20 - 11
20. Gurren Lagann OP 3 - "Sorairo Days"
Time for the opening of my latest anime obsession. Granted, there were three great openings to choose from, but I just had to pick the opening to my favorite arc. It just makes me so happy, seeing everyone in their post-time-skip selves, especially seeing Simon all grown up, and seeing some of the growth he's gone through. Though I will admit part of why I love it is because I get to see my favorite character from the series, Rossiu, honestly, there are a lot of reasons why I love this opening, and Rossiu's only a part of it.
19. Zankyou no Terror ED - "Dare ka, Umi wo"
This ending still gives me such chills. The music and animation is just so gently haunting... to be honest, I probably quote it in my head more than I realize. It's... hard to explain why I love this ending so much, it just... it just stuck with me.
18. Assassination Classroom OP 4 - "Bye Bye Yesterday"
I've been mentioning for a while on how Assassination Classroom, to me, is like a thriller-horror disguised as a classic shounen anime. To be honest, I was a little disappointed on how the openings failed to show both sides of the show, so you can imagine my excitement when I finally found the opening that did. While it still shows people happy in their classroom, at the same time it shows them focused in darker matters as they avoid each other's gaze and as the true nature of certain characters are revealed. The lyrics are amazing, too, totally fitting the nostalgic, yet urgent and nervous feeling of an upcoming graduation and the need to fit as many memories and accomplishments as you can last-minute. I'm super glad that Assassination Classroom was finally able to have the opening it deserved.
17. Durarara!!x2Ten OP - "Day You Laugh"
Out of all the Durarara openings, why this one? Well, let me explain - first of all, this was the first Durarara opening where I noticed the deeper meanings behind how each character was introduced. It's also the first opening that establishes Ryuugamine as the main character. Not only that, but it shows him everywhere, representing his growing power, yet his unawareness of just how much power he's gaining. It also has one of my favorite things - a main voice actor singing the song itself (thanks, seiyuu of Ryuugamine). The music itself is great, too, and that's just one cog in the many things that makes this opening so great in my opinion.
16. Tokyo Ghoul Root A ED - "Seasons Die One After Another"
I seriously encourage you all to not only check out the TV Version of this ending, but the piano version as well. It's such a beautiful, melancholic, emotional melody that's nearly impossible to get out of your mind or heart. Not only has it helped me with emotional characters I have, but it also works so well with the anime it's from. Tokyo Ghoul is a very sad, broken (in a good sense) series, and this ending helps so much to show its brokenness. The music video is incredible, too, and I'm really sad it was taken off of Youtube. I honestly don't think I could love this ending any more.
15. Gurren Lagann ED 3 - "Minna no Piisu"
I guess if a song throws the words "Love", "Rock", "Everybody", and "Peace" at me enough, I'm guaranteed to love it. Really, though, I love how much this ending shows what Gurren Lagann's all about - believing in yourself, loving others, staying loyal to your friends, having fun, believing in yourself, finding peace in the world, staying humble, but most of all, believing in yourself (did I mention that yet?). To be honest, I love this show so much and I love this ending so much. Sure, it might not be the flashiest, but it's an enjoyable ending to an insanely enjoyable series, thus making it all it needs to be.
14. Kekkai Sensen ED - "Sugar Song to Bitter Step"
Kekkai Sensen helped me get through a tough time of my life. I had just moved to college - the first time I had ever lived anywhere other than my hometown, and I was feeling homesick. But this anime, and especially its opening and ending, helped me through that. Specifically on the ending, it's the optimistic tone and the encouragement that, though there there are problems, it'll still go "From one good time, to a problem, to another good time," and that those problems are only temporary. Even past that, it's a fun piece, and I love dancing to it as much as the characters do. I might even cosplay Leonardo in that outfit.
13. Jigoku Shoujo ED - "Karinui"
This song is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. It's such a gentle, yet sorrowful song, perfect for the ending of Jigoku Shoujo. It landed much higher in last year's list, and while it did fall a few ranks, I still think it's one of the best out there. I just remember finishing each episode of the first season with this ending, and feeling such a bittersweet satisfaction as I thought about what had happened in the episode. Once again, it's perfect for the series, and it's hard to fault it for that.
12. Deadman Wonderland ED - "Shiny Shiny"
Years later, and I'm still not sick of this song. In fact, I fell in love with it again after I rewatched Deadman Wonderland. This song has so much meaning to me, how it acknowledges that there are sucky things in this world, but then proceeds to exclaim just how beautiful and wonderful the world is. It's a message of pure optimism, and it's so beautiful. In fact, if I ever do make a travel blog, I will probably name it after this song. The pictures in the actual ending are great, too, reminding us of who the characters were before the horrors of the setting started. And now, thanks to it, whenever I'm at an amusement park, I always try to get on the ferris wheel at sundown, just to represent it.
11. Assassination Classroom ED 2 - "Kaketa Tsuki"
"But what about the first ED?" you exclaim. Well, you see, while I might agree that, on its own, the first ED might be a little better, the second season needed this ending more. It's in the second season that everything takes a turn for the much darker, and this gentle ending is what it needs to remind us that about the beautiful nostalgia, the good times in this series. Besides, it almost holds just the same amount of nostalgia as the first ending - I still remember my own high school days and the joy I felt then as I listen to this ending. So yeah, with that, the second ending prevails over the first and lands itself with this spot on the list.
