So not too long after I made a tweet about it, I figured, why the hell not start? At least I got to start somewhere. This is the first in a series of posts so far, despite the end of 2009 already approaching, about the current entries in my top picks for 2009 (winter 2008 anime season till fall 2009 season, the latter of which is still going on). Of course, this list will be limited only to the series I have seen and/or complete. This first post will be about the OP and ED theme songs as well as the singers/bands (who are all grouped together).
Any and all entries that are marked out in skyblue are the current picks as the most likely winners. This list only includes songs that were released in 2009 itself.
Current Nominees for Best OP of the Year 2009
Falling Down – Oasis (Eden of the East)
Miracle Fly – Kuribayashi Minami (Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo)
JAP – abingdon boys school (Sengoku Basara)
Mitsu no Yoake – Arai Akino (Spice & Wolf II)
staple stable – Chiwa Saito (Bakemonogatari)
Princess Primp! – Hashimoto Miyuki (Princess Lover!)
Current Nominees for Best ED of the Year 2009
Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari – supercell (Bakemonogatari)
Saga ~ This is my road – Kanon (Guin Saga)
After the rain – cossami (Kemono no Souja Erin)
Hitotsu no Negai – Inoue Hikari (Valkyria Chronicles)
Kioku – Younha (Rideback; Korean version)
M/elody – Tsuji Shion (Tokyo Magnitude 8.0)
Aishiteru – Kourin (Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou)
Current Nominees for Best Singer/Band of the Year 2009
Kuribayashi Minami
TM Revolution (abingdon boys school)
Kanon
Kourin (I need to finish her damn single)
Charlotte Hazellink from Princess Lover!, currently in line to win first for Anime Female of the Year 2009.
Some of these are obviously a little biased, but this is not the final list yet. Consider that I have yet to watch a few more fall shows I wanted, for one. However Kuribayashi Minami has almost all but clinched the title, though Kanon is a damn close fight as well. I know some of you are probably balking at why HIMEKA did not make it in, but then again I did not find the OP to really impress for Valkyria Chronicles. I have yet to hear her other single though, the one she did for fall (forgot which show).
I really need to finish Kourin’s single for Aishiteru, but that ED is really very nice, the best all year probably. And yes, Hashimoto Miyuki’s Princess Primp! made it into the awards, and I know some of you are probably going WTF at that. No, Hanazawa Kana’s ED for Bakemonogatari did not and will not make it in. Younha’s Korean version of Kioku (the original, and the Japanese version will probably never be released at this rate) is chosen as the actual version of the ED for Rideback here in the nominations. Really, the original Korean version is better.
Some other songs and singers/bands that did not make it into this list but could have will be placed in the honorable mentions category. There are quite a few of those.
Finally this is all based on what I prefer and like, so judging the list based on any form of objectivity is obviously silly.
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Not a bad set overall. Interesting that K-ON’s ED didn’t make it nor did any of the ones from Cross Game. Hopefully those will pop up as honorable mentions. And though I hated the show, I thought Needless’s OP was different enough to also warrant mentioning.
Definitely agree with HIMEKA’s performance on the VC OP. Somehow, I could never really get into it and I’d rate it as passable, but it’s nothing really all that special.
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@zzeroparticle Panther didn’t watch K-ON! if I remember correctly…
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No Super Driver (which is the catchiest song of 2009) and Again on your nominees of best OP!? I’m ashamed of you.
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I thought HIMEKA’s OP for VC was ok. Her ED for Letter Bee took a bit to grow on me, but I would say it’s better, even though nothing earth-shattering.
I agree with most of your list, but I actually enjoyed Eden of the East’s ED more than the OP. I’m a big enough school food punishment fan that I plan on making a post dedicated to them at some point.
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zzeroparticle: I did not and still do not care for either series. Yes I did think about modern strange cowboy, considering GRANRODEO is more of a rock band than anything and I kind of like their music, but not to the extent where it makes it into the “awesome” category.
Kairu: WTF are those troll songs?
Shadow: I never liked the ED, not particularly a fan of any one band or singer most of the time except for the very few, so I prefer songs based on their music, lyrics, or both.
I like supercell’s songs! Didnt know they got something to do with Miku, just caught them at Bakemonogatari :D
now I seem to dislike everything Hirano Aya, I thought she was shouting in her songs rather than singing! :(
for op
ride back by mell >>> listen till the end, there you’ll get what i mean
to aru kagaku no railgun op is also good >>> best of 3, very catchy
darker than black 2 op is also good
for ed
hitomi no kotae >> has a feel of aria op in it
don’t say lazy >> i like how she says ‘oh crap i broke my nail!’ that’s why
blue sky true sky >> best of 3,but kimi no shiranai monogatari will win anyway
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znrj2xrdmyM
Lots of hard choices for the OP/ED, lots of them are excellent.
I really like Falling Down though.
andra: I thought everyone knew them from Miku’s songs first, especially “World is Mine”. I am not a Miku fan and even I have heard about them. Of course, that could be because I have quite a few Miku fanatics around me…
rainbow: Rideback nearly made it in, but it was unjustifiable for me. I am not watching Railgun, I have yet to watch DtB S2, and none of the three ED songs you mentioned I know about.
Reltair: Falling Down has additional points because it is English, and actually really relevant while being a slightly different type of rock song you will hear from the West. More points when it gets used as the OP to an anime series, and one such as Eden of the East at that.