ODD FUTURE by UVERworld is the title song and lets take a look at how good it is just on its own. By itself, if you just listen to it without seeing the opening video it is a solid song with good high and low points. It has great vocals, it is fluid, starts off quiet, starts a newer faster pace, then kicks into a heavy rock riff. The whole song is just great to listen to by itself and like many anime opening theme songs it made its way onto my iPod just because they are great to listen to on their own. It is by far the best opening song that Boku No Hero has used as an opening thus far as I feel it encompasses what has followed in the episodes: light hearted then a quicker increase in action.
HOW THE VIDEO & SONG MESH
The very good song by UVERworld is put together with fantastic visuals that I think perfectly sync with one another. What is so cool about this opening and makes it so easy to explain is that with the song and video doing that I can break it into sections and explain what is happening and why it works.
Part 1
The opening starts with Deku crouched and the logo popping up underneath him along with a few flashback pictures of important Deku moments so far. As soon as he starts running then as it kicks into the lighter music we get pictures of Deku & All Might peacefully on a bench, the student of UA training together, a grouping of the pro heroes, and the League of Villains. We also got to see a clearer image of the woman who previously held All For One before passing it onto All Might, surprisingly, she does play a role later in the arc. All important people for the arc that is to come in Season 3 and a light hearted way to start things, just like the season does. As soon as Toga throws her needle at the screen the pace of the music picks up and we move onto:
Part 2
As the music begins to pick up in pace for the first time we see two people who are facing two different issues. The first we see is Shigaraki being patted on the head or comforted by the hand of All For One a teacher and father figure he does not want to let down. The second we see is Deku, who is walking with his head down as images of Bakugo play in the background, this is important for 2 reasons: 1) we all know how important Bakugo's opinion of him is to Deku with how long they've known each other and 2) Bakugo is the one person that as we see Deku couldn't help when things came to the clutch. We also get glimpses of Iida and Kirishima, two people who have important roles but are missing from the brief time are Todoroki and Yaoyorozu. They are all in action poses and just as Deku powers up One For All the music shifts pace into:
Part 3
All Might smashing into the ground, Shigaraki with some Nomu's (which he will release later on , and in the flash of light a shadow of One For All, then the students of UA fighting which they all do in the forest specifically Deku who takes on Muscular in one of the most epic fights of the series (for now, the All Might fight hasn't happened). And that is when the most dramatic shift in music happens.
Part 4
My favourite moment of the intro is when it kicks into the heavy rock music when All Might is powering up to fight All For One, in what will be All Might's last fight as a pro hero before passing the torch officially to Deku, we also get flashes of other top pro heroes: Endevour, Eraserhead, Best Jeanist, Mt. Lady & Kamui Woods, and Edgeshot in fighting motions. Leading to Deku smashing in the Boku No Hero Academia logo before the song quiets down and finally ends with a shot of All Might & Deku together because like I mentioned, with this fight against All For One being his last, this is the official passing of the torch to Deku. All Might even says, "it's your turn now", obviously not in the intro but he will be.
FINAL THOUGHTS, OTHER THAN WHAT I'VE ALREADY SAID
Now, I said perfect I don't mean to say that it is by far the only one, just one example of an anime opening recently that is perfect for its show because it has been a long time since I have seen one work this well. It fits all the criteria of a great opening, the pacing is amazing and the visual imagery matches the song, the images also match with what is happening or will happen in the arc itself. But is there anything else that makes this so good, well it still suits the Boku No Hero Academia opening trend of staying true to the shows colourful nature and not making it say a black & white intro or trying to be unique in any way. It is a simple intro that works so well on so many levels.
The fact that you can get so many people even more hyped then they already were for this season before it released just by showing the opening PROVES how good a job they did.
I think they really had to make this a good opening because this is one of the most important arcs & moments in the series, it sees the "big event" Deku mentioned in the opening of the series finally happen. They had to make it impactful as an intro and they really pulled it off.
SO LET'S CONTINUE TO ALL ENJOY THE REST OF BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA (MY HERO ACADEMIA) GOING FORWARD, I CAN PROMISE FROM WHAT I'VE READ THAT IT ONLY GETS BETTER FOLKS