Yata’s Top 25 OPs of 2023

Hey, y’all. Yata here. One more article before the self-imposed hiatus returns, and it comes in the form of what I cut my teeth doing for a dozen (!!!) years: rambling about anime openings. If you’re new here, welcome! Prepare to get irrationally disappointed. If you’re a returning reader, you’re welcome. I braved the deluge so you don’t have to! That’s right, for the sake of due diligence, I watched what I believe is every opening from 2023 that fits my established criteria. Here’s a refresher on what counts:

• The OP must have debuted in 2023. It can come from a series that premiered before 2023 and/or will continue airing after the year ends, but the OP in question had to debut this calendar year.
• All people are biased, and I’m inherently fonder of series I’ve seen and liked since I’m able to parse additional context from their OPs. The same applies for genres of shows and songs that happen to be more up my alley, though I do my best to keep an open mind.
• OPs from movies are excluded. Only OPs from TV anime, OVAs, and ONAs were considered.
• My rankings are mostly arbitrary and based on music composition, audio production, lyrics and delivery, visual production, audiovisual sync, artistic creativity, and pretty much any other metric relevant to absorbing this stuff. Some of these aspects are weighed more than others based on what I feel the OP in question was trying to emphasize, but I don’t give the individual metrics ratings of their own during the ranking process. Their pros and cons still ultimately come second to my personal enjoyment.

And of course, remember this list is just one guy’s opinion. You’re entitled to your own, but there’s a pretty good chance you also haven’t sat through all 200+ OPs from this year, most of them multiple times over, so maybe my take is worth hearing out, ‘kay?

As you’d imagine with a data set that large (and seemingly expanding by the year!), plenty of great offerings didn’t make it onto the list proper. Elevated by great songs, gorgeous visuals, memorably wacky shenanigans, or non-superlative decency, this year’s appreciated tier of also-rans includes…

• 16bit Sensation: Another Layer
• A Girl and Her Guard Dog
• Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness and the Secret Hideout
• BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!
• Blue Lock OP2
• Buddy Daddies
• Bullbuster
• Cardfight Vanguard will+Dress Seasons 2 & 3
• High Card
• I’m In Love With The Villainess
• Kaina of the Great Snow Sea
• Liar, Liar
• Mashle: Magic & Muscles
• Migi & Dali
• Mononogatari: Malevolent Spirits (both OPs)
• Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 2
• My Love Story with Yamada at Level 999
• My One-Hit Kill Sister OP1
• OniMai: I’m Now Your Sister!
• Otaku Elf
• Ragna Crimson
• Skip & Loafer
• Spy Classroom Season 1
• Stardust Telepath
• Tearmoon Empire
• The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You
• The Devil is a Part-Timer Season 2 Part 2
• The Tale of Outcasts
• The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today
• The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3
• The Vexations of the Shut-In Vampire Princess
• Tonikaku Kawaii Season 2
• Tsurune: The Linking Shot
• Undead Girl Murder Farce
• Under Ninja
• Urusei Yatsura 2022 OP2
• Vinland Saga Season 2 OP2, and
• Yohane The Parhelion: Sunshine in the Mirror

Without further ado, on to the best of the best:

(MOST?) HONORABLE MENTION – “bloom” by Necry Talkie
Studio: Science SARU
OP for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

There’s a time and place for OP discourse. Given the nature of this piece, We’ll get around to some of the year’s more popular controversies, but I’d like to kick it off with a lukewarm take: I like the quintessentially “anime” theme song Scott Pilgrim Takes Off got saddled with. It’s chirpy and catchy and has some silly lyrics alluding to Ramona’s dyed hair and indie bands drowning their hand-me-down equipment’s poor resonance in distortion pedals. The color palette is bright and the storyboard employs nods to manga (well, in this case, comic) panels, mundane scenes of the cast hanging out, and even some shot direction lifted from Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad‘s OP. It serves a disarmingly homespun facade for Japanese viewers and humors the rest of us that this animation really is an “anime,” materialized by the work of Science SARU.

On the other hand, that isn’t necessarily something that I, the guy who watches every goddamn OP every year for sport, find valuable. There was a real chance to shake things up here, be it with an Anamanaguchi song or an in-universe band performing the theme (and knowing just how meta Takes Off gets, that would’ve been an especially clever option). At the very least, a second version for post-plot twist episodes seemed like a gimmie. But no, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off settles for a simple, standard credits sequence with a corny ani-song. I enjoy it, I really do. The longing for something bolder waters down my enthusiasm, though. It’s honorable. It’s worthy of mention. It’s…the most honorable mention.

#25 – “Planetaria” by Fujifabric
Studio: A-1 Pictures
OP for My New Boss is Goofy (Atarashii Joushi wa Do Tennen)

My New Boss is Goofy certainly isn’t the most…animated of options to kick off a list of bite-sized animations, but apparently good vibes from an office comedy can extinguish the stench of any number of dime-a-dozen shounen OPs. It’s not without its drawbacks—some of the lighting choices are obnoxiously saturated, Fujifabric have written leagues of catchier songs, and as noted, certain cuts here are oddly stiff.

But consider the following: only a true sourpuss reserves no place in their heart for well-integrated credits, and this opening hinges a lot of met potential on that feature, sneaking them into billboard and flyer ads, superimposing them over falling rain or gusts of wind, and plastering them onto the walls and ceilings of buildings the cast wanders through. Most importantly, the inherent goofiness on display picks up the slack for whatever else hypothetically lets it down—I can’t watch this little ditty and not crack a wholesome smile. It’s got something unique going for it, and I respect that.

#24 – “STAY FREE” by Machico
Studio: Drive
OP for KonoSuba: An Explosion Upon This Beautiful World

Machico has turned into the KonoSuba singer, from the looks of it: the sunny songs she fronted in the series’ first two “proper” OPs lent themselves well to the early isekai’s irreverent tone while masking its seedier humor. “STAY FREE” continues that trend, but I’ve been informed the source material of this Megumin-centric spinoff is less crude overall, and that checks out with the nuances presented here: Explosion’s tone walks back its title, casually strolling through fields instead of bursting with artificial bubblegum.

That gives the viewer more time to really soak in the carefree charm of KonoSuba’s ultra-idyll world—the template before it became the template—and revel in the mischief of some obnoxious brats too hell-bent on hell-raising to ever do true good, even if the wink and grin mean you’re in on the bit. Did I get much out of KonoSuba Explosion? Not really—but this OP sure made me want to, and as you’ll see again and again on this list, that’s its own form of praise.

#23 – “Kizuna no Kiseki” by MAN WITH A MISSION & milet
Studio: ufotable
OP for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Swordsmith Village Arc

I am not immune to propaganda, and by “propaganda” I ultimately mean “ufotable compositing.” Say what you will about this studio’s choice of properties—I certainly have over the years—but they at least look as clean and lush as those from any competitor out there. Their talents don’t necessarily always extend to adapting the narratives they acquire, but that’s another matter entirely.

So the caveats go for this new Demon Slayer OP, a slick, confident package that nails the “moody action/adventure” fundamentals thanks to the studio’s characteristic 3D and shading prowess. The ace in the hole here is “Kizuna no Kiseki,” an exceptionally thorough fusion of MAN WITH A MISSION’s gruff, riff-driven alt rock and milet’s versatile J-pop; she and Jean-Ken Johnny function surprisingly well in this hard-edged, chart-topping duet, and the bookends of traditional instrumentation inject flair in line with the series’ fantasy-laced historical backdrop.

#22 – “slash” by yama
Studio: Sunrise
OP for Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Season 2

When I watch G-Witch S2’s OP, its quality feels obvious—how “slash” builds from adrift, isolated verses to soaring climax, how the song and visuals reflect the yearned love and sterile spacecraft so central to the series’ appeal, how it casts its net over a very wide and 4D chess-happy cast with enough poise to not readily reveal spoilers before their time—but when I put my critic glasses on, the storyboard here doesn’t amount to much more than a solid (albeit standard) character montage. I’ve had to ask myself: does this OP prevail via creativity, or just because I happen to like the show and the song?

I didn’t like the conclusion I reached, so I followed that question up with the crux of the matter: do I care if it’s not the most groundbreaking thing in the world? Not really! “slash” rips, especially the drumming. The cuts are queued up well to its mood swings, and I always looked forward to it before each new week of G-Witch. That’s more than I can say for like, 90% of OPs that aired this year. We take those here at For Great Justice.

#21 – “BROKEN GAMES” by FZMZ
Studio: C2C
OP for Shangri-La Frontier

In my abridged experience, Shangri-La Frontier wasn’t quite self-aware enough to go the distance for someone like me who A) doesn’t really love the “kicking butt in a video game” trend and B) has seen way too many premieres from shows of its ilk, but this OP got my hopes up. “BROKEN GAMES” might sound badass to a younger ear—the riffs are filthy, the rapped section flows decently enough, and the saccharine chorus becomes its own abbreviated joke—but to mine, they’re silly as can be, a concentrated distillation of this genre’s goofiest fallbacks. With a literal birdheaded protagonist just the tip of the iceberg that is Shangri-La’s design sensibilities, this OP indulges its absurdity to great heights.

It helps that FZMZ is a new supergroup of pop metal veterans, including musicians from Survive Said The Prophet, Ling Tosite Sigure, and SiM, all of whom know their way around a killer hook. But the package doesn’t rely on “BROKEN GAMES’” cheekiness to work; as facetious as its overall tone is, the action portrayed goes kinda hard, too. For OPs of this archetype, making me laugh can go a long way—long enough for 21st place, at least.

#20 – “Yuusha” by YOASOBI
Studio: Madhouse
OP1 for Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

Never in a million years would I have predicted this would be the most divisive OP of 2023, but a “good, almost great” thing can feel more incomplete than a completely rotten thing, and scores of fans and hypetrain passengers alike deemed this sleek vocaloid track “not Frieren enough” to accompany the series as its first theme song. I get what they’re on about—it doesn’t stick out in ani-song’s musical landscape, the lyrics are laughably on the nose, and the upbeat rhythm can be interpreted at odds with the series’ calmer tone and deliberately slow pacing.

…But I also think those insistent gripes are a bunch of hogwash—Frieren has been an enjoyable experience, but it’s not the elevated masterpiece some make it out to be, and a song of this caliber is a totally stable accompaniment to it, laying plain the series’ themes and spotlighting the above-average production value of its animation. Different tastes for different folks, I suppose: contrary to the popular claims, I never fail to get sucked into Frieren’s world by this OP. My vision of that world apparently isn’t as difficult to reach as the one some of y’all have concocted.

#19 – “Usotsuki” by Leo Ieiri
Studio: Signal.MD
OP for The Fire Hunter (Hikari no Ou)

Animator Kenichi Kutsuna delivered a pair of artful, engrossing OPs this year. You’ll see one of them much later on, but this one, a sobering, dreamy sequence for Mamoru Oshii’s The Fire Hunter, displays some hallmarks to keep tabs on: heavy use of weather as a tone-setter, vibrant but dimly saturated contrasts of color, and surreal, dreamy imagery crop up in both of his 2023 highlights.

They arguably suit The Fire Hunter “better,” but there are only so many ways to titillate a viewer in a show this downcast. Sporting a song as plaintive as “Usotsuki” doesn’t make it any easier: Leo Ieiri’s chorus flows pack some pep into the otherwise mournful baroque pop number, but the OP’s grace lies in that very determined distance from anything resembling, ya know, fun. As long as you can appreciate somberness for what it is, the craftmanship here is too plentiful to ignore—it’s a successful mood piece for an overlooked stab in the dark.

#18 – “Nemurasareta Lineage” by JUNNA
Studio: Kafka
OP for The Ancient Magus’ Bride (Mahoutsukai no Yome) Season 2 Part 2

I hopped off The Ancient Magus’ Bride long before most of the characters who appear in this OP made their introductions, but I think I can infer what happens at this stage of the story through the context shown here alone: Chise seems to be mentoring (or at least watching over) some kiddos who may or may not have been ensnared by some lurking evil. If the lyrics of “Nemurasareta Lineage” are any indication, they may not have been real to begin with, just a trap to lure Chise in. By OP’s end, she defuses the turmoil, but not before the storyboard depicts the whole arc as an elaborate stage play gone awry with an ominous orchestral pop score to match.

That style is hit or miss for me when it comes to anime openings—this one’s cramped TV size edit doesn’t do it many favors—but at least it goes hand in hand with this OP’s visual approach and The Ancient Magus’ Bride‘s occult subject matter. Get a load of some of those scrapbook monster cuts! Huge Madoka vibes, and that’s a compliment never meant backhandedly.

#17 – “Hana ni Natte” by Ryokuoushoku Shakai
Studios: OLM & Toho Animation
OP1 for The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto)

Once upon a time, I cheekily remarked during a groupwatch of Chihayafuru that the show sometimes cluttered the screen with “too many flowers.” Years have passed. A pandemic has passed. I have still not lived that complaint down. Anytime an abundance of budding flora appear in my presence, the quote tugs at the back of my brain. That in mind, The Apothecary Diaries’s first OP has extremely niche meme potential within my circle.

But it’s even funnier that, yes, frankly, the OP does rely a bit too hard on (admittedly gorgeous) shots of flowers—Maomao’s spruced up dancing when the chorus hits adds a bit of flair to its oddly committed fixation. Regardless, the storyboard isn’t why it lands here: “Hana ni Natte” is my fuckin’ jam, a super tight pop rock number commandeered by Haruko Nagaya’s stunning vocal lines and peppered with lovely trills of piano, bass, and even a shreddy guitar lick to close the song out. Her lyrics embody the series’ motifs exceptionally well to boot.

#16 – “STARS” by w.o.d.
Studio: Pierrot
OP for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Separation

Save for a quickly aborted (like, 25 episodes?) good faith effort in high school and the odd time-killer between Toonami programs, I’ve not spent that much time tumbling down Bleach‘s rabbit hole, but I do respect that Tite Kubo’s design sense has stood the test of time; buoyed by a plethora of eye-catching character reels and hooky bangers, I look forward to new Bleach OPs more than those belonging to any other long-running shounen hit.

Whether it’s intentional or not, “STARS” even feels like a throwback to the era the series began in; w.o.d.’s garagey punk rock is raw and bare-bones, pounded along by high action bass, constant percussion, and thin guitars rattling back and forth. The visual sense is kinetic to a near-fault, flinging and panning the lens around while falling domino swipes transition from one unattached scene to the next. Hikaru Murata might want to give some of the calmer cuts’ key frames a twice over, but the overall package is bright, retro, unabashedly loud, and a little reckless—all positive traits as far as I’m concerned.

#15 – “Saikou Toutatsuten” by SEKAI NO OWARI
Studio: Toei Animation
OP25 for One Piece

Of all the hit anime spanning my generation’s introduction to the medium, One Piece is among the few titles I still haven’t watched a lick of. I know, I know; my bad—but that nearly 25-year run is too formidable a beast to face unless I were profoundly devoted to watching it from start to finish. The adaptation’s sheer length makes such a task unlikely for newcomers anyway; if you’re still watching One Piece in 2023, you’ve probably been on its tail for a while.

Its latest OP is a gift for those folks, a montage brimming with vitality and cheer that just gets more impressive as it grows, leading to a rapid-fire series of cuts centered in frame by various circular objects and culminating in a title card composed of hundreds of individual clips spanning the show’s history. “Saikou Toutatsuten” isn’t a stunner musically, but its mission was simple: lift spirits and foster nostalgia. I have a hard time imagining it failed to do the trick for any One Piece diehard—especially since it did the trick for me, a total stranger to it.

#14 – “Glorious Moment!” by the cast (Kanna Nakamura, Hitomi Sasaki, & Sora Tokui)
Studios: KAI & CygamesPictures
OP for Uma Musume: Pretty Derby – Road to the Top

Uma Musume is just ridiculous. Over three seasons deep into a mischievous world where real Japanese race horses are represented by demi-humanoid athletes, it’s easy to forget just how unmistakably anime its whole ordeal is. Road to the Top may not be one of the franchise’s high watermarks, but its OP at least serves as a microcosm of everything that makes UmaMusu’s gusto more than just a silly idea taken too far: they’re racers! They’re idols! They’re…kinda serious about sports psychology? But only ki- ooh, a carrot!

Shuuhei Fuchimoto’s first gig as unit director is a name-maker; the opening conjures starry-eyed optimism from the cast’s cutesy refrains, adrenaline-pumping bombast from its orchestration, and kinetic allure from the smears galore in the cuts where the protagonists sprint towards the finish. From original product to execution, there may be more revered, gutsy, or memorable anime themes yet to come, but this one is the anime theme’s anime theme, the lawful good that all outstanding variations on its framework should aspire to live up to.

#13 – “NEW DRAMA PARADISE” by Jun Fukuyama
Studio: Madhouse
OP for The Vampire Dies in No Time (Kyuuketsuki Sugu Shinu) Season 2

Every year, most of the OPs on this list come from hits—they may be multi-media powerhouses or niche classics, but the fact of the matter is some anime don’t really find an audience, and those tend to be the ones with the weaker OPs. It’s not a hard rule, though: hands up, how many of you knew there was a show titled The Vampire Dies in No Time? How many of you knew it got a second season? And how many of you knew its OP was a dorky, glorious bop?

Not many, by my calculations—specific storyboard credits evade me here, but whoever thought of combining the series’ bubbly appearance with gratuitous dancing and a nightclub performance deserves some praise: this package radiates corny warmth, led along by Junichi Satou (of fhána fame)’s big band glamour and Jun Fukuyama’s hammy performance on the mic. What a pleasant surprise from a title with basically no fanfare at all.

#12 – “SPECIALZ” by King Gnu
Studio: MAPPA
OP2 for Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2

Speaking of fanfare, anime doesn’t get much hotter in 2023 than Jujutsu Kaisen, though that may be more of a curse than a blessing as of late: its sequel’s production notoriously crumbled in the latter months of its run, leading to several animators airing their overworked grievances and MAPPA execs crudely spitting back. It’s a bad look from any angle, and I don’t feel all that keen on promoting the studio’s output at the moment, but optics be damned, the corporate juggernaut throws some heat with their opening clips.

No list of this year’s most noteworthy OPs would be complete without at least one of Jujutsu Kaisen’s, and this nocturnal, mysterious, seductive one features one of the catchiest hooks in ani-song this year, clanging and crooning over the sinister imagery with King Gnu’s take on industrial pop. Love it or hate it, “SPECIALZ” is an undeniable earworm, and the moody compositing it soundtracks is a match made in heaven (or—according to the folks on the ground—hell).

#11 – “Ao no Sumika” by Tatsuya Kitani
Studio: MAPPA
OP1 for Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2

So, why stop at just the one? “Ao no Sumika” is more of a grower, a self-satisfied, patient track that bait-and-switches the series’ current tension with the unbound positivity of season two’s initial flashback arc. If it feels sunny, nostalgic, and clean, that’s by design: Jujutsu Kaisen S2’s OPs embody opposite ends of the show’s tonal range, and in a head-to-head assessment, I personally prefer Tatsuya Kitani’s funky, verbose alt rock over King Gnu’s creaking soul. The studio’s characteristic polish remains, this time evoking joy and passion instead of dire desperation.

But that’s just the content talking—behind the scenes, this OP’s exemplary execution may have been just another bitter band-aid on barely withheld tensions. The monkey’s paw of MAPPA churning out some of the coolest OPs every year while being headed by a vindictive, unappreciative loser is tough to bear—but the time spent on these 90-second clips isn’t for naught.

#10 – “River” by Anonymouz
Studio: MAPPA
OP1 for Vinland Saga Season 2

Dessert’s ready, Vinland Saga stans. I’ll take you at your word that you ate better than most of us in 2023—I didn’t give the first season a fair enough shake back in the day and I was too busy to catch up on four cours’ worth of episodes of anything this year—but I can still appreciate this fantastic OP on its own terms.

The perks aren’t exactly secretive: “River” is a stupendously crisp, chilling, and state-of-the-art R&B cut, and the storyboard’s mirrored compositing is several steps above that of the average OP, too, evoking Rorschach tests filled with all manner of grisly medieval devices. If such a thing still exists, the rule of cool steers this opening to treasure, not by reinventing the wheel (or the naval vessel), but by letting Anonymouz’ captivating delivery do the guiding. I may not be the most attentive watcher, but I am sure as hell a close listener, and with a track this sublime, the most fiercely-defended blind spot of my watchlist can’t stay unobserved in its entirety.

#9 – “Idol” by YOASOBI
Studio: Doga Kobo
OP for Oshi no Ko

Life comes at you fast. If Oshi no Ko is any indication, rebirth comes at you faster; its OP’s closing passage races by in a bundle of crossfades. There’s a lot of material to cover here and not much time. The breakneck commentary of “Idol” fills any gap it can: the verses prod with an onslaught of inane questions, the chorus responds in polite evasion, and the disconcerting choral sample blurs the conversational tone until notes of darker infatuation leak through.

Oshi no Ko’s bizarre origins don’t get much attention here, and thank God for that: the show’s scathing criticism of the entertainment industry contains more than enough material from which to sculpt a creepy, flashy, and personably impersonal opening sequence, and this one doesn’t waste an ounce of its outspoken prickliness, disguising its central conflict in plain sight. I’m not usually a big fan of capital P “Pop,” but there’s simply no other way for the cynicism of “Idol” to land: like Ai, the song out-hustles expectations by embracing them so hard its facade and reality become one and the same.

#8 – “Shiny Girl” by MindaRyn
Studio: 8bit
OP for Shy

Decent compositing has become such a convenient fallback for creatively bankrupt OPs that foregrounding the technique no longer stands out as the unique artistic decision it once was. For better and worse, MAPPA’s used it as their go-to aesthetic lately, but Shy’s opening doesn’t mimic their tone, even if it uses the same tools. The non-stop, tumbling motion and tasteful, warm-colored palette completely re-contextualize its flavor-of-the-day direction; the storyboard may not say much about this underdog superhero tale—a simple character montage is all it really strives for—but it looks encouraging, fresh, and slick, more than capable of meeting its aims.

The momentum’s kept steady by “Shiny Girl,” a textbook example of inspirational J-rock that sounds so well-produced and comfortable in its skin you could’ve convinced me it was the work of an established power pop band. It’s all the more impressive that it isn’t; MindaRyn’s career arc dons Shy’s ascended hero motif for herself, and the track is easily my favorite effort by composer Hisashi Koyama to date. This OP warms my weary, passive-aggressive soul. Keep on rockin’ in the free world, Shy.

#7 – “Shayou” by Yorushika
Studio: Shin-Ei Animation
OP for The Dangers in My Heart (Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu)

It may not have been their first interaction with the medium, but Yorushika arrived in 2023, contributing two of my favorite anime songs of the year in back-to-back seasons, seemingly out of nowhere. “Telepath,” their piano-led earworm for Kaina of the Great Snow Sea, was a guilty pleasure I resigned myself to excluding here—the TV edit is awkwardly cut down and it doesn’t meld well with the show’s visual design—but I never considered doing the same for “Shayou,” a tender ballad evocative of the simple love so emblematic of The Dangers in My Heart.

Its placement this high up may be controversial, but it powers through with restraint instead of excess: the song is anchored by Suis’ lovely vocal performance and several gorgeous guitar licks you’d better believe I spent hours on end noodling around to. The mix and interplay are musician’s ear candy, while the watercolory visual package is mesmerizingly sweet in its own right, as if generated by a fever dream of sugar and adolescent hormones. It’s easy to operate on the assumption that good OPs always do more; this one proves that’s not always the case.

#6 – “01” by QUEEN BEE
Studio: David Production
OP1 for Undead Unluck

Much ado was made of Undead Unluck’s SHAFT-descended DNA, and while that culminated in mixed results for the show itself, the held-over style produced one hell of an opening theme: kaleidoscopic symmetry, grim purples and greens, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it flash frames, and blisteringly quick pans dominate its storyboard, while “01” puts up a strong fight for the best anime theme in QUEEN BEE’s illustrious repertoire.

If it doesn’t claim the throne, it’s only due to the chorus’ bizarre mix—from start to abrupt close, the song oozes existential shock, piling Avu’s motor-mouthed vocals atop a stirring dance punk beat and melodic, new wave synth flourishes. There’s something confident to its first few passages, something cathartic and yet unfocused to its second half—and while that would normally be a mark against it, the uncanny bluster of Undead Unluck negates any resulting confusion. This is absolutely what this show deserves. Both halves of the OP symbiotically enhance the other’s subjective stumbles. It works—and my word, does it ride one hell of a high.

#5 – “W●RK” by millennium parade & Ringo Sheena
Studio: MAPPA
OP for Hell’s Paradise (Jigokuraku)

Hell’s Paradise is not my type of story. From what I’ve seen, it’s an edgy action/adventure I might’ve been excited about a dozen years ago, but alas, I’m no child anymore and its plot can’t sustain my interest now. Thankfully, OPs don’t ride or die on narrative alone—in a vacuum, this title’s Edo-period battle royale-via-treasure hunt has evocative imagery and stunning scenery to spare, and this storyboard doesn’t waste a drop of it. The compositing is stellar—oh, hello again, MAPPA—and as easy as it is to slander the studio for recycling this aesthetic across all their hit properties, the things they keep adapting genuinely suit it well. If you think swirling pans and fiery psychedelia don’t belong in a Hell’s Paradise OP, I think you’ve got low standards!

But the real star here is “W●RK,” a pumped-up banger by multi-faceted rock collective Millennium Parade and top tier J-pop diva Ringo Sheena. She and Daiki Tsuneta trade lines over a flurry of warped vocals, punctuated horns, and restless, faint shuffling in the mix. The low end lurches and lunges, contrasting with the heady melodies such that the track feels nauseated and tripped up despite its hooky, hummable refrains. “Appetizing, if a little off-putting” works in multitudes here; the same could be said for Hell’s Paradise or MAPPA outright. But there’s no denying this OP fuckin’ throws down.

#4 – “Song of the Dead” by KANA-BOON
Studio: BUG FILMS
OPv2 for Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead

Jujutsu Kaisen’s homestretch implosion was the talk of the town, but it wasn’t even the most notable trainwreck of a production in 2023. That (dis)honor has to go to Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, whose episodes suffered so many delays its finale release date ended up pushed back well into the following airing season. For much of that time, its OP was unfinished as well; multiple sections recycled footage from the show or used placeholder frames of zombies plodding along beneath splotches of paint. It left a sour taste in my mouth; KANA-BOON’s swaggering, “this is definitely an anime theme song”-ass contribution to the package had the sauce, if only it could get the storyboard it deserved.

And then it did—long beyond the point BUG FILMS and the source material had overstayed their welcome, but I’ll let bygones be bygones: the final cut of Zom 100‘s OP is the stuff of meme-able legend. The haughty lip-syncing, the zombies dancing in unison with the cast, the rising harmonies and the come-up for air closing it out? It’s all golden, and its charms are completely self-explanatory. Shame it arrived expired, but better late than never. Enjoy the consolation prize, party people.

#3 – “Kura Kura” by Ado
Studios: CloverWorks & Wit
OP for Spy x Family Season 2

Surely, you knew this was coming, right? If you told me one of my favorite series of the decade so far would get an OP storyboarded by my all-time favorite anime director, Masaaki Yuasa, I’d go bonkers no matter which title received his blessing. But this really is a perfect pairing; Yuasa’s style is bouncy, cartoonish, and routinely prone to bending and breaking form. Spy x Family’s consistent appearance seems at first the antithesis to his strengths, but his spirit is as unburdened and imaginative as a child’s, and this family is held together but one such young’un. His whimsy becomes hers, and by extension, the show’s.

The symbiosis keeps coming: SpyFam is narratively static. In this OP, however, everything moves fast, polka dots and speedy pans covering up several visual gags through effortless sleight of hand. Watch it several times over and you’ll notice new details. But at the end of the day, the thing’s just plain fun—the theatrical, big band flair of “Kura Kura” holds down the fort while one of the most charismatic guys in the industry plays around with a beloved, unconditionally upbeat property. The mere prospect of this collaboration was cool enough—and it’s a testament to the franchise’s continually great track record of theme songs that it isn’t my runaway favorite among them.

#2 – “innocent arrogance” by BiSH
Studio: Production I.G.
OP for Heavenly Delusion (Tengoku Daimakyo)

Heavenly Delusion was one hell of a program: despite plunging into despair on the regular, it redirected its protagonists’ frames of mind back towards hope at any juncture it could. A harrowing OP would fit some of its baggage well, but only some; a light-hearted one (see its ED—I’m still torn on that) would do its most perilous extremes a disservice. The margin of error for a theme song befitting of each of its faces was slim, and “innocent arrogance” walks that thin line gracefully. It’s burdened and weary, but steadfast, refusing to budge from its central theme of uncertain perseverance.

The visuals are the element that cements this OP as an all-time great, though: Weilin Zhang’s zany storyboard superlatively fluctuates between lopsided establishing shots, smears of erratic motion, and blinding glare. Even as Kiruko and Maru grin and run around under clear blue skies, dread lurks behind every blur, unease within every transition. For a show defined by its unruliness, this opening encapsulates all its idiosyncrasies and contradictions while spiriting me into its nightmarish landscapes so wholly I feel wrong just watching it in isolation without an episode of content to follow it up. This really deserves to go down as one of the best OPs of all-time. It’s a tough year to be only that.

#1 – “MAGICAL DESTROYER” by Aimi
Studio: Bibury Animation
OP for Magical Destroyers

The second-greatest thing an anime OP can do is sell a quality work with accurate resolve. The single greatest thing an anime OP can do is sell a sloppy work by making it look a bajillion times cooler than it actually is. Luck of the draw holds these two distinguished species of opening in constant struggle. Case in point: remember Kenichi Kutsuna? I mentioned his work on another OP waaaay up there earlier in the list. Which one? Who cares? Magical Destroyers doesn’t care. Magical Destroyers doesn’t care about anything! It’s all pomp and circumstance, all flash in the pan fetishism, all self-defeating anarchy. If it had a greater goal, it sure as hell wasn’t evident through the two months of utter nonsense I endured because this over-achievement of an OP had me hopeful its artistry wasn’t a fluke. I was wrong, and that just makes its claim to fame even more righteous.

Oh, the song? Yeah, this titular track starts like a cursed chimera of J-pop and hardcore (already a fantastic proposition) and then devolves into utter noise with nearly 40 seconds to spare. As it crackles and distorts, so does the animation. Otaku Hero, this isn’t weed. Most of the time, honest effort is enough to wow me, but sometimes—this year, clearly—the only way to secure the title of the best anime OP of the year is by demolishing the concept outright and snorting its remains. Magical Destroyers’ lightning in a bottle goes dummy hard. It makes its own rules—and then doesn’t even follow them. It’s a puzzle with no solution, a hallucination of merit, an artistic masterstroke. It’s unparalleled. Watch it.

And then do not watch Magical Destroyers.

That’ll do it for this year’s content. Managed to get them all up during the actual calendar year for once! What were your favorite OPs of 2023? What did I ingloriously snub? Let me know in the comments below or over on Twitter. If the site’s still standing, I’ll see you next fall for the usual three articles recapping 2024. Have a happy New Year, everyone.