MAD·AMV History: Three Converging Threads
MAD·AMV did not develop in a straight line from one place, one term, or one software package. A more useful historical framework examines three interacting threads in parallel:
- The audio collage, videotape, and dōjin remix traditions of Japanese MAD;
- The conventions, tape trading, contests, and online communities of Western AMV;
- The forums, Tieba communities, video platforms, teams, and contests of the Chinese internet.
Evidence Levels
| Mark | Meaning |
|---|---|
| A Verifiable | Supported by academic research, contemporary pages, original work records, or organizational archives |
| B Community record | Based on participant recollections, Tieba compilations, or specialist-site articles; useful as leads but still requiring cross-verification |
| C Unverified | Widely repeated but lacking primary material, or inconsistent in dates and people involved |
Japanese MAD
Late 1970s: MAD Tape and the Origin of the Name B/C
Legacy Chinese materials and Japanese community sources commonly trace early MAD to audio-collage tapes made by members of CAS, the animation research group at Osaka University of Arts, often dating them to 1978. The core method was to re-edit radio, anime dialogue, songs, and sound fragments to produce new meaning or humor.
This account is important for understanding why MAD is not equivalent to animation set to music. However, many surviving Chinese pages repeat one another, while the original tapes, contemporary writings, and precise dates still require further verification. This timeline therefore treats “1978” and the detailed naming process as community history rather than an undisputed single moment of origin.
1980s–1990s: Videotape, Personal Computers, and Dōjin Events B
Analog video, home audio equipment, and personal computers lowered the barrier to remixing. MAD gradually expanded from audio collage to anime, games, still images, and self-produced visuals. Works circulated through clubs, conventions and sales events, tapes, and discs; much of this material never entered the public internet in a stable form.
Late 1990s–2000s: Still-Image M@D and Online Distribution B
Visual novels, game CG, manga, and illustrations were layered, animated, and combined with music, creating a representative still-image M@D tradition. Broadband, personal websites, download sites, and later Japanese video platforms changed distribution and increased cross-regional influence.
Western AMV
1982: Some of the Earliest Documented AMVs A
Research by Ian Roberts and AMV community histories identify Jim Kaposztas’s work combining Space Battleship Yamato／Star Blazers footage with a Beatles song using two VCRs as one of the earliest currently known Western fan-made AMVs.
Careful historical writing should say “currently known” or “documented,” rather than claim that it was unquestionably the world’s first transformative music video.
Late 1980s–1990s: Tape Trading and Anime Conventions A
The circulation of anime tapes and fansubs gave creators access to source material, while AMVs spread through convention screenings and tape compilations. Convention contests gradually formed categories such as Action, Comedy, and Drama for judging and exhibition. AMV Japan’s history identifies the 1992 Anime Expo event as an early contest milestone.
Late 1990s: Digital Non-Linear Editing A
Capture cards, larger hard drives, and digital non-linear editing software made frame-level control, precise synchronization, masking, and compositing increasingly accessible. Roberts identifies 1990–2001 as a key period in the formation of the digital AMV scene.
Around 2000: Online Databases and Communities A/B
AnimeMusicVideos.org was established around 2000 and gradually became a home for work records, creator profiles, forums, downloads, and community norms. International contests and specialist websites subsequently developed their own classification, judging, and publication cultures.
2000s: Landmark Works and Technical Language B
AMV Japan’s article series uses works such as Odorikuruu, Euphoria, and AMV Hell to illustrate the development of dance synchronization, complex compositing, and comedy compilations. These works are influential within the community, but claims that they “changed the whole history” remain interpretations by historians and communities.
Chinese MAD·AMV Communities
2004–2007: Forums, Personal Websites, and the Early MAD Bar B
The current Baidu MAD Bar page gives its creation date as Dec. 6, 2004. Some older records give Dec. 7, possibly reflecting the difference between creation and first public visibility or changes in page history; this remains unverified. Early creators and audiences were also active on forums, personal sites, download sites, and communities connected to fansub groups. Many links are now dead, leaving recollections, reposts, and later compilations as the principal surviving material.
2008: Building the MAD Bar Community B
“A Chronicle of MAD Bar, 2008–2019” treats 2008 as the start of systematic community development and records changes in moderation, resource integration, video libraries, tutorial compilation, MADeMAD, and related activities. Its author explicitly notes that some content comes from participant recollections, making it suitable as community oral history and a roadmap for further verification.
2009–2012: Newcomer Contests, Tutorials, and Team Growth B
The community organized Qiankun Battle, newcomer contests, festival collaborations, and other activities, while tutorials, source organization, and MEPs increased. The historical post specifically records the 2011 BGM Newcomer Contest and numerous imitation, festival, and team activities in 2012.
During the same period, many tutorials and project files depended on 115, cloud drives, Tieba attachments, and externally hosted images. Service shutdowns, lost accounts, and domain changes caused the first major wave of resource loss.
2013–2014: Video Platforms and Large Events B
The historical post treats the 2013 Bilibili MAD contest as an important turning point: wider exposure brought newcomers, discussion of commercialization, and contest disputes. It describes 2014 as a period of concentrated growth in creators and events. Figures and individual events should still be verified against contemporary announcements, submission lists, and participant records.
2015–2016: Platform Expansion, Tighter Copyright Enforcement, and Style Exchange B
Organizations such as DrawMAD emerged, exchange with overseas AMV styles increased, and more creators moved onto video platforms. At the same time, copyright conditions, content identification, resource preservation, and disputes over templates and triple-editing increasingly affected the community.
2017–2018: Disruption and Recovery on Tieba B
The historical post records changes in moderation, community conflict, and subsequent recovery. The period demonstrates that using one platform as a knowledge base makes the security of the record dependent on administrative control, accounts, and platform product policy.
2019: Large-Scale Loss of Access to Older Posts B
Community records state that Baidu Tieba content governance in 2019 made many posts from before 2017 temporarily or permanently inaccessible, severely affecting tutorials and discussions accumulated by MAD Bar. Today, the newcomer navigation still contains deleted links, missing article images, and unavailable external mind maps.
This problem is not unique to MAD Bar. Long-term preservation requires offline catalogs, lawful web archives, creator-authorized backups, and routine link checks.
2020s: Decentralization and Continuing Activity A/B
Creator activity became more distributed across individual Bilibili spaces, posts, columns, contest accounts, chat groups, and overseas platforms. Wuyi无疑’s “What Did You See in the MAD Category in 2021?” provides an annual event retrospective, while pages for the 2022 Bilibili MAD Creation Festival and the 2024 Bilibili MAD CONTEST show that public events did not cease.
“Tieba is no longer as active as it was at its peak” does not mean that Chinese MAD·AMV disappeared. A more accurate description is that community entry points fragmented, platform rules changed, and substantial historical material was lost, while creation, contests, collaboration, and international exchange continue.
Timeline at a Glance
| Date | Event | Thread | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Around 1978 | Japanese MAD tape origin account | Japan | B/C |
| 1982 | Early documented AMV by Jim Kaposztas | Western | A |
| 1992 | Early Anime Expo AMV contest record | Western | A/B |
| Late 1990s | Digital non-linear editing becomes increasingly widespread | Western／global | A |
| Around 2000 | AnimeMusicVideos.org established | Western／global | A/B |
| Dec. 6, 2004 | Creation date displayed on the current Baidu MAD Bar page | China | B／platform page |
| 2008 | Systematic development and resource integration at MAD Bar | China | B |
| 2011–2012 | Growth in newcomer contests, tutorials, and teams | China | B |
| 2013–2014 | Expansion of Bilibili events and the creator community | China | B |
| 2015–2016 | New organizations, copyright changes, and international style exchange | China | B |
| 2019 | Many older Tieba posts become inaccessible, fragmenting the historical record | China | B |
| 2021–2024 | Annual retrospectives, creation festivals, and MAD contests continue | China | A/B |
Gaps in the Historical Record
- Original catalogs, participating members, exact dates, and publicly accessible archives for early Japanese MAD tapes;
- Contemporary pages from Chinese forums, personal websites, and early fansub communities;
- Complete records of MAD Bar moderators, event announcements, submission lists, and results;
- Creator-authorized backups and attachments for dead tutorials;
- Oral histories from women creators, teams outside the most prominent networks, local communities, and creators who changed careers;
- Actual creator numbers, platform distribution, and career paths in each period, rather than estimates based solely on view counts.
Principal References
- Ian Roberts: Genesis of the Digital Anime Music Video Scene, 1990–2001
- AMV Japan: History of AMV, Part 1 · Part 2 · Part 3 · Part 4
- ACG Library: A Chronicle of MAD Bar, 2008–2019
- Original MAD Bar history post
- Wuyi无疑: 2021 MAD Events
- Bilibili 2022 MAD Creation Festival Work Index
- Bilibili MAD CONTEST 2024
The long-form legacy material remains available in Beyond the Mountains, Beyond the Towers (History of MAD). When reading it, consider its age, chain of reposts, and partially dead links.