Some quick ground rules: these openings are being judged on a combination of the song and visuals. Also, for the sake of variety, I’m going to limit the placings to only one opening per series (otherwise, most of the list would be Jojo’s and Attack on Titan). 

My opinion on openings can fluctuate depending on my mood. To try and combat this, I went back and listened to all of these again to make sure that they truly were my favorites. Keep in mind though that in three months, this list could look very different. 

Before we get into it, honorable mentions to Vinland Saga OP 1 and the Your Lie in April opening. Both of these barely missed the list.

20. Mob Psycho OP 2: This opening has that chaotic Mob energy, in both the song and visuals, in addition to cool bass at the beginning.

19. Kaguya-Sama: Love is War OP 1: I love this singer’s voice. The second opening is also great, but the image of Shirogane holding a literal rocket launcher gives this one the win. (Quick update: the season 3 opening just dropped and is also fire.)

18. Promised Neverland OP 1: The saxophone solo in the intro gives this an automatic spot on the list.

17. Deadman Wonderland: Edgy visuals, edgy song. What’s not to like?

16. Evangelion OP 1: A classic. That one moment where the mech snaps the sword into its hand is so well-timed (I haven’t actually seen the show, so I don’t know what it’s called.)

15. Tokyo Ghoul OP 1: The song is great, even though it’s a meme now.

14. Noragami Aragoto OP: The guitar track is so clean in this song.

13. Naruto Shippuden OP 16: This opening is almost good enough to convince me to watch Naruto. I like it when Sauske does his little spinny electric move in the one shot. Blue Bird and Diver are also very good.

12. Sword Art Online Alicization OP 2: Gotta give SAO some love. There are like four other openings that are also fantastic, but this one’s my personal favorite.

11. Fairy Tail OP 21: The drummer pops off.

10. Jujutsu Kaisen OP 1: While the song itself is extremely good, the visuals are what I like most about it. Panda standing outside the panda exhibit at the zoo makes me laugh every time. Todo’s half-Jojo pose and Gojo’s trademark smirk are also great. If you like the song as much as I do, I would highly recommend listening to the bass cover of it by a Youtuber named Davie504. It somehow manages to make the original song even better.

9. Golden Kamuy OP 2: If this list was based on song alone, this opening would be around #2-3. However, the visuals don’t really fit the song in my opinion, so it stays at #9.

8. Death Parade OP: I haven’t seen this show yet, but the song is a banger and the opening just gives off fun, happy vibes (even though I’ve heard the show is pretty dark).

7. Re:Zero OP 3: This pick is totally biased because Re:Zero is my favorite anime. With that said, I really like both the song and visuals for this opening, especially the part where Subaru is walking past all the dead Subarus and looks like he’s about to go insane.

6. Demon Slayer OP 3: This pick might be affected by availability bias because I just watched the new season of Demon Slayer a few months ago. However, it’s an Aimer opening, so I feel like this is still a valid pick. The beat drop on this song goes extremely hard, and I love how all of the scenes are perfectly timed with the music (The shot where Muzan slowly looks up under his hat, the sequence of Tanjero, Inoskue, and Zenitzu all slashing their swords, etc.). This song just has great energy.

5. Domestic Girlfriend OP: Another show that I have not watched. I’ve heard the show is complete garbage, which is why I do not care for the visuals in this opening at all. The reason this opening is at #5 is because it is the best song I have heard in an anime opening. Do yourself a favor and look up the full-length song instead of watching the opening.

4. Black Clover OP 10: This opening’s black-and-white visual aesthetic is super cool. More importantly, the song slaps. The beat drops in both the beginning and the chorus are perfect, and I love the use of the piano as well.

3. Attack On Titan OP 3: I could go into a detailed explanation on why I love this opening so much, but I think a comment on this opening’s YouTube video sums it up perfectly. “This makes me feel patriotic for a country that doesn’t exist”. Openings 1, 2, 6, and 7 are all amazing as well.

2. Fate Stay Night UBW OP 2: Yeah Aimer makes the list a second time. This song is incredible. It’s rock, but also peaceful somehow? It’s hard to describe. The Ufotable visuals are also gorgeous. Every shot is a work of art. Even though a lot of the scenes are just characters standing there, the music and the visuals somehow come together to give me chills. As a side note, I was *this close* to putting the Fate/Zero OP here in place of this one. The Fate/Zero one would surely be in the top ten without the one opening per series restriction.

1. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure OP 2: My favorite opening. The song is so catchy. The visuals are stylish and unlike any other visuals I’ve seen in an anime opening. The entire vibe perfectly fits with the story and characters of part 2. Jojo openings are amazing- Opening 1 might be the best first opening in any anime, and Opening 8 hits insanely hard- but I had to put Bloody Stream at #1.

If you’re reading this and thinking, “Wow, this guy has horrible music taste,” leave a comment or create your own article with your top ten anime openings! I really enjoy seeing other people’s opinions on the matter.