If it weren’t for the OP, my distaste for .hack would still be intact and I would not have bothered to even try out ROOTS.

The Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu ED kicks more ass than Chuck Norris. The xxxHOLiC OP has prevented me from watching past episode 1 (and it doesn’t help that the animation is shoddy, the character designs don’t work in the anime, Yuuko isn’t as cool, and I prefer the manga). Alas, despite Kikuchi Mika being damn hot, I remembered why Arika annoyed me so much when Mai Otome started–she also voices Mokona. o.O

I guess I don’t mind OPs that hint spoilers in there, such as the Mai Otome OP2. I was concered with a lack of you-know-who in it, and sure enough, 2 eps later…. The Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora ED was a great teaser. For those that didn’t watch HanTsuki, check it out (only 6 eps) because it was one of the FEW good series last season. Raze and myself had many conversations regarding how spoilerific that ED sequence COULD have been. Want to know how spoilerific it was? You’ll just have to watch it yourself.

I also think OP should change with a series. I agree with the entry I posted above, and her take on the Mai HiME OP. Really now… Shining Days being played before Mai going emo and Shiruzu being Shizuru (and why we love her so much!) definately didn’t fit. Shining Days is a GREAT song, but represented Mai-HiME through the first 13 eps, not the later half. The Mai Otome OPs though, I thought did a better job of capturing the mood of the series. Dream Wing would not have fit emo Nina and pacifier-sucking Tomoe as much as Crystal Energy did.

OP that I did not like? Fruits Basket. Skipped everytime for the sheer slow and boring factor. Even if Horie Yui had sung it I probably would have still fallen asleep. Thank goodness everything else was golden.

Best OP in recent memory? Hands down, Shakugan no Shana. OP1 was better than OP2, but both were great. Absolutely bummed that a Shana vs. Sydonay battle never actually took place like in OP2.

—–

To put things into perspective, here are Youtube links to all the OPs and EDs I mentioned in my first post. Tried my best to link RAWS and/or creditless sequences for clarity.

.hack//ROOTS OP
Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ED
xxxHOLiC OP
Mai Otome OP1
Mai Otome OP2
Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora ED
Mai HiME OP
Fruits Basket OP
Shakugan no Shana OP1
Shakugan no Shana OP2

Here are some other OPs that I think capture a series well.
AIR OP
Ayashi no Ceres OP
Canvas 2 ~Niji Iro no Sketch~ OP
Card Captor Sakura OP3
Nadesico OP
School Rumble (Season 1) OP
SHUFFLE! OP

FAIL!!
Mahou Sensei Negima OP1-OP5
-This had NOTHING to do with the Negima storyline. The kiss sequences were a utter waste of animation, when in the manga, he’s only made 5 pactios and kissed maybe 1 or 2 others (not including the kissing game)

Tenjou Tenge
-I think I got stupider for watching it again. -_-