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Sunday 28 September 2014

April 1990 Pt.2 Anime V magazine.

April was still with us, and the postman delivered on time. First to drop though the letterbox was 'Anime V' (New Video Magazine.). It was at a time when Japanese Animators could shine, Anime was not bound by a 20 minute kids show on TV networks, new outlets had emerged, the Video Rental market mostly VHS video tapes, and the collectors market dominated by the LaserDisc (LD). 
 
This freedom gave rise to a plethora of magazines devoted to this home entertainment market (sadly some publishing runs did not last), with the OAV (Original Animation Video) or sometimes referred to as OVA ( Original Video Animation). Animation studios staked their reputation on original stories, and tested the water with a transfer from a manga or a popular novella, but not all OVAs came out on all of these formats.

[Note: Other formats such as S-VHS, VHD (Video High Density a laserdisc technology from JVC) .] 

The example are used to briefly show you the contents and style in this short pictorial introduction of the Japanese Anime Magazine Anime V' (New Video Magazine.)

 'Anime V' (New Video Magazine.), First Published in June 1985 by Gakken Co., Ltd. (学習研究社 ) Consisting of 140 pages (including the front & back covers), #4 April 1990 (Vol. 52).

 The first few pages featured are about  the OVA 'Hades Project Zeorymer'.

[Note: Anime V started its monthly print on September 1986 with Volume 9. Gakken also published the monthly Anime magazine Animedia. You can see the publisher's name on the spine of the magazines 学習研究社©.]
Well it's the Contents page!

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OVA No. 7 of Bubblegum Crisis - "Double Vision"

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 OVA 'Sol Bianca'

OVA  'Blue Sonnet'  & ?

The short story  'Takegami'  Pages 39-45


 OVA Takegami: Guardian of Darkness

OVA 1-4 Hades Project Zeorymer
 OVA 1-4 Hades Project Zeorymer
OVA 1-4 Hades Project Zeorymer
OVA 1-4 Hades Project Zeorymer

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 "New Items"
 
 "New Items"

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Gdleen OVA

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 First OVA of 'Sol Bianca' & 'Hi-Speed Jecy' a little know OVA series, both in my TOP 5.

 Fan Artwork.

 OVA Of 'What's Mickael?' insightful & Funny about cats and people.

 A sealed 8 page section at the back of 'Anime V' the would belong on the top shelf.

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 The one the only 'Devilman' by Go Nagai.

I hope that this disply gives a fare overview of what 'Anime V' was all about.
Skip Blog and go to Anime V - May 1990

Sunday 7 September 2014

April 1990 Pt.1e UK Anime Fandom.

 Post Con thoughts...

To get a feel of emotions that poured out from people with this newly discovered sleeping giant called Anime that many of us had grown-up with and had no idea of it's true origins! What follows are snippets from letters from my fellow UK Anime fans that I met at the Convention and corresponded with prier to the Convention.
To this day they can still invoke memories of how it felt, like a time wonderment to so many of us.

Paul Davison wrote on the 19th. of April -

“had a great time without getting drunk, but days later still had a headache from lack of sleep”

“It was worth it!”, “And I'd do it again next week!”

“I'm going to take your advice and write to everyone and everything and hope I get replies.”

“more than ever I'm going to try and promote Anime and Anime based games in our area. I'm going to make a poster asking for Anime and Manga fans to contact me (if only for a chat, it's a start.).”

“seeing 'Macross: Do you remember Love' just blew my mind, and brought home to me what is my favourite Anime”

“Its been good to find someone else who likes the same thing and I hope some kind of Organisation can be set-up in Britain soon for the likes of you and me”

R. Poffley wrote in April 1990.

“looking back at EastCon there were quite a few people at EastCon who were interested in Anime there but, as you say most had been fans for a while and not many “new” fans at all.”

“Helen had been approached to do an Anime Programme for the WorldCon in the Netherlands in August.”

“I think that the Anime programme was one of the better attended events over the convention and that bodes well for Anime in this Country.”


[Note: The get together on the Sunday was all about making friends and exchanging bits of information, I was even able to introduced Paul to Ashley, even though Paul had read Mektek.]




[Note: Jim Swallow wrote to Jay Felton telling her that EastCon'90 had about 700 attendees. - This was the big national Science Fiction for the UK]


[Amendment\update  "there were about 700 attendees, although the official convention membership count is on record, though without supporting sources, as 1,100 (Anon. n.d. “Eastercon”). The largest audience for the video screening room was considerably in excess of the fire limit of 450; it was usually about a third to half full, but some audiences were in single figures. As I recall, three screenings packed the room: Akira (Katsuhiro Ōtomo, 1988), Urotsukidōji (Wandering Kid, Hideki Takayama, 1989) and Robot Carnival (Katsuhiro Ōtomo et al., 1987). 
The majority of attendees were probably novelty-seekers, who made no further attempt to engage with Japanese animation after the event." ( McCarthy - Re-creating Anime History: The Development of British Anime Fandom and the Developing Comprehension of Anime History as a Transnational Phenomenon. posted on July 2019 wrote about the "Distortion of the historical record". Facebook re-post 5th March 2020 ]   



[NOTE: “that many of us had grown-up with and had no idea of it's true origins!” I was lucky enough to live in Australia from the late 60's to the late 70's and as a kid I loved cartoons, and I remembered seeing 'Kimba the White Lion', 'Speed Racer', 'Marine Boy' , and 'The Amazing 3', so from this early age Japanese animation styles were imprinted on me. Later I lived in Spain for a whole year and was introduced to such cartoons like 'Mazinger Z', 'Battle of the Planets' more imprints.]


[NOTE: I will endeavour to contact as many attendees for their recollections of that day as I can.]


Helen McCarthy – Re-creating Anime History: The Development of British Anime Fandom and the Developing Comprehension of Anime History as a Transnational Phenomenon.





To be continued.......... When more comes to light!

Monday 1 September 2014

April 1990 Pt.1d UK Anime Fandom.

For the first time, new fans and Pen-Pals alike gathered, even the 'Zentraedi' spies (Ian, Keith & Paul Davison) where in attendance. People so infused with a passion for Japanese Animation to get the recognition that Anime was a new frontier worth exploring!

I can not after all this time (24 years have passed by) remember all those who where there at the meeting, only a few stick in my mind, luckily some of my letters from fellow UK Anime fans that have survived to this day to fill the gaps in my memory.

EASTCON '90 meeting attendees:-

Ashley (editor of Mektek), Carlo Bernhardi (Myself), Paul Davison, Ian (friend of Paul Davison), Keith (friend of Paul Davison), Helen McCarthy, Richard Poffley, and Jim Swallow (James Swallow).
Helen McCarthy would like to add; Peter J. Evans, Peter Evans, Harry Payne, Wil Overton, David Rowe, and Jonathan Weeks, to the list of attendees.



[NOTE: I will endeavour to contact as many attendees for their recollections of that day as I can.]

Jonathan Weeks Wrote "I never attended any Eastercons. My first contact with fandom was Animeday (1991)" (Posted on FB messenger march 2020).



DATE to be confirmed June\July 1990 (as Helen's first house meeting is Saturday 21st. July)

Post EasterCon'90 Contact news-sheet, the Proto-AnimeUK Newsletter. added in honor of the up and coming 30th Anniversary of the first Gathering of UK Anime Fans in April  of 1990 ]



What follows is passages from the Post EasterCon'90 Contact news-sheet (from Helen McCarthy & Steve Kyte), I hope these last few Blog pages have given you all an insight into what it was like and how it all started.

KONNICHIWA!

Japanese for "hello, how are you," it seems a good way to start.

You're getting this because you were at the EASTCON 90 bar meeting or else have written to me to express an interest in Anime Fandom in the UK, and since it didn't really exist before EASTCON you're part of the setup crew!

It was nice to meet so many Anime enthusiasts at the con and I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to talk more to everyone running most of a programme stream plus the Art Show is a silly thing to do and doesn't leave you time for much else but hope to remedy this in the next few months. As I said at the con.

I think the 'best way we can ensure the wider circulation of Anime tapes and easier contact between fans is to do a newsletter and fanzine which will at least provide a point of contact to start with, and to try and set up viewing sessions in as many areas as possible.

Please get in touch with. others on the attached list and please set up local showings if you can.
Let us have any Information for future issues of the news-sheet - addresses~. contacts, anything you think would be of interest to other fans.


And now for the news from ANIME UK.....

Don't forget to ask the organisers of any convention you are Interested in if they would run an Anime showing, and put them :n touch with me if they're interested."

[NOTE: Helen & Steve included an open house for viewings, as many of us did in those days. People all huddled around a small TV in a front-room or Bed-room.]


SATURDAY 21ST JULY - 2 p.m. NIGHT ON THE GALACTIC RAILROAD; PATLABOR; other items. Mostly in Japanese.

SUNDAY 5TH AUGUST - 2 p.m. BUBBLEGUM CRISIS: THE FIVE STAR STORIES, other items. Mostly in Japanese.

SATURDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER - 2 p.m. Programme TBA depending what we get in the interim.

We have only a certain amount of oxygen in the living-room so we CAN'T take more than ten people per showing. If you want to come please phone or write right away and book your airspace!

ANYONE ELSE WHO CAN HOLD SHOWINGS PLEASE LET ME KNOW SO I CAN PUBLISH DETAILS.

PLEASE WRITE on anything anime related - this newsletter needs your input!!!!!!!

[There was a contact List including 27 UK individuals...]




These 27 individuals are by no means the only Anime Fans known in the UK as of June 1990, just those that were in contact with Helen McCarthy, nor is it a complete list of  Anime Fan attendees at Easter Con '90, as far as I know.
[NOTE: I will endeavour to contact as many attendees for their recollections of that day as I can.]



To be continued..........Post Con thoughts...