2022 was an incredible year for anime, with tons of quality shows to watch in pretty much every genre. And when there are great shows, there will be great openings and EDs. This year was somewhat revolutionary for anime EDs, with multiple shows creating unique endings for specific episodes. Even the shows that didn’t go this far still created some stellar endings that deserve recognition. So without further ado, let’s dive into the best anime EDs of this year.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Featured An Emotional Callback
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 6: Stone Ocean wrapped up this month and ended a saga decades in the making. While the manga has a Part 7 and 8 to adapt, Part 6 ended the original story of the Joestar bloodline and Studio David, which adapted JoJo’s first 6 parts, apparently has no plans to continue the anime. While this may be disappointing for fans, at least it concluded on a perfect note, with a special ending that served as a celebration of all that came before it.
While the rest of Stone Ocean closed with the sedate view of the ocean as Duffy’s “Distant Dreamer” played in the background, the finale featured a special ending playing the iconic song that ended the first part, “Roundabout” by Yes. The song played over a slideshow showing the casts and settings of all the previous parts with the Joestar symbol of a star passing overhead. While this isn’t the most revolutionary or eye-catching closing on this list, it was a perfect tribute to one of the most iconic franchises in anime, and for that reason deserves to be here.
Spy x Family‘s Endings Were Pure Wholesomeness
The new hit series Spy x Family charmed viewers with the wholesome antics of the Forger Family this year. The father Loid is a spy who marries an enemy assassin Yor and adopts a young telepath named Anya. This leads to plenty of fun misunderstandings, but the true joy of the show comes from seeing the fake family grow closer. This is especially touching for Spy x Family’s Anya, who has lived most of her life unwanted in an orphanage. The show’s first ending is great at showing how much her new family means to her.
Both EDs for this show are superb, with the second showing how the Forger house has become a home despite its occupants’ double lives. The first just barely beats out its successor to make it on this list though. Following Anya as she navigates through her new life with dreamlike animation, the ED is just as adorable as Anya. Gen Hoshino’s calming “Comedy” provides the perfect fun soundtrack to watch Anya’s hilariously adorable antics. But the best part of the ending comes when Anya arrives back home with Loid and Yor and the trio break into a heartwarming dance number that shows how much they truly love each other despite being a “fake” family.
Mob Psycho 100’S ED Is An Artistic Masterpiece
There were a few of anime this year that experimented with unique art styles in their EDs. While an honorable mention must go to Komi Can’t Communicate’s second ending, which combined rotoscoping with more traditional painting techniques, the most stellar ending in this category has to be Mob Psycho 100 III’s ending. It may appear stylistically similar to Komi’s, but it is surprisingly even more impressive and also perfectly ties into its show’s story arc.
Over the course of the anime, Mob mainly follows those around him, but season 3 has him explore what he actually wants to do with his life. The closing reflects this struggle, with Mob wandering around at night before jogging off into the sunrise. This may not sound very interesting, but the painted style of the ending masterfully portrays the darkness Mob navigates through and is beautiful to look at. Mob Choir’s “Cobalt” also provides a connection to the show’s other openings and closings, which were all sung by the same group. All these elements combine to create an emotional send-off to one of the best anime in recent years.
Kaguya-Sama Featured An Incredible Music Video
Kaguya-Sama: Love is War is no stranger to producing incredibly high-quality closings for individual episodes. The show centers around the overly complicated mind games of Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane, two teenagers who are in love with each other but don’t want to admit it. Studio A-1 has made Kahuya-Sama’s seemingly mundane topic into a visual and comedic treat, animating hilarious metaphors incredibly well and expertly capturing the feelings of having a high school crush. In season 1 they created a viral ending featuring one of the main characters Chika Fujiwara realistically dancing in the student council room. But this year they took it a step further.
In episode 5 of this season of Kaguya-Sama, Chika teaches Shirogane to rap so he can properly convey his feelings to Hayasaka, Kaguya’s maid. The rap scene itself is incredibly good, as an homage to various music videos. But the anime then tops itself in spectacular fashion with an ending featuring a rap battle between Miyuki and Chika that is well animated. It portrays the characters in a much more realistic style and has them bust out awesome dance moves that they would never be able to do in the context of the show (such as the anti-social nerd Ishigami breakdancing). It is a feat of animation so over the top that you can’t help but laugh at the sheer absurdity of it while also admiring the huge amount of work that must have gone into it.
Chainsaw Man Blew Its Competition Away
If this list allowed shows to take up more than one slot, then this entire article would be gushing about Chainsaw Man. The new hit anime released 12 new ending songs by different artists, with all but the first of them having beautifully animated closing sequences to accompany them. Even the first ending received a music video on Mappa’s Youtube Channel. But while any of them could have taken this slot, the fifth closing just barely inched out the competition.
The fifth closing featuring the creepy earworm “In the Backroom” by Syudou is a feast for the eyes, featuring a smorgasbord of trippy animation that explores the existential horror of both the infinite and the infinitesimal. It also features a myriad of references to future events from the manga that are hidden in plain sight, which are a treat for manga readers to try and catch. Its chaotic and grotesque energy captures not only what makes the Eternity Devil arc great but what makes Chainsaw Man great as a whole. For all these reasons, it not only is the uncontested best anime ED of 2022, but potentially the best anime ED ever.
