topical 10: seraph's top 2009 anime OP/ED

reading through moetron and shin's top OP/ED list, I feel compelled to make my personal favorite OP/ED songs from series aired in 2009 (Winter-Fall). Probably not the best of all, but they certainly are those I enjoyed the most, put into my playlist and listened to all day long.

TOP 10 OP SONGS

10. Kimi no Uta by Abingdon School Boys - Tokyo magnitude 8

notes: for some reason I feel that the OP doesn't fit with the anime, but never mind. The anime itself was fairly good...and touching :(

09. CHARGE! by Fukuhara Kaori & Takagaki Ayahi - Fight Ippatsu Juuden-chan

notes: surprise, surprise inclusion. Well it's true that I do love the song though.

08. Asu he no Kizuna by HIMEKA - Valkyria Chronicle

notes: This is the first OP of the anime.

07. Jap by Abingdon School Boys - Sengoku Basara

notes: Kinda funky OP sequence, with all the soldier dance. Shame that the anime sub was never finished. Such a fun anime to watch.

06. Parallel Hearts by fiction Junctions - Pandora hearts

notes: Pandora Hearts has one of the best musics of all anime I've watched in 2009, from BGM to OP/ED songs. Well, the name Kajiura Yuki should be enough to describe what I feel about the music composition.

05. Only my Railgun by Fripside - To Aru Kagaku no Railgun

notes: I don't usually listen to Fripside, but I do occasionally listened to some of her songs, including Only my Railgun. JC Staff sure knows how to make good OP song (Shana, Index, to name a few).

04. Tsukiakari no Michishirube by Stereopony - Darker than Black 2

notes: Overall I'd say DtB season 1 was better than Ryuusei no Gemini, but in term of theme songs, season 2 wins.

03. Kanashimi Rensa by MARIA - Valkyria Chronicle

notes: OP2 of Valkyria Chronicles. I love both of VC's OP, but OP2 wins by margin. Especially because how they show the spoilish valkyriur battle in the OP sequence. Great to watch.

02. Arrival of Tears by Ayane - 11eyes

notes I've been a fan of Ayane since her Archive Lovers, before I got to know her other 11eyes singles (Lunatic Tears and Endless Tears). Again, one of her songs that I love the most. Talk about the anime, the premise was great, but it was ruined by poor characterisation.

01. Katayoku no Tori by Shikata Akiko - Umineko no Naku Koro Ni

notes: A truly epic song, it really sounds so Umineko-like (er...if you know what I mean). Also this song is probably the only thing I love about the anime, as DEEN studio failed to make Umineko anime live up to the VN's name.

TOP 10 ED SONGS


10. Hitotsu no Negai by Inoue Hikari - Valkyria Chronicles

notes: for the sake of completion, I guess. I can't find much ED songs that are to my liking compared to OP songs, so the least I could get is VC's 2nd ED. In a way, this song is quite good as it matched the sad and sorrow mood of the 2nd part of the story.

09. From dusk till Dawn by Abingdon School Boys - Darker than Black 2

notes: again, for the sake of completion. Well since Abingdon School Boys's music is sorta the type that I sometimes listened to, so why not put DtB's ED as well into the list.

08. Hikari, Sagase Naku Tomo by Angela - Shikabane Hime Kuro

notes: Despite so much hate toward the seiyuu, I personally took a liking to the show, and I think Kuro is much better than Aka. This ED gave similar feeling as VC's ED2 - the sad and gloomy atmosphere that surrounds the fate of some shikabane.

07. Yasashii Uso by Chrome Shelled - Chrome Shelled Regios

notes: one thing I like about the song is that it varied in every episodes, where it will duet with one of the characters in the anime. I personally like the duet with mai Nakahara :3

6. Transparent by KOKIA - Phantom~Requiem of Phantom~

notes: well, including this, now all 5 ED songs I've listed so far were of the same kind, I suppose.

05. Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari by supercell - Bakemonogatari

notes: now the pace starts to pick up. Nice song for a great show, that's all I can say.

04. Maze by Savage Genius - Pandora Hearts

notes: no video link. youtube and their weird copyright stuff -.-

03. Hatenaki Michi by HIMEKA - Letter Bee

notes: nice ED with something done seldomly in many other anime, showing episode preview in the ED sequence itself. Too bad the 2nd ED wasn't as good as this one, at least in my book. Anyway, I probably wouldn't recognize it was Himeka who sang for Valkyria Chronicle if it's not because of Letter Bee.

02. Don't Say Lazy by Hikasa Youko - K-On

notes: it's hard to find people who don't like this song. Instant hit from the very first episode, topping the single chart (both OP and ED) during its release week says it all. It just lost to Asriel's Sequentia by a fraction, but both songs are some of the best 2009 anime songs I've listended to. Absolutely love it.

01. Sequentia by Asriel - 11eyes

notes: One word: Epicness. As said in my Fall impression, this is one of the few factors that kept me from dropping the anime. The single is a must for any Asriel fan :3