Welcome back to Otaku Thursday! It has been a week my friends. I feel like I spent a lot of time watching anime this week, even though I really haven’t. But you know, amidst watching that anime, I decided that today I wanted to do a super easy post that had nothing to do with anime rants (like the rest of my posts recently). Today, I just wanted to count down the top five anime openings of Winter 2023! Without further ado, here are five favorite openings–and two honorable mentions.
Star’s Honorable Mention: “Musical” by Minori Suzuki, Sugar Apple Fairy Tale
For Star, this opening is really nostalgic and she especially likes where the two main characters are dancing. It’s a pseudo callback to the dance of the sugar plum fairy, though in this case, it’s apples! It’s also just really pretty to look at.
Luna’s Honorable Mention: “Down Timer” by Ret Bear, Revenger
Okay, so this is nostalgic for me. It somehow feels like an opening you’d see in a mid-2000s anime. The song and the shots are beautiful, it gives you exactly what the show is about. I really enjoy this opening. There are a lot of nice details.
5 )”Trickster” by Five New Old, High Card
The best part of this opening is the way it is cinematically cut. It sort of reminds of Millionare Detective’s opening, with a lot of really random but stylistic shots that are a little over the top for the show and really draw you in. It’s very elegant in a weird way.
4 ) “Escalate” by Aimer, Nier Automata 1.1a
I am a ho for Aimer. I just love all Aimer songs and I am always so biased towards their openings. However, Nier Automata 1.1a’s opening was extraordinary. For a sepia tone opening, it has beautiful shots and animation. Which makes sense because it’s Nier so that’s also a little annoying it’s so good.
3 ) “Usotuski” by Leo Leiri, Fire Hunter
WOW. This is an opening that I did not expect to slap this hard. The song and the animation go nearly PERFECT together. Honestly, sometimes I get it stuck in my head. The indie art style and this sort of clean and pure vocal that doesn’t go too hard just gets me. This show, in general, is nothing like I expected.
2 ) “White Noise” by HIGE DANdism, Tokyo Revengers Christmas Showdown Arc
Of course, Tokyo Revengers brings it all over again with another great opening. Admittedly not as catching as the first, but we both still really enjoy this. There is some really pretty imagery in the opening, it keeps with a similar theme to the first with the use of scales and a more anthem vibe to the vocals. Really great opening all around.
1 ) “River” by Anonymouz, Vinland Saga Season 2
Breathtaking. Just breathtaking. I’m not usually a fan of English openings but the vocals really fit the show and the song overall. The visuals in this opening are outstanding. There are so many cool things going on with the animation too that it really just catches your attention and keeps it there. It’s a big upgrade from the season one openings. When we were reviewing all the openings, we watched this one first–expecting it to be dethroned by other shows, but this opening stayed in our minds til the end as the one that stood out, so it is rightfully our favorite of the winter season.
That’s our top five! Now the real question is: do you have a top five? Let us know if you agree, disagree, or whatever in the comments below! We always like hearing other people’s opinions on which anime are best. And hope you guys visit the blog next week for another ranting and full review of–THE CRUNCHYROLL anime awards.
Stay weebtastic,
xoxo
Luna
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