Ah, another year, another list of anime. The endless cycle, lol. But for this post, I take a farther look back to the older anime titles of the 80s and 90s. Including an old issue of an anime magazine I’ve kept since that time. A few memories. And still a few mysterious titles. But fascinating nonetheless. Plus my latest figure video, lol. Now let’s begin…
Rewind in Anime. Yup, older anime! If I had to make a random resolution, it would probably be to watch more of the older pre-2000 anime, classic or otherwise. For example, I began watching “Gundam Wing” (1995) since last May, “Rurouri Kenshin” (1996) since November, and even the original “Mobile Suit Gundam” (1979) since December. And it’s illuminating and impressive how well these older titles still stand up nowadays. Speaking of which, here’s the first anime title-or-season I’ve completed in 2009.
Rurouni Kenshin [1]. Heyyy, my 1st anime title-or-season of the year. Finished the first 27 of 95 episodes in the 3-season saga. Wow, even now, still a fulfilling tale of a repentant samurai among hoodlums and bandits, 4 of 5 stars.
On top of that, as recommended by Lene-chan, I just finished watching episode 1/6 of the mature-rated OVA “Devil Hunter Yohko” (1990) last night. Actually watched it 3 times, lol. First in the original Japanese with English subtitles. Second with the special-edition English dub. And third with the historical commentary. Whoa. So in 1992, this title was the first-ever release of ADV Films, was a #1 top seller, and could be considered one of the first seeds of the anime revolution in the Western world. Fascinating!
As a side note, “Devil Hunter Yohko” reminds me of “Sailor Moon” mixed and thrown into the world of another mature-rated OVA “Vampire Hunter D” (1985), lol. As a further-random side note, the Singaporean photographer Zhang Jingna once visited the home of Yoshitaka Amano, illustrator of the “Vampire Hunter D” novels. Yup, I mentioned Jingna last year in a lolita coincidence. Random but still related, lol.
Rewind in Animag. Huh? What the heck is Animag? Well, it’s no longer around anymore. But back in the late-80s and early-90s, it was one of the most-popular Japanimation magazines in the States. I don’t remember how or why I bought it, but as a math-and-science teen back then, I’m glad I did. Animag Issue #9 from late 1989. My oldest issue of any anime magazine. And I still have it all these years later, lol. A total of 52 black-and-white pages. Plus front-back cover and inside front-back cover. And a special 1990 Calendar insert, lol. Wanna take a peek inside?
Actually, not bad.
But I’ve never heard of “Madox-01”, lol. Have you?
Okay, here we go.
I’ve actually seen “Dominion” and heard of Miyazaki, lol.
I’ve heard of “Dirty Pair” but never seen it… yet.
Never heard of “Sol Bianca” but the title sounds cool.
Okay, let’s test your anime knowledge, lol.
A closer look.
Here’s the full list of new releases from the pages above. Recognize anything? Thought so, lol.
- Hurray for my Ancestor (Vol. 3)
- Angel Cop (Vol. 2 of 6)
- Bio-Booster Guyver (Vol. 2 of 6)
- Midoriyama High School at the Koshien (Vol. 2 of 10)
- Locke the Superman (Vol. 1 of 3)
- Starcat Fullhouse (Vol. 3 of 4)
- Aim for the Ace! Final Stage (Vol. 1 of 6)
- Samurai Troopers (Vol. 2 of 6)
- New Captain Tsubasa (Vol. 5 of 13)
- Baoh the Visitor
- Peacock King 2
- Dark Hunter
- Assemble Insert (Vol. 1 of 2)
- Project A-ko 4: Final Chapter
- Megazone 23 III: Emancipation Day
- Cleopatra, D.C. (Vol. 2)
- Blue Sonnet (Vol. 3 of 5)
- Super Beast-God Dancougar (Vol. 1 of 4)
- B.B.
- Shuten Doji (Vol. 1)
- Capricious Orange Road (Vol. 1 of 4)
- Left O’Clock!
- Devilman II (Vol. 1 of 3)
- I am Reiko Shiratori
- Bubble Gum Crisis (Vol. 7 of 13)
- Onimaru
Huh? That’s a photo of who?
Heyyy, I’ve actually seen “Nausicaa”, lol.
Thankfully, never owned a laser disc, haha.
Ahh, who can forget Masamune Shirow’s half-naked “Dominion” cat-girl twins.
A nice full-color calendar insert.
The first 4 months with “Dangaio” and “Five Star Stories”.
The second 4 months with “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Star Blazers”.
The last 4 months with “Z Gundam” and “Dominion”. Like I said, the sexy cat-girl twins, lol.
Of course, “Gundam”.
More “Gundam”.
Even more “Gundam”.
Still more “Gundam”.
Haven’t seen “Venus Wars”.
The “Venus Wars” characters.
Some anime ads. Including “Space Cruiser Yamato”. And a “Daicon IV” mascot bunny girl, lol.
More anime ads.
A closer look at the ads.
And finally, the back cover ads. The “GunBuster” and “Dangaio” VHS tapes cost how much?
Hahaha, so whattaya think? Ehhh, Miyazaki was *that* photo ?!? Anime VHS tapes cost *that* much?!? LOL, yup, all true. For me, I barely recognize a half-dozen titles! Of these, I’ve only seen “Dominion”, “Star Blazers” and “Nausicaa” years ago, lol. And like I mentioned at the top, I only started seeing the older “Gundam” series last year. So there’s still a whole freakin’ sea of anime classics and crap out there. Better start now, lol.
Rewind in Figure Videos. Ah, now for the fun finale.
First question: Remember my Blog 093 > Fateful Circumstances Revisited from July 2007? Well, “One Lovely Day” was the first anime-figure video I ever composed. To refresh your memories, here’s the YouTube link. Sorry, no high-quality version back then, lol.
Second question: Remember my Blog 162 > Fumie From Edelweiss from September 2008? Well, that was probably the most-favorite figure photoshoot I’ve ever done. To refresh your memories, here’s the link once more.
So why am I asking these annoying questions? Well, I finally had a chance to compose a video for that “Fumie From Edelweiss” photoshoot. Here’s the YouTube link. Don’t forget to click the high-quality version.
Not bad, eh? Especially considering the jump in video-production and YouTube quality since my first attempt. Hmm, maybe I’ll do a remake of “One Lovely Day” someday. Who knows? Well, that’s it, folks. Thanks for joining me, myself, and my travel back in anime time. ^_^
@xJaymanx – Lol, fangirls were too busy looking for subtext and using “the more they hate each other, the more they love each other” logic to pay attention to the card battles. xP
@Coco: Hahaha! Wait, subtext *beneath* the battles? You mean the card battles *themselves* weren’t metaphors for love-hate relationships? LOL >o<
I’ll never forget to play