I’mma re-reblog this for an addendum: thanks to this proliferation of (sometimes ancient*) animes, lots of Italian have a oddly specific knowledge of little known (even in Japan) anime. Ask somebody in Japan about Ai Shite Knight; ask an Italian about Kiss Me Licia. Fettine panate.
While in the USA anime got suddendly popular in the 90s with Sailor Moon and Dragonball, we already were a nation of weebs. Oh, obviously Dragonball and Sailor Moon were really really popular also here (is Dragonball still airing?), but we were already masters in the art of the “cartoni giapponesi”. And we also imported American (and French, and…) animation, because we liked eveything.
Fact is, anime in Italy was a cheap investment, and for kids. As they were for kids, they were all dubbed, since the 70s (the sub scene will come much later). And you can’t have a dubbed anime without a nice freshly made Italian exclusive opening! And that’s when the craft of the opening was born. Most will remember Cristina D’Avena and Giorgio Vanni (because for a time they were the only ones still working); the ones with access to regional channels will probably add I Cavalieri del Re and Le Mele Verdi; the oldest… well, I really hope they’d say the Oliver Onions, because they were the best.
With the death of many regional channels, the dearth of anime on the more popular national channels, and the end of an era of taking risks on many inexpensive but odd cartoons, I think this culture around Italian openings is coming to a close. Too bad.
Also, we still don’t know who wrote and sang Urusei Yatsura’s opening. One of the greatest mysteries of all time.
* Ancient = when I was 7 years old in the ‘90s I watched an anime where the Beatles were still together.