Although a good anime opening, or closing for that matter, doesn’t make the anime, if it is your first time watching, the quality of the opening is equilvelant to the cover of the book. Can’t judge it, but the better that shit is, the more likely you’re going to sit through that episode.

As many anime as I’ve had the pleasure of watching, only a few will make it off my screen and into my iPod. The fine line of great opening animation, the actual music, and the amount of anticipation it gives for the upcoming arc usually how I rate if it’s a good opening or not. Of course, I have my personal prefrences, because if I could I’d put the entire Bleach and Naruto soundtrack up here as well (they were all good ass openings), but I won’t.

Here’s a list of a few openings and their artist. (in no particular order).

Bleach – High and Mighty Color “Ichirin No Hana”
When I first got into Bleach, Asterick, the first opening song was pretty good, as far as first openings go, but when we got to Ichirin No Hana, that led into one of the most solid and entertaining arcs that Bleach had to offer, they did an awesome job building the excitement, and did it with a pretty dope song.



Naruto- “Haruka Katana” Asian Kung Fu Generation
So, we’ve gotten past the sappy, “we’re giving you these episodes to bond Naruto and Sasuke for the HOURS and HOURS of friendship angst you’re about to watch” episodes. And now we’re at the Chunin Exams. This opening did two things. Got you ready for some apparently great matchups and fighting, and then scared the hell outta you with Gaara. It also help introduce the Konoha 10. Plus the song is badass, pretty much anything Asian Kung Fu Generation touches, is badass.


You don’t know this opening, then I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t need to construct any kind of synopsis or reasoning I put this up here.


Cowboy Bebop The Seatbelts “Tank!”


EASILY my favorite opening yet, the animation and the music, completely encompass everything that Champloo is, Shinichirō Watanabe flawless crafted effort to combine historical martial arts, a compelling story and best of all, and urban style hip-hop centered soundtrack. Dead Poetics are dope.



Samuari Champloo Dead Poetic “Battlecry”



The popular anime D.Gray Man boasted some pretty spec’tac opening music too. I was already hooked on the show after the first opening performed by J-Rock legend led Abbington School Boy’s “Innocent Sorrow”, but then we get to this one, and I smoothly started loading their songs onto my iPod.



D.Gray Man- Doubt & Trust “Access”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhat8dj0J2s

You can’t talk about Anime openings without mentioning the one that girls young and old can sing (the English version I have to add) on cue. All you have to do is play the first three cords and you’ve got a sing-a-long. Most of the opening songs for Sailor Moon were cheesy, filled with glitter, flowers, and in one season, unicorns, but they are timeless classics that never fail to excite you about the mystical world and adventures of it’s stars.



Sailor Moon “Moonlight Densetsu” DALI


I don’t know how many people have seen this anime, it was pretty decent. Lot of gunplay with a blending of mercenary action and baddassay. The opening let’s you know this isn’t your ordinary magical anime. Somebody is gonna get shot. A lot of people are going to get shot.



Black Lagoon Mell “Red Fraction”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E3-BqG8aJQ

Most of the songs for Rorouni Kenshin were lighthearted, probably in light of Kenshin’s aloof and merry nature. They do a good job of hinting at the darker being within him, but overall, poppy happy tunes. Leading into the Makoto arc, we get 1/2, that similar to Bleach’s “Ichirin No Hana”, we get a blitz of character introductions. Makoto Kawamoto’s chipper voice adds to the cute and addicting.


Rouruni Kenshin” ½” by Makoto Kawamoto
As mentioned before, if I could put every Naruto song on here, I would, and then you all wouldn’t like me anymore. But if there were going to pick a way to welcome back Naruto after his two year hiatus and us fans anticipating the second season of Naruto, Nobody Knows’s Hero’s Comeback and the apparently crisper looking animation worked.


Naruto- Hero’s Come Back Nobody Knows – “Hero’s ComeBack”

Since I’m an 80’s baby, I do well when I hear a synthesizer. Like it wakes me up and makes me want to do an air guitar solo. Every Little Thing’s Grip does that to me. Inuyasha’s third opening which introduces the Seven (Hey there, Bankotsu ^_^) where the crew go up against their first set of human (although undead humans) and the supercharged musical opening reminds you of a fairy warrior going into battle…or something.



Inuyasha Every Little Thing “Grip”

You knew what time it was when you hopped outta bed on Saturday morning, turn the TV, and heard…

“IT’S MORPHIN TIME!”


Yeeeeeeeeeeeeah bitches! The Power Rangers! A collective staple in our childhood where we would hop around like ninjas, kicking chairs, tables, siblings, all in the name of Good and defeating Rita Repulsa right?

I remember it well. I was always the Yellow Ranger, my brother the Black Ranger (cuz he’s a thug, my brother), my neighbor the Red, and my cousin the Blue.


But….who was gonna be the Pink Ranger? NOBODY wanted to be the Pink Ranger. We were flipping coins, taking pain test, blackmailing, running foot races, all in hopes of never being elected the Pink Ranger.


Why?

She was the most useless, asinine, insipid character ever created. The PINK Ranger. Hmph!

Let me take this back, to give you a broader scope. The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was a show that was drafted for American audiences and derived from the wildly popular Japanese show Super Sentai (taking plot and footage and inserting it into the show). Same premise basically, martial art expert teenagers that welded the ability to “morph” into first spandex clad warriors and then into mecha like animals to save the day (after the protagonist grew to a size that required extra large machines to win.)

The problem with the Pink Ranger isn’t her battle prowess. Both in Super Sentai (and the 5011 different factions of Super Sentai) and The Power Rangers, The Pink Ranger proved herself somewhat useful; the bow and arrow useful in long rang attacks. Her martial arts was pretty decent too.

DECENT.


It was Kimberly/Amy Jo Hart, who was the problem.

Flipping all over the damn place with her forever wearing pink tooted up ass, and being practically useless if she wasn’t in her Power Ranger gear. If she wasn’t getting her ass handed to her by the Putties, or Trini/Aisha showing Kimberly who the REAL boss bitch was, she was crying for either Jason or Tommy; whichever of the simp asses could answer her weak feminine pleas first. She was either spending her time being grossed out, crying out “Ew” or “That’s Gross” or “I can’t believe this is happening” like the frail hearted woman she was, or completely freaking out. In the Mighty Morphin Movie, I think she called out to Tommy….Jason….whichever it was at least 12 times whilst being chased by the enemy.

YOU’RE A NINJA BITCH! FIGHT!

What exactly is her point? The Yellow Ranger provides sass and reasonability, the Blue the brain of the group, the Black Ranger….apparently comic relief, while the Red and White/Green ranger fought for the Alpha male position in the group. Kimberly provides….flexibility? What do Pterodactyl do when morphin? Kick up dust?



And back to this Tommy/Jason love triangle the little harlot created. Watch the episodes before Tommy showed up. She was often seen using The Red Ranger as her shield-flirt/fuck buddy-. Shy glances and blushes when he’d put his hand on her shoulder. And then this bipolar Green negro shows up, and just like that ….”Tommy Who?” That’s probably why Jason was so gun-ho to take the Green Ranger out. The allure of the pink had them literally about to kill each other. Pink Hoes before Bros apparently.



Am I reaching? Probably. Do I care? No. I spent enough of my childhood watching a woman single-handily destroy the cute wispy color that could have been transformed into something powerful for girls, but yet we gotta watch the Pink Ranger tip tap all around Angle Grove, while they’re trading out the Yellow Ranger like she’s last years Jays. Rita Repulsa should have taken her out Episode one. Gokai Pink woulda slapped the shit outta Kimberly.

The below video is WILDLY inappropriate and completely disrespectful to the Pink Ranger franchise. For that, I lowkey apologize as I laugh and hit replay.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss2cztn5Z0E

*throws down some ninja dust and escapes out of the room*

Like swords?
I do.
Like history?
Why, yes. Yes I do.
Like long ass sword techniques that take a practiced tongue to recite?
YES! YES! I DO!

Well I’ve got something for you. Not only is this a classic, but it’s a BAMF (Bad Ass Muthafucking) Classic at that.


Aww isn’t he cute? This is Kenshin, our peace loving, “Oro” reciting, roaming samurai. He’s precious. Looks like a woman, washes and cooks like a woman, is broke beyond imagine, has no home, clumsy, looks 10 years younger than he actually is, and most of all, hates violence.

Which is strange because…


This is who Kenshin really is. Well, part of who he is. He really is both.


Let me back up, and explain this correctly. Himura Kenshin (formally Shinta) picked up a nickname during the Bakumatsu, an era in a Japan’s history, which was a particularly violent one. The nickname being Hitokiri Battousai. Hitoriki meaning assassin, and Battousai meaning someone who is really good at drawing a sword. The reason he picked this nickname up was during this violent era in Japanese history, Himaru Kenshin was a fear-inducing, lethal and very deadly assassin for the Tokugawa Shogunate. After killing just about everybody that opposed him and those who hired him, Kenshin goes off to the countryside with a woman who became his wife to help in the concealing of their identities. In what appeared to be an assassin attempt ON the assassin he ends up….

Well, I won’t spoil it for you.

All I can tell you is, that because of what happened as his time as an assassin, Kenshin decides that all of the killing he did in the name of justice made him an unworthy person and spent 10 years wandering hoping to find ways to redeem himself for his sins. This is mainly revolved around one killing in particular. He threw down his sword and took up a reverse blade sword, vowing to never kill again. This was all in attempt to hide and hopefully destroy Kenshin’s true nature (Which is a bloodthirsty killing machine). In his journey he happens across a young woman named Kaoru, who in befriending her starts his current adventures that are depicted in this anime/manga.


The awesome thing about this anime is how it ties in historical fact and
its violence and political struggles, with comedy, love and virtues. Kenshin has to deduce how to keep his vow of not killing, while at the same time trying to save Japan from threats of his past.

There are a lot of people out there with VERY huge grudges against him and the current government (that he had a hand in creating) and they lead him, Kaoru and the rest of the cast through some very trying situations.


Still even with 10 years of wandering, Kenshin manages to still be a very skilled swordsman, and even if made angry enough, he’s known for reverting back to his Battosai personality. (Which is apparently tenfold the swordsman that Kenshin is.)


Ama Kakeru Ryu no Hirameki

The villains in this story are pretty wicked too. These aren’t your typical, sit back and methodically construct ways to destroy the “good world” type villains. These villains have very true and mainly reasonable grounds for the things they do. Such as Shishio (who is just one of the coolest villains ever IMO) who took over Kenshin’s position after he retired, but was betrayed by the same government he helped, when they tried to burn him to death (as you can tell, it didn’t work). Or there is Enishi who is related to Kenshin’s wife, and the revenge he takes out on Kenshin provides this story with enough emotional angst to bash your head in. (I cried, twice. Sue me)
Or Soujiro….. who as just fucked up.

Another thing, outside of Kenshin’s constant battle to keep himself in check, is the female lead. Kaoru was completely UNuseless in this anime. She fought, for everything she believed in from episode one to the final chapter. She showed strength time and time again, even when a young woman like her should have crumbled. From raising and providing for herself at such a young age, to providing for a house full of warriors, to protecting Kenshin when she could, to fighting for love. I loved Kaoru.


It’s a very good dramatic story, easily called a classic when they mention anime/mangas. If not for the storyline, at least for the swordfights.



Kenshin vs Saito



Kenshin vs Soujiro

This is one story that you can read over and over again, because it’s well written and drawn beautifully. It ties in reality with plenty of lore and LOTS of sword technique and style. It’s good. Watch/Read it. Now.

Note: Oh. And if you start watching this, DON’T watch the second OVA. It will piss you off.