Favorite OPs/EDs from the Spring 2019 Season

Hello there! The Spring 2019 anime season has been great fun for me personally, as there have been a ton of shows that I’ve started watching with most of them being amazing surprises like Kimetsu no Yaiba, We Can’t Study, and my personal favorite being Carole & Tuesday.

Today, I just wanted to do an easy little write-up about a few of the openings and endings that I’ve really enjoyed from these Spring shows, since the OPs/EDs are a pretty important part in how I enjoy a brand new anime. Also, I was inspired to do this post from a fellow aniblogger by the name of Cactus Matt from Anime Q&A, who has written their own list of favorite OPs so far in this season! Definitely go check out their post, as well as the rest of their work 😀

That being said, let’s just jump right in!

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“Hitoribocchi no Monologue / ひとりぼっちのモノローグ” – Morishita Chisaki, Tanaka Minami, Kito Akari, Yuuko Kurose (Hitoribocchi OP)

As I mentioned in a previous post, C2C’s Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu was my most anticipated anime in this Spring season, mainly because I actually read and caught up with the ongoing manga that this anime was adapted from. I absolutely adored this manga with it’s wholesome (and sometimes relatable) premise, lovable characters, cute art style, and even small things such as the clever puns within the characters’ names themselves. I could go on and on about this series but if you want to read my first impressions of this anime, click here!

Back to the topic at hand, the opening performed by the main squad of characters is just pure joy and fun. Its fast pace and loud instruments definitely surprised me since this is a show about a girl who has an extreme case of social anxiety, but that’s not a bad thing at all. Those two aspects, as well as the overall cute and high-pitched vocals, makes this song a pretty enjoyable and catchy one. Another notable thing is the vocal performance of Morishita Chisaki (Bocchi’s VA), who can impressively sing well, as we can hear in the intro part.

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“Moffumoffu DE Yoi no Ja yo / もっふもっふ DE よいのじゃよ” – Waki Azumi (Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san ED)

Doga Kobo, the studio who produced Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san, has been a favorite of mine, as well as many other anime fans. I mean, how can they not be? They made great shows like Himouto Umaru-chan, New Game!, Love Lab, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, and the list goes on.

However, they haven’t been on much of my good side in the past couple seasons. To be honest, I’m not much of a fan of the whole “being creepy/predatory towards lolis” shtick a lot of anime shows enjoy doing since it’s just, well… creepy (plus I think it’s definitely overused). And one studio that has done THREE shows in a row including that “trope” is Doga Kobo with UzaMaid, Wataten, and pretty much now Senko-san. I might be overreacting here but come on Doga Kobo, where are the more mellow yet still comedic shows like New Game and Gabriel Dropout?! I’m a bit disappointed.

Anywho, enough of my tangent. I really enjoy the ending to this show, just because Waki Azumi (Senko’s VA) actually got some nice flow with the vocals! It’s almost like she’s rapping in the verse parts and that just surprised the hell outta me. But other than that, it’s a pretty chill and relaxing song to end the show off with, which fits excellently with the whole premise of this anime (being that this fox-girl pampers a guy after a long day of work).

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“Gurenge / 紅蓮華” – LiSA (Kimetsu no Yaiba OP)

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba was definitely one of the big surprises for me this anime season, and I absolutely love this show. The genre of historical fantasy is something I probably have not even touched in my time as an anime fan but a lot of things about this anime reeled me in quickly. From the great animation from ufotable (famously known for animated the Fate series) to watching Tanjirou work his ass off to become a demon slayer in order to save his sister, it’s an intriguing experience so far. Also, I’m surprised they added a small sense of comedy in this show which helps lighten up the mood a bit in a story about demons and tragedy.

But when you have a show with an OP performed by the same person who did the very popular Sword Art Online opening song, that’s a real great privilege to have. Mixing LiSA’s unique and prevalent vocal styling with that deeeeeeep sound of electric guitars and percussion, it simply makes for an incredible song.

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“ORDINARY DAY” – Aida Rikako (Senryuu Shoujo ED)

In order to give my thoughts about Senryuu Shoujo, allow me to present a little senryuu of my own:

It is weird seeing

someone like HanaKana (Hanazawa Kana, Nanako’s VA)

voice a silent gal

…eh, I tried (it’s also kinda wrong because HanaKana did voice a timid/socially anxious girl before in The World God Only Knows lol). But you can definitely see much better short poems in this short anime which is probably one of my favorites to watch this season. I find it pretty impressive that the main character, Nanako, is able to write and actually maintain a conversation, solely by writing senryuus, and surprisingly this show did teach me a bit about how to write these kinds of poems!

But anyways, the ending of Senryuu Shoujo probably has to be my favorite out of the bunch. And what’s this? Aida Rikako? Wait, I think I know that name…

Ah, yes! How could I forget, as a person who follows the Love Live seiyuu on an actual daily basis 😛

In all seriousness, seeing a beloved Love Live seiyuu be able to advance in their careers like with Rikyako recently debuting as a solo artist, just makes us fans extremely happy for them. They totally deserve getting more and more work other than doing Love Live-related things, and those kinds of opportunities allow them to really showcase their talents.

But me choosing this ending as my favorite one isn’t because I’m an avid Love Live fan. Rikyako is without a doubt an incredible singer and this song is just another great example of her talents in singing. Her passionate-sounding vocals with this unique music track fuse pretty damn well together. I’m just super glad that this anime allows more and more anime fans (who probably aren’t really into the Love Live franchise) to see who she is, both in music and voice acting.

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“Kiss Me” – Nai Br.XX & Celeina Ann (Carole & Tuesday OP)

Carole & Tuesday has to be my favorite anime this season. It’s not even close.

A story set in a futuristic city on planet Mars, we follow two aspiring musicians who write music traditionally rather than the mainstream way of AI producing perfect hits for millions to enjoy. It’s certainly one of the most interesting premises I’ve seen in a while and me being a lover of music, it was natural for me to watch and enjoy this show.

One notable thing is that all the songs including vocals (OP, ED, insert songs) are all sung in English by two wonderful musicians in Nai Br.XX and Celeina Ann, portraying Carole and Tuesday respectively. While people are a bit iffy about the combination of Japanese voice acting and English song performances, I personally am fine with it. I think because I immensely enjoy the songs featured in this show, I really don’t mind the dramatic change in how the anime characters Carole and Tuesday sound from the musical Carole and Tuesday. But that’s just me.

Anyways, the opening of this anime is incredible. There’s so much going on in this song like combining an acoustic guitar with some hip hop-like beats and the beautiful duet between Nai Br.XX and Celeina Ann that includes differing styles of singing… honestly you have to listen to it for yourself to really understand why it’s so unique and special compared to your average Japanese anime opening. And if you think the opening is good, you will like the other music in this show. The ending is catchy as hell and has a 70s/80s vibe to it and every episode includes a brand new insert song (here’s the one from episode 3) that is worth looking forward to every week.

And if you didn’t catch it already, I highly suggest checking out this show. Also fun fact: it is directed by Cowboy Bebop director Watanabe Shinichirou and this show most likely takes place in the same universe as Cowboy Bebop (as people noticed things being similar like the same type of currency used).

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That’s pretty much it! A lot of people are saying this season is pretty underwhelming but I beg to differ. There are some amazing shows to watch this season and I’m glad I picked up a good handful of them!

Other than that, I’d love to hear your favorite openings and/or endings in this current season, as well as any new anime you’re enjoying right now. Feel free to leave them in the comments 🙂

Thanks for reading!! 😀

-al