A Winter 2009/2010 season OP/ED themes post! Kindly note that 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 Winter:
1. “Manazashi Daydream” by Sakai Yuu (OP#1 – Nodame Cantabile: Finale)
– watch: anime OP — music video
– Really nice song. As typical of most Nodame OP/ED themes, the intro of the song is based on a classical piece of music — This time, I think it’s Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, which I thought meshed well with the entirety of the song. I simply love the upbeat melody and the high notes~
Pardon the PV/music video, it seems to be cut. I couldn’t seem to find one in YT that’s complete. ^^;
2. “Tsuioku Merry-Go-Round” by onelifecrew (ED#2 – Fairy Tail)
– watch: anime ED — music video
– I love this song. Nice melody. I especially like the bass and piano parts as well as the chorus. OK, I like the entire song (maybe except the brief rap part? It sounds a wee bit out of place, but it’s very short so it really doesn’t matter much xD). The PV fits the lyrics quite well. Bittersweet, but nice nonetheless.
3. “Period” by Chemistry (OP#4 – Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
– watch: anime OP — music video
– Very nice song. I especially like the guitar parts. Nice and optimistic lyrics too. The PV isn’t anything special, though. Just Chemistry singing, emoting, and doing boyband moves.
4. “Wo Ai Ni” by Takahashi Hitomi feat. BEAT CRUSADERS (ED#14 – Gintama)
– watch: anime ED — music video
– Love the beat. Makes me wanna dance. I especially love the chorus part with the BEAT CRUSADERS~ (♪ Oh baby, close to me… Oh baby, let me be... ♫ ) The melody somewhat reminds me of an old Madonna song called “Holiday”, though. Haha.
A word of caution, the PV is a tad weird and has a looooong intro… The song doesn’t actually start until around 1:38 into the video. ^^;; But the print-out paper masks, puppets, sword slinging, and dancing made up for it. xD
5.1 “Shunkan Sentimental” by SCANDAL (ED#4 – Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
– watch: anime ED – music video
– It’s a tie for #5! First up is this OP song from FMA: Brotherhood. I like the melody. FMA has a really nice line-up of OP/ED themes every season and they always seem to find their way in my list. :3
The PV is basically all about the SCANDAL girls jammin’ and rockin’ out to the song in their miniskirts. They also have some sort of choreography going on. Darn it, now I can’t help but tend to do the moves in my head every time I hear the chorus. Tch. >.< xD
5.2 “Uragiri no Yuuyake” by Theatre Brook (OP#1 – Durarara!)
– watch: anime OP — music video
– It’s a tie for #5! Second is this OP from Durarara! I really like the beat, particularly in the intro. The chorus is pretty catchy too.
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Special Mention: (just click on the song title to watch & listen to the anime OP/ED)
– in random order –
- “Baka Go Home” by milktub (ED #1 – Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu)
- “Kaze no Oka to Ballad” by Real Paradis w/ Nodame Orchestra (ED #1 – Nodame Cantabile: Finale)
- “Light Infection” by Prague (OP #8 – Gintama) – I included this again because it was still this series’ OP/ED song as the Winter 2009/2010 season started.
- “Sign” by FLOW (OP #6 – Naruto Shippuden) – Ditto
- “Kigurumi Wakusei” by Takagaki Ayahi (ED #2 – Hanamaru Youchien) – So adorable + epic space battle. :3
- “Tsumeato” by hibiku (ED #1 – Dance in the Vampire Bund)
- “Hikari no Senritsu” by Kalafina (OP #1 – Sora no Woto)
- “Love Letter no Kawari ni Konoshi Wo” by Seira (OP #2 – Letter Bee)
- “Hikari no Kioku” by Angelo (ED #2 – Letter Bee)
- “Passionate Squall” by Fujimura Ayumi, Toyosaki Aki, Chihara Minori, Hirano Aya, Hikasa Yoko (ED #1 – Seikon no Qwaser)
- “Tasogare no Getsuka” by Teikoku Yousei (ED #1 – Katanagatari)
- “Tabidatsu Kimi e” by RSP (ED #22 – Bleach)
- “Hello Mr.my Yesterday” by Hundred Percent Free (ED #35 – Detective Conan)
- “Trust Me” by Matsushita Yuuya (ED #1 – Durarara!)
- “Rehearsal” by Kondo Natsuko (ED #4 – Cross Game)
- “Sakura Sakura Saku ~Ano Hi Kimi wo Matsu Sora to Onaji de~” by marble (ED #1 – Hidamari Sketch x Hochimittsu)
- “For You” by AZU (ED #12 – Naruto Shippuden)
Extra Special Mention:
- “Panda Neko Taisou” (Hanamaru Youchien) – I know, I know. It’s not an OP/ED theme, but I just had to include it! Can you say cute? ♪ Pa-pa-pa-pa-panda neko~ ♫
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Most of the songs are from anime I’ve seen (or at least seen 1 episode of this Winter 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 didn’t check out.
~ Which OP/ED songs made your “favorites” list this Winter 2009/2010?
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*credit: image taken from this site
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I really enjoyed Period by Chemistry also. Initially I didn’t think much of it as the OP animation itself wasn’t that captivating, but the more I listened to the song, the more I dug it.
After I found the PV and heard the full song, I dug it even more! There are parts of the song (not in the OP) that reminded me of a Bleach OP done by Sunset Swish – My Pace.
@ Krunk: “My Pace” sounds pretty good. Thanks for sharing! ^_^ Another song I liked from Sunset Swish was their ED for S1 of Ookiku Furikabutte entitled [“Arigatou“]
Haha, my bad. The song it actually reminded me of was Sunset Swish’s Mosaic Kakera. I had both songs in my library and didn’t realize I was thinking of the wrong one.
Thank you for posting this detailed list! 🙂 I have not heard many songs, so it was interesting to discover some of them 🙂
From this list I liked:
“Manazashi Daydream” by Sakai Yuu
“Shunkan Sentimental” by SCANDAL
“Kigurumi Wakusei” by Takagaki Ayahi and Pandaneko haha It’s so cute!
Tsk, tsk… You are Railrolling Detective Conan fans? 😛
@ Krunk: Haha, no problem. Either way, I think Mosaic Kakera sounded good too! It reminded me of a melody of some other song, but I can’t figure out what right now. xD I should check out more of Sunset Swish’s songs. They sound nice.
@ Kitsune: Thanks! Glad you found them helpful. ^^ I didn’t have time to see most of the Winter series, just their OP/ED themes (since they’re only under 2 mins xD). Music is love. Pa-pa-pa-pa-panda neko, FTW!
Sorry, I’m not sure what railrolling means… Does it have something to do with my Oofuri comment? 😀
Yes, I also didn’t have much time to watch most of the series. Even though some shows might not be great, music can be quite good 🙂
Indeed, music ❤ 🙂
hehe Just click your "Hello Mr.my Yesterday” Detective Conan link 😛
@ Kitsune: Lol, and I thought I already double-checked the OP/ED links. Orz ^^;; *edits links now* Thank you for pointing it out! 🙂