Let me explain the title.  In my mind, there are certain Anime Music Videos that capture the spirit of their subject so well that it becomes the (say it with me) definitive AMV for it.  It could be a character study, or an overview of a particular series, or less often, the AMV is practically synonymous with a song.  

To me, it feels like it's clear almost instantly that "this is it, this is the one!"  It will come as no surprise to me if people disagree with my choices... I can't help what other people think, even if they're terribly terribly wrong... but that's the beauty of this sort of thing.  If you and me think entirely alike, one of us is superfluous, right?  Enough chatter!  Let's get to watchin'!



Don't be overly surprised if I've mentioned one or another of these before, by the way.  They're just that darn good.

Perfect Day - Azumanga Daioh

If any song or video could be said to capture a show's essence, it's this one.  What is AzuDai about?  A group of friends going through life having a good time.  What's the song about?  A group of friends going through life having a good time.  A more natural pairing seems unlikely.  The video itself is fairly simple, with no editing tricks or wizardry until the very end.  I adore this AMV; it truly is AzuDai in music video form.  There are other, better, AzuDai videos out there, but they just don't do as good a job as defining the series.

She's Just Oblivious - Haruhi Suzumiya

Instead of a series, this is a character study.  Of the hundreds of AMVs that were spawned by the adventures of the SOS Brigade, I don't know of any that tell you about the main character as well as this.  Obviously the lyrics and the actual story don't quite match, but it's close enough for my tastes.

19-2000 - Radical Edward

For a while there, Cowboy Bebop AMVs nearly outnumbered Linkinball Dragonball Z vids.  The difference is, many of the Bebop videos were actually good.  This one, which I've never actually seen a real title for, is far and away my favorite of the bunch.  The wackiness of the Gorillaz tune team wonderfully with the quirky Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV.  The character is probably the only one that I like in Bebop, with everybody else being too cynical, too stupid, or too broken for my tastes.  I can watch this one all day.

Engel - Asuka Langley
A particularly vicious bot has done a great job of muting the audio track of all the copies of this AMV in the original German, so here's a link to it over at DailyMotion.  Actually, this is a link to the scene-by-scene remake of the original using DVD footage, as opposed to Kevin Caldwell's 1999 AMV with less-than-stellar VHS source footage.  And really, after this one there was no need to ever make another Asuka video again.  The lipsynch (in German, Asuka's natural language no less) is spot on, and the whole video oozes attitude that anybody who's seen NGE will recognize.  Damn few NGE videos come close to this one, let alone as a character study.

Eternal Damnation - Hellsing

Please note that this is the original TV version of Hellsing, as opposed to the batsh*t insanity of Hellsing Ultimate.  Sadly, this video is probably the very best way to experience the original Hellsing, because it isn't a particularly good show.  I've long said that it's a great series to look at, but awful to actually watch... which means it's a GREAT source of AMV footage.  While there are better Hellsing videos out there, this is the one I remember... hell, I think it got me to buy the series!  This was also my first exposure to ES Posthumus, which makes it a win-win all 'round.

So that's just a few Definitive AMVs... what say you?  Got any yourself?

Posted by: Wonderduck at 10:41 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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