My Top 50 AMVs of 2024: 50 - 41

Hello everyone, and welcome to my top 50 AMVs of 2024!

2024 was a rough year for me personally. I spent most of the year unemployed, and as a result of this, I watched more AMVs this year than any other time in my life previously. Despite this, I also have felt extremely disconnected from the hobby as a whole this year. I have struggled with editing my own videos; only occasionally getting bouts of inspiration that actually let me finish projects. I have also felt my ability to connect with the AMV community generally has not been good, this is something I often have difficulty with, but this year was particularly stark. Even when I tried to actively participate in things, those things only ended up making me feel further isolated. This was almost entirely due to my mental health being not so great this year (resulting in the aforementioned unemployment), I do find it strange though as I had similar issues in 2021, and yet that year I was at least able to create several videos.
All of this info-dumping is me building up to saying that I almost did not make this list at all. I had completely given up on the idea of it, for a lot of reasons really, but the most pressing was I just could not shake the feeling of being “other” even within such a niche hobby. I am keenly aware that a lot of my taste in AMVs does not line up with a large section of the community and usually this isn’t too much of an issue - a lot of the AMVs I enjoy may not be objective masterpieces, but I would hope they can be respected for what they are by most viewers, therefore these lists I make have some credibility. There comes a point however, where I feel even if I say something like “videos on this list are my subjective favourites, etc.” there’s only so far I can take that before people disregard my opinion entirely, and looking at some of the videos that I knew were going to end up high on my 2024 list, I felt I crossed that threshold.  

This is probably grossly unfair of me to think, and honestly I have no idea how many people even read my lists every year, so it’s possibly a moot point anyway, but the fear of this just would not leave me. It also struck me as being potentially unfair on some of the videos I want to showcase - I don’t really want to put them against potential scrutiny like that when I genuinely love them and simply want to share them with the world, but if no one else even has a chance at liking them, then what’s the point? 

A solution to my issues made itself known to me while I was organising my YouTube history data for the year - something I’ve tried to do every year recently as I like to keep track of my viewing habits. I realised while doing this that I could just make a list of my most watched AMVs for the year, effectively taking any subjectivity out of the conversation and replacing it simply with, “these are literally the videos I watched the most, therefore I consider them my top AMVs”. This made me feel a lot better about the whole thing, so this is what I’ve done for my list this year. Previously I have been resistant to using watch-time as a metric for ranking because I assumed the videos I watched the most would be the “fun” ones, and more serious videos I enjoyed would be left out. In reality this is not the case, a number of somber/dramatic AMVs have made it quite high up the ranking. Ultimately, I feel the list in full does quite closely match whatever it could have been had I used an alternative method of creation. It definitely made the whole process a lot easier! I “liked” 584 AMVs on YouTube which were released in 2024, which is far, far too many to go through and try to make a list of favourites from. 

It’s possible this is an uninteresting prospect for most readers - having no actual thought put into the ranking might put some people off. It also means there’s a slight bias towards videos released earlier in the year as I had a chance to watch them more times (hey, at least it’s the opposite of recency bias!). Neither of these things was enough to put me off the idea though. 

There are a few AMVs I’ve included which were released late 2023. I didn’t get a chance to fully appreciate them before I made my 2023 list, so they’re on this one instead. Similarly, apologies to anyone who released an AMV in December 2024 - I have not been able to watch these videos at all (I finally became employed again in December), so they will be in consideration for 2025 (if I cobble together something that year). 

Additionally, while I have stated the list is of my most watched videos - there are a handful of AMVs where the majority of my watch-time happened outside of YouTube, therefore I have manually shuffled them into the ranking at roughly where I think they should go. I don’t feel this undermines the fact that the majority of videos here are ranked in exactly the order of least to most watched.  

I would also like to shout out CrackTheSky and seasons who are releasing their usual AMV lists for 2024 as of my posting this. Plus please check out Seasaltmemories who has completed her own video write ups for 2024 for the first time over on tumblr. 

Finally I’m going to take a moment to echo seasons’ and make my own comments regarding engagement and communication. 

During 2023 I wrote a series of blog posts called “AMV Roundup” where I gushed about various videos I enjoyed that were released throughout the year. In 2024 I gave up doing that, mainly because I was tired of writing them, but also I realised that I was essentially doing the opposite of what I wanted to get out of the process - I have a hard time thinking of suitable words for YouTube comments, so in a lot of cases with those videos I would gush and sing their praises in my blog posts, but more often than not, the creator never actually saw them. If I love a video, but the person who made it doesn’t know I love it, then my admiration feels void. 

So in 2024 I decided to make it more of a priority to actually leave YouTube comments on as many videos I enjoyed as possible, even if it was just as simple as “I love this”. There were still a number of videos I wasn’t able to comment on (some are even on this list), sometimes it’s hard to have the mental fortitude for those kinds of interactions regardless of how much you love something, and that’s completely okay. 

What I’m trying to get at here, is to encourage everyone to try and make an effort to interact more if they are able. It doesn’t have to be via YouTube comments - if you can reach a person in another way, go for that as well. The important thing I feel is if you like something that someone has created (and honestly it can be anything, not limited to videos) please let them know, in any way you can. It will honestly mean the world to them - I know it does for me, I appreciate every comment I get on my work so, so much. There are videos out there I’ve seen that have thousands of views, and yet somehow they only have one or two comments, and it’s honestly disgraceful. 

I’ve also found that commenting on other people’s work is often a good way of getting people to check out your own stuff. So go out there and make friends! Really it’s not scary, and you might just make someone's day.  

So without further ado - we’re counting down my top 50 most watched AMVs of 2024! Hope you all enjoy!

50

Video title: Anime Overdose

Editor: Yrense

Anime: Various

Song & Artist: INTERNET YAMERO - Aiobahn +81 feat. KOTOKO 

VPR: All

Watch on YouTube

Comments:

We're starting this list with the rather chaotic and hyper “Anime Overdose” which appeals to me mostly because of the slightly crazy shiny factor to it all. Yrense has done a lot of really interesting editing including things like adding the Japanese Kana as lyrics on screen. There’s a lot of layers and masking and all sorts I can't identify going on in between transitions - Yrense has put it together meticulously. While making this list and trying to figure out how on earth to credit the song, I found the original music video to this song, and  now understand that Yrense has made “Anime Overdose” in the style of the original music video - which of explains all the crazy text and wild effects they’re doing. 

Yrense seems to be primarily a Vtuber, “Anime Overdose” appears to be their first and only AMV so far, which I believe makes their efforts here all the more impressive.

49

Video title: Riptide

Editor: MaxWEEBle

Anime: Kare Kano

Song & Artist: Riptide - Vance Joy

VPR: Minor motion, fades to black, fades to white

Watch on YouTube

Comments:

Sometimes super sweet and simple is what's needed and “Riptide” is one the most sweet and elegantly simple AMV I saw this year. The sync feels so gentle and effortless, and it flows as if the anime had been existing this entire time behind the song, and it took MaxWEEBle’s efforts to coax it out from hiding. The scene selection is also incredibly adorable - I’ve seen a lot of these clips in other Kare Kano AMVs and they’re extra delightful in “Riptde” as the mood is so delicately light and joyous. 

There are a lot of moments I love in this in video, but I especially want to highlight the sync at 01:26 - it’s a relatively long clip and it would have been so easy for MaxWEEBle to sync by cutting here, especially considering how powerfully the music kicks up, and I commend MaxWEEBle for sticking to their guns and letting the internal and lyric sync play out instead.

48

Video title: You’re Not Here Now

Editor: Cendy Warlos

Anime: Delicious in Dungeon

Song & Artist: Brother - Vashti Bunyan

VPR: Cuts to black, red emphasis scenes, fire

CW: Blood

Watch on YouTube

Comments:

I’ve come across only two other Vashti Bunyan AMVs in all my time in this hobby, and honestly I’m amazed there are even that many, and now Cendy Warlos has added another to their ranks! 

I first watched “You’re Not Here Now” before I’d seen the anime Delicious in Dungeon, so initially I was missing quite a bit of context, but even so the video has an incredibly strong message where I feel you don’t need to know the connections between the characters in order to understand it. Coming back to the video after watching the anime did give it a slightly new dimension and enriched the lore of the characters for me. 

The use of cuts to black by Cendy Warlos is not something I see very often, and it works incredibly well as a storytelling mechanism here, helping to emphasise both the physical and metaphysical distance existing between these characters. 

I find “You’re Not Here Now” quite unique in that it’s simultaneously beautiful and sweet and yet slightly morbid with a touch of dread. It’s a remarkable portrayal of the cycle of life and death in a deeply humanising way. 

47

Video title: Rebel Girl

Editor: perks of being an alien

Anime: Kill La Kill, Flip Flappers

Song & Artist: Rebel Girl - Bikini Kill

VPR: All

Watch on YouTube

Comments:

“Rebel Girl” is a lot of fun for me. The dynamic between the two sets of characters perks of being an alien has chosen to focus on is adorable - the “OMG I admire you so much I really want to be your friend… Oops maybe this is actually a crush” angle is so perfect and super relatable for me. These kids are just so cute, and I love how much their adoration for each other shines through in the editing and scene selection.

It’s been a while now since I watched Kill La Kill (and I haven’t watched Flip Flappers - shame on me) and “Rebel Girl” has made me fall in love with Mako’s character all over again. 

46

Video title: IT GETS WORSE

Editor: allegorier

Anime: Revolutionary Girl Utena

Song & Artist: It Gets Worse - Mindless Self Indulgence

VPR: All (major flashing, major red)

Watch on YouTube

Comments:

The Utena fandom has been creating some of the most exemplary AMVs during the past couple of years. The depths to which they love this show and the themes and emotions they are able to draw out with their editing is astounding. I would say it's comparable to how Evangelion has been traditionally in AMV spaces - it's somewhat known that people can and will match Evangelion with absolutely anything and inevitably no matter how bizarre or strange the idea is, it will work because Evangelion is just that versatile. Utena now seems to occupy a similar space. Even saying all that I never expected to see a Utena video with Mindless Self Indulgence in this day and age - it was for sure a pleasant surprise.

allegorier doesn’t shy away from all of the sharp edges that arise from this pairing, and indeed seems to bask in the chaos and psychological drama unfolding, sometimes even tipping over into the absurd. 

According to the video description, allegorier made “IT GETS WORSE” using their mobile phone, which considering all the moments of exacting sync, is truly commendable. I know people do edit amazing things via mobile these days, but watching this video, and trying to imagine how on earth allegorier managed to achieve this outcome on such a tiny screen, utterly blows my mind. 

45

Video title: Hyperactive

Editor: CTOAFN

Anime: Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL

Song & Artist: Hyperactive - Thomas Dolby

VPR: All

Watch on YouTube

Comments:

“Hyperactive” gets a giggle out of me each time I watch it - there's some slightly blunt and absurd humour in reference to these anime throughout, which CTOAFN adds to with their blending of the two anime in unusual and slightly bizarre ways, resulting in one of the more inexplicably stimulating AMVs I watched this year 

Evangelion and FLCL are not exactly a classic pairing, but they do have a lot of commonalities and associations which are pulled into focus via CTOAFN’s ingenuity here. There’s no bombardment of images which might be typical in a video with this kind of energy, there's simply a lot of tongue in cheek sync combined with clever bits of editing which you’ll most likely need to watch more than once in order to catch the joke. 

44

Video title: Billy Not Really

Editor: Abrogate Need

Anime: Zashikiro, Horizon Blue

Song & Artist: Billy Not Really - Death Grips

VPR: Major all

CW: Violence, blood, gore, disturbing imagery

Watch on YouTube

Comments:

“Billy Not Really” is the type of video I enjoy primarily for the sensory assault. Abrogate Need (also known by many other pseudonyms) is a master of creating these types of videos, carefully curating the onslaught of audio and visual information to hypnotic effect. A lot of the content in “Billy Not Really” is violent and disturbing, and yet endlessly mesmerising and slightly rapturous in spite of this. 

The multi syncing using the background widescreen and foreground standard definition images is a skillful touch in ensuring the video is constantly moving and attached intrinsically to the music. 

43

Video title: Sk8 \\ Not str8

Editor: wondeer

Anime: Sk8 the Infinity

Song & Artist: Want U Back - Cheryl Lloyd

VPR: Motion, light leaks, major peripherals (lots of speed lines + others), fades to black, flashes

Watch on YouTube

 

Comments:

“Sk8 \\ Not str8” is just so much fun - it's happy, silly, and upbeat. And wondeer also creates a byplay where these boys are fighting over each other - which is honestly not that far off the actual narrative of the anime, so it works stupidly well. wondeer takes the concept to the next level by executing some of the most stunning match cuts I’ve seen using this anime yet and generally just applying a whole slew of excellent dynamic editing skill.  

I also haven’t heard anything by Cheryl Lloyd in ages, and had honestly forgotten her existence, so it was a neat surprise to see this combination. 

42

Video title: Suzume’s Roadtrip

Editor: Bauzi

Anime: Suzume, Weathering With You, Your Name, Children Who Chase Lost Voices

Song & Artist: Timesink - LORN

VPR: Major VHS overlay, flickering, motion

Watch on YouTube

Comments:

I very nearly did not include “Suzume’s Roadtrip” on my main list as there's an argument to be made if it even falls under the categorisation of an AMV - yes there is certainly both Anime and Music here but the intent is not quite that of a Music Video. “Suzume's Roadtrip” is primarily an experiment in crafting an original narrative, and it does so brilliantly. 

Generally I have a hard time enjoying AMVs that include any type of external audio other than the song - whether that be audio snippets from the anime itself or added sound effects. I sometimes get misophonia for certain sounds and having added noises can become both distracting and uncomfortable for me (occasionally there are even songs I can't listen to). In “Suzume's Roadtrip” Bauzi has done an admirable job of balancing the audio mix so that the sounds from the anime blend perfectly with the music track - indeed it feels like the music is actually part of the soundtrack for the anime rather than the other way around, that's how well he's mixed them.

The climax of the video is what really sold me on it. The concept is strong regardless, and the climax elevates the whole video to something truly special. 

41

Video title: Blood For The Blood God

Editor: julietxjulie

Anime: Neon Genesis Evangelion, End of Evangelion

Song & Artist: Blood For The Blood God (feat HEALTH) - GUNSHIP

VPR: Major All

CW: Violence, blood, gore, nudity, sexual imagery

Watch on YouTube

Comments:

I came across julietxjulie via one of their other videos appearing in my YouTube recommendations (which I also enjoy a lot - their whole catalogue of videos is very strong), and shortly after I subscribed to them they released “Blood For The Blood God”. I was already familiar with this song being a fan of the band HEALTH and due to my conflicting feelings regarding the official music video for the song, was rather hoping someone would make an AMV with it. I was so excited when this popped up and julietxjulie has surpassed all of my expectations. 

Evangelion was possibly the obvious choice for this song, and my goodness does it match well - sometimes the obvious choices need to exist in the world. julietxjulie has used the music video version of the song which adds massively to the cohesion - there are so many extra sync opportunities from the voice-over and sound effects and julietxjulie doesn’t miss a single one. 

It’s a slight shame “Blood For The Blood God” is age restricted - it absolutely needs to be, but this has prevented the video from getting anywhere near the amount of views I believe it deserves.