ramblings on VA singing and AMVs...

[insaneneko]

Wow, Ishida Akira can be a not-horrible singer. Thanks to mitethe I got to hear a bunch of his songs, and while not that good, they aren't bad. I did not wince. Of course, she may have been selective in the ones she sent me...(jk)...In any case, I guess Midorikawa's wailing will be the stick I use to measure how bad a vocal song can be...unless there's something worse out there? I dare anyone who reads this, is there anything worse? Bring it on!

I have for the past several days been kind of searching for good AMVs...There was a reference to a really good Rah Xephon AMV called "Euphoria" in the comments of someone's LJ (I think mirichan's but I'm not sure) and I idly searched for it, and found a download really easily. After being blown away by it (it made me want to watch the show all over again...and make people watch it just so that they could see the AMV...well, I'd want them to see the show anyway since it kicks much ass in general) I searched for more, off and on. Found a couple of decent ones, but they haven't had the combination of music, editing, and scene selection that wows me. I realized I had a Saikano AMV already on my hard drive and rewatched it...it was actually pretty good, but what left me a little cold was the music selection. I suppose it was appropriate but for me it was too over the top. Anyone have recs on awesome AMVs? Or if not awesome, their favs? I know that people can like things that they know aren't that good...

I got four Hikago doujinshi in the mail yesterday, and devoured them. *contented sigh* I'm in happy fangirl land...I'll probably reread them today...

Comments

[mirichan.livejournal.com]

ME...

Guilty as charged.

Euphoria IS my favorite AMV, hands down ^_^

[mirichan.livejournal.com]

Ishida has NOT BAD songs? You should share at least once ^_^ but "Spiritualized" stay the worst one for me, at the moment, hands down!

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

Mitethe so kindly sent me a bunch via yousendit. Why put the other 24 downloads to waste?

http://www.livejournal.com/users/insaneneko/59910.html?thread=201734#t201734

So it was you who mentioned Euphoria...

[mirichan.livejournal.com]

Yeah... in my long post explaining the way I create AMVs...

I think I mentioned it in a reply when discussing technical aspects (Euphoria I saw nearly 2 years BEFORE I saw the anime a few weeks ago and I was blown EVEN not knowing the anime... it's just that striking).

And I have the BIG version (640x480) so when I put that full screen on my 19" monitor? I die drooling.

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

Oh, so that's where I read it. I don't participate in those discussions because I don't know crap about stuff like that. Interesting to read, though.

I have the big version as well, and last night I hooked my computer up to my TV and stereo and was blown away watching it that way. :D

[mirichan.livejournal.com]

Nobody on my list understand either, I think ^_^... not that it stops me.

And oh yeah, it must be quite something. The sheer number of effects in this AMV would usually have me running for the hill but in this case, it's just part of the destabilization you feel when watching RX... it's no surprise the guy won awards at cons for that work.

Of course I could never do anything remotely like that (I only use simple programs, after all) but I still love it intensely... it brings tears of emotion to my eyes when I watch it...

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

Of course, it's not only the difficulty of the effects, but his choice of images and the timing and editing of it all...

I adore the part at the end where Ayato is falling backwards with tears running down his face...absolutely beautiful and perfect.

[mirichan.livejournal.com]

Yeah...

And I remember watching the anime and going "oh, that's where Koops took that effect"... it's beautiful, lyrical, the song is ethereal and it's just sensational to listen to while watching the mood he created through his choice of images and effects...

BTW? Did you check my Memories? There's a post there of the real life short story that they meant when they called the last (I think it was) episode "The girl with the sunflower dress" (or something similar).

It's BEAUTIFUL... not too long either...

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

*nods* The song is perfect, both in feel and through the lyrics.

I think I read your post on that short story. Yes, it is a lovely story. I don't usually read short stories, but sometimes they are more powerful in their brevity...

BTW, have you heard "Go Ahead" by Midorikawa? Check the thread below, datenshi blue kindly shared it...I'm addicted. My god, in the space of several days I've been subjected to absolute crap and then this great song from the same VA...

[mirichan.livejournal.com]

Yeah...

I posted...

It's pretty nice, eh? Gonna have to relisten to it again BUT can't right now (using a media player when ripping is NOT exactly the best idea as it can create jerky video on the rip). But wow... Midorikawa is not too shabby WHEN he has good material, I guess...

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Well, I think the producers or whoever should be shot for allowing "Spiritualized" to be released. But yeah, I really like "Go Ahead." A lot.

[mirichan.livejournal.com]

Probably Koyappi's way of ensuring the fangirls would not go all drool on Schwarz... so they gave them the crappy songs ^_^

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

Ha ha, yes, Weiss is Koyasu's baby, isn't it...that would make sense. It's fun to love the bad guys, after all.

[datenshi-blue.livejournal.com]

Midorikawa's "Go Ahead" from Sukisyo is pretty good. I love that song ;_; He *can* sing XD

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

Heh, I always thought he was not bad as a singer. He unfortunately sang "Spiritualized" which will be a blemish (more like crater) on his record for me. I've never heard a song I thought was good, tho. Glad to hear such songs exist...maybe I'll go look for it just to see for myself. ^_^

[datenshi-blue.livejournal.com]

There you go:
http://s11.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=033TS3FQFS9TV1I7KGT7T6MIM2

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

Wow, this is a nice song! And he sounds the best I've ever heard him. Thanks for sharing!!

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

GAH! I'm addicted to this song now! It's really good...the more I listen to it the more I like it...

[datenshi-blue.livejournal.com]

Exactly. The same happened to me. I heard it for the first time in the Sukisyo Radio show (it's the opening). Because I'm an idiot and totally ignored the commercials, I didn't realize it was Sora's image song, sung by Midorikawa XDDDDDD

Since I found out I can't stop listening to it!!!

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

I downloaded the sukisyo radio show stuff the other day, but hadn't listened to them yet...what a great song for an opening!

I will burn it onto CD and play it on repeat in the car wherever I go. I know it.

[mirichan.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU ^_^

I'm the one who tortured Insaneneko with the atrocious "Spiritualized"... nice to finally hear one that is great from Midorikawa (I've tried to stay away from his stuff since that song above *LOL*).

[datenshi-blue.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I haven't heard such a jewel XDDDDDDDD

I'm totally obsessed with this song, though. I've listened to it a million times during the last days XD

[mirichan.livejournal.com]

One word of advice?

Stay away from "Spiritualized"... It's just THAT bad :)

[mitethe.livejournal.com]

I could have and you'd never know! Nah, it's fairly standard Ishida Akira unless there are ones he sang when he was a wee seiyuu newbie that I haven't been able to find. XD

Now you've reminded me how much I used to love watching AMVs. It's been a long time since I've downloaded any...

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

Maybe you're better off not having heard him sing early on. *shrug*

I usually don't watch AMVs, but you know how when you find one good one it spurs you on to find others...too bad I haven't come across many. :P

[mitethe.livejournal.com]

Probably but I'd listen to them out of sheer curiousity.

Good AMVs have the power to make you see a series in a whole different light, or get converted into seeing said series. It'd be handy if there was an AMV rec site like the fanfic rec sites out there to make the search easier (unless there is one and I've missed it).

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

Yeah, an AMV rec site would be fabulous...of course, if there is one I wouldn't know about it. :P

I actually don't watch AMVs of shows I haven't seen, so they wouldn't convert me into watching a series. I'm like that with fanfics as well, in general (there have been notable exceptions).

[mitethe.livejournal.com]

I watched a number of random AMVs for the heck of it during those random downloading sprees and some piqued my interest in a series. Of course, sometimes the AMV was actually better than the series that inspired it which was a disappointment. I have the most AMVs for series I loved though (mostly Utena and Cowboy Bebop).

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

*laugh* It's like how some movie previews show you all the good parts, so when you see the acutal movie it is a total letdown. ^_^

I am curious about the Cowboy Bebop AMVs, though...any outstanding ones?

[mitethe.livejournal.com]

Hell yeah, and it's a very sad statement when the story presented in the AMV is more coherent than the story in the series itself.

I did a little digging around for the old Cowboy Bebop AMVs (too many CDs here) and after a nostalgic trip down memory lane I found a couple of favourites:
Spike's Elegy (http://s5.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1ZBK5TN6ALXME23MRZA53DZITU) by Stealth Visions and Only in Dreams (http://s5.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3R5A4RHY5SRB21ASTNYZZ3YTB4) by More Than Toast. Watching them reminds me how much I love the series and why.

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

Oh...Spike's Elegy was lovely...Wow...Only in Dreams made me laugh. All those characters I haven't seen in a long time. Both of these have excellent editing, and the songs are perfect. Thanks a lot for sharing. ^_^

[mitethe.livejournal.com]

You're welcome and I'm glad you enjoyed them as much as I did. ^_^
I'd hunt around for recent AMVs of my favourite series but I'm just too lazy to dig through the mountains of stuff out there.

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

*laugh* The problem is that, like with everything online, most of it is crap. I don't have the patience to download these rather large files to find out if it was worth my time...

[mitethe.livejournal.com]

I hear you. Maybe we just need more friends whose taste we trust who are willing to wade through all the crap to toss us the gems. *grin*

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

Reccs are always appreciated. :D A good reason to be on LJ...once you find the people with good taste you can get so much good stuff tossed your way. ^_^

[mitethe.livejournal.com]

True, true. ^_^