In case you’ve never used YouTube, we’ll explain.  An anime music video (AMV) is a fan-made (unofficial) music video, created by chopping and pasting clips from Japanese animes (and some video games) so that the animated action matches the audio track.  

The style began in Japan (obviously), but has since become a worldwide phenomenon, to the point that a website — Animemusicvideos.org – has been founded to provide a unique home for the clips.  They even have annual awards, top ten lists and discussion boards where users can share tips on editing techniques and such.

Of course, the RIAA is outraged over the AMVs, and has been fighting to have them removed from circulation, but what’s new?  It’s worth noting that next to none of the animation studios who produced the sampled cartoons have complained. 

Below, find two our recent AMV favorites.  The first is a Pokemon battle set to a seriously tough battle riddim by Tempa T (AMV by Tenchuassassin).

The second, by a team called IdiotWork, isn’t quite so traditional an AMV… ’cause it’s not actually a music video, see?  Instead, it uses clips from  He-Man, set to dialogue from what might still be the Coen Brothers’ best flick, The Big Lebowski.  Sheer genius. 

(Thanks, Danny Boy)

This entry was posted on Friday, April 11th, 2008 at 7:16 pm and is filed under Music, Movies, Japan, UK, Cartoons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.