SelectYour characters
Participants must choose their character who will represent them during the competition.Battle Arena Contest
Teams of 2Solo AMVs
Battle Arena Contest
Group stage& Top 16
Battle Arena Contest
All information
General summaryBattle Arena is a team-based AMV competition where participants register in teams of two editors. Unlike previous editions, each editor creates a solo AMV rather than a collaborative video. The contest runs from Wednesday, March 04, 2026 at 8:00 PM (GMT+1, Paris) to Sunday, March 08, 2026 at 11:59 PM (GMT+1, Paris); there can be a deadline extension that will be confirmed on Saturday. The required songs are revealed at the start of the event, and each editor must produce a solo video with a minimum duration of 1:30 minutes.
Once all videos are submitted, teams are randomly sorted into groups and evaluated by the judges. This group stage determines which teams qualify for the Top 16 bracket. Qualified teams then advance to a single-elimination bracket tournament. All videos must remain unlisted during the group phase. Participants not selected for the Top 16 bracket may go public once group selections are announced. Selected participants must wait until bracket Round 1 results are officially revealed.
Registration and participationAnyone may participate as long as they form a team of two editors. Each team member must submit one individual AMV that complies with the technical and content rules of the competition. A team is considered complete only when both videos are submitted, except in specific cases covered by the teammate dropout rule. Once submitted, videos must remain unlisted during the group phase. Participants not selected for the Top 16 bracket may go public once group selections are announced. Selected participants must wait until bracket Round 1 results before making it public.
Technical rules and restrictionsParticipants must use one of the mandatory songs provided at the start of the competition. Only animated footage is allowed. Full 3D productions and original animations are not accepted. Any content that is not permitted on YouTube, including explicit sexual content, sexual assault scenes, or extreme shock imagery, is strictly forbidden and may result in disqualification.
Pre-editing, the use of pre-made graphic packages, or the reuse of scenes taken from other AMVs is not allowed. Animated cinematics from existing works, such as series or officially released animated shorts, are permitted.
To meet technical requirements, videos must be encoded using the H264 or H265 video codec and MP3, AAC, FLAC, or WAV for audio. Accepted container formats are MP4, MKV, AVI, or MOV. The maximum file size is 700 MB, and the minimum video duration is 1:30 minutes. Participants should avoid TV logos, visible subtitles, aliasing, or any elements that could negatively impact the quality or ranking of their AMV.
The music categories are displayed as suggestions only — participants are free to use any mandatory song for any category. However, both teammates cannot use the same song, except in the case of regrouped teams in the Last Chance group.
Tournament progressionAfter all submissions are validated, teams are randomly sorted into groups for the qualification phase. All groups are judged exclusively by the official jury. Based on the judges' rankings, the top-performing teams across all groups will qualify for the Top 16 bracket stage.
Qualified teams advance to a Top 16 single-elimination bracket. Matchups are determined by the organizers, and each round is judged by the official jury until a final match determines the winning team of the Battle Arena.
Teammate dropout guidelinesIf one member of a team fails to submit their video or withdraws from the competition, the remaining editor may still participate in the Last Chance Group provided their solo AMV is completed and submitted on time. All eligible solo submissions are placed into a separate group and evaluated by the judges. From this group, the top four videos will be selected and combined to form two teams that advance to the Top 16 bracket. Team pairings for these qualified entries are decided by the organizers. This is the only exception allowing incomplete teams to reach the bracket stage.
Video exclusivityAll submitted AMVs must remain unlisted during the group phase. Once group selections are announced, participants who did not qualify for the Top 16 bracket are allowed to upload and share their videos publicly. Videos from qualified Top 16 participants must remain unlisted until after the results of the bracket Round 1 are revealed. Any public sharing before the allowed stage may result in penalties or disqualification.
Participants are allowed to use any official IC logos provided below for download in their videos, thumbnails, or promotional material, as long as they respect the exclusivity rules outlined above.
ST DollarsST Dollars are the tournament's virtual currency. They are available to all participants who successfully finish and submit a video. After the Iron Chef period ends, the shop opens and eligible participants can use their ST Dollars to purchase gifts. Each participant may obtain a maximum of two gifts from the shop. Participants who completed a video also gain access to the betting page, where they can earn additional ST Dollars through three types of bets:
Group phase: before the bracket is revealed, participants can bet on which teams they think will be selected for the Top 16 bracket.
Tournament winner bet: participants can bet on which team they think will win the entire tournament. This bet can only be placed before and during bracket Round 1.
Bracket bets: before each bracket round, participants can bet on the AMVs they believe will win. Multiple bets can be placed within the same bracket.
ST Dollars earned through betting can only be used in the shop once it opens.
Example: A bet of 10 ST Dollars × 1.5 odds = 15 ST Dollars (if the AMV wins).
The judgesThe judges for the tournament will be announced at a later date. They will evaluate all AMVs using a detailed and structured scoring system designed to ensure fair and transparent judging throughout the competition. Judges' decisions are final.
Looking for a partner?Participants who do not yet have a teammate are encouraged to join the Soul's Team Discord server. The #looking-for-partner channel is dedicated to helping editors connect, discuss ideas, and form teams for the competition.
Stay connectedRegistration for the Battle Arena is handled exclusively through this website. For real-time updates, announcements, and community discussion, participants are encouraged to join the Soul's Team Discord server. Bracket results and major tournament milestones will be announced during live streams on the official Soul's Team YouTube channel, allowing viewers to follow the competition live.
