Every anime fan has a skip button and nobody uses it on these. For a lot of us the opening was the first anime we ever heard. Toonami after school, Adult Swim after dark, a minute and a half that told you exactly what kind of show you were about to fall in love with. These were the first Japanese songs a lot of us learned by ear before we even knew what the words meant. That's how culture travels.
This is a ranking and I ordered it on purpose, so go ahead and argue with me.
10. "The Day" by Porno Graffitti (My Hero Academia)
The pep talk.
The first MHA opening plays like a promise that this kid with no powers is going to get there. And every time it builds you believe it again.
Why nobody skips: It's a pep talk you can hum.
9. "Departure!" by Masatoshi Ono (Hunter x Hunter, 2011)
Pure adventure.
HxH 2011 kept one opening song for almost its whole run and nobody complained. It's the sound of a kid leaving home to find his dad and it never got old.
Why nobody skips: 148 episodes and it still hits.
8. "Kick Back" by Kenshi Yonezu (Chainsaw Man)
Chaos in song form.
Loud, weird and packed with movie references in the visuals. It sounds exactly the way the show feels, a broke kid who wants simple things in a world that's trying to eat him.
Why nobody skips: You catch a new reference every rewatch.
7. "Specialz" by King Gnu (Jujutsu Kaisen)
Shibuya's warning shot.
The opening for the Shibuya Incident arc sounds like something bad is about to happen. Because it is.
Why nobody skips: It knew what was coming before we did.
6. "We Are!" by Hiroshi Kitadani (One Piece)
The first one.
One Piece has had more than two dozen openings and this is the one fans keep coming back to. It's the whole voyage in one song and it was there before any of us knew how long this trip was going to be.
Why nobody skips: It's the sound of setting sail.
5. "Again" by YUI (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
The sad one.
A song about wanting to go back, over a show about two brothers trying to undo the worst mistake of their lives. It gets heavier every time you learn more about the Elrics.
Why nobody skips: It means something different by the last episode.
4. "Unravel" by TK from Ling tosite sigure (Tokyo Ghoul)
The breakdown.
Quiet and then all at once. "Unravel" got bigger than the show it opened, the internet covered it on every instrument it owns.
Why nobody skips: The song outlived the show.
3. "Guren no Yumiya" by Linked Horizon (Attack on Titan)
The war drum.
The first Attack on Titan opening sounds like an army running straight at you. It turned a show about walls and giants into an event. It's still the song people put on when they need to feel dramatic before a workout, don't act like you haven't.
Why nobody skips: You feel like you're joining the Survey Corps.
2. "Silhouette" by KANA-BOON (Naruto Shippuden)
The one about growing up.
By the time "Silhouette" came out a lot of us had been watching Naruto since we were kids. The opening looks back at where the whole crew started and it hits like a yearbook.
Why nobody skips: It's our childhood set to guitar.
1. "Tank!" by The Seatbelts (Cowboy Bebop)
The cool.
Yoko Kanno's big band jazz opener barely has any words and it doesn't need them. For a lot of Adult Swim kids this was the first time an anime felt grown.
Why nobody skips: It's the coolest minute and a half in animation.
Honorable mentions
"Cha-La Head-Cha-La" (Dragon Ball Z). "Blue Bird" (Naruto Shippuden). "Gurenge" (Demon Slayer). "Idol" (Oshi no Ko).
Don't skip the intro
Openings are where anime meets music culture. They're the reason anime fans have playlists full of songs in a language they don't speak and why a jazz track from 1998 still gets played at cookouts. The best ones end up being the memory of the show.
So build the playlist. Which one opening would you never skip?
Your call
Did I get this ranking right?
In this story
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