I have always wondered how one chooses a series that he/she would like to watch. Not counting the on-going titles, how do you look for Anime? Of course, enjoyment of the series as a whole is a given. But, what about other reasons?
Research? Okay. Word of mouth? Also common. How about a series’ opening/ending song? (included the links if you want to check out the OP/ED)
Okay, I know that using an opening/ending song as a basis is not reliable, and it is not fair to the series. I do admit though, that I have done this before. To some titles, I’m glad that I did it. For some, I wished I hadn’t. You see, some titles may have a good song as their OP/ED, but the anime itself is really bad. There are also those that have a not so good OP/ED, but the anime turns out to be spectacular.
To elaborate, I will give some titles that I discovered because I liked their OP/ED, and whether or not I liked the series. I’ll first give off some of the titles that I liked.
Well, since I already used the image for its single (the pic above), I might as well start with that. First up is DRRR!! (or Durarara!!). I first heard of its OP, Uragiri no Yuuyake by Theatre Brook, on YouTube. I was instantly hooked on the song, and I would just listen to it when I was doing homework and stuff. I only started watching DRRR!! a while after that. ‘Till now, it’s one of my faves. The song itself is very rock/alt.rock, and is really powerful.
Another is Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai (or just OreImo). After hearing its OP, irony by ClariS, for the first time, I went ahead and watched the series (I also became a fan of ClariS after that). I really enjoyed OreImo, and I still play ‘irony’ on my iPod. ClariS has a very upbeat and techno-like vibe to their songs, and ‘irony’ is very much like that, which is very fun to listen to at anytime.
As my last example for a series that I liked after enjoying its OP, is Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuchou (or just Tokyo Majin). The song 0:00 am by ACID was a referral from a friend of mine. He said that both the anime and the song were cool. I listened to the song first, and it really was cool. It has a heavy-metal/rock feel to it, plus the opening lines were so badass. I then checked out the series, and it was, well, good, to say the least.
Now, moving on to shows that only have an awesome OP/ED, and lacks in everything else.
From the top of my head, 11 eyes. I first heard it’s ED, Sequentia by Asriel, on a Multi-Anime Opening on YouTube. It was very rock, and had a lot of guitar riffs, and yeah, I liked it. I then watched the series. I almost didn’t even make it through episode six (it has twelve episodes). It did have a good start, but something went wrong somewhere and I haven’t attempted to watch it again.
Some may argue about this one. Highschool of the Dead. The OP song for HOTD, HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD by Kishida Kyoudan & The Akeboshi Rockets, is probably one of the songs that I would say, could fit into any action anime. It’s orchestration is really good, and I enjoy listening to it. The series however, was a disappointment for me. It had a good first half really, but, like 11 eyes, something got screwed up, and it went downhill from there. Also, the fact that it was a total ecchi fest did not help the series.
So there you have it. Good anime OP’s/ED’s doesn’t necessarily mean good anime. So if you guys are looking for anime, I suggest research, or just ask around what’s good.
How about you guys? Ever heard the OP/ED of a series, and then decided to watch it?
OP/ED’s are good, but I do not use them as the basis to watch an series. I usually know what I want to watch beforehand and some general information, so the OP/ED is a little extra treat for me. Although, all of the OP/ED you named, I watched the anime and thought were good, expect the 11eyes and HOTD was lacking some what. However the music side is separate from the story, so that is in the hands of the director/original source material and how it is handled.
Yes, the OP/ED hold no bearing to what the story of a series is. But, I’m a sucker for good OP’s, so I usually get to see/hear those first, lol. I like to do as little research as possible, so as to avoid some spoilers,
I maybe shallow to say that OP/ED are also my determining factors whether to follow or not an anime, although not too big of a percentage unlike plotline and characters. Because for me, it’s part of my overall viewing experience.
I agree, it should be like that; Story > OP/ED. But sometimes we don’t get as much info about the series beforehand, so we rely on our first impressions of it, OP included. So yeah, it all comes down to how much info there is on the series, or how well it is received.
Haha, I never watched a show for its OP but it definitely helps!
Yeah, it does. When I don’t like an OP, I just skip to the episode itself.
That’s not too bad.
I know my Japanese songs from anime and not the other way round so can’t say that OP/ED is one of my determining factors. However, I did watch Angel Beats! cuz the PV’s music was so good – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3rkdbJZi1I. Too bad it isn’t OP/ED. I was disappointed when I didn’t get to listen to that tune when I watch the show. T.T
Haha, look on the bright side, you got to watch Angel Beats! ’cause of that ^_^
Whoa, thanks for linking that song, Hoshiko! That is really good. (Like everything in Angel Beats.)
For me, I think it’s more often that a really good AMV gets me to watch an anime, rather than the OP.
Oh yeah, now that you mention it, I did watch a series because of an AMV. I think it was Ookami-san ^_^
I usually pick up anime based on word of mouth and various other reasons, but I do occasionally watch something because of its OP/ED. Most recently, it was Penguindrum, which is a combination of word of mouth and its really captivating OP. I’m a sucker for anything Etsuko Yakushimaru does. Perhaps related, I also sometimes pick something up because of its trailer.
Coincidentally, that’s also the same reason why I picked up Penguindrum, more or less. I heard that it has a really awesome OP, so I went ahead and watched it. I love Etsuko Yakushimaru’s work on Arakawa ^^
Ah yes, recently I also started depending on trailers (add to my eagerness to actually watch the series) so yeah, that’s also another way to choose.