Oi, Hayaku!

This post is a round robin, with the twist that we stop writing mid-sentence. There’s not that much more to say so let’s get started.

OPs and EDs are important for several reasons. First, they provide me with music to add to my playlist. But more importantly, they define shows. Not necessarily like Hare Hare Yukai has come to define Haruhi, but more that the entire premise and the themes can be condensed into a minute and a half of a song and animation. An example is Black Lagoon’s Red Fraction.
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By watching the OP it’s possible to understand all the themes of Black Lagoon. It’s like a Cliffnote.

Unfortunately, there are also the OPs and EDs that don’t fit with the tone of a series. The most famous example would be A Cruel Angel’s Thesis, of Evangelion fame. However, I’d say that the dissonance presented [Omisyth] is completely and utterly trivial when compared with the most disappointing anime opening of all time, Magipoka’s Senketsu no Chikai.
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From this you’d expect the show to be filled with cult and satanic references, magical battles and lesbians but instead it’s a goddamn comedy, with no harem, no yuri and no decent antagonists to fight against whatsoever. Not only would that come as a surprise to the viewer, who’d probably be sent flying into next week from the sheer force of The Unexpected Material, but it may either sadden or anger them to the extent that [continue me!]

[coburn has accepted your challenge] they are sent flying back in time. Flying back to that time when they first decided to watch said televisual fest - whence they shall take another path, rejecting that series in favour of something a bit more famous.

Maybe they’d wind up spending their time on something like RahXephon - something with a soaring epic for an OP, and a soothingly elegant ED. A big mature show by a big famous studio. Our time-traveling anime connoisseur will revel in the classy execution, unaware of the dreadfully misleading musical experience which could have been theirs had they but made the wrong choice…
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As our hero sits back with another episode of carefully-developed sci-fi mystery, inevitably Evangelion will spring to mind once again. This chronologically-mobile-critic might perchance consider the way in which the deranged disconnection of Gainax’s sequences contrasts to Studio Bones’s careful professionalism. Perhaps a harmonious OP/ED is truly necessary in these less madcap shows?

Evangelion certainly suits confusion more than its more measured (and less outrageous) successor. Fans of confusion might also enjoy spinning round in circles fast to get dizzy or [continue away!]

[Lbrevis] trying to keep up with this post as we move at breakneck speed onto bigger and better things. Onto anime that doesn’t dwell on juvenile topics like teens with problems or something as silly as giant robots. Our protagonist would be much better off bending the laws of time and space so that he could watch a show about adults. A show about real men… real men playing rock, paper scissors.

Indeed, Kaiji proves that there is nothing quite so thrilling as watching people who should know better stake their livelihood - no, their very lives - on children’s games. Which is why the OP is an adrenaline fueled rock song in which the dangerously pointy-nosed Kaiji smashes and kicks his way around the screen. He grits his teeth and screams, ending with a triumphant thumbs up and a grin that inspires anyone whose ever wanted to stick it to The Man.
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Except that Kaiji is the Suffering Pariah for a reason and as such the ED is appropriately moody, a perfect tribute to the struggling underdog. Rumor has it that this ED even inspired a movement in Japan in which droves of fans grew mullets, dressed in baggy jeans and set out on a pilgrimage to find the exact train that Kaiji is sitting on. It may sound strange but not as strange as… [continue here]
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[beanbrew finishing]  Ending here.  We’ve reached the deadline, so I’m cutting it off. In fact, if we look back at the post, we can see that we ended up in a different place than we started.  Alls well that ends well, and all according to plan.