There are very few openings which I have repeatedly listened to hype myself up. Not that all OPs are meant to do this, of course, but of the more upbeat songs I’ve heard, most I just listen to once and for the rest of the show. No Pain, No Gain, however, is not one of those openings. It is an opening that not only has a great instrumental but an extremely powerful female vocalist.
Btooom!, like many of its battle royale contemporaries, has a sense of urgency and desperation in its action. Each of the characters is trying there hardest to survive, and all have a different motivation for what drives them to stay alive, be it selfish or otherwise. In Btooom’s case, that urgency and desperation are further emphasized by the weapons that players use to fight: bombs. Knowing that they could be used at any place and at any time means that the show’s characters are constantly on their toes. Naturally, then, it would make sense for the show’s opening to accurately depict that range of emotions.
And, in fact, Btooom’s opening does this quite well. The extremely rock heavy instrumental makes you feel the pressure of trying to survive while others are out to get you. One of the best parts of the song is during the opening seconds, where the guitar takes up the entirety of the instrumental, and the lead vocalist, Nano, who lends her vocal talents to add to the strained and extremely intense atmosphere.
Nano is definitely a lot of the reason this song works. Her deeper voice adds a level of seriousness that would not necessarily be present had it been performed by another artist. Her lyrics in the song also very much mirror the story of the show’s two main characters, Ryota and Himiko, who was very much thrown into a world they knew nothing about and were forced to fight there way out.
Probably the least impressive part of the opening overall were the lyrics, which definitely rang as a little bland sometimes, but still managed to get the message across well. Overall, definitely worth a watch/listen.
What do you guys think of this opening? Let me know in the comments below. Also, if you want to support the Aniwriter through donations or are just feeling generous, consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi. Otherwise, thanks for reading and bye for now, Friendos!