Top Five Bleach Openings

I have just watched many episodes of the addicting (albeit generic, cliched, stupid and painfully slowpaced) anime known as Bleach. The second most popular anime on MAL(MyAnimeList.com), Bleach is a series that people either love for its engrossing main story and interesting fight scenes, or hate for its slow pacing and annoying filler seasons. One of my favorite aspects of Bleach is the openings, which are stylish, epic and enjoyable to listen to. The following is a list of my favorite Bleach openings.
Warning: The following contains an opinion, meaning people are going to get pissed off. You are welcome to make your own list in the comments section.
Note: Bleach is not my favorite series of all time, as the filler episodes are causing me to REALLY hate the series.

#5-Rolling Star-By: YUI (Opening 5)

With a great song and nice visuals, the fifth opening coincidentally makes it into fifth place. The opening does a great job of expressing the style of Bleach, as we see a few characters wearing stylish and colorful clothing. The opening begins by panning across the city that Ichigo lives in, then showing Ichigo with his Zampakutō glowing red. The Bleach logo then appears engulfed in gray smoke. While stylish, the reason this opening makes fifth on the list, is due to the song. Rolling Star is a great song, but it YUI's voice isn't exactly appropriate for the show. Other than that, it's worthy of being on the list.

#4-Velonika-By: Aqua Timez (Opening Nine)

The ninth opening gets fourth place due to a solid song and an outstanding visual style. It begins by showing off Ichigo with his bankai activated, then showing the Bleach logo engulfed in flames, which is probably the best appearance of the logo on this list. Many will notice that the opening is very colorful, making it great eyecandy. The only flaw is that the theme song  is solid, but nothing more. The tune does little to enhance the visuals, with the exception of the logo, making it a bit low on the list. Visuals and style alone are the only things that make this opening stand out from the rest.

#3-D-technolife-By: UVERworld (Opening Two)

In third place is the second opening. A great track and intense action scenes go a long way to make this earn a spot on the list. The opening begins with Ichigo sitting upright against a Zampakutō in a field of Zampakutōs. The camera pans around him and on the other side of the sword is Rukia sitting upright against the same sword. The Bleach logo then appears in black and white, then flashing to appear in color. The song is epic and the action scenes, such as Ichigo fighting Kenpachi, Orihime actually being useful (which doesn't actually happen in the main story) and Ichigo fighting Renji, are fast-paced and just plain awesome. The only major flaw is that the art is dated, evident from the shadow lines that appear on some of the character models, making it look a bit messy.

#2-After Dark-By: Asian Kung-Fu Generation (Opening Seven)

With an exceptional track, the seventh opening to Bleach gets ranked second on the list. While the visuals aren't extraordinarily creative, they look nice and polished. The opening starts by showcasing the weapons of the main characters, the music then building up to show the Bleach logo, with its flames actually on fire. Aizen also makes an appearance holding a cup of...beer?(WTF!?)

#1-ALONES-By: Aqua Timez

This is the greatest opening ever created! Utilizing a satisfying rock song, a superb black and white visual style and an epic feel throughout the whole entire opening, it's hard to hate it. While it does start off oddly (Kon singing the song along with Ririn, Nova and Kuroud dancing in the background), the song then builds up to an epic rock tune. It then pans around Ichigo in hueco mundo with the Bleach logo flashing on the screen, then zooming into his hollow mask, where we then see a cloud for no apparent reason. Did I mention that Aizen looks insanely badass in this opening?

So there. These are my top Bleach openings. Please tell me what you think and post your favorite Bleach openings in the comments section.

2 comments: (+add yours?)

Scott Spaziani said...

I have forgotten about most of these. It's hard to believe there have been so many Bleach openings. ^^;;

I agree that Alones is very good but Rolling Star is my favorite.

Unknown said...

I agree with the list except I would definately put rolling star as #1.