Top 10 Anime Intros: Part 2

 Continued from Part 1

#4: Bleach (Intro 10)

 I unabashedly love Naruto,  though I have a sense of love/boredom with Bleach. Though Naruto's story has gotten progressively darker and more original in its twists and turns, Bleach has become akin to Dragonball Z in its waning years. Bleach is dressed up in a new a different mythology, which while interesting in its complexity, still has the misfortune of having it's conflict resolution feel as rote as DBZ's eventually became.
Basically, the story antagonist is super strong, while the hero must build his powers through each successive fight with the antagonist's underlings. Each time the hero seemingly reaches a new power-level plateau, he then miraculously breaks through and transforms into something exponentially greater by some vague means, and is able to defeat the antagonist in a final earth-shattering fight.Thankfully, the manga seems to have shifted a bit in this new story arc, since the uber-baddy that has threatened the world for 5 years has been defeated. Oh wait - the intro? Yeah, the other thing that's nice about the series is it's attention to cleavage.

#3 Bleach (Intro 6)

The best intro Bleach has ever done, during what I would argue was the peak of the story so far. Singing stuffed animals is the stuff of nightmares though...

#2 Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Intro 1)

Fullmetal Alchemist (both series) has a special place in my heart; there just hasn't been a better anime devoted to what it's like to be brothers that look out for each other. There have been two whole anime series based on the FMA manga; the first and more widely known anime is from the early 2000s and followed the comic closely until it had to veer off on a tangent because it ran out of source material (and thus, the ending had been widely panned).

A whole new series debuted in 2009 entitled FMA: Brotherhood. This "new" anime is seemingly identical to the first one in most respects, up until the point where the original anime jumped the shark. Brotherhood instead also features a style and action closely resembling the manga, as well as adhering strictly to the superior and more affecting canon of the comic. The episodes are now dubbed and free on Hulu - you won't be dissapointed.

#1: Naruto Shippuden (Intro 6)

This intro pretty much has it all: action, badass music, and sentimentality. I won't spoil the series for you, but the old guy at the beginning and then fighting on the giant frog at the end is the main character's surrogate grandfather and all around pimp. Suffice to say, he goes out with a bang; all anime fans are thankful that the intro paid such an amazing homage to a beloved character (believe me it gets better once you get passed the dude trying to speak English with a mouthful of peanut butter).

That's my list - hope ya'll have enjoyed it. Post some suggestions if I missed any, and I'll do and updated list later.

Top 10 Anime Intros: Part 1

#10: Thundercats

  Thundercats is considered an "American" cartoon, but the American animation never lived up to the promise of its intro that wasn't even animated stateside; the Japanese animators threw down the gauntlet with the intro, and it was my first real taste of what and action cartoon should be. Even as a small child I wondered why the hell the show didn't look and move like the intro all the damn time.

#9: Dragonball Z: American Intro 

In terms of my first real anime love, there is nothing that pumped me up more as an 11 year old than the American Dragonball Z intro. Coincidentally, it was also the first major breakthrough for an anime that didn't have the Pokemon moniker. I dovetailed into this series hard, even buying the freshly subbed VHSs from Funimation just so I could be the first to see the Trunks saga.

#8 : Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

I could never get into the series, but I never stopped loving this intro. For me, it hits the nostalgia buttons hard, as the composer is the same that did Final Fantasy VII. Beautiful work and animation.

#7: Naruto Shippuden: Intro 8

Love the manga and the anime (when it's not suffering from boring filler), and the intros are consistently so good, that you could probably include 4 of them on the list; what more can you expect for the #1 show in all of Japan? This is the latest intro as the show shifts back to the main storyline.

#6: Cowboy Bebop

This is a show that trancended the genre, with dialogue, action, and editing more akin to a Tarantino's Kill Bill. It's space "Jazz-opera" concept is one of a kind, and it's no wonder that American filmmakers are still clamoring to get a live-action adaption going.

#5: Samurai Champloo

The spiritual successor to Cowboy Bebop, this time twisting the wandering samurai genre up with a hip-hop flair. The show in its uncut form is hard to come by on Cartoon Network, dumped to the middle of the night for it's harder edge and violence.




GO ON TO PART 2

Naruto Shippuden 145 English Subbed

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