Evidence #17: Ani-Tone: American Publishing of Japanese Cartoons

So, this was an assignment for my Graphic Design class to make a photo journal during the semester to show images to the viewer of whatever message you want to tell. I was in a classroom full of people (majority of them were prissy college girls) who took photos of what it seemed to be the same thing over and over and over again. I decided to be the odd ball and go for the nerd approach to make my photo journal about my hobby of collecting anime magazines, especially ones from this site. The results were as expected,  hardly no one really cared, except for 2 or 3 people who were nerds like I was who gave me praise on my work and what I took photos of. I'd rather have that kind of reaction than taking photos of something I do not give two craps about because it would look the same as everyone else's stuff (which was rustic signs, neon signs, and more and more signs).

But fret not, because like the usual fashion, I have photos of what the final outcome of the book came too be. It's not all the images of the magazine, because I am nice enough to compile all of them into a .zip file for you guys to download at the end of this paragraph. Think of it as a nice (and super cheap) Christmas gift for you to look at on your own time.

Download .rar File (size 87 mb)

And there you go, so I hope you guys enjoy my labor of love (which really wasn't that bad to make). I plan on posting up another magazine piece in the next couple of weeks (or at the start of the new year) so stay tuned for that. I didn't mean for a 3 month absence of nothing being posted on this site, but my semester at school, podcasting and other things in life kinda were in the way. If you look on the side bar of the site i have a direct link for The Anime of Yesteryear Podcast site for you guys to click and listen in. If I don't post anything by Christmas, Ill see you guys in the New Year. So I will leave you guys to watch out for the cops!

P.S: I also noticed while working on this project that I never did an Evidence #5 post, I just skipped from 4 to 6. So.... Ill have to do something about that one day, who knows.

Evidence #16: The Colony Drop Zine 2: The Quickening

Guys... I believe its time to Drop DIS!!!

Alright so.... its been about 2 years since the last Colony Drop zine came out, am I right? Well, those deviants of the otaku culture have done it again with yet another issue of the zine, WHICH YOU CAN BUY HERE BY CLICKING THIS LINK WITH ALL THE BOLD WORDS, BECAUSE ITS KINDA HARD TO MISS IT!!!

This time around, we are introduced to the second issue of the pink color toned zine, as we get more pages, more articles, more stories, more art, and more unnecessary knowledge for you to obtain unless you can flaunt it at a con or on your own blog/podcast to show others just how smart they think you are. And just like last time, I will show part of articles, because I really want you guys to buy this and read it for yourselves. So, here we go:

I am hearing that the next zine will be Patlabor focused, which I can dig it. And that will be in what.... 2 more years maybe?

Our first article is by Benjamin Ettinger who gave us a piece about the infamous "not really but is labeled as an" adult Japanese OVA called Pop Chaser. In Ben's findings about this OVA, he goes on to give facts on how legends of anime today first got their start by getting down-n-dirty with this racy, yet fun flick about a blue hair biker girl trying to get one-night-stand-maid gal pal from a bunch of Mad Max dudes in mech suits (can you believe the guy who did Evangelion worked on this... if you believe it!) Also, I had some trouble with scanning this zine in, so I had to use my camera to get the rest of the shots, but it should be good.

In The Real Life Patlabor article, Matt Schley writes about the development and history behind the man made island surrounding the Tokyo Bay area where the SV2 Division was stationed in the Patlabor series to give the reader a broader perspective of the environment of the series though photo and descriptions.

Up next, Renato Rivera gives us a typed interview between two of Japan's anime critics from the past 20 years, as he sits down with Ryyota Fujitsu and Keisuke Hirota who spend most of their time talking about the ins and outs and all arounds of the anime industry, the life of a critic, and laughing at dumb anime from the past.

Next we have the tape master and all knowing sage of anime long ago, Dave Merrill, as he writes to us tales of pre to post Robotech fandom and the world of anime nerds before anyone really considered "anime nerds" to the masses (because people looked at them as people who liked those "JAPANIMATION MOVIING PICTURES"). Back then, they were just nerds, all under that same umbrella of Trekkies and Lucas-oids that dominated the nerd world (while getting spit on by jocks and over bearing parents). Dave "A True Anime Sage" Merrill tells us that its ok to sit in a room full of other anime nerds and watch anime together than being behind a computer screen in complete isolation from others just like you, because that is what they did back then, and they even go annoyed with each other too,BECAUSE THAT ALSO HAPPENS YOU GUYS!!!

In here, Otaku USA own Patrick Macias sits down to talk to a mysterious anime con director known as "Director X," as he shares the dark, dirty low down on the true purpose of what really happens at cons... that stupid teenagers (and grown ass adults) take this as a social gathering for partying, hooking up and orgies (if the cops don't get involved that is.)

This is the photo essay of one Trevor Wilson, as he gives several photos of his findings at the yearly New York Comic Con, where you see first hand just how "ghetto" things can really be. To be honest, this is the smartest thing the convention can do for these people, and the fact that these photos portray are no different than any other convention out there in America. So by some chance if you have never gone to a con, this is what you can expect to see.

Here is an article by one piece of the holy AWO podcast trinity, Daryl Surat, who talks about this forgotten time period in the 90's that anyone just about 30 or older can remember if they had a computer and the fastest internet access 28.8 kbps money can buy... from America Online, or CompuServe, or MSN, etc. This is an interesting article, because I started using the internet at the tail end of the 90's before everything became easier and quicker to use. In Daryl article, if you wanted to know something, it was a quest that could take years to get the answer you want, or to find someone who know it. And any info you retain to this day was all because of what you knew and held dear to knowing everything about anime in the 90's. I do remember using America Online back then, and I remember writing things down on any information I obtained in my findings that I wanted to hold on too... which was mostly info in Pokemon Red.

This article is done by another ANN contributor, Mike Toole, who writes about how a certain OVA gem made its way onto the late night USA Network station back in the late 1980's. This actually prompted me and my co-host to see what was so great about To-Y, so we did a review about it here. This is one of these stories that is like finding something you lost long ago that made such an impression on you, and finding it again made the memory even sweeter.

And this is the part where I end everything with artwork by contributers like Marc McKenzie, Sean O'Mara and many more all on that second to last image that you can read and check out their works. I am totally diggin that MD Geist fanart...just sayin.

And that is gonna do it for this piece of soon-too-be-part-of anime's past. Hey, at least this time I didn't do a 4 month hiatus now, so you gotta give me credit on that. And if your curious on how the sister site podcast is doing, then check it out at The Anime of Yesteryear Podcast. So far, our latest episode is our To-Y review, along with a few recordings coming, included the next part of our Tomino vs Takahashi segments. And as for me personally, I got my associates degree from my local technical college and started Anderson University for my study in Graphic Design in Fine Arts... or was it Fine Arts in Graphic Design-whatever, its all good. But anyways, imma dip out of dis joint!!!

Evidence #15: The ANIMAG Saga (Issue #8)

Sorry for the delay guys, but I do have a new piece of the past to show.

So I know its been a while (about 4 months, which is double than what I wanted to go for), and my only excuse this time is school, work and life (it’s the typical fallback excuse everyone gives these days, but it’s a solid one). I am finishing up this summer at my community college to get ready to enroll and get in student loan debt (hopefully not) at Anderson University in South Carolina. As for work I am doing a graphic design internship at my local newspaper for the summer, which is sweet sub-contracted work. Also, I have failed to mention that I put my spare efforts into the newest podcast my co-host and I have started, The Anime of Yesteryear Podcast, which has been going nicely since the beginning of the year. But, its high time I show you more publications of the past, so here we go.

I originally wanted to put this out about the middle or end of May, but held off because I was going to Animazement, which had someone who I have mentioned countless times when I post these issues. It was cool seeing Trish Ledoux and her husband Toshifumi Yoshida at this years con, which was another reason for me to harass them for autographs and catching up (since its been like 3 years since I last saw her.) I had her sign one of her old Animag publications back in the day, which you may know off hand who these damsels of destruction are… because THEY’RE THE LOVELY ANGELS DAMMIT!!!

Trish gives her thoughts on translation work back in the late 1980’s. Its funny how she makes a mention on “those” people who do translation work regarding to them as purist. I say its funny, because you got people likethese that are still out there. I guess something will never change. I had both Toshi and Trish sign this issue at the most recent Animazement.

Here is the synopsis for Holy Machine Beast SaiGuard (which we all knew later was Cybernetics Guardian from CPM). If you ever wanted to watch a dumb, forgetful and semi boring Koichi Ohata anime, this is it. And below that is animation news, which is whatever TV series were coming out in the later part of 1989 (I believe) and what US Renditions was going to put out, namely Gunbuster and Dangaio. If you have seen the past post on this website, about a good chunk of those magazine ads are for these two series from US Renditions. I still wanna get the rest of Dangaio on VHS to go with my USR vol. 1 copy.

Above are the write-ups for Dirty Pair and The Five Star Stories. I do own Project Eden and the OVA’s on VHS, but I have not seen Affair on Nolandia (which I have heard was the weakest of the animations, but could be wrong), which ill get around to watching one day. I have seen the first 2 of the OVA’s, which its just an enjoyable, incoherent roller coaster to watch (come to think of it, I think there was a call back to the mine cart chase from Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom in the first OVA. That and surfing on lava to get to the prison). They also do a very good write up on the world of Five Star Stories, since it is a rather unique and diverse universe to begin with. 

Here we got write ups on the Yotoden (aka Wrath of the Ninja), Hades Project Zeorymer and episode synopsis for Zeta Gundam. 

Here we got the Product watch, which I kinda want my hands on that SD Gundam Famicom game (not like I don’t have any to begin with). I know I have said this before, but it does need saying again, you kids need to stop complaining over anime being too high. I hate giving these “back in my day” speeches, but its true. They listed that Gunbuster and Dangaio are 35 bucks a tape, and that is for ONE FRIGGEN EPISODE!! Back then, that was as good as its gonna get. There is also an article on making a resin kit, which I am guessing back then, everyone needed help with that. 

This is a pretty interesting article by Fredrick Schodt on Go Nagai. It’s kinda sad that he didn’t get to ride a bike for long, but were not all perfect. I really wanna see these wedding invitations he made, especially about sexy flower women taking his bride away. Does anyone out there have a scan of this?

And of course, I end everything with product placement of 1989 for otakus. I don't think your ever going to see Kaneda's bike from Akira that low in todays ebay market. I would love to have that with the McFarlane Akira figures I own. 

And that concludes this segment of the blog. I know my intended goal is to do these once every other month, but with school (mostly) that put that on hold, and I was kinda lazy and preoccupied with other things. I guess you can't blame me for that too badly. I will shoot to try and get one out before I start university, but until then, I gotta work on holding onto that vision...