katranat

10

Video title: John Wick

Editor: BoxJoe

Anime: Various

Song & Artist: John Wick - Conner Price & ANAS 

VPR: All

Comments:

“John Wick” is a video I’ve kept coming back to over and over again in the past year due to how fun it is. BoxJoe really struck gold with the selection of clips and the slick editing style. BoxJoe has done a whole host of wonderful editing and compositions keeping the AMV vibrant and addicting to watch as well as having a super solid base of excellent match cuts and sync. The whole thing is a pretty perfect dance AMV in my opinion, and I love that he’s included a lot of clips and sources that aren’t seen as often in dance AMVs as well as some familiar classics - there’s a great mixture. I especially love the moments where the internal sync matches the strange bass vibration type sound in the background of the song - those are absolutely superb.

09

Video title: shouwa genroku rakugo shinjuu //「萬千花蕊慈母悲哀」amv 

Editor: ori

Anime: shouwa genroku rakugo shinjuu

Song & Artist: 萬千花蕊慈母悲哀 - 珂拉琪 Collage

VPR: Film grain, vignettes & other peripherals, blurs, fades to black, quick cuts, fire, flashes

CW: Blood

Comments:

Never have I seen a video I’ve found as difficult to talk about at this one. 

You absolutely must read the YouTube video description for this - you could go in blind I suppose, but there’s quite a lot of cultural significance and also explanation for some choices which you’ll miss out on if you don’t read Ori’s commentary.  

I’m guilty of not really getting other genroku rakugo shinjuu AMVs I’ve come across, like, I understand them, but for whatever reason they've never really left much of an impact on me. 

This video finally got through to me I think mostly because of the monumental weight and scale that the song brings to the table. I feel Ori has done an exceptional job of balancing the tale of tragedy being told by the song with the more intimate tragedy being played out in genroku rakugo shinjuu. It’s utterly heart wrenching and has made me reflect that honestly, it doesn’t really matter what the scale of something tragic is, things can still be terrible regardless of how many people it affects - it doesn't make it any less of a tragedy for the person it’s affecting.  

Ori’s editing is completely perfect here, the sync is impeccable and is majorly impactful. Interestingly I think my favourite moment of the whole video is at 02:34 where the spoken word section from the anime ends and it changes abruptly back to the singer from the song. Usually I dislike when AMVs use audio that’s external to the song, but in this case Ori times it with an instrumental break, and then that split second where it changes back, there’s a tiny bit of overlay in the audio of the speaker and the singer and it just sounds incredible to me - there’s so much power in this one moment.

Of all the videos where I haven’t left a comment on YouTube, I think I regret not saying anything about this video the most. Trouble is though, what can you even say in a YouTube comment about a video like this that isn’t going to be wholly inadequate?

08

Video title: Brain Dance

Editor: Purplepolecat

Anime: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

Song & Artist: Reason For Living - Morgan Page

VPR: All

CW: Violence, gore

Comments:

Despite how much most of my 2024 sucked, it did have some bright spots - one of which was I spent a large amount of time getting rather good at playing Beatsaber. I will freely admit that part of my love for “Brain Dance” as an AMV stems from my enjoyment of playing this song in Beatsaber. I’ve found that Beatsaber interestingly scratches a similar part of my brain that AMVs do with regards to songs - sometimes there’s just music that I need some kind of visual stimulation to go along with and Beatsaber can be almost as satisfying for this as AMVs are. “Brain Dance” combines these two worlds for me in a wonderfully satisfying way. 

Despite the title, “Brain Dance” doesn’t really feel like a dance AMV, it’s closer to a drama/action video - taking the fairly typical dance club-esque lyrics and spinning them into something much more sincere. The climax of the video is absolutely glorious - there’s a wonderful swooping sensation in the music which Purplepolecat has matched with internal sync seemingly effortlessly.  

Purplepolecat is among the older generation of AMV creators and to see them still making videos in the past couple of years has been a real treat. 

07

Video title: Let your Red Line shine

Editor: Shark Tooth Goosie

Anime: Redline

Song & Artist: Let it shine - Yuzo Koshiro

VPR: Major motion, fades to black, flashes, fire, peripherals

Comments:

I’ve watched a lot of Shark Tooth Goosie’s AMVs over the years, and “Let your Red Line Shine” might be my favourite thing from them yet. It has a wonderful feeling of both being classical and classy - the editing style and source combination gives it a super old school vibe, and something about the scene selection and subject matter screams elegance. 

The internal sync throughout the AMV is generally excellent, and my favourite section is 02:30 - 03:24 - the sync choices here are outstanding. Truly they are the pinnacle of what I desire in an AMV, it’s both visually stunning and also a perfect match for the way the song sounds during these moments - there’s an enormous sense of elation which makes my brain exceedingly happy.

06

Video title: Be X finE

Editor: Animetrash AMVs

Anime: Project X Zone

Song & Artist: Be Fine - Madeon

VPR: All (major shapes/patterns)

Comments:

I think the novelty of the source is what got me initially hooked on “Be X finE” and then as usual Animetrash lured me in the rest of the way with fun times and satisfying sync. 

This is technically a GMV rather than an AMV, but as it’s in anime form I included it on my main list. 

Animetrash picked a slightly not so obvious song match here I feel - random clips of video game characters doing cool moves and showing off doesn’t really scream a Madeon song about how everything’s gonna be fine in my mind, but it did in Animetrash’s head, and it works incredibly well. There’s so much motion and dynamic visuals present and it’s also just so colourful and interesting to watch.

05

Video title: This Will Be a Beacon

Editor: Lunasspecto

Anime: No.6 

Song & Artist: Monument (The Inevitable End Version) - Röyksopp and Robyn

VPR: Fades to black, motion, red emphasis scenes, explosions, light leaks

CW: Violence, blood

Comments:

I need to firstly apologise quite profusely to Lunasspecto - whenever I read the title of this video (which is often) my brain kind of glazes over and I see the word “Bacon” instead of “Beacon”. I find this slightly hilarious, but also deeply inappropriate, especially as “This Will Be a Beacon” is such an apt and moving title choice for the video!

“This Will Be a Beacon” is the only No.6 AMV I’ve seen so far where I have some idea of what’s going on in the story - for example; I’ve seen a handful of other No.6 AMVs and this is the first time it’s been made clear that the brown haired guy and the white haired guy are in fact the same person. Or perhaps I’m just unobservant. In any case, the storytelling in “This Will Be a Beacon” is wonderfully precise and understandable. 

I adore the pacing Lunasspecto had chosen, with the video starting out very calm and slow, ever so gradually picking up pace as the AMV progresses. I think my favourite part of the whole video is at 00:51 - 01:02 where it's the morning and the kid has disappeared, and Lunasspecto could have cut to the music a lot more frequently here, but I love the choice to hold the long scene of the pan up and show the cups, I feel it really hammers in the feeling of loss of this person being gone.

04

Video title: New Constellations

Editor: arin

Anime: Trigun Stampede

Song & Artist: New Constellations - Ryn Weaver

VPR: Motion, cuts to black

Comments:

My anime watching habits are pretty non-existent these days, so the fact I managed to actually watch Trigun Stampede in 2024 is nothing short of a miracle. I had a few issues with it, but one of the things I did perhaps surprisingly enjoy is the art/animation - so I do very much enjoy watching AMVs which use it as a source. 

“New Constellations” is an AMV which the YouTube algorithm fed me after I’d been watching a handful of other Stampede videos and I’m very grateful it did.

The editing in “New Constellations” is not quite what you might expect - I’ve found over the years of watching AMVs I tend to assume videos will adhere to certain patterns or sync types and I had to throw that part of my brain out of the window and readjust my expectations in order to appreciate this video. arin syncs primarily to the piano notes and the singer’s voice throughout the whole video - which is a pretty normal way of syncing, until about a minute and half into the runtime when the song begins to have these almighty drum booms, which arin just ignores completely. The first couple times of watching it was insanely distracting, hearing these massive moments of the song without seeing any noticeable sync to them whatsoever made my editing brain itch. 

Taking a step back and really understanding what makes this AMV tick, I feel this was ultimately the right decision for this video. Continuing to sync to the more muted elements of the song helps to give the video a delicate and fragile feeling, and I think it actually makes the climax all the more impactful for it - with the shift in emotion in the singer's voice being the main focus of the editing without any distractions from attempts to edit to other elements. It is truly glorious. 

I would like to add that 02:20 - 02:32 is probably the most strikingly beautiful combination of music/lyrics and imagery I’ve ever seen. I genuinely get chills whenever I watch this part.   

03

Video title: Jupiter’s Horizon

Editor: Animetrash AMVs

Anime: RahXephon

Song & Artist: Hallucinations - PVRIS

VPR: All

CW: Violence

Comments:

In contrast to Animetrash’s previous RahXephon AMV on this list, “Jupiter’s Horizon” is a bit more in keeping with expectations for AMVs using this anime - we’re into serious/psychological territory here. How Animetrash goes about this though, is utterly unique to him, and as usual, the sync here is stunning 

From 02:33 until the end of the video, there’s a slightly weirdly euphoric feeling (not a reference, honest) of release, or at least this is what I get when I watch the AMV. It’s such a dissonant thing because the scenes shown in the climax are quite violent and jarring, with mechs being ripped apart and deformed and all kinds of other horrific things - and yet, it all feels like relief instead of dread, like a transformation rather than an ending.   

02

Video title: Vash’s Burden

Editor: Breeman AMV

Anime: Trigun Stampede

Song & Artist: Heavy Burden - Devin Townsend

VPR: All

Comments:

For the first half of the year I was convinced “Vash’s Burden” was going to be my number 1 AMV for 2024. Alas, it was not meant to be, but honestly any other year and it absolutely would have been. 

Breeman kind of came out of nowhere with “Vash’s Burden” this year, I only watched it because I happened to notice it’d been added to animemusicvideos.org’s database and I thought I’d check it out. 

Breeman uses a lot of compositions and overlays in this video to fascinating effect. I especially adore the moments of chroma key using the star constellation clips from the anime ending - those are wonderfully creative and they work in the context of the AMV beautifully. I also love how despite all the adherence to syncing quite precisely, Breeman still left moments which feel more free, like 02:45 - 02:55 where one clip is left to run on and it still matches perfectly. 

I’m in awe of how out of the box “Vash’s Burden” manages to be, while also being such a perfect tribute to the character of Vash - Breeman has made something truly special here.

01

Video title: Can i call you tonight?

Editor: Narut9

Anime: Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, Boruto, Naruto Manga

Song & Artist: Can I Call You Tonight - Dayglow

VPR: All (major quick cuts)

Comments:

Throughout this whole list I have not mentioned exactly how many times I’ve watched each of these videos. This list is ordered from least to most watched so in the grand scheme of things the exact view count isn’t really that important. I would like to reveal that at the time of extracting my YouTube watch history information, I had watched “Can i call you tonight?” 42 times. 

I knew that no matter what metric I would use to create my list this year, “Can i call you tonight?” was going to be my number 1, but that still didn’t quite prepare me for the sheer amount of views I apparently put into this. To put this into context, a couple of years ago I made some lifetime statistics about my YouTube watch habits and my overall most watched AMV of all time at that point had 52 views - and that’s a video which has been on YouTube and I have been watching since 2011. I really cannot understate just how insane that 42 number is - and that doesn’t even include however many times I’ve watched it in order to make this write up!  

When I first came across “Can i call you tonight?” I almost immediately made a blog post specifically for it - I was worried I might not make this list and I couldn’t not say something about it somewhere. For the most part I feel everything I want to say about “Can i call you tonight?” is covered in that post, though I do feel there’s one point I didn’t make very clear. 

“Can i call you tonight?” is a deeply flawed video, there’s no denying this. Its flaws however, are part of what I believe makes it great. I’m not saying it’s great in spite of these flaws, I’m not even saying it’s great because of these flaws, rather I feel the video simply would not be the same had it been created in any other way. This is a rather broad statement which you could make fit with any AMV I realise, but in this case I mean it in a rather specific way. 

The editing itself gives off a feeling of what I can only describe as desperation - it doesn’t matter whether this is true or not, I have no idea what process Narut9 went through in order to make this, but the end result is a video which appears to have been made despite the given limitations, and it’s been made with such an obvious level of love for the source material and characters. This desperate feeling is the exact same energy that these two characters exhibit for each other within the AMV. “Can i call you tonight?” is demonstrably layers upon layers of what I believe to be ultimate passion all the way down.

10