From: gutierre@noc2.arc.nasa.gov (Robert Michael Gutierrez)
Subject: Re: Best opening animations
Organization: Ikkoku-kan, Tokeizaka, Japan.
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 02:15:09 GMT

Somebody mentioned Maison Ikkoku opening animations. Well, I kinda
think it's a hit or miss situation...

The first op (Kanashimi no Kounichiwa) was the longest running one.
The music was good, but the "animation" (more like still shots) had
a lot to be desired.

The first ed (Ashita Hareruka) was just plain bad music and just basic
typical animation.  The way the song was editied contributed to this
bad ed (the long version does sound half-way decent).

The second ed ("Cinema") was the best.  The song actually sounds better
in the edited version, and the animation style very much showed the theme
of the series.  The curtians opening against the key on the table was well
matched up with the music.  They way op/ed's should be made.

The 2nd op and 3rd ed, which is the now infamous Gilbert O'Sullivan songs
("Alone Again, Naturally" and "Get Down") really did NOT make any sense
in that the songs do not match the theme of the show at all.  The op song
had nothing to do with the show, since it was a song about a man who was
contemplating suicide after his love left him.  Definitely not about Godai
at all!  The op animation was just various images of Kyoko and Godai and the
people at Ikkoku-kan.  No particular theme at all.  The ed song was, again,
not about Kyoko (lyrics: "You're a bad dog baby, but I still want you around..")
and again, it was various images centered around Kyoko.  Weird combination.
Yes, being from the 70's (an era people prefer not to remember...), I can
think of more appropriate 70's songs to use (like any Stylistics songs...).

The 3rd op ("Sukisai" by 'Safety Zone'...err...Anzenchitai) had some good music, 
and stylish animation to match, but not exactly...  Too much repetitive animation,
and the pace seems a bit slow at times against the music.  Could have been
better.

The 4th ed ("Fantasy") was the same as the 3rd op.  Good music but too much 
repetitive animation or still shots.  The pace was better matched, though.

The 4th op ("Sunny Shiny Morning") was fairly well done.  The animation doesn't
pick up till half-way through, but showed a good sypnopsis of the theme of
the show, and the song matched it pretty well.  Yes, lots of still shots
here also, but they kept a good style to it, and that saved it from just
being another typical op/ed.

The 5th ed (Sayonara no Dessin) was bad music and typical animation.  Again,
the song was badly edited, and sounds much better on the soundtrack.  A
good ed?? ... NOT!

The 5th OP ("Sunny Spot") is my 2nd favorite.  Very little animation, yes,
but they did a great job with backgrounds, multi-cel layering and highlighting.
The song could have been edited a bit different, but I'm happy with it as it is.

The 6th ed ("Begin The Night") was a _great_ song (my 2nd favorite song),
but they edited it for the ED all wrong.  Really makes it sound BAD!  Paired
with mediocre animation (they try to copy the OP animation style, but miss
by a mile or so...), this make it one of the worst ED's on the series.  Too bad.

-----

Well, that's what I think of all of them.


    rob.