Saria’s bit on OPs and EDs got me thinking about the subject. Or perhaps it’s the fact most of this season’s new OP and ED singles hit store shelves this past week. So much music to listen to. Wow.
Anyway, it occurs to me that I have a tendency to judge OP and ED themes separate from the shows they represent. That is, if I dig a song, it’s because I actually dig the song itself. The merits of the show are of little consequence. The end result is that many of my favorite OP and ED themes come from shows I wouldn’t list as favorites - or, in some cases, shows I have zero interest watching in the first place. Good music is good music.
As for the music itself, I find ED themes see more action in my playlist than OP themes. My problem with most OP themes, I think, is this: they don’t work very well out of context. More often than not, the more GET TO BURNING a theme is in TV-bite-size pieces, the more inane it sounds on its own. There’s a certain style of arrangement typical of OP themes that doesn’t work well when expanded to create a full song. From a musical standpoint, they’re often disappointments.
ED themes, on the other hand, tend to have a little more going for them musically. And, because there’s often less need to pair the music so closely to the animation, they tend to make more sense musically. They sound like real songs as opposed to… well, cartoon theme songs. The same could be said for the “B-sides” typically found on OP and ED singles. Often, I enjoy those songs more than the headliners.
In fact, the song I can’t get enough of at the moment is Ishikawa Chiaki’s “House”, the B-side on the Simoun OP single - a show I’m not even watching. Like I said, good music is good music.
And, for the record, “You Get to Burning” isn’t just good music… it’s the BEST MUSIC EVAR.
Hmm… oddly enough, most of the anime songs I listen to are mainly OPs( the full version, not the TV version). Of course, it could mainly be that I do not listen to enough of them, but a quick check on my playlist reveals that about 60% of them are OPs, 30% are BGMs, and the remainder are EDs.
To me, when I listen to a song, any song( not just anime ones), I tend to insert a fantasy background in my head while listening to it. A daydream music video, so to speak.
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On a semi-unrelated note, THAT IS BY FAR the CUTEST and most ADORABLE image of Suigintou yet!
Where did you get it from?
*squeal* *squeal* *squeal*
Interesting. If I like a show, I have a tendency to download all the associated music - whether or not its musically sound. Part of it is the fact that even a bad theme song of a good show instills some kind of positive memories in me. The other part is that I seem to like pretty much everything.
Examples: everyone who’s been following Naruto for year after year knows which opening theme is the lamest - the first one, “ROCKS” by Hound Dog. In addition to being boring musically, it’s pretty vapid lyrically, too. But, I don’t care, it sticks around in my playlist because I have positive connotations with the show.
But, like I said, I like pretty much everything, which means I have pretty low standards. When I recently cleaned out a bunch of theme songs I didn’t really like, it came down to the really bad, super obscure stuff: Akazukin ChaCha, Bakusou Kyoudai Let’s & Go, Flint the Time Detective, Hime-chan no Ribbon - that kind of stuff was what got cut. Never seen the show, really didn’t care for the music at all.
Also, I really like BGM from just about anything. Especially NHK shows.
Oh, and I love “You Get To Burning.”
Skane, I just stumbled upon the image somewhere. Here’s the original. I guess Suigintou’s a Remioromen fan? (wait for the chorus)
…and it’s not just the BEST MUSIC EVAR, it’s also the best Engrish evar.
/The other day I was wondering if ep 14 of Nadesico started with that or the Gekiganger 3 OP. I was sooooooooo happy when it had both.
It varies for me… sometimes it’s the song itself, sometimes it’s how that song associates with its related material. And, indeed, sometimes the B-side is at least as good as its lead track. (I’m looking at you, “Home Sweet Home” from Home Made Kazoku’s “Thank You!” single.)
There’s also the phenomenon of songs I first discover by downloading an AMV that I wouldn’t have heard otherwise (barring some other wild coincidence) setting me off on a journey of musical discovery.
You are assuming the OP is made for the particular anime right? And excluding OPs that use pop or rock music from singers totally unrelated to the series. If that’s the case then yeah anime-only OPs suck. But non-anime OPs are generally good.
Let me quote my favourite Gatekeepers anime as an example. The OP animation and theme, “Asu no Egao no Tame ni” fits the series totally since it was written for it. But heard on an mp3 player in its full version, it’s not that great.
But look at Eureka seveN’s OPs. All from already famous mainstream acts that would’ve had these songs hit even without the anime. Shounen Heart and Taiyou no Mannaka e are superb songs.
As for EDs, most sound similar and I don’t like them much. Fortunately, once in a while, a winner comes along like “Break the Cocoon” by Yoriko for Speed Grapher.
There are many cases where the music, on its own, is of very high quality, regardless of anime. Sometimes, the music can transform a mediocre series into a great one. Two of my favorite example is the song ‘ Destiny ‘ for ” Lament of the Lamb “, and ‘ Ningyo Hime ” for ” Chobits “. Lament of the Lamb, as a manga is considered on of the best manga ever by many of its fan. It is also one of worst manga to anime conversion ever. The Ending song ‘ Destiny ‘, was a diamond in the muck, as the song was truer to what the manga was about, compared to the anime itself. Ningyo Hime is another great song that captured what ‘Chobits’ series could have been. My wife, who hates Chobits series, except for the cuteness of Chi, says it is one of songs that she likes and can’t forget.
I got to hear ‘You Get to Burning’ as I have considered ‘ Bird’s Poem ‘ from AIR to be best anime song ever.
Just heard ‘ You Get to Burning. ‘ It is a song in style of 70-80s pop music, with predominant key signature of a melodic minor. The composer mixed in many instruments and ornamentation to create a rather complicated song with good use of counterpoint and modern harmonic technique. There was a great Guitar Cadenza in the middle and its lyric is good. Overall, I can understand why some might consider this to be the best. In my personal opinion, I believe ‘ Bird’s Poem ‘ to have more profound lyric as well as sound display of composing skill mastery; ‘ You Get to Burning ‘ is probably composed by someone with extensive experience in composing popular music, Bird’s Poem’s composer most likely had master’s degree in Music composition from a reputable music university ( if he didn’t, he should have gotten a one ). Each to his own taste, I guess. One of these days, I am going to get a male 4 part choir to sing Space Battleship Yamato’s theme song. I already have someone I can ask to sing the Tenor solo part for it.
Sometimes if you change the type of music of a song, you’ll get a different feeling for it. Take Truth by Two-Mix (Detective Conan 5th OP) which is a high, fast beat song normally. Now change the techno-like sound from it and replace it with piano and slow music. It becomes a sad song.
Also, you can’t forget those insert songs as well. Some are great like Nagi from Jubei Chan 2 and Destiny from Gash Bell.
For me the opening and ending themes are very important. I don’t know what Fruits Basket would be like without Ritsuko Okazaki’s music. The same goes with Evangelion — the opening theme and, especially, the choice of going with “Fly Me to the Moon” (admittedly a special case, as it’s not original score and lyrics), are important as framing devices for the series.
Chris
THe greatest insert song ever is CLOWN from Yomigaeru Sora- Rescue Wings.
For the anime insert song, I would go with the song during fight between Kenshiro and Raoul in the Fist of North Star Movie. Actually, greatest insert song ever is ‘La Donna Mobile’ in Rigoletto. Verdi surprised his fellow Italians by giving the scores to the singers and orchestra at the rehearsal one day before the Grand opening.
I can talk about this forever, but being away from blogspheres for a few days leave this topic for another time. Maybe I’ll give it the full treatment; I do not believe I have done so formally yet.
But Jal’s got it; even if it’s just a part of a bigger picture.
Your note on B-sides makes much sense. Two other examples that I like noting is “High Touch ” from Maaya Sakamoto’s Loop single and Pride~Nageki no Tabi from AKINO’s Sousei no Aquarion single. :3