I don't usually do write-ups for videos, but I decided to list and talk about my top 10.. just to try it out
honestly, these could've been in any order, but my top two definitely belong there.
10. Worth by John
Made in Abyss AMVs are weird.. most of them are fairly good, and you're pretty much guaranteed to see some Bad Shit. "Worth" by John is unique in that it subverts your expectations for a MiB video and actually gives you a wholesome, hopeful picture of overcoming adversity with a killer upbeat vibe! John also made great use of all of the anime that was avaliable (2 seasons, 1 movie) and really made it feel concise! I must also praise the song choice.. can't say I'd ever heard it before, but I immediately put in my playlists and its infectious groove got stuck in my head may times last year
I really enjoyed gushing about it in last year's RICE contest, and I'm honored to have been one of the first to view it.9. Showdown by JCD
One of my favorite types of edits are the ones that exclusively use animation from the same artist. I'm a big fan of sakuga, so sakuga-centered videos are always a treat for my eyes. Showdown by JCD just so happens to use one of my personal favorite animators: Hiroyuki Imaishi
Ever since watching FLCL back in 2001, his work on so many iconic anime from Gainax to Studio TRIGGER has been some of my personal favorites throughout the years. So needless to say.. this video gets me HYPED. I love how JCD uses shots from virtually everything Imaishi has animated, and putting it all in chronological order really made the whole thing feel like a loving tribute! that drop at 0:27 with Haruko booking it down the barrel of a giant shotgun was so s a t i s f y i n ggg to watch. Now this video may be an action-packed showcase of mind-blowing animation, it is not (however) a mindless "throw fight scenes on the timeline" kind of edit. I can tell JCD put a lot of thought put into it. One big example is where the music stops for a second at 2:06 and iconic TRIGGER "g" is revealed, indicating the founding of the studio.. all preceded by a character pulling the trigger of a gun in his final anime wigh Gainax.
yeah. you're mind is now blown.
8. Mania by E_01 & Elixr25S
Confession: I am a big Sonic fan. Have been ever since I got a Sega Genesis as a christmas present in 1992. Mania by E_01 and ElixrS25 feels like a video made just for me. It uses one of my favorite "newer" Sonic tracks by the artist Hyper Potions (I do listen to it, a lot) and uses a mixed media of visuals from Sonic games and other animations, all blended seamlessly by the two editors. But what really completes the entire Sonic vibe is all the extra decorations, like animated text and Sonic-style game visuals. It really feels like it could be an official Sonic Team video presentation, and it makes me feel like a kid again every time I watch.
7. Skill Check by SakuraBipolar
Photosensitivity warning: lots of flashing, strobing, high contrast/fast changing colors
Please heed my photosensitivity warning above if you think you might be affected.. because this video gets a little NUTS with the hard-beat-hard-sync. For someone like me who's practically the opposite of photosensitive, these kinds of videos scratch a touch-starved part of my visual cortex in ways most others can't. SakuraBipolar makes a lot of videos that make my ADD brain go *brrrrr*, but this one in particular is a great example of how good of an editor they are. The entire video is centered around one character (Vtuber to be specific) but for me the main character is the editing Sakura really shows how great they are with composition and use of space with this one, starting 0:56 when the dubstep beat finally drops. They could've made it a lot busier looking, but the editing is so meticulously toned down just enough to achieve the full effect (only to keep ramping it up as the song progresses) Their use of simple effects and repetition for hard synced shots like 1:10 really make this a hypnotic experience
and that "slap" sync at 2:19 is just inspired editing XD6. Run Makoto Run by Qwaqa
This video belongs in a museum. Its a work of art.
what else is there to say really?
5. Nalaxone by F-Zero TV
I love it when editors have a galaxy brained anime/song pairing for a video.. especially when they turn out as unique and head-scratchingly infectious as Nalaxone by F-Zero TV. This video relies heavily on some sophisticated (to me at least) video effects to create a dizzying aesthetic that perfectly matches the drug-laced instrumentation of the track, and does so in a very deliberate way. Of course I don't know for 100% sure how F-Zero edited this, but I can say that it feels like every pixelated, datamoshed overlay was deliberate. Behind all these effects there's also a semblance of a well-thought out flow in the scene selection that match up very nicely with the lyrics, which I've noticed upon multiple viewings. Throw in some really good big-lip-sync and you've got one heck of a captivating video! Serial Experiments Lain and "Ain't it funny" by Danny Brown have almost nothing in common.. but what little they do, F-Zero found a way to make the most out of those commonalities to create a truly unique vibe.
4. Bardic Inspiration by Tyken
When Tom Cardy dropped the song in this video I knew I had to share it in the AMV discord.. because it was just begging for someone to make it into a DnD-inspired AMV. Since I don't play DnD I didn't feel qualified enough to make something, but luckily for us Tyken was more than qualified! His video is damn near exactly how I envisioned what an AMV would look with the song, and when he uploaded it to youtube I cried tears of joy as I watched ಥ_ಥ Not to mention some of the tightest lip-sync in a video I've ever seen.
3. Shoot the Moon by Copycat Revolver
Gonna say right now that the song used is the main reason I love this video. Not to take away from the (really good ) editing, but hearing this old Soundgarden song makes me super nostalgic for a certain simpler time of my life that was the late-90s. Blow up the outside world is not my favorite Soundgarden track, but its one of those songs that came along during a very formative time of my life.. and makes me feel very unspecific but deep feelings. Copycat Revolver's deceptively simple editing really makes this video for me.. they keep the focus on David and Lucy, and don't really stray that far from the show's main plot.. but the visuals of Edgerunners already match up perfectly with the song's vibe. Basically, what I admire about this edit is how restrained it feels. Its rough, but focused. And its one video I could rewatch many times over.
it was a tough decision where to put the top two videos, but here we go..
2. Icarus by Vivafringe
This video feels like a chronicle of humanity's achievents and faliures. Vivafringe makes videos that feel like they were specifically edited for me. I know thats not the case, but the way he is able to find all the right visuals from the right anime for the right moment in some of my favorite kinds of music makes his edits some of the most enjoyable and emotionally satisfying videos I've ever watched. Icarus might be my favorite video from this editor yet. Its over 10 minutes, and I love a good long-form AMV.. but to keep up this level of flow, sync, and just overall vibe for that long is just masterful, and deserves recognition. Even tho the song is an instrumental, and viva takes from dozens of anime sources you can still tell that there is an underlying theme to the video, but edited in a way that there's still parts left up to the interpretation of the viewer. Thats one thing I admire about Viva's editing: how he can communicate an idea in a way thats easily understood, yet subtle enough that everyone will have their own interpretation. And that is, in my opinion, the mark of a true artist.
1. Last Forever by Katranat
It seemed like every video this editor made last year was my new favorite. She never missed. If I could pick my favorite Editor of the Year for 2023 it would be Katranat. I've been a fan of her editing for a while (Reset the System is still one of my all-time favs) but for some reason ALL her videos clicked with me last year.. and Last Forever clicked the hardest. I've gone back to analyze it to see why I like it so much, and upon closer look I noticed certain things that make it feel like a legit "professionally-edited" music video. She has a great eye for matching camera movement between cuts to make it feel like one seamless shot, like toward the beginning at 0:14 where the camera continues to pan left throughout the clips, then comes to a stop on one of the two main protagonists in this video right when the first verse kicks in. Then we get some nice character-establishing shots that flow nicely into the chorus with some choice playful scenes that match the upbeat tune. She resists having too much music sync, until right at the end of the 2nd verse at 2:14 where we get some real eye-catching sync with an explosion that kicks off the 2nd chorus to greater heights. At 2:39, when the chorus starts to repeat, kat edits together some great looking match cuts of rotational movement that helps accentuate the crescendo in the music leading to a sudden drop-off in the mix, where we see the "heart" of the AMV. What follows is some of my personal favorite editing in all of 2023.. its hard to put into words, but in the final two minutes everything feels like its in it's right place, all the way to the final tension-releasing cut. This video gives me all the good feels, and I really wish it could last forever.
man, what a year.
