May is all about anime over here at gamergal.exe and my favourite thing about AniMay is creating my yearly OP/ED post! Despite not watching as much anime over the past year as I have done previously, I’ve still managed to find some super new tracks from a bunch of different series, however, when compared to my previous posts for 2020 and 2021, I don’t feel like this line up is quite as strong. Overall, I feel like the quality for anime themes has dropped recently; but that doesn’t mean they’re all bad. Usually, I feature 10 themes per post, and since I struggled to narrow it down this time, we’ve ended up with 11. Please take a listen to my favourite themes from the anime I’ve watched over the past 12 months and let me know your favourites too!
11. Spy x Family, ED
First up is the ending to this season’s most talked about anime, Spy x Family. ‘Comedy‘ by Gen Hoshino is a fantastic track to end this show with it’s funky beats that fit the animation very well and provide a somewhat chilled out ending to an excellent show. Anya is just the cutest!
10. Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie, ED
Although this may not be the strongest musical candidate in this list, I absolutely loved the ending for Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie! The way ‘Route BLUE‘, the 2nd single from Yuki Nakashima, syncs up with the animation is what I loved most about this ED, reminding me of some kind of crazy rhythm game! It’s a fantastic little extension to each episode that fits the theme of the show perfectly.
9. Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki-kun, OP
The opening theme for Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki-kun, ‘Jinsei Easy?‘ by DIALOGUE+ (written by Unison Square Garden’s bassist, Tomoya Tabuchi) is an insanely catchy tune that you can’t help but start to love after hearing it a few times. The instrumentation suits the anime really well featuring some 8-bit synth sounds that are typically associated with retro gaming, and for an anime loosely involving fighting games, I’d say that’s a fairly good match.
8. Higurashi When They Cry Gou, OP
Something a bit different now with the opening theme to Higurashi When They Cry Gou. ‘I Believe In What You Said‘ by Asaka is quite a bop when you get into it and I really like the darker tones it contains. The dissonance at the end of the theme helps tie it in perfectly to the horror genre of the anime making it suitable for its purpose, and in general, I think this is a pretty great song. It sounds similar to something Myth & Roid would write (Re:Zero) which is probably why I like it so much.
7. Sasaki and Miyano, OP
There’s a lot of things I love about, ‘Ichigo Sunset‘, the ED for Sasaki and Miyano. Firstly, the choice of instrumentation sounds so beautiful (kind of similar to Japanese band, sumika) and I also love that the two main characters’ voice actors, Yusuke Shirai and Soma Saito, are the vocalists for the track. Since Sasaki and Miyano is an anime centred on the titular characters, it makes so much sense for them to personally end each episode.
6. Aharen-san wa Hakarenai, ED
I’m already a fan of Hanon and Kotoha (a.k.a. HaKoniwalily), so I was really excited when I first heard this song, ‘Kyori-Kan‘, as the ED for Aharan-san wa Hakarenai. The song has a cutesy feeling to it which pairs well with Arahan-san’s character, but I also love the fullness of the instrumentation accompanying their vocal duet. This is the type of track I would likely listen to even if I hadn’t watched the anime.
5. Heroines Run The Show, OP
HoneyWorks have introduced their newest cinematic work this season with Heroines Run The Show! This opening theme, ‘Julieta‘ by virtual idol duo LIP×LIP, Yujiro (Kouki Uchiyama) and Aizo (Nobunaga Shimazaki), is an absolute banger and very much in LIP×LIP fashion. As I’m heavily into J-Pop and also familiar with LIP×LIP’s previous works, I’m completely invested in this anime – and what better song could be used as an OP!
4. Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song, OP
My favourite thing about Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song was the soundtrack including this OP ‘Sing My Pleasure‘ performed by Vivy’s voice actor, Kairi Yagi (singing voice only). As an anime about an A.I. designed specifically to sing, the music needed to be a prominent feature here, and I thought it was produced at an amazing quality for a short series. This particular song presents a great start to each episode with a strong vocal and layered composition that sounds fantastic.
3. Link Click, ED
Ironically, I spent far too much time overthinking whether I should choose Link Click‘s OP or ED for this list. Despite the OP constantly being stuck in my head, the ED, ‘OverThink‘ by Fan Ka, just made it out on top as it’s such a great fit for the series and a fantastic way to end each episode. Even though the lyrics are in Chinese with some small English lines, the song is so unbelievably catchy with the beeps really impacting those cliffhangers and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it every single time I watched an episode.
2. Koikimo, OP
The OP for Koikimo, ‘Monochrome City‘ by ACE COLLECTION, is one of the most recent songs I’ve discovered through anime and instantly added to my playlist. Despite not loving the series itself, I play this song regularly and I never seem to get tired of it no matter how many times I hear it. The music fits the OP animation well and compliments the art style used, which in my books makes it not only an awesome song, but a great theme too.
1. ODDTAXI, OP
Making its way into the top spot is ODDTAXI‘s OP, ‘ODDTAXI‘ by Skirt and DJ PUNPEE. This is probably one of my favourite anime OP themes of all time despite it being something I would never choose to listen to, but alongside the stylish animation, this could be classified as a work of art. This series was an absolute pleasure to watch and this OP helps capture the mood to prepare you for each and every episode.
Once again, I really enjoyed writing this post as it’s not something I do very often. I hope it helped introduce you to some new songs and I would love to hear some of your own favourite anime OPs/EDs too!
gamergal.exe 
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