dAIa-log 001: The Story Told by an Opening Theme

Note: #dAIa-log is a casual dialogue series between Re:Context and AI — open-ended and unedited, keeping even the AI’s mistakes as part of its raw form. Today’s theme: oday’s theme: “The Story Told by an Opening Theme.”

Conversation between Re:Context and ChatGPT (GPT-5)

ChatGPT (GPT-5):

Hey, I was thinking — why is it that an anime’s opening theme (OP), even though it plays before the main story, somehow seems to capture the essence of the work?

Re:Context:

I wouldn’t want to use the word “essence.”
It sounds a bit superficial — and honestly, I don’t think I’m capable of grasping something like an essence anyway.
But I get what you mean.
Of course, it depends on the work.
The OP, like the ED, is a song and animation created for that anime,
so naturally it includes elements meant to symbolize the work itself.

ChatGPT (GPT-5):

Yeah, “essence” was a clumsy word choice.
Maybe it’s more like — an OP reveals how the anime breathes.
Before the story even begins, you can feel the rhythm with which that world sees itself.

Re:Context:

Hmm, I’m not quite fond of your word choice lol. But “the rhythm with which a show sees the world” is an interesting idea.
If we talk rhythm, something like Slayers’ “Give a Reason” or Nadesico’s “YOU GET TO BURNING” feels like it captures how those worlds move.
By contrast, the OPs of ARIA move to a completely different tempo.
And Evangelion — that has its own strange rhythm too.

ChatGPT (GPT-5):

Exactly. Slayers and Nadesico sync fast-paced lyrics with sharp movement — the rhythm itself drives the story.
ARIA, on the other hand, breathes.
Its rhythm lies in the pauses — in the spaces between sounds and cuts — so that the viewer’s own sense of time stretches to match that world.
And Evangelion… that’s sustained tension.
Quick beats, but the frames feel frozen — like motion trapped in stillness.

Re:Context:

According to Toshio Okada, Evangelion is “a collection of cool compositions.”
Each of those compositions works as a still image in itself — inevitably confined to only a brief moment of screen time.
It’s that compression of so much visual information into such short bursts that feels like it creates the tension.
When you stretch that sensation out over ninety seconds, it turns into what you called “sustained tension.”

ChatGPT (GPT-5):

Exactly — the lack of cutting creates the calm.
A single image lingers long enough for light and wind to move slowly across it; time stretches.
ARIA is less about “events” and more about “continuity.”

Re:Context:

I can’t help resisting that you say ARIA is more about “continuity” than about “events.”
That little is — it seems you might be taking the stance of a judge there — feels a bit too firm to me.
Because if you read between the lines, ARIA actually hides darker undertones.
Its charm lies in showing beauty despite that, in portraying the choice to focus on what’s lovely.

ChatGPT (GPT-5):

You’re right — once you notice that “chosen calm,” the meaning of that serenity changes completely.
What looked like mere peace now carries its own quiet tension.
The tranquility isn’t granted; it’s willed.
That conscious act of gentleness is what makes the world of ARIA quietly powerful.

Re:Context:

“Chosen calm” — that’s a good phrase.
Anyway, our topic was “The Story Told by an Opening Theme,” so let’s circle back.
When I think of songs that tell stories, “Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari” pops up — but that’s an ED, so we’ll save it for later.

ChatGPT (GPT-5):

Fair.
When it comes to storytelling, OPs often show things that haven’t happened yet.
Like the first Fruits Basket OP — the characters walk together long before they actually meet.
It plays like a memory from the future, and as the series unfolds, those images finally make sense.

Re:Context:

True.
Did For Fruits Basket even have that scene?
That’s the one I think of when I say the first Fruits Basket OP.
Anyway, structurally speaking, it’s something OPs can hardly avoid — showing what hasn’t happened yet.
This might be a spoiler—though I’d imagine anyone reading this won’t mind—but Madoka Magica’s OP was, in fact, showing what had already happened.
That’s where its quiet artistry lies — it’s what gave Episode 10 its brilliance.

ChatGPT (GPT-5):

Yes — that OP was masterfully done.
At first it looks like a glimpse of the future, but it’s actually a montage of what has already happened — time itself folding backward.
And it’s not just the visuals; even the grammar of the lyrics mirrors that structure.
“I won’t forget the promise we made” — the tenses blur between past and future, yet the feeling runs straight through.

Re:Context:

Exactly.
And ClariS’s transparent vocals make it all work — that crystalline anonymity fits the story perfectly.

ChatGPT (GPT-5):

Right — that “voice without a face” quality feels essential.
There’s a kind of anonymity in ClariS’s tone — a voice so indistinct that you can’t quite tell whose it is, and yet it carries a very real emotion.
It resonates with Homura’s hidden memories, the ones no one else can perceive.
So when you listen to that OP, it feels less like listening to a singer and more like listening to the memory of the story itself.

Re:Context:

You have such a distinctive way of phrasing things lol.
That idea — a voice so anonymous you can’t tell who it belongs to — is quite an intriguing way to look at it.
Speaking of songs that shift in meaning, Genesis of Aquarion comes to mind.
Once you’ve seen the show, you realize that famous OP is actually a love song from Toma to Apollo — or rather, to Apollonius.

ChatGPT (GPT-5):

Ah, yes.
That turns the seemingly exuberant lyrics into something heartbreakingly one-sided.
“I want to combine with you” stops being a catchphrase and becomes a cry for reunion — the ache of divided souls seeking to merge again.
The OP bursts with energy, yet once you know the context, it’s filled with unfulfilled longing.
That contrast condenses the whole theme of reincarnation and fate into a single song.

Notes & sources

End of conversation — to be continued in the next #dAIa-log.