It’s time for the seasonal OP/ED roundup! I want to hear about your favorite OPs and EDs for the season (alternatively, your least favorites!). If you are looking for a collection of them all for this season, you can find almost all of them at the link below:
Just a note that you can absolutely use this thread like you would any other general discussion thread. So, feel free to post questions/comments/recommendations like any other week.
As always, remember to be mindful of spoilers. If you want to know more about how to handle spoilers in this community, check the guide here (also linked in the sidebar).
How do you as an individual judge OP/EDs? Song? Visuals? Editing? Concept? How much you actually like the show?
It’s nice to have all factors working in favor of an OP/ED, but that’s very rare.
Like I said in my list of favorite OP/EDs this season, I tend to judge them by the music, but I have noticed that a good show makes me like their OP/ED more because of positive emotional associations.
For example, this season I would probably like the OP/EDs for Touken Ranbu Kai, Black Butler Public School Arc, and Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai if I actually watched the show, or liked the show.
For me, the one necessary component is that I have to really like the song. Everything else can be great, but if I don’t like the song, it isn’t going to stick with me. When it comes to visuals, I am not too picky, but I do like it when shows get experimental with things. I think that is one of the reasons why things like Kaiju and Salad Bowl OPs ended up on my list, due to how different they looked.
I am definitely influenced by how I feel about a show though. It usually is more impactful when the OP/ED is used as part of the storytelling. I mentioned elsewhere in this thread that Jellyfish is one of those shows where, if I was watching it, I can imagine the EDs that they are making would be more impactful. I also think that Konosuba benefits in this regard since I watch and enjoy the show.
A clever concept like Jellyfish EDs definitely helps.
One of my favorites with a great concept is the 1985 Dirty Pair TV OP, which is a commercial for the titular characters’ WWWA (World Wide Welfare Association), a private-investigator/security type service, and has their phone number at the end.