast but it all becomes contingent on the success of the individual story.
But man, look at this. It’s so damn slick. It has some real visual creativity. I love what it is doing with symmetry in some parts. It’s not just poppy and fun, it makes my eyes pop. Even in referencing the stuff I didn’t like as much, it makes it look so exciting and fun! The best sketches are clever reimaginings of classic super power tropes and the show plays with it well (I particularly like the presentation of one character tragically trapped in fast forward after a misguided idea to have super speed). Witch Watch was just an OK show but man, this is such a killer OP.
1. City
Now City’s intro might not be as dynamic as Witch Watch’s. There are more static shots and still images. It’ part of the reason I keep debating it. Usually intros heavy on still shots get dinged by me unless they are somehow immaculate. Hey, a still image can convey a lot but there are a lot of shows where I remember liking the intro and coming back to review it, I find it more about the song and finding the images lacking. Not so here.
City is one of the most amazing, accomplished series this year. The intro looks gorgeous but despite OPs essentially being commercials for the show you are about to watch or a way to make crediting people involved less of a chore, this one doesn’t feel like it needs to play all it’s amazing hands. Instead, it uses those still shots for the best. This is a comedy, a very wacky comedy, but it’s also a slice of life show. One with strange cryptids and weird events but also one that lives in the smaller human moments. So it makes sense it’s an intro that is largely a series of snapshots of the people and things that connect a community and small beautiful or memorable moments.
The song is also a killer. It goes BIG and goes from gentle and inviting to triumphant. The triumph and joy of the wacky city and the connections between its lovable characters as they support each other and bust each other’s chops. The things we see become familiar entry points, like a swing set of a pile of comic books. Frankly, City is such a good show, it earned that every little moment deserves a loving look and a good three-to-five seconds just to absorb it.
