Shaft OP/ED

Shaft knows a thing or two about doing OPs and EDs. Here are some of my favourite OPs and EDs from them.

Maria Holic (Season 1 OP and ED)
A really colourful and creative OP. For those who don't know, "Hanaji" means nosebleed. The ED does a 8-bit style remix of the classic Kimi ni Mune Kyun by Yellow Magic Orchestra. The song and the art style fit together quite well and the song is quite catchy.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (TV Season 1 OP 1, TV Season 3 OP 1)
In my humble opinion, the best OPs Shaft has ever done. When I first stumbled upon Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, the interesting art style was what got me to try watching. By the end of the OP, I was sure this is the work of a genius. Akiyuki Shinbo, I salute you and your twisted, crazy ideas. Also, Ootsuki Kenji and Zetsubou Shoujotachi live performances are quite fun to watch.

Bakemonogatari (OP 1, 3, 4, ED 3)
Each main character gets her own OP at the end of their arc. Really love the songs they used here, especially the ED. The 3 EDs are all quite similar in style, so I just posted the 3rd one here. When it was airing, my first thought when I saw OP 2 was "wow, they spend more time, money and effort for these OP animation than the episodes itself". Well, in terms of the number of frames of animation, I think each OP might be close to 1 episode's worth. Doesn't matter though, since they do quite a few of these awesome OPs and the episodes themselves have a very good art direction.

Arakawa Under the Bridge (Season 1 OP 1, Season 2 OP 1)
Cute song, cute animation! Of particular note is the season 2 OP, which was directed by Nakamura Ryosuke (Aoi Bungaku episode 9, 10). The song could have easily turned the OP into a sugary sweet moe-fest, but the animation more than redeemed itself. It has a bit of that Le Petit Prince vibe, except gender-swapped.

Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru (OP, ED)
Ahhh a Sakamoto Maaya song! The OP has a nice jazzy vibe and the ED has a nice... weird... rock (?) vibe. LOL. Oh yeah, this isn't the actually ED; it has footage of the seiyuu dressed up as their respective characters mixed into it.

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (hand-drawn OP 1, fake OP 2, inception mash-up)
Since I couldn't find the actual OP on YouTube and can't be bothered to hunt through Russian video sites for it, here's something even better. The fan-made hand-drawn OP is kinda similar, but with some changes here and there (I think you can tell what the changes are...). The fake OP 2 (that song is damn familiar) is quite awesome, as well as the Inception mash-up. Fans really know how to make Madoka look like a full-on action movie.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko (OP, ED)
The OP is kinda plain, but nice nevertheless. Gives us a glimpse at all the characters. The ED on the other hand focuses on Erio and all that moe she brings to the table.

Shaft can do some really weird stuff in their OPs and EDs, but some are quite normal but still really well done. As for the upcoming Nisemonogatari, I'm looking forward to the animation of the ED to go along with the awesome song ClariS and supercell has cooked up! Episode and impressions should be up either tomorrow night or Monday.

p.s. 200th post!