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.
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.
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
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)
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.
Today is a rarity for two reasons. First off, I went and watched a highly anticipated movie, Captain America, BEFORE Arleigh went and saw it. Since live action stuff isn’t the sort of thing I care to review, I have no intentions of doing so here (probably obvious by the title) but it is a very good movie and people should go watch. Secondly, I’m actually making a post! Yes, I am still a contributor to this site, I’m just not a very dedicated one. But today, I submit before you all that if you have not yet seen the awesomeness that is Ika Musume, then you have just been missing out on one of the best anime of 2010.
The basic premise goes as such. Ika Musume, or Squid Girl (the name given to her in English adaptations, which is what her name translates to, but I just prefer Ika Musume) comes to land to punish humans for their constant polluting of the oceans. Now, people that know me know how much of an anti-environmentalist I am, so even though this sounds like enviro-hippie bullcrap, needless to say things do not go exactly as planned. First off, she’s far too adorable to be taken seriously as a conqueror. You tell me, would you at all fear this?
Of course you can’t, and of all the people she meets, only one person actually takes her threat seriously. Because no one other than that one girl seems to be at all bothered that there is an anthropomorphic squid in their midst. In fact, Ika Musume surfaces and subsequently tries to invade a beach house run by three siblings, Eiko, her older sister Chizuru, and their younger brother Takeru who instead of being fearful of her immediately put her to work to repair damage that she did to their restaurant. And Ika Musume doesn’t seem capable of staying on track for very long, because she almost immediately agrees and gets to work! Her talents are immediately apparent, as she is able to carry 8 dishes or drinks at a time with her tentacles, and she also can produce plenty of squid ink, which is used to season spaghetti noodles. I don’t know if that’s a Japanese specialty, or if that’s eaten in other cultures, but it’s apparently a hot seller there.
But eventually, Ika Musume does remember that her goal is to subjugate all of humanity. So, what keeps her in check? Ika Musume makes the mistake of threatening Eiko and Takeru, taking them hostage with her tentacles, and the normally mild mannered Chizuru shows a side you rarely see, where she becomes a combat specialist that would be the envy of any Navy SEAL. Needless to say, after being shown that her life could be snuffed out in an instant, whenever Chizuru detects any rebellion out of Ika Musume, a simple glare is enough to set her back on track.
One thing that Ika Musume is very well known for is her distinctive speech pattern. Long time anime veterans are likely familiar with characters having character specific traits. In Kanon it was Ayu and her “uguu”. In Rozen Maiden it was Suiseiseki and her “desu”. Ika Musume brings the very appropriate “de geso” as the ending to almost all her sentences. Geso literally translates to “arms of squid as food”, so you can see how it appropriate it is for her. But me telling you about it just isn’t the same as experiencing it yourself, so without further ado, here is Ika Musume in all her de geso goodness.
I don’t know about all of you, but this is one invader that I’d welcome with open arms. Thankfully, she’ll be back again when the second season begins airing this fall. It can’t come a moment too soon for me de geso.
Wonderful news was announced during the first day of Anime Expo 2011. While I wasn’t able to figure out a way to attend I was still able to read up on announcements made during the industry panels being held at the convention. One such panel was the Aniplex Industry Panel where they made two major announcements.
First, was that the anime series Blue Exorcist will be released in the US in a four-volume DVD. There’s no word on whether this will also include a release in Blu-Ray format.
The second major announcement was one that should excite anime fans throughout the US. The very popular mahou shoujo anime series, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, will also get a dvd release for the US market. While the panel gave more details on the Blue Exorcist release announcement not much about the Puella Magi Madoka Magica US release was given. The good thing is that Aniplex of America has already put up the official website for Puella Magi Madoka Magica though at the moment it’s still more of a “coming soon” and “under construction” welcome page.
I’m sure more details will come out about the home video release in the US for this mahou shoujo series. I also hope that it’s original Japanese-language w/ English subtitle option gets a 5.1 surround sound mix.
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.
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.
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
Through the Shattered Lens 