Editor’s Note

(The high quality version can be downloaded at this site)
Making a music video to explain a series or character can be very difficult. Most of the time, the video has to change to match the song. This can usually drop the quality of the video, especially for people who have seen the series. So what happens when you find a song that fits one of the most iconic anime characters there is? You find a test.

She’s just Oblivious

Haruhi Suzumiya, everyone knows her. Many people want to be her(does that mean they have a god complex?). She’s spastic, psychotic, eccentric, and just plain lovable, and she goes out of her way to make sure everyone knows. “Sharada” by Skye Sweetnam is about a girl with her head in the clouds always doing what she wanted, not caring about the consequences. While everyone kept putting her down, she kept pushing herself forward. A match made in heaven if I ever heard one. So does the video make this perfect combination possible?

Video:
Not much to say, the quality is top notch. The choice of Haruhi Suzumiya is almost painfully obvious, since the song describes her to a tee.

Music:
The song is the interesting part. The chances of a random pop song fitting an anime character, that even the artist didn’t know about, is unbelievable. Yet it was found, and even has a nice melody for its intro and outro that fits the mood of a japanese animation, coincidence?

Editing:
The AMV has very few effects. The noticeable are simple light flashes, a few filters, and some masking. The filters do well to set the mood at the beginning. It gives us a nice peaceful feel to go with the song’s melody. The many quick cuts to match the beat can get tedious, but at the same time make the video work. The many different scenes go well with the lyrics to show off Haruhi’s energetic life. Always jumping from one thing to another, just how Haruhi would act. This video explains her very well for anyone who has not seen the series.

Overall:
This video is great. It accurately describes a character, shows her interactions with others, and even goes to show some of her goals. I love when someone is able to make a fantastic video with minimal effects. This described Haruhi Suzumiya better than any other song I have heard.

Editor’s Note Christmas

http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members/members_videoinfo.php?v=173542

Since this Saturday is a special day, I decided to look for an appropriate video this time. While looking, I found this interesting collaberation. Since the video is over twelve minutes long I will be breaking it up into the multiple tracks played.

Track 1: Santa Clause is coming to Town

This song felt like a good introuction to a christmas video. It gets you into that spirit to the point where you almost start dancing along. The video is full of edits and effects ranging from quality masking to beautiful photo-manipulation. Seeing so many different animes with Christmas images reels you in so easily. The few off beats and lip-sync issues are barely noticed and don’t deter from the enjoyment. After seeing this, you are just ready for anything else to come and fill that holiday cheer

Track 2: Nuttin’for Christmas

Just hearing the opening lines already tell you that this is gonna be amusing . A simple video of bad kids getting punished, so far I’m right. The series chosen fit well, as if you can just look at the kids and go “Maybe next year kid.”Some may even giggle from nostalgic pranks they pulled *cough*. Even with only a fraction of all the previous edits, it still entertains and keep the cheer going.

Track 3: Last Christmas

This is where it get complicated. The idea is a good one, but its a good generic idea. I expected a little more of a seasonal feeling. The only thing that felt like christmas was one scene of snow. This probably could have been done with any other heartbreak song.  This felt out of place for a Christmas collab.

Track 4: A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas

Ok, this has two different parts in it. The first part gives off the idea of childhood friends now lovers enjoying the holidays. Spending time with the one you care about brings that cheer back, it really makes you feel the love they have. This is a good idea that should have gone through the whole song. Part two is annoys me. It starts of with a simple couple, you think “ok another pair enjoying the season.” Then it shows a woman who seems to be pregnant, based on her actions, waiting for someone. If I hadn’t already seen the anime, I would have thought something was wrong. Later you find out the guy left her for the first girl you see. Dick move dude. I makes me think, is this really the way you would want to spend christmas?! Which is why the first part should have been the whole track.

Track 5: Kidnap the Sandy Claws

Now with my cheer all over the place in confusion, will this pick it back up? let’s see, chibis talking about catching santa…you now have my attention. So the idea is very funny, works well with the anime, and would probably been even funnier if better executed. Mismatched voices are really distracting and confusing by having one character with multple voices or vice versa. Certain scenes are a little slow with the beat of the song. After the song is finished, I’m slightly amussed and ready for the next song, but this one isn’t done? It actually uses the rest of the episode…why? It felt really superfluous, as if it was tacked on to lengthen the video.

Track 6: Carol of the Bells (Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12-24)

Now that the name correction is out of the way, I forsee a fight since this song can go to any fight in the snow. Again, this didn’t feel very Christmas like. It felt like another generic fight thrown in because it was snowing. I get dissapointed at these, yes it is well synced, but not what I should have gotten. Just like track 3, you could replace any anime and it would be the same video. This felt out of place as well.

Track 7: A william Wobbler Christmas

Now about that confusion thing, yeah this video goes full force. I really don’t know what to say, I think if I had seen the anime I would have a better understanding. To sum it up, “You think like a fish?!” Let’s just move on

Track 8: 12 Gatsu no love song

Gackt and Christmas…………well, its the last song so lets see this through. So we are starting off with Christmas shopping, so good so far. The we take a sharp left turn to lesbians getting married and riding off in a sleigh…WHAT?! Did I miss something? what was the relevance here? Maybe it’s the whole being with the one you love. I can except that, but just going from shopping to marriage?!that just threw me completely out of wack.

Overall: The different tracks range immensely from fantastic to just plain generic. Some videos really get you in the Christmas mood, but others are just too confusing or boring. This collab should have been planned out a little bit more. It had potential with the intro but just weaves back and forth to the point of annoyance. It’s worth seeing once in a while, but best to skip to your favorite tracks.

Signed,
Betavash

Editor’s Note

Anime Music Videos, AMVs, are a great way for anime fans to express their creativity. Finding songs and anime to combine and create an entertaining video may be difficult, but enough effort will always form something to be proud of. “Editor’s Note” takes a look at some AMVs and gives them a critique of the video, music, technical effects, and stories within the video.

Blame It On 2009: A Good, Good Year

Video:
A collaboration AMV between Dr. Faux Pas and Ileia. With a remix song of the top twenty-five Hits of 2009 it would be simple to think multiple anime series will work. The difficult part would be which series to match the many songs. With how many series came out in 2009, some left more memorable impressions. The twenty-five different series gave it a well needed diversity.  The video quality never falters always staying clear and smooth. The many series are very different from each other ranging from mecha , dancing, to just cute little animals. This is a good interpretation of the range anime gave us that year. With so many of the same generic series always being made, to see something unexpected every once in a while is refreshing.

Music:
The music is DJ Earworm’s United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It on the Pop). This song is a nice remix of many songs without being too long or random. The audio quality is also excellent. While I personally did not enjoy a majority of the songs selected, this mix did have me listening on repeat.

Editing:
Editing is not all about how good you are with Adobe After Effects or Vegas. There are AMVs that are much better without any effects than some which are just effect after effect. This video has very few effects in it, and this is a good thing. This video didn’t need effects to make me pay attention. The flow of the many clips was enjoyable to see. With different speeds at times, seeing the clips properly altered to match the beat was nice. The lip syncing is just amazing, almost making me think they actually sung the song in the episode. All through out the video the many different emotions are beautifully expressed. The only thing that were not needed were probably the opening and ending gag. While the introduction was amusing, it went for a little too long.

Overall:
It was an enjoyable mash-up for both song and show. It is one I may watch frequently until I burn out, which is a good thing.
Signed,
Betavash