Anime AMV pioneer James Kaposztas has passed away

The world’s first anime AMV creator James Kaposztas has passed away, a friend and colleague has confirmed.

Kaposztas first created an AMV in 1982, reports Kotaku. Using The Beatles’ ‘All You Need Is Love,’ Kaposztas hooked up two VCR machines (a videocassette recorder) to sync together scenes from sci-fi anime Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato. The creator was 21 years old when he made his first AMV and would eventually begin to upload them to a YouTube channel.

Later, Kaposztas would go on to work for Otakorp - the company behind the hugely popular Otakon anime and video game convention. At the time of his death, Kaposztas had been with the company for 22 years during which time, he’d worked in video operations, technical operations, and convention operations.

The news of Kaposztas death was announced by Michael Pinto, the co-founder of Anime.com Inc. In a tweet, Pinto said, “To my old anime fandom friend, may you rest in peace James Kaposztas. Known as ‘Jim’ to his friends, he created the first anime themed music video using nothing but second hand VHS footage. Beloved by friends, Jim played a key role in supporting early anime fandom events in NYC and Philly, was an early cosplayer who dressed as Captain Avatar from Star Blazers, and would later be involved with Otakon.”

He added, “What made me proud of Jim was that he took his love of anime and turned it into a professional career as a video editor for over two decades.” A cause of death has not been given at the time of writing. GAMINGbible extends its condolences to James Kaposztas friends and family.