Caged Devotion

All you who love stories, gather round...

Song: "Prisoner of Love" by Utada Hikaru
Lyrics: animelyrics & metrolyrics (also in video)
Theme: Rue/Mytho, Rue's POV
Spoilers: Yes
Source: animemusicvideos  (note: better quality video if you watch it in 'preview,' if you have an account there)

Review: ;w; Rueeeeee....
*ahem*
This is a very well made video. It... it fits with Rue, so well, so... practically perfectly! The music is a steady beat that I can see her dancing to (metaphorically and not), the words share her heart's fears and strains... It's beautiful.
"Feeling loneliness, being in pain, it's not so bad; I'm just a prisoner of love." Rue deals with this. Every. Day. Especially after Mytho starts regaining his heart. It only gets worse, but she stays. She fights to stay, even though it hurts her. "I've chosen an unforseeably painful path/ and you came to support me." ... I don't even know how to list all the ways this works. There are just so many.
And... and then there's the "Since you came into my life..." and "I've loved you since that day" with little Rue! The parts are beautifully aligned, and so true...
"Don't you ever leave me."
If that doesn't scream "Rue," then I don't know what does. She's had to deal with her 'Father' threatening to abandon her or eat her at every corner, his placid soothings of love only used as a reward system to get her to do what he wants. Mytho's the only one she's been able to count on, consistently, for practically her entire life. And she tries desperately to hang onto him when his emotions start tearing him away.
"Loneliness and Pain/ I thought I could deal with them..."
Those lines, in conjunction with the horror and realization that she can't handle this, but she also can't control it...  And that Mytho is practically beyond her help...! Gah! Heartstrings!
"Stay with me./ Say you love me."
Rue uses those last words, in so many scenarios. But by this point, it's a desperate cry. It's a plea, through tears and grief and agony as she sees him moving beyond her grasp...
And then ending with her dance in the Depths of Despair, thinking on Tutu & Mytho, losing so much... ;_;
Ok, I think it's established that I love this video for its concept. And execution. But I also have to praise the editing work! It's fantastic! The clips always fit together so well, and the transitions are wonderful! Sometimes the blackout-flashes do become a bit much, though. It's a nice theme to repeat throughout with the beat, but there were times when I couldn't quite fit them with much of anything musically, and it almost felt distracting. But the rest of the video and content pretty much made up for it.

Overall Rating: 9/10

HOWL

All you who love stories, gather round...

Song: "Howl" by Florence + The Machine
Lyrics: azlyrics
Theme: Rue/Mytho
Spoilers: Yes

Review: Florence + The Machine is generally an awesome choice for a PT AMV. This video is no exception~
The symbolism of searching for a beating heart plays wonderfully into Rue and Mytho's relationship, although also almost ironically. Blood, chasing, needing... all fantastic thematic overlays. And the constant switching of lyrical matching between Rue and Mytho is really interesting, showing that they both are a part of this overpowering need for each other in their times.
That said, the constant switch also felt a bit confusing at times. Maybe I have a personal bias because I think there are more clips that seem to focus on Rue's POV so I feel like changing that POV should be more obvious or consistent, but I can also see where I might be overanalyzing it. (Perhaps I'm just partial to Rue. XD' )
One thing I cannot simply pass off though is the crazy ambiance/light/glowing. I understand the black and white theme, some flashes or a little glare on occasion for emphasis. But the overwhelming usage of it just gets distracting for me.
Alright, back to a more thematic part. I really like "Be careful of the curse that falls on young lovers/ Starts so soft and sweet and turns them to hunters." The clips used were mostly pertinent, and certainly effective. I would have liked to see a bit more played with that, though, perhaps with Rue's struggles. Which could have happened, if more verses later were used.
That's my final 'mreh' point: this doesn't use the full song! But the creator does acknowledge this and it's actually one of their first longer videos, so I feel I should cut a bit of a break there. despite frustration...
So overall this is a nice video, with a great theme/song choice. I just would have liked it to be longer, and gotten rid of the overarching glare effect.

Overall Rating: 7/10