It’s that time of the season to count down the 10 Best Anime OP’s and ED’s of Fall 2019, in this post we’re starting with the OP’s and while I don’t think this was the strongest season for OP’s there are still some bonefide classics amongst the top picks! As usual, in preparation for this post I’ve listened to every OP available to listen to and I try and not not let my personal feelings for a show influence the decision on the OP’s themselves. Let’s get started!
Note: I’ve tried to get Youtube links to all the listed songs where possible but some are not ideal quality (i.e. videos played in quad view to avoid copyright detection) and if links end up being broken in the future it’s because they’ve been taken down.
~Number 10~
“Smile Skill = Suki Skill!” by Akaki Chikai from ‘Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!’
There’s nothing particularly unique about this OP, it’s just a catchy good time sung by cute girls, plus gotta love an easily imitable dance move incorporated into an OP’s visuals.
~Number 9~
“TIT FOR TAT” by MYTH & ROID from ‘Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious’
By this point MYTH & ROID are veritable veterans of singing OP’s for isekai anime (they’ve sung OP’s for such isekai anime as: Iskeai Cheat Magician, Overlord, Re:Zero and The Saga of Tanya the Evil) and here’s another one for their belt and it’s a banger that showcases the vocalists unique sound perfectly.
~Number 8~
“Can now, Can now” by Study from ‘We Never Learn! 2nd Season’
Okay, this one is a totally biased pick. I just love this anime and these girls (the voice actors are credited as the band ‘Study’ for the various OP’s and ED’s from both the first and second season. And they just sound great and this OP (and its visuals) are adorable. It’s not quite as good as the first seasons’ OP but it’s still pretty wonderful.
~Number 7~
“CAPTURE” by EGO-WRAPPIN’ from ‘Case File nº221: Kabukicho’
I’m not really sure what genre this song is, (jazz maybe?) but this is absolutely a case of a song growing on me the more I heard it, despite it being counter to a lot of my usual musical tastes. It’s cool and chaotic and fits with the visuals of the OP perfectly.
~Number 6~
“Wild Side” by ALI from ‘BEASTARS’
I’ll fully admit that a large part of the reason this OP is even in this list is because of it’s outstanding stop-motion visuals that tell a full story in of itself because musically this song doesn’t really work for me (I don’t like the vocalist and it’s a bit messy), but together with the visuals it’s practically a work of art.
~Number 5~
“Q-vism” by Who-ya Extended from ‘Psycho-Pass 3’
This OP fits so perfectly into the Psycho Pass universe that it’s kind of surprising it’s from a different artist to any of the other Psycho Pass OP musicians. That’s not to say it’s derivative–not at all–in fact I think it perfectly strikes the balance between being inspired by the past and carving out a bit of its new identity (kind of like Psycho-Pass 3 itself). I think it’s honestly great!
~Number 4~
“Thought I knew ft.ra’z, Hayes” by YVY from ‘Stand My Heroes: Piece of Truth’
My criteria for picking my favourite OP’s is kind of difficult to pin down, this song being absolutely an example of a song that I’d otherwise probably be indifferent to but for some reason the combination of the fractured, dark electro beat with the occasional falsetto of the vocalist and some genuinely evocative choice of English phrases really just clicked to make a stand-out OP.
~Number 3~
“BULLET MERMAID” by Rin Namiki (Yuu Sasahara) and Misa Aoi (Riko Kohara) from ‘Kandagawa Jet Girls’
I think something that anime OP’s seem to neglect nowadays is the importance of being ‘sexy’ especially for ecchi or even ecchi-adjacent anime–sure ED’s have it plentiful but not OPs!. Granted this OP doesn’t start really being sexy until the last 15 or so seconds but it makes it count! Also this song is just a damn catchy and fun little number that makes me smile every time I hear it!
~Number 2~
“Take On Fever” by OLDCODEX from ‘Special Crime Investigation Unit – Special 7’
I’ll always have a soft spot for this kind of music; heavy instrumentation kick-ass beat with a vocalist with a decent range. I’m not watching this anime, probably never will but this song will be in my head for days.
~Number 1~
“MAYDAY” by coldrain feat. Ryo from CRYSTAL LAKE from ‘Fire Force’
So I’ve got a lot of things to say about this particular OP and song so strap in for a wall of text. The reason this list is out probably a week or two later than I usually post them is because I was waiting for this one to come out. Not only is ‘coldrain’ an amazing band who I’ve recently gotten into in a big way (kind of like how I got into ‘Survive Said The Prophet’ after the Banana Fish OP) but when it was announced that this would be the OP I was practically giddy. I listened to the song a dozen or more times hoping each time that the visuals for the OP would be on par with the first cour’s OP. And alas, no, the visuals are honestly kinda lazy and don’t match with how killer this song is. So I fully admit that this Number 1 pick is 100% because of the song and not the OP’s visuals, if you think that’s a cop-out too bad this is my list. Amazing song, honestly one of the all time greats but with sadly lacklustre accompanying OP visuals.
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And that’s my Top 10 OP’s for Fall 2019! Agree, disagree? Let me know your picks of the season in the comments below and thanks for reading!
Previous Seasonal OP & ED Lists (2019):
10 Best OP’s Winter 2019
10 Best ED’s Winter 2019
10 Best OP’s Spring 2019
10 Best ED’s Spring 2019
10 Best OP’s Summer 2019
10 Best ED’s Summer 2019
Previous Seasonal OP & ED Lists (2018):
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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The Best Anime OP’s of 2018
The Best Anime ED’s of 2018
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