

In the same spirit as this [question about aspect
ratios](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/25975/when-did-the-
transition-from-standard-definition-43-to-widescreen-169-for)...

A [cold open](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_open) is a narrative tactic
where instead of showing the opening sequence at the beginning, the show jumps
right into the story.

I've noticed that these days, most anime use cold opens. In fact, there are a
number of anime, such as Symphogear (2012), Railgun S (2013), and Mekakucity
Actors (2014), where the first episode is basically a super ultra great cold
open: They put the opening sequence where the ending sequence usually is, and
just omit the ending sequence entirely for the first episode.

However, in the past, this was not the case. For example, older anime such as
Dragon Ball Z (1989) and Eureka 7 (2005) always put the opening right at the
beginning.

So, when did the transition to cold opens happen?


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2018-06-23T06:54:58.210
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question
anime-production anime-history
When did cold opens start becoming popular in anime?


Some shows do it this way and others do it that way. Seems it was a gradual
process between the late 1990s and early 2000s that slowly favored cold
openings.

1999 - **Great Teacher Onizuka** \- First episode shows the OP only after
three minutes.  
2002 - **Onegai Teacher** \- Opening in each episode only after a couple of
minutes.  
2003 - **Full Metal Panic Fumoffu** \- First episode has no OP  
2005 - **Shuffle** \- First episode has no OP  
2018 - **Toaru no Majutsu Index S03** \- Starts with a 90s recap and then goes
directly for the OP.


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