But first, let's go back to 2003, which was a decade ago.
I always felt AX2003 was the last real "solid" contest where the quality of all the entries in the contest blew me away with me saying "Wow, now I know why I didn't get in!".
2004-2011 ranged from mediocre, decent, and good, but never "great" like 2003. While there were a lot of great videos in those years, I felt there were also a ton of entries in those years that either got the shaft, didn't belong there, or were just downright horrible due to bad judging, behind the scene politics, etc. A contest is only as strong as it's competitors, and a lot of the great videos of 2004-2011 unfortunately had to be supported with videos that weren't up to par with them.
When Troy took over in 2012, the contest literally skyrockted back to 2003's status where every entry deserved to be there. I don't know about the rest of the competitors, but I had quite a lot of goosebumps, anxiety attacks, and butterflies in my stomach watching the other videos and those feelings got even more intense waiting for the results, which was a good thing. That shows how much the contest literally improved under Troy's management, so I decided to judge the 2013 contest up to that new and improved standard.
As a whole, the entire AX2013 AMV contest was extremely solid, but kind of lacked the "oomph" that 2012 had. While a lot of the entries were quite ambitious and experimental, they kind of felt a bit "safe" in comparison to 2012's more "epic" entries.
I didn't exactly agree with Testing is the Future and BaBoom winning, because I felt they were a bit too gimmicky and relied a bit too much on the material they were parodying rather than standing out on their own. I judged them high knowing that they would draw in a crowd and on their technical merit even though they weren't my top picks in their categories. Regardless, congrats to both of them for winning.
My personal picks:
Parody/Trailer: Into Darkness
I think Jason got far more than just an awesome response and making it in the finals. He literally put the entire reshowing "Into Darkness" which even got a bigger response from the crowd.
Drama/Theatric: Into the Labyrinth
Some of the other judges and I were afraid this wasn't going to be well received by a con audience. I loved how experimental this video was, and the crowd picked the right one in the end.
Action/Adventure: I'm Only Getting Started
This entire category was difficult to decide for me between this video, Waltz S, and Overcoming Me. I personally felt that Scott's video kind of got me the most pumped up out of my 3 choices and congrats to him for winning action again after 10 years.
Upbeat/Dance: DBZ - Always Hardcore
I personally think this should have won the category since the audience response was much stronger than BaBoom and I think it felt far more "upbeat". It would have been nice if a "pure" DBZ video won at AX after DBZ's long and tainted reputation in AMV contests in general.
Romance/Sentimental - Ivy Bridge (My choice for Best of Show)
I haven't seen the anime, but the entire relationship between the 2 main characters in the video really got me quite misty eyed. I'm glad it won and deservedly so.
Fun/Humor - Don't Stop Arale Now
It was very difficult for me to choose between this and the Resident Evil video which was another favorite of mine, but I would slightly have to go with this video because it really felt like it was a lot of fun especially using one of Akira Toriyama's lesser known works.
I have to give Troy major props once again for giving us another kickass show despite all of the stress he had to deal with the entire con. I'll be happy to come back as a judge again next year (granted I have the time) to make sure the contest stays at the high quality level it is now.
Also, to some of the winners, please give longer speeches. I gave 2 last year (one at the awards ceremony and masquerade) and I think you're much more excited than that after winning. Let us get to know you guys a bit more.
To all the entrants, give yourselves a big pat on the back for providing an awesome show and congratulations to all the winners and contestants once again. I hope to meet more of you next year.
