At the sound of the tone, the time will be January 1st, 1983.
And what better way to celebrate than reading the New Years issue of Anime Magazine My Anime (motto, in case you weren't quite with the program: "My Anime For You"). Three uses of the word "anime" in the first handful of words on the cover. It appears to be some sort of fascinating new trend among the youth of Japan.
These "animes" are apparently purchased for viewing on Betamax tapes. Price: over a hundred frickin' dollars.
Famous American rockers support anime, like "THE" Keith Emerson, who provided the score for a little film called "Harmageddon." Text: "Set to open in theaters across Japan this March, the production cast a wide net for talent. Many would-be voice actors competed in the semi-finals of the 'Night Drama House Amateur Voice Talent Contest '82,' held this past November 14th in the Nakano Sunplaza" (ironically, only meters away from where this issue of My Anime was excavated.)
I can't decide if this inexplicably placed ad for Mitsui Bank makes me want to save or spend, spend, spend, but come to think of it I could use a new pair of legwarmers.
"You can also 'enjoy' figures this way!" boasts the caption.
The editorial department slogs through a marathon American Saturday morning cartoon lineup! How did we stack up in comparison to Japan's "anime"? "American cartoons all star... little kids?!"
Sample reviews: "'Pac-Man' is animated by Hanna-Barbera. In the story, the inhabitants of 'Pac-Land' consume mysterious drugs called 'power pills.' Then there's this show called 'Scooby and Scrappy-Doo.' It's about two dogs." Anime, eat your heart out...
There's such a lack of dolphins with canes and bow ties tipping their top hats off to me nowadays...
Likewise for unnecessary lightning bolts that help to spell out names of things.
This looks amazing.
Posted by: Bernie | January 29, 2008 at 08:42 AM
I've been amused by how speechless this post appears to have made everyone. What CAN you say about a press conference that marked the first and I assume only time Rintaro, Ishimori Shotaro, and (according to Wikipedia, anyway) "perhaps the greatest, most technically accomplished keyboardist in rock history" shared a room together?
Posted by: Matt | January 29, 2008 at 02:44 PM