Post 134 Blog hiatus

 Dear readers, apologies for the hiatus of more than 13 months...

This UK Manga and Anime Fandom Blog that is charting my time from the mid to late 80's to the early 90's when the few catered a whole bunch more. Thus a network of Pen-Pals, newsletters, fanzines, and Fan clubs, and magazines came into being.

If you life long enough sooner or later bad things happen! After I had begun to meet people face to face, who knew of Anime, and Manga Comic books, or were just being introduced to these mediums and how they differ from Western Animation and Comic books, I was diagnosed with Cancer of the tongue in May of 1990, having survived weeks Radiotherapy treatment to then have some of my tongue cut out, I threw myself into Promoting Anime and Manga, and Japanese culture, and putting like minded people in touch with each other, all from the ground up, would come a Fan Club and its Club-zine (Anime Kyo UK; AKN Anime Kyo News), all the while keeping my love of the hobby.

Leap forward to 2013 when I started this blog, and then the year 2020 where again I was Diagnosed with Cancer, this time of the Larynx, treatment was started in January of 2021 With Chemotherapy, and Radiotherapy combined (all within the Changed World of COVID19's Global pandemic), this did not shrink the Cancer enough when the Hospital next was able to look at the treatment's effect, and now it is inoperable!

I am taking a drug therapy every six weeks for as long as it can hold the Cancer at bay, but it is still terminal.

The Time I have left, has been pulled to publish and upload what I, and friends can archive in print, and online, as a record of those early days.

A BIG THANK YOU

I would like to THANK; Andrew Osmond, and Gemma Cox for their support in bringing to life the Record of the UK's very first Anime Convention that took place in Sheffield (Yorkshire, England) on March of 1991 “ANIME DAY”, a one day convention.

[see issue 206 of NEO Magazine (February\March 2021)]

Our tribute to 30 years of Fan Celebrations.

I would like to THANK Martin Brown, for not only giving a home to my Anime on VHS tapes, but his labour and time in creating and maintaining a YouTube channel that is growing, and forever has my likeness from when I was in my early 20's promoting Anime in the UK.

[ Anime Nostalgia Archive UK ]

from July 2021 you can now see 

"Anime Kyo UK Introduction Video"

Now we approach March 2022, and once again there is a 30^th. Anniversary of “ANIME DAY 2”, the UK's first weekend Anime Convention.

And let's see what the future brings....

May 1990 Pt.6 Nippon Shuppan Hanbai USA INC

Having just found paperwork (sorry hard copies) from Nippon Shuppan Hanbai USA INC .(Books Nippan) buried among reams of correspondence in a few tightly packed surviving boxes, finding more fragments from May 1990 for you the reader to ponder over.

It was about this time I joined the B.N.A.F.C. (Books Nippan Animation Fan Club) that gave you discounts on what the company was selling [much like Manga video did in the UK later in the 90's].

My Membership of Books Nippan Animation Fan Club Paid $12 (invoice 04.18/1990) - Membership Card 05/90 to 06/91.

I had seen their advertisement in April's issue of 'Protoculture Addicts' fanzine of their subtitled Japanese Animation on VHS 'GUNBUSTER Vol. 1' and ' DANGAIOH' a first for Anime to the direct-to-home American market, to be released January 1990 by U.S. Renditions. 

 

[NOTE: According the internet (post 2000) GUNBUSTER Vol. 1 was released in March 1990. But I can not confirm this.]

U.S. Renditions was the Special Projects Division of Books Nippan, the American branch of Nippon Shuppan Hanbai, the only UK connection being the shop in London 'Books Nippon' that I knew of at the time.

 The B.N.A.F.C. Had a leap in membership from about 1000 to 4000 members in just a short space of time, that triggered a re-organisation of their mail-ordering department to harmonise to meet the new demand for goods. 

Looking at BOOKS NIPPAN's Newsletter #8 - (copyright Shinji Aramaki IDOL/ARTMIC 1985) Previous newsletters were originally to come out Yearly. Can you imagine waiting 12 months or more for News and feedback from a distributor of Anime, that's breaking into a new market!?

[NOTE: U.S. Renditions Update “Work continues on the new English subtitled videos for 1991. The original U.S. Renditions production team along with new translators Toshfumi Yoshida and Trish Ledoux (Editors of ANIMAG Magazine) are currently (late 1990\early 1991) projecting an April 1991 release for 'GUNBUSTER Vol. 2', and APPLESEED, GUNBUSTER Vol. 2 which contains episodes 3 & 4 will also have the “Science Classroom II” which was cut out of 'GUNBUSTER Vol. 1' due to length of time considerations.]

  [NOTE: Sometime during June or July will be the Release of 'GUNBUSTER Vol. 3 and Black Magic M-66. ( There are currently other projects being discussed for FALL 1991 release.).]