Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. We continue our final look into 2020 with what has now become a yearly tradition. Naming the top 11 openings of 2020. Along with great anime from last year we got a lot of good openings as well and I’m here to give my picks on which ones I thought were best. Get ready to add new music to your playlist, these are the top 11 Anime Openings of 2020.
#11. Mr. Fixer from ID: Invaded
https://youtu.be/gtDC6VtAk8c (full song)
I have to admit this was an opening I wasn’t too big on when I first heard it, but after a few episodes I really started to appreciate this opening. A large reason for that is because the singer Sou is amazing and delivers here. Sou’s soft voice along with the piano in the background just really pulls you in and sends your mind on a journey as you get lost in the song. Just when you find yourself totally immersed the song ends and the episode begins. What a journey.
#10. Spark-Again from Fire Force S2
https://youtu.be/ziv5u2XpC7U (full song)
I have really become a fan of Aimer’s songs and hearing her sing the opening for Fire Force was a blessing to the ears. The upbeat and intense instrumental perfectly compliments Aimer’s soft voice throughout the song. Despite how fast and intense the song gets, Aimer’s soft voice just keeps an air of peace throughout the song and keeps your attention as the opening matches perfectly with the opening visuals. It was well done with a great song and singer to go along with it.
#9. G.P. from Great Pretender
https://youtu.be/ld5xRi3tYLE (full song)
This song was a good shout out to openings like Cowboy Bebop and Baccano. Fast paced jazzy songs that don’t have lyrics and instead rely on the instrumentals to keep us entertained. Very few openings have done this and very few have succeeded. I’m happy to say that Great Pretender succeeded as this opening was great and fun to listen. The energy, the instruments, the passion, you can sense it all throughout the song and can tell everyone working on it had a blast doing it. This opening was composed by the same guy who composed the music for Vinland Saga and it’s amazing to see how he was able to go from the hard rock of Vinland Saga to the energetic jazz of Great Pretender. It really shows just how talented this composer is. I especially like the visuals in the opening as it tells the full story of the anime from beginning to end. Little touches like that are great and makes watching the opening all the more enjoyable. I would always watch the opening and pause to see where I’m at in the story and was curious to see what the next arc would be about. A well done and fun opening that gives off that Cowboy Bebop and Baccano vibes. We need more openings like these.
#8. Isekai Showtime from Isekai Quartet S2
https://youtu.be/Z8rBvRtqLH8 (full song)
This was first opening I heard in 2020 and I loved it. Having the VAs of the main characters from each series sing the opening song was great. I especially have to give credit to Ainz’s VA who stays in character and sings the song in Ainz’s voice (that could not have been easy). Each character has their own verse or series of verses that they sing and they each work off each other well. You can just tell the VAs are having a good time. In fact, I think Kazuma’s VA breaks character and starts to laugh because of how much fun he’s having. This was really an enjoyable and funny song to listen to that matched up well with the series. If they would have added Naofumi’s VA into the song, I would have probably put this song higher on the list.
#7. I got it! from Appare-Ranman
https://youtu.be/jkp9loHvv5Y (full song)
For a series this crazy, wild, energetic and wackey, you need an opening that perfectly conveys these themes. Thankfully, they found it with this song as it gets you hyped and excited for every episode about to air and never becomes boring to listen to. The song even does a good matching up with the era the anime takes place in so it never feels out of place. Fun anime to watch and a fun song to listen to.
#6. Ready to from BNA
https://youtu.be/m2eXg19DjPw (full song)
This song was a bop. That’s the best word to describe this opening. This is one of those rare openings I never found myself skipping over because of how addicting the song was. It just has that amazing flow of energy and style that matches up wonderfully with the animation. My only complaint is that song ends way too soon for me in the opening. Usually an opening is about a minute and a half. This opening is only one minute, but to their credit they make that one minute count as it you pulls you in.
#5. No.7 from Hanako-san Toilet Spirit
https://youtu.be/a78ijoi0G8s (full song)
Hands down the best opening from the winter season. With it’s rockin’ theme and its unique animation style, this was an opening that really stood out from any anime airing this year. I like how it starts off slow and quiet and then just takes off like punching you in the face. The song just sends you on a fast paced ride that you can never get enough of. As you get done hearing the song you will quickly want to listen to it again because it’s so good and addicting. The song also carries this air of spookiness and uncertainty to it that I just love. A cool song for a very unique looking anime. Shall we talk about the number 7?
#4. Dawning Glory from The King’s Avatar S2
https://youtu.be/yNiiCD3oYa0 (full song)
I don’t normally listen to Chinese music, but if it’s anything like this then I need to reconsider. I fell in love with the song the minute I heard the first note. The first part is slow and peaceful but starts to pick up in the chorus where the song really shines in my opinion. The song is also perfect for Ye’s character when you read the lyrics as he’s a guy trying to reclaim his crown (one could argue he never lost the crown in the first place) and this song perfectly conveys his motives and journey back to the top. A great song for a great anime. Definitely give it a listen to if you haven’t heard it already.
#3. TOP from Tower of God
https://youtu.be/D00iQwnpmGs (full song Jap. Version)
https://youtu.be/E0ayyIy2xcQ (Korean version)
Oh man, this song goes hard. I never thought in all my years of watching anime I would hear Stray Kids, but that’s the beauty of anime, expect the unexpected. There are three versions of this song: Korean, Japanese and English. I think the Korean is the best, but the Japanese one is the one that I’ve listened to the most in the anime and they do a good job with that version as well. Like I said, this song goes hard as you can’t help but bop your head or get up and dance whenever you hear this song. The beat and the singing are just on point with each other. I know a lot of people aren’t into K-pop but this is definitely a song you need to check out. Trust me, you’ll love it.
#2. Kaikai Kitan from Jujustu Kaisan
https://youtu.be/i1P-9IspBus (full song)
By God does MAPPA flex hard! This was my favorite opening from the fall season and if anybody disagrees with me I will fight you in the street. This opening manages to hit everything. Emotion, animation, visuals, lyrics and tying it all together is a fantastic song done by the man himself Eve who I have become a fan of these last few months and I encourage everyone to check out his other songs on his Youtube page. According to Eve this was nerve-wrecking song to make. Eve admits that he’s a huge fan of Shonen Jump and Jujustu Kaisan, so he wanted this song to be as great as it possibly could be. To that, I say that Eve succeeded as this song was phenomenal and if the anime had come out sooner this opening would have easily taken the number one spot, but there’s one opening that managed to steal my first.
And number one. . .
#1. Daddy Daddy Do from Kaguya-sama: Love is War S2
https://youtu.be/sNuG1Csfmgg (full song)
Many people were mad that I didn’t put Love Dramatic on the list last year (it was a tough list to make and I stand by my choices) well here’s my way of making it up to you. Daddy Daddy Do was such a great song and in my opinion surpassed Love Dramatic in terms of lyrics, beat, and atmosphere. Getting Masayuki Suzuki to come back was the right choice as the man is just dandy as hell and his voice fits this song so perfectly. I also like how at certain parts the song sounds like a duet, I could totally picture Miyuki and Kaguya singing this song in their heads to express their feelings for each other. It was a tough choice between this and Kaikai Kitan but this was the song I heard first and listened to more throughout the year which puts it ahead of Kaikai Kitan.
And that’s my list. What was your favorite opening from 2020? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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