Category Archives: AMV of the Day

AMV of the Day: Who’s That Chick?

Posted on by Arleigh

Before I returned to posting something about horror I needed to post another “AMV of the Day” entry after discovering and watching this happy little AMV earlier today. This latest anime music video is the aptly named “Who’s That Chick?” by amv creator gloobe90.

The video’s title comes from the Rihanna song which when listened to perfectly encapsulates the Teppen Toppa Gurren Lagann character of Yoko Littner. This anime is part of the shonen mecha genre. It pretty much means it’s an anime series aimed at boys and young men using action and mecha (giant robots) with some comedy and fanservice thrown in just cover all bases. The character of Yoko Littner pretty much has all four of those traits. She’s quite able in the action and fighting department and while she doesn’t pilot one of the many mechas in the series she does take down more than her share of them. Yoko also happens to be a sort of comedy relief in the series both in her actions and attitude but also in the fanservice way she’s drawn and how others react to her due to her appearance.

It’s really not a surprise that Yoko Littner ended up being one of the more popular anime characters ladies end up cosplaying at conventions and anime events. The trick though is whether they can pull of not just Yoko’s look, but her infectious cheerful attitude. This video certainly captures all of that and more.

Anime: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Song: “Who’s That Chick?” by Rihanna feat. David Guetta

Creator: gloobe90

AMV of the Day: Just the Way You Are

Posted on by Arleigh

A brief break from the day-to-day posts of horror reviews and such brings us the latest “AMV of the Day”. This particular AMV is unique in that it’s the type people in the hobby call an MEP as in Multi-Editor Project. This video uses one song but has several different editors taking section and editing in their chosen anime scenes. All these different editors must bring in their section in as smooth as transition as possible.

This first MEP is “Just the Way You Are” and uses the Bruno Mars of the same title. The video has ten different anime from which the 11 editors ended up using to fill up the length of the Mars track. The editing tricks weren’t too complex in this video and that’s probably due to having so many people involved in creating it, but the quick editing and some of the scene transitions were done well enough that the scenes chosen worked well hand-in-hand with Bruno Mar’s cheerfully romantic lyrics.

For an MEP this particular AMV is actually quite short. Most AMVs of this kind tend to run 10 to 20 minutes long as the different editors don’t just edit in their chosen anime scenes, but also must edit in their chosen song as well. These type of AMVs usually will have 3-5 songs mixed in together. For now, I think I’ll start with this short and simple kind.

Anime: Toradora!, Fullmetal Alchemist, Angelic Layer, Kobato, Skip Beat, Ef, Card Captors Sakura, Tsubasa Chronicles, Vampire Knight, Naruto

Music: “Just the Way You Are” – Bruno Mars

Creators: MikuruNyuAMV, xChibiUchiha, xsakuralimited, KobatoCLAMP, ChroniclesLuz, OoxAmandy15xoO, Xiizhel, ApologeticWinterMoon, SAKIPUNKI, PotterGirl1995 & lokapormusik

AMV of the Day: My First Kiss

Posted on by Arleigh

The latest “AMV of the Day” is quite appropriate for this month of October. I will say that this particular AMV is more on the comedic side despite using an anime which has horror themes to it.

“My First Kiss” is an anime music video combining the fantasy horror anime series Dance of the Vampire Bund with the cheerful and double entendre-laden song “My First Kiss” by the group 3OH!3. CodeHeaven, the video’s creator, does a great job of picking the right scenes from the series to fit particular lyrics in the song. The series is fantasy horror, but it is also one of the more risque ones to make it’s jump from Japan to the US with most of it’s scenes intact. The video just hints at some of this and the song just adds to it to great effect.

Dance of the Vampire Bund is definitely not hentai, but it does have heavy ecchi moments which when paired with a song like “My First Kiss” makes for one fun anime music video.

Anime: Dance in the Vampire Bund

Song: “My First Kiss” (feat. Ke$ha) – 3OH!3

Creator: CodeHeaven

 

AMV of the Day: Death Romance

Posted on by Arleigh

Time for a new “AMV of the Day” and this time it was the AMV that was the consensus hit of this past summer’s Anime Expo 2011.

“Death Romance” is the creation of youtube user KaitoKid99 and from the reaction I’ve read about his entry at the AMV contest at Anime Expo 2011 this anime music video was something to have seen with a huge crowd reacting to it. The video took two so very different things and actually ended up quite funny and well-done: Death Note anime and Lady Gaga’s song “Bad Romance”.

Just watching the video I could very well imagine how well this video would’ve gone over. The fact that it won not just Best In Show at Anime Expo 2011, but also Best Comedy should put this video as one of the top one’s for 2011. KaitoKid99 didn’t use too much effects trickery and gimmicks. This video just was edited and synched quite well with a minimum of fuss and in the end those tend to be the best ones since there’s not too much to distract from the video.

I really regret not being able attend Anime Expo 2011 now if just to have seen this AMV on the theater screen at the Nokia Theater with a crowd of a couple thousand otaku.

Anime: Death Note

Song: “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga

Creator: KaitoKid99

 

AMV of the Day: Furor (Oreimo)

Posted on by Arleigh

For the latest “AMV of the Day” I decided on an anime music video which uses the seinen anime series Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai (Oreimo for short) as the foundation for the video. This video comes courtesy of amv creator S.A. Robert whose work I’ve just begun to notice.

“Furor” is the title of the amv and matches up Oreimo with the song “Touchin’ On My” by the electronic rock duo 3HO!3. For those who haven’t seen the Oreimo series the premise of the anime may just surprise the uninitiated. While it dances around the topic the series may make some viewers going into it blind quite uncomfortable as the two main characters in the anime are the Kosaka brother and sister, Kyosuke and Kirino. Without ruining the surprise of the series let me just say that the title of the series when translated into English is: My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute.

The video is actually quite well-made. 3HO!3’s song lyrics gives the scenes used in the video double meanings and the inclusions of the anime easter eggs throughout the video makes it a fun one to watch over and over for anime fans.

Creator: S.A. Robert

Anime: Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai aka My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute

Song: “Touchin’ On My” by 3HO!3

AMV of the Day: Highschool of the Dead Game

Posted on by Arleigh

I came across this particular AMV (anime music video) while trying to find something else. There really hasn’t been many good AMV’s done with 2010’s hit anime series, Highschool of the Dead, which I find very peculiar. Maybe it’s the extreme ecchi nature paired with zombies which makes some people uncomfortable. I, for one, is not one of those people so I was really surprised when someone made a great AMV from this anime. The latest AMV of the Day is simply titled: “Highschool of the Dead Game”.

The title may be simple, but the video itself ended up looking quite complex in it’s execution. From the mind of AMV creator linnepin007, the video takes the many awesome scenes and sequences from Highschool of the Dead and made it to look like a sizzle reel for an upcoming roleplaying game. The game looks to make each character in the series as a playable one in the game right down to individual stats, character classes and even personal anthems and rally cries.

I know that for some the amount of fan-service in this series ruins it for them and how the series should’ve stuck to just the horror, but this AMV’s creator has realized one thing which has attracted legions of anime fans to this series: it’s fun. This is what this AMV has done to further help sell the series. It highlighted the fun aspect of the anime to ludicrous levels. It helps that the creator used an audio clip from Shaun of the Dead in the very start of the video.

The AMV did well enough that it garnered two awards at this year’s AnimeCon: Editor’s Choice and Audience Choice Awards.

Anime: Highschool of the Dead (Gakuen Mokushiroku)

Song: “Dead”  by My Chemical Romance

Creator: linnepin007

AMV of the Day: Kobato – Ring a Bell

Posted on by Arleigh

Been awhile since I was able to find and post a new AMV (anime music video) which means the pickings have been slim. But as I was writing up the post commemorating the site’s 1000th post milestone I was listening to some J-Pop as background music and one particular song came on. It was BONNIE PINK’s “Ring a Bell” which was used as the opening song for the very fun and beautiful JRPG Tales of Vesperia. As soon as I finished writing up the milestone post I searched YouTube for AMV’s which used this song and after finding a couple AMV’s which used it I settled on the best one I was able to find.

The latest AMV is from YouTube user XValkyrieAngelX and it was titled Kobato – Ring a Bell. I knew of the song, but the anime used was one I’ve heard about but never had the opportunity to watch: Kobato.

First off, the editing work by XValkyrieAngelX was very good. She didn’t make the video too cluttered and confusing with massive amounts of quick edits and cuts. Her use of particular video effects was timed well with the song that they weren’t distracting. One thing she was also able to do was keep the AMV relatively spoiler-free. The anime itself has been called one of the many romance-comedy that continues to be quite popular in Japan and pretty much with most anime fans so the video shows of the romance side of the anime but not enough to ruin the whole story.

The song “Ring a Bell” is one of those catchy J-Pop ballads which just sticks to one’s mind and won’t let go. Using this song really matches up well with the visuals used from Kobato. One of the best compliments I could ever give an AMV creator is that they were able to convince me to watch an anime I’ve only remotely heard of just based on watching them use it in one of their videos. Kobato – Ring a Bell is one such AMV and as soon as I finished watching it I went over to Amazon and, lo and behold, the DVD was up for pre-ordering and I went ahead and pre-ordered it.

XValkyrieAngelX has more AMV’s uploaded in her YouTube account and this one has given me reason to watch the rest of her work.

Song: “Ring a Bell” – BONNIE PINK

Anime: Kobato

Creator: XValkyrieAngelX

AMV of the Day: Devil’s Game

Posted on by Arleigh

madokamagica

The latest “AMV of the Day” is another one which is based on the mahou shoujo series, Puella Magi Madoka Magica. It’s become one of my favorite anime series of late and with each repeat viewing just increases my love for it. This latest anime music video takes that “magical girl” anime series and combines it with a symphonic rock song to create an AMV titled, “Devil’s Game”.

“Devil’s Game” is not just my latest pick for “AMV of the Day” but also the latest from AMV creator-extraordinaire Chiikaboom whose anime music video creations have always become instant favorites of mine. This latest really highlights the darkness that permeates throughout the anime series. For a mahou shoujo series, Puella Magi Madoka Magica get pretty dark and the subgenre as a whole uses themes of darkness to balance out the cute magical girl art design.

Within Temptation’s “A Demon’s Fate” is quite an appropriate song to use for this video. The series is all about Magi (magically-enhanced teen girls) fighting evil Witches to save the innocent people and the world. The series also includes Kyubey whose extremely cute appearance hides a secret that the song’s lyrics and title really meshes well with.

Chiikaboom’s editing of the video was not as extensive as some past ones which really comes and goes in rapid-fire fashion. For this video the editing and scene transitions matches very well with the bass drum sections in the song that it’s not noticeable at first glance, but really shows after repeat viewings. And it’s well-made AMV’s like this using scenes from this series that really should help sell Puella Magi Madoka Magica to the uninitiated whose experience with anime is from Adult Swim showings on Cartoon Network.

“Devil’s Game” is the best Puella Magi Madoka Magica AMV I’ve seen, so far, hand’s down.

Anime: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Song:  “A Demon’s Fate” by Within Temptation

Creator: Chiikaboom

AMV of the Day: Mahou Shoujo Requiem

Posted on by Arleigh

I think my love for the anime mahou shoujo series, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, may extend past this summer and til the end of the year. I’ve begun to watch the other new series to premiere in the last 12 months over in Japan, but this particular one has stuck itself in my head in a good way. It’s why whenever I find a great AMV done using the series I end up loving it. So, the last “AMV of the Day” is another Puella Mago Madoka Magica production.

This one is appropriately titled, “Mahou Shoujo Requiem”, and is paired with the ethereal and hypnotic song “Cosmic Love” by the group Florence + The Machine. Even the title of the song is quite appropriate as it highlights the cosmic aspect of the anime series the video is using.

The video’s creator is one “tehninjarox” and this creator also made the previous “AMV of the Day” entry (“A Prelude to Dreams”). The editing work in this latest AMV was exceptionally well done with scene transitions coming in fast and clear with each percussive beat of the song. I also like the fact that following the cosmic theme of the song there’s many images of Kyubey in the video. Can’t have a cosmic and requiem-themed AMV of this series and not Kyubey show up.

So, far this AMV of the Puella Magi Madoka Magica series one of the best one I’ve seen though not the best. The next one I plan to post in the future is the best one but not by much.

Anime: “Puella Magi Madoka Magica”

Song: “Cosmic Love” by Florence + The Machine

Creator: tehninjarox

AMV of the Day: A Prelude to Dreams

Posted on by Arleigh

The latest addition to the “AMV of the Day” stable I first saw in the final day of this year’s Anime Boston this past Spring. It’s title is “A Prelude to Dreams” and I will say that it’s one of the more interesting and unique looking anime music videos I’ve seen.

“A Prelude to Dreams” has won several awards from many anime conventions one of which was this past Spring’s Anime Boston as it won the “Best Other” category. It also won a the “Judges’ Choice” in the same convention. It was really the only AMV in the whole convention which deserved to win two awards. It’s creator, tehninjarox, did a great job in using scenes from thirteen anime series and films and created a well-edited video to accompany the song chosen. The song is the second Imogen Heap AMV I’ve chosen for “AMV of the Day”. This song is the DJ XSaryux mix of the Imogen Heap track, “Hide and Seek”, and I must admit that the music matches well with the scenes chosen from those various anime titles.

The editing job also made great use of smooth transition effects which made each scenes flow into one another without breaking the dream-like effect the song and images created as the song progressed. I’ve seen probably half of the titles the creator used for this music video and I was glad that some of them were from the anime film Summer Wars and the mahou shoujo series “Puella Magi Madoka Magica”. It’s always great to see those two used in created ways outside of what they were already made for.

Anime : Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Genius Party, Genius Party: Dimension Bomb, Genius Party: Gala, Genius Party: Wanwa the Doggy, Summer Wars, Ef – The Latter Tale, Ef – A Fairy Tale of the Two, Bakemonogatari, Dance in the Vampire Bund, Katanagatari, The Girl who Leapt Through Time

Song: Hide and Seek (DJ XSaryux mix) by Imogen Heap

Creator: tehninjarox