January1991 Pt. 2 Anime Hasshin.

   Anime Hasshin

 “The Rose” ( 4TH. ANNIVERSARY ISSUE)  the Newsletter of Anime Hasshin number 25 (January 1991, 22 pages). Editor Lorraine Savage 

And what follows is a brief overview;  

SPECIAL FEATURES

Project A-ko 4, Iczer-3, New Miyazaki & Rumic World, Gunhed, Bubblegum Crisis, Gundam books

More details to follow....

November 1990 Pt.5 Anime Hasshin

  Anime Hasshin

 “The Rose” the Newsletter of Anime Hasshin number 24 (November 1990, 22 pages), and what follows is a brief overview;  

SPECIAL FEATURES

Samurai Troopers -African Travelogue,  Little Norse Prince, Chibi Maruko-chan, Lensman, Mangajin Magazine review, anime magazines.

Iczer One

by Cameron Calkins.

EDITOR'S NOTES

by Lorraine Savage.

EDITOR'S NOTES

by Lorraine Savage.

NEWS

NEWS

NEWS

CARL MACEK AT SAN DIEGO COMIC CON

by Lorraine Savage.

CARL MACEK AT SAN DIEGO COMIC CON

by Lorraine Savage.

REVIEW

Lensman (English dubbed moive)

by Alec Orrock

APAs, CLUBS, MAGAZINE, CONVENTIONS, MISC.

CLASSIFIEDS, PERSONALS, MERCHANDISE.

ART CONTRIBUTORS

Chip Brill, Cameron Calkins, Gene Chin, Robert DeJesus,

Dan Kellaway, jack Nelson, Diego Paroni,Mike Pennock,

Dennis Richards, Widya Santoso, Eric Thornburgh, Curis Tom, Nicole Zantt.

September 1990 Pt.4 Anime Hasshin

 “The Rose” the Newsletter of Anime Hasshin number 23, and what follows is a brief overview,  Special Features 
Nadia's Mysterious Ocean [aka Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water],
Lehend of Syrius, Shuna's Journey, Interview with Toren Smith (studio Proteus) Part 2, AnimEigo, Gundam book review.

What arrived next by post from the USA was my membership Newsletter of Anime Hasshin “The Rose”.

Cover  artist Dennis Richards

Special Features 

Nadia's Mysterious Ocean [aka Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water],

Lehend of Syrius, Shuna's Journey, Interview with Toren Smith (studio Proteus) Part 2, AnimEigo, Gundam book review.

 Editor's notes by Lorraine Savage.

 Editor's notes by Lorraine Savage.

Part two of the Toren Smith interview by Lorraine Savage.

 NEWS, Comics, OVAs, Series, Laser Disks.

 Misc Movie News, Misc News,

Club News.

 CONVENTION REPORT;

PROJECT A-KON '90,

SAN DIEGO COMICON (August 2-5 1990).

SAN DIEGO COMICON (August 2-5 1990) 

 Fanzine Reviews.

  Fanzine Reviews.

Clubs, Fanzines, Conventions, Merchandise.

 Computer Bulletin Boards,

Miscellaneous, Classifieds. 

Members List.

[I am still in touch with Pen-Pals, 2 in England and 1 from Italy].

July 1990 Pt.5 Anime Hasshin

Anime Hasshin's 'The Rose' Volume 4 No.22 Published Bimonthly by Anime Hasshin. 20 pages $2.50 (6 for $12) Editor Lorraine Savage.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Interview with Toren Smith (Studio Proteus),

Boah,

Horobi,

Orange Road,

Megazone 23 & Mellowlink songs,

anime in Britain

Published Bimonthly, so that is roughly 8 weeks between one issue falling from our post-box at home to the next exciting issue (being overseas, you could add a few days to the arrival).

Submissions had to arrive before the 2^nd. Friday of the month (being the odd numbered month) before the next issue, Friday the 8^th. June was this issue's deadline, and September 14^th for the next. In addition to this the post could take 7 Business days, but more likely 2 to 3 weeks for overseas.

[NOTE: That's 80,640 minutes or 1,344 hours or about 56 days = 2 Months. How's that for an Internet speed!]

Front cover art by John Lam

Editor's Notes by Lorraine Savage

Editor's Notes by Lorraine Savage

Anime Hasshin's 'The Rose' was always eagerly awaited, and much loved whenever it arrived through the letterbox. It was a hub of information, and a big part of the Anime & Manga Pen-Pals that corresponded though it, more like a family than just a paper-based network.

 NEWS OVAs and Translated Manga and Anime releases and Anime clubs.

 NEWS OVAs and Translated Manga and Anime releases and Anime clubs.

 Part one of the Toren Smith interview by Lorraine Savage.

Amine in Britain & UK fans meet at Eastcon '90 in Liverpool by
 Carlo Bernhardi 

(One of the very few times that I am in print. 

It truly was exciting times.)

[NOTE:APA stands for Amateur Press Association a compilation of fiction, and at times help guides on art and writing by fans that is put together and printed (Before the World Wide Web, before bulletin boards, and affordable self-publishing, before Blogs) then mailed (posted) out to all those that contributed pages.]

[NOTE: “Endless Road Apa” the new APA for all things animated was started this July (1990), and looked after by Dan Kellaway being the central mailer.]  

[NOTE: Page 20's Personals Ads. featured the UK's Helen McCarthy asking “American anime fans who want British pen pals should write.” She will print your name and address in a British anime zine.]

[NOTE: contents; page 1, Front cover art by John Lam; pages 2-3, Editor's Notes by Lorraine Savage; page 4, Article on BAOH by Dan Durkin; pages 5-6, NEWS OVAs and Translated Manga and Anime releases and Anime clubs; page 7, Part one of the Toren Smith interview by Lorraine Savage; page 8, Comic review on HOROBI by Lester Swint; page 9, Manga review Alien Crash & Lucky Route Runaway by John Ott; page 10, Amine in Britain & UK fans meet at Eastcon '90 in Liverpool by Carlo Bernhardi; page 11, Review of the Orange Road Movie by Tsao Sheng-Te;

page 14, Song Lyrics – translated by Steve Chaney & Maria Mutsuko-Warner; page 15, BOOK Review – Inside the Robot Kingdom by Lorraine Savage; page 16, Mini Synopses – from the Laser Disc Trading Organisation ( ) ; page 17, Game Review – Anime: The Arcade Game by David Moisan; page 18, New Member (10) List & Membership Update (2) list; page 19, List of Fanzines & member's Birthdays; page 20, Classifieds & Personals Ads. And Clubs.]

June 1990 Pt.5 Anime Pen-Pals & Video Game Consoles & Cancer

By June of 1990 the UK Anime Pen-Pal network was growing, most people only knew of 3 to 5 people that they had contacted and this included local friends too, at this time I was corresponding with about 15 or more Anime\Manga fans, all very time consuming for a Dyslexic, even with the support of my Mother using a manual typewriter for typing-up my badly spelt and grammatically incorrect scribbling in English, as well as my health.

From late in 1989 the American Fan club the E.D.C had a list of members and correspondence, and inquiring persons of 8 UK fans and 3 overseas (outside of the USA & Canada), *

You could also find UK Fans via the American Anime & manga Fan Club Anime Hasshin.

The odd UK Pen-Pal that knew about Anime could be found in imported American Robotech comic-books, but when writing a letter to a comic-book publisher overseas it could take up to 2 months before your details appeared in the Pen-Pal section of its comic-book, and another month (if you were lucky) to receive any letters back!

Those Fans that either went to EastCon '90 (UK's Science fiction Convention) or had shown an interest would receive the “Anime contact list” (that was attached to the First News-sheet for Anime Fans in the UK (the proto Anime UK Newsletter) put together by Helen McCarthy, and Steve Kyte this had contact details of 31 UK fans & 7 overseas fans, and was a Hub and a Nexus to many finding the new World of Anime.

On Saturday 23^th. (June) I went to Nottingham, and found a shop that Imported Japanese video game consoles, called 'Supervision Electronics' run by a Mr. Wong, on Mansfield Road, and the two consoles that stood out where the Japanese new SEGA 'Megadrive' that cost £165 to £220, and the compacted Japanese 'PC Engine' that cost £160 (the equivalent of £365 in today's money). These imported Japanese electronics were known as Gray-imports. **

It was I believe that in this shop it was when I first pick up a copy of 'Console ma'zine', produced and edited by Onn Lee. Another NEW frontier running parallel to the underground fan base of Anime and Manga, was of 8-Bit and 16-bit gaming consoles from Japan, for 2 or more players, that's right you got yours friends to come to your house to play games, and in the days when you had NO saves, only Lives, and Credits! There were a few games that came from Manga\Anime that were not all text heavy RPG's one caught my eye it was a 'City Hunter' game for the PC Engine console.

City Hunter

Sometime before the end of June My weekly radiotherapy treatment for Cancer was stopped, as it was not effective enough, and so I was quickly booked in to Hospital from the 8th. to the 13th.of July, for surgery to remove the Cancer from my tongue, I was just 23 years old, and the dogma the the NHS Doctors & Surgeons for talking to their patients was very different in 1990 from today.

My new found interests kept me going at this time (and starting a Local Anime Club), as well as the support from my family and friends, and the Anime pen-pals letters of encouragement.

That was My June of 1990 I remember.....!

*[NOTE: 7 of the 8 UK fans listed in American Anime fan Clubs would find their way on to Helen McCarthy's list of UK Fans.]

**[NOTE:A grey import is equipment that has been supplied by a manufacturer in a different part of the world, that ends up being sold on to you in the UK. The key point is that the manufacturer has sold it into a different (not UK or EU) geographic market, and someone else is then importing it into the UK. Different power supplies and fittings\plugs, will be an issue, as well as No manufacturer warranty, but you do get the new technology months or years ahead of the normal UK market, and sometimes the equipment\technology was never exported outside of the original manufacturer's country (Japanese 'PC Engine' games console\s).]

[NOTE: After 27 years (1990 -2017) have gone bye, hoarding letters and Zines does help fill in the gaps in my memory.]

Post 77 American Fandom

And now another break from the chronology of the past.

I thought you would all like to know that with a road-trip up to Sheffield Arena on Saturday 13^th. Of August 2016 I attended the “FILM & COMIC CON Sheffield” run by Showmasters, just on the off chance of picking up some old Translated manga from the 80's and 90's (they are in the same format & style as any American imported comic-books, not like modern Manga that is in the Diary format).!

Out of the six or so stalls that sold manly DC & MARVEL comic-books, one would have ten random issues of manga, and one of those was now to replace a lost comic-book that many a UK Anime and Manga fan would have read back in 1989, if remembering it for its 'Letters Page'.

Appleseed

Book3 Volume 2, September,1989

American Appleseed Cover painting by Adam Warren

American Appleseed Logo designed by Tom Orzechowski

Editor Fred Burke

Editor-in-Chief Catherine Yronode

Publisher Dean Mullaney

English translation by Studio Proteus

The Letters Page.

For what I am so thankful for is a comic-book fan Dan White writting to the Editor Fred Burke, and that his letter about the cost of Anime (on VHS) was published in the Letters Page.

  

[NOTE: The reply was signed Toren Sez, with the tone of someone who knew the industry in Japan, could this have been Toren Smith founder of Studio Proteus and supporter of Comic-Con giving his insight?]

[NOTE: These two American Anime Fan Clubs (Earth Defence Command, Anime Hasshin) would be an early part of my own Nexus into a wider Fandom, linking me with other Fans in the UK and forever changing my life.]

April 1990 Pt.1b UK Anime Fandom.

A look back at EastCon '90. (the Pen-Pals network meets up),

The content that forms this page is not just my own recollections but excerpts from a smattering of surviving letters from fellow UK Anime fans that have survived from around that time both pre and post Convention, and that of my own memories of that time.

As I write, I am finding it difficult to convey the newness and excitement of a medium of animation from Japan that was not just Kids' Saturday morning cartoon shows, that was free to aim at many different age groups for its audience, as well as the masses of genres that live-action film and TV used, it was so astonishing (in modern language it was “F*?%ing Awesome”).

I had only known of others' existence by writing into Canadian & American Magazines, Ads in Comic-books, and JapAnimation fan Clubs, and by joining these Fan Clubs you got to find other fans with new and exciting interest in your country and the more established fans from Canada & America and those outside the US.

By April 1990 I was only in contact with a few (about Six) UK fans by post.

And so for many this was the First meeting of Japanese Animation Fans, that up until that point had only been Pen-pals, or thought that they were alone in their interest!

EastCon '90 (April 14th & 15th 1990) was my first Convention, my first Science Fiction Convention and my first introduction to Con-going. The Registration was the princely sum of £25, and after you registered, a hotel booking form was sent out (by post), you of course were free to choose any accommodation in Liverpool, and the more Anime fans that booked and informed the organisers that it was Anime that drew you to the Con the more time was allotted to the media section and the showing of more Anime (as of mid February it was almost half the entire slot for TV/Films for the weekend of the Convention).

Only months later I would find out that two of the members of Anime Hasshin (an American Anime & manga fan-club) had contributed almost 50 hours to the library of Anime that was shown. At the time I did put out flyers for Anime Hasshin at EastCon 90, and proudly wore the tin badge of Anime Hasshin at the Convention hoping to boost the Fandom and bring people together!

Many fans had sought out Anime (then widely known as Japanimation) from a multitude of interests, the depiction of Power-Armour battle suits and giant robot war machines in science Fiction (fanned from the craze of Robot model kits in the mid1980's), from the heritage of dubbed popular cartoon shows shown in the 70's ('Kimba the white Lion', 'Marine Boy', 'Speed racer'), people wanted to find more.

More fans at that time had a keen interest in Japanese culture even their Business practises and acumen, as well as their social structure and etiquette, their religions, beliefs of Shinto and Buddhism and how they fitted in to daily life, the Japanese school system which helped to produce such a high national literary rate, and a few of us were transfixed with the fascination of the Samurai and the historical period of the Shogunate! Dipping in to Japanese popular culture you could not fail to notice that Manga was every where, and read by Children, Teenagers, and Adults alike!

NOTE: Con booklet, and paperwork provided by P. Davison (Feb 2021).

NOTE: Con booklet articles written by Helen McCarthy, Harry Payne, and information by EastCon committee members, Anime (robots) Artworks by Steve Kyte.