This list will be a little longer than those in years’ past, so I’m breaking it down into two posts. My usual top 10 is now a top 20. A few of these AMVs may have been submitted to contests in the 2016 calendar year or perhaps edited even earlier than that, but as far as I can tell were never debuted on Youtube, animemusicvideos.org, AMV News or anywhere else until 2017. Videos #20 through #11 will be covered in this post along with a couple honorable mentions. I hope to post the top ten in another day or two. In the meantime, a more comprehensive and better-researched list can be found at my friend’s site, which I can’t recommend enough if you like this sort of thing or just are curious to dig a little deeper into this stuff beyond Youtube recommendations or Reddit posts.

Honorable mentions:
“Flip Flappuccino” by Tsunderbird Seth
“Would You Go With Me?” by Zanexi
“Lilith Is Gone – Bereft” by idleglance 腐った
“Bonesaw” by Cenit
“Alice in Broken Land” by KazKon

20. Anime MasterChef
editor: AntaresHeart07
anime: various
music: Psy – “Napal Baji”
download: http://amvnews.ru/index.php?go=Files&in=view&id=8887

The first time I watched “Anime MasterChef,” I was so appalled by its similarity to another AMV that I remember complaining about it to anyone who would listen. The past six months haven’t changed my opinion that, yeah, this video probably was inspired by AmvLuna’s “Anime’s Got Talent.” Is that a problem? One of my favorite AMVs of all time (mostly for sentimental reasons, I guess, but that’s a whole other discussion) is an even more blatant ripoff of another video, a fact I was never not aware of but also never the least bit conflicted over. Why it should suddenly matter now is, well, a really good question I don’t have an answer for. “Anime’s Got Talent” was possibly the most successful crowd-pleasing AMV of all time; there are more “Anime’s Got Talent” reaction videos on Youtube than I would like to count, probably averaging thousands of views each. Just how “Anime MasterChef,” essentially following the same concept and not really crafted in any significantly different way, could work as a grower of a video, I have no idea. Still, that was my experience with it. Superficially, I prefer the music of AntaresHeart07’s AMV (I’m definitely no k-pop expert, but this guy’s haters come on too strong for me) to the uninspired remake of a song from my youth that I never even think about but feel weirdly possessive of, and I like cooking more than the obnoxious, desperate quest for viral fame that is TV talent shows. None of that really explains what I like about this video or why it finally won me over. Must be the secret ingredient.

19. Feudal Fairytale
editor: Sean.PNG
anime: Inuyasha
music: Marianas Trench – “Wildfire”
download: http://amvnews.ru/index.php?go=Files&in=view&id=8920

There seems to be much more to the concept of entropy than the “movement from order to disorder” definition that is commonly used in layman’s terms outside of scientific fields. But in a general sense it’s still real and inevitable and could even be used to describe what’s happening to AMVs as a hobby. Thoughtfully edited works that communicate meaning and affection for the source materials that continue to slowly be replaced by very short videos containing sources and effects that feel selected by random processes. I suspect that the energy needed to reverse this trend would be greater than the energy of the entire system itself, a longwinded way of saying that we can only glimpse our certain future but it probably looks like this. (In layman’s terms again, that’s just a theory.) For now, I’m sure the sun will still rise tomorrow and I can still take solace in the fact that as long as there are people still making old-school Inuyasha action/drama videos like it’s still 2005 (mind you, looking better than ever, whatever new sources they’re using or magic they’re working to make the old footage look as good as this). I won’t pretend that I like this song or that it’s not a new height/depth of the O.A.R./Lifehouse brand of rock that helped get us to this point, but I don’t care. A little bit of sincerity goes a long way with me and I appreciate editors who reach for the least trendy materials imaginable and give it their all to make it work. None of this stuff will be around forever, so let’s appreciate it while we still can.

18. Psychedelia
editor: Lightning Arrow
anime: Shinsekai Yori
music: Cutglitch – “Fog”
download: http://amvnews.ru/index.php?go=Files&in=view&id=8585

It’s not quite the Shinsekai Yori AMV that I’m still looking for, but I get the feeling that Lightning Arrow was out to make it with this edit. He comes awfully close with this moody, atmospheric and very glitchy video that, for all its eye-catching effects and busy visual pacing, captures the mystery and dread of the series more than any AMV I’ve seen yet. I’ve got no idea if the effects in this video were homemade or out of a box, but even if they’re the product of popular and soon-to-be-overused filters, they’re employed wisely and with enough variety to never grow stale or let the viewer catch on to whatever pattern they’re following. An undercurrent of malevolent doom runs through the video beneath a catchy visual rhythm that’s incredibly complex but never excessive, but for two minutes that’s really all it needs to justify its existence. There’s more than enough material in this anime for Lightning Arrow to have crafted an edgy gorefest of an AMV, but what’s here (still undeniably graphic, just not in your face about it) is infinitely more interesting than what most editors would instinctively craft from these pieces.

17. D’awwww Wagon
editor: drewaconclusion
anime: Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
music: Queen – “You’re My Best Friend”
download: http://amvnews.ru/index.php?go=Files&in=view&id=8988

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid wasn’t the best anime I watched in 2017, but it was definitely the most surprising. Just calling it a feel-good anime doesn’t do it justice. It was an uplifting and positive experience to watch that really took me by surprise, especially as its best qualities slowly snuck up on me over the course of several episodes. The good-natured portrayal of unexpected friendship (or romance or the rewards of opening one’s life up to new experiences and new relationships, whatever, the series never forces any one message at the viewer) comes through just perfectly in this AMV. Granted, I watched a couple Dragon Maid videos this year and they all channeled that vibe to one degree or another. None of them featured a song this joyful or did so much to convey its feelings so effectively, no small task with a song this genuinely sunny and timeless.

16. Najee – Laid Back
editor: Israel SkunkWorks
anime: The Big O
music: Najee – “Laid Back”

The title of this AMV, amounting to a simple listing of the song title and the artist it’s credited to, is the first tip off that you’re watching something from an editor who came to AMVs from this scene. Indeed, most of ISW’s videos are of the looping gif variety with music almost exclusively from Soundcloud artists (with some notable exceptions, including this video). A closer look at these videos shows there’s more than first meets the eye: lengthy sequences of pure repetition are often bookended by introductory scenes and eventually give way to actual endings, perhaps suggesting that this editor is looking to do something more creative than just spin his wheels in the gif video sub-for-sub world. His most recent video is a fully-fledged AMV, maybe not a conventional one by any means, but one that definitely makes sense based on his short time spent making videos where, well, let’s just say fast-paced visual changes were never put on a pedestal. Set to an impossibly perfect blend of g-funk and smooth jazz (and from 1994, probably peak vintage for this stuff), there’s not much more to this video than watching the the coolest guy you’ll ever meet cruising around the city in a fantasy version of a souped-up Cadillac, dropping by a bar for a quick drink, stopping at his luxury penthouse for a break before heading out to, I don’t know…fight crime, I think. Even compared to even the slowest AMVs you’ll ever find, none of this plays out with any urgency at all, which is the whole point. When you’re this smooth, there’s no reason to rush anything.

15. Epiphany
editor: UnluckyArtist
anime: various
music: Eurythmics – “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”
download: http://amvnews.ru/index.php?go=Files&in=view&id=8380

“Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” never needed a snarling hard rock cover or a slow, “epic” movie trailer treatment. It conveys a sinister but confident, cool mood on its own just fine, traits that UnluckyArtist recognizes in both the song and the Satoshi Kon-directed mix of visual sources that he brings together. It’s a beautiful, disorienting dream-like experience, with some subtle but really cool original music in the introduction (serving as a good springboard into the main video, don’t skip it) and some truly weird audio edits toward the end that always mess with my head. It’s another dazzling work from one of the most imaginative editors out there today. No, it doesn’t quite unseat my favorite “Sweet Dreams” video, perhaps too tall an order to ask for (look, that thing re-wired my still-developing brain in ways I’ll never fully grasp, there’s no shame in second place here). Over the course of making these lists for the last couple years, UnluckyArtist always made it very difficult for me to stick to my one-AMV-per-editor rule, so difficult that I finally just gave it up this time around and probably for good. Expect more to come.

14. The Red Book
editor: Elcalavero
anime: Big Fish & Begonia
music: Barbarossa feat. Jose Gonzalez – “Home”
download: http://www.mediafire.com/file/ysqjkj73e6x6m3u/The+Red+Book+by+Elcalavero.mp4

The dreamiest fantasy AMV I saw this year, Elcalavero’s “The Red Book” is as relaxing yet engaging of a video as you’ll watch any time soon. The little technicality of whether or not its source is truly anime or not (a debate I’m not eager to revisit anytime soon) was just one factor that held it back from getting the credit and views it deserved, which is a shame since it’s probably my favorite work from one of my favorite editors. The beautiful visuals and haunting but mellow song just kind of melt together. Minor flaws notwithstanding, it’s a subtle masterpiece.

13. ECS.01: Metropolis
editor: CrackTheSky
anime: Metropolis
music: Gidge – “Lit”
download: https://www.animemusicvideos.org/members/members_videoinfo.php?v=203035

Another year, another chance to say that I’ll finally get around to watching Metropolis. Yeah, I still haven’t watched this film but if you’re in the same boat, trust me, that’s not a prerequisite for enjoying this AMV. Actually, going into this fresh might be the best way to experience it. This might not be the first time you’ve seen an AMV that places this much focus on its gritty
cyberpunk/noir setting, but I can’t think of any that use music to such an effective degree to make you feel like you’ve been dropped straight into the bowels of it. Gidge seem to be classified as ambient music, but the percussive elements of this song give it lonely Burial-esque quality that compliments the dystopian visuals to a very immersive effect. The metal-on-metal, off-beat accents remind me of steps heard down a dark corridor or a rhythmic process beating from machines in a smoke-filled factory. Other elements of the track echo as though reverberating through a large corridor or a twisting stairwell descending down to unknown depths. There’s a big sense of space at work here even as scenes slowly transition from a focus on atmosphere alone to a slow work up towards action in the second half. Yeah, six minutes does make for a long AMV to sit through. Sometimes I wish this one was even longer.

12. The Champions!
editor: Alexander Savitsky
anime: various
music: Ty Parr – “National Aerobic Championship Theme”
download: http://amvnews.ru/index.php?go=Files&in=view&id=8790

The audiovisual aesthetic, gaudy fashion and unhinged enthusiasm of the 1980’s aerobic exercise industry has aged into one of the campiest cultural phenomenons of the last thirty-odd years, one that either embodies the worst of 80’s excess and vanity or is the most potent bomb of ironic nostalgia you’ll ever find. It’s as dumb as it was beautiful in its endless optimism, a reality that was somehow more crazy than any of the day-glow vaporwave montages dreamed up by people who weren’t even alive to experience it for themselves. “The Champions!” is yet another product of this retro archeology, but unlike so many “80’s AMVs” that amount to a kitchen sink-pile up of day glow memes and references, the thematic focus of this video is consistent and extremely surprising considering how the editor maintains it so perfectly for a whole two and a half minutes. The dance scenes are as in sync with the music as I’ve ever seen in a dance AMV, and the material that pads out the rest of the runtime feels like the perfect homage to the training montage that was was a staple of 80’s films.

11. V
editor: KazKon
anime: various
music: Moby – “Be the One”
download: http://amvnews.ru/index.php?go=Files&in=view&id=8450

Nothing against his single-source works, but my favorite KazKon AMVs (or at least the ones that have stuck with me the most) have been his videos that pull material from multiple sources. Looking back at those videos, I’m a little shocked to see that neither contains more than a half dozen different anime titles, as the experience of watching them has always given me a feeling of sensory overload that I’ve scarcely ever encountered in AMVs, to say nothing of any other visual medium. His second of three AMVs released in 2017, “V” incorporates more sources than he’s worked with to date but never approaches the overwhelming effect of some of his previous works. Even if he doesn’t dial back on some of the graphic imagery he’s kind of becoming known for using (albeit in a strangely tasteful way that’s not quite like anything I’ve seen before), “V” may be one of his most accessible works, yet still as provocative and unique as ever. To be clear, this isn’t what most viewers expect from an AMV, but the same could be said for lolligerjoj and qwaqa, two uncompromising, experimental editors that have managed to leave big impressions on casual audiences and changed how people think about AMVs. Maybe it’s time to include KazKon in the same conversation.