Here’s my OP/ED themes post for Summer 2009 season. There are several good songs this season. As usual, this is quite subjective as it’s listed as “Top 5″ ranked according to my preference, followed by randomly listed titles as “special mention.”
~ Format :: “Song title” by band/artist (OP#/ED# – anime series title)
- My Top 5 OP/ED themes this Summer:
1. “Hologram” by NICO Touches the Walls (OP #2 –Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
– watch: anime OP — music video
– I’ve never seen a single episode of FMA, but I think this is a very good song. I really love the melody and the guitars.
2. “Perfect World” by Rocky Chack (ED#1 – Spice and Wolf II)
– watch: anime ED — music video
– Very catchy tune coupled with a cute ED sequence (which is reminiscent of the previous ED sequence). Makes me tap my feet every time I hear it. Rocky Chack also did the season 1 ED song for this series and that was a really cute song too.
3. “M/elody” by Shion Tsuji (ED #1 – Tokyo Magnitude 8.0)
– watch: anime ED — music video
– I think the song title is quite fitting since it has a really nice melody. It kinda raises up the mood after watching an episode of a series with a central plot brought about by an earthquake. Personally, I think Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is the best series that this summer 2009 season has to offer. Despite the gloomy title, it’s a nice story about family, relationships, and re-evaluating your priorities in life.
4.1 “Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari” by supercell (ED #1 – Bakemonogatari)
– watch: anime ED — music video
– It’s a tie for #4! I couldn’t pick which song I liked best between this series’ ED and OP, so I chose them both. ;P First is the ED. It’s a very nice song, so I wait until it finishes even if there’s nothing going on with the ED sequence. xD
4.2 “staple stable” by Chiwa Saito (OP #1 – Bakemonogatari)
– watch: anime OP — music video
– It’s a tie for #4! I couldn’t pick which song I liked best between this series’ ED and OP, so I chose them both. ;P Second is the OP. A nice song with a different visual presentation, as expected from SHAFT. Too much stapler and staple wires? I love the words in the OP sequence even though they don’t mean much (the episode title is included as well as the OP song’s title)
Based on the series’ page at ANN, it seems like the seiyuu for the leading characters on each arc will be taking turns in singing the OP song which has a title that’s related to the story arc/character (like staples/stapler for Hitagi), beginning with episode 4 (which is part 2 for Mayoi Snail arc). I haven’t seen ep 4 yet, but seeing as ep 3 did not have an OP, I assume that they’d only show the OP song in the second part of each arc (“staple stable” for ep 2, which is part 2 of Hitagi Crab arc)… probably. Anyway, I’m looking forward to the upcoming OPs. Hmm, I wonder if Kamiya Hiroshi will sing if ever Araragi’s arc will be animated. ^^
5.1 “Kimi no Uta” by abingdon boys school (OP #1 – Tokyo Magnitude 8.0)
– watch: anime OP – full song
– It’s a triple tie for #5! First is this nice OP song by ABS from Tokyo Magnitude 8.0. I especially like the chorus part. It’s not your typical OP animation too, showing the ruined backdrop of Tokyo with the occasional appearance of the three main characters .
5.2 “Zetsubou Restaurant” by Zetsubou Shoujotachi (ED #1 – Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei)
– watch: anime ED – music video
– It’s a triple tie for #5! Second is this OP song from Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. I love how it has a touch of Spanish music in it. I think it’s my favorite ED among all Zetsubou Sensei‘s previous EDs.
5.3 “My Answer” by SEAMO (ED #10 – Naruto Shippuden)
– watch: anime ED – music video
– It’s a triple tie for #5! Third is this catchy tune by SEAMO from Naruto: Shippuden. I included this because it was this series’ ED song as this summer season started. Even though I don’t watch this series at all, I do check out its OP/ED themes every season because some of them are really nice to listen to.
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Special Mention: (just click on the song title to watch & listen to the anime OP/ED)
- “Orange Days” by SQUAREHOOD (ED #2 – Cross Game)
- “Yume Miru Kokoro” by Kanae Ito (ED #1 – Taishou Yakyu no Musume)
- “Romantic Strike” by Kanae Ito, Mai Nakahara, Kana Ueda and Mamiko Noto (OP #1 – Taishou Yakyu no Musume)
- “Mind as Judgment” by Faylan (OP #1 – CANAAN)
- “violet” by marble (OP #1 – Umi Monogatari ~Anata ga Ite Kureta Koto~)
- “Tomei na Inori” by Masumi Ito (ED #1 – Umi Monogatari ~Anata ga Ite Kureta Koto~)
- “Aoi Hana” by Kukikodan (OP #1 – Aoi Hana)
- “Sentiforia” by Ceui (ED #1 – Aoi Hana)
- “My heaven” by Annabel (ED #1 – CANAAN)
- “modern strange cowboy” by GRANRODEO (OP #1 – NEEDLESS)
- “Mitsu no Yoake” by Akino Arai (OP #1 – Spice and Wolf II)
- “Osaki ni sil vous plait” by Saiwai Koukou GA girls (OP #1 – GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class)
- “Coloring palettes Tomokane-iro” by Miyuki Sawashiro (ED #1 – GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class)
- “Super Noisy Nova” by Sphere (OP #1 – Sora no Manimani)
- “片翼の鳥 (One-Winged Bird)” by Shikata Akiko (OP #1 – Umineko no Naku Koro ni)
- “Ringo Mogire Beam!” by Kenji Ootsuki and Zetsubou Shoujotachi (OP #1 – Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei)
- “Hikari” by Breakerz (ED #34 – Detective Conan)
- “Hitotsu no Negai” by Hikari Inoue (ED #2 – Valkyria Chronicles)
- “Kanashimi Rensa” by MARIA (OP #2 – Valkyria Chronicles)
- “First Pain” by Chiaki Ishikawa (OP #1 – Element Hunters)
- “Watashi wo Mitsukete” by savage genius (ED #2 – Pandora Hearts)
- “programming for non-fiction” by Natsuko Aso (OP #1 – Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou)
- “Made in WONDER” by Aki Misato (ED #1 – Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou)
- “Princess Primp!” by Miyuki Hashimoto (OP #1 – Princess Lover)
- “S.S.D!” by yozuca* (ED #1 – Princess Lover)
- “Boku ga Boku no Mama” by THE SPIN (OP #2 – Basquash!)
- “Futari no Yakusoku” by Eclipse (ED #2 – Basquash!)
- “Let it out” by Miho Fukuhara (ED #2 – Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
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Most of the songs are from anime I’ve seen (or at least seen 1 episode of this Summer or heard the OP/ED song somewhere, or was recommended to me by someone), so I might’ve missed some good songs from series I don’t usually watch.
~ Which OP/ED songs made your “favorites” list this Summer 2009?
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Pretty great list ^^.
“staple stable” is love. Having different OPs for every arc in Bakemonogatari just made the series more unique. And Kamiyan singing? Count me in! <33
I am saddened that modern strange cowboy isn’t in your top 5. 😦 Good list though.
It is interesting that most of your favorite themes are EDs 🙂 From your list of top five, which looks like top 10 😛 , I liked Zan SZS (my favorite), TM8, and Bakemonogatari EDs 🙂
I’ll also make a list of my favorite OP and EDs, but I’ll wait for the end of the season because some shows will have several versions.
I can’t really say that most of the OP/EDs this season have caught my attention much, but the ones that do, like Bakemonogatari’s OP/ED (both) are at the top of my list. I heard Gendai Mahou’s OP was also pretty good too and was glad to see it make an appearance in the honorable mentions list.
Nothing has really stuck yet… (I watch Bakemonogatari, Canaan, and TM 8.0), and maybe it’s just I have LSS for Cagayake Girls FML
@ kanzeon: Thanks! I’m very much hoping that we’ll see Araragi’s arc and that Kamiya-san will have to sing the OP for that! ^^
@ Tamad: Aww… I totally loved the beat of “modern strange cowboy”… it’s just that I liked some of the other songs better. 😀
@ Kitsune: Lol, you got me! I had quite a hard time picking my top 5, but I didn’t want to make it a top 10… so I settled for ties. ;P I’ll be looking forward to your OP/ED list at the end of the season. 🙂
@ Moonlily: Glad to be of service.^^ Even if I don’t watch the other series, I do try to check out their OP/ED songs too since some are really good tunes.
@ghostlightning: Haha, “please don’t say you are lazy…”
I actually prefer the 1st OP for FMA: Brotherhood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMw9OdKv-uY#t=1m10s
I found the tune to be more catchy. Though the new one’s not bad.
The 1st OP was called again by Yui. Here’s the music video if you’re interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KiaYUIlCAc&hd=1
@ Krunk: Yep, I liked FMA: Brotherhood’s 1st OP too. It was part of my Top 5 list for the Spring 2009 season. Here’s my post for that, if you’re interested: [Notable OP/ED themes: Spring 2009]