Favorite Opening Lines in Anime

[CriticChris2]

What are some of your favorite opening lines in anime? I'm talking about opening lines in a whole series, of course, ones that REALLY grab your attention. I'll start us off:

Princess Tutu-"Once upon a time, there was a man who died." The rest of the narration is great, but wow, what a way to get your audience's attention right off the bat.

Wolf's Rain-"They say there's no such place... as Paradise. Even if you search to the ends of the Earth, there's nothing there. No matter how far you walk, it's always the same road. It just goes on and on. But in spite of that... Why am I so driven to find it? A voice calls to me. It says... Search for Paradise." An intriguing speech, and combined with the music and Johnny Yong Bosch's soulful delivery, a powerful one.

I wish I could think of more. Have at it!

[Serial Experiments Nobue]

Revolutionary Girl Utena

Once upon a time...

...there was a princess grieving over the deaths of her mother and father.
Before this princess appeared a prince traveling upon a white horse. His appearance gallant, and his smile gentle, the prince enveloped the princess in the scent of roses, and wiped away her tears.

"Little one bearing up alone under grief, please lose not thy strength and nobility when thou growest up. As a token of this day, please retain this. Pray, shall we meet once more? This ring should guide thee to me."

Was the ring from the prince meant as an engagement ring? That part was good, but because of the strength of her admiration for the prince, the princess made up her mind to become a prince herself!

But is that really good for her?

You know you're not in for an ordinary fairy tale after that introduction.

[William K]

From Uchuu no Stellvia / Stellvia of the Universe

"In the year 2167, the Earth suffered major damage when it was swallowed in the waves of radiation and electromagnetism from a supernova explosion. People throughout the world worked together and overcame the crisis. People of the past, thank you. The Earth is doing well. I too am doing well, somehow; now it is the year 2356."

Not a direct translation I think but I don't have access to my DVDs at the moment to check.

Of course the words being spoken by the main character, Katase Shima, voiced by my favourite seiyuu may have influenced my vote a little :)

[Buckeye]

From Fullmetal Alchemist (the original season):

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy’s first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world’s one, and only truth."

Edward Elric is the one that says this prior to the opening.

[mitamaking]

Two come straight to mind

Vandread
Women are Monsters

Kamichu
Um... Mitsue, last night I became a god

Also I love the delivery of the first line of Princess Tutu in the dub.

[strangefour]

Berserk
"In this world, is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law? Is it like the hand of God hovering above? At least it is true, that man has no control, even over his own will."

Durarara!!
"Looking back, I don't quite get it. But, in a way, I do. Anyway it would change my life. But, in a way, nothing changed at all. It was, at the same time, very very strange, but also the sort of thing that could happen to anyone. Here in Ikebukuro..."

[russ869]

"And the whole world marveled at the power of the beast... saying, "Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" -- Revelation 13 (Monster)


"Was any of this for good or bad? I really couldn't say. But, like most people I guess, I was raised in the same country I was born. My family was middle-class, pretty ordinary. And so, I've never known the troubles of the rich or the hardships of the poor. To tell you the truth, I could really care less." (Wings of Honneamise)

"He was always alone, always by himself. Never anyone to share the game. He lived in another world. He was that kinda guy." (Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door)

[CriticChris2]

From Fullmetal Alchemist (the original season):

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy’s first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world’s one, and only truth."

Edward Elric is the one that says this prior to the opening.

See, I thought about including that, but I couldn't remember if it was THE first lines of the series.

And Alphonse is the one who says it, silly.:bigsmile:

[einhorn303]

Durarara!!
"Looking back, I don't quite get it. But, in a way, I do. Anyway it would change my life. But, in a way, nothing changed at all. It was, at the same time, very very strange, but also the sort of thing that could happen to anyone. Here in Ikebukuro..."

Someone has obviously read some Charles Dickens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Tale_of_Two_Cities).

[Buckeye]

And Alphonse is the one who says it, silly.:bigsmile:
It's been quite a long time since I last saw it. Anyway, for a true opening line that is memorable, here is the one from Soul Eater said by Maka:

"A sound soul dwells with in a sound mind and a sound body."

[CriticChris2]

And Alphonse is the one who says it, silly.:bigsmile:
It's been quite a long time since I last saw it. Anyway, for a true opening line that is memorable, here is the one from Soul Eater said by Maka:

"A sound soul dwells with in a sound mind and a sound body."

Oh, it's cool, just thought you might want to know.

[Doom86]

"He became a Prince out of necessity. He had come to the realization that the future we all hoped for would never come to pass unless someone volunteered to become a sacrificial lamb. It wasn't what he wanted out of life, but he did it anyway. He became a Prince in this world without a King. But what exactly did he have to do to become a Prince? The answer still alludes me to this day."

- Saki Morimi, Eden of the East

[CriticChris2]

"Present day. Present time. Hahahahahahaha!"-Serial Experiments Lain

I'm not a huge fan of this show, but that's certainly a magnificently unsettling way to start things off.

[Fudce]

The one that I always remember is:

OK, asking somebody how long they believed in Santa Claus is so stupid you can't even consider it a topic suitable for idle conversation. But if you still want to know how long I believed in some old fat guy who wears a funky red suit I can tell you this: I've never believed in him, ever.

[something]

"Present day. Present time. Hahahahahahaha!"-Serial Experiments Lain
The one that I always remember is:OK, asking somebody how long they believed in Santa Claus is so stupid you can't even consider it a topic suitable for idle conversation. But if you still want to know how long I believed in some old fat guy who wears a funky red suit I can tell you this: I've never believed in him, ever.
And those are basically the two that I would have noted. Haruhi came to mind first, and Lain would have been next if I'd eventually thought back a few years.

[Draneor]

I'd probably have to go with "I hate this city," which is the opening line to both the anime and the game.

[CriticChris2]

I'd probably have to go with "I hate this city," which is the opening line to both the anime and the game.

...To what anime and game, exactly?

[EnigmaticWarrior]

I'd probably have to go with "I hate this city," which is the opening line to both the anime and the game.

...To what anime and game, exactly?

Clannad, perhaps? ;)

[EmperorBrandon]

I'd probably have to go with "I hate this city," which is the opening line to both the anime and the game.

...To what anime and game, exactly?

Clannad, perhaps? ;)

Yes, Clannad. That's probably one of my favorites (though it's one IMO that's more interesting after you've seen the whole series), along with Princess Tutu's.

[Shiroi Hane]

I could have sworn it was the first thing spoken in the series but now I look it up, it actually isn't. But since I looked it up anyway, this is from Gatekeepers 21:

"Everywhere I go, nothing but people. Noisy cars. Trains going clickity-clack. The city is just a bunch of gray boxes. What little sky that can be seen is anything but blue. I was born in this city and this city is where I live. It's full of nothing but people and noise. Sometimes I feel suffocated. That's why... I decided I wanted to do something more interesting."

[Ashyukun]

I could have sworn it was the first thing spoken in the series but now I look it up, it actually isn't. But since I looked it up anyway, this is from Gatekeepers 21:
Yeah, I actually had a similar situation with Ookami-san, but unfortunately Arai-narrator's "A long time ago... well, actually it wasn't really THAT long ago..." isn't actually the first line of the show, thought it's what I remember most vividly...

[mk2000]

Revolutionary Girl Utena

Once upon a time...

...there was a princess grieving over the deaths of her mother and father.
Before this princess appeared a prince traveling upon a white horse. His appearance gallant, and his smile gentle, the prince enveloped the princess in the scent of roses, and wiped away her tears.

"Little one bearing up alone under grief, please lose not thy strength and nobility when thou growest up. As a token of this day, please retain this. Pray, shall we meet once more? This ring should guide thee to me."

Was the ring from the prince meant as an engagement ring? That part was good, but because of the strength of her admiration for the prince, the princess made up her mind to become a prince herself!

But is that really good for her?

You know you're not in for an ordinary fairy tale after that introduction.

Total agreement on Utena. :beatingheart: Rather than a 'princess in waiting' she chose a 'prince in the making'. It's this twist that became the show's base foundation and lead appeal.

There's been so many other good ones mentioned already.

I also like KareKano's intro since your first impression of Yukino's is delightfully turned on its head within the first couple of minutes. Still my favorite intro episode in anime.

[BigPants]

September 21, 1945; that was the night I died. -Grave of the Fireflies

Simple, upfront, and carries a lot of weight immediately. The movie has one of my favorite openings.

[russ869]

The one that I always remember is:

OK, asking somebody how long they believed in Santa Claus is so stupid you can't even consider it a topic suitable for idle conversation. But if you still want to know how long I believed in some old fat guy who wears a funky red suit I can tell you this: I've never believed in him, ever.
Hold on... Is that really the opening quote? I don't even remember that.

[Fudce]

The one that I always remember is:

OK, asking somebody how long they believed in Santa Claus is so stupid you can't even consider it a topic suitable for idle conversation. But if you still want to know how long I believed in some old fat guy who wears a funky red suit I can tell you this: I've never believed in him, ever.
Hold on... Is that really the opening quote? I don't even remember that.

It's the opening lines to the first episode of Haruhi (when you watch it in episode order - The Adventures of Mikuru fits in later)

You should be ashamed of yourself for not remembering it. You should go back and rewatch Haruhi as punishment. (A nice punishment)

[TheGreenMan]

Kamichu: "Mitsue-chan...I've become a god."

[russ869]

The one that I always remember is:

OK, asking somebody how long they believed in Santa Claus is so stupid you can't even consider it a topic suitable for idle conversation. But if you still want to know how long I believed in some old fat guy who wears a funky red suit I can tell you this: I've never believed in him, ever.
Hold on... Is that really the opening quote? I don't even remember that.

It's the opening lines to the first episode of Haruhi (when you watch it in episode order - The Adventures of Mikuru fits in later)

You should be ashamed of yourself for not remembering it. You should go back and rewatch Haruhi as punishment. (A nice punishment)
I never felt the need to rewatch Haruhi, so that explains why I forgot. Maybe I should rewatch it, considering my new appreciation for witty dialogue ...and Tomokazu Sugita.

[Glamrgrl104]

Wolf's Rain

Monster

FMA the original

Eden of the east- "He became a prince out of necessity. He realized that if nothing else the future we hoped for would never come unless someone became the sacrificial lamb, called a prince. So even though it wasn't what he wanted, he decided to be a prince in this world with no king..." and the quote goes on and on lol.

[Shiroi Hane]

The start of Battle Girls tickled me

[girl in serafuku, scared and confused and clearly out of place in a sengoku period setting]
"Thinking back, this is where everything began going wrong. Probably."