As some of you are aware Crunchyroll’s Anime Awards 2019 are swiftly approaching us! The awards will be announced on the 16th of February. The voting is now over and although I didn’t vote I thought I’d look at one of the categories that I can judge without watching the anime, the opening sequence.
The six animes nominated were: Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku; DARLING in the FRANXX; Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler (season 01); Pop Team Epic; Aggretsuko; JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind.
I haven’t watched all of these animes but I have watched two, DARLING in the FRANXX and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind, and whilst viewing the opening sequences for all of them I have tried not to let my personal feelings overpower my judgement!
Out of them all, I found Aggresuko and Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku to be the weakest openings. Kakegurui’s was quite strange but had a lot of appealing factors for some hardcore anime fans, but lacked appeal for me. My top three were the from the two anime I have watched and Pop Team Epic.
Pop Team Epic’s opening is hilarious and has totally brain washed me into watching it this weekend. The song is catchy, the animation is good and it introduces you to the crazy world that the series is set in.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind’s opening is great. The first half has a ‘James Bond opening’ visual feel about it, whereas the second half is animated really well showing off the characters and their abilities. The song is very dramatic and for lack of a better description, very JoJo’s. I desperately want to say that this opening is the best, as I love JoJo’s so much, however the best opening from 2019 has to be from DARLING in the FRANXX.
DARLING in the FRANXX’s opening is very organic which draws you in. The visual that ties the whole sequence together is the use of a bright red liquid in the background that is a representation of blood. The characters are animated above this ‘blood’ in grey scale visually drawing your attention to them. From both the visual and opening song, which is beautiful, it’s easy to understand who the main characters are and the intimacy between them from just the opening sequence. Whilst the anime may not be my favourite this opening gives me shivers all over, that is why I think it deserves to win Crunchyroll’s Best Opening Sequence. We will see if I’m right in a few weeks time!
Published: 2019-01-25
Crunchyroll Anime Awards Website – HERE
