Y2k (and Y2k adjacent) AMVs That Altered My Brain Chemistry and Deserve a Spot in the Library of Congress

by Julia Etrusco

When I think of the early 2000’s many things come to mind but I'm not gonna lie,,, my online experience in those years pretty much revolved around (very legally!) downloading anime and watching it on my brand new purple Dell computer and then hopping onto youtube to look for highly crafted AMV’s made by fellow 9 year olds who liked the same things as I did. I vividly remember many of the AMV’s (“Anime Music Videos”) that I would find myself returning to often since they were oh so moving to middle school Julia. Anyways,,, here are some of said AMV’s that you can sometimes still catch me rewatching when it's past midnight and I feel like I am losing all control in my life :)

Kisshu x Ichigo Everytime we touch (Aug 8, 2008)

AN ABSOLUTE CLASSIC! This AMV has all the perfect qualities of a Y2K AMV. The black  and white sped up scenes, the powerpoint slide transitions, the “Video Edit Magic Trial Version Please Purchase” watermark, the 240pp quality, the Cascada song, THE SLOW RAVE RAINBOW OVERLAY!!! The only thing that could possibly make this better would be adding the occasional fanart that was stolen from online, not credited at all, and obviously made by a 12 year old.

500/10

Ichigo x Kisshu- bad boy (May 7, 2008)

Yes I will be putting two Tokyo Mew Mew AMVs set to Cascada songs one after the other because these were literally the blueprint. I was watching these at age 8 and thinking this was the peak of editing. And guess what? 8 year old Julia was right! This is another instant classic to me! The timestamp, occasional spanish subtitles, and “created with a non-activated version www.avs4you.com” watermark never fails to get a little chuckle out of me. 

500/10

Amuto - Hurry up and save me (Sept 3, 2009)

 

The editing techniques used in this AMV,,,, truly revolutionary.

At this point I can't even defend myself…. 9 y/o me really liked the Pink Haired Protagonist x Anime Bad Boy dynamic. Especially if one of them had cat ears. Sue me ig.

8/10

ＷＥ'ＲＥ ＥＭＰＴＹ (Oct 30, 2010)

This ones sad :(

The way I listened to this song and through it was so deep and relatable at age 10…

9/10 (only because it has scenes from the Fullmetal Alchemist Movie and it's a bit criminal to use it with the masterpiece that is Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood)

Sexy Naughty Bitchy Alois ~ Kuroshitsuji II (Sept 12, 2010)

You may be asking yourself, why was she watching this at such a young age? I have no idea but I can tell you that this is what happens when you give your kids unrestricted access to the internet

Seriously, who even let me watch this??? This thirteen year old Victorian blonde anime boy is not a “sexy naughty bitch” please seek help. 

Yes. I do have regrets about this one but I cannot deny that it did alter my brain chemistry. It altered it in a bad way though. 

3/10 for emotional damage

Pandora Hearts - E.T.  (Sept 12, 2010)

Ok but this person not only had to edit and crop still manga panels into moving images, they also colored all of them??? Insane. This one actually looks really good for 2010 but also the fact that it’s set to E.T. by Katy Perry makes me laugh. I genuinely loved this edit so much that I downloaded it to my little iPhone 4’s camera roll so I could watch it on the go and absolutely refused to delete it even if my little phone was running out of storage. Now thats true commitment <3

10/10

NOTABLE MENTIONS:

TALK DIRTY TO ME (May 5, 2014)

Ok ok I know this one’s from 2014 but like hear me out. This is a masterpiece. Y’know when Jason Derulo says “been around the world, don't speak the language. But your booty don't need explaining” and you get to see a shot of an anime man's ass? Yeah apparently that really hit hard when I was 13. 

Also I feel like this AMV is the whole reason why I watched the Idol Boy anime (UtaPri) and honestly,,, good for little me! Do I remember anything about the plot or the characters in that? Not really. Is their stupid little idol song going live forever in my brain? Absolutely. 

10 Anime Boy Asses/10

How Far We've Come Tribute to Percy Jackson by Viria

Not technically an AMV but damn this really rewired my entire brain when I watched this on Viria’s art tumblr when it first came out. Viria put her whole badussy into making this and honestly it shows. 

Percy Jackson Poker Face Lotus Casino Scene/10