There are tons of good opening songs coming out this season that it was really difficult to narrow it down. There's a handful of idol shows focused squarely on producing great pop songs and then there's the action shows with hard-hitting guitar ballads. Somehow I can only pick five from nearly 40 shows!? Is there a multiple choice option?
5. “Paradox” by Sora Amamiya from Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove it
This cute rom-com is about two super science nerds trying to quantify and scientifically prove their romantic interest in one another. It's real obvious and Yukimura and Himuro are perfect for one another but they won't be satisfied without the data to back it up, and that's half the fun for them anyway. “Paradox” is sung by Himuro's voice actress Sora Amamiya, a seasoned singer you might have heard in KONOSUBA. “Paradox” combines a toe-tapping upbeat with a horn section to create a pop song that oozes cuteness, just like the series' nerdy couple.
4. “Take mo' Chance” by all at once (A Destructive God Sits Next to Me)
This techno track gives me some major Daft Punk vibes. It makes you wanna groove along while driving around the city late at night. “Take mo' Chance” is by the duo all at once. They're a pretty new group but are showing a lot of promise already if this is their first major song. The song is so cool you might think the anime is about a genuine destructive god, but the series actually follows very normal guy Seri as he gets caught up in the silly antics of his classmate, Kabuto, who thinks there's a god sealed away in his eye patch.
3. “Welcome to Chaos” by (K)NoW_NAME (Dorohedoro)
(K)NoW_NAME always bring a bit fear into their songs. The multimedia group produced the intense tracks for Netflix's Fairy gone anime last year and continue to bring their industrial roughness to the world of Dorohedoro. “Welcome to Chaos” as the song is aptly named for a series starring a lizard- headed man living in a place called “Hole” (shout out to Courtney Love). Our lizard antihero Caiman is on the hunt for the sorcerer who transformed him and he'll take down as many magic users as he can—and the hitman they hire to stop him. Hey Netflix, give me this show already.
2. “Chou no Tobu Suisou” by TK from Ling Tosite Sigure (Pet)
I'll probably lose some of you guys on this pick; TK's high falsetto rock isn't for everyone but it brings some real intensity to this opener. Pet is about mind-manipulators, psychics working for the mob that can alter how their targets perceive reality. The opening sequence quickly shows the conflict of the characters as they feel pushed into dangerous situations. TK has released songs solo and with the band Ling Tosite Sigure. He's performed for Tokyo Ghoul and Psycho-Pass, two other dark, psychological anime series.
1. “Easy Breezy” by chelmico (Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!)
This will be stuck in your head for the rest of your life. You will never escape Easy Breezy and you don't even want to. You find yourself practicing Kanamori's poses and effortless dance moves in the mirror. Your natural response to how your day went is “Easy Breezy.”
Chelmico's opener perfectly captures the energy of our three weirdos; a kind of frenetic joy that can't be stopped. The female rap duo's story isn't unlike the girls of Eizouken, too. Rachel and Mamiko met through a friend, bonded over a mutual love for Japanese hip-hop, and wrote a track together when they got the opportunity to perform for 10 minutes at a festival. One more festival performance later and they've got a debut single. Sounds a lot like Eizouken's trio working hard to create an anime short to impress the student council, huh?
