May 1990 Pt.3 Anime Hasshin

What next arrived by post was “The Rose” the Newsletter of Anime Hasshin number 21, and what follows is a brief overview, with Special Features – Hayao Miyazaki spotlight & Nausicaa, Interview With Rob Gibson (writer of the Harlock comic-books), Minky Momo, A Winter's Tale, Patabour, Lupin III, Totoro – Kiki & Eriko Songs.

Front cover: “Totoro, Nausicaa & friends” Fan-Art by Kevin O'Connell

'Editorial' Lorraine Savage reports on the benefits of money saved by using bulk mail in the US, “as this issue is a whopping 22 pages long!” Canadian membership & renewal prices were raised by $2 to cover the postage of the heaver issues of “The Rose” as the bulk mail did not apply to Canada, however back issues and synopsis packs remain the same. Two more synopsis packs have been added, and a NEW Flyer “that you may pas around to tell your friends about us”.

Lorraine adds “Miyazaki fans should enjoy this issue, but we do have a lot of other good stuff besides.”, and that there seems to be a renewed interest in starting up a NEW APA (Amateur Press Association).

Lorraine also reports on the sightings of the AKIRA movie in: Tulsa OK; Lakewood & Columbus OH; West Los Angeles CA; Pittsburgh PA; Autin TX (but at the time of writing – had no news as to its next schedule, and that it hasn't reached New England). The club's bulk order of 'Madox-01' arrived very quickly “My cheers to AnimEgo.”, and She noted the standing ovation for musician\writer Kitaro who wrote the music for 'Queen Millenia' while in New England as part of his World tour - “His breath-taking drum piece shook the house”.

The company 'General Products' that a few of Anime Hasshin members had dealt with, voiced their concerns and complaints.

Lorraine Savage would “like to meet a lot of you” as she attends the Conventions in Indianapolis (ConJunction) in June, and in August at the San Diego Comic Con.

In the NEWS section I see an interesting statistic from Eclipse Comics - Eclipse reports that its typical readership is 18 to 24 years of age, but its readers of Japanese comics in translation are 15 to 20 years old.

On Page 4 you will find that the Interview With Rob Gibson (writer of the Harlock comic-books) was by Lorraine Savage who gives us an insight in to an American adaptation of a well loved Anime

As part of Page 5 David Merrill writes about Lupin III's origins “The Exploits of Arsene Lupin” from the French stories of the Victorian age.

On Page 8, the two paged article By John Ott on 'The Return of Nausicaa' was very well done, adding the technical notes about how the Manga art work was printed in different sizes affecting its detail and look have you a keen eye when re-reading the Manga.

On Page 10, John Ott provids another two paged article, this time centring on Hayao Miyazaki - Animator, Animated Film Director, and Manga Artist.

Page 12 has an article written by James Troutman entitled “Around in Minky Momo's Dreams” a Magical girl TV show from the mid 80's, with its happy ends for its captivating characters in an action adventure that on occasion has some good social satire & symbolism for a kids TV show.

A Manga Review on Page 13 by Widya Santoso on the Japanese Manga (non-translated) “Winter Story” - Written by Hara Hidenori & Published by Young Sunday (Volumes 1 to 5 – as of May 1990). The story of 3 students and tier time just before getting in to the Universities that they want, and not of their families, as well as dealing with the feeling of friendship and love.

 

On Page 14 we would see an Anime Film review of the 'Patlabor Movie' by Tsao Sheng-Te. Tsao reminds us that in 1989 Hayao Miyazaki's animated feature “Kiki's Delivery Service” was topping the box-office charts and in stark contrast the Science Fiction Movie of Patlabor, “is very different to the OVA in that it is deadly serious.”, and with the character designs by the popular artist Akemi Takeda (Orange Road, Urusei Yatsura). The reviewer notes how much more in-depth and fleshed-out the characters are compared to the OVA series. With a compelling action, a terrific soundtrack, and an excellent (but complicated) story, He Ends by saying “it certainly ranks as one of the best animated features ever done.”

A Manga Review on Page 15 by Kevin O'Connell on the Japanese Manga (non-translated) 'Dragon Half' that was first published in 'Dragon' Japan's popular role-playing game magazine (RPGs that you need Dice and Pen & paper for).

[NOTE: The manga was created by Ryūsuke Mita and serialized from 1988 to 1994. The two episode anime OVA series was adapted from the Manga in 1993.]

A Manga Review on Page 15 by James R. Winchester on the Japanese Manga (non-translated) 'Laughing Salesman'

You will still find Information on other Clubs, Fanzines, Computer Bulletin Boards, APAs (Amateur Press Association) , Classifieds Ads, addding to this will be Personal Ads (were you can ask for Pen-Pals)Conventions, Businesses, mini synopses, Japanese vocabulary lessons. and a Members list. With plenty of Fan Artwork that were all done in a strong Black ink

[Note: A synopsisis a brief summary or a condensed statement of the major points of a subject (be it Anime or Manga in our case) giving a general overall view, without opinion or review.]

[Note: APAs (Amateur Press Association) is a fanzine of sorts featuring fiction, art, and topics of interest, written & distributed between the same 20 or so people, who photocopy their work and then mail it to a CM (Central Mailer) who then on a bi-monthly basis redistributes it]

 Anime Hasshin number 20

Anime Hasshin number 19 

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.]

May 1990 Pt.1 Anime V magazine.

Anime V - New Video Magazine, Published by Gakken Co., Ltd. (学習研究社) Consisting of 140 pages (including the front & back covers), #5 May 1990 (Vol. 53).

Sadly this is the only Anime magazine I still own from May 1990, so lets see what LaserDiscs

and VHS video tapes were in focus at this time, what OVA's were sharp and pleasing to the eye!

This short pictorial introduction is used as an example to briefly show you the contents and style of this Japanese Anime Magazine “Anime V ”, it is not intended as full digital copy, but a historical glimpse.

 The front Cover!

Animation College......

A retrospective on the OVA's of the year before! '89 OAV Best 10. (a A5 matt colour booklet).

 

 Yoroiden Samurai Trooper: Kikôtei densetsu (the first OVA after the TV series had finished in March of 1989), Known to American viewers as Ronin Warriors, is on the right hand-side. Left and to the Top is "Bernard" a  Zeon a mobile suit pilot from the OVA " Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket" - the first Gundam OVA , arguably the best spin-off after the forth Gundam film.

 On the right hand-side the OVA "Aim for the Top!" better know in the West as "Gunbuster" its last volume of episodes 5 & 6 released in July of 1989.

 On the right hand-side the OVA "Hades Project Zeorymer".

 1. AV98-ingram from Patlabor, 2.....? 3. Gunbuster, 4. the "Alex" Gundam RX-78NT-1, 5.....?

Well it's the Contents page!  Figure it out for yourself.

 ?

 ?

 A-ko The VS Battle 1 Gray Side.

The Hakkenden  (THE 八犬伝 Za Hakkenden)

?

The New Items.

The New Items.

The New Items.

 ??

 ?

?

Takegami

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

OVA 'Sol Bianca'

Home entertainment systems. (VCRs)

 LENSMAN – Galactic Patrol (episode 1 on sale 21^st. of April, the next 5 episodes to be released on the 21^st, 1 per month) [On Air Series, not OVAs ]

The two logos that appear are for the distributor “Pony Canyon” - the “PC” & the “paw”.

The 25-episode series aired from October 6, 1984 to August 8, 1985 in Japan – according to online sources?!

OVA 'Sol Bianca' , OVA 'Hi-speed Jecy', Majin Eiyûden Wataru.?

 Fan Art.

?

OAV's - Gall Force, Hades Project Zeorymer, Iczer 3, Dangaio, AD Police.

 

Space battleship YAMATO.

As I can not myself translate the Japanese details of the contents of this magazine, are solely from the few English words and the recognizable animation stills, and illustrations (that suited me just fine back in the 1990's). 

 Anime V April 1990

 

April 1990 Pt.7 Birth of a Fan Club.

With my enthusiasm from meeting people at Easter Con '90 only growing, with it brought forth the idea of an Anime Club, but upon my return from the Easter Convention I was faced with the news that I had a rare Cancer of the tongue (in the days when the radiotherapy suite of my local hospital was in the hospital's converted basement, with what looked like machinery left over from the 'Cold war').

So as to keep my mind totally occupied I decided to form a local Anime and Manga club.

It certainly gave plenty to think about and do.

I was reminded that I was part of the “set-up crew” for the “Anime Fandom in the UK” from the follow-up letter from Steve Ktye & Helen McCarthy after EASTCON '90

A lot of my fleshing-out of ideas on paper have survived (even to this day), as I applied myself to the idea of what the club should all about, and how to spread the word.

I was away from work for more than five months, the gruelling radiotherapy treatment that in the end failed to eradicate the cancer, so I had to under go surgery to cut out one side of my tongue, but all the while Anime club was gaining momentum and support.

 

What to do? 

Well a club needs a name and a logo that reflects its core interest!

 As I was not an artist I used a sticker that came free with one of my Japanese Anime magazines (it is a Super Deformed Ingram from Patlabor), and after much soul searching I came up with 'Anime Kyo UK' ( Animation Today UK ) because Japanimation\Anime was so new and exsiting.
 

Fan clubs were the social media of their day, many of whom had fanzines and club newsletters, and acted as a hubs for fans to meet up, and correspond with one another from further afield and even internationally.

This was my Easter and April in 1990!

[NOTE: I have very few recollections of this time at the age of 24 due to some memory loss, but can refer to old letters and my own clubs Editorials from the Club's magazines.]

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

[Note: 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.]

For more click: Birth of a Fan Club. 

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.]

 

April 1990 Pt.6 Manga Somery.

To some-up.

We still had a few on-going Manga comic-books and Anime based comic-books that could be still found “On the racks” in April of 1990, such as:-

[Note: Trying to calculate each issue by there monthly release, until I complete each set of manga.]

{12 comic-book covers randomly placed, just to catch your attention.}

#6 of 'Cyber 7: Book Two',

#4 of Dominion. 

from Eclipse Comics.

#3 of Lensman

#5 of 'Leiji Matsumoto's Captain Harlock',

#15 of 'Robotech II – The Sentinals Book One'

from Eternity Comics.

#2 of COBRA

#5 of 'Baoh',

#2 of HOROBI: Part One

from Viz Comics.

#35 of SpeedRacer
from Now Comics.

#16 of Outlanders.

from Dark Horse Comics.

[Note: You still had some of the issues of 'Lone Wolf and Cub' from First comics, and 'AKIRA' from Epic Comics, on the shelves as the printing and overseas delivery were not always every month.  I will try and research the dates and update the information as soon as I can!]

#?   AKIRA 

From Epic Comics.

#34?   Lone Wolf and Cub

from First comics.