The Search for the Best Anime Opening: What Makes an Opening Truly Great?
Since the beginning of anime fandom, one thing has been constant: the fierce and sometimes hilarious debate over the best anime openings. From ancient fans carving tier lists into cave walls to heated campfire discussions about who is best girl (hint: it’s Priciosaurus, not Dloicus), the passion for ranking openings runs deep. But unlike those simpler times, today's fans face a much bigger challenge deciding what counts as the best anime opening of all time.
Why Ranking Anime Openings is So Difficult
Making a list of the best anime openings often sounds like a fun idea until reality kicks in. Most fans immediately hit the same brick walls:
- Have I actually watched enough shows? Sometimes it’s fewer than 50, and other times, fans feel lost without 100+ under their belt.
- Do I have strong enough opinions to compare openings objectively? Personal favorites often cloud judgment.
- The shift from trying to crown “the best” to admitting it’s just “my favourite” happens quickly — and wisely.
Ranking anime openings isn’t just about the song or visuals; it’s about capturing the mix of music, animation, theming, credits, and more. It’s a steep climb, and many give up halfway.
Our Quest for the Ultimate List
My friend and I have been updating this anime opening ranking list with help from members of our Discord community. Everyone shares their thoughts, suggestions, and favorite openings, and we keep reordering things as we go. It’s been a fun group effort, and the list keeps evolving as we add more or revisit older ones.
Digging Through Other Top Anime Opening Lists
To get a good sense of what the community valued, we scoured every top list we could find. Patterns emerged quickly:
- Certain openings almost always appeared.
- Some never cut.
- Fate openings and the iconic first opening of Code Geass, “Colors” by FLOW, were stubbornly popular..
Introducing "Jiun Wo" — The Standard of Quality
Jiun Wo became our quirky shorthand for “Is this opening really good?” Taken from the energetic chant in Code Geass’s opening, it’s now the standard by which we judge openings. When faced with a stack of fresh openings, we’d ask, “Is this Jiun Wo?” If it wasn’t, it probably didn’t cut.
Jiun Wo means more than catchy music; it’s about the total package.
How We Judge an Anime Opening
Overview of the Grading Criteria
Our grading system can be summarised neatly with an acronym: MERGER. It covers the essential elements that combine to make an opening truly stand out:
- Music – Does the song complement the mood and pace?
- Editing & Flow (Visuals) – Is the animation smooth and engaging?
- Role of Credits – Are the credits integrated well, or do they spoil the feel?
- Generation of Themes – Does it convey the story or tone effectively?
- Enthusiasm (The Jenny’s) – That special something or vibe that elevates an opening.
- Recognition – While icon status doesn’t get points, memorability counts.
Every opening was watched with this system in mind, aiming for a balance between subjective feeling and objective quality.
Visuals: More Than Just Animation Quality
Great visuals don’t just mean flashy fight scenes or stunning backgrounds. The flow matters just as much. Does the editing move naturally? Are the characters posed interestingly? Can you tell anything about the show just from the visuals?
“Flat JPEGs” — static, lifeless images of characters — are a visual nightmare. An opening that looks like a slideshow of unconnected character shots usually signals lazy design and fails to hook us.
The Importance of Visual Flow and Bridges
One of the trickiest but most rewarding visual effects is the use of visual bridges. These are moments that connect two shots, either literally or thematically, making them feel natural or even seamless.
For example:
- In Keki Shojo, the protagonist brushes her teeth in one shot, moving the brush left and right every couple of frames. The next shot shows her scrubbing the floor with the same motion and timing. Your brain barely registers the cut.
- Matching colours, shapes, or characters between shots also creates harmony.
Good visual flow keeps your eyes glued rather than distracted.
Thematic and Image Association Bridges
Sometimes visuals connect more abstractly. A clever sequence in the best One Piece openings shifts from white birds to falling pages that resemble wings, symbolising escape and news delivery in the story’s world. This lets the opening compress complex story elements into a few seconds.
Examples of Bad Visuals
Bad visuals, on the other hand, suffer from:
- Oversaturated colours that hurt your eyes.
- Jittery animation or oddly timed movements.
- Dizzying camera angles with no smooth transitions.
- Compositing errors like lazy use of stock assets (yes, even in big-budget shows).
Also, “JPEG openings” flood the screen with static images showing every character, but no interaction or style. These feel more like boredom incarnate.
Visuals That Are AMVs
Beware of openings that are nothing but rehashed clips from the show. These look like fan-made AMVs and fail our criteria. The animation of an opening should be crafted to tell its own story and mood, not just be a highlight reel.
Music’s Role in Anime Openings
Music is the heartbeat of an opening. A good song matches the pacing and mood, helping to sell the show’s energy. Memorability is key — an opening that sticks in your head long after the credits roll is doing something right.
The music doesn't have to be your personal favourite. Instead, it should feel like it belongs to the show.
Honorable Mentions: Great Songs That Didn’t Make the List
Many openings with great tunes just didn’t meet all the criteria. While the song might be catchy or pleasant, the visuals or theming might fall flat.
Some honourable mentions include songs that are popular but didn’t quite fit the total package.
When Bad Music Works Artistically
Sometimes “bad” music isn't bad art. It can add to the feeling or theme:
- Princess Tutu’s vocals are intimate and rough, matching the small dance production feel.
- Magical Destroyers has a raw, unsettling soundtrack that perfectly fits its vibe, even if it’s not pleasant to listen to casually.
- Paranoia Agent’s opening features music that clashes intentionally with the visuals, adding to the story’s tension.
When Bad Music Fails
When the music doesn’t suit the show or is forgettable, that’s when an opening screws up. Some openings have no musical identity — you could swap the song with any other generic track and miss nothing.
A notorious example is Charlotte’s opening, often unrecognisable even by regular watchers.
Why Credits Matter in an Opening
Credits aren’t just filler text — they’re part of the opening’s design. Good credits are stylish, move well, and blend with the animation.
If the opening looks better without the credits, that’s a failure.
Good Credit Design Examples
- Using negative space so the credits don’t block important visuals.
- Stylised fonts and even fantasy-language credits that fit the show’s world.
- “Diegetic credits” put text inside the animation so characters interact with them, adding another layer of art.
An example where credits improve the opening is Urusei Yatsura (2022) — shots feel unfinished without the text.
The Dreaded Song Credit (DSC) Problem
The DSC is the big block of text listing the song name, artist, and distributor. Often it’s oversized and placed awkwardly over key animation moments, ruining the impact.
Fire Force’s first opening, amazing visually, sadly gets knocked down because of this.
Bad Credit Placement Examples
Some openings cram text over a character’s face or smack in the middle of the fight scene, showing a lack of care or planning. Separating different credit sections cleanly can avoid this, but many studios fall short.
Why Creditless Versions Dominate YouTube
Most official and fan uploads on YouTube are creditless due to copyright reasons — credit-filled versions get taken down faster. Sadly, creditless versions often look worse, missing the design’s intended balance.
Understanding Theming in Anime Openings
Theming is how well an opening tells the story and sets the tone through its visuals and music. Good themes give layers of meaning, which deepen once you've seen the show.
Openings like Death Note cleverly weave religious symbolism and character hints that reward repeat viewers. Bakano!’s opening gains an extra punch for fans who catch its jokes and references.
Good Theming: Storytelling Through Visuals and Music
Some openings tell small stories on their own or evolve with the show, giving new meaning after repeated watches. Cultural or art references add richness and identity.
Bad Theming: When Openings Tell Nothing
Some openings fail as advertisements for their shows. Take Delicious in Dungeon — it shows characters as giant figures with no relation to the story’s themes of survival, ecosystems, and cooking. Characters are randomly arranged, giving little insight.
The X-Factor: Jenny’s
Jenny’s is that magic ingredient — the vibe, flair, or quirky moment that lifts an opening above good or bad.
Some memorable Jenny’s moments:
- Gintama’s MS Paint style opening that aired on TV.
- Welcome to the Ballroom’s long-necked giraffe characters fighting.
- Mushishi’s minimal visuals paired with wistful, somber music evoke a deep mood.
A strong Jenny’s can make you skip over technical flaws because it just feels right.
Additional Rules and Clarifications
Comparing Apples and Melons
Different anime genres aim to do different things. A romcom opening sells romance, while an edgy early 2000s anime might just want to make you go “What the hell?” for hours.
Boob-filled openings and boobless monster shows aren’t comparable on the same scale, so we grouped the final list into five tiers of roughly 20 openings each for fairness.
Multiple Openings Per Series Allowed
Different openings from the same series can make the list if they are artistically distinct. For example, Kaguya-sama has several strong openings, but only the best one appears to be free for others.
Openings That Work as a Set
Some openings are so similar or connected — like Samurai Champloo’s two openings — that they share a slot.
Rules on Versions and Formats
Only TV show openings count. OVAs count if they have unique openings; movies don’t.
Original Japanese versions are ranked alongside English versions for balance, but only TV openings qualify.
Lyrics: Mostly Not Considered
Lyrics were mostly ignored due to translation difficulties and subjectivity. They only served as tiebreakers.
The Top 34 Anime Openings You Need to See
2. Mob Psycho 100 Opening | 99
3. BEASTARS
4. [Oshi no Ko]
6. Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
9. Hunter x Hunter (2011) - Opening v6
10. No Game No Life
12. Akudama Drive
13. Naruto Shippuden Opening 3 | Blue Bird
14. Modao Zushi
15. Made in Abyss
17. GATE: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri
18. DEATH NOTE
19. Rozen Maiden
20. Youjo Senki
21. Tensei Shitara Ken Deshita
22. Mashle - Opening 1 (Knock Out)
23. Akame ga Kill!
26. Initial D
27. Girls und Panzer
28. K-ON!
29. Sakigake!! Cromartie Koukou
30. Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute!
32. Isekai Shokudou
Final Thoughts
Ranking anime openings is a challenging but rewarding task. It’s not just about the song or the animation, but how everything works together: music, visuals, credits, theming, and that indefinable vibe we call Jenny’s.
Regardless of genre or style, the best anime openings sell you on the show, make you want to watch, and leave a lasting impression.
If you want a deep dive into our full grading system or want to see all 100 openings discussed in detail, there’s nearly eight hours of extra footage over on Patreon — with the first several hours free — making it a treasure trove for anime academics and fans alike.
For a fun start, dive into some of the openings that truly define what anime openings can be and remember: every great anime deserves a great opening.
Explore the world of anime collectibles and art at The Manga Menagerie Shop for pieces that celebrate your favourite series.