There’s a ton of “what if ________ had an anime opening” videos out there… But this one goes above and beyond the call.
Hit the jump for more!
First it hits the basics, the studio name and the anime title… A surprising number muck up one or the other (or both).
The actor credits (I can’t read kanji, so I’m guessing here…) are particularly well done, giving us a brief glimpse of each character.
Then there’s a nicely done montage of events from the show. We get a good look at the characters in action.
What impresses me the most is the way the maker matched the action beats and scene changes to the rhythm and beat of the music. This is not easy, and it’s something often overlooked… But it’s also part of what elevates an AMV (or an anime opening) from “good” to “great”.
Overall, If there an actual OP… I’d say it would leave me pumped and ready to watch the show. (After all, that’s one of the OP’s most important functions.) It would definitely be an opening I’d watch every single time. Probably even if I were marathoning the show. (Long time readers will know that’s a rare honor.)
What’s your thoughts? Drop a comment and let me know!
Apprentice Mages Lounge. 
Well, Dr. Strange was the most anime like movie from the MCU I think from a visual perspective, though Spiderman has it beat in premise and story. I can see why this would be the easiest one to make into an opening.
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In terms of plot, Dr. Strange is the most straightforward MCU story we’ve had since the original Iron Man. It also has a relatively small cast, all of whom play a large role in the storyline. That makes a good match with this style of OP, which showcases the cast and hits the high points of the storyline.
The maker of this Homecoming anime-style OP chose much the same tack, concentrating on the central conflict with the Vulture. An interesting choice that also prevents an early reveal of Iron Man’s central role in the plot. (We’ve all seen anime where the OP gives away too much…) Others I saw concentrated on his school life, or on the comedic elements.
So I don’t know that making an anime-style OP for Homecoming would be harder per se… But you’re certainly going to be faced with a different series of stylistic choices.
You might recall this post from last year, where I talk about the impact of stylistic choices in OPs.
https://apprenticemages.com/2017/09/05/lets-get-ready-to-start-some-summer-2017-openings-considered-and-reviewed/
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Hm, I have a hard time seeing this an opening, but that might be because I’m unfamiliar with Dr. Strange. What I’m missing (or at least one of things I’m aware of missing) is a stylistically balanced and standardised succession of emtional character shots in typical moments. Openings tend to do that and sometimes even include one-shot characters (if they’re important enough or have lots of manga fans). This seems to focus almost exclusively on action to detriment of things like theme or character. Anime openings tend to be more balanced that way. Not sure I even have a point; I’d absolutely suck at making such a video (and yeah, the timing is really impressive).
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That’s a stylistic choice, and anime OP’s vary all over the map in terms of style.
Consider the Yuuki Yuuna OP… While it has slice-of-life scenes in the middle, they’re sandwiched in between “introduce the characters” and “show the characters in battle”. Compare the two (Doctor Strange and YuYuYu) and their overall structure is remarkably similar.
I would too… I’ve tried my hand at making AMV’s, and it’s anything but easy.
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Actually, for me, the Yuuki Yuna opening exactly reinforces what I said. See how they start with introducing every character underlined with a flower theme? In the Dr. Strange opening, I can’t tell crowd characters from major characters: there’s a lot going on, but nothing stands out. I can say so, because I’m completely unfamiliar with the show. There’s no highlighting whatsoever. The Yuuki Yuna opening starts with character introductions and then moves to grouping shots until at ~0:45 we have an ensemble, and by that time I have a good guess at who’s who and how they fit together, just by order of appearance (there’s also other elements like colour coding that aid you, but that’s not opening exclusive; it’s just more friendly to this particular way to conceptualise an opening).
With the Dr. Strange opening, we have crowd shots, setting shots and scuffles until around 10 seconds in, when I get who I imagine the Dr. is (because of the mouthpiece he’s putting on), but there’s nothing stylistic to clue me in, and if I’m not paying attention, I’ll miss this. After that, character introductions are interspersed with action scenes (probably film out-takes, because what else does the maker of the video have?), but there’s no framing device to tell me who’s important, and when we’re showing off themes (at one time we get a hunched figure for emotion, but I can’t really place this).
Once again, though, I’ve seen Yuuki Yuna, and it’s hard to really guess what seeing the opening “naively” is like. However, I’m positive the flower-motif at the beginning alone would have been a huge help. (I don’t remember what it was like at all.)
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I said the structure is remarkable similar, not that they would survive being compared in detail… :) :)
Yah. At lot of OP’s require familiarity with the show to gain depth and meaning… I can grok what’s going on in the Dr. Strange OP because I’m familiar with the movie.
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Oh man, right after seeing the big baddie the next scene is him pushed up against the window looking all defeated lol, PERFECT timing. Really hit those spiritual notes of anime OP.
I might have to go on YouTube and jump down the “what if ______ had an anime opening” rabbit hole
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Nice catch! I missed that.
It’s not such a rabbit hole as a cesspool with an occasional ray of sunshine through the miasma… Sturgeon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon%27s_law) was an optimist! There’s some good stuff to be found, but a lot of drek to waded through to find it.
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