One of the great gifts that the world of anime has left us since it exists are the openings, those songs with sequences that show us preliminary scenes of the anime definitely touched our hearts and at a certain point we have seen the need to relate both elements (anime and opening) by inertia, listening to any of these songs means immediately think of the anime and even those who do not know Japanese could learn it, even if we do not understand anything. This phenomenon is so big that there are bands that at the time were totally unknown and that thanks to an opening song managed to achieve a lot of fame and admiration around the world.
There is a YouTube channel that is dedicated to invite artists who are mostly Japanese, the format consists of a completely white stage in which the artist or artists are filmed in close-up and must sing live. It is a simple format visually, but from my point of view is perfect to appreciate in greater detail the talent, audio and expressions of the artists.
This channel is called THE F1RTS TAKE and right now it has millions of subscribers, in its long feed we can see presentations of bands and artists that became very famous thanks to the anime openings. Now, why do I say that this channel boosted those anime songs, well, I think that's because in this format we could see more closely those artists that we heard so many times when we saw certain anime and in that sense we could confirm something that was already obvious and that is that the great talent of these was there from the first moment, but now we could see them in THE F1RST TAKE we could see them on the first page. So here I will share with you three of many songs that for me got a new life.
Until this video was released it was quite difficult to find a live performance with good audio and video quality of the song “We Are!” by Hiroshi Kitadani, and well, this opening song needs no introduction since we listened to it dozens of times who watched One Piece since the first chapter. This is a fresh song, full of energy, good vibes and with lyrics that encourage us to go out to sea. The instrumental has everything, violin, trumpet, saxophone and piano, so the sound is rich and perfectly fed by Hiroshi Kitadani's voice. By the way, I thought the wink of the straw hat was epic.
Now, I must say that it's nice when you get to know a good band thanks to the opening of a song, that's what happened with the spectacular Kizuna no Kiseki, the opening theme of the arc of the blacksmith village of Kimetsu no Yaiba. Rarely have I felt so attracted to the sounds of a song, those elements of Japanese folklore are perfectly complemented by the anime setting. This song is a great success of the band MAN WITH A MISSION who invited the beautiful Milet to strengthen a composition that since its conception was already a total success. And well, in this THE F1RTS TAKE we see these guys wearing very particular masks doing what they know, I must say that this live performance felt as if you were listening directly to the studio version, it sounded perfect and that speaks of the high level and professionalism of the musicians.
The 4th opening of the super popular Naruto has a special place for me, it is a song that evokes the nostalgia of times when this anime was at its peak of popularity and when I was a diehard fan. The good vibe of this song is intensified in this live performance that makes us feel closer to the musicians, it is impressive how a band of two singers, with a bassist, a drummer and only one guitarist can transmit so much with their particular sound. This is a song that invites us to jump and have a good time while we remember the most important moments of Naruto's beginnings, this is without a doubt a song that has aged quite well.
So I leave you with three iconic songs that you will surely recognize and enjoy, but best of all, you will be able to listen to them in great sound quality and detail. If you like, you can share any presentation of THE F1RTS TAKE that is to your liking, I will gladly listen to it and give you my opinion about it. Greetings!
