James Kaposztas was the creator of the world’s first known anime music video in 1982 at age of 21. His death was confirmed Sunday via Twitter, by Michael Pinto co-founder and publisher of Anime.com.
According to an interview Kaposztas gave with AnimeCons TV, Kaposztas created the very first AMV by hooking up two video cassette recorders to each other and edited most of the violent scenes from Space Cruiser Yamato (released in the US as “Star Blazers“) to “All You Need Is Love” by The Beatles. A second version of the video would later be uploaded to his YouTube channel, stating that “[. . .]the Original was damaged”. This newer version is lacks The Beatles’ song due to YouTube copyright infringement rules, however in two year old comments, Kaposztas suggests to “To get an idea of how the AMV would have played out, try playing “All You Need is Love” from a audio source, and sync it up to the beginning of active video. Then play both Audio and Video source.”
Give it a tray, you can listen to “All You Need is Love” on Spotify here and view the AMV here:
With Permission of Kaposztas, Helen McCarthy Co-author of The Anime Encyclopedia, shared Kaposztas’ experience creating the first known AMV in a series of tweets just last year.
#FanStudies #anime fans and #scholars – James Kaposztas shared this account of the first #AMV on FB, sharing here with his permission. A thread …
— Helen McCarthy (@tweetheart4711) November 5, 2022
According to Pinto, Kaposztas played a key role in supporting early anime events in New York City and Philadelphia. He added, he was among the few cosplayers at the time, who would often cosplay as Captain Avatar (Captain Jūzō Okita) from Space Cruiser Yamato (Star Blazers.) Kaposztas would later be involved with Otakon as part of their staff for 22 years, according to his Linkedin profile.
According to the same Linkedin profile, Kaposztas’ love for anime and video editing lead him to pursue a profession in audio visual editing for over two decades.
Since James Kaposztas’ 1982 AMV, the art of AMVs has been evolving throughout the years, with elaborate editing from its editors and in more recent years, AMVs are being used to promote and distribute original music. We do not think James Kaposztas knew that his creation would lead to a worldwide phenomenon that would be integrated into hundreds of anime conventions throughout the U.S., with some even holding AMV competitions.
May James Kaposztas rest in peace; his legacy never forgotten.