Blog update 85

Blog update 85 or a retrospective on 2017's work.

I was a little bit distracted ( See Below) with collecting and cataloguing in 2017; cataloguing the Flipped Manga comic-books from 1987 to the early 90's; with some of these replace lost or sold copies that I had at the time, or just to get examples ready for the coming years of blogging (as I thought that this would save time in the long run!). As the UK Anime Fandom and the Retail industry are in their infancy from the early 90's to the mid 90's, my task only gets bigger, as the “Explosion” of Anime takes off, my collection of Retail paraphernalia, and that of early Anime conventions dwarf that of my Japanese Anime magazines (well my NewTypes end after 95).

So to2018 and its depiction of 1990 and 1991, before the Old Guard all gets dementia, and before the new generation of Fans can not avert their eyes from Video clips to find and explore the past.

THANKS for scrolling down this far....

Even from these Thumbnails the cover art leaps out at you!

[The collection of Covers; and Editor's notes; letters page; as well as Adverts of the time will help give insight and put down the chronological facts.]

About this Blog (Post 80)

Working as a part-time Anime Fandom historian, transferring written questionnaires (and trying group interesting data together), scanning Magazines, and manga comic-books, and those few surviving pen-pal letters from the late 80's and early 90's. All to be re-read and correlated chronology, and to see what statements of that time can be used as testimonials, to give a seance of what new and existing time it was, when cartoon were not just kids shows, and Black & White comic-books had a new cinematic feel to them for an older reader.

What tasks I set myself, can of course lead me away from uploading on a regular basis, as I'd hoped to give a month-by-month view of what it was like back in the day.

At times when you get immersed in the past when reading these old letters, and after 25 years or more have gone bye, the temptation to explore the internet to re-connect with old pen-pals does take you to the side once and a while, what stopped me in my tracks was the discovery that a Anime pen-pal had died 18 years ago (1999) on the Isle of Wight at the young age 27, I only had a few letters spanning two years (1990 & 1991) that had survived in my collection, but the overwhelming feelings of loss, of a fellow pioneer, and the time that had already passed bye this was October 2016. I was already struggling with the self-promoting idea of my own part in the spread of Japanese pop culture in the UK entitled Birth of a Fan Club   and an aversion to writing had sunk in.

By December of 2016 my attentions had moved to the information that my job after 11 years was to be made redundant, and later that month my son was admitted to hospital with the discovery of a very serous heart condition. Six months on and I have re-discovered the joy of collecting the past, a few Manga comic-books at a time, scanning, dating and cataloging in the hope of uploading to a future Blog post, or other medium for content.

Now diving back into the past.....

Area88 and Mai the Psychic Girl

Area 88 ran for 42 Biweekly issues (2 per month) from May of 1987 to February 1989.

Mai the Psychic Girl ran for 28 issues Biweekly (2 per month) from May of 1987 to June 1988.

GREY and BAOH

Grey ran for 9 monthly issues from August 1988 to April 1989.

Baoh ran for 8 monthly issues from December 1989 to July 1990.

JUSTY and Appleseed 

Justy ran for 9 Biweekly (2 per month) issues from December 1988 to April 1989.

Appleseed ran to 20 issues from December 1988 to November 1991, 4 books each had 5 parts.

With American imports to the UK those smaller complete runs of 8 to 9 issues could be easily missed, or even later forgotten about.

About this Blog (post 76)

Much of my free time has been spent in the last few months taking photos and scanning Pen-Pal letters, Fanzines and manga (sometimes stretching from '90 to '92 or even taking the Chronology further in to the future from the past) to record what is left of my collection of mainly 80's and 90's Anime and manga memorabilia, as well as adding to them for cataloguing. I still hope that by tackling the past on a month by month basis an over-all picture will emerge from my observations and recollections, and from the written word.

Blog updates as follows

A small piece of information regarding Convention Video room listings has come to light.

Update to Con Video room 

More information on Robotech in the England has been pieced together.

Update to ROBOTECH 

Finding the lost manga of BAOH

 Update on Manga of Baoh

 

The May of 1990 onwards was when I was having treatment for Cancer of the tongue, both Radiotherapy and later surgery and is to this day difficult to write about, and think about that time of my life.

My continued scanning of private Anime Pen-Pal letters (many of whom I have lost touch with over these past 20 to 25 years - writting as of August 2016), to help track how events unfolded in the infancy of the UK's Anime & Manga Fandom has again taken up my time in more ways than one. As I am transported back in time rereading them, I am once again immerse the excitement, hope, and discovery of like-minded people exploring what Japanese animation had to offer, making it all so fresh in my mind 26 years later!

Spending snippets of time when I can, to use the World Wide Web and the Internet to try and reconnect with old friends, I had not prepared myself for the possibility of them no longer being alive. This has taken me aback, and emotional and personal feelings have come forth and slowed my progress in typing this record of the early days of the Fandom as I reflect this.

 You may also see this link from time to time, these pages will be under construction, but accessible !

Birth of a Fan Club  

May 1990 Pt.2b Special Correspondence

By the end of May, once again a thrust for knowledge, and the feeling to connect with a force that for Me drove part of Anime & Manga Fandom especially from over here in England (UK), it was a delight to receive a letter from 'Studio Proteus' sign by Toren Smith.

For those of a later generation of Fans Toren Smith of 'Studio Proteus' scouted Manga in Japan for a north American English speaking audience back in the 80's and 90's, His company translated the Manga and then in conjugation with comic-book publishers & distributors brought them to a wider western market. Companies like 'Dark Horse', 'Eclipse Comics', and 'Viz International'

Having someone hand pick a wide selection of Manga gave us the mark to set other manga by, and by chance or design many of them were made in to Anime OVAs and films too (greatly helped viewing all those raw Un-subtitled Japanimations that we all had acquired!

 

[NOTE: 'The Venus Wars' was published from April 1991 – May 1992 The Venus Wars issues 1 – 14 and The Venus Wars II 1 – 15 from June 1992 to August 1993.]

[NOTE: 'Lost Continent' was published I believe from September 1991 over to May 1992 - Lost Continent #1-6 , but I would need copies of these comic-books\manga to prove these dates.]

[NOTE: 'Dirty pair – A Plague of Angels' was published was published I believe trimonthly from August 1990 to August 1991 Dirty Pair III A Plague of Angels 1-5 but I would need copies of these comic-books\manga to prove these dates.]

[Special Note: Does anyone know of the projects in England that Studio Proteus was involved in?]

Having the power of the Pen has given Me another unique memento that I will always treasure, and even thou I never met him Toren is sorely missed from over this side of the pond.

TorenSmith (April 12, 1960 to March 4, 2013)

May 1990 Pt.2a Special Correspondence

Special Correspondence.

 

It was not my intention to mimic the speed of witch information travelled in the 80's and 90's, with Newsletters, Fanzines, Magazines, and Journals, that only took a few months to make there way across from North America and Canada to the UK (as so much printed martial was Bi-monthly\Trimonthly), it was also the age of Letter writing by post to other Fans and Businesses.

The Blog continues....

Taking the addresses that the Japanese Embassy had given me I must have sent out a couple of Letters, and now years later (about 25 or so) I find to my astonishment a reply from KODANSHA Ltd.

  Not only was this a reply from Japan's big publishing house KODANSHA Ltd, in relation to my inquiries about the animated feature film AKIRA, but a reply from Ken Tsunoda (Associate Producer of the AKIRA Committee).No doubt fuelled by my love of the manga AKIRA by Katsuhiro Otomo.

 

 

Sometimes we make our own unique mementos, with little thought of the future, having at the time only a thrust for knowledge.

[NOTE: May 7^th.1990 “in the near future, you can see the movie AKIRA,” - “in English theather”, it would be London a première January 25^th. 1991 and then the rest of the UK – Edinburgh April 24^th. - 27^th. - May 16^th. - 17^th. Leicester]

[NOTE: That as of 24/05/2016, I have as yet to find more details on Channel 4's ' The Media Show' introduction to Japanese comics and animation in and around June or July of 1990.]

[NOTE: I did get the VHS video of the 'AKIRA Production Report' from the American distributor of the AKIRA movie STREANLINE PICTURES, but that is for another time.]

Letter from a blogger

Dear readers, 

You may be forgiven in thinking that I had disregarded my work on this personal journey in to the World of the UK's Anime & Manga Fandom, but with support from Jonathan Clements, and Helen McCarthy, the word got out about Andrew Osmond's article featured on the Anime News Network (ANN), of those nostalgic days of knowing what Anime (then called “Japanimation”) was back in the 80's, to finding like-minded Anime fans in the early 90's.

That was back in December 2014, and January 2015 when I had hoped many more people had found this on-going trip down memory-lane worth a read (it only takes five or six hours to read the entire blog – so far as one reader has comments have suggested).

Taking advantage of this new public relation role did take time away from blogging, that has spurred me on to organise my collection of Anime and Manga memorabilia, in an attempt to put as much of it in chronological order and try my best to immerse you the reader in the days before the World Wide Web was so wildly accessible with so much information, and social media bringing Fans together!

Some Anime Magazine & Fanzines I've yet to write about!!

I have even time off from my job and taken the opportunity to meet with some of those “movers 'n' shakers” that still remember those times and that contributed so much – I drove up North to speak with the folks at the UK's oldest retail shop that supported the Anime & Manga Fandom “The Sheffield Space Centre”, and that to this day they still attend conventions, and they have a wide selection of ephemera. [ I did some old fashioned note taking for a future timeline of this blog. - “Anime Day'91”]

Just a few metal & enamal Pins from the old days! THANKS Sheffield Space Centre.

It has also been a time to organise those early fan made videos, that so many have been lost.

From hours of VHS video tapes to get just a few minutes, will also take time away from the historical part of my blog. With the idea of returning those NTSC VHS tapes back to America for their custodians of Anime Fandom!

I've even taken so time to source some old Anime from the 90's on DVD, as wel as a few old translated manga from the old days too!

I have also spent time supporting Anime Societies in the East Midlands (here in the UK), getting to know the younger Anime fans, and I've supported (in my own way) those in the UK promoting Anime through retail releases of DVDs & Blue-rays, and those who have put pen to paper in producing informative books.

It is now my hope that from reviews and links to this blog that someone can now create factual entries in wikipedia to help preserve this history of Manga and Anime in UK's shops, and Fan run Conventions.

Over the coming years I hope you will peace together the many influences that pushed forward the growth of the UK's Anime and Manga Fandom, and a retail industry that took seed in the early 90's!

Sometime this all seems like an overwhelming task for a one-man-band such as myself!

It's all keeping me on-track......

[can you really blog about your own blog? Another link.]