10 Greatest Anime Openings Of All Time

6. Cowboy Bebop

Naruto Shippuden
TV Tokyo

Genre mixologist, Shinichirō Watanabe, strikes again with this hugely popular film noir, sci fi, jazzy western classic. Boasting a stylish collage of slickly-drawn character silhouettes and their intricately designed spaceships, Cowboy Bebop remains Watanabe’s masterpiece. Masterfully combining stylishly vibrant colours and sound, the opening also enjoys an excellent musical foundation. Acclaimed composer, Yoko Kanno showcases her masterful composition abilities with her work on the wild jazz track TANK! by The Seatbelts.

The intro’s opening animations remain completely in sync with the rhythm and beats of the song throughout. One of Watanabe’s key inspirations was the 70s classic, Lupin the Third and it shows in the similarly wild saxophones and horns heard in both intros.

The music was considered an eccentric choice for a sci fi anime but a key one for Watanabe’s objective to appeal to a variety of audiences, including western adults. The ambitious artistic direction of Cowboy Bebop’s intro was integral to its success in hooking new viewers. An international success, Cowboy Bebop is often lauded as one of the greatest series of all time and one that aided the budding international popularity of anime at the time.

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