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Some of the best opening scenes in anime movies are found in the classics that set the bar for everyone in the industry, but there are plenty in modern anime as well. Even if these movies aren’t familiar, their opening scenes are so iconic that they’ve been copied, referenced, and even lampooned many times in the years since they were made.
7 Ghost In The Shell (1995)
The movie that gave us cyberpunk started with one of the most thrilling action scenes of all time. The image of Mokoto crouched on the roof of a building in a glittering cityscape is one of anime’s most famous screenshots, and the scene that follows is connected to everything else that happens in the plot.
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Mokoto, referred to in this scene by her rank of Major, is some sort of futuristic LEO, but the audience is unsure of what that entails. The nature of her work is clarified to some extent when she jumps off the roof to messily assassinate a pesky diplomat, with one of the witnesses recognizing her high-tech camouflage before the movie launches into the equally famous credits sequence.
6 Redline (2012)
An amazing film to watch no matter what kind of movies you like, Redline uses a lot of experimental styles and designs to give it an otherworldly look. The opening sequence uses that angle as much as possible, using a qualifying race as the venue.
It’s not just a great opening scene for the visuals and immersion factor. It also includes a wealth of exposition about the various planets that participate in the titular race and some background of the two main characters. Spoiler alert: it also ends in a spectacular crash.
5 Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King (2012)
What defines a character? The world they live in and how they live in it are two big factors. The opening scenes of Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King take the viewer over a sweeping vista that includes a battlefield, moving as if the camera were but one of many carrion crows, to focus on a courtyard where a big mercenary with a mouth just as big is giving the invaders trouble.
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A single mercenary steps forward against the backdrop of endless war to challenge him, and this is the main character, Guts. This is a way of setting the stage for the whole series, as a young Guts steps forward and kills his opponent after a brief but tough fight.
4 Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind (1984)
The opening scene of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind tells us a lot about the protagonist and the world she lives in while still being beautiful and fun to watch. People who like movies with some survivalist exploits and extreme environments will recognize that this film was ahead of its time just a few minutes in.
Nausicaa has an interesting daily routine and the opening scene gives the viewer a close view of it. She travels to the Wastelands with her glider, collecting samples of plants for reasons that we find out later, and comes across a massive Ohmu shell. It has to be seen to be believed.
3 Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2001)
This is one of the most stunning horror movies you’ll ever see, and its terrible beauty begins with the opening sequence. It looks like a whole field of crosses at first, but then the rooftops of a city come into view, each one decorated with a different style of a crucifix.
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It’s an eerie scene, but things get really creepy when a certain carriage comes rolling into town, and all the crosses bend when it passes. The carriage stops and an elusive and powerful vampire sweeps into a nearby window, spiriting away from the damsel within. It’s a chilling introduction that not only includes the vampire himself, but the dark magic in which he travels.
2 Princess Mononoke (1997)
The opening scene of Princess Mononoke is famous not only for immersing the viewer in an ancient and dangerous world but for setting the stage for an equally perilous journey into the unknown. It starts out almost in the same vein as a horror film, featuring a marauding supernatural monster and a devastating curse.
Ashitaka and his tribe were living an idyllic life when the Boar God, now a gruesome demon, attacks their village. He is successfully brought down by our hero, but he is mortally wounded in the process. This prompts him to leave his home forever in search of a cure.
1 Ninja Scroll (1993)
This iconic opening scene has been copied a number of times, and it’s one of the reasons that Ninja Scroll was such a hit and spawned all kinds of sequels and spinoffs. The hissing wind and lonely traveler recall the old westerns that borrow so much from the movies of Kurosawa.
Jubei, the protagonist and ice-cold ronin, tosses his rice cake in the air and calmly thwarts an ambush as he walks across a bridge. He’s not just an average traveler but a badass swordsman, and a short conversation with the surviving attacker reveals he just returned a stolen sword for very little reward. The good guy with a heart of gold always seems to find trouble.
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