There are MAD videos, and there are GODLY hand-drawn MAD videos. Click on the jump to see my favourites.

Never underestimate an anime fan. They go through great lengths to create a video dedicated to their favourite animes. No donations, no money, nothing, just out of pure love. There are those who sing, dance, edit video, etc but to me, the ones who need to be praised the most are those who hand-draw their vids. Traced or otherwise, it takes a great deal of effort to animate frame-by-frame.

Tegaki 手書き in Japanese means “drawn by hand”. A very useful term for your NicoNico needs!

Here are some of the best ones imo. I have included the link to the original sequence at the end of each vid in case you don’t get it :P

(Please leave some comments if you have the least bit of interest in the following. I’m considering to stop anime-related posts if I’m the only one who’s really into it, as seen from my other similar posts. I might as well write a diary rather than a blog :P)

FFVII <- Tales of the Abyss OP. Superb attention to detail, e.g. clothes, background etc. It’s smart that the creator used the balloons to indicate that they’re dating atop the Golden Saucer. You can see that the FFVII characters remain intact, though now Cloud has a ponytail and Cait Sith got a little too thin. Small matter :P [Tales of the Abyss OP]

Yotsubato <- Azumanga OP. A classic MAD. Unlike other Azumanga parodies, this one didn’t completely follow the original too much and had some little touches that made it unique. Which begs the question, where’s my Yotsubato anime huh? HUH?! [Azumanga OP]

Metal Gear <- Lupin III OP. Wooo animated GIF style, sure adds more class compared to vector-type graphics. And it’s Metal Gear to boot! Ocelot got his arm chopped a little too easily there lol. Still have yet to play MGS4. Wuwuwuwu sucks to be me. [Lupin III OP]

Higurashi <- Azuki-chan OP. Wanna see Higurashi as a ’90s wholesome family comedy? This is one of the most polished MADs I’ve seen, with the characters still looking like the original after it’s been hand-drawn. Enjoy the fuzziness while it still lasts, until Rena’s blood-rage jealousy takes over. [Azuki-chan OP]

Ico <- Yawara! OP. Well well, what do we have here… a GIF-style Ico MAD! And it’s a great one to boot! You don’t see that everyday. Don’t think you see that every year either. Yorda is sooo puh-reetty… lucky viking helmet-wearing bastard. [Yawara! OP]

Lucky Star <- Haruhi OP. Combine these two and you’ll have instant hit success on NicoNico. Moreso when it’s superbly done, just look at the part when the chorus kicks in! That’s nuts, man! Nuts! A famous phrase in NicoNico when you see something like this: Ah nothing special, it’s only God(’s creation). 「なんだ、ただの神か。」 [Haruhi Season 1 OP]

Gurren Lagann <- Tenjou Tenge OP. Woo, show me your moves! The Gurren Lagann cast hipping and hopping. The song rocks and so does the animation. Beware of Simon’s man-boobs. Not sure why the creator chose the last boss dancing at the end though lol. Every time I start launching this video, I end up watching this more times that I originally wanted to, always :P [Tenjou Tenge OP]

Vocaloid <- K-On OP. This made quite a big hoo-ha on the interwebs earlier this year. Not surprising at all, considering the content (double combo meal set) and how well-polished this gem is. Having Miku singing it is a very nice touch. It even has Rin and Len riding a steamroller, what’s there not to like? [K-On OP]

Ranma <- K-On ED. How about having an old cast of characters in a new anime? I have to admit, I’m a little biased on this, after all Ranma was my first love (as in the series ok!). Still, it’s pretty fluid, well-drawn and has Ukyou playing with the Spatula. That’s good enough for me! [K-On ED]

Vocaloid <- Tales of Phantasia OP. I dunno, but I’m the sort of guy who would buy an RPG with Miku riding a leek and Kaito riding a Haagen-Daz ice-cream cup. To each their own I guess. [Tales of Phantasia OP]

Toradora <- Haruhi 2 ED. Another MAD that graced our interwebs this year. If there’s anything that can soothe my pain of watching the same thing eight times in a row, it’s Toradora. And Minorin is the main character too, she can heal my soul any day. [Haruhi 2 ED]

Slayers <- Ranma OP. How about one classic anime going into another? Chikyuu Orchestra is one of my fave Ranma OPs, and having Lina Inverse and gang gracing it just brings a smile to my face. The characters are adequately animated too, too bad the fuzzy tv behind is not, otherwise it’ll be greater than great. [Ranma OP]

Phoenix Wright <- Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei OP In the courtroom, Phoenix Wright is always in despair isn’t he? Then this OP suits him best! The colours used in the drawing matches nicely with the overall art direction, and kissing Mia on the legs is always a plus. No objections! Getting Maya pregnant though is a little…errr… oh wait, that’s just a bag. Tch. [Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei OP]

FFVII <- Ouran OP. You can see that the creator tried to cover up for the lack of frames by delaying a few parts here and there, but it’s still not enough to belittle the effort taken in animation. Especially the one where the characters circle around before the chorus, love that part. Mainly coz I love that part in the original OP too :) I miss Ouran, one of the best comedies of 2006. And FF7, one of my fave RPGs. Gah, see what this MAD has done to me! [Ouran OP]

Bakemonogatari Alternative ED. So what happens when you see an ending sequence that you don’t like? Create a new one! Looks like one of my favourite animes this year has another ED! I swear, it looked like Senjougahara was traced from Mio in the K-On ED. With a little polish here and there, it would pass off as a real ED. As it is, it’ll be able to fool some on YouTube already :) Good job, Mr. Creator! [Original ED]

One Piece <- Smoooooooooch PV. Konami is smart to make this original PV for Beatmania, it’s entertaining yet simple enough for other people to create their own version. My favourite is this One Piece ver., I will never look at these 3 guys the same way again… BIG BUTT LUFFY! Phew, glad I got that out of my chest. [Smoooooooooch PV]

Jojo <- Russ-K ad. Jojo is already filled with great-looking effeminate guys (Looking strangely at you now, Daim), so why not have them sell some nice Russ-K clothes? The original has invited so many anime fans to draw their favourite characters dancing in such fashion, but in the end this Jojo one is my top due to its detail. You might wanna check out my other biased favourite One Piece ver. or the challenging-to-draw-female-hair Higurashi ver. [Nanikeidemonai ad]

A little omake:

Hatsune Miku <- Powerpuff Girls. Looks like the three girls weren’t the only ones who received the power rings. Kaito and Meiko received theirs as well. Kaito… in a skirt…. oh gawd… I’m too scared to put that video here. Check it out at your own risk, don’t say I didn’t warn ya. [Powerpuff Girls transformation scenes]