AMV Of The Day: I’m A Kitty Cat (Nichijou)

Posted on April 8, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

What!? Lisa’s doing an AMV post!?

Well, yes, I am.

Realizing that I needed to be cheered up (and perhaps not wanting to ever have to hear the term “combined cards” ever again), Jedadiah Leland showed me this earlier today and it worked. I mean, this video may be five years old but it’s a cat and it’s a cute song about cats!

So, with all that in mind, here is my first ever pick for AMV of the Day!

(Hopefully, Arleigh and Pantsukudasai56 will not spend too much time making fun of me for my choice. Seriously, anime passions run high with those two…)

By the way, way back in 2011, this video won the following awards:

Best Offbeat: Kurokirro Festival 2011
Best Comedy/Freestyle: Ikkicon 2011
Runner-up Best Composition N2U 2011

Anime: Nichijou (a.k.a. My Ordinary Life)

Song: I’m a Kitty Cat by Steve Ibsen

Creator: Shin AMV

(According to the YouTube description, Shin dedicated this video to his wife which is super wonderful.)

Past AMVs of the Day

AMV of the Day: Dazzling Inferno (Little Witch Academia)

Posted on March 14, 2017 by Arleigh

The latest “AMV of the Day” is about this cute, little anime called Little Witch Academia that first began as a short anime film then a sequel that was much longer.

“Dazzling Inferno” combines sequences from both the Little Witch Academia films with the song “Warrior” by Steve James (feat. LIGHTS). It focuses very much so on the character of Akko who (unlike Harry Potter) stumbles, mistakes her way through magical adventures in the titular academy and despite her failings never faltering in her joy at being a witch-in-training.

There’s now an anime series currently airing in Japan that continues that adventures of Akko and her misfits friends and schoolmates. What better way to whet one’s appetite for the series than an anime music video that highlights a major theme in the anime.

Anime: Little Witch Academia

Song: “Warrior” (feat. LIGHTS) by Steve James

Creator: Radical Yue

Past AMVs of the Day

Horror AMV of the Day: Children of the Grave (Gakkou Gurashi)

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Arleigh

Here’s a little horror anime music video to help decompress after last night’s very nihilistic and emotional draining season premiere of The Walking Dead.

It’s from amv creator Xophilarus and combines Halsey’s song “Control” with the horror anime Gakkou Gurashi (surprise it’s about zombies!). The series itself was reviewed by site anime contributor pantsukudasai56. Yes, for some the zombie subgenre has started to feel overplayed and overused. But if there’s one thing the two co-founders of this site never truly get tired of are good zombie fiction and Gakkou Gurashi is such a thing.

Anime: Gakkou Gurashi

Song: “Control” by Halsey

Creator: Xophilarus

Past AMVs of the Day

Horror AMV of the Day: Homura’s Seven Devils (Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica)

Posted on October 1, 2016 by Arleigh

It’s that time of the year when all things dark, terrifying and horrific invades the halls and corridors of Through the Shattered Lens.

While many who hear the term magical girl and colorful-costumed girls fighting evil won’t think dark and disturbing well they’d be dead wrong. The magical girl genre of Japanese animation have always had that undercurrent of darkness which makes these so-called kiddie anime series more adult than that many people realize.

In 2011, the magical girl anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica (aka Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica) came out and it finally explored that very undercurrent of darkness in the magical girl genre that people discussed about. The series was still cute, but also disturbing in how it explored the cost these teenage girls would incur in gaining magical abilities to fight evil.

The latest AMV of the Day takes Madoka Magica (especially the three films which followed the series) and it’s two lead character in Homura Akemi (girl with the dark hair) and Madoka Kaname (girl with the pink-hair) and their very complicated relationship that transcends not just their friendship, but time and divinity itself.

What better song to pair up with Madoka Magica but none other than “Seven Devils” by Florence + The Machine.

Anime: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica

Song: “Seven Devils” by Florence + The Machine

Creator: Kinnsao San

Past AMVs of the Day

AMV of the Day: Moonlight Requiem (Sailor Moon Crystal)

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Arleigh

It’s almost that time of the years when Through the Shattered Lens switches gears and goes into full dark fantasy and horror. While there will be the smattering posts that doesn’t dabble in all things dark and scary, it’s a month that’s become a yearly tradition and one that several writers on-site seem to enjoy. Though no one enjoys October at Through the Shattered Lens more than co-founder Lisa Marie Bowman. She’s the dark mother to all the writers at the site.

While it’s still not that month of darkness here’s a small taste of the sort of dark themes many of the posts will end up having during October.

The latest AMV of the Day comes courtesy of video creator Chiisus. The video manages to take the dark aspect of what too many outsiders to the anime scene as a light and kiddy cartoon: Sailor Moon Crystal.

This particular amv (anime music video) is titled Moonlight Requiem and combines the more dark fantasy side of Sailor Moon Crystal with the symphonic metal band’s Within Temptation and the melodic vocalizing of it’s frontman Sharon den Adel. The song chosen by Chiisus is one that many other amv creators have used in the past: “See Who I Am.” In fact, it’s the song to one of my all-time favorite anime music video: “Alchanum” by Rider4Z.

This time the song is used for Sailor Moon Crystal and, boy, if the song doesn’t fit in well with the scenes chosen for the video.

Anime: Sailor Moon Crystal

Song: “See Who I Am” by Within Temptation

Creator: Chiiisus

Past AMVs of the Day

AMV of the Day: Just Funkin’ Dandy (Space Dandy)

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Arleigh

Anime has been called many things by fans and detractors. It’s been called imaginative and disturbing. Some have called them hilariously inventive while others have called them horribly perverted. One thing it has never been described and accused of is being boring and bland. One could hate every type of anime ever created and most such people would still describe it as anything but boring.

One such anime that fits the bill of being wildly imaginative is the series Space Dandy. If one was to describe it in non-anime terms then I could say it’s a space opera series that’s somewhat like the redheaded stepchild of Guardians of the Galaxy and Johnny Bravo who is then high on mushrooms and LSD.

The latest “AMV of the Day” was created by Shin and he makes perfect use of the Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars song “Uptown Funk”. The song doesn’t just fit the over-the-top lunacy of the chosen anime, but Shin also manages to use some complex video-editing magic to make it like the video was a comic book.

The song itself has been a staple for kitten videos where the little furballs will seemingly dance to the beat of the song. Now there’s another reason to listen to it and this AMV is one such reason.

Anime: Space Dandy

Song: “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson (feat. Bruno Mars)

Creator: Shin (tehninjarox)

Past AMVs of the Day

AMV of the Day: Clarity (Various)

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Arleigh

It’s been quite a bit since I last picked an AMV to use as an example of why anime is such a collaborative piece of creative art.

The latest “AMV of the Day” splices together just the right scenes from three anime. There’s the classic Mamoru Hosada scifi/slice-of-life anime film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Then there’s the more recent and well-received 5 Centimeters Per Second by Makoto Shinkai. Lastly, there’s the Tatsuyuki Nagai directed series Ano Hana.

Binding all three together is the song “Clarity” (also happens to be the title of the video) by the group Zed.

It’s a video that focuses on the three anime’s and it’s use of heightened reality as a storytelling tool. In the end, I also happen to just love the work done by caramelloxify on this video.

Anime: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, 5 Centimeters Per Second, Ano Hana

Song: “Clarity” (feat. Foxes) by Zed

Creator: caramelloxify

Past AMVs of the Day

AMV of the Day: Skyfall (Cowboy Bebop, Fate/Zero)

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Arleigh

Skyfall was the James Bond that seemed to have resonated with the so-called millenials. For the most part, James Bond the film franchise was considered dated and quaint when compared to the more action-oriented and cynical spy thrillers like the Jason Bourne franchise. This younger generation couldn’t take seriously a superspy who dressed in exquisite suits and tuxedos. A spy who bedded beautiful women like young people collected causes to support and/or protest.

This type of generational ennui, thankfully, hasn’t truly hit the otaku set. No matter how old an anime we otaku would have heard of it, watched it and, most of the time, enjoyed it. We’re not just stuck on what’s the latest trend in the anime scene. We’ll search out old with the new. While the quality of the animation have improved since the early days of the medium the storytelling from way back still remains strong and resonates with the oldest and youngest crowd.

So, the latest “AMV of the Day” is a celebration of that appreciation for not just the now but what came before: James Bond with Cowboy Bebop (with some help from Fate/Zero).

Anime: Cowboy Bebop, Fate/Zero

Song: “Skyfall” by Adele

Creator: Okill78

Past AMVs of the Day

AMV of the Day: Chained (Princess Tutu)

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Arleigh

The latest AMV of the Day comes courtesy of one of my favorite amv creators. Vivifx created this particular video almost 5 years ago.

“Gravity” is a beautiful video and really does a great job pairing Sara Bereilles’ song “Gravity” with the more lovely and bittersweet emotions that brings up the relationship between Ahiru (Princess Tutu) and ballet dancer Mytho. It’s just one aspect of the the Princess Tutu anime, but one that show’s the animated series’ very mature storytelling.

I still find it amusing that when I mention anime to the uninitiated they look at me funny. They still think it’s just cutesy cartoons from Japan that only cater children or just cartoon porn (hentai). Producers of anime do make them for kids, but they also understand that kids have enough mental and emotional capacity within themselves to handle some of the mature themes and ideas being told through the very cutesy animation presented to them.

I wrote a couple years ago that one such anime that people should be watching is the series Princess Tutu and this video just reinforces that recommendation even more. When paired up with another AMV of the Day (Danse de Raven) that also uses the Princess Tutu series as a foundation it should more than make some curious to check out the anime.

I know Lisa will appreciate that it’s a video that doesn’t just have dancing, but ballet…

Anime: Princess Tutu

Song: “Gravity” by Sara Bareilles

Creator: Vivifx

Past AMVs of the Day

AMV of the Day: Breaking (Various)

Posted on July 25, 2015 by Arleigh

It’s been awhile since we’ve had a new AMV of the Day. With con season in full gear it’s been tough waiting to see what new AMV’s come out of these conventions. The problem with finding new and interesting anime music videos, especially in the United States, has been the tendency of the same videos winning awards at North American conventions. Name recognition has become the norm when voting which videos make the grade and, in the end, win the prize in their chosen category.

Not saying that these videos and their creators don’t deserve the recognition and accolades for their work, but it does make finding new fresh voices and visual styles in the field harder and harder to discover. Foreign videos tend to be the last realm for people who are into AMVs to find rare gems in the rough.

This latest AMV of the Day is “Breaking” and by the creator Pat [AMVCON-2015] and meshes together some of the more popular and action-oriented shonen (and some shoujo) anime to the tune of Linkin Park’s “Breaking the Habit.”

Anime: Amagi Brilliant Park, Bleach Movie: Hell Verse, Btoom!, Ga-Rei Zero, Kokoro Connect, Kyoukai no Kanata, Madoka Magica: Rebellion, Naruto: Road to Ninja, Nerawareta Gakuen, One Piece: The Movie 70, Persona 3: Spring of Birth, Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji, Sword Art Online 1 and 2, Steins;Gate: Fuka Ryōiki no Déjà vu, Suzumiya Haruhi no Shōshitsu, To Aru Agaku Railgun S

Song: “Breaking the Habit” by Linkin Park

Creator: Pat [AMVCON-2015]