So, this site has existed for 4 years and... 8 days. Yea, so I'm a little late to the party, I apologize for that. So, what could I be putting up for this late special occasion for this year? Well, I realized its been almost 2 years since I posted anything related to ANIMAG, and it's high time she had another debut once more.
If you can't tell based on the image of the cover, or the red text next on the bottom right, this is an issue focused on famed character designer Haruhiiko Mikimoto. I had a chance to shake the hand of Mikimoto at Animazement 2013, and even had him sign a copy of Macross: Clash of the Bionoids (aka, the only "legit" copy of Macross DYRL we ever got in the states). I told this story of my experience meeting Mikimoto in the podcast I did about that Animazement 2 years ago, so give that a listen when you can. In short, he didn't have a clue that a version existed in the states, and happily signed it for me, BREAKING the DREADED "One Autograph Per Person" rule Animazement seems to tack onto con-goers when a line is past a certain point for them. So, let's see what's inside this issue:
I want to say this was autographed at either Animazement 2013 or 2014 (might be the former), and here we have Trish synopsis of a rundown of what happened at the first A-Kon for her. If you wanna know who this "...unairconditioned Ford Mustang" owner really is, then you are in luck. Robert Gibson was on an episode of the Anime World Order podcast not to long ago, and also did a blogspot about his past in anime fandom and what he did to contribute to it, which all of it is really interesting to read and hear. It's also interesting to point out that even at the earliest times of anime information on print, you still had rumors of "anti-ANIMAG" people. I guess in anime journalism, you still have your die-hard critics.
Here we have some info about anime at the time, ranging from City Hunter to Yotoden (aka Wrath of the Ninja in the states). What's interesting is the fact that there is a written piece on OVA's coming out that include some obscure ones that you might find online like the racing OVA Goddamn!, Riki-Oh and Iczer-3. The others besides Gall Force and Wild 7, I'm not too familiar with on these titles. There is also the releases of Viz Media "manga-to-comics" style printing that is being released during this time.
Here we got the highlight of this issue, and thats a good write up on works by Mikimoto at this time. It's interesting that they have a timeline period on how Macross and Robotech came to be, and even all the history behind Robotech earliest failures that Harmony Gold just seems to still be tripping over 30 some years later. I highly doubt the people working on this magazine 25 years ago would've predicted that Robotech would still be some huge thing in anime and that HG would find ways to keep screwing that up. If someone there did make that prediction in the middle of a poker game one night, they would be happy to know it's still true today.
It's also interesting they bring up the differences of the english dubs in the Macross part regarding the international dub of Megazone 23 Part 2 and Macross DYRL. The ending they mention about animation company Idol doing the bonus material to the Robotech: The Movie is up on youtube to see. And from what I have heard, it's some kinda of bonus on the laserdisc for the international dub for Megazone 23 Part 2. If I am hearing things wrong, then let me know in the comments.
Here is a nice write up about the classic Speed Racer, breaking down the Valkyrie for mecha heads, and a write up by Votoms/Yamato fanatic Tim Eldred.
The Anime Ja Nai part is pretty much there to let you know what your favorite VA has been in other than the main roles. I did see Ikeda at Animazement 2014 for the big Gundam Reunion thing, but I didn't get a chance to interact with him sadly. I did have Furukawa sign my Bubblegum Crisis DVD set that same year Mikimoto was there, so that' in that same podcast episode where I talk about that.
And now everyone's favorite, advertisements for anime products. These ad's are such a time capsule to see many years later, and they still have their charm to them.
So I think that's gonna wrap it up for this segment of The Anime of Yesteryear. This is usually the part where I state what iv'e been doing since the last post, and its pretty much the same: school, the podcast, love life, social life, etc. I'll usually try and score some more Animag/Animerica issues when I go to Raleigh for this years Animazement, even though the backlog of material I have will last for a good while. So, thanks for sticking around, and letting you know that this site and our love for you isn't a lie...
