I like watching openings when I can. They set up the show and are generally a decent indicator of the quality of a show. Of course, there are times when this is horribly wrong, but still. The other nice thing it does is introduce music. And tomorrow happens to be the day that Toki wo Kizamu Uta, the CLANNAD After Story OP single is being released. So, let’s start from the bottom.

Not really considered to be a part of this season is the Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei OAD, which also includes a not-new OP, the venerable Kuusou Rumba, with new and improved disturbing opening animation sequences that lets it get in here for an honourable mention. Ga-Rei Zero also gets an honourable mention for having no OP until the fourth episode, by which point I’d dropped it because of its shenanigans.

The most bizarre and probably likely to offend someone OP award goes to Kemeko DX, which includes a scene of the characters reenacting the road to Calvary with the line JESUS, JESUS, JESUS KAMI-SAMAAAAAAA. Tytania’s OP, Ano Sora wo, Yuke, also gets a weird look for being some sort of operatic tune sung by a Japanese guy, with the stoic looking characters and explosions happening in the animation.

Casshern Sins’ OP, Aoi Hana, is pretty old school, which is a nice fit for an anime that’s a reboot of a show from the 70s. Toradora!’s Pre-Parade is a colourful, weird sort of techno-pop-ish kind of thing that matches the hilarious nature of the show. Kannagi gets a mention with motto?Hade ni ne! for excellent OP with high production values that may or may not have to do with the show. And Kuroshitsuji’s dark England sort of feel is portrayed well with Kiss of Monochrome.

And now, we’ll take a look at the four OPs that I must have and eagerly await the releases of the singles for.

Lagging behind the rest is Soul Eater’s second OP, PAPERMOON by tommy heavenly6. She may sound familiar and you wouldn’t be wrong, since she’s the lead singer for the brilliant green. They might also sound familiar, because they did a song called Ash Like Snow for some obscure anime that you might have heard about called Mobile Suit Gundam 00. PAPERMOON isn’t too bad if you enjoyed Ash Like Snow and the animation for the OP certainly isn’t weak. The problem is that compared to resonance, the song doesn’t really fit Soul Eater.

Coming up in third is Sky High!, the OP for Nodame Cantabile Paris Chapter. The biggest problem with Sky High is that it isn’t Allegro Cantabile, which is a favourite of anyone who watched the first season. By its own right, it isn’t a bad song, but it didn’t meet our absurdly high expectations and nostalgia. That said, it’s a fine match for Nodame, especially during the Paris arc.

The runner-up is UVERworld’s Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi, the first OP for the second season of Mobile Suit Gundam 00. It falls right in place alongside Daybreak’s Bell and Ash Like Snow in terms of setting up for Gundam 00. I was actually fairly surprised to see UVERworld become so big, since the last time I cared about them was when they first showed up with D-Tecnolife, the second Bleach OP.

That leaves that song I already mentioned for first place. Yes, CLANNAD After Story’s OP, Toki wo Kizamu Uta, is my pick for the best OP this season. The first season’s OP, Megumeru ~cuckool mix 2007~, was a remix of the visual novel’s OP, which I guess is fairly clever. But, this song combined with the beautiful opening animation really sealed the deal for me. Or maybe it’s just because I’m clearly in the tank for CLANNAD. YOU DECIDE. Unfortunately, the ED isn’t as strong and definitely doesn’t compare to Dango Daikazoku.

It was back when I was in Seattle for PAX. It was Saturday night and since our hotel was about half an hour away from the convention centre, we decided to skip out on that night’s concerts. Even though I was looking forward to seeing Anamanaguchi, the Minibosses, MC Frontalot, and the Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, the physically painful experience of attending the Friday night concerts was enough to persuade me from pushing for it. After all, Jonathan Coulton and the OneUps were awesome enough as it were.

Anyhow, we got back to the hotel at about 10 pm and realized that we hadn’t eaten yet, so we ordered some pizza from Pizza Hut, which I was thrilled with since that was during the height of Code Geass R2 mania. Anyhow, while were nom-nom-noming on delicious stuffed crust, we had the TV on. It was only two nights before that Obama gave his nomination acceptance speech in Denver. That night, CNN was running a documentary about Obama’s life from the start all the way up to present day.

The dream that I had when I fell asleep was unique in that I could clearly recount the details. I was at the White House and everyone was in like the garden or something sitting around a bunch of tables like you would at a cafe, and George W. Bush was addressing everyone there. Now, Bush being Bush, he was saying some garbage, the details of which I don’t remember. But, I did think what he said was incredibly stupid, so being the devastatingly sarcastic smartass that I am, I heckled him.

Understandably, Bush was pissed as hell that I was heckling him. He walked over, very angry-like and confrontational and overall had a fairly threatening composure. Of course, as luck would have it, Obama was at my table, and he noticed angry Bush approaching. He decided to step in and try and calm him down, but Bush wasn’t having any of it. So, Obama being the cool guy that he is, decides to swing back with an utterly devastating remark to Bush.

How did I know his remark was devastating? Because immediately, Bush looked absolutely dejected and he turned around and walked back to the stage slowly. And what would be an excellent burn without a high-five? So I gave Obama a high-five and we were very pleased with ourselves and smiling and all.

Congratulations, America and hi5, President Obama.