When it comes to Anime, any anime, the secret sauce is absolutely the opening and ending themes. A great opening or ending can sell many people on a show, and even if that show isn’t that good, that catchy music and great visuals can stick with viewers long afterwards. For the hundreds of anime that have come out, there have been even more opening and ending themes that have graced our screens. Many are great, some are clunky, others are annoying, and then there are some that are as iconic as the shows themselves.

We all know those. One Piece’s We are, Dragon Ball’s Cha La Head Cha La, Evangelion’s Cruel Angel’s Thesis, Gundam Wing’s Just Communication.These are just some examples that I know of music that is a vital piece of understanding a show.

So today, for The Summer of Love we are going to look at the opening and ending themes of High School DxD, and talk about what makes the good ones great, the best one iconic, and the others ones…just OK. This’ll be a two part entry, so buckle up!

High School DxD’s opening and ending themes really run the gambit from great, to good, to meh. Like any long running show, there has been enough music played that you can safely rate them from best to worst. Shows like Naruto have had wonderful music and horrible music, but what about DxD? Well it, like many other long running shows runs the gambit.

Opening 1: -Innocent of D-

-Innocent of D-, the first opening theme is frankly the strongest out of all them, showing right out the gate what sort of show DxD is: uncensored titties are literally the first thing you see, which lets viewers know what kind of ride you are in for. The music is catchy, the lyrics are on point and all the images are cut and edited together for a crisp, clean and to the point opening theme. -Innocent of D- is the “We Are” of High School DxD and really much the theme song for the entire show. I can’t tell you just how fucking great everything about is, you just have to watch it for yourself.

Opening 2: Sympathy

Down by the same group who did opening one. The second opening theme of the series is, well it’s not AS good as the last one, not by a long shot, but it’s OK. It beat and tune feels very much like something out of it’s time, and honestly the more I listen to it, I find that it reminds me of the old Zeta and Double Zeta themes from Gundam. It’s imagery is also pretty static, and has plenty of Kiba dwelling around in angst(which I’m going to get to next week, don’t worry). Again, it’s an OK opening, but a major step down from the amazing first one.

Opening 3: Passionate Argument

The third opening and the second of the season 2 (the only season to get two openings), this one is again just OK. Though it does have it’s fair share of static images, some even reused from the last opening. Everything shown and spliced together feels more on point for the story arcs of the season, focusing more on the girls and Akeno’s role, as well as Vali. The tune is also just a catchier and more upbeat compared to the previous. Honestly I think this is probably the third strongest opening and does more to illustrate the strengths of season 2 then the first. I am still really surprised they gave it two in the first place, take this song, and the budget from the first opening and you’d get a really fucking killer piece. Shame, but it’s good enough.

Opening 4: BLESS YoUr NAME

It makes sense that the season considered the weakest by fans (and what caused the studio and art shift) would have the weakest opening theme, but sure enough. The fourth opening and the only one of the third season is by far the worst of the bunch. Is it horrible? Not at all, but the song isn’t memorable, the images don’t do much to show the good parts of the season, and the budget and animation is just..not good. There just isn’t much to love here at all, which is a shame, but like all long running series; there are clunkers of opening themes, and this one is High School DxDs.

Opening 5: SWITCH

I don’t care what you think of the art style change. I will get into that in July, I promise, but this opening is fucking amazing, and the second best of the entire series. Now I’ll admit this one was a bit of an acquired taste, but after listening it half a dozen times I grew to really fucking love it. The imagery is on point, showing moments across both arcs of the season (it also has a second version for the last half), and everything is mixed extremely well with the music, hitting the right notes just where it needs to. If DxD HERO is the last season we ever get of the show, then High School DxD bookends itself with an iconic first opening and a really damn good fifth. SWITCH is just a fucking good song period.

So that’s the opening themes! Overall High School DxD has a strong start, a middling to weak middle, and a solid finish. That honestly feels like the best you can ask for when it comes to a long running series, and to be honest, as long as the first opening theme is on point, the rest will just fall into place. High School DxD does that and manages a few more catchy tunes along the way.

Join me later in part 2, where I will dive into the other side of the music: The Ending Themes!