Top 10 Anime Openings of the Spring 2025 Season - Ranked

The Spring 2025 season is coming to a close so it’s time to reflect on what I think were the best anime openings. As stated previously for other seasons, this list will focus on the entire opening, which includes animation, music, composition, color design, replay value, transitions, etc.—not just one thing or the other. So, without further ado, the best anime openings (with some honorable mentions) from the Spring 2025 anime season!

(*Note: If there are any staff members I may have missed for the credits, leave a comment and I’ll add them in!)

10. Rock Is a Lady’s Modesty

• OP Director: Naoya Andou
• OP Storyboard: Naoya Ando
• OP Animation Director: Risa Miyadani

Rock Is a Lady’s Modesty was chosen over a few others to make the Top 10 Spring 2025 anime openings list for several reasons, one of which is Ando himself. I’ll be honest, while BAND-MAID was a perfect group to make the opening theme for this series, it isn’t necessarily their best song, so the replay value for the music alone doesn’t hit as hard as others on this list.

That being said, the opening does capture the overall feel of the series almost perfectly. The color switch-ups were impressive as the girls were showcased as rockstars but also “lady-like”, given where they go to school. There was a certain chaos to it all, while also being carefully crafted, that I thought was well executed (ex: Lilisa splitting the title card with her guitar as if it were a curtain).

It’s interesting to see Ando explore a different approach with this opening in comparison to his previous works on Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon (OP2) and Aikatsu Stars! He still maintained that knack for making characters very expressive, along with some great rotating camera shots. So I’d confidently say Andou and Miyadani did a wonderful job this time around with Rock Is a Lady’s Modesty.

9. My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

• OP Director: Kenichi Suzuki
• OP Storyboard: Kenichi Suzuki, Nobutaka Yoda
• OP Animation Director: Takahiko Yoshida

The opening for Vigilantes doesn’t necessarily do anything that makes me lose my mind over it, but it does do everything right. It adheres closely to its comic book superhero theme, evident in the use of narration boxes, Ben Day dots, and heavy shadows.

Arguably, the best part of the opening is that you don’t forget who the main characters are. It doesn’t lose itself in showing the heroes we know from the main series (All Might, Eraserhead, Midnight, etc.). Suzuki directed and storyboarded the first opening for My Hero Academia Season 6, so the comic influence in his style carried over to Vigilantes in the best ways possible. Plus, who better to make the opening than the series director himself?

Suzuki and Yoda coming together to bring this opening to life was almost a perfect pairing with Yoshida’s animation direction being on point. The experience of all three is just what the first opening for Vigilantes needed.

8. The Apothecary Diaries Season 2

• OP Director: China
• OP Storyboard: China
• OP Animation Director: Yukiko Nakatani

Despite its criticized reception when it was first released, this opening for The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 deserves to be in the Top 10. Watch the other 50 or so openings from this season and you’ll see why that is. Yes, it doesn’t live up to the height of its predecessors but it still deserves respect.

Sure, the CGI kitsune masks were an odd choice, especially when others in the opening are drawn. But openings for this series are rooted in symbolism and this one remembered to follow the trend, whether it be hidden or blatant. Add that into the opening while keeping the train going of first-person shots from the previous one, I think China did a rather solid job here.

I’ll go so far as to say that the shot of the title card is one of the best of the entire season—something that I always appreciate in openings that most people never even give a second thought. And the final transition with the two hands on Maomao’s back turning into butterflies is easily one of the best of all the openings on here. The song was off-putting to me at first, but it grew on me as the season went on, same with Vigilantes.

7. Fire Force Season 3

• OP Director: Satoshi Kimura
• OP Storyboard: Satoshi Kimura
• OP Animation Director: Yumenosuke Tokuda

The main criticism of the new Fire Force opening was that the chorus didn’t particularly match the flow of the visuals—I understand that. But, honestly, I think it aligned with them pretty well. It’s extremely rare for Queen Bee to give us a dud of a theme song—this sure as hell isn’t one of them.

This isn’t supposed to be an uplifting, hype opening. It’s supposed to showcase the current, dreary state of the world at this point in the story. The different color settings for each fight during the chorus were a nice touch and it didn’t need any intricate transitions, even though they were solid to a point. Colors weren’t overwhelming, but they felt just right. It did a great job of keeping foregrounds bright and backgrounds dark, or vice versa.

I still think Kimura’s best opening work was for the original anime series Deca-Dence, but there’s no doubt that he brought over some of the same ideas for this Fire Force Season 3 opening that landed perfectly, especially in his storyboard and transitions. Letting animators run free during the chorus of the theme song seems to be something Kimura likes to do, giving great results both times.

6. One Piece

• OP Director: Wataru Matsumi
• OP Storyboard: Wataru Matsumi
• OP Chief Animation Director: Midori Matsuda
• OP Animation Director: Yong Ce Tu

One Piece is back in our Top 10 openings list and how could it not? Wonderful animation. Crisp artwork. And a story behind it all makes it one of the best openings of the year outright.

As someone who isn’t fully caught up on One Piece, the opening still hit some emotions in the story it was telling—a sign of a great opening to me, visuals prowess aside. A nice handful of opening directors tend to overlook a script, thinking that they can just plaster pretty visuals with no cohesion then be done with it.

But for an opening directing debut, what Matsumi did here is nothing short of admirable. It’s a beautiful opening from beginning to end that had love and hard work put into it, especially when you slow it down to recognize the little details.

That opening transition from Luffy’s straw hat to the “O” for the One Piece title card was brilliant. Then, between 0:37-0:41, I thought the idea of turning the foreground of the opening into the background as if Bonney was playing in front of a screen on top of a stage wasn’t necessarily genius—but the execution of it certainly was, especially in comparison to how it was done with the Vigilantes opening.

If it wasn’t for the next five OPs, it would undoubtedly be number one in this Top 10 anime openings for Spring 2025.

5. Wind Breaker Season 2

• OP Director: Ken Yamamoto
• OP Storyboard: Ken Yamamoto
• OP Animation Director: Taishi Kawakami

If an anime series is about delinquents then it better have an opening with a heavy guitar riff like this one did for Wind Breaker Season 2. The song alone is enough to get it to the top five while the direction is nothing to brush off either—respectively placing it at No. 5 for the Spring 2025 anime openings.

There are a few types of openings in how they’re formatted that I consider great. One, those that can tell a story in 1:30 like One Piece this season. Two, ones that are production spectacles with infinite replayability (like some of the next ones on this list). And three, openings that flip the script from the beginning, like this one does.

Some may look at it as a cheap gimmick to reuse certain shots but I always begged to differ when that argument comes up. It’s a style I’ve always enjoyed. The only reason I put this over One Piece is replayability. I found myself going back and watching this opening a lot more. So if you’re the opposite, I can completely understand that.

Yamamoto’s directive choice of going from a greyscale and dark visuals at the beginning to represent Sakura’s loneliness and his mesh of negative thoughts, only to switch that up to the most vibrant colors possible in the end to show where he’s currently at, was a perfect depiction of the character at this point in the story. Even adding little stuff, such as the wind switching from violent to calm, just added that extra layer of detail.

When you realize everything is actually from Sakura’s perspective in regards to those he’s now surrounded by at Bofurin, yet another little detail of emotion that viewers, including myself, may not have picked up on at first. I definitely see what Yamamoto went for here and I cannot wait to see his next opening.

4. Shoshimin: How to Become Ordinary Season 2

• OP Director: Kyouhei Ishiguro
• OP Storyboard: Kyouhei Ishiguro
• OP Chief Animation Director: Atsushi Saitou
• OP Animation Directors: Mayu Gushiken, Yayoi Takano

To those who have a love for indie work, whether it be films, games, animation, etc., this opening may not be so out-of-the-box as many anime fans think it is given the elements it presents. However, Ishiguro dared to be different in a medium with so much genericism—I think it paid dividends.

The storyboard, transitions, and use of colors were breathtaking. It takes a lot for certain anime fans to re-watch an opening strictly for the visuals rather than the music but Shoshimin Season 2‘s OP goes against the grain. There’s a reason why it’s almost creeping up on two million views.

But this doesn’t surprise me knowing this opening is directed by the same guy who gave us the wonderful second OP for The Apothecary Diaries and storyboarded the heartbreaking episode six of 86 Eighty-Six. The latter half of this opening, with the music playing out while the visuals do the singing instead, is something you don’t see quite often, especially when it’s rooted in heavy symbolism such as this.

Ishiguro’s love for beauty in the small things rather than the over-the-top flashiness of so many openings today is something I’ll always respect and admire in his work. It’s hard to pull off but he manages to do so while making it look effortless.

3. Witch Watch

• OP Director: Megumi Ishitani
• OP Storyboard: Megumi Ishitani
• OP Animation Director: Masayuki Nonaka

Even though she’s directed just two openings so far, I think it’s safe to say Megumi Ishitani is going to be a name anime fans are going to love hearing for a very long time—and this opening for Witch Watch shows it.

After trending online for her work in the previous opening for One Piece, Ishitani’s distinct style was a perfect fit for the series for multiple reasons. While I’m not too thrilled about the song despite Yaosobi’s insane run that they’ve been on, the visuals make up for it tenfold.

And, much like director and storyboard artist Yuki Kamiya, Ishitani is giving us blatantly obvious elements to her openings that even casual fans can pick up on in the most fun and creative ways possible—which is exactly how an opening should be.

An opening should cater to its anime. Ishitani not only manages to keep her style intact with the Witch Watch OP but she also manages to do so while forming it around the entire mood and characters of the series.

So, of course, the visuals are going to be different than her work on One Piece, but there are no drawbacks in this opening. It’s humorous while also being an animation spectacle in its own right. If it wasn’t for the song, it might’ve been my No. 1 out of all the Spring 2025 anime openings.

2. Yaiba: Samurai Legend (2025)

• OP Director: Ikuo Geso (aka Hisaaki Okui)
• OP Storyboard: Ikuo Geso (aka Hisaaki Okui)
• OP Animation Director: Yoshimichi Kameda

HOLY ANIMATION! I respect the hell out of Geso and company for going the extra mile with this opening. They easily could’ve gone with the basic characters running in front of a backdrop as a nod to the old style of openings that the original Yaiba series aired during—but nope.

The mix of modernity in its animation while flawlessly showcasing the old art style, on top of a great track by Blue Encount, could easily have it at the top of the list for many people.

However, there are a lot of parts moving at a breakneck speed while it also flashes a lot of colors, so, to some, I could see how it can be a little bit of a headache at first. It can be a drawback for people who believe that openings don’t need to be that over the top. But that’s Geso’s style for anyone who saw his work in the opening for Blue Archive The Animation.

He loves his quick, yet detailed, cuts, extremely wide shots of the city with a camera pan at the beginning, and balls-to-the-wall action sequences during the chorus. I’d go as far to say he may have been the perfect choice to direct/storyboard this opening for Yaiba.

You have to marvel at the incredible work that was put into this, no matter how you feel about the series. Keeping that retro feel with the character designs, not having them lost in the animation, is truly the special part of this, thanks to Kameda’s efforts as animation director. But it’s no surprise from someone who was the AD for all of the Mob Psycho 100 openings. He helped take the action-adventure feeling of the original Yaiba opening and amplified it times 100.

1. To Be Hero X

• OP Director: Zhou Yangjian
• OP Assistant Director: Xuanfeng Bowen
• OP Storyboard: Yuki Nakazawa (aka Lu Yuanyuan)
• OP Animation Director: Liu Zihan

The greatest replayability of possibly any anime opening this year. Transitions that are as smooth as butter. How it mixes 3D and 2D animation is above all the others. Oh, and Hiroyuki Sawano composed the theme song. To Be Hero X has undoubtedly brought the best out of all the Spring 2025 anime openings.

There is not a single thing anyone can tell me why it shouldn’t be. The action isn’t over-the-top like Yaiba. It’s concise and much easier to follow all of the characters it introduces. Symbolism is more detailed than Apothecary Diaries and easier to understand than Shoshimin‘s. And it presents the world of heroes in a different, yet much better, light than Vigilantes did.

Practically every single transition leads to the next sequence. Cuts are very minimal, giving it that seamless feel that none of the others brought to the table on this level. Its focal point aspect remains consistent throughout, drawing the viewer’s eyes exactly where they should be looking due to the unbelievable storyboarding work by Nakazawa.

Then, to bring on Masanobu Hiroaka, a master of morphing animations, to animate 0:27-0:34, just further proves the level of expertise that went into creating this opening. I’d say the cut to Cyan, animated by Xuanfeng Bowen, is a favorite of mine. But it’s the cohesiveness and stellar directing of having these animators create sequences while simultaneously transitioning them from one to another without fault that still blows my mind.

Basically every snap from X changes the style of the opening to something different—what other opening is doing stuff like that? Even the backgrounds of the city landscapes are extremely detailed and cater to each character. Much like its top hero, To Be Hero X deserves to be at the top of the Spring 2025 anime openings list.

Honorable Mention #2. Anne Shirley (2025)

• OP Director: Naoko Yamada
• OP Storyboard: Naoko Yamada
• OP Animation Director: Takashi Kojima

Honorable Mention #1. The Shiunji Family Children

• OP Director: Ryouki Kamitsubo
• OP Storyboard: Toshimasa Suzuki
• OP Chief Animation Director: Miki Mutou
• OP Animation Director: Masaaki Yamano

Top 10 Spring 2025 Anime Openings – Thoughts?

So what were some of your favorite openings from this season? Let us know in the comments below!

Featured image:
The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 – © Natsu Hyuga/Imagika Foss/”The Apothecary Diaries” Production Committee
Wind Breaker Season 2 – © Satoru Nii, Kodansha / WIND BREAKER Project