Top Eleven: Openings From Anime

I've gone on before about theme songs in shows and how important they are.  Something I hadn't originally considered is how difficult it must also be for shows that are going to be transferred from one country to another.  Do you dub over the voices with new words?  Do you leave it as it is and just add subtitles?  Or do you simply have no words at all and let the words speak for themselves?

This became more apparent the more I thought about a lot of the programs I watched from Japan, and which ones had me hooked just by the theme song and which ones pretty much lost me right from the get-go.

So, in honor of that, here's my completely self-absorbed list of my eleven favorite themes from anime.




The problem I've had with most anime themes (and with most J-pop in general) is that for a long time the biggest artists were women who simply could not sing.  Sure, they were cute, but in Japan that seemed to carry more weight than if they could actually hold a long series of notes.  There were some exceptions, but so many songs for an anime just seemed to throw together lyrics that made absolutely no sense when translated ("Now it's time for ethics/now the unstoppable eraser rain") and women who were hired to be eye candy in something that you never see them in.

Note: these aren't in any particular order.

1) Let's get the obvious out of the way right now.

"Tank!" from Cowboy Bebop probably tops the list of a lot of people, and I have to say that it breaks most of the rules I had about what makes up a good theme song, but it does it in an interesting way.  First off, it comes from Japan, but the lyrics are in English.  It doesn't really explain much of the story, but it does have the gist typed out in the background if you're willing to search for it.  It somehow manages to be a blend of the artistry of Saul Bass' works, blended with some film noir and with a good dash of science fiction thrown in.  Together, it makes a truly unique work that stands on its own as something that makes you want to learn more about the series as you watch it.

2) The theme to St. Luminous Mission High School

...um, I can't really find anything on Youtube that plays the theme song, but to be fair, it doesn't even really have a credits sequence.  There is one song that plays through the opening of the story, so the best I can do is recommend that everybody go watch it, as it's a pretty great series.

Anyway, the theme song itself has a heavy melancholy sense to it, the kind that plays at the best shows that carry a mystery deep within them, whether it's something like The X-Files or Journeyman.

Side note: Did Journeyman ever come out on DVD?  I loved that show.

Anyway, this song is on my favorites list because every time I heard the notes come in, I knew I as going to get sucked back into a story of disappearing students, and wondering which character was next.

3)  Tokyo Underground

I think this one is mostly a guilty pleasure because I'm probably the only fan this show ever had.  Most people I know who even like anime have never heard of it, but I sat through the whole series and enjoyed it.

The opening animation itself is pretty basic, introducing each of the characters with just a little bit of their personality or powers, showing off the shadowy dark forces (is that redundant?) they fight against, but the fact that this show lead with another sort-of Saul Bass-like work before going "mainstream" hooked me originally.

4)  Angel Beats

I'm going to be honest, I haven't watched this series.

That isn't to say I won't watch the series, if just because the premise ("a high school that's actually a limbo for people who died to give them a chance to let go of anything holding them back from their final destination") is a pretty interesting premise.

But the theme, man.  I'm a sucker for music that tends to combine classical styles of music with newer styles, as shown by my love of the music group Bond.  When I first heard that piano riff, I stopped and actually listened without watching any of the animation, and then I went back and watched as well as listened.  It's a really good theme.

5)  Gatchaman Theme

Some people out there remember this series when it aired on American TV and was terrible.

But man, watching the Japanese theme, how could this not possibly be the most awesome thing to ever exist?

Sure, the music and lyrics sound a bit hokey now, but it also seems cool in a "retro" way.  But look at that animation.  You have a group of young people with some kind of bird-like powers and fancy weapons and a jet that turns into a giant flaming ... thing fighting lots of bad guys, giant arms with drills on them, a giant mechanical centipede that rebuilds itself after you smack it apart like Legos with a plane and a giant mummy.  A GIANT MUMMY.

If the show had lived up to half of that promise over here when it aired, it'd be the biggest thing ever.

6)  Trigun

This is just pure greatness in electric guitar form.  Barely any words, a lot of time focused on the main character, and one brief flash of a wanted poster tells you everything you need to know about this guy: he's bad ass.  Sure, there are some secondary characters involved, but the show is all about Vash the Stampede and the title sequence isn't afraid to do that, mixing a great blend of western action and "look how cool I am" poses.

7)  Record of Lodoss War

One of the few Japanese pop artists I actually like is Yoko Kanno, who I originally learned the name of because I really enjoyed the theme she did for Kingdom Hearts.  However, she also does the theme song for this series, and while she's no Enya, I feel she does a pretty good job getting the epic "sound" to the song for something akin to Lord of the Rings.  Just from watching the series, the world feels large and dangerous, and the glimpses we see of characters gives a slight glimpse of who they are simply from the costumes they have.  You can tell who uses magic, who's probably a thief, who's a tough fighter.

8) Black Lagoon

There are so many things going against this series for me to like it.  I'm not usually a big fan of "anti-hero" series, the idea of "everybody is a bad guy, these guys are just less bad" is a concept I just don't like, which has kept me away from series like Breaking Bad and Dexter.  It used to be I'd watch a series if I thought the female characters were, um, how shall I say this... "well designed" (don't look at me that way, it's the same thinking that lead to Pamela Anderson getting any television work).  However, I'm not really a big fan of large tattoos, smoking turns me off, and I've always been more of a fan of the more "nurturing" types of characters.

So the fact I absolutely love this series and rank it in my five favorite series of all time is all the more puzzling, and the soundtrack to the series has a permanent home on my mp3 player.

9)  Azumanga Daioh

I think I like this song because, while I don't understand a single word that's being said, I don't need to understand a word being said.  I read the manga on a lark because someone recommended it to me and wound up laughing harder than I had at anything in quite a while, and the same humor came through in the animated series.  Just hearing the opening theme makes me smile, and you can get an immediate impression from just how wacky the series can be just through those initial couple of minutes.

10)  Blade of the Phantom Master

Okay, technically this is cheating a bit.  First off, this isn't the opening; it is a song that happens partway through the movie.  Second, this series wasn't originally Japanese; it was South Korean, but Japan developed a licensing agreement with the country to be able to publish the manga in Japan as well.  The two countries also worked together to develop it into a theatrical release film, which is rather historical since it's the first time the two countries worked together to do that.

The song is okay, but the soft music does quite well with the mood of the scene, which is the two main characters keeping their distance from each other.  She's staying back from him out of respect, he's simply walking away because he doesn't really want her there to begin with.  Time passes, and you see that bond start to form between the two.  Watching it now, you pick up on a lot of subtle animation touches and cues that are really well done.

So, I know I said that these aren't in any particular order, but if I had to pick one to be my #1 choice, this next one would be it.

11)  Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig

Yes, that is a ridiculously long name for a series.

Yes, this is the second series, and while the first one would probably be on this list if this one didn't exist, I wanted to only allow one from any particular series so I'd have more variety.

Between the two seasons this is, quite simply put, one of my top three favorite television shows of all time.  There's drama, there's comedy, there's heart-wrenching moments, there's tension, and there's absolutely gorgeous animation through the entire production.  You have multiple lengthy conspiracies intertwining each other through both seasons, and they all come together perfectly at the end like a gift-wrapped bow.

The characters have amazing depth, including the secondary and tertiary characters having their own spotlight episodes, but each also leave enough open ended questions for there to be another series to answer them all.

Oh, and by the way, there's going to be ANOTHER SERIES.

My excitement knows no bounds.

Honorable Mentions:  The full opening and ending credits songs from Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu

I don't know why I like this song so much, it's just so upbeat and cheerful.  I have it on my mp3 player and any time it comes on I just start smiling.  It could be because this is one of the few series based around the idea of a high school kid piloting a giant robot that I really enjoyed, or it could just be that the humor was sharp, the characters were deep, and the storyline was engrossing.  Either way, I just really love this song.

It sounds like what would happen if someone asked a theme writer "how do you think Carlos Santana would write a song to end a TV show?"  This song also has a permanent spot on my mp3 player even though I have absolutely no idea what the lyrics mean, but it's just great how it works.