The Greatest Anime Opening Ever Tournament

[VLordGTZ]

Alone Again
Kanashimi no Konnichiwa
Dancing Star
Just Between Us

[Inkwolf]

I agree, tough, tough choices.

1. "Just Between Us" (Princess Jellyfish)
2. "Dancing Star" (Urusei Yatsura)
3. "Kanashimi yo Konnichiwa" (Maison Ikkoku)
4. "Alone Again (Naturally)" (Maison Ikkoku)

[LumRanmaYasha]

Results:

1. "Dancing Star" (Urusei Yatsura) - 8
2. "Kanashimi yo Konnichiwa" (Maison Ikkoku) - 6
3. "Just Between Us" (Princess Jellyfish) - 7
4. "Alone Again (Naturally)" (Maison Ikkoku) - 9

"Alone Again (Naturally)" and "Dancing Star" move on to round 3.

Round 2: Match 17

1. "Rock the Planet" (Urusei Yatsura) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s71DYsMhPq8
2. "Q&A" (Detective Conan) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDtQVlqP2UY
3. "Hikari E" (One Piece) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5svxuS3L9_s
4. "Freckles [english dub]" (Rurouni Kenshin) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqXBHhyMKZU

My Picks:

"Rock the Planet" - Epic music and motif.
"Freckles" - Catchy, memorable song.
"Hikari E" - Same as above.
"Q&A" - Solid Conan opening.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Oh, 2 of my favorite English Dub openings in one round:

Hikari E- Vic Mignogna just does a really good rendition
Freckles- It was literally a coin-toss between this and Hikari E
Rock the Planet- Fun
Q&A- Also good, but something had to give

[The Shadow Gentleman]

Freckles
Hikari E
Rock the Planet
Q&A

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

BTW, Shadow, I know that you said you haven't seen most shows in this competition, but out of curiosity have you already seen or read Rurouni Kenshin yet? I'm not sure, but I do consider it to be the greatest Shounen Jump manga of all time.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Having read both RK and parts 1-4 of JoJo's I have to say that JoJo's wins out for me, personally, as my favorite Shonen Jump manga. But Rurouni Kenshin easily has the best story of any Jump manga I've read, a timeless tale of changing times and what it takes to change, living to build a better future.

It's a must-read.

[The Shadow Gentleman]

BTW, Shadow, I know that you said you haven't seen most shows in this competition, but out of curiosity have you already seen or read Rurouni Kenshin yet? I'm not sure, but I do consider it to be the greatest Shounen Jump manga of all time.

I recently started reading RK through my library (which has the entire series, because it's awesome like that). I'm a few volumes in, and while it is good so far, hearing all the praise it gets around hear makes me interested to see where it goes. But at the moment I'm with CX on this one, JoJo's is my current favorite. It's just so damn fun.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Freckles
Rock the Planet
Hikari E
Q&A

Nice round.

[VLordGTZ]

Same as CX

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I like JoJo's, but I don't think I'll ever be as enthusiastic about it as everyone else is. I like the characters and story-lines so much more in RK, myself. JoJo has better fights, for sure, but I've always been about characters and story over action, myself, and with JoJo I have no drive to re-watch/re-read it after my first time through each arc.

But I'm in the minority, anyways. I'm the kind of guy who finds a simple boxing manga that's almost 50 years old to be my favorite shounen (and favorite manga) ever, as opposed to much more grandiose and epic stories out there, after all.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I like JoJo's, but I don't think I'll ever be as enthusiastic about it as everyone else is. I like the characters and story-lines so much more in RK, myself. JoJo has better fights, for sure, but I've always been about characters and story over action, myself, and with JoJo I have no drive to re-watch/re-read it after my first time through each arc.

Same here. Nothing against JoJo, but I've never been in love with it and probably never will be.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Sweet! Now it's 2-on-2! I always feel so alone when I disagree with people....

Not that our opinions should be a competition or anything. Oh, wait....what was this thread about again?

[LumRanmaYasha]

I'm a characters and story guy too, but for me, JoJo's has a charisma to it that makes it a really addictive reading and watching experience and the creativity in it's fight scenes is something I've always wanted to see in a series ever since I was a kid. It just hits the right buttons to make for some of the most entertaining manga I've ever read. Reading part 4 really solidified my love for the series, and from what I've heard, parts 6 and 7 won't disappoint me either (Vlord says that part 5 is the weakest part of the series, though, so I'm keeping expectations moderated for that one).

But I'm in the minority, anyways. I'm the kind of guy who finds a simple boxing manga that's almost 50 years old to be my favorite shounen (and favorite manga) ever, as opposed to much more grandiose and epic stories out there, after all.

And my second and third favorite mangas are clever but wacky ensemble comedies, my fourth favorite manga is a romantic comedy, and other favorites of mine include an autobiographical manga by the creator of gekikga and a manga about farming, all of which I like more than popular, high-energy battle shonen series or highly popular and acclaimed seinin works such as Berserk and Pluto.  I'm kidding around, of course, but at least you've got me as a fellow fan of AnJ and Real on this board. I don't got anybody else here that's a fan of Urusei Yatsura or Silver Spoon...

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm a characters and story guy too, but for me, JoJo's has a charisma to it that makes it a really addictive reading and watching experience and the creativity in it's fight scenes is something I've always wanted to see in a series ever since I was a kid. It just hits the right buttons to make for some of the most entertaining manga I've ever read. Reading part 4 really solidified my love for the series, and from what I've heard, parts 6 and 7 won't disappoint me either (Vlord says that part 5 is the weakest part of the series, though, so I'm keeping expectations moderated for that one).

I don't deny the charisma or fun personalities of the characters. But I also personally look for some emotional weight to them as well. From what I've watched/read so far (I'm like a third into part 3, currently), the one thing I realized in all of the fights is that, while they themselves are fun, I don't concern myself too much with who will win or lose it. I should want to see the hero triumph, or at least have some more investment in one of the characters that I'm watching, but I came to the realization that, while I enjoy all of the characters, I don't feel attached to any of them, or even that driven by their personal stories. Case in point being that I should have felt sad when Caesar died in Battle Tendency, but I didn't because I wasn't that invested in his story. And don't get me wrong, I thought he was a really cool character and I enjoyed watching him, but if one of the RK main cast got killed off in contrast, I'd personally feel pretty sad about it, myself.

But I'm in the minority, anyways. I'm the kind of guy who finds a simple boxing manga that's almost 50 years old to be my favorite shounen (and favorite manga) ever, as opposed to much more grandiose and epic stories out there, after all.

And my second and third favorite mangas are clever but wacky ensemble comedies, my fourth favorite manga is a romantic comedy, and other favorites of mine include an autobiographical manga by the creator of gekikga and a manga about farming, all of which I like more than popular, high-energy battle shonen series or highly popular and acclaimed seinin works such as Berserk and Pluto.  I'm kidding around, of course, but at least you've got me as a fellow fan of AnJ and Real on this board. I don't got anybody else here that's a fan of Urusei Yatsura or Silver Spoon...

If it makes you feel any better, I do plan on trying Rumiko Takahashi's earlier manga at some point. It'll just take me some time to get around to it.

Also, I didn't realize that you were also reading REAL. When did you start it?