Friday, June 12, 2015

Evidence #24: A-ni-me: The Berkeley Journal of Japanese Animation (Vol.1, Issue.1, 1990)


(Total Size: 158 mb)

Well, now that Animazement has come and gone, I do have a gem that I got from the convention, what was from over a year ago that I haven't gotten around to scanning until just now. I also mention this story and the book in my con report from last year, so give that episode a listen if you care too.

So here is my story on that: I remember walking around the dealers room floor before they closed that Sunday of Animazement 2014, and I came across a dealer who usually sells model kits and unique die-cast Japanese toys that are at the usual prices in Japan. This same dealer also happens to sell hobby magazines and the like, which these kinda cons is where I get one issue a year from Hobby Link Japan. I remember looking at the bottom of the magazine shelf and seeing this book, which is something I had never laid eyes upon and started flipping through it. It was then that I realized it had translated transcripts and synopsis from anime series like Ranma 1/2 and Nadia, to OVA's like Bubblegum Crisis, Dragon's Heaven, MegaZone 23, Gunbuster and Outlanders.

I went over to the dealer and asked him about this book, which he told me that this was something he had and sold long ago, but had it been sold back to him sometime after. When I got home from my usual long drive back from the con to my home South Carolina, I was able to look at the book further. What I found most interesting on the back was advertisements for AnimeCon '91, including a print out of guests that would be coming, and an application to attend. So I decided to do what I normally do in this situation when I get something this cool, and that's to put it on the shelf to not be seen or hardly remembered for a certain period of time. 

It wasn't until I talked to Trish Ledoux over on her Twitch.tv channel one night months later that I mentioned this book to her, which I also found that her husband Toshifumi Yoshida was credited as a "special thanks" in the book. So to my curiosity, I wondered how much involvement he had with this book? I was able to get my answer at this years Animazement when I showed him and Trish this book, which they both seemed to be pleased with this relic of the past. Toshi was cool enough to sign it for me and Trish seemed interested in wanting this to archived on the blog.

So now that the tl;dr story is outta the way, I can let you guys see this for yourselves. I went ahead and scanned everything into a .pdf file so anyone who is interested can see this for themselves. I'm not sure when my next post will be after this one, which is really to say in the coming months. Hope you guys enjoy this anime relic, and see you next time!

5 comments:

  1. I remember when this came out and being amazed that any group of fans would have the ability to print a 300 page perfect-bound book, and to squander this resource on reprinting scripts.

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    1. And just think, 25 years later some fan decided to dedicate part of his time to scan all these pages and post on the internet!! I wonder who would be insane enough to do that? Aside from poking fun at myself, I should also note these group of fans decided to do an issue 2 sometime later. If I happen to get my hands on that one day... eff it, ill just scan the damn thing haha.

      I just found it interesting that the back of the book has an application for AnimeCon '91, plus info about who is going to be there. I'm actually curious how you knew about this book Dave, was it in a CF/O newsletter or advertised at a comic book store?

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  2. Je encato ce post !!!
    Merci pour chaque publication.
    Ils sont très importants après !!!
    Félicitations et vont de plus.

    baiser

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  3. It's cool to find someone else who's into these weird old relics from the olden days of anime fandom. I found this book in an eBay auction like three years ago and immediately picked it up. To my surprise, it also came with issue 2 (which, to my knowledge, was the last issue that was made), as well as the AnimeCon '91 Viewers Guide. Needless to say I was excited. The viewers guide was interesting because it had a bunch of autograph pages that were personalized for every guest - including Leiji Matsumoto, who ended up cancelling just before the con began.

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    1. How much different was vol. 2 than vol. 1? I think I remember seeing some vol.2 on amazon but I haven't gotten around to getting it yet. My best chance on finding that issue is going to be a big cons in the states. Thats a pretty cool story!

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