Tag Archives: AMV

AMV of the Day: Against All Odds

Posted on by Arleigh

I thought it was time for another edition of the latest AMV of the Day. As some know the term AMV means “anime music video”. It’s where people take scenes from an anime or several of them and edit them to perfectly match the music being played alongside it. The latest AMV of the Day is from AMV creator Chiikaboom and it’s called “Against All Odds”.

This particular AMV combines scenes from the mecha anime Macross Frontier with the song “Dream Wide Awake” from the Finnish band Poets of the Fall. I’ve only been recently introduced to this band from Helsinki by way of the Xbox 360 game Alan Wake where their music features prominently. I really like the melding of the scenes chosen from Macross Frontier with this Poets of the Fall song.

At first glance, the giant robots and singing girls may not be the subject and setting for such a serious and emotional song. In the way Chiikaboom edits the scenes with the song it really works. I haven’t been a big fan of the mecha genre of anime and manga, but this AMV has gotten me intrigued in checking out this particular anime of what was one of my favorite anime franchises in years past.

It helps that the creator of this particular AMV really has a handle at editing and adding in visual effects. Chiikaboom has become one of my favorite AMV creators and those wanting to see her other AMV projects can click the link to her name below.

Anime: Macross Frontier

Song: “Dreaming Wide Awake” by Poets of the Fall

Creator: Chiikaboom

AMV of the Day: Toradora – A Thousand Miles

Posted on by Arleigh

[spoilers within video]

Another AMV from the romantic-comedy anime series Toradora! is my pick for AMV of the Day.

There’s not much else to say about this series other than it’s a must-see. Unlike most romantic-comedy series this one actually tries to tone down the comedic aspect of the series, but not enough to give the whole thing a too-serious vibe. The characters have believable motivations and reactions to the goings-on around them. The series also dos a great job of matching up several characters initially only to have these matches re-done until the couples people want together end up together.

This particular AMV was created by Youtube user ChangitoLoko who also made four other AMV’s using Toradora! and its many characters. I will take a huge flying leap and guess that ChangitoLoko really enjoyed this series. The song he used for this AMV is Vanessa Carlton’s song, A Thousand Miles. This song has been used in many other romantic-based AMV’s in the last. I really liked this song as paired with scenes and characters from Toradora! though there might be spoilers for those who haven’t seen the anime so beware.

Creator: ChangitoLoko

Song: A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton

Anime: Toradora!

AMV of the Day: Toradora Fireflies

Posted on by Arleigh

I finally came across an AMV which does a great job at melding song and images from the romantic-comedy anime series, Toradora!. This series is just getting it’s North American release and I saw the first episode (subtitled of course….don’t believe in dubbing) while over at this summer’s Anime Expo 2010 in LA. To say that the series put it’s romantic-comedy hooks into me would be an understatement. It helped that one of the characters sounded just like one of my favorite anime characters ever. I speak of the very awesome Manabi from the slice-of-life series from a few years back, Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight! which also happens to be my favorite series ever. EVER.

For the past year or so one particular song has been used over and over again by AMV creators that it’s gotten to the point I’ve tired of hearing it. I’m talking of the song Fireflies by the group Owl City. So, it was a surprise that when I came across this Toradora!-based AMV using this Owl City song and I wasn’t bored by it. The song definitely fit well with the images the AMV’s creator (SweetMina93 on YouTube).

The AMV definitely has spoilers but it matters not as I’ve seen the whole series already, but even those who haven’t should still watch it even if they already know what happens. The joy sometimes is not the surprise of how things turn out but the journey the characters take to get to their destination. So, while I make this post I’ve been watching this AMV over and over for the past couple hours and I can’t stop.

I see that as a sign of a well-done and catchy AMV. Now, I must go back to watching the AMV for another hour or more.

Creator: SweetMina93

Song: Fireflies – Owl City

Anime: Toradora!

AMV of the Day: Spinning Infinity

Posted on by Arleigh

This particular amv won Best Action during Anime Expo 2010’s AMV contest. The amv is called “Spinning Infinity” and created by NightHawk.

I have to admit that this particular amv was one of the few I saw at Anime Expo 2010 that became instant favorites of mine. I already posted another amv earlier, “Have You Got It In You?”, which was also a favorite of mine. This amv is definitely more action-oriented and the song chosen by the amv’s creator fits quite well with the anime he used to cobble together to create the video. For those who don’t know the anime is a mecha series which came out a couple years ago called Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. While that series wasn’t one that I got into when it first aired I will say that this amv definitely gives me pause to go back and watch it again.

I really like the song chosen, The Pretender by Foo Fighters. The high-octane rock melody and temp of the song goes hand-in-hand with the action scenes the creator picked from the series. The synching of the series’ characters with the lyrics (when the sequence permitted) was also quite good. Again, this is one skill I wished I could learn and hone if just to try my hand at creating my own amv’s. Until then I’ll continue to watch and admire some of the very good works being done year in and year out.

Creator: NightHawk

Song: The Pretender – Foo Fighters

Anime: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

AMV of the Day: Have You Got It In You?

Posted on by Arleigh

This AMV (anime music video) was one of the better ones shown during this past Anime Expo 2010 in Los Angeles. It was one of the nominees for best Drama AMV. While it didn’t win either Best Drama AMV or Best in Show (the top prize), the video was a fan-favorite for the great use of the music and matching it seamlessly with the anime of choice which happened to be the harem/shonen series, Negima.

I’m not that big of a fan of Imogen Heap, but this AMV definitely gets the theme of the song with the scenes lifted from Negima and expertly edited to match not just the lyrics, but the tempo of the song. It’s well-done work like this one which makes me wish I had a better  grasp of editing software so I could take a try at doing my own AMV. Until that happens I’ll sit back and enjoy the great ones made by some very talented people.

Creator: HagarenViper

Song: Have You Got It In You – Imogen Heap

Anime: Mahō Sensei Negima!

AMV of the Day: Azumanga Daioh Portal

Posted on by Arleigh

My AMV for the Day is a combination of two things I adore in anime and gaming. On the anime side of the video it’s the high school slice-of-life series Azumanga Daioh with heavy emphasis on my favorite character in said series and that would be Chiyo-chan. On the gaming side which provides the music part of the music video it’s the song “Still Alive” as sang by GLaDOS in the end of Valve’s FPS-puzzler, Portal.

Separate the two are still quite awesome in their own realm, but when combined they just move up to a new level of awesomeness. Plus, the fact that Chiyo-chan was made to be sounding like GLaDOS was just too cute. This AMV continues to be on my favorite list on YouTube and usually gets a viewing by me at least once a week or more if I need to really get a pick me up. I hope you all like it as well.

AMV of the Week: Bustin’ – Advent Children

Posted on by Arleigh

The AMV choice for the week won the AMV Best Concept award at 2008 Anime Boston. One I happen to have attended which I must do once again in the near future. While I’m not a huge fan of Square-Enix’s Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children I will say that the theme song from Ghostbusters seemed to have meshed well with scenes from FF7:AC. Again, this is one of the few AMV’s which I actually like. Enjoy!

Queen and Mega-Man Together At Last

Posted on by Arleigh

I think every gamer worth his console and controller knows that old-school awesome includes anything Mega-Man. People who love their rock knows that one must give proper homage to the Mercury, May, Deacon and Taylor…more known as Queen. What would be more awesome than either two? I’m glad you’ve been asking that question. There’s only one good and proper answer: Mega-Man and Queen together.

What better way for the two to come together than what you shall witness below…prepare to GRIN.

Anime Inducing Epileptic Bliss or Just Plain Epileptic Fit

Posted on by Arleigh

While I started off in loving anime on the level I do now, I have to admit that it’s a form of entertainment that pretty much fights to dominate my time in addition to film, gaming and music. I’ve started on the path to try and attend as many anime conventions as humanly and, most importantly, financially possible. While attending Anime Boston 2008 I was introduced to a certain growing trend with anime fans and that’s the art of AMVs aka Anime Music Videos. It’s pretty much some enterprising and very talented individual taking a favorite song and then taking the appropriate scenes from their favorite anime and creating a music video out of it.

While a majority are quite amateurish and very awful there remains a small number of such profound awesomeness and bodacity that they rise to the top for all to marvel at. I saw one such example of awesome bodacity at Anime Boston 2008 and I believe it should’ve won “Best in Show” and not just “Best Editing.” For some anime fans who love these kind of stuff they’ve seen and continue to see this particular AMV, but I think it deserves to be seen by….in the words of Norman Stansfield….E-VERY-ONE!

ATTACK OF THE OTAKU