Ask John: Is There a Set Pattern for Anime Openings & Endings?

Question:
Out of the many anime series I watch, I’ve noticed that the openings have a lot of animation running and in the endings the animation is “simple” with just a low number frames or just single shot cuts. This is something I see from recent animes released to ones dating back to the orginal Gundam and Yamato. Is this just a standard tradition in most anime?

Answer:
This is a tradition dictated by necessity. A fast paced or fully animated opening animation clip serves as a “hook” to entice viewers to watch the program. Opening animation clips also sometimes have better art quality or animation quality because they have to been seen time and time again, week after week while a single scene or episode can squeak by with lesser production quality because it’s only got to be broadcast or seen once. An ending animation clip doesn’t require extensive animation because not as many people will bother to watch it as will watch the opening animation. By the time the ending credits roll around, the viewer has already watched the new portion of the episode and may easily lose interest in the remainder of the program, and choose to use the ending credits time to make a dash to the kitchen or bathroom or simply change the channel or turn off the TV. Therefore the style of typical opening and ending animation sequences isn’t so much dictated by tradition as by practicality.