Try as we might, there are probably dozens, if not hundreds, of anime series we either haven’t gotten around to watching, or just flat out haven’t watched. Unfortunately, I’m in the camp of anime fans with a fairly extensive backlog, and an even more extensive list of excuses for why it keeps piling up.
In keeping with tradition, instead of just watching the shows in my backlog, I figured “hey, you know what would be fun? Watching some opening themes and just guessing the plot of the show.” Below I’ve included 10 anime openings for shows I’ve never seen before, courtesy of some of my Twitter followers, Openings.moe, and a little YouTube archaeology. Let’s see if I got any of them right, or if I’m worthy of some laughing at for being totally wrong.
Dragon Crisis
So off the bat, we have a young girl engulfed in fire. Then a fairly clueless looking high schooler and some cute anime girls. Right before the chorus, the blonde haired girl gracefully falls from the sky towards the clueless dude. Magic circles appear on their hands. They both seem pretty confused but place their hands together anyway.
I’m going to guess blonde-chan is a dragon. Actually, most of these characters (cute girls especially) are all dragons. Blonde-chan is a mysterious transfer student. Clueless dude has the power to bring out her dragon power. They fight together (and I’m guessing either fall in love or wade through some stereotypical anime sexual tension) to fend off other evil dragons.
Gamers
The cheery music and smiling characters lead me to believe this is probably some sort of slice-of-life show about a high school gaming club. I hoped it was misdirection when after the logo, a zombie-looking character started staggering towards the screen, but given the following tributes to games like Smash Bros, Mario, and generic visual novels, I guess not.
I don’t know what to make of the chorus scenes. It shows the protagonists fighting this giant golem dude, but I have no clue if this is just more misdirection or a callback to a game I’ve never heard of. So I’m still taking a chance on the slice of life high school gaming club guess.
Venus Versus Virus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5YYYOVLjko
I actually recognized this song from listening to some online anime radio way back in the day. Good to put a song to the show finally. The opening starts with eyepatch twin-tails girl and generic redheaded highschooler firing guns at each other then embracing. Twin-tails looks rather protective of the highschooler. In true anime opening fashion, a lot of this opening just looks to be character reveals, floral patterns, and random doors closing.
There’s not much to go on here, but I’m going to take a shot in the dark and assume this is a yuri fantasy battle action. Twintails-eyepatch and generic redhead have to work together to fight off the baddies with their superpowers and guns, and somehow, their love makes either the fighting bearable or their powers stronger.
Punchline
I…uh…
What?!?!!
Seriously, what the hell is going on here? I’ve watched this opening like fourteen times now and I still have no clue. This looks all over the place (in an awesome way). So this dude starts by running from a comet/asteroid. Then he sees panties and gets a traditional anime nosebleed. Said nosebleed holds up the Earth. Then he goes super saiyan?
I’m guessing this dude winds up at a boarding school, but it’s an all-girls school. Lucky for him (in more ways than one), seeing panties gives him the powers needed to save the school (and ultimately the world). That’s the best I can do here. Super lost on this one.
Hamatora
Lots of characters just looking around in the first opening here, so I watched the second one instead. Quick shot of a tank in a (presumably) Tokyo street. Buddy walking into a cafe to be greeted by a wide range of characters. Helicopter flying over the city. Buddy throws his headphones on in what looks like preparation. Then tank and helicopter start firing at him.
If I’m being honest, this looks like the poor man’s mashup between Durarara and Mekakucity Actors (and not in a good way). Based on how utterly generic it looks, I’m going to guess this is a show where all these superpowered kids convene at a cafe to plan against fighting some military-power in an effort to save the city.
NEEDLESS
Easily recognizable GRANRODEO off the bat. That’s a nice treat. Find it hard to believe this possibly-too-macho white-haired dude can find basically a knock-off Devil May Cry outfit but no undershirt. Same goes for this raven-haired lady having a pristine-condition motorcycle. Though with Dr. Wily clacking away at his keyboard in a perfectly in-tact office, maybe it’s not post-apocalyptic?
I’m guessing there’s some sort of population control mysterious corporation that this main character, biker girl, and…some…idol trio (as is tradition) have to fight against? Also guessing this green haired boy probably gets caught in the midst but holds the key to ending the power mysterious corporation controls.
Kemono no Souja Erin
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2c08h4
This looks pretty interesting. The visuals are really cool; kind of like Aztec or native Canadian paintings. Not sure the significance this an apple holds, but maybe it’s a link between the people and these monsters? Like it’s a common food they enjoy or something.
So, I’m guessing the young girl (Erin?) is part of a village where these mythological monsters from their mythology begin to appear. Every story arc revolves around her helping the monsters find peace and return to the afterlife. Kind of like Mushishi, but a more traditional fantasy.
Kokkoku
Won’t lie – this is a pretty catchy song. Visuals remind me of something out of an early-90s horror mystery. Like I could find this on the shelf at a manga store next to the other stylish and violent Tokyopop releases, like Parasyte.
There’s a ton of clock imagery in here, along with the word flashback being pretty prominent in the lyrics. Pretty cool monster looking thing at the end too. Based on the high-school girl, a middle-aged man, and an elderly chap, I’m going to guess this family unlocks the key to time travel, which ends up being the key to taking these monsters out. Also going to guess it goes horribly wrong down the line, and ends up with the high-school girl having to find her way back to the right time. I bet it’s unnecessarily confusing.
Wolf’s Rain
So this is either about actual wolves, or the wolves are an allegory for street gangs. Both have the potential to be really cool though. There are a few humans in this entire opening, and a lot of wolves ripping it up through the streets of Tokyo.
Since wolves usually travel in packs and have some pretty strong territory issues, I’m going to wager this is actually about street gangs. It’s a drama following the struggles of being in a gang. I bet the main character has a good heart and hates violence, but does what he has to to get by, and that probably catches up with him faster than he could imagine.
Narutaru
Oh boy, I love the rock song in this opening. The harmonica really brings it together. This show looks super cute! Definitely a comedy with some science fiction elements thrown in the mix. No doubt about it.
I bet these school girls find this little star alien dude, but they have to keep him hidden from their parents. Looks like some other aliens show up (probably looking for star dude), which makes hiding him more complicated.
Okay, so there’s ten of them. Did I get any right? Probably not. But if I did, let me know! And if you want to see me royally screw up guessing what an anime is based on its opening, send me a link to an opening on Twitter, or throw it in the comments below!
