Anime

Nagi no Asukara OP2 perfectly nailed the melancholic vibe and the song is so emotional and fits well with the episode.

Violet Evergarden's is also very emotional and the artist carried hard with her expressiveness of her voice. This is perhaps the only OP where I noted the singer's sheer raw talent.

Ao Ashi OP2 gorgeous cut at 0:08 and the song and visuals jived (jove?) very well. Puts a smile to my face every time.

Gintama OP 15 aka Gintama° OP2 rewarded viewers who watched all the way from the start. Adds more feels after you finished it once you know what would happen afterwards..

Stardust Telepath's has a pseudo-morse code beat with a gorgeous final couple cuts and the transition between them.

Lots of fantastic ones in here that I agree with but I don't see these two yet:

Slime s2 op Like Flames - MindaRyn

Mob Psycho s1 op 99 - Mob Choir

I was obsessed with the entire Bocchi soundtrack so of course Seishun Complex has to go here. https://youtu.be/dlSbEP4V-gI?si=9qtlg4EyHa7vx7cA

The Beastars season 2 opener got stuck in my head big time. I wasn’t really into the j-pop scene yet at that point at this was kinda my gateway drug. https://youtu.be/-5M4lbEpn6c?si=J3DcHv1VVViZ8sw3

I just finished watching FMA Brotherhood so I’ll toss out the first opener as well. https://youtu.be/elyXcwunIYA?si=6QyqE-1clyEBfk_r

Maical destroyers the OP is a banger but anime itself is garbage mobile game ad

Welcome to chaos dumpling man, dupling man

Kiznaiver - Lay Your Hands On Me

Absolutely hated the anime. One of Triggers rare misses. It establishes ironclad rules around a plot device, and then the big twist is that those rules get ignored.

The MCs entire schtick is that he's a boring empty shell with no personality, and few of the remaining cast are remotely likeable.

The opposite, the plot is built around redeeming hateable characters, but it fails.

But damn I love that OP to death. It's so different from the typical pattern, and the kaleidoscopic visuals really work with it.

It shows off the fantastic visual design of the show, which I still adore despite the narrative and character writing being total let downs.

Gonna avoid stepping on other toes.

Hell's Paradise

Beastars

Baccano

Ya boy Kongming

JoJo Op 2

Also shout-out toSayonara Zetsubou Sensei who's op feels drastically different with context.

My favorite OPs then the visuals and music come together to make something great.

• Maria+Holic Alive - OP 1 - Mousou Senshi Miyamae Kanako by Sugita Tomokazu
• Blood Plus' Openings are good OP 1 - Aozora no Namida by Hitomi Takahashi, OP 2 - SEASON’S CALL by HYDE, OP 3 - Colors of the Heart by UVERworld, & OP 4 - Raion by Jinn
• Trigun - H.T. by Tsuneo Imahori
• Both of Gundam Wing's openings are good OP 1 - JUST COMMUNICATION by TWO-MIX & OP 2 - RHYTHM EMOTION by TWO-MIX
• Bleach - OP 1 - *Asterisk by Orange Range
• Death Note - OP 2 - What's up, people?! by Maximum the Hormone

Cowboy Bebop OP - "Tank!" by The Seatbelts

Re:Zero OP 1 - "Redo" by Konomi Suzuki

Death Parade OP - "Flyers" by BRADIO

Origin spirits of the past OP - "Chouwa oto ~with reflection" by KOKIA

Noragami OP - "Goya wa Machiawase" by Hello Sleepwalkers

Noragami Aragoto OP - "Kyouran Hey Kids!!" by The Oral Cigarettes

Ore Monogatari!! OP - "Miraikei Answer" by Trustrick

Valkyrie Drive OP - "Overdrive" by Hitomi Harada

Durarara!!x2 Shou OP - "HEADHUNT" by OKAMOTO'S

Princess Principal OP - "The Other Side of the Wall" by VoidChords ft.MARU

Juuni Taisen OP - "Rupture" by PanoramaPanamaTown

The Promised Neverland OP - "Touch off" by UVERworld

Oshi No Ko OP - "Idol" by YOASOBI (Holy shit the full song has almost half a billion views)

So I'm a Spider, So What? OP - "Keep weaving your spider way" by Riko Azuna

Made in Abyss OP 1 - "Deep in Abyss" by Miyu Tomita and Mariya Ise

Mushi-Shi's second season. Didn't expect to hear something like this opening an anime.

My favorite OPs are bangers that I can't get out of my head or are visually stunning. Here's some of my favorites that haven't already been mentioned:

https://animethemes.moe/anime/dorohedoro/OP-NCBD1080

https://animethemes.moe/anime/ijiranaide_nagatoro_san/OP-NCBD1080

https://animethemes.moe/anime/mob_psycho_100_iii/OP

https://animethemes.moe/anime/mashle_2nd_season/OP1

Some of my favorite EDs:

https://animethemes.moe/anime/yofukashi_no_uta/ED

https://animethemes.moe/anime/boruto_naruto_next_generations/ED15

I tend to like catchy, pop-rock kinda songs. Like @[email protected], I don't really care about the visuals. Some of my favourites - excluding those from this season - are:

ADAMAS by LiSA (Sword Art Online: Alicization)

Blessing a.k.a. Shukufuku by YOASOBI (Gundam: The Witch from Mercury)

THE HERO!! by JAM Project (One Punch Man)

TIT FOR TAT by MYTH & ROID (Cautious Hero)

01 by QUEEN BEE (Undead Unluck)

Edit

Noticed the question specified openings. Gonna leave the endings and insert songs here:

Don't say 'lazy' by K-ON! cast (K-ON!)

Hey! Smith!! by Monster Musume cast (Monster Musume)

My Feelings a.k.a. kanashikute lulululu, Herthaka version by Hanamori Yumiri (Kaguya-sama: Love Is War - Ultra Romantic)

Red:birthmark by AiNA THE END (Gundam: The Witch from Mercury)

STYX HELIX by MYTH & ROID (Re:Zero)

My top 3 would be probably

1. Chainsaw Man - Kick Back. It's the gift that keeps giving; every time that you watch it you'll find something new, and the more that you like it.

Don't get distracted by Power wearing a bikini, or the movie references - look at the details. Makima taking Denji for a walk, Denji seeing carnivorous flowers (a dangerous love), golden balls rolling... Mother's Basement does an amazing job exploring it, way better than I could.

2. Elfen Lied - Lilium. The anime aged poorly, and it's a weak adaptation of the manga, but damn! This OP is beautiful. And the Latin mass actually makes sense in the light of the manga's story:

Switch the genders for a moment and everything falls in place: the "man" enduring temptation is Lucy, asking for forgiveness to a "chastity lily" called Kouta. And she's devoted to him almost religiously - because, even if she's a sinner, he's the one accepting her, giving her peace and serenity, pleading in her defence, as if he was her personal Virgin Mary.

3. Sorayo Days - Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. The song is great, don't get me wrong, but what makes the OP really special for me is that it isn't just "a single OP". The scenes shown in the opening evolve alongside the story in the anime, while keeping the same catchy song. For example, here's what the first ten seconds of the opening tells you:

• up to ep8 - it's the story of three people: Kamina, Yoko, Simon.
• from ep9 to ep16 - it's the story of a whole team that includes Yoko and Simon but much more people.
• from ep17 to the end - it's the story of a boy growing up, Simon.

Except that it isn't just those ten seconds. It's the whole opening that evolves, throws back at earlier events just to push forward, in a way that feels completely natural and consistent with the theme of the anime series - evolving and going forward.

My answers to this question probably change every time I have answered it. Also, I tend to heavily favor the song over the visuals, so keep that in mind. Here are some that have stuck with me and popped into my head when seeing this:

• GO!!! by FLOW - Naruto
• Onegai Muscle - How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift?
• Shinda! by Masayoshi Ooishi - The Legendary Hero is Dead
• Change the World - Inuyasha

Of course, one of the all time greats that will always live in my head rent-free is Tank, but that felt like too obvious an answer.

"Puzzle" by ROUND TABLE feat. Nino - (Welcome to the N.H.K)

"Sakasama Bridge (逆様ブリッジ)" by Suneohair - (Arakawa Under the Bridge)

"Akai Coat (赤いコート)" by Suneohair - (Arakawa Under the Bridge x Bridge)

These are some of my favorite OPs/EDs.
I really like the songs from both Suneohair and ROUND TABLE feat. Nino, and Welcome to the N.H.K is one of my favorite series :)

Here are some of mine:

• Rewrite - Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) OP4. I can't think of another opening for a long(-ish) show that feels like a culmination of everything that led up to that point. There's the immediate impact of the guitars and drums crashing in from the very first second, and then for the next thirty or so seconds everything is kind of downbeat: the vocals are low and meandering, and all of the characters on-screen stand still in deep contemplation. And yet, the guitars and drums are still going ham in the background, and in almost every shot there's some kind of movement being animated even while the characters are still. All of this builds an insane amount of tension beneath the surface -- which finally explodes at the chorus along with Gotoh's iconic "KESHITE" scream and some god-like action cuts with jaw-dropping animation. It's hella cathartic every time I watch it and matches the final arc of the show being about letting go of the past and rewriting those regrets into actions for seizing your own future.
• Answer - March Comes In Like a Lion OP1. Even before I got very deep into the show and understood the full context of what this song was conveying, it made me super emotional. The music strikes that perfect balance between being uplifting and encouraging but also soft and reassuring, which matches up with the visuals of a troubled individual literally pulling themselves up after drowning in depression. I love the glockenspiel accents during the chorus that sound like stars lighting the path through darkness.
• Toki Wo Kizamu Uta - Clannad After Story. I LOVE how they took one of the best piano songs from the Visual Novel's soundtrack and turned it into a breathtaking vocal ballad. Lia's sustained notes in the chorus hit hard and make the song sound immense while still being intensely emotional and personal. Perfect song for what After Story puts its audience through.