Best Anime ED’s 2018

So as you might be aware I’ve been listing my best and worse OP’s and ED’s of each season this year. But rather than just pick my 10 favourites from all the previous ‘top’ lists, I’ve decided to do something a little different for the final best of OP list of the year. I’ve decided to break it down into categories, almost like an awards show (albeit a bit less rigid than most). Also unlike the previous seasonal lists I’m taking into account the visuals as well as the music and whatever bias I have towards the show will be fully on display–where applicable. So with that out of the way let’s take a look at what I consider the Best Anime ED’s of 2018!

Coolest Anime ED

It’s not enough to just have a cool sounding song when we’re awarding something for being the ~coolest~ the visuals need to be cool. And I don’t know what it is about “HALF” by Ziyoou-vachi from ‘Tokyo Ghoul:re’ but it just screams effortlessly cool to me. I mean sure some people might think its ‘trying too hard’ or is dorky, but sometimes that’s cool too, right? 

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Anime ED That Best Represents The Tone Of The Show

It’s just a bunch of half naked (and eventually fully naked) men doing a drunken karaoke rendition of an idol song. If “Konpeki no al Fine” by Izu no Kaze from ‘Grand Blue Dreaming’ doesn’t sum up that show perfectly I don’t know what does!

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The ‘I’m nostalgic for it, before its even nostalgic’ Award

What does this award mean? Well for me it’s a song that even from the first listen felt “nostalgic” not that it reminds me of anything specifically (at least not that I’m aware or can pinpoint) but it just strikes that sweet spot of nostalgia in both the music and the visuals. And while there were a couple of ED’s that could have been eligible for this, none was more ~nostalgic~ then “Kedarmono Damono” by Kitsunetsuki from ‘Killing Bites’.

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Sexiest Anime ED

This was always going to be a tough category for me, especially as seeing how generally speaking ED’s are a lot sexier than OP’s (for some reason–I guess show’s aren’t afraid of alienating potential viewers by upping the service for something that appears at the end). So while there were plenty of potential candidates, the one that sticks in my mind the most is “Motenai Kuse ni (`;ω;´)” by Tapimiru from ‘High School DxD Hero’, its full of sexy, summer time energy and the girls all look absolutely amazing.

High School DxD Hero ED#haremking pic.twitter.com/pgkrH7adTi

— moetron | pKjd (@pkjd818) April 17, 2018

Yep, the only way I could find this video online was a tweet.

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The “I can’t speak Japanese but I’ll try and sing along anyway” Award

“Sonna no Boku Ja Nai” by Shino Shimoji from ‘Miss Caretaker of Sunohara Sou’. There’s something about the fractured, minimalist start of this ED song that just instantly wins me over and yes, I do sing along every time (or try to)!

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Anime Is Art, ED Edition

This ED was actually in a different category (which I eventually nixed entirely) but it goes to show the quality of it if it was eligible for more than one of these awards! “Prayer X” by King Gnu from ‘BANANA FISH’ is generally speaking not the kind of song I’d listen to, but the start of the song contrasts yet perfectly compliments the rest of it that it is art, as are the haunting accompanying visuals.

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Best ‘Work Out or Twerk Out’ Anime ED

Are you embarrassed? I just wrote the word ‘twerk’, I know I’m embarrassed, but I think its appropriate for this because this is exactly the kind of song you could work out to at the gym or just dance along to in your living room like a dork. It’s “Tokimeki☆Climax” by Misha Takanashi (Haruka Shiraishi) & Tsubame Kamoi (Manami Numakura) from ‘UzaMaid!’ and its a flawlessly infectious, high energy masterpiece of an ED!

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The ‘It’s Got 20+ Naked Girls In The ED so of course I’m going to give it an Award’ award. A.k.a The Cactus Matt Special.

I think the title sums that up pretty well, yeah? What’s there more to say? 
“Junsei Erotic” by Mia REGINA from ‘Senran Kagura: Shinovi Master’. Also, unsurprisingly I can’t find the video online. But that’s probably for the best.

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*headbanging intensifies* ED that rocks the most!

This ED could have easily been awarded ‘most surprising’ too, but I thought that almost mitigated just how legitimately excellent of a song this is. As a fan of heavy metal “Inkyainparusu” by Hina Kino, Rika Nagae, & Konomi Kohara from ‘Asobi Asobase’ is legit, like there’s no joke here, this isn’t some tongue-in-cheek ~pretending~ to be metal this is hardcore, authentic, head-banging awesomeness!

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The “I didn’t watch this anime but the ED makes me want to” Award

This one was hard to think of because OP’s are the things that are suppose to ‘sell a show’ not ED’s. That said “Hiizuru Basho” by Omedetai Atama de Naniyori from ‘Hinomaru Sumo’ has pretty much sold me on watching this show someday, and no-mean feat either since I don’t even like boy-related sports anime, that’s how good of an ED this is!

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The JoJo Award for Outstanding Picking of An Existing English Language Song for an ED

Jojo knows how to pick an ED and “Freek’n You” by Jodeci from ‘JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures Part 5: Golden Wind’ is one for the ages. I don’t watch the show, I didn’t know this song previous to it being made the ED but I’m so glad it exists in harmony together. 

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~Honourable Mentions~

Like with the OP list I’ve limited my Honourable Mentions to 3 because otherwise we’d be here all day!

“Buntline Special” by VickeBlanka from ‘Double Decker! Doug & Kirill’
“Saiaku no Hi demo Anata ga Suki.” by Serizawa from ‘How Not To Summon A Demon Lord’
“LAST GAME” by Zwei from ‘Steins;Gate 0’

The Best Anime ED of 2018

From the first time I heard this ED I knew it’d be number 1 at the end of the year and it’ll likely be one of my favourite of all time for the rest of time. I’ve always thought this was a ~controversial pick~ but a lot of other people seem to have gravitated towards it too so maybe it is as amazing as I’ve always thought. The Best Anime ED of 2018 is “Wiseman no Theme” by Wiseman from Last Period – the journey to the end of the despair’. This ED is energy and joy incarnate, it is too good for us mortals, we do not deserve its brilliance and yet here it is.

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And there we have it, my weird, award style list of the Best Anime ED’s of 2018! What did you think of my picks? Leave a comment below and let me know! Thanks for reading!

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Previous Seasonal OP & ED Lists:

10 Best OP’s Winter 2018
10 Worst OP’s Winter 2018
10 Best ED’s Winter 2018
5 Worst ED’s Winter 2018
10 Best OP’s Spring 2018
10 Worst OP’s Spring 2018
10 Best ED’s Spring 2018
5 Worst ED’s Spring 2018
15 Best OP’s Summer 2018
5 Worst OP’s Summer 2018
10 Best ED’s Summer 2018
10 Worst ED’s Summer 2018
10 Best OP’s Fall 2018
10 Worst OP’s Fall 2018
10 Best ED’s Fall 2018
5 Worst ED’s Fall 2018

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