A Japanese TV station asked international anime fans their top 20 openings, and the selection mostly proves they don't watch much anime
Just throw the list out and start again.
Japanese TV station TV Asahi recently asked international anime fans what their top 20 anime openings are, and the results have me convinced no one actually watches anime.
Back in March, it was announced on TV Asahi's Sosenkyo Twitter account that they'd be hosting a special program going into the top 20 anime openings ranked by international anime fans. The program apparently polled 1740 people, from all across the world, in order to find out which are the best of the best according to non-Japanese viewers of anime. Don't worry, you won't have to sit through the three hour long special to find out, as conveniently the Twitter account listed them out for us.
Here's the full list, which certainly indicates that most people are just thinking of the anime they most recently watched rather than what the best are:
- A Cruel Angel’s Thesis by Yoko Takahashi (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
- Idol by YOASOBI (Oshi no Ko)
- Voltes V no Uta by Mitsuko Horie (Voltes V)
- Unravel by TK from Ling Toshite Sigure (Tokyo Ghoul)
- Kick Back by Kenshi Yonezu (Chainsaw Man)
- Blue Bird by Ikimono-gakari (Naruto Shippuden)
- SpecialZ by King Gnu (Jujutsu Kaisen)
- We Are! By Hiroshi Kitadani (One Piece)
- Again by YUI (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
- Ao no Sumika by Tatsuya Kitani (Jujutsu Kaisen)
- Samurai Heart (Some Like it Hot!!) by SPYAIR (Gintama)
- Gurenge by LiSA (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)
- Cha-la Head-cha-la by Hironobu Kageyama (Dragon Ball Z)
- Butterfly by Koji Wada (Digimon Adventure)
- Silhouette by KANA-BOON (Naruto Shippuden)
- Kaikai Kitan by Eve (Jujutsu Kaisen)
- Tank! by SEATBELTS (Cowboy Bebop)
- Akuma no Ko by Ai Higuchi (Attack on Titan)
- Shinzo wo Sasageyo! By Linked Horizon (Attack on Titan)
- Guren no Yumiya by Linked Horizon (Attack on Titan)
Now, admittedly, this list has some bangers on it. To this day A Cruel Angel's Thesis deserves that top spot, it truly is the best to ever do it. I'm a big fan of some other tracks on there too, like Chainsaw Man's Kick Back, Cowboy Bebop's Tank! and Dragon Ball Z's Cha-la Head-cha-la. But… there's also so few older OPs on here.
Three of them are from Jujutsu Kaisen, another three are from Attack on Titan, and the second spot is Oshi no Ko's opening, which yeah is also a banger, but second place? Even if we have to think about modern anime, where's any Mob Psycho opening? What about Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, or Death Note, FLCL, Soul Eater, Serial Experiments Lain, Sailor Moon? I'm starting to think that anime fans don't even watch that much anime. Seriously, if you were polled for that list, go watch some more anime.