ifying o£ Boy Meets Alien

UR US El YATSURA
by Rumilto Takahashi
Plus the Aerial Combat Cl.assic

JL Aby Kaoru
AREA S3
Shintani
 he destruction of Hong Kong was only
the beginning. Now, emerging from the
ashes, the Genocyber's rage is unleashed
against its creators.
Wandering into a small nation's war of
aggression, Elaine is embroiled in the Kuryu
Group's latest weapons test: The Vajranoid, a
biomechanical monstrosity designated to be
the ultimate fighter pilot. Capable of
merging with almost any piece of
machinery, the Vajranoid is the only one
who can sense the dangerous power
within this innocent-looking girl's
cybernetic body. And even the
enormous American aircraft carrier they
find themselves on isn't big enough for
the two of them.
And now, as the carrier approaches the
battle zone, fate draws Elaine and the
Vajranoid even closer together. Closer
to a battle which could destroy
everyone aboard!

ideoca!settePacka9
Actual
ALSO AVAILABLE

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Suggested retail price
Order cut-off: 9/14/94
Street date: 10/5/94
Catalog #: USM 1101
Genocyber Part 1:
Birth of Genocyber
Catalog #: USM 1091
(prices may vary In Canada) Original Japanese dialogue with
Color. Stereo. 50 minutes.
English subtitles. Unrated.
For orders only: Animated action adventure.
Contains violence. Suitable for
1 800 833-7456
- -
Movtday-Frlday, 9-6 PM E5T
Original Japanese dialogue
most audiences. Parental
with English subtitles.
250 West 57th Street, Suite 31 7 discretion advised.
Unrated. Contains violence.
New York, NY 10107 $29.95 suggested retail price
ILS.MMGA Phone: (212)977-7456
Fax: (212) 977-8709
Suitable for most audiences.
Parental discretion advised.
(prices may vary in Canada)
 Dateline: America
* Viz Video Gets Fast and Furious with
Fatal fury
* AnsmEigo's BUBBLEGUM CRISIS Finds
Its Voice
- Move Over Buffy. DEVIL HUNTER
YOHKO 2 & 3 From A.D. Vision
* More.....12

Dateline: Japan
* SPECIAL FEATURE! The Tokyo
FEATURE AR T ICLE Television Report: MACROSS SEVEN •
TENCHI! • BLUE SEED
■ More.....16
MAKE MINE MOLDIVER
Faster than a speeding bullet train! More powerful than Giant Robo! Able to leap Tokyo Tower in a Manga Close-Up
single bound! Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's.*,MOLDIVER! Set for release starting this * macross It: The Micron
month in video stores everywhere, Pioneer LDCA s six-volume Moidiver series is a virtual one-man CONSPIRACY
- GIRLS STUFF by Matt Thorn
show from creator/director/character designer Hiroyuki Kitazume, Associate Editor Julie "Malice Girl"
■ THE HIT LIST: The Best in this Months
Davis lets us in on the secret plans in this look at the funniest tongue-in-cheek animated send up of the Manga
superhero genre since Fox's The Tick. * More .....40
Th© ANiMERlCA Interview Reviews
★ KITAZUME CAN!
The ANIMERICA Ultimate Anime Guide
Inspired by an exciting new age of animation, MOL DIVER creator, director and character designer
Best of the West
Hiroyuki Kitazume decided to make animation his career,.,despite the ambivalance of his parents.
CUTEY HONEY * OTAKU NO VIDEO *
Here, in his first-ever English interview, Kitazume talks about the birth of MOLDIVER, provides a tanta¬ FAREWELL TO YAMATO * MARIS THE
lizing preview of the new YAMATO project, and relives those good oV Gundam Daze once more. WONDERGIRL * More..57
Interview by Takashi "Manga Master" Oshiguchi, translated by Takayuki "Mister Mathematics"
Karahashi.............4 Import Anime Review
Best of the East
MACROSS PLUS * YOU'RE UNDER
★ ON SALE AT A VIDEO STORE NEAR YOU: MOLDIVER ARREST......68
Pioneer LDCA's entire six-volume Moidiver series is coming soon to a video store near you.
ANIMERICA gets you connected.............9 CD Review
The Compact View
ANIMERICA Behind the Scenes MOBILE SUIT V-GUNDAM - ROBOT
★ A SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY FOR HIROYUKI KITAZUME CARNIVAL • ANIME HOT WAVE *
R080TECH PERFECT COLLECTION....69
A brief look at the accomplishments of an anime man who can. By Trish "Caffeine Gal" Ledoux .... 10

ANIMERIGA Contest!
★ THE KITAZUME CAN CHALLENGE From the Editor.
Video Clips: America
2
Win one of hiteen free Moidiver T-shirts or videos from Pioneer LDCA! Super cool! ...,.,.,..10
America's Top Sellers...... 12
Coming Soon in America
Video Release Schedule...14
MANGA FEATURES Anime Q & A
Behind the Scenes of the American
Anime and Manga Industry..15
Coming Soon in Japan
OA V Release Schedule. 17
Between the Covers
Highlights From the Top Japanese
Anime Magazines.18
TV Top Ten. Japan
What They Say They're Watching...And What
Rumiko Takahashi's Electrifying Tale of Boy They Abandoned God, Shook Hands With the Devil and the Ratings Say The/re Watching..... 18
Meets Alien Become the Mercenaries of Hell. They're the Pilots Video Clips: Japan
LUM ■■ UR USE I Sentenced to Kaoru Shintani's
The Ten Bestselling Animated Videos.. 18
YATSURA AREA SS From the Forest
Ataru becomes the benefactor of a The two a.m. deadline arrives—will the A Unique Perspective From Our Anime
defenseless li'l caterpillar who eats and and Manga Insider......_18
jury-rigged compressors repel the deadly
AV Interface
Eats and EATS until she turns missile before it detonates and blows Video Games and Other Amusements.39
into...well, you'll find out soon enough. everyone to kingdom come? Area 88 is Manga Top Ten
Before there was Ranma 1/2, there was created by former Leiji Matsumoto assistant The Ten Bestselling Comics in Japan ...41
turn * Urusei Yatsura by Rumiko Kaoru Shintani and now returns exclusive¬ Fresh From the Forest
Takahashi.19 The Five Hottest Manga Titles in Japan.42
ly to the pages of AK IM ERICA.43
Animessages. .62
In Our Next Issue,..!. ...72

OfTobFR/?4 1
AHi*icnicA
FROM THE EDITOR
ANIMER iCA
Anime & f; 1 anqa iV7ortlhIy
Mdtninistrivia, Publisher
Before I do anything else, lei me lefl you about ANlMEast '94, an upcoming Keizo fnoue
East Coast anime and manga convention from I lie people who brought you
Executive Editor
ChibiCon, the Atlantic Anime Alliance. Scheduled for November 11-13 at the
Seiji Horibuchi
Brunswick Hilton & Towers in East Brunswick, New Jersey, ANlMEast features
the programming and special events you've come to expect from West Coast Managing Editor
conventions such as Anime Expo and Anime America, without losing its own Satoru Fuji!
unique flavor.
Unlike West Coast anime and manga conventions, which count on two Editor
or three Japanese anime industry "big names" to draw attendees, ANlMEast With Ro$£ Johnson (!_} and Josh Rimer (R) at Trish Ledoux
Anime Expo '94
offers a rare chance for East Coast fans to meet voices from the American
anime industry, Speed Racer's Peter Fernandez (Speed Racer, Racer X) and Corinne Orr (Trixie, SprJdie) will be making special Associate Editors
guest appearances, Billie Lou Walt, who gave voice to both Astro Boy and Kirnba the White Lion, will also be attending. Filling Julie Davis
Takayuki Karahashi
in the guest roster will be a wide variety of professional and fan guests including AnimEigo's Roe Adams and ANIME U K. mag¬
azine's Helen McCarthy. Translations Editor
Special programming plays a large part in any convention. ANlMEast is boasting a "unique selection of things to do and toshifumi Yoshida
see/' many of which are actually cried and true favorites: an anime trivia quiz show, fandom choice awards, a dubbing work¬
shop, karaoke, a masquerade, special interest panels, etc. However, both "Anime Zone," described as a live-action role-play¬ Copy Editor
ing game, and "East to East Satellite Uplink," a closed-circuit, international simulcast of interviews and special events live from Annette Roman
Japan, sound completely unique. I can t wait to hear how they turn out.
Memberships for ANlMEast are $35,00 until the con, $40,00 at the door, and 520,00 per day Group rates and supporting Art Director
memberships are available: call for more details. For full membership information, call the ANlMEast Info Line at 908.719.9770 or Yoshiyuki Higuchi
e-mail them via the Internet at ae - info-request'iwh it eba.se. ukp.corr:. Hotel reservations are available from Strictly Groups;
phone them toll-free at 800,538.7633 for Information. Be sure to mention ANlMEast to gel the special low convention rate. Design Assistant
********* Hidemi Sahara
In ANIMERICA news, you'll no doubt notice that we've been sprucing up a bit lately. New formats, new features—when will it
ail end? Contributing Writers
With any luck, it won't. Next month marks the anniversary of our November '92 Premiere Issue and we're hoping to use Sergei Lee Aish
everything we've learned since then to make ANIMERICA an indispensable pad of your anime lifestyle. As announced in the Jonathan Clements
July '94 issue. Area 88 will go on hiatus as of March, while turn * Urusei Yatsura moves on to its own monthly book starting in Julie Davis
December. In LTs place well be bringing you another wonderful series by Rumiko Takahashi, One-Pound Gospel, and
Ryan Gavigan
although I can't tell you which series will replace Area 88 in our March issue, I'm sure it will be one you'll enjoy. We hope
Carl Gustav Horn
you'll look forward to it!
********* Yoshitaka Ishigami
And finally.... Software Sculptors, the folks who brought you the Bubblegum Crisis and Project A*Ko screensavers, have Takayuki Karahashi
announced that they will also be releasing a Ranma 1/2 screensaver, starting this March. According to company representative Roberta Nakamura
John Sirabella, the Ranma 1/2 screensaver will include fewer musical scenes (as in the BGC screensaver) and more modules Cynthia Jaye Newton
based on Berkeley Systems' classic After Dark modules {our favorite is After Dark: STAR TREK. Ah-h-h-h, bitter dregs.,.!) Also Takashi Oshigucbi
unlike the BGC and A-Ko modules, the Ranma 1/2 screensaver will be available on both CD-ROM and disc, so those of you Annette Roman
without CD-ROM drives can also join the fun. Mitch Samuels
Here's where you come in. Software Sculptors is sponsoring a contest to design Ranma 1/2 screensaver modules. Some Rick Stern bach
ideas already under consideration include "boy-type" Ranma running across the screen, getting splashed off-screen, and then
Matt Thorn
returning as "girl-type" Ranma (substitute Genma/Panda, or Ryoga/P-Chan, or Shampoo/Cat, or...). They've already come up
Avery Tom
with some great ideas—what exciting, original and tun ideas can you come up with?
Software Sculptors ask that for reasons of memory conservation, your module idea involve no more than any three Ranma Jeff Yang
1/2 characters on screen at one time. You may submit your idea in writing, in the form of an illustration, or on computer disc Toshifumi Yoshida
(Mac or IBM formats only, please). Send in your idea to:
Research and Translation
ANIMERICA, ANIME & MANGA MONTHLY Takayuki Karahashi
Department Toshifumi Yoshida
P.O. Box 77010
San Francisco, CA 94107 AREA 83
If your idea is selected for animation, you'll receive a complimentary copy of the screensaver, PLUS your name in the Ranma Story and Art by Kaoru Shin tan i
1/2 screensaver's credits! Those of you with e-mail access may also submit ideas electronically to 4 • . J ■ 6Qcoir - Translated by Toshifumi Yoshida
pueerve.com. ANIMERICA will announce the names of the winners when they're released by Software Sculptors. The Ranma and James D, Hudnail
1/2 screensaver will go on sale this March, so get those ideas in, postmarked no later than December 30 1994, Good luck! Lettering and Touch-Up by
That's It for this month. See you in thirty. Wayne Truman

tftUfo LUM* URUSEI YATSURA

Story and Art by
Irish Ledoux Rumiko Takahashi
Editor Translated by Mari Morimoto and
Gerard Jones
Lettering and Touch-Up by
i b Wayne Truman

FOR ADVERTISING RATES AND

Cynthia Jaye Newton
{“■Best of the West") and
her anime-addicted
nephew Joshua live in
Madison. Wisconsin. She
recently realized how
deeply anime had influenced
■r during her formative years
when she caught herself arguing that
alligators really do live in the sewers ol
New York City, because she saw it on
Kimba once. Cynthia Jaye would like
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and ineffable style. Major
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ANIMERICA Ultimate
Anime Guide") has been a
regular since his debul in
our June '94- issue. Anime
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Anime™ lor his dry wit and vast
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while his many grandchildren are more
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include gardening, collecting antique
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of Agatha Christie.
Rick Sternbach ( “Best of the
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series COSMOS. Hss list of favorite anime
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and when he's nol making up funky new
Trek terminology, he studies Japanese
with his young son Josh through hts abun¬
dant anime laser disc colection.
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'M STORY OF A BOY WHO TURNS INTO A GIRL...

A FATHER WHO TURNS INTO A PANDA...
AND THE WEIRD CHINESE CURSE WHAT DID IT TO 'EM.
>

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 MOL DIVER creator; director and character
designer Hiroyuki Kitazume still thinks of
the days of YAMATO and GUNDAM as
something special. Inspired by this excit-
new age of animation, he decided to
make animation hi$ career... despite the
ambivalance of his parents> Here, in his first-ever
English interview, Kitazume talks about the birth of
MOLDIVER, provides a tantalizing preview of the new
YAMATO project end relives those good oT Gundam
Daze once more. Interview by Takashi Oshiguchi,
translated by Takayuki Karahashi, with an introduc¬
tion by Julie Davis.

LDCA for their h*tp irronging

MAKE MINE MOL DIVER
W hen asked what kind of animation inspired him to become
an animator, Kitazume laughs, "Well, it was Gu/vdamthat
made me go into the industry, after aH.”
He's referring to that Gundam, the original 43-episode
Mobile Suit Gundam tension series by Yoshiyuki "Father of
Gundam" Turning, of course. No matter how endearingly camp
this 1979 mecha’Show-Df-all-mecha-shows may seem by
today s more enlightened standards, Mobile Suit Gundam is
mentioned time and time again by anime professionals as one
of the first shows to suggest animation's infinite possibilities.
Gundam's gritty realism (relative to the time period) and
Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's "lifelike” character designs captured the
attention of fans hungry for something "different"
Kitazume also cites the "personality" of Yasuhiko's Gundam
characters as important influences. "Compared to the anima¬
tion character designs before him, there was something differ¬
ent about Yasuhiko's style. For ease of animation, designers
before Yasuhiko tended toward simplified manga characters. It
was unusual for a designer to create animation characters
from scratch But Yasuhiko's drawings have a true design aes¬
thetic. His characters are full-fledged designs that can be
viewed as art in their own right.”
For a boy who loved animation since elementary school—
"around junior high (the live-action series) Kamen Rider really
appealed to me for a while, but Yamato pulled me back into
anime"—Kitazume still thinks of those Yamato and Gundam
days as something special.
"That was an exciting time, with television shows such as
Gatchaman and so many newly animated theatrical features
coming out, I must have been influenced by those. (Those films)
were as familiar to me as the television shows I watched during
childhood.” Inspired by this exciting new age of animation, and
Yasuhiko's work^not only on Gundam, but on Combattler-V,
Raideen, and other Sunrise-Toei giant robot shows—young
Kitazume thought to try his own hand at designing.
"I was doodling since I was little, and 1 was always very
interested in drawing. When the live-action boom shifted back
to animation, there was a dramatic improvement in drawing
quality. And ta ken together with my love of drawing....” In his
senior year in high school, the time when Japanese students
have to make decisions about their future careers, Kitazume
told his parents he wanted to become an animator,
"They said 'No/" Kitazume laughs, ' They told me to go to a
vocational school instead, to cool my head."
Finally, his parents made a bargain with him, the kind that only
desperate parents strike with their children, if young Hiroyuki
really wanted to become an animator, then nothing else would do
but for him to go to animation school. His parents would pay his
tuition for the first two years. And so, upon graduation from high
school, Kitazume put off job hunting and went merrily on his way
to enroll in the animation department of the Tokyo Design
Institute. Two years later, he hadn't changed his mind.
Td found my vocation," he says,
Kitazume got his official start (while still a student atlokya
Design Institute) at Studio Bebow. The chance to work with the
legendary Tomino was an early benchmark in his career.
"At the time, Tomino's latest work was Ideon, and Bebow
was a studio that worked on that show. So I kind of went there
to fulfill my dreams," he laughs.
Kitazume's talent revealed itself early, and he quickly racked
up an impressive list of credits on a majority of the shows the
prolific animation studio Sunrise was producing at the time—
Xabungfe, Dunbine, L-Gaimand Zeta Gundam, leading finally to
his first character designer solo on 1986's Gundam Double Zeta.
But character design was only the beginning for the multi-talent¬
ed Kitazume—on his latest project, Moidiver, he's credited as
original creator, as well as director and character designer. He
cites the omnipresent influence of the great animator Hayao
Miyazaki as one of the inspirations that drives his work.
"Back when I saw Cagliostro's Castle, f thought it was won¬
derful, and so much fun to watch.. but I thought it was the story¬
boarding and direction that made it that way, not just the draw¬
ing. So 1 thought animating was fine, but i wanted to direct too. I
wanted to do both. Not just drawing," And thanks to parents who
trusted him enough to choose his own career, Kitazume can.
OtTobtB/94
ANIMERICA: What was your first real job in
animation?
Kitazume: Well, my first job was on the
Ideon movie. There were two features.
Origins and Contact- They were going to
make new animation for Contact, and my
first job was making in-betweens for the
new animation, which wou cl then be edited
into the compilation. The ideon movies
were a compilation from the TV show. After
that, I did in-betweens for TV shows like
Xa bungle.
ANIMERICA: So you were sti I just an in-
be twee ne r ba c k l h en.
"MY GOD, iTS FULL OF STARS..
1986'$ Gundam double Zeta * v'cts Kifazome's
first character design solo. Here, newtype
latchkey kid Jude Ashita confer/: lates his navel os
foe /isfens to Anime Jo Not" {It's Not Just Anime),
the opening GUNDAM DOUBLE l TfA theme
Kitazume: Yes. I became a key animator in
the middle of the next show, Aura Battler
Dunbine.
ANIMERICA: So when were you first on
your own?
Kitazume: When I did Gundam Double
Zeta,
ANIMERICA: That was your first? I had the
impression it was long before that.
Kitazume: That was the first, I was twenty-
four back then.
ANIMERICA: Since then you v/orked on a
few original videos?
Kitazume: Yes, just one. It was called
Legaciam \1987fs RELIC ARMOR
LEGACIAM—Ed.]> It was around the same
time as Char's Counterattack.
ANIMERICA: And you worked on Robot
Carnival with your colleague, Hidetoshi
Omori, at Studio Bebow?
Kitazume: Yes, I worked on that with him. I
did Robot Carnival and Dounle Zeta
around the same time, 1 did DGaim after
Dunbine, and after that came1 Zeta
Gundam, I left Studio Bebow when Zeta
was starting up. Right around that time, a
producer came to me and said, "J want
you to animate the show after Zeta
Gundam/' So that was going to be my first
work after going independent. But when I
was drawing the characters to audition for
that show, it was suddenly decided that
Zeta would be extended. It was all very
last-minute.
ANIMERICA: Not the ideal situation tor a
first solo work. How much time did you
really have?
Kitazume: Welt, Double Zeta started in
January, hut I was drawing the characters
for the new show during the summer
before. The project went on hiatus in the
fall, and I was told to stop my work, ft was
already October when they told me that
Zefa was going to be extended. Bright
Noah and all the other Zeta characters
were going to be in it, but (character
designer) Yasuhiko wasn't going to be
involved anymore. So J was chosen
because I was the artist who had worked
on the show and could carry on a natural
sense of continuity. That's how I ended up
working on Double Zeta.
ANIMERICA: You've worked on nearly all
the Sunrise shows,
Kitazume: Well, yes. Back then, we were
working on about five of the titles being
made at Sunrise's Studio No, 2.
ANIMERICA: Were you always freelancing
then?
Kitazume: Well, after leaving Studio
Bebow, I was running a company with a
few friends.
ANIMERICA: You've worked on quite a few
A.I.C. productions, loo.
Kitazume: I wonder what the first A.I.C,
work I did was... Maybe it was Iczer-One
When we were working on Iczer-One,
(director) Toshihiro Hfranc singled out our
studio's Hiroaki Oi to do mecha designs
BEFORE THERE WAS GATO,
THERE WAS CHAR
Dork Horse Comics' REBEL SWORD artist
Yoshikazu Yasuhiko was responsible hr
creating this "older" version of recurring
GUNDAM character Char Aznable, the
coolest newtype ever to pilot a lipstick-red
mobile suit.
AmMERicA

"MOLDIVER, TAKE ME AWAY"
Student body heartthrob Kaoru Misaks makes the wodd go away for
Mirai while Isabelle and the Machine Cals look on. When Hiroshi
created the Moldiver unit, it was Misak id body he used as his design
prototype.
for the video. So a colleague from our studio
was working on that video,..and then I was
asked to join. That's how I met Toru Miura—
and that's how we started working on A.LC.
titles. Then after Char's Counterattack, we
disbanded our studio. I'm lazy, and I was
getting tired of managing a studio
[LAUGHS]. So I went to A.I.C's president
and decided to take on any work he brought
me [LAUGHS]. I did key animation and
everything else under his management,
ANIMERICA: So after IczecOne, you worked
mostly on original videos?
Kitazume My first work around that time was
a video from Kubo Shoten called Dragon
Century, although that wasn't a big job.
Speaking of big jobs, I was involved with the
character designs in Mega zone 23, Part III. I
think that was my first big job since going to
AJ.C
ANIMERICA: Now let's move on to Moldiver,
Moldiver is almost totally your own work,
isn't it? You re the creator, character design¬
er and director,
Kitazume Yes, I was involved right from the
drafting of the proposal.
ANIMERICA: How would you describe Moldiver
to someone who has never seen it?
Kitrii; In terms of genre, it's a superhero
story. But in most of those kinds of stories,
the main character has spe¬ we ended up with less time to show the daily
cial abilities to begin with. lives of the characters. And at the end of those
My premise was: "What if an episodes, Nozoimi creating Moldiver 3
ordinary kid suddenly got seemed to happen a little too suddenly—you
those abilities?" And since would have expected something like that if
we're dealing with ordinary only we'd had more opportunities to show
kids, the stories wouldn't be what he was like in daily fife. I think it may
that overblown, either. They have been a mistake to have a sudden p I of
would have an ordinary twist like that.
beginning, but things might
ANIMERICA How about the female antago¬
just end up in a big mess, ft's
nists?
an accessible superhero story
like that. Kitazume: Those personalities were actually
sol id ified rather late. In the beginning, we
ANIMERICA An ordinary high-
wanted to make an '"Eight Man " |a reference
school girl tinkers with her
to the classic 1963 Japanese television
brother's meeha and—
series, wherein Higashi Hachiro leads a dou¬
Kitazume: And what would ble life, police officer by day, and crime-
happen if that gave her the tight ing android by night—Ed.}, There'cl be
powers to become a superbe¬ eight of them, eight female transforming
ing, That's the theme. androids. So when f was drafting the propos¬
al, they all had the same face, l wasn't going
ANIMERICA: Did you prepare
to give them individual characters, but that
the plots for volumes one
might have been too boring. So instead, we
through six before you got
decided to give each of them their own per¬
the go-ahead?
sonality,
Kitazume: No, that wasn't the
ANIMERICA: How long did pre-production
case. All the volumes were
take?
supposed to be self-contained
stories. I drafted a couple of Kitazume: | wonder how long that took. Let's
story ideas, and some of them see, submitting the proposal and...it took a
got animated as they were. while, ft was over a one or two-year span. It
As for the series coordination, took me over a year since the first inspira¬
about haft were Nakamura's tion.
ideas [screenwriter Manabu Nakamura—
ANIMERICA: So that means you hadn't decid¬
Ed.]. The last episode, Episode Six, featured
ed how the last episode would turn out
the story of the launch of the spaceship under
when you started?
the Dimensional Navigation Project. We
wanted to make that the backbone of the six Kitazume All the scripts were finished before
episodes, so we started to introduce elements we started making Episode One. Quite a lot
of that from the second episode on. of it was finished before actual production of
ANIMERICA: Episode Six looks like a two-
pa rter,
Kitazume: Yes. In the beginning, we weren't
going to make it that big a story. But during
the production meetings we decided there
should be an underlying plot. So that's how
that came about.
ANIMERICA: Was the character Moldiver 3
planned from the beginning?
Kitazume: Well, he was in the plans, but we
couldn't come up with the designs until the
last minute.
ANIMERICA: What about the idea that the kid
would do it? Were the two brothers and sis¬
ter always going to be involved?
Kitazume: Yes. That was planned from the
beginning. 1 originally wanted to use this idea
for a TV show—like a 50-episode series, METAMORFOftai
including throwaway episodes. But I still Say hello fo Mirai Ozora, soph mors, age seventeen.
wanted it to have a consistent main plot. You As a Tokyo Town high school student, Mirai studies
"Special Space Studies" and spends her free time
know how a TV series has key episodes? We
entering any "Miss So and-So Contest" she can find.
ended up having to condense only those How inconvenient that the Moldiver unit can't be
kinds of episodes for the OAV volumes. So worn over do the si
OcTobfRr®4

MACHINE GALS OF DESTRUCTION
Dr. Machineguf's gorgeous (and deadly) Machine Gais. From (i) to (R): Jennifer, Brooke, Vivian,
Elizabeth, Sayuri, and Nostassio. Film buffs, took closely—you're likely to recognize at least one of your
favorite stars from the silver screen.
the film began, but the production was paral¬
lel to my work on Bastard!!. So that's why
we had a little delay. That's another reason f
had a little under a year to refine my ideas.
Afterwards, when the writer came in, we
came up with all six episodes in a flash. And
then, there was a little hiatus before actual
production began.
ANIMEIHCA: Are you going to be working on
the new Yamato?
Kitazume; Well, right now, production is
pending, but I'm supposed to do it.
(Producer) Nishizaki is saying he's making
Yamato, so I guess it's officially going to be
made |LAUGHS]. But in reality, there's no
specific talk of when and how. Right now,
there are two titles moving. There's the video
version, New Space Cruiser Yamato, with the
Syd Mead-designed ship, and then there's
Resurrection of Yamato, using the old
designs. New Yamato is coming out sooner.
It's within the year. J've heard the theatrical
version might be on hold until that's taken
care of.
ANIMERICA: So you're working on the movie
and not the OAV?
Kitazume: That's right. It's Resurrection of
Yamato. It's the story of resurrecting the
Yamato that was split In two in Final Yamato
[the 1983 theatrical release famous for sacri¬
ficing the Yamato in one final, desperate
move, much the same way the Enterprise
NCC-1701 was destroyed at the end of STAR
trek 3, "The Search for SPOCK"—Ed.\.
On the other hand. New Yamato has com¬
pletely new characters. Resurrection of
Yamato will have Susumu Kodai [English-
speaking fans may recognize him as "Derek
Wildstar "—Ed] and a few other characters in
their old age, so they're going to appear in a
story that takes place some years since the
last one.
ANIMERICA: As a Yamato fan yourself, what
do you think of Syd Mead's designs?
Otrul>tii/¥4
the piecing together of the Yamato broken in
the previous story. But I think Yamato's
impact on the audience will always be big,
so that's what I'd like to be involved in.
ANIMERICA: You mentioned that Susumu
Kodai will be showing up in his old age.
How do you design older versions of charac¬
ters you love?
Kitazume: Well, it's similar to what I did in
Char's Counterattack, after all, —Actually, it
was Yasuhiko who had to age Char Aznable
after Gundam and Zefa Gundam so we got to
see Char's aging progress, 3 had a part in
Zeta's version of Char, but that was a design
with many conditions in mind. As for Yamato,
the anime scene is different now from how it
was back then. At that time, Leiji Matsumoto's
popularity was really pulling Yamato along.
So the issue with me now for this current pro¬
ject is: How much of a Leiji Matsumoto style
Krtazume; Well, I have to say it doesn't look should be in my characters? It's my feeling
like a Yamato [LAUGHS], But I think it can that there are more people of a younger gen¬
hold its own and there must be ways to make eration who are more familiar with the ani¬
use of it. But I think it'll require a lot of mated Kodai than the authentic Matsumoto
"imprinting" to make it look like it belongs in Kodat, so perhaps it's better to update the
that universe. So 1 think It'll be necessary to style. More important than the superficial
make it into a series and convince the audi¬ details of the character design, I want to estab¬
ence that ft is indeed a Yamato, If you talk lish the authentic feel of Kodak
about just the design, it doesn't look like a
AN I MERIC A: They started off with the
Yamato,
Matsumoto style, and Kodai's style eventual¬
AN I MERIC A: Yamato was almost a social ly evolved into what he became through the
many sequels. So you'd be adding your style
movement in japanese animation, wasn't it?
based on that character?
What are your feelings about being involved
in a work that you've been a fan of for so
Kitazume: Yes, back then Leiji Matsumoto's
long?
characters were deeply popular in the world,
Kitazume: Well, the main reason I with Galaxy Express 999 and such. So
joined this project was that it's the various different styles of
a theatrical feature. I've been Kodai were still regarded as
an animator for some ten M at $ u m oto -sty 1 e c ha ra c -
years now. Granted, 1 lers. But actually, the
worked on Char's style has been
Counterattack six or
seven years ago, but it
may have been a little
too big a project
for me back then.
Since then. I've got¬
ten more experience,
and I've gotten a little
bit better. So I'd say it
was about time for
me to work on a the¬
atrical feature...in this
case, it just happens to
be Yamato. It's a film 1
had great feelings for In
my youth, and it's a A WOMAN'S TOUCH
feature, so I'd like as Mira! wasn't too fond of the muscle-bound
physique big brother Hiroshi chose for the
many people as possi¬ Moldiver unit, so she redesigned it around
ble to see it, I hope to a sailor-suit theme to better suit her own
show a new generation igure. Do you iike how it came out?
of people what great
animation is. I'm not
really too interested
in the plot, such as
7 AMHf rcif .1,

WTTH FRIENDS LIKE THESE,,.
The goat of Mirai's pretty friend Mao Shirase {pictured
here with her bottom in the air} is fo defeat Mirai in
every known form of competition imaginable.
Naturally, she's also head-over heels about
Upperclassman MisakL
changing all aiong, Conversely, the Susumu
Kodai that the fans want may not actually be
Matsu moto's original Kodak but the Kodai
who's been depicted in the animation.
ANIMERICA: When it comes to character
designing, would you say that it's something
you make from scratch?
Kitazume: Well, a lot of my works tend to
come with strings attached—I could mention
Gundam. Et may not be a good idea to make
the comparison, but you know how {Macross
character designer) Haruhiko Mikimoto can
get aw'ay with working on various titles with
his own style? IVe been forced to change my
style depending on the work, so IVe been
more like a designer than an artist.
ANIMERICA: Designing what fits the world?
Kitazume: Yes, 111 look for the style that will
satisfy what's being sought, f have to fight the
urge to use particular styles of my own to
establish particular moods. I could say it's
tough to be the person who has to make
those decisions.
ANIMERICA: After alb vole have to come up
with many, many characters, not just the
main ones.
Kitazume: Yes, but I think I was extremely lucky
to be able to work with Yoshiyuki Tomino. 1
think that my work with him in the past has
become a real asset for me today. Gundam
Double Zeta had so many subcharacters. For
example, even a sideline character like a mid¬
dle-aged man had to have a profession and
social position and personality. I'm sure
Tomino must have had his frustrations with me,
but still he trusted me. Ultimately, that forced
me into a situation where I had to expand my
repertoire, whether I wanted to or not, I think it
was good for me. So it I know which direction J
need to head in, it's not that hard to come up
with the characters and their variations,
AN$MERlCA:Your last work. Genesis Surviver
Gaiarth, was another complete original,
AmEht nir ,i,
wasn't it? How do you compare the other ed the production and drew the story¬
aspects of production with character design? boards,...
Is coming up with everything else actually
Kitazume: Yes. You star! doubting if what you
the hard part?
thought up can actually be expressed on
Kitazume: Well, a big difference between film. It was a monthly release, so there
Mofdiver and what I did before was that wasn't much time for the amount of work
Mo/d/ver had comical aspects. Until then, 3 that was needed, and I couldn't spend it all
had worked on science fiction and other seri¬ on storyboarding. That's been my big regret.
ous stories, and the characters had to reflect Of course, as the director, I still had to check
that setting. Rut this time, most of the stories and coordinate the storyboards even if I
were light, so I thought my previous style char¬ wasn't drawing them. But 1 hadn't had expe¬
acters might he a little too heavy for it. I felt 1 rience as a director of a TV show, and I
had to come out with characters that could wasn't used to story boarding myself, so there
take on those more lighthearted roles. were many aspects that I had to learn by
doing. For example, I wanted to draw the
ANIMERICA: Like that grandfather-1 ike mad
storyboards for all six volumes and compare
scientist character, He's not really evil, but
them to the finished video to see how it com¬
he's still autocratic.
pared to my original conception, I couldn't
Kitazume: Yes. That type of character gets a accomplish that,
little hard to handle if you make him too seri¬
ANIMERICA: Is storyboarding that difficult?
ous |LAUGHS!. 3 wanted to make him more
cartoonisb or comic book-1 Ike, so In that Kitazume: Yes. It's especially difficult to con¬
respect, he's different from what I've trol the pacing.
designed before.
ANIMERICA: There must be many ways to draw
ANIMERICA: How did your segment in Robot storyboards, but to a layman like me, I envi¬
Carnival come about? A lot of people In the sion them all the way F-fayao Miyazaki does
U.S. know' that particular video because it's them. In reality, they aren't like that, are they?
been released In English.
“BUT WHAT l REALLY WANT IS TO BE A BRIDE!*
Kitazume: I have an acquain¬
tance by the name of
Hiroyukl Kitakubo—I helped
him out when he was mak¬
ing Pop Chaser that's how I
got to know him—and he
told me, "I'm going to be
making this anthology pro¬
ject next. How would you
like to work on it?" So I
accepted his invitation.
ANIMERICA: So from your
short segment in Robot
Carnival to what you're
doing now—what are your
aspirations for directing? Do
you actually have something
in pre-production?
Kitazume: Well, 1 got into ani¬
mation because 3 liked it. I
wanted to transmit the
excitement that I got watch¬
ing animation to today's
audience.,,but it's been far
harder than I ever imagined.
ANIMERICA: Have you felt like
that on projects besides
Robot Carnival?
Kitazume: Especially with
Mol diver. \ had many ideas
on how to entertain the audi¬
ence, but they didn't always
materialize on film.
ANIMERICA: So the ideas were
there, but as you coordinat-
5
Most of them must be more simplified, just
showing the movements, or the timing, or the MOLDIVER VOL. 4, "DESTRUCTION"
scale. I'm guessing that must be how features
are made.
ON SALE AT A VIDEO U.S. RELEASE:
STORE NEAR YOU: On Sale Now (Engllsh/Subtitled VHS;
Kitazume: Actually, the directions are often Bilingual LD)
much more precise and detailed than that.
MOLDIVER ORDER NOs.:
P1VA-1010D / PIVA-1010S
ANIMERICA; You mentioned influences from LENGTH:
Yoshikazu Yasuhtko to Hayao Miyazaki to 30 mins.
Yoshiyuki Tommo. Do you have any other PRICE:
directors who have influenced you? It $19,98/324.98
doesn't have to be someone you've worked NOTES:
with. Or is there a director you would like to Professor Amagi (a.k.a. Dr. Machinegul) is on-
work with in the future? MOLDIVER VOL 1, "METAMORFDRCE" hand for the long-awaited salvaging of the leg¬
endary Japanese battleship, Yamato. What
Kitazume: Well, when I was a student, I U.S. RELEASE: ulterior motives does he hold for this piece of
watched many works by Osamu Dezaki. As On Sale Now (English/Subtitled VHS; military history?
for Miyazaki, I used to really look up to him, Bilingual LD)
but his recent works have tended to become ORDER NOs.:
rather lopsided. I'd like to make it my agenda PIVA-1007D / P3VA-1007S MOLDIVER VOL 5, "INTRUDER"
to clo a different kind of story with a different LENGTH:
kind of direction in his kind of style. So in that 30 mins. U.S. RELEASE:
sense, he's not my goal, but he's always in PRICE: On Sale Now (English/Subtitled VHS; Bilingual
mind as the figure to surpass. $19,98 / $24.98 LD)
NOTES: ORDER NOs.:
ANIMERICA: Probably beginning with your Faster than a speeding bullet train I More pow¬ PIVA-1011D / PIVA-1G1 IS
work on Cundam, your name has become erful than Giant Robo! Able to leap Tokyo LENGTH:
rather well-known in the anime world over¬ Tower in a single bound! Look! Up in the sky! 30 mins.
seas. What do you think about your works It s a bird! It s a plane! It s...MOLDIVER! PRICE:
being seen by people who speak another $19.98/$24.98
language? NOTES:
MOLDIVER VOL. 2, "OVERZONE" Thanks to Hiroshi s hard work, the Moldiver
Kitazume: Well, I could say the same thing for unit is successful divided into Unit Nos. 1
Japan [LAUGHS]. They might still be speaking U.S. RELEASE: and 2. Will Mirai be able to stop the evil plan
the same language, but they probably don't On Sale Now {English/Subtitled VHS; of the superpowered 'Super Dolls” from
know me at all. Well, It might be different if 1 Bilingual LD) going forward?
drew manga, but I think it's pretty hard to see ORDER NOsa
what I'm thinking aside from the visual mes¬ PIVA-1 QG8D / PIVA-1008S
sages in the drawing. 1 think it's the same in LENGTH: MOLDIVER VOL. 6, "VERITY"
japan or in the U.S.; you won't know me as a 30 mins,
person. Actually—although it was quite a PRICE: U.S. RELEASE:
while ago—I received a fan letter from the $19.98/$24.98 November 1994 (English/Subtitled VHS;
NOTES: Bilingual LD)
U.S. once. But I couldn't read it, so I couldn't
Wilt the brother and sister superhero team of ORDER NOs.:
reply (LAUGHS]. In that sense, the language
Hiroshi and Mirai Ozora be able to use the PIVA-10120/ PIVA-1012S
barrier is still big, and I'd like to overcome it.
powers of Moldiver to stop the nefarious Dr, LENGTH:
But I think that might be pretty hard to do.
Machinegul from hijacking the Space Shuttle? 30 mins. !
ANIMERICA: Do you have any message for
your fans overseas?
PRICE;
$19.98 / $24.98
I
MOLDIVER VOL 3, "LONGING" NOTES:
Kitazume: As an animator, I hope that you Verity, the so-called Dimensional Navigation
can enjoy the animation I've worked on. I'm U.S. RELEASE: Project, moves relentlessly forward. Now only
happy that you might remember my name, On Sale Now (English/Subtitled VHS; Moldiver 3 can put it to a halt! Mirai faces her
but the best joy comes when you enjoy the Bilingual LD) greatest challenge of all!
production itself. ORDER NOs.:
PIVA-10Q9D / PIVA-1009S HOW TO ORDER
ANIMERICA: Thank you very much. LENGTH: As of press time, only the first five volumes of this
30 mins. planned six-volume series were available. However;
PRICE: according to Los Angeles-based Pioneer LDCA, fans
319.98/$24.98 may expect to find the remaining volume
NOTES: (English/subtitled VHS and/or bilingual LD) in local
“I have something to give you., T Is upper¬ video stores this fall. Cali 1.800601,3472 for toll-free
classman Misaki actually asking Mirai out on a ordering information, or write to: PIONEER LASER
date? Will Dr. Machinegul’s scantily clad DISC FAN CLUB * 1058 E. 230rd Street * Carson>
"Machine Gals1' stop attacking long enough to CA 90745. Be sure to have your credit card handy
let Mirai make It to her date on lime? when ordering by phone. Pioneer LD Fan Club mem¬
bers receive a W-15% discount on mos/ selections,
so be sure to ask about membership information!

O' [V4 9
Asjmr nira
MAKE MINE MOLDIVER
EncIueito? The ATAMEfltCA Intervraw

niI ' ow that you've read oirf exclusive interview with MOLDIVER secretive, burrowing mammals with iridescenl lur and fossorial
feet classified in the family Ta'ipidae—finally pay off;
Write down your answers on a standard¬
The Kitazume Cam

creator/director/characler designer Hiroyuki Kitazume, see if you can sized postcard (no letters, please) and
answer the following three questions. If you answer correctly, you may send it to;
become the fashionable wearer of a FREE MOLDIVER T-shirt OR you'll be the
id A superpowered mocha suit, alternately worn by a perfectly or-cti-
nary stubble-chinned brother and his busty little sister, which
first on your block to get a FREE MOLDIVER video, both prizes courtesy ot endows Ihem with superpowers enabling them lo nghl wrongs, THE KITAZUME CAM CHALLENGE
those princely people at Pioneer. If you don't win, don't cry! The entire six- defend I he innoceni. and at! rad dates, c/o Viz Communications
part MOLDIVER series will be on sale at your favorite video- store or specialty P.O. Box 77010
retailer this fall! 2. MOLDIVER DEFIES: San Francisco. CA 94107

1. KITAZUME NAMED HIS SERIES MOLDIVER BECAUSE ITS id The law of the jungle; Fifteen winners will be randomly selected
THE STORY OF: fb) The laws ol physics; from all correct answers poslmarked no
m The laws of common decency laler than November 30 1994. Winners
(a) A scantily clad, busty young woman who ekes out a living plung¬ be announced in the December 1994
ing into the ocean depths off Ihe coast of Okinawa lo collect a
3. WHICH WORD MOST EFFECTIVELY STOPS MOLDIVER: issue. Your prize will be sent to the
precious, penicillin-like substance she scrapes from the fins of
address on your postcard, so be sure lo
fast-swimming juvenile bon to: id SHARK!
write legibly. Only one entry per address,
A renowned Japanese naturalist whose years of painstaking (b) EARTHQUAKE! please. Good lucid
research underground—studying the courting rituals Of small. CANCEL!
id

MAKE MIINE MOLDIVER

ANIMERICA Behind the Scenes

A Selected Filmography for Hiroyuki Kitazume

A brief (oak at the accomplishments of an anime man who can. By Trish Ledoux

1979 TV Series MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM Character Designs

1982 Movie THE ID ITACT Animator

BE 1NV

1982 TV Series Character Designs

1983 TV Series Animation Direction

1984 TV Series Animation Direction

1985 Original Character Designs

Animation
Video

1985 TV Series Animation Direction

1986 Original Character Designs

Animation
Video

1986 TV Series fOBILE SUIT GUNDAI Character Designer/

OUBLEZETA Assistant Direction

1987 Original Character Designer

Animation
Video

1987 Movie irector/Screenplay/

haracter Designer
4" Mini-Biography: T
1988 Movie haracter Designer Hiroyuki Kitazirme

1988 Original ENTUI Character Designer/

BORN: July 24 1961 in Tokyo, Japan
Animation ontinuity A
BLOOD TYPE:
Video STAR SIGN: Leo
MARITAL STATUS: Single
1992 Original Character Designer
EDUCATION: Tokyo Design institute
Animation INFLUENCES: Mobfe Suit Gundtam, Yoshikazu
Yasuhiko. Tatsuo Yoshida of
Video Tatsunoko Production, Space
Cruiser Yamato, Hayao
1992 Original iENESIS SURVIVER Character Designer/ Miyazaki, Qsamu Dezakt

Animation icreenplay/ HOBBIES: Cars

irector FAVORITE Star Wars (1977)
Video AMERICAN FILM:
PHILOSOPHY: 1 was extremely lucky to be
1993 Original lOLDIVER Original Concept/ able lo work with Yoshiyuki
Director/ Tomino I think that my work
Animation
with him in the pasi has become
Video Character Designer a real asset for me today.H

OcTcjbEiV9 4
 ANIME

VIZ TSR We carry a complete

Streamline FASA
line ol Anime,
A.D. Vision Steve Jackson
AnimEigo GDW miniatures and
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Media White Wolf
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SCIENCE FICTION CONTINUUM

Catalogue of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, & Animation

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AMBASSADOR MAGMA 1-2 34.99 ea MOLDIVER SERIES 1-5 34.99 each
AREA 88 AGT 1 34.99 MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO 34.99
AREA 88 ACT 2 34.99 NADIA (1-4) 39.99
AREA 88 ACT 3 34.99 PROJECT AKO 39.99
A.D. POLICE 1-3 54.99 ROBOT CARNIVAL 39.99
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BUBBLEGUM CRISIS 4 & ROBOTECH MACROSS SERIES
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DEVIL HUNTER YOKHO 39.99 TENCHI MUYO SERIES
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GIANT ROBO 1 34.99 TENCHI MUYO 7 39.99
LENSMAN 39.99 TETSUO: IRON MAN 39.99

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VHS only. Wo accept Mastercard, Visa, & American Express. No COD’S. We accept US. currency only! Shipping for Continental USA l iape-S4,2 tapes-$6, $ i ,50cadi
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^ Pea ler Inqu ir ies welcome

VIZ VIDEO GETS FAST
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arts action-adventure based on Takara's
bestselling Neo-Geo/SMES/Genesis video
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import version).
As reported in the July 1994 issue of
AN [ME RIGA, the stars of Fatal Fury are the
hard-hitting, bare-knuckled fighters who use
their martial arts skills to avenge wrongs and
punish the bad guys of their world. When a
no-holds-barred martial arts tournament
called '"King of Fighters"' is announced, the
previously estranged two-brother team of
Andy and Terry Bogard seize their chance to
avenge the murder of their father ten years
ago by the thuggish brawler, Geese Howard.
Fatal Fury features character designs by
Masami Obari (Detonator Orgun, Bubblegum
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MAI SHIRANUI
Granddaughter of Hanzo Shiranui
and successor to the Shiranui
School of Ninjutsu. Even though
she's a fully trained female ninja,
Mai is basically a happy-go-lucky
girl who fails in love with Andy at
first sight (she loves to pass her-
seff off as his fiancee). Her tech¬
niques are the feminine yet
tating "Dragon Fire Dance"
"Flower Butterfly Fan.”
ANDY BOGARD
Terry’s little brother The
murder of his father Jeff
Bogard, killed before his
eyes by a former family
friend, compelled Andy to
enter the dangerous world
of martial arts. Andy once
trained under the renowned
martial arts master Hanzo
Shiranui; this may be why
his techniques are said to
be more finely honed than
Terry s. Usually calm and
collected, the only time he
loses it is when the lovely
Mai either turns on the
sugar, or is in peril. His
special techniques are the
"Flying Wing Fist" and
Super Explosive Rending
Bui tet.”
1994 SNK • Fuji TV - NAS
TERRY BOGARD
Nicknamed "Hungry Wolf;
master of street fighting and
the secret technique known
as the "Eight Ultimate Fists "
Terry loves his freedom and
for that reason spends his
time wandering the land
without ties to any dojo. His
special attacks are "Bum
Knuckle,* "Power Wave,*
and “Power Geyser."
JO HIGASHI
Old friend of Terry and a
specialist in kick-boxing
techniques. His special
attacks are "Tiger Kick"
and the "Screw Upper."
VIDEO CUPS
AMERICA'S TOP SELLERS
The Bestselling Anime Videos, Based on Pre^Orders
Compiled by Capital City Distribution, inc,
{During the Month of Septemberl 994)
1 Ranma 1/2 The Movie 2. 'Nihao My
Concubine"
Viz Video * 534,95
2 .Dirty Pair. The Flight 005 Conspiracy
SI reamline Pictures * S29.9&
S.Urotsukr Doji Hi. "Return of the Overfiend ' *
Episode One
Anime 18 * $29.95
4 .bVickeJ City
Streamline Pictures * $29.95
5 .Project A-Ko The Versus, "Battle ?: Grey
Side1'
U.S. Manga Corps * $29,95
6 Cryrng Freeman, Shades of Death " * Voi. 2
Streamline Pictures * S29.95
7 .Cutey Honey * Voi-1
A.D Vision • $34.95
8-.M-.iHue Sonnet
U.S. Manga Corps * $29.95
9 .F3 (Frantic. Female, and Frustrated)
A.D. Vision * S29.95
10 .. .Lity C.A.T.
Streamline Pictures * S29.95
OcTobin/94
MOVE OVER, BUFFY CYBERPUNK CLASSIC
devil huhter VPHKO FINDS ITS VOICE
bubblegum crisis
Everyone s favorite exorcist returns with a
vengeance (and just in time
for Halloween!) with DEVIL BUBBLEGUM CRISIS, the cyberpunk tale of mechanical
HUNTER YOHKO 2 £ 3. menaces and metal-suited mercenaries,
not to mention a brand- makes its long-awaited dubbed
new music video, DEVIL debut (with songs in English!) this
Hunter yohko 4-ever, month from North Carolina-based
coming this month from AnimEigo,
Texas-based A. D. Vision.
Likcr a phoenix, the city of
In Devil Hunter Yohko 2t the
MegaTokyo is rising from the
spooky sequel to A.D. Vision's
ashes of a devastating earth¬
Devil Hunter Yohko, busty
quake. in the twisted canyons
exorcist Yohko has a job to
of the megalopolis, a small
do. Not only does she have band of high-tech female
to put the vengeful spirits
mercenaries called the
back into their graves, she "Knight Sabers" fight a lonely
a iso has to deal with killer
battle against the evil Genom
trees, possessed puppies, Corporation and its sinister
and demonic construc¬ aneroid "Boomers." But will
tion equipment, not to their efforts be enough,..?
mention breaking in First released in Japan during
a new apprentice! 1967, director Toshimichi Suzuki's
In Devil Bubblegum Crisis features character
Hunter Yohko 3, des gns by the popular Kenichi Sonoda
Yohko is kidnapped and taken to an {Call Force) and, in later episodes of
alternate dimension ruled by the the eight-volume series, direction by
Dragon King, Ryu-Oh. Whife her Fatal Fury's energetic Masami
friends Asuza and Chigako frantical¬ Obari, as well as No Need For
ly try to reopen the door to the Ten c h i! d i recto r H i rok i H a yas h i. A
demon plane, Yohko stays busy bat¬ second series, the three-volume This monstrous Boomer
tling various demons and monsters Bubblegum Crash, was released in can fire a laser beam
in order to save a handsome prince. Japan during 1991 and is available
from its mouth

Will Yohko find true love at last?
Unlike previous Yohko videos,
Devil Hunter Yohko 4-Ever is a
music compilation featuring clips
from the first three Yohko videos. Also
included are live-action performances by the
original Japanese voice-cast, as well as an
all-new superdeformed animation sequence.
A.D. Vision will be selling Devil
Hunter Yohko 2 and 3 together on one cas¬
sette, while Devil Hunter Yohko 4-Ever is
subtitled in English from AnimEigo.
A longtime subtitled bestseller,
An if nE [go's Bubblegum Crisis series has become an
YOHKO MANQ
American anime classic for its popular combination of
The one-hundred-and-eighth
generation in a tin@ of devil sci-ti action and its driving rock and roll soundtrack. For
hunters, Yohko was trained by
her grandmother since ©arty their English dub, AnimEigo reportedly auditioned over
childhood to someday take over
the family business. Yohko has one hundred voice-actors for each of the four Knight
been a devil hunter since age
Sabers. Did they find their Sabers? Buy it this month and
sixteen, end continues her
demon-catching work even find out! BUBBLEGUM CRISIS VOL. 1 FROM ANIMEIGO;
though she’d much rather be
catching the eyes (and hearts) of
the local boys.

sold separately. It's almost 2cool 2be 2rue! ASUZA KANZAKI

devil hunter yohko 2 & 3 from a.d,
VISION; SUBTITLED VMS; 65 MINS,;
US$34.95. Devil hunter yohko 4-ever;
SUB TITL ED VMS; 30 MINS,; US$ 19.95. *
Although Azusa wasn't born to a
family of devil hunters, her
grandmother was good iriends
with Yohko's grandmother, and
so Azusa received enough train¬
ing to become an apprentice
devil hunter. Since she grew up
in the mountains, she's not very
good with electronics, but is very
successful in domestic pursuils.

Voice-actors Aya Hisakawa

( Yohko) and Konami Yoshida
(Azusa) Strike a pose.
Hisakawa is tiest-kftOwn for her
role as “Satior Mercury" in
LOVELY SOL DIBS SAIL OH
MOON, while Yoshida's most
recent work is in the Japanese
television series RAUIN-Oh

Octobed/94
IT AmiHFBKj,
 SOUNOY
Soundy's father was the one who discovered

'RE TERMI the ancient spaceship remnants that ted to

the Earth's sett-destruction, The leader of a
Western guerilla team, Soundy argues that
the two forces- should unite against the

U" metallic menace of the war machines,

In the tradition of such films as director

James Cameron's apocalyptic sci-fi FORTE
action-adventure THE TERMINATOR; U.S. Eastern guer¬
rilla with a
Manga Corps7 Rhea Gall FORCE skips
ahead to the bleak future of Earth after

1989 MOVIC CBS/Sony Group, Inc:

the mass of humanity has destroyed itself MELODY
in one fast war against the machine. Sensitive and
lighthearted
member of
The year is 2085. The Solnoid race Is long Soundy's
guerilla team.
dead, annihilated along with their enemies
in one final, hellish battle. On Earth, the
descendants of the Sol no id race have discov¬
ered I o n g-forgo tten So I no i d tec h no I ogy a nd
have created the means of their own destruc¬ SCOPE
tion in the form of robot warriors armed with Eastern guerilla

0
with no love for
h avoc -w tea k i n g | >1 asma weapt>n s, the West.
War has reduced the cities of Earth to
mountains of rubble, while mechanical
killing machines created by both sides ruth¬ 1989 as a sequel to 1988's popular direct- Returning as character designer for the
lessly hunt down the planet's remaining to-video animated Cali Force series, Rhea new series is Bubblegum Crisis' Kenichi
humanity. Divided by old hatreds and preju¬ Call Force continues the successful combi¬ Sonoda, who brings his usual magic touch
dices, can the few who remain to fight the nation of girls, guns, and more girls in a to the newer, tougher Calf Force team.
machines put aside their differences long dystopian sci-fi setting. However, unlike Look for it this month in a video specialty
enough to evacuate the last 30,000 people the original Cal! Force, Rhea Gall Force shop near you, RHEA CALL FORCE FROM
left on Earth to a safe haven on Mars? focuses more on character development US. MANGA CORPS; SUBTITLED VMS; 60
Originally released in japan during and interaction. MINS.; US$29.95. ft

Video Release Schedule Coming Soon in America

News on the latest releases from the American subtitled and dubbed animation industry. * = Not yet known. * = Senes reviewed/more news in this issue. X = Recommended for mature viewers only.

SCHEDULES FORMAT! Ytti/U>] TITLE CATALOG NOS- SOLOTHRU NOTES

RELEUf {VHS/LD)

10/5/94 English VMS X UROTSUKI DOJI III: EPISODE 2. A18-120& Anime 18 $29.95 ABSOLUTELY NOT FOR CHILDREN! Second installment in the controversial
-RETURN OF THE OVERFIEND" adulis-oniy anime series: 60 mins.

10/5/94 Subfilled VHS GODMARS RS 9002 The Right Stul $24 95 in the tradition of the space opera SPACE CRUISER YAMATO-. "; 1932 theatrical
release: 93 mins.
10/5/94 Subtitled VHS X GENOCYSER PARTS 2 & 3. USM 1101 U.S. Manga Corps $29 95 Two OAV episodes on one lapel Based on the manga by TonyTakezaki (AD
-VAJRANOID SHOWDOWN" POLICE); 50 mins.

10/5/94 English VHS PROJECT A-KO 3. "CINDERELLA USM 1134 U.S. Manga Corps $19.95 Third OAV installmenl in US.M.C.’s popular A-KO series; 50 mms.
RHAPSODY"
10/5/94 Subtitled VHS * RHEA GALL FORCE USM 1036 U.S. Manga Corps $29.95 1989 one-shol OAV sequel to the lirst three-volume OAV series: 69 mins.

10/12/94 Subtitled VHS
10/12/94 English VHS
X LEGEND OF LYON, FLARE 1 &2 VHS L O01 SoflCel Pictures $2995 Texas-based: A.D. Vision’s adult label; "contains scenes ol graphic sex and
violence”; 60 mins.
RANMA 1/2 * TV SERIES VOL, 7 WRT-007 Vi2 Video $29,95 Contains the episodes "A Tear in a Girl-Delinquent s Eye? The End of the Martial
Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge” and “Pelvic Fortune-Telling? Rantma is
Ihe No. One Bride in Japan"; 52 mins.

10/20/94 English VHS X CRYING FREEMAN * VOL. 4 90863 Streamline Pictures $29.95 Based on the manga series by Ryoichi Ikegami and Kazuo Koike; graphic nudity
and sexual situations; 50 mins.
10/21/94 Subtilled VHS X * devil hunter YOHKO 4-EVE f VHSY-QQ4 A.0. Vision $19-95 Music video featuring clips from the first three YOHKO OAVs; live-action
sequences, superdeformed animation, and more: 30 mins

10/21/94 SubtiUed VHS X * DEVIL HUNTER YOHKO 2 & 3 VHSY-023 A.D, Vision $34 95 Two OAVs on one tape! "Find out if fhose are really pumpkins under Yohko s
dress" (from an A.D. Vision press release); 65 mins.

10/25/94 English VHS EIGHT MAN AFTER * VOL. 3 90903 Streamline Pictures S14.95 Remake of the classic 1960s manga and anime superhero series: 29 mins.
10/26/94 English VHS W BUBBLEGUM CRISIS * VQLS 1-2 ET094-0G2 / AnimEigo $19 95 The dub you've been wailing tor! Over 400voice-aclors were reportedly audi¬
ET-05M-Q03 tioned before ArnmEigo found their Knighi Sabers-^find out if it was worth ill Also
leatures all songs in English; 53 mins, each volume
LEO THE LION* VOLS. 1-4 + * $6.95 Contains one TV episode each Irom the recent JUNGLE EMPEROR remake;
10/94 English VHS
based on Qsamu 'God of Comics" Tezuka s original manga; 25 mins, each volume

10/94 English / » MQLDIVER * VOL 2 PIVA1GG9D / Pioneer LDCA $19.98/ Previously available only on LD; 30 mins.
Subtiiied VHS PI VAT009S $24.98
10/94 English / * NO NEED FOR TENCH 1? * VOL 2 P1VA10O2D / Pioneer LDCA $19.98/ Previously available only on LD; 30 mins.
Subtitled VHS PIVA1002S 524.93

10/94 English VHS ROBGTECH, "MACRQSS PERFECT * Streamline Pictures $19 95 A real collector's itemI Contains |wo original episodes as broadcast on Japanese
TV. plus the corresponding RQBOTECH episodes: 100 mins.
COLLECTION" * VOL, 3
ROBOTECH, "SOUTHERN CROSS A Streamline Pictures $19.95 A real collector’s item! Contains two original episodes as broadcast on Japanese
10/94 English VHS
PERFECT COLLECTION” * VOL. 3 TV, plus the corresponding RQBOTECH episodes; 100 mins.

RQBOTECH, "MOSPEADA PEHFECT ★ Streamline Pictures $19.95 A real collector's item! Coniains two original episodes as broadcast on Japanese
10/94 English VHS
COLLECTION" * VOL, 3 TV, eks the corresponding ROSOTECH episodes; 100 mins.
USR-VD25 U.S. Renditions / $24 95 Resolicited from February. Contains the episodes "Shocking Transformation! The
10/94 English VHS THE GUYVER * VOL, 5
LA Hero Tragedy ol Enzyme II" and "Can We Escape? Hunted at Takeshiro Village"; 60mins.

★ U.S. Renditions/ $24.95 Resoiicited Irom March. Contains the episodes "The Factory" and ’Seventeen?
10/94 English VHS SUPER DIMENSION CENTURY
ORGUSS *V0L. 8 L A, Hero SS mins.
 ®DDfiaB®ofesi gBq® Scenes
'Q^®c?Q:0r
( ml
r he face of American anime is about to change
and some people will be overjoyed—anime will
be everywhere,, not just in some Blockbuster
, me to start around June 30, and by July 13, we
Videos, but at your local music chain, at discount
superstores, at K-Mart. And it wifi be cheap.
Others will be horrified Because it will be
anime for the people, ripped from its roots 3S a small
genre dominated by hardcore fans and purists, and
transmogrified for the mass-market American audi¬
ence Yes, it will be dubbed. And that 's likely to be just
the beginning.
This trend toward the mainstreaming of
Japanese animation has been there all along, but it
has taken the arrival of a giant new player in the
industry for the trend to become a reality. That new
player f$ Manga Entertainment, a company which has
an overwhelming presence in its home markets in the
U.K. Through canny promotion—and some would say,
cutthroat competition—Manga Entertainment has
transformed anime there from a boutique specialty
item into a video staple, with nearly five per cent of
the overall home video pie.
Now, Manga Entertainment is taking its savvy
abroad to the Good OT U.S. of A, They've bought out
L A. Hero, one of the anime industry's major minor
players, and Installed a U S. headquarters in Chicago.
Confident controversial, and flush with capital.
Manga Entertainment is now preparing a no-holds-
barred attempt to make anime a household
word... beginning with a slate of high-profile releases
on videotape and in theaters everywhere. And then?
Anime on prime-time TV, naturally. ANIME Q&A
speaks with Manga Entertainment's U.S. president,
Marvin Gleicher, the man at the helm of anime s
newest Gigantor.
Q: Where did Manga Entertainment begin?
A It began in England in 1991, started at zero, and
ended up doing extremely well. In some areas,
our stuff was four or five percent of the home sell-
through video market—which is right up there with
most of the big major theatrical film distributors.
Q: How did they manage that?
A: Well, they were the first to bring anime into
England. What happened was that Andy Frain.
Manga Entertainment U.K.’s managing director,
and some of the other principals, were working at
Island Films, And while they were there, the
Otomo film Akira was brought to their attention,
and they fell in love with it. They were turned on.
But then again, at some point, I think everyone is
turned on to this genre, Anyway, they immediately
began licensing titles, and started out by getting
the product into the music stores, not just the spe¬
cialty shops. It just took off. Manga has spread
through Europe, into Spain and France and
Germany and everywhere else,
Q: And now the United States.
A: Yes. What we're attempting to do here is to edu¬
cate more of the population of America about
anime, to expand the market base for the entire
genre. We feel that the Japanese animators are
the best in the world, and that their exposure in
the U.S. has still been limited. And with our exper¬
tise in marketing and promotions—and, hopefully,
with the right titles—we’ll be able to. on a gradual
basis, expose the genre to more Of the mass
media and mainstream population.
Q: So how did you get involved with anime?
A: What’s funny is that I saw the film Appleseed. My
wife came in and there I was, completely fascinat¬
ed with it, and she started yelling at me. ,LWhat are
you watching? This is in Japanesef I didn’t even
pay attention to her. because I was watching the
film. And then I saw Giant Robo. And Macross 1
was hooked on it! So when Andy and Chris
Blackwell of Island Records asked me to come
aboard,, it took me about two minutes. They asked
OtrobEn/94
There wouldn't he much anime or rr anga in English withouf o dedicated corps of people working
behind the scenes for sometime^, m the limelightj to produce our favorite pastime. Anime Q & A brings
you mini-interviews with the U.S. industry professionals who make it oil possible. By Jeff Yang
were up and running. As a kid, I did watch Astro
Boy along with Bugs Bunny, but this was totally
different,
G: Was this your first experience with the anima¬
tion industry?
A: I had worked in animation before, I was a film¬
maker and a commercial producer in the 70s, and
produced several animated commercials, and one
short animated film I always felt that animation
would eventually become much more of a mass
communications medium than it was being used
as. Because it was easier for people to relate to.
on a less serious basis. Teachers always discour¬
age people from reading comic books in America,
but as I did some research in other cultures. I
found out that comics are actually encouraged. I
mean, when we were brought up. teachers would
rather see you reading a large textbook than a
comic book. So of course, we read the
comics...stuck behind our textbooks. But now the
American culture has definitely opened up to ani¬
mation, over the last twenty years,
Q: So you think it's really ready for Japanese ani¬
mation.
A: Weil, yes. It's ready for us. And we're going to
make sure that it happens. First of all. Manga
Entertainment is going to acquire the highest-
quality films we can. I’m not going to go after titles
that won't broaden the audience base. I'm not
looking to fill the pipeline. I'm looking to expand it,
Secondly, I feel that our ability to market and pro¬
mote is going to help everybody in the genre.
Well be theatrically releasing films, as well as
running animation festivals, It wor’t just be the
home video market—we're going to be in the¬
aters, in the festivals, and on TV,
Q: What are some of Manga Entertainment s first
planned releases?
A; There’s Macross Plus and Qrguss-02: we're also
putting out an English dub of Appleseed. We're
releasing the Astro Boy series, the- one in color
that came out from 198? to 1984, which was
never released in the U.S. There ere maybe fifty
episodes, and well be doing three episodes per
video at a very inexpensive price, We’re doing
Wings of Honneamise, both Pat labor movies—the
second one is amazing—and Qtono's latest film.
Memories. It’s long: It's a two-hour film, And I’m
going to say nothing about it. because I want Ihe
first impression that we project from the film to be
very accurate.
Q: Whom do you see as your primary audience?
A: Initially, adolescent boys, but defin tely a wider
audience in the future. We're cons'antly research¬
ing female leads and female appeal; J don't think
the age demographic is going to change, but gen¬
5 An im rica
der definitely will, to include women as well. And 1
do think there's a potential for one of the higher-
budget films to break through to more than just
the fans. That will heip all the distributors and
repertoire owners, What's good for any of us is
good for all of us.
Q: You said that your releases are going to be
inexpensive...
A: Yes, $12.95, $14.95, around that price-point. To
make it more accessible. And to get it into stores
where the consumers go, outside the existing
Ians. I see Ihe fans buying their videos and their
comics in their favorite shops, not the more mass-
merchandising stores, But I also know that anoth¬
er fifteen-year-old kid, one who’s into Nine Inch
Nails and the Beastie Boys, won't be exposed to it
unless they went into a store that had it—let’s say.
somewhere they buy records. So. because of the
price-point, and because of where we'll be, they
can now be exposed to Manga Entertainment's
videos, as well.
And the videos wil be dubbed.
Well, yes! Most of the mass consumers don’t
speak Japanese, right? Well change it so they can
understand it. The fans react with resistance when
things are dubbed. That's the beginning of the
problem. If that's what they want, they should buy
the Japanese versions. If it works for us to trans¬
late the videos into English, well do it. I might
change some of the music on the videos, too.
Wow. That'll realty send the blood pressures
of the fans up.
They won't like it. but they’ll have to listen to it—
they'll go out and get it just to make sure it is
changed. We will always respect the director and
producer's wishes. But if the music is extremely
dated and we can get U2 or the Beastie Boys or
Cypress Hill to do the music for us, I think that it's
just going to have a beneficial effect.
Uh..,U2? You think they re going to do an
anime soundtrack?
I've already talked to U2! And they're thinking
about it. for one of the future films we're making
right now. I can't tell you what it is, because the
contract is still there,
G; You’re making films?
A: We're working with the Japanese studios, yes,
We've got six films in production, it’s still a
Japanese animation, they'll still be recorded in
Japanese and released there first, but we’re fund¬
ing them. Of course, well still be acquiring films
that already exist, like everyone else.
Q; So this is the beginning of anime’s move into
the American mainstream...
A: I can't figure it that way; it all depends on how
cooperative the actual TV and film-viewing audi¬
ences are. Thats where the base will be built.
Well be doing thirty-five to fifty titles a year—
that's individual titles. The Macross Plus series
has four tapes, so that would count as four titles.
And we're looking to theatrically release six films
a year, We already know what tour of those will
be—Wings of Honrteamise, Patlabor 1 and 2. and
Memories. Memories will come out next year,
probably in December. Afacross plus will be on
home video as soon as February. But that’s just
the beginning. I want to be able to turn on TV and
see anime on prime-lime. And why shouldn't it be
possible...? That's what my goal is. For people to
turn on the TV and see anime, And hopefully,
they’ll be watching Macross Plus.
G: One last question—what's your favorite anime
character?
A: That's a tough question. But you know, for some ‘
reason, I like Giant Robo
Jeff Yang i$ a New York-based freelance writer whose work
Often appears in THE VILLAGE VOICE. He is also Eciitor-in-
ChtetOtA. MAGAZINE, THE ASIAN AMERICAN QUARTERLY.
 What’s new? What’s hot? In this section. Animerica brings you the best of the current releases and the
latest news straight from the Japanese anime industry.

SPECIAL FEATURE!

THE TOKYO TELEVISION REPORT

While the "Big Four" (ABCf NBC, CBS and Fox) slug it out in prime-time for ratings dominance on U S. airwaves, in
Japan an incredible new fail anime lineup is waiting in the wings. Animerica takes a special sneak peek at a few of
the new animated series scheduled for broadcast,, which just might, if we're iuckyf wind up in English someday.

Gami1 in Klzaki sequences. Production is by Hero and

Nineteen-year-old ace
pilot of the elite squadron Ashi Production.
"Diamond Force” led by
Captain Kinryu. Flies his As reported in the August 1994 issue
treasured VF-17-D of Ammlrjca, rumor has it that Macross
Ivano Gevilnich Valkyrie against the evil
Leader of Ihe forces of the Barota. Seven may eventually be released in the
Sarofa. possessed
by a liitie-under’ United States as well. Look to Animerica for
stood alien life form
known as Ihe more information as it becomes available!
‘“Proto-Devl«n.'H
Macross Seven; broadcast on Japan's
Tokyo Broadcasting Station (TBS) start¬
ing 2 October at 11:00 a.m. on Sundays.

TV'S GOT A NEED FOR TENCHI!

ma
■A
MiSene Genius
Fourteen-year-old
daughter of Max and
Mina (Ihe poignant
cioss-species couple
beloved ol Robot&cb
lead singer of >
Ihe punk rock band,/
“Fi rebomber."
U.N. SPACY REVEALS
"OFFICIAL" MACROSS TIMELINE
PRIOR TO RELEASE OF NEW
SERIES
MACROSS SEVEN
For those of you who thought the
Macross // direct-to-video series was the
'official” sequel to Macross, think again!
Thanks to information contained in a spe¬
cial “additional footage" supplement con¬
tained in the recently Japan-released
Macross Plus laser disc, Animerica has
learned that the Macross timeline sup¬
plied to us by U. N. Spacy and published
at their request in our November 1992
issue may need a little revising.
According to U.N. Spacy, only 1982's
Superdimensional Fortress Macross televi¬
sion series (broadcast in the U.S, as
Robotech in 1985) counts as "official"
Macross history. Macross It, which was
y/Basara
f 21-year-old lead
mate vocalist in
v According to producers, the new Tenchi!
lilene's band. Said to
5 more inle rested in ’■
stting a "musical high'
lan in entertaining his.
audience.
LD supplement, Macross: Do You
Remember Love? is actually a theatrical
release filmed in 2031, based on '"real"
events. (Imagine a real-life story optioned
for a Hollywood feature and you've got the
picture. '"Let's see...well give Roy Fokkera
more macho death, Min met a bigger role—
she's good box office..." You get the idea.)
Macross Seven, the newly animated
series scheduled for television broadcast in
japan this October, takes place thirty-five
years after the events in the original Macross
and features a new generation of Valkyrie
pilots. In place of the Brobdingnagian
aliens, the Zentra d i, Macross Se ven w i 11
introduce a brand-new menace come to ter¬
rorize the hapless human race, the rebel
forces of the planet Barota, whose leader Es
possessed by an unpredictable (and even
more alien) life form.
Directing the series is Tetsuro Amino,
while veterans Kazuki Miyatake and Shoji
Kawamori return for media design duties.
Character concepts are by the ever-popu-
TENCHI MUYO!: THE
TELEVISION SERIES
Thanks to the runaway success of the
cult-hit OAV series—not to mention plenty
of enthusiastic fans—an even more sci-fi
version of director Hiroki Hayashi’s come¬
dy hit Tenchi Muyo! (No Need For
Tenchi!) is scheduled to hit Japan s air¬
waves starting this October,
TV series will feature all the same wacky
characters and talented voice-actors from
the popular direct-to-video series, but will
also have an all-new story, as well as some
brand-new characters. Direction on the
series is by Hiroshi Negishi (KO Century
Three Beastketeers), while Hiroyuki
Honuchi (animation director, Tenchi!
Sped a f) provides updated character designs.
Like Macross Seven (see above), the
new series will take place in a different or
alternate story continuity. However, the
series' coordinator is quick to reassure fans
that "the basic personalities of the characters
will remain the same," meaning that fans
can expect to find all the z ani ness of the
OAV series, plus an additional quirk or two.
Also unlike the OAV series, the new
Ryoko will be a most-wanted space pirate,
and not a demon imprisoned beneath the
Tenchi family shrine for several hundred
years. Producers say Ryoko will meet
Tenchi for the "'first" time while she's on the
[am from the Galaxy Police and her starship
crash lands nearby. As for where the action
goes from there, well just have to wait and
see, won't we? Tenchi Muyo!: The Television
Series; broadcast on Japanese TV this fall.
© 1394 AiC/Ptoneer LDC, Inc.

released in English here in the United States
by U«S. Rend it lons/LA. Hero, IS apparently
set in an alternate Macross continuity,
while 1984/ Macross: Do You Remember
Lovei movie was just that—a movie.
According to the special Macross Plus
lar Haruhiko Mikimolo. Series supervision
is also by Shoji Kawamori, whose Macross
Plus OAV series is currently causing quite
an uproar among anime tans in both Japan
and the United States for its beautiful ani
mation and thrilling edge-of-your-seat fight

OcTob(n/9l4
AkImihIca 16
 © 1994 Yuzo TakadafTake Shobo/BS Projact/TokyQ TV
happy with the arrangement. But if she saves Mamorii Kusanagi
MODERN-DAY TALE OF herself, what will save humanity? Young man endowed wi|h special
powers by Ihe Aragami to prevent
Directed by Cirf From Phantasia's jun Momiji from being sacrificed.
MYTHICAL BEASTS, EXORCISM Kamiya, Blue Seed features c haracter designs
Mamoru eventually turns against
the Aragami, but continues to pra¬
AND RITUAL SACRIFICE hyTakayuki Goto and Kazuya Kise, both of ted Momiji for reasons of his own.

whom worked on the animated direct-to-video Kaede Fujlmiya

BLUE SEED series Zillion, currently available from Los Momijr'a twin sis¬
ter and original
Based on the manga hy Yuzo Takada, cre¬ Angeles-based Streamline Pictures, An addi¬ -w sacrificial candi-
■frA date, The Aragami
ator of Streamline Pictures’ 3x3 Eyes and tional plus for Japanese voice-actor fans is the F4J kidnap Kaede
¥ from the protec-
the as-yet unreleased All-Purpose appearance of Megumi Hayashibara ("female :,_^vtion of Ihe NCD
Ranma " Ranma 7/2) as "Momiji." Animation fjand convert her to
Cultural Cat Girl (currently rumored to be /)’their side.
in negotiation by another companycomes is by Production LG. and Ashi Production. It
another welcome addition to this October's ought to make for some interesting Halloween
Tokyo television lineup. Eve viewing in Japan, at least. Blub Seed;
BROADCAST ON JAPAN'S TOKYO TV STARTING 5
Originally serialized in Comic Gamma, a
October at 8:00 pml on Wednesdays.
bimonthly manga magazine published by
Momiji Fujlmiya
Take Shobo, Blue Seed could be described as High-school student slated for slaugh¬
ter tc rebuff the demonic Aragami. it
a modern-day interpretation of some of so happens that Momiji is also experi¬
Japan's more colorful monster-slaying folklore. enced in performing exorcisms for Ihe
National Control Division, a secret
In Takada's series, netherworld monsters government agency
called the "Aragami" are perpetually on the
verge or invading Earth, and only the ritual Aragami
Anci ant “Spirit' monsters
sacrifice of a virgin can keep them at bay. In who can possess trees, ani¬
mals, and people. Human Daitetsu Kunikida
present-day Japan, a teenage girl scheduled sacrifice forces them into Chief Of the NCD., Ihe special
dormancy for a limited time,
for sacrifice is, as you might expect, not too but vrfio knows how long
agency that protects the country
Irom the Aragami by coni roiled
that 'safely' will last.,.? exorcism and sacrifice.

OAV Release Schedule O i 9 SOOH If-! «E1cl F“l

Direct from Japanr this month's most accurate and up-to-date original animation video release schedule.
*= Not yet known, ** = Series reviewed/more news in this issue, k = Recommended for mature viewers only.
On :OHMAT Title Order NoS- Sold Thru/ Price Length Notes
Sale [VH3/LDJ Production Company

10/1 VHS/LD Irresponsible Captain Tylor Special ★ / -A Tylor Project / +/* 0.45 The hapless Captain Tylor coniines to make galactic peace
Edition * Vat. 1 Dornu through sheer good luck
10/1 VHS/LD Gatchaman * Vol, 1. “Gatchaman vs. COVC-4386 / Columbia Japan / ¥9SOD/¥7eOO 0:45 The finely feathered superheroes from a bygone age return to
TuRTle King" COLC-313 (CLV) Tatsunoko Prod. crush the evil schemes of a supervillain
10/1 VHS/LD Bounty Dog, hEve of the Moon" * Vol, 1 TA4552S / * Toho Video / ¥6000.^5800 0:60 "Cyberpunk" mystery that fakes place on (he moon
Animate Film
10/5 VHS/LD The Poltergeist Report - Video Report, PCVG-10114/ Pony Canyon / ¥2900.^:5800 0:3C Digesi version of the “Dark Tournament" story arc from the highly ;
Dark Tournament Chapter PC LG-00019 (CAV) Studio Pierrot rated Japanese television series
10/7 VHS/LD Explosive Flame Campus Gardless * VIVF-10116/ Victor Entertain. / ¥580G/¥S800 0:30 Slapstick fantasy set in Japanese high school: Irom Ihe creative
Vol 3 V ILF-51 (CAV) Production LG. duo of Hagiwara (Bastard! 1) and Akahori (Plastic Little)
10/7 VHS/LD The Sign of Otaku * Vot. 1 JSVA-22471 / KSS / ¥5300/¥5300 0:30 Animated remake of a classic Japanese video game
JSLA-22471 (CAV) Triangle Staff
10/7 VHS/LD I'm a Space Miner * Vol. 1 JSVA-22481 / KSS / ¥5300/¥6300 C 30 Space adventure in the tradition of Hayao "My Neighbor Totoro"
JSLA-22481 (CAV) Triangle Staff Miyazaki
10/SI VHS/LD Yokohama “Bakkure" Gang * Vot. 3 ZF-00320 / * Toei Video / ¥12381 / + 0:50 Rough and tumble teen biker action set in Yokohama, Japan
Knack
10/21 VHS/LD Lewd Teacher JSVA-52456 / Pink Pineapple / ¥6800 / sreeoo 0:45 From the studio that brought you A.D. Vision's Rec Rei and End of
JS LA-52456 (CLV) Horan bina Summer
10/21 VHS/LD Onikirimaru ■ Vol. 2 JSVA-52456 / KSS/ ¥4800/^800 0:30 The poignant (and bloody) adventures of Onikirimaru the Demon
JS LA-22442 {CAV) Pastel Hunter, based on the manga by Kei Kusunoki
10/21 VHS/LD Maps * Vol. 3, "The Ghost Ship of Sjx“ JSVA-22397 / KSS/Tokyo ¥50O0/¥£000 0:30 Space adventure based on the manga by Yuichi Hasegawa
JS LA-22397 {CAV) Movie Shins ha
10/21 VHS/LD Birth * Vol. 1 */* Sony Music Ent. / ¥5800 / ¥5800 0:29 In production
Animate Film
10/21 VHS/LD Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventures • Vol. 5 */★ Pony Canyon/ ¥5800 / ¥5800 0:40 Based on the horror/psychic adventure series by manga artisl
A.P.P.P, Hirohiko Araki (Baoh)
10/21 VHS/LD Papuwa qf the South Seas */★ Pony Canyon / ¥2800 / * 0:30 Digesi of various adventures from the popular TV series: includes
Encyclopedia - vat. 2 Nippon Animation eight minutes of alf-new animation
10/21 VHS/LD Blue Sky Girls Squadron 301TTS * JJ A-15018/ Victor Video / ¥5800 / ¥5800 0:30 Adventures oi Japan's first all-female acrobatic squadron, based
Vol. 1 J VILA-58001 (CAV) Studio Fantasia on the manga by Toshimitsu Shimizu
10/22 VHS/LD Iron Leaguers • Vot. 1. “Under thb BBS-10637 Qandai Visual / ¥5974/¥5974 0:30 Direct-to-video sequel of the all-robot soccer league Japanese TV
Silver Flag" BEAL-717 (CAV) Sunrise show popular with younger viewers
10/22 VHS/LD 4* Macross Plus ■ Vol. 2 BES-1054 / Bandai Visual / ¥7800 / ¥7000 0:40 Sequel to the original Macrqss and prelude to the upcoming
BELL-705 Triangle Staff Mac ross Seven television show
10/22 VHS/LD Special Tank Police Dominion * Vol, 6, BES-931 / Banda i Visual t ¥4800 / ¥4800 0:30 Violent crimes caused by overpopulation load to the creation of an
’“End the Dreaming" BEAL-622 J.C, Staff armored lank police: based on the manga by Masamune Shi row
10/22 VHS/LD ' Lord of Lords Ryu Knight, "Adeu US-004 / Banda i Visual / ¥8034 / ¥3034 1 40 Romantic exploits of young Adeu Warren, whose reputation for
Legend" * Vol. 4 UL-QD4 (CLV) Sunrise being a 'Hushing Holy Knight in ihe posterior legend" precedes him
10/22 VHS/LD fFUA; Zeiram the Animation * Vol. 5 BBS-1032/ Bandai Visual / ¥6180/ ¥5150 0:35 Animated prequel to the live-action alien bounty hunter movie by
SEAL-692 Ashi Production director Keita Amemiya
10/25 VHS/LD * No Need For Tenchi! * Vol. 9. ‘"Sasami PIVA-1037 / Pioneer LDCA / ¥4000 / ¥4800 + Second OAV series: now a Japanese TV series
and Tsunami" PILA-11&6 (CAV) A.I.C.
1 liTl/OC yyf ji f\
Yugen Kaisha, Ltd. * Vot. 2, "With You PIVA-1029/ Pioneer LDCA / ¥5800 / ¥8800 j 0:30 Ghost-bustin' exploits from the private sector
Till the Ends of Hell" PILA-1272 (CAV) Madhouse

O cto bin/9 4 17
 ft Unique Perspectiue from our Manqa and Auime lusider

From the Forest What They Say

They're Watching
ifh* % Tffl Animted FVSiW; in hpen Basedm AmiceMogaiiae Readers' Ptdh
As a manager of Manga no Mohs ( ’Comics Forest'), the largest comicfantme {horn iflff tlufflfajiimfi famed During fibe WeeJt 6/11/94 thru 7/IQ/94I
merchandise specialty chain in Japan, Takashi Oshiguchi has been involved in t. ....The Poltergeist Report
the industry not only as a retailer but as a journalist for more years than he can (Yuu Yuu Hakusho)
count. In addition to his many articles, Oshiguchi writes occasionally for Animage Fuji; TV 4 Saturdays @ 6:30 p.m.

magazine and has had his own column in the comic trade journal Comic Box. 2. ....Sailor Moon $
TV Asahi * Saturdays @ 7:00 p.m.
3. ....Siam Dunk
JAPANESE VIDEO SALES AND RENTALS—FICKLE DR FAILING? TV Asahi * Saturdays <@ 7:30 p.m
4...., ....Dragon Bad 2
This fail, approximately ten original animation titles will go on sale. In addition, several more Fuji TV * Wednesdays @ 7:00 p.m.
videos already in production for next year’s release have been announced, and sales of $. ....Red Hood Cha Cha
their soundtracks and drama CDs will precede them this fall. The manufacturers are putting TV Tokyo * Fridays- © 5:00 p.m.
these OAVs and their related goods on sale with a clear conviction that they will sell— ....Tico of the Seven Seas
Fuji TV 1 Sundays @ 7:30 p.m.
although this is even more than what was coming out last year! Isn’t Japan supposed to be
in a recession? 7..... ....Marmalade Boy
TV Asahi * Sundays © 8:30 a.m.
In Japan, videos are sold with the assumption that videotapes of movie releases go to
8,.,., ....Crayon ShimChan
video rental shops. The high price of ¥15,000 per cassette assumes video rental. Then, TV Asahi * Mondays ® 7:00 p.m.
after a few months, a lower-priced version becomes available, but even that's really meant 9. ....Get a Grip. Tsuyoshi
for movie lovers. Even including the laser disc sales for the truly dedicated, video sales are (Tsuyoshi Shikkari Shmasai)
actually meager. The reality of video sales in Japan is that the majority are sold to rental TV Asahi • Mondays @ 7:00 p.m.
stores. 10... . ..King of the Jungle Lt't Tarzan
But the Japanese aren’t really that dedicated about renting movies. There was once an (Jungle Oje Taf'Chan)
TV Tokyo * Thursdays @ 7:00 p.m.
abundance of rental stores in the boom days when just about everyone was renting videos
of popular movies for the novelty—in its heyday there were over 50,000 rental stores—but .And What the
now there are less than 20,000, and numbers are still decreasing To compensate for the Ratings Soy
decrease in rental sales due to decreased numbers of rental stores, lower-priced videos
have come out, but despite their low cost, these don't sell well, either. TheyYe Watching
the foltye top hr faimted TV Smd on Haling Shares Compiled by
The sole exception has been the animation video. While the absolute number of buy¬ Video Reseonh (Btoadml Daring the WeeJc of 6/27/94 thtu 7/3/94)
ers is small, animation is a sure-seller. The only problem is, they're not mainstream. Despite
....Crayon Shin’Chan
what you may think, animation hasn’t always been available at rental stores. It's when rental
TV Asahi * Mondays @ 7:00 p.m,
outlets went into a slump that children's TV shows and their video versions (such as Anpan-
Man, Little Miss Maruko-Chan, and Sailor Moon) filled shelf space, perhaps due to a shift 2.... ....Dragon Ball Z
Fuji TV * Wednesdays @7:00 p.m.
toward more family-oriented animation. Also, animated videos that included two episodes
per volume (for the anime fanatics) started to appear. 3+... ....Slam Dunk
However, since last year, the amount of animation available at rental stores has been TV Asahi» Saturdays @ 7:30 p.m.
decreasing again. After all. low-priced animated videos are made for retail sales and buyers 4..,. ....Sazae-San
don't rent something they already own. Fuji TV * Sundays @ 6:30 p.m.
The new animated videos this fall alt have targeted audiences and are aimed for the 5.... ....The Poltergeist Report
sure sell. A video called Key is a bold project that has two list prices of ¥5800 and ¥2500. Fuji TV * Saturdays @ 6:30 p.m.
The right price will be decided by a buyer survey (cunning, thought the manufacturer’s intent 6... ....Marmalade Boy
is obvious). This manufacturer is trying to differentiate itself from others through marketing. TV Asahi * Sundays ^ B:30 a.m,
Such obvious marketing stunts and the rash of new titles suggest a desperate attempt
7.... ....Doraemon
to increase sales. Regardless, the number of animated videos produced each year won't
TV Asahi * Fridays @7:00 p.m.
decrease. That's because although there are only a few hits each year, there will always be
„ „ £ncydopedia Kiteretsu
a certain number of sure-sellers.
(Kiteretsu Daihyakka)
Fuji TV ■ Sundays @ 7:00 p.m.
9..., ....Get a Grip, Tsuyoshi
Fuji TV + Sundays @ 6:00 p.m,
10., ....Sailor Moon S
Japan's Top Ten
r The Bestselling Animated Videos, Compiled by ^
Original Confidence Research Company
(As of 7/4/94)
Highlights from the Top Japanese Anime Magazines
Between the Covers
September 1994
i L— TV Asahi * Saturdays @ 7:00 p.m,

1..ORGUSS-02 * VOL. 3 Japan publishes more books and magazines than any other nation in the world. Naturally* this means more publications devoted to
Bandai ‘ ¥4000 anime and manga. Use this handy guide to keep up with the exciting (but sometimes contusing) anime and manga publishing world.
2*.MINKY MOMO, THE STATION OF EMBAR- Animage (Tofcurna ) Anime V (Gakken >
CATION" MEWS a UPDATES: Creator Yuzo Tataria's Blue Seed Ph=yi(:^ ■ ’All I NEWS & UPDATES: “Iczer Revival.” Battle Gip*,s Iczelioh *
King * ¥5800 toe Charms of Red Hocq Cha Cm*' * "Birtervweer Love m Marmalade
I lftflfSeONSIB5.E CAPTAJN TyLOR * NEW CfcNTVfiY GPX CvaER Formula
BoV * "Who's Who :n -Sahor Moon" ■ Animage Readers Review
3,.LOVELY SOLDIER SAILOR MOON * VOL. 12 PQMttjKO * More I Zero * You're Under Arrest * Ranma 1/2 ■ Macrdss Plus * More
Toei Video * ¥6500 REGULAR FEATURES: Game Amuaqe * Top Ten ChruacteJS * Ammo I REGULAR FEATURES; "V-Kort." The Magazine Wrttiki a Magazine
Character Horoscope * Tv Animation * OAV Oeiedwe Gang * Amine
■ New OAV Navigator * Caleb-Up with Popular Voice-Actors *
4„.mDIRTY PAIR FLASH * VOL 6 Journal * illustrated Essay by Y&shi'umi KtmrSa ■ Sachiko Kamimura's
I Readers’ Page * “The Ring of Friendship" wrto Miki Kanai * "Let’s
Manga. Essay on Food * More
Bandai *¥4900 MANGA FEATURES: D'Anc, The Legend of Joan of Arc by wnier I Ptari an OAV Marionette’ * Original Novel: Whirlwind Non Leagueas
Kenichi Sakaeni andadi&l Kaliiiya KoncJo* Seiwhim by Ma-ngru Oghn
5 .RANMA 1/2 * VOL. 5 (writer) ants SatesN Kon * In Pra'Se of flyokom* by &0|. Ushio * Future
I by Ahihiko Inane * More
Shogakukan *¥4500 Adventure Channel 5 by Ami Shioaia
I GIVEAWAYS; No Need FOR TertCm! antf Cyber Formula Original
GIVEAWAYS: Summer '94 Daily Parmer ■jMold>ver' Original Rosier | Illustration Paste
6 .WHIRLWIND IRON LEAGUERS - VOL , 10
Bandai * ¥5900
A ns me or a (Gakken > NEwTYrie (Kadokawa)
7*.FINAL FANTASY ■ VOL. 3 NEWS & UPDATES; ‘New Fall DeveKH^nents." PotTEMEisr Report | J NEWS & UPDATES: "" S’ Is for Romantic.' Sa loh MOtwj S ■ "Welcome
IMTT Publishing • ¥5400 (Yuu You Hakushoj, Marmalade Boy, Ryu Khp-uht - “Priricess
I to My Town." A Tour ol Animated Towns From You’re Under Ahpest.
1 No need For Tench-:!, More * ‘Ah! My Gund-mC Newyy^ Punster*
Stories,' Cha Cha, Sailor Moot* S ■ Summer Movie Previews few
8 IRIA: ZEIRAM THE ANIMATION * VOL. 1 I WYraTs :o be Done Aboui G-Gunqam - More
F*nm* 1/2. GS Mst*Mu, MOO€R*J-DOG Sau ♦ "Whal's Good About I REGULAR FEATURES; The Gfllcjal An oF: B:.e S£60 *NewtypO
Bandas *¥6100 These Characters.' Slam Dunk, DBZ TiCO * More I Express ■ Anime Lanu * Anime Scramble * Love Horoscope * Newtype
9,„...MOBILE SUIT V-GUNDAM * VOL. 10 REGULAR FEATURES: Video Journal * Anime Eye * TV Anime City | I Forum - More
I MANGA FEATURES: The Five Star StoAjES by Mamoru Nagano * Dark |
Bandai ♦¥9800 * Mediner’s Land ■ More
I Ahoel by Kia Asamiya
MANGA FEATURE: M'i-KothS EXOflCrST by Hajimo Yalatesnri I SERIALIZED FEATURES: Eoual S Side His:oiy by Tak&hashi
10,,..MAKEUP! SAILOR SOLDIERS/DREAMING Studio Nue, with Ari by Ariea Mizuto I and Murase * leave it to Yuka by T&isuya Egawa * Smeet Corner
MOON GIVEAWAYS: Cyber Zero Flash BwWet * G-Glwoam and Megumi 1 Mode by Haruhifco Mikimobo
Hayashibara Poster • Street FiShyer II1*1 Stakes I GIVEAWAYS: G-GonO^ Original Posler by Hajime Katoki
t Toei Video * ¥8500

OfinbfR/94
AwiMEnicA
 Takahashi's
ACTURN Meets Alien

of i

URUS6I* VOTSURfl

igl

iko Takahashi
MoJ«lfbfO and Gt

>y mmieTrum
 OcroblH/W
A n i ** if: i c 4 20
 TURNS
OUT IT
HOGS
ALL
THE
OTHERS'
FOOD.

IT'S T\ME TO GET RID

OF IT! WE'LL NEVER
SELL IT FOR ENOUGH
TO PAY OFF THE
FOOD BILL!

DON’T you
KNOW ITS MONEY ...if you
lAVVIORAL TO MEANS CHARGE EVEN
TRAFFIC NOTHING A PENNT I
IN LIVING TO MB! WONT TAKE
THINGS BUT... THIS
FOR CREATURE!
PROFIT?1

PROBABLY you
BE /\N REALLT
UGLY
BUTTERFL/ CHBAPl
zANTW/A/.

0<Tfibf»!94 21 4niM(Ria
^hiMCRKA 77 Of Tobin/^4
OtTobi n/V4 2J
 Otiobi r/V4
24
 WM.

2*
 WAIT JUST A WHAT VO
SECOND! YOU THINK?1!
WHAT ARE ANNIHILATE
YOU PLANNING IT!
TO &0T?

STEAL
CX/&
LUNCHES,
WILL IT?!

ANimflict ib Of it>bt h/?4

Of Trtbrn/94 27 AnImerica
AniMinicA 23 OcTobrn/94
 ARRGH!
/VIE NDOt

Dt mbt r/V4 29
 NOT AS
HELPLESS
AS YOU...
ANO THAT
TMW&f

50 OcTubt»/^4
ait*
O*r Tiibi r/94
71
Aisifritppc a
 WHAT DOBS
THAT /WAKE
y<X/FOP.
FALLING
FOR IT
WHAT A AGAINr”
SI/V1PLETON, TO
USE THE SA/WE
TRICK AS IN
/V\Y FIRST
APPEARANCE!

12
Ofiobi«/?4
AriiMf RICA
 ff

iW/IH H3±dV
"3AOW iiHsoaoaoiv
l.NVO
sm
-oo 1

.
 GET
you KNOW
AWAY SUCH AN UGLy
I'M RIGHT, THING COULE?
FROM
MENPO.' /V\E> NEVER
Become a
BEAUTIFUL
BUTTERFLT!

IT WILL!
I KNOW
IT!

OtiHjbi
54
An i m t s m \
 BUT IT'S BECAUSE y&£/
BECAUSE BELIEVED THAT
of you, I WOULD BE
OAOUY, BEAUTIFUL.
THAT I
WAS
FINALL/
ABLE TO
Become
A FAIRy.
TO BB CONTINUED...
 Video Games and Other Amusements

Ever wanted to play a character from your favorite aaime or manga7 ]/ideo games can add o whole new dimension to enjoying onime.
Each monthr, AHIMERKA's video gome expert Sergei lee Ai$h shares tips and advice to help you achieve your highest score ever.

SPOTLIGHT PLAY S1 port Video Game Releases

Among the titles
MAD STALKER announced for the
System Type Manufacturer NEC 32-bit FX is
PC Engine Duo/ Action NEC
Super CD-HOM Cutey Honey, the
Price Available Notes
£65. GO [import) On Sale No* Arcade Case inquired updated anime series
currently being
released here in the
in Super Famicom news, the Appteseed States by A, D. Vision.
action game announced a year ago by Visit
No word yet on what
should finally be available in Japan by the
time you read this. As expected, terrorists kind of game Cutey
invade Olympus and it's up to the SWAT Honey will turn out to be; hopefully, more
team to neutralize them. The actual time will be spent on the actual game than
Appteseed game looks rather average, but on the nudie transformation sequences.
the abundant intermissions between the
levels help to advance the plot and just The PC-Engine seems to be losing populari¬
might persuade Shirow fans to part with ty these days, but true fans need not
their money. Stay tuned for more details at

W
worry—there 's still
a later date.
plenty of software to
be had, at least until
hen it was announced last summer,
the end of fail.
the Arcade Card looked like a good
idea. These days, however, it looks Megami Paradise by
more like a good idea that's come NEC is a role-playing
one year too late. Sure, Fatal Fury 2 and game with emphasis
World Heroes 2 were great conversions, on exploration and
but with Darkstalkers and King of Fighters puzzle-solving. rather
v94 in the arcades, those games are old than combat.
news. Also, the limitations of the system Boasting the voice tal¬
were still very obvious. You would think ents of Kikuko fnoue
that with original games the programmers CBeltdandy,”Ohf My
would be able to mask these limitations to a
Goddess and
larger extent but, unfortunately, this is not
"Kasumi,” Ranma
quite the case with Mad Stalker, a game
1/2). Megami Paradise is scheduled for a
perhaps best described as Pat labor meets
Street Fighter It™, late September release.
In Mad Stalker, players may select one
of three mecha-armed cops—Chico Bastedr also from NEC. is an action-RPG
Slayers by Banpresto
Rodrigues, Richard Winston, or Eve schedule for release on October 21. The
is based on the popu¬
Lurdia—and proceed to rid the streets of emphasis here is not on fancy graphics. but
similarly equipped troublemakers through lar fantasy/comedy
rather on the game's abundant cinematic
six levels of side-scrolling combat. The novels and manga
intermissions and character interactions.
twist, however, lies in the controls, which about the magician -
are similar to those in a one-on-one fighting warrior Una Inverse
game and allow weak attacks, strong and her less-than-
attacks, and special moves. Your mech can trustworthy compan¬
block, throw your enemies, and even do ions. Since the story
co m bo a ttac ks, someth i n g w h i c h rea 11 y is about magic users,
spices up gameplay. expect combat spells
Mad Stalker's strong points include worthy of the game s
large sprites, fluid animation, good sound in 18-and-over
title—they fill the
effects, very responsive controls, and chal¬ news, look for
entire screen, in fact.
lenging gameplay (provided you don't set the Graduation if: Neo
Build up your magic
difficulty level on "easy"). Weak points Generation to go
include a limited amount of levels (only six), points and blow up
where no NEC game
appropriate but largely unremarkable music, the bad guys, the
has gone before
and a need for better intermission sequences. good guys, and
when it s released on
However, the biggest drawback remains the everything else
December 23
complete lack of parallax scrolling, which unlucky enough to be
really detracts from the game's visual appeal. within your blast
All in all. Mad Stalker is a decent title, That's it for this month. Be here next time
radius.
but in my opinion, does not justify a when we hit “Play” once more.

Oc TE>hFn/94 79 Aniiu«iu
 Q © Q
With the increasing availability of English-translated titles from U.S.-based publishers, ifs easier than ever for the nan Japanese reader to
enter the exciting world of manga. Whether ifs an English adaptation or an American original each issue of Manga Close-Up brings you the
latest news and reviews from the American manga industry

pgloij || SSOJDBfl/TSSM B|^ i>66l ®

RELIVE THE
MAGIC OF
MACROSS
ONCE MORE
MACROSS II: THE
MICRON CONSPIRACY
Suck in 1992, Viz Comics released a ten-issue comic adap¬
tation of the hit original animated video series MACROSS Ilf
'"LOVERS AGAIN" as a sequel to the well-loved Japanese tele¬
vision series SUPEROMNS/ONM FORMSS MACROSS■ known
to mony in the US, from its incarnation as the American TV
series, flOffOTFCtf. Jte November, the magic is bock in o
100% made-ln America manga original ham Viz Comics,
Illustrated by Tsuguo Okazaki and based
on an original script by Sukehtro Tom Eta,
Macross II the comic series was carefully
written for release in English by comics
industry veteran James Hudnall, who
worked closely with LA Hero/U.S.
Renditions' video production team to create
a consistent vision of the Macross II world.
Now, after the great success of the video
and comic series, adapter Hudnall is putting
his knowledge to the test by writing a totally
original new story in the Macross saga.
The Micron Conspiracy details
events one year after the conclusion of
the Macross IIGAV series* The Marduk
have signed a peace treaty with Earth,
and the heroes of the series—go-getter
journalist Hibiki Kanzakt and hotshot
Valkyrie pilot Si!vie Gena—are a hot
item. All seems peaceful ...but then a rash
of unexplained terrorist attacks throws
every t h i n g u ps i de dow n, Hibiki can't wa i t
to solve the mystery, but there's more to
this case than he could ever have
dreamed of!
11 fust rated by Viz Comics cover artist
Sthulhoff Tam (ANIMAG, THE MAGAZINE
OF lAPANFSE ANIMATION) Macross II:
The Micron Conspiracy is the company's
first 100% made-in-America manga origi¬
nal and promises to continue Macross ifs
tradition of explosive battles, mysterious
menaces, and captivating characters.
Relive the magic of Macross once more
with Macross II: The Micron Conspiracy.
MACROSS II: THE MICRON CONSPIRACY:
SHIPPING 1 If 1/94 FROM VIZ COMICS;
$2,75 USA/$3.75 CAN. *

Animerica 40
 New manga, industry trends and more!
Extreme CLose-Up
Vs that a daisy, dear, or are you just glad to see
me?" Ait kidding aside, girls7 or shojo manga has
got to be one of the most misunderstood subgen¬
res in the entire manga industry. With this new col¬
umn and his ongoing Ph.D thesis, manga scholar
Matt Thom is aiming to do for shojo what MANGAI
MANGA! THE WORLD OF JAPANESE COMICS
author Frederik Schodt did for manga in general.
DIARY
Back in Japan again, this time for a
whole year. As some of you know, E'm
here doing my doctoral research on the
"culture" of shojo manga, hut before l fill
you tn on my progress, allow mg to
make a correction to my August column.
The caption for the shojo manga maga¬
zine, Hana to Yume (Flowers and
Dreams), mistakenly describes it as being
targeted toward primary-school girls.
A description provided by the pub¬
lisher ot Japan's General Magazine-
Newspaper Catalog states that middle-
school girls make up Hana to Yume's
core readership. Furthermore, Hana to
Yume was the most popular shojo manga
magazine among the eighty-one high
school girls I surveyed last year (I just
SHOCKING RESEMBLANCE OR UNCANNY COINCIDENCE?
Mere than one person has commented that Man Thom hears more than a passing resemblance to the
sbm manga characters he writes about This one is from Keiko Nishfs MlZU GA KOORI Nt NARU "OKI
("When Water Becomes he").'
OcTdtpf
wanted to clear that up for the sake of is media consumption; i.e., what it is that
Hana to Yume fans who might have students are reading, watching, and lis¬
begun to doubt their level of maturity). tening to, including TV, rental/home
After a lengthy settling-in process, I video, movies, radio, music, magazines,
finally found a high school In which to video games, fiction and nonfiction, as
do my research, and things are going well as manga and anirne. i'll let you
along more smoothly than I could have know the results.
dreamed possible. (Knock on wood.) The In a couple of weeks I'll be heading
school has a "manga study club" where up to Tokyo to interview shojo manga
a dozen or so would-be manga artists editors and artists at Shogakukan, possi¬
(two boys, the rest girls) polish their bly even including Kefko Nishi, whom
skills. They're a great bunch of kids, and you'll no doubt remember as the creator
they've taken me in as one of their own. of Promise, If I do meet Nishi, 1 assure
In fact, they've inspired me to rediscover you I'll be strictly professional, and when
my own "lost talent" for drawing, and I ask for her autograph, I'll say it's for a
I've been scratching along with them. friend.
(Eekl)
Apart from spending three after¬
noons a week with the dub, I've also Matt Thom is currently living in Japan, where he
tagged along to a small comic market is writing his Ph.D. thesis in anthropology on
shoio manga or Japanese women's comics. He
they participated in, and spent three
has been a regular ANIMERICA columnist since
hours with them locked in a karaoke
April 93 and loves to discuss relevant issues with
room (karaoke tip; avoid songs by singers
interested parties. Matt
with exceptionally good vo ces—I
may be contacted care
picked a tune by Dreams Come True and
of this magazine (P.0.
humiliated myself). Next week I'm hav¬
Box 77010m San
ing them over for tacos and Nintendo. As
Francisco, CA 94107).
you may guess, video games are often a
or via the Internet at
popular source of story/character materi¬
m-thorn@po.lljnet.o.
al for amateur manga artists.
Through the club members, I'm
gradually making contacts with other stu¬
dents, and next week I'll distribute a
questionnaire to the entire student body
that hopefully will prove to be a stepping
stone to much broader contact with the
students. The focus of the questionnaire
Japan's
Manga Top Ten
1 ....Bastard!! • 15
Kazushi Hagiwara * Shueisha * ¥390
2 ....RG Veda • 6
Clamp * Shinshokan • ¥490
3 ....The Poltergeist Report • 17
(Yuu Yuu Hakusho)
Yoshihiro Togashi * Shueisha * ¥390
it
s @ 4 ....3 x 3 Eyes * 17
CQ tfe Yuzo Takada * Kodansha * ¥500
’Cj 5 ....Ranma 1/2*29
Rumiko Takahashi ‘ Shogakukan *
"cl "Cj
tf S ¥390 _
S m
6 .. . Ppoi! *5 (Full of ft)
a"p 3<n Takako Yamazaki * Hakusensha*¥390
7 ....Bonds II (Kizuna)
U § Kazuma Kodaka ♦ Seiji Biblos * ¥580
8 ....Dragon Quest * 22
1990 KeikaJSlishi/Shogakukan Riku Sanjo & Koji Inada * Shueisha *
¥390_
9 .... Tokyo University Story * 5
Tatsuya Egawa * Shogakukan * ¥500
10 ..Genji * 7
Yun Koga * Shinshokan * ¥490
41 AwtttEnicA

M month, the ANIMERICA "Hit list* brings You a
quick run-down on what's shipping this month in
the world of manga. Not every title is hr every¬
one, but you're sure to find at least one series you
like among the slowly but surety growing field of
Japanese amirs in English. Enjoy f
The Season of Revenge Comes 10 America s
Newer. Tougher Manga Sweetheart
BATTLE ANGEL AUTA
PART THREE #12
(12 of 13)
Viz Comics « B&W * $2.75 USA,‘S3.75 CAN
YUKITO KJSHIRQ i YOSHlDA t BURKE
The final race begins between Alila and
Emperor Jashugarv-how will Alita'S hand¬
picked five-member learn fare against Ihe
champion?
Love and Regrel
BATTLE ANGEL AUTA GRAPHIC NOVEL
TEARS OF AN ANGEL
Viz Comics * BAW ■ Si 5.95
YUKITO KISHIRO / YOSHlDA f BURKE
PART TWO in ils entirety, compiled in graph¬
ic novel formal for the first lime. Alila's love
Hugo reaches for Tiphares. but he may lose
his life trying to make enough money to gel
there Will the tears of a battle angel be
enough to save him, before it's too late?
The Original Bio-Boostin' Power Hero
BIO-BOOSTER ARMOR GUYVEFt
PART TWO #1
(1 ol 6)
Vte Comics * B&W - 52.75 USA/S3.75 CAN
YOSH5KI TAKAYA / YOSHlDA / BURKE
Sho's fas her is told about Sho‘s secret, while
Tetsuo and Mizuki are introduced to one of
Chronos' ne we si agents. ..Agito Makis-hima!
FIRST ISSUE OF PART TWO
1...MOBILE POLICE PATLABOR
Fresh From VOL. 22
the Forest
The writer of From the
Forest” and MANGA NO
MOFtf manager Takashi
Oshiguchi recommends
the five hottest manga
titles in Japan. 2 SPRIGGAN * VOL. 7
Guaranteed ripe for
reading!
Animiftki
All image; on 1 his page are © (heir respective topyrighl holders
From the Creator Malibu Comics * Color • $2.95
of QUTLANDERS CHARLES MARSHALL / ROY BURDfNE
CARAVAN KIDD Introducing new characters from the Mortal
PART THREE #5 Kombat II arcade game, plus a special guest
Dark Horse appearance!
Comics * BSW -
$2.50 USA From the Crealor of MY NEIGHBOR
JOHJI MAN ABE / TOTORQ
LEWIS t SMITH NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF WIND
As Mian Toris PART FOUR #5
languishes in (5 of 5)
slavery in the Viz Comics • B&W * $2.75 USA/S3.75 CAN
power-core of HAY AO MIYAZAKI / THORN
Kyuraweil Keep. Naustcaa arrives To save Clwuka, and also
Shion must face lo convince ihe people not to recreate the
a new threat from worldwide holocaust known as the Seven
wilhin her own Days of Fire. But what will happen when the Kurdish rebellion while searching for his par¬
empire! dread God Soldier finally awakens? ents in Turkey.
Adapted From Actual Scripts and Cels From The Best ol Ninja ROBOTECH" 5 Most Controversial Series
the Animated Series High School ROBOTECH: AFTERMATH #9
DIRTY PAIR AN!ME COMICS #2 NINJA HIGH Academy Comics * B&W ■ $2.95 USA
(2 ol 6) SCHOOL YEAR¬ RQSEARSK RIKKI fTAV IS HA WOLF GARTH
Viz Comics - Color * $4.95 USA/S6.5Q CAN BOOK 1994 Alternate RQBOTEGH timeline. Annie falls in
YOSHlDA / BURKE Antarctic Press * love with her captor while Lancer aids a
Kei and Yuri must work together with an B&W • $3.95 USA schizophrenic clone and a woman possessed
industrial sabotage expert to uncover a series VARIOUS by prglOCulture.
of luxury-liner accidents. Will the passengers The best stories fea¬
survive a cruise with the Dirty Pair'* turing Ben Dunn's A "Worlds of Robotech" Series
NHS characters, ROBOTECH OPTERA: INVID WORLD #1
The Heartwarming Domestic Comedy by the written and drawn by Academy Comics - B&W ■ £2 95 USA
Creator of RANMA 1/2 Stan Sakai, ‘Fred JOHN WALTRIP
MAI SON IKKOKU Perry, Lea Spotlighting the lnvidrs homeworid. A look ai
PART THREE #4 Hernandez, Will their alien culture and life, plus pin-ups and a
(4 of 6) Meugniot, Joseph diagram ol all (hair weapons and craft.
Viz Comics * B&W - $2.95 USA/S4.Q0 CAN Wight, David
RUMIKO TAKAHASHI / MQRlMGTG l Matsuoka and many Written and Illustrated by the Bros. Waltrip
JONES more! ROBOTECH II; THE SENTINELS BOOK III
Yusaku'S relationship with sweet-young-Ihing #10
Kozue comes to a turning point. Should i Basis for the Academy Comics * B&W * 32.60 USA
Yusaku listen lo his conscience, or his hor¬ [ Animated Series JASON WALTRIP
mones? t from AnimEigo General Edwards convinces the R.E.F
OH MY GODDESS’ Council to give him control of mining opera¬
Rumiko Takahashi's Uniquely Macabre #3 tions on Fantoma while on Optera, the Invid
"Mermaid Saga" (3 or 6) regent plans to threaten them wilh renewed
MERMAID'S PROMISE #3 l Dark Horse Comics * warfare if thfe Sentinels are not hunted down
(3 of 4) 6&W * $2,50 USA and destroyed.
Viz Comics * B&W • $2.75 U5A/$3 75 CAN KOSUKE FUJI SHI-
RUMIKO TAKAHASHI/THORN MA / GLEASON / As Seen m the TV Series
Will Yuta be able lo determine whether the SMITH / BUHALI5 ROBOTECH; RETURN TO MACROSS #14
Nae of today is the same he knew and loved I A suave freshman Academy Comics ■ B&W * £2 50 USA
so many decades ago, or just a soulless fiend \ makes the moves on BILL SPANGLER / WES ABBOTT
with no memories of the past? I beautiful “exchange Special tie-in to ROBOTECH: AFTERMATH.
[ studenr Belldandy, A clone warrior in suspended animation being
Adapted From Actual Scripts and Cels From I and Keiichi is bum- studied by Ihe Robotech Institute's staff is
the Animated Senes s mg with jealousy. But discovered by a cabal of scientists, Plus,
MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM 0083 #12 * how can he cbfect meet Ihe newest resident cf Macross Island,
(12 of 13) without looking like a jerk? Nina Lang!
Viz Comics ■ Color * $4.95 USA'$e.50 CAN
YOSHlDA / LEDOUX Yin and Yang Was Never So Much FunF™ U.S.-Produced STREET FIGHTER Comic
Gate and Kou face off once more. Will Kou RANMA 1/2 STREET FIGHTER COLLECTOR’S 3-PACK
be able lo slop the incoming Luna-targeted PART THREE #11 Malibu Comics * Color * $5,95 USA
colony balers it passes the point of no (11 of 13) LEN STRAZEWSK!
return? Viz Comics * G&W * $2.75 USA$3 75 CAN All three STREET FIGHTER comics from
RUMIKO TAKAHASHI / YOSHlDA / JONES Malibu, reprinting the first three issues.
Full Color! Ranma is abducted by Zentaro, who forces
MORTAL KOMBAT #4 Ranma to participate in me Martial Arts Tea Based on One of the Worth's Most Popular
Malibu Comics * Color * $2.95 USA Ceremony! Introducing the character on Video Games
CHARLES MARSHALL . PATRICK ROLO horseback from the DESPERATELY SEEK¬ STREET FIGHTER 11™ #7
Martial ads action based on the bestselling ING SHAMPOO video! (7 of 8)
Modal Korn bat video game. Which characler Viz Comics / Tokuma Publishing * Color *
mu si fight in the ever-dangerous Tnirror- From the Creator of THE VENUS WARS $2,95 USA/S4.00 CAN
maloh?1' REBEL SWORD MASAOMr KANZAKI / FLANAGAN
PART ONE #1 Ken challenges Sagat on the semi-final tour¬
The Mortal Kombalant in His Own Series (1 of 6) nament match! Which is trie superior tech¬
MORTAL KOMBAT Dark Horse Comics* B&W ■ $2.95 USA nique. Sagal's "Tiger UppercuL" or Ken's
GORO, PRINCE OF PAIN #2 YOS HIKAZU YASU HIKQ/G LEASON/SMIT H deadly “Shoryuu Ken”?
(2 of 3) A young half-Japanese man falls in with the
3.. -YUKINO SCRAMBLE
By Hiroshi lhara • Published by
By Masami Yuki * Published by Gakken
Shogakukan In the tradition of Moldiver comes a story
The dramatic demise of the enemy and of an ordinary girt who unexpectedly
acquires superpowers.
the return of the Special Vehicles
Division’s action Is fitting for a series
which ran (and consistently placed on bestseller lists) 4 . JUNKERS COME HOME
By Nao Kine and Ai Morinaga * Published by
for seven years,
Kadokawa Shoten
Manga version of a segment of animation that
By Chu Takashige and Ryoji Minagawaa* appeared in a TV drama. A fun fantasy that just hap¬
Published by Shogakukan pens to star a dog.
Contains a rare story about an oceanic
min, one that’s given new life to the old 5.. .MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM 0079 * VOL. T
By Yoshiyuki Tomino and Kazuhisa Kondo *
tale of Noah’s Ark. Published in English
by Viz Comics under the title * Striker.” Published by Kadokawa Shoten
A new Gundam story, written in a documentary style,
by the team who brought you MS Chronicles,
42
OcT<ibffi/94
 They Abandoned God, Shook Hands With The Devil and Became the Mercenaries of Hell.
They're the Pilots Sentenced to K^ioru Shintani's

PART T WOl □ \\^

MISS I Qj
RATH kOfim

Story and An by KaorujShintani if

Trans hied by Toshifum/Yoshida L JamesW.
Lettering and Touch-Up by Wayne jTrurrfan
 OcTobf«/?4
A h ■ M1R i f A 44
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Akim (Rif. a 46
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OcTobtft/94 5S
TO SE CONTINUE. P
 The Ammon onimo industry has come a long woy since the early days of Asm Boy. Several U.S. -based companies are making it
Sufabtl^d and Dubbed Aiun? Review
easier than ever for non-Japanese speaking fans to keep up with their favorite shows. in this section, Amzm takes a look at the
BEST OF TOE best in English 5ifk and dubs.

Welcome to "The Ammepca Ultimate Arnm*

Guide,’ your one-stop erume viewing ref at'
ence. Each entry prtmtfes a capsule Soscnp-
Icon, the name of Ihe reviewer, the dale Ihe
review appeared in Am«merica, refeasa informs-
Ifon (English Or subtitled. VH$ or LD), length
and price information Each entry also includes
Ihe AhnMElGOM™ System, our exdu&rve at-a-
glance anime shopping guide
Here's now the AnimeIdon™ system works.
Eaqh icon represents a particular theme peculiar
to fhe anime ad form Thosa titles deemed to
nave a fair amount ol said theme are indicated
by the helpful icons listed betow Whether you're
a meoha-nBad, a fan ol Ihe "Girls wilto Guns'
subserve, or simply a concerned viewer warned
aboul possible nudity. Ihe AnihfMcqneu system
will grvo you Ihn nn&wnrft you mstwl
Caurteiy Brrjilts Hondo Wnohfl
Brwrgfit to you fry yo From spaceship* to cyborgsiQ g™n wooden
' I MOTE Anything wflh ah upiwaiahoo by ■
f IjLtfih III « f vjifco or Cy SUPff Waky u" you'll fmd only in tnimt
production studio Gama* gar* an »ut«rsir<
nwwiorU

6SP
SeuuM a mind la a itrr.bla thing to wnif.
l Inctudea both lha 'hamites' variety Not of Thii World
) LKobMuw OtwtfE Hanoi, at ™u ai iha Dose encounter* ol a lesa-ihan-friendly kind.
“mai .gnnnl1 ituin lOatfid &OW*ibdrflft j V Ir.vnJm com# Irom diir*ans»in,
StAHNEWl. I, y wortrts. Fo*netirTi« oven she rtwherworid,
htif lh*y nnwor Mfii* in 0*K* BWf ih*y often
Evil Dmrtard
Mefaiwnamfl, aoirne sr^it. They may non

but Itwy mevnaniy ti« around bo it \ TwhnOnil sci-fi gadgets, Ehemet and pirn
/ devices, both ully and M**HAlmay include
WARMhD- TH*$urgw?ii fehfiaj ft» iWSbt
nined That cutesy poo Sinflf rj of fluMwn-
abte tolenL may prove hazardous to your Mav" indude severed body pars of mdenei ■
bwhh Al» torognti«!H(s a reed-np cairte oa rninilB ongm; possibly-gjeiurioiM weaponry
■ / in4V explpsioiis ILhc mlumous "dirH w-1h
Uunr' nr ■Sabeivwth Beipokfli’ amimejob.
y Marnal an$ hom all tsa u of lit pnf.
f HninoftOf H*MM 111 to tf Hntnanlic Hijinki
ikistenciil *ngH of fer tr 1w Nofmsr*e. Jf-oy nveete gid; boy tows piH; girl contw
bKk with her S «firS; die ne gntora mlErfCn,
A^WcbnuhuMriMiti
HUK m*v tontlin vhHbII>‘ rodeemif!^
thenwi diiiurb ig to soma vmtirtirx. MUCH BETTER DEVELOPED
REVIEWERS: (ftSI Rick Steinbeck ITS! Toren Smith; (CHj Carf Horn; [RNj
Roberta Nakamura }JCJ Jonathan Ciemtinis, ;iH$j Much Shmvets; IJLJ John Lets CUTEY HONEY
Sold Thru Format Price Length
VD. Vision Subtitled/ $34.95 G5 mins.
VHS & LO

Release Date Translation Notes

This story a-f a strange and violent future has been wed-known to the faii'i- On Sale Ichiro Arakaki Based on the
ful since before Fts 193-7 release in Japan in the form of creator Katsuhiro This Month manga/anime series
0 to mo's meticulously detailed mnnga While Akira boasts a gripping story by Devuman's Go Nagai
with d "high concept.." arid a visually stunning look, It offers few charac¬
ters with whom one can identify dt sympathize. True, most ol anime is dis¬
tant fantasy, but Akin trios lo present something of contemporary society,
end it may be a hit of a stretch to cheer for a bunch of hiker punks, even if
they are up against a brutal lectin q-government lH$: 3/94}
W ith fond memories of the original Cutey
Honey television series no doubt
She's also a "warrior in white-iron armor/' a
"motorcyclist par excellence/' not to mention
Subtttled/dubbed VHS or bilingual LD from Straamime Pictures; 124 mins..
$39.95 (Subtitled VHSk SI25.00 (LD}.
shapeshifting in their heads, Texas-based A.D. an "S&M Queen," and a "girl in black tights."
ALBATROSS, WINGS OF DEATH Vision has released an all-new version of Go To satisfy every Peeping Tom character in the
Nagai's 1970s hit, this time with a more series—as well as the audience—every time
"danceable" theme song, more "ridiculous Honey changes character, she also changes
Devotees of Hayao Miyaiaki will want to see this LUPIN 111 television episode,
one of two which he wrote and directed after the tAGLIOSTRQ movie. In this graphic violence," and "gohs of gratuitous her entire outfit by calling out, Shazamdike,
Streamline release, Miyazaki has combined his passion for vintage aircraft
with the outrageous trademark LUPIN humor The video and sound quality are
nudity/' You might say this Honey's much bet¬ "HONEY FLASH!" Predominantly female vil¬
fine, and the -dubbing is at least on a par with the CA3LIQSTRQ feature in that ter developed. lains provide supporting gratuitous nudity (at
it might have required a modicum of exaggeration fitS;3®4JDubbed VHS
from Si/eamEns Pictures; approx. 30 mins.; 514.95 A.D. Vision's release of this full-figured least Honey has the decency to fry and keep
ARCADIA OF MY YOUTH
action-adventure comedy comes dose on the her clothes on while fighting!).
heels of an impressive campaign which Other supporting cast members provide
included promotional T-shirts, posters, even a comic relief from the serious business of exhi¬
In a future Earth occupied by ihe hostile Illumed us Empire, an unlikely pair personal appearance by Go Nagai at one of bitionism and high-speed action sequences.
of characters join together to rebel against the invaders. White
Matsu mote's character designs may speak stylistically of an earlier day, this year's anime and manga conventions. The Grandpa Hayami is a cartoonish martial-arts
they remain uniquely lull of life and passion, with a touch of humor as well.
Hardware design is deEighrtuliy eclectic: where else could one find a deep-
two action-adventure GAV episodes contained lecher who, when Honey goes shopping in a
space vessel boasting enormous drive gene raters and the back end of a on this 65-minute release are set in a futuristic dangerous district, remarks, "She's the kind of
galleon... ? {R$; 7/94} Sub!filed VHS from AntmEigo, f30 mins.;S3995.
city with an organic fantasy feel to it, rather girl who puts economy over personal dan¬
BATTLE ANGEL
than the angular linearity of modem architec¬ ger!" Look for a Jove interest in the form of
ture. A beautiful young woman bearing the Chokkei, Honey's naive young sidekick. But
The floating city of Zatem beckons. Below, in Scrap Iron City, the diminu¬ noble name "Cutey Honey" comes to fulfill a naughty-bit lovers beware: Despite a body
tive, resurrected cyborg Gaily and her friend Vugo light against monstrous
prophecy and eradicate the mecca of the myri¬ built for Jap dancing, the two exchange noth¬
organ-lackers in Hits very new A.D. Vision release, originally titled
GGNNM, "RUSTY ANGEL" and "TEARS SIGN" in its original Japanese two- ad, mecha-enhanced forces of evil. ing more than chaste kisses.
volume release. lJm no (an of the current hyper-violent anime, but this
one's neat, if you can get past the gnre. (RS; 11/S3f SvbMtott VHS from AD. But Cutey Honey isn't "just a beautiful An extra treat at the end of the video is a
Vision, 60 mins., $34. $5.
secretary," as she so adroitly demonstrates. short "Bonus Production Portfolio/' a clip

AviMihiCA 57 Oc:Tf)hr p/94

aesTflUHi

^e_
THE DAGGER OF KAMUI
which reveals the senes' animators to be so of the japanese/French pop band Les 5-4-3-2-
enthusiastic about remaking their own child¬ 1, who makes her animation debut with boppy
hood favorite they "put so much into a shot, it new lyrics to the Cutey Honey theme song:
AliHough it is a martial-themed him, KAMUI's style is skillfully understated
end contains neither chup-sncky rouEtnes nar ammc comedy dich4s.
was too violent to broadcast," In addition to "She's the kind of girl who's always in fashion,
Director Taro ftin plays Hie animatron like a keyboard, speeding up or the four real-live girls filmed acting out a scene and her behind is the cutest we've ever
sloping CGwr’i, distorting or emphasizing, never using superfluous dia¬
logue vriieri silence will do. After 1 he end credits comes a bonus, an origi¬ from the video at a publicity event in japan, seen.,.," If that isn't the anthem for a new gen¬
nal theatrical trailer likely to be amusing to soma Americans as it incorpo¬
rates words such as "THRILLING!" and "DYNAMIC!" splashed upon the
fans will a[so be able to get a look at Michiko eration. I don't know what is. Obviously,
screen in a style not seen in the U.S. lor decades. (CH; 12/93} Subtitled Netani, the voice-actor who won the role of Cutey Honey isn't for everyone, but. if you
VMS from AnimEigo; 132 mins.: 339.96.
Honey in an audition with over forty rivals. liked Devil Hunter Yohko, catch Cutey Honey.
DETONATOR OR G LIN
But the real gem of the video has got to just be sure to let her go afterwards, okay?*
be the appearance of the charming Hitomi, star Cynthia /aye Newton

Directed by Mosami Chan 13UBBLEGUM CRISIS, MAC ROSS III in his usu¬
ally excellent form, DETONATOR ORGUN features beautifully choreo¬
A WRY AND WONDERFUL
graphed high-speed mecha action. Character designs by Michitaka
Kikucbi ISILENT MOBiUS, COMPILER) are sleek, e$ always, although true
INHERITANCE
Kikuchi aficionados may note that there's a smaller quotient of super OTAKU NO VIDEO
hghun gals than whet weVe come Ip expect from him (the leader of the
Sold Thru Format Length
city's mecha squadron is one memorable exception). (MS; 7/Si} Subtitled
AnimEigo Subtitled VHS TOO mins
VHS from U S. Manga Corps: appro*. 57 mins.;$29.95.

DIRTY PAIR: PROJECT EDEN

Trans fatten Notes

Kurokawa/ possibly the
If I had allowed my purist persona to dominate, I might have groused a let- Lecfoux/Yoshida :s first anime
tie over Kei's voice, as I did in an earlier review of NO LAND I A, but I must ku'mentaiyn
say chat tha dubbing became fairly unobtrusive once I got back into (he
stoTy A little additional texture could have helped, especially to differenti¬
ate between Wendse lee (Yuri) and Lara Cody (Kwh who sound too simi¬
lar to my ears. Steve Kra mar's Walts man is believably maniacal, and
while Bruno sounds slightly more refined than his gruff original, the
results are still valid. A recent development: StreamEme gives (he voice-
aetprs remarkably visible credit—it's a nice touch. IRS, 3/34} Dubbed VMS
from Streamline Pictures; approx 80 rttfos.;$2985.

EIGHT MAN AFTER * VOL 1

The last couple of years have seen a string of resurrections of

beloved am me heroes, ranging from the wretched (TETSUJIN ZShXl to
tue awesome (GiANT ROB01. The latest familiar face lo crop up in a
slick, modernized incarnation is cyborg superhero Eight Man. I con¬
fess that I'va never seen the vintage original, but EIGHT MAN AFTER,
released in dubbed form by Streamline, is solidly entertaining on its
own merits. [JL; 9/94} Dubbed VHS from Streamline Pictures; approx.
30 mins.; £14.35.

END OF SUMMER

This is something I liked, and no! |ust because, it being an A.O. Vision
release, I was going "huh-huh-buh-huhH through most of it. By this QAVJ$
conclusion, we ere lemmded just how complicated the world can be
when the sweet perfume of sex infuses the quiet and noi-so-quiet des¬
peration of teenage life. The piano music is understated (with a nice use

<§ 199} Gainax

of Gershwin), the dialogue is quite witty and realistic, and whan ihe con¬
fused bodies of END OF SUMMER leel, that feel is familiar. (CMr 9/34}
Subtitled VHS from A D Vision; 55 mins.: £29.35

GENESIS SURYIVEH GAIARTH ■ VOL 1

This future world is a fascinating combination of mecha end fantasy, with

machines responding to the chanting of common spells. Tha animation art
is slightly devoid of detail but is very clean, especially in the character
L ike Dayvyd Kruze once said, "I have to tell
you," if you don't already know, about
whose idea of post high school goals is run¬
ning an anime dub.
tines and color. The backgrounds are a mixture of desert wastes and
night city views, a I idle soft hut adequate to the task, The mecha is first- Otaku No Video (lit,, "the video of the fans"). El So begins a thinly disguised story of
rate, nicely reminiscent of DANGAIO. the battle scenes are well'execut¬
ed, with many unusual angles (be sure lo look for Ital's little media-riding was the final video made by Gainax, the studio Gainax's own rise to power, their fall in battle
critter!). [PS; 8/34} Subtitled VMS from AnimEigo; approx. 51 mins.; $34.95.
that gave us Wings of Honneamise, Nadia, and with a rival major toy company, and a prophe¬
GENOCVBER PART ONE, THE BIRTH OF GENOCYBER" Aim For the Top! Gunbuster, and, until lheir cy of their ultimate otaku triumph, Otaku No
Vamato-like rise back to the anime scene Video is loaded with in-jokes from twenty years
occurs, Otaku No Video must remain as of anime and science fiction; the best reason to
Based on the angina! manga by AD POLICE artist TonyTaketaki, this is an Gainax's last will and testament, a wry and buy the tape rather than renting it is getting
interesting blend of dreamy animation techniques and 8h over-ihe-top sto¬
ryline with just a touch of the of uftreviolence. Not exactly the kind of video wonderful inheritance for the tans of the your hands on AnimEigo's trivia-packed liner
you'd warn to sit down wilh the kiddies and watch, bui H cybersuhed psy¬
coolest anime creators of this generation. notes, although it's also fun to see how many
chic action is your cup of tea, it might be something you'll want to check,
out. IttN; 4/94} Subtitled VHS from U.S. Mange Corps: 46 mins.; £23.95, Otaku No Video is shot two ways. Half is jokes you can pick out on your own.
a set of strange and sardonic live-action inter¬ There are many releases of anime each
GRAVE OF THE FIREFUES
views with "real otaku" whose identities are month, and Individual tastes vary; you can
concealed in the style of a table id-TV expose afford to miss some. This is one you cannot
show. The other half is anime, with character afford to miss if you care about anime and
Basso on the award-winning semi-autobiographies I novel by Akiyuki Nnsaka.
the trim was directed by Miyazaki's right-hand man Isao TaVahata and is a truly
designs by Kenichi Sonoda (Bubblegum Crisis, what it means to be an anime fan, Otaku No
significant work. The script is excellent (although the subndes lack the literate
and poetic feel of the original, the voice-acting absolutely suparb, and the Riding Bean). This part begins in 1982 when Video is a garden of delights whose light
direction almost without flaw. )Ts tiufy erne of the rare animated films you really
Kubo, a freshman at one of japan's finest uni¬ touch conceals deeper and sometimes darker
could show to anyone -regardless of their stance on anime or animation and
{TS; 5794} Subtitled
genera I—and expect a criiicafty positive response.
versities, gets sucked into the mysterious otaku meanings. *
VHS/'LD from US Manga Corps; 88 mins,; S2$ 95/$39.99,
lifestyle after bumping into an old friend Cart Gustav Horn

OcTobi r/^4
An I MERIC* JB
 KIM AG UR E ORANGE HOAD * VOL 1

AN EYE-OPENING CHANGE
The potential Idvd triangle here revolves a round Kynsuki Kasuga. a high
FAREWELL TO YAMATO: IN THE
school kid whose family possesses $om& strange psychic powers The NAME OF LOVE
opening m In seems to point to a UFO conn echo n jean it he?]. Vying tor his
alfeclions are Madoka, boauiiM and athletic land subject of numerous Sold Thru Format Price Length
model figure kits), and Hikaru, a pen and pesky classmate. AnimEigo's Voyager English VHS S29.95 120 mins
video rs bright and ensp, and the hi-fi sound comes through on all chan¬ Entertainment
nels. Extensive liner noics covering song lyrics, production credits, end
notes about Japanese names are included. [R$; 3/94} Subtitled VHS/LD
from AnimEiga; 50/100 mins. (mo QAVs on VHS; four on LQ); S39.9S&4.9S
Release Date Translation Notes
KG CENTURV BEAST WARRIORS Or Sale Now Unknown 1978L$ Afipweceflcj
Yamato in a brand-
new dub

After three years observing Rie British amine scene, Lon don-based Amine
UK magazine has finally announced their own video label with this silly
anthropomorphic fantasy, Three OAV episodes are recorded on a single
tape The tape is dub bod. hut the ealchy BEAST WARRIORS tiieme songs
have been left in ihe original Japanese, accompanied by singable English
subtitles, a leature which really wowed preview audiences Could (his be
the tirsi of a British a nine invasion? }JC; 7/94} Dubbed VHS by Ammo UK
Video; appro* 90mms ; available UK. only.

MY NEIGHBOR TO TORO

Fux Video's release of Ihis Japanese animation classic is remarkable in

that it offers for the first time the joy and wnndei ol a Miyazaki film to
those poor souls who think that ail of anime is either MTV's campy SPEED
Ft ACER or CPM's Grand Gulgnol tentacle test LEGEND OF THE OVERREND
One report put the number of units manufactured at 600,000—think of that
as 600.000 potential new anime Fans, and you'll begin to understand why
enime lovers everywhere are so excited about tills "mainstream" U.S.
release. fftN; 3/94} Dubbod VMS from Fox Video; appro*. $7mins.; $19.38

NADIA * VOL 1

© S9ZB West Cope Corporation

Streamline's video transfer is soft and the sound is good, if lacking bass.
The voice-talent is well-matched, an older-sounding Jean the big plus
I although the outrageous French accents require some getting used to].
Grand is is much fun. As with CAGLlGSTRQ, a little extra effect to subtitle
the song lyrics would have helped Thirty-nine cassettes lone per episode)
will blow out shelf space-—two or three episodes per tape would heve
m ade more sense. }RS: IQ/331 Dubbed VHS from SneamSme Pictures; 25
mins.; $14,95,

NEO-TOKYO

Like its ccusm ROBOT CARNIVAL, ihrs trio of short stories presents tight,
well-crafted stories and animation apparently unfettered by the budget or
trme constraints common to weekly television lilies, OAV series, and most
feature productions. The dubbing does try to be faithful to the ongmal, and
the unspecified sound eng ineering comes across with a full surrou nd feel.
IRS; 3/94} Dubbed VHS from Streamline Pictures; 50 mins.; $24.9$,
NO NEED FOR TEN CHI! *VOL t
A delightfully rich OAV series first released in Japan during September
1592 which tells the story of a tumbling young Japanese boy, the demon
imprisoned for 700 years beneath his, family's shrine, and ihe space aliens
who come to punish her fer her crimes. Pioneer's release of TENCH 11 in &
bilngual format jwith closed-e a phoned subtitles also available) was one
ol the biggest scoops at Expo '93; in one felt swoop, the great "sub vs.
dub" debate was eliminated when Pioneer made it possible for anime tens
to have their take and eat u, too. [HN; 2/34} Bilingual English/Japanese LD
from Ptoneer LDCA; 30 mins.; $34.95.
PROJECT A-KO 1
By now we're all familiar with the premise of PROJECT A-KO:
Superpowered redhead A-Ko I daughter ol Clark Kant and Diene Prince of
SUPERMAN/WQNDER WOMAN lame} is best friends wrth big-Byad
blonde C-Ko, Blue-haired bombshell B-Ko is A-Ko's rival For C-Ko's com¬
pany and will stop at nothing to taka her ewey from A-Ko. Cathy Waseluck
is brilliant as the obnoxious, whiney, and euie-as-amase-pl-scabies C-Kc
PROJECT A-KO is funny, Hell a hinny. {RN; 7/94} Dubbed VHS from U.S.
Manga Corps; 70 mins; $39.95
RANMA 1/2 * VOL. I
As anime continues to garner video market share, H is also accumulating
production savvy, and Viz Video appears to be using it wall. The video is
some of the cleanest going, with rock-steady freeze hemes and excellent
color, The sterao sound has nice separation; the mastc is joinEd by (he
subtitled lyrics, always a welcome feature (rhe title song withpul transla¬
tion should be illegal). Vi; Ydeo stumbles briefly by running a neadlessly
violent promo for another Takahashi title, MERMAID'S SCAR, While most
ot us can deal with it, J simpfy don't need to see gunshots before a come¬
dy. (ftS; 4/94} Dubbed VHS from Viz Video; 50 mins,; $29.95
If you were I ike me and grew up watching Star
Blazers on U.S. television, the return of Space
Cruiser Yamato in any form is a bona fide
event. This new release from Voyager
Entertainment is an English version of the sec¬
ond Yamato theatrical feature, l97B's
Arrivederd Yamato, a movie which was even¬
tually adapted as the second Yamato TV series
{Star Blazers fans will recognize it as the sec¬
ond-season "Comet Empire'" storyline).
Those unfamiliar with the alternate history
introduced in Arrivederd will be surprised by
Farewell to Yamato, Unlike Star Blazers,
Farewell to Yamafo's mysterious Treiaina is a
glow ing apparition made of pure anti-matter.
The original Arrivederci ending in which nearly
every major character is wiped out will come
as an extra shock to those who go to sleep
every night believing that Dr. Sane's beverage
of choice really was spring water and that Knox
"got out ail right/' after all.
What's odd about Farewell to Yamato is
how only some of the Star Blazers names have
been changed. Unlike Star Blazers, the heroic
ship is known as the Yamato, not the Argo.
Like Star Blazers, the people stay the same—
Derek Wildstar, Nova, Mark Venture, Sandor,
Dess lock, etc. Bui then we get a slew of wacky
new terminology; Why "Empire of the White
Comet" and not Comet Empire? What did we
ever do to deserve "Undulation Cun" in place
of the trusty "Wave Motion Cun"? Why
"Cosmos Tigers" and not Cosmo Tigers? Is Carl
Sagan involved somehow? Were there legal dif¬
ficulties? Perhaps I'm nitpicking, but if there's a
legitimate reason lor these half-hearted
"improvements," Ld like to know it.
Dialogue in Farewell to Yamato is closer
in literal terms to the Japanese version than Star
Blazers, a 11 ho ugh a few col I oq u i a I i sms—" G reat
Caesar's ghost!" "For the love of Mike!" "A
man's got to to what a man's got to do!"—were
spectacular exceptions. As a self-confessed Star
Blazers tan, I missed those first English voices
I'd come to love (the new DessJock just doesn't
get me going the way Star Blazers' sardonic
blue 'plected cutie does). To be fair, although
Farewell to Yamato's voices are in general less
distinctive, some viewers may welcome the lack
of Venture's nasally New Yawk accent, Homer's
Texas drawl, and Orion's Scottish brogue.
Voyager's video duplication is sharp, while
the music recording is clear and crisp. When il
comes right down to it, Yamato is Yamato, and
the ending will still bring a tear to your c*ye, no
matter how big a "purist" you may consider
yourself to be. If you're a Star Blazers fan,
Farewell to Yamato wifi be an eye-opener. If
you've only seen the Japanese version, hearing
the series in English will be a welcome change.
If you've never seen Star Blazers or Yamato at
all, Farewell to Yamato could be the video that
makes you an anime fan for life.*
Mitch Samuels

Ot Tohtn/94 $9
A NIM I R k 4
 BEST OF THE

•Sse RAVEN 7ENGU KABUTD

,
VIRTUALLY FLAWLESS HARMLESS FUN
MARIS THE WQNDERGIRL
Sold Thru
_Manga
Entertainment
Format
English PAL
VH5 .'"1£
Price
€8.99
Length
48 mins,

(UK) .

Release Date Translation Notes

The idea af machine imagery contrasting vuith a traditional medieval sel¬
On Sale Now Adapted by - British dob or the
ling is exciting, I only WFSh there had been more Etme to develop it more
GeoFge Roubieek 'Rumic World" video
fully. There's a plot, and yeah, it's got some holes, but that's not realty
reviewed th eur t i/92 isn-1
important—what you're watching this video for is to see Kabuto turn on
the power. The soundtrack is cool, especially the heavy-metal theme
song Watch this video tika you'd read a SUPERMAN comic. I mean, real-
ly. Who do you think is going to win? IMS: 8/94} Subtitled I/HS from US.
Renditions/LA Hero; JI2 mins; $23.9$,

RIDING DEAN

AmmEigo does its usually thorough job subtitling and providing cun I liner
notes with research and song lyr.es In the dub, however, image clarity is
onty a little better than the sub. and it remains to be seen if the King of
the Subutlers will be well-received by the faithful in the dub domain. The
dub suffers only a little from Brennan Mackenzie's "Baity," ygcKenrie's
voice has a nice timbre, hut if you'll pardon the pun. it needs iust a bit
more gas. IRS: 7/94} Subbed & dubbed VMS from AetmSgo; 4G mins..
S3495 (subl/S!9,35 (dub),

ROBOT CARNIVAL
The nine stones. are presented slightly out of order and with slight varia¬
tions in titles, covering a wide range of robot types and behaviors. Not
surprisingly, the focus of each film is not solely the mechanical cre¬
ations. but their effect on the hwrcan characters. In the end. these are
people stories The remarkable extremes have lo be Ihe opening and
cEo-sing sequences from AKIRA author Katsuhire Otomn and Aisuko
Fukustuma, who allow the enormous mobile 'robot carnival" to wreak
amazing havoc on its audience, even after its wheeirng demise. Perhaps
there is an unsubtle message contained within. IRS; f0/931 Debited
VMS/LD from Streamline Pictures; 90 mins.; S29.95/S39M
THEY WERE ELEVEN
Cosmo Academy cadet Tada, one of too trainees dropped into an unfa¬
miliar ship, discovers that not only is the ship fraught with high-tech dan¬
gers. but that there are actually ala von cadets aboard. One is an impos-
tor maybe even, a saboteur I Character designs ere dean and sdihe-
whai simplified: some may hearken back to much earlier styles. Video:
Clean. Sound: Good stereo-. Subtitles; Readable yellow,'black. Your
orders, cadet. See it- IRS; i 1/93} Subtitled VHS/LD by US Manga Corps;
91 mins; $29.92834.99.
TOWARD THE TERRA
This one-shot video is something unusual—a female voice in science-
fiction anrme. It is based on the manga of the same name by Keiko
Takemiya, who left Tokushima University School o' Education alter two
years to become a full-time professional in her field. Although TERRA has
tha galactic stage el classic SF adventure, its theme is net space opera
but rather, separation, such as child from mother, parents hom children,
mind from memory, man from Earth, and humanity from itself. ICM; 8/94}
Subtitled VMS from Central Park Media; f 12 mins,, S2995.
U-JIN BRAND
Julio Oev/\ and may not be copied or reproduced except by express mitten permission Ait rights reserved
C opyright tears have forced a name change
from the expected title "Maris the Supergirl/'
but for once, ii seems an anime video has made
U past British censors uncut. Marls the
Wondergirl represents one of the growing num¬
ber of juvenile-appeal releases from UK anime
companies as the public appetite for tentacles
and such grows increasingly dulled. With a
Takahashi pedigree to its advantage, it's also far
more likely to make Its way into a U.S,-compati¬
ble NTSC release, if indeed it hasn't already.
Maris is a refugee from a high-gravity
world, suitably dutiful to her loser parents, and
trying to earn an honest crust. Unfortunately, her
six-gee heritage makes collateral damage a fore¬
gone conclusion, and she always seems to be
owing more money than she makes at her
Galactic Space Patrol day job. But when rich
playboy Kogane Mam is kidnapped, Maris leaps
at the chance to seize his captors, his heart, and
his all-important wallet.
Manga Video's release of Maris the
Wondered I has much to recommend it. The dub
is virtually flawless, very much in keeping with
the spirit of the original Japanese, and with none
of Ihe stilted dialogue that dogs some English-
language releases on both sides of the Atlantic.
The voice-characterization is extremely good,
background (watch for Darth Vader sniffing giue
in an alleyway, a glimpse of turn's unmistake-
able boots, and UYs Ten-chan on a surfboard).
The only problem is that Manga Video may
have released an anime video which may not
generate the audience reaction it once did,
Anime is a very fast-moving medium, and Maris'
status as a one-woman Dirty Pair might seem a
trifle dated and contrived to a more savvy, mod¬
em audience. But Maris is less an ingenue than
either Kei or Yuri, and her dogged pursuit of
Kogane's hand is so calculating that only
Takahashi's own gender will save her from a few
raised eyebrows. Had this been the work of a
man, one wonders if It might oof have been
accepted as harmless fun, even though that's
exactly what it is.
Manga Video may even be aware of this, but
is willing to take the risk in order lo break into the
American market. Takahashi fans will no doubt
treasure it for the creator's uncontested skill, and
that in itself might be enough to guarantee a fast-
track into the United States. Manga Video, like
their fellow British companies, is going to need
that American distribution savvy they acquired
when they opened their stateside Manga
Entertainment branches in Los Angeles and
Chicago. In choosing a Takahashi tale, they may

have found themselves another stepping stone

are £'1994 Vu Communications toe. and

with particular success from Maris' rival Vampire

Three short stories based on the work of tha pseudonymous artist who Sue s southern drawl and Murphy the many¬ into the U,S, (count on Macross Plus in February
caused voluntary labeling of adult comics in Japan. It may disappoint
tans looking for erotica on an UROTSUKI DOJI scale. As a whole the tailed fox's hilarious Irish brogue. All the usual to be the first), which is a good sign for all con¬
video is extremely politically Incorrect and, frankly, not quite good
Takahashi touches are here, meriting a second cerned, Ar
enough to make up for the lack of erotica that's so heavily implied [the
raison d'etre for such videos, yes?). ITS; 5/9*1 Subtitled VMS from U.S. viewing just to spot the in-jokes lurking in the Jonathan Clements
Manga Corps; 45 mins.: £29. 95.

URU5EI YATSURA • TV VOL. 11

©@©
You gel four episodes on this tape—"Thrilling Summer Date," 'Goodbye,
HOW TO ORDER
Two of the videos reviewed this month ore available directly from their US. production companies
So Long,Summer Days" “Panic in a Typhoon,H and “Drunkard's
M icons \n the Aninwtcan”* system ftncluding Major Am me

Boogie"—and taken together, they're like little time eapsutes sent by (check with your heal anime retailer for FARfwm to YamaTO and possibly, in the future, Maris TH£
AmmEigo to the fan of today ham an are in which good anime was some¬ Wondergirl). Please note that in most cases orders made with personal checks are shipped when check
thing you watched on TV, and pianty of it. AnimEigo has made a commit¬
ment to bnng orb of the true greats of TV anime to the American fan, sc dears; MC/Visa is the simplest way to pay. In the meantime, he sure to tell them AhiMWICA sent you!
match respect with respect end chock it out jCH: 7/9*1 Subtitled VMS
from AnimEigo; 100 mins; S39-95.
CUTEY HONEY ® : I OTAKU NO VIDEO
VENUS WARS
Cal! 1 713.965 0886 lor ordering information 1 Send 539.95 to: ANIMEIGO * P O Box "yM
or send 534.95 lo: A,D. VISION • 2709 . 989 ■ Wilmington, NC 28402-1850 or
Chimney Rock * Houston, TX 77056- Please \ | call 1,910,251.1850 for orderi ng infor ■ St.; 9r V.‘ A
odd $4.50 shipping and Handling for ike first L, „l motion (you may also send foxes to |
The mecha animation and backgrounds complement character designs
perfectly in this animated version of the manga hy Yoshikaju Yasuhikp. tape wilh 51.00 for each additional tope 1' Ul-. % ■ 1.910.763 2376). North Card!na resi-
Great pains must have been taken with relerence models or other threE- dents add 6% of subtotal; $3.00 5&H
(Canadian orders include Si 2.00 plus $2.00
dimensional drawing aids, because (he stuff all fe&ls solid. U.S.M.C,, like
per additional unit), MasterCard, Visa, money orders and (USA and CAN); $6.00 (Europe, Australia and Asia). 1X5,
Streamline Pictures, omits any relevant data on sound, leaving us guess¬
ing about format. No subtitle colors ars used, however, and no song lyrics persona! checks accepted. MUST BE OVER 18 TO ORDER; FUNDS ONLY!
ottered. This last point could have made it an almost-perfact release, Nil PLEASE INCLUDE STATEMENT OF AGE WHEN ORDERING
then again, what's perfect in this world? (RS; f 1/93} Subtitled VHS/W
from U.S. Manga Corps (also available dubbed); 104 mins.; S29-95/S34.99

QtTi>be«/?4
AKitMFnic.v 60
 NOW ON LASERDISC
DEVIL HUNTER YOHKG SR-YOOI
TRADING CO. PARADIGM Laserdisc / CAV / Stereo f Color / Subtitled / $34.95

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- Iria, Skull Soldier and many more. available 9/30/94

DEVIL HUNTER YOHKO

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(510) 649-5954 or (800) 790-7273 coming 10/31/94

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© COPYRIGHT STREAMLINE PICTURES, 1994

Editor Trish is doing much better
now—thanks to your well-wishes,
she’s recovered at least a degree
of the sanity that was lost during
this year s incredibly hectic conven¬
tion season. However; things are
still just a little crazy around heret
so HI be answering your letters this
month, as well as helping Trish out.
On to your letters*.. t
Who Was That Pink-Haired Girl?
Dear Trish,
Hello from the Philippines! Yes, yes, there
are some anime and manga otaku here,
too. Being a Japanese animation fan here
in the Philippines is tough. Although I col¬
lect the Ranma 1/2 manga, I have yet to
watch a single episode of this much
talked-about series (sad but true). But
thanks to your double feature on Ranma
1/2, I now understand (more or less) the
wacky things that happen in the comic.
On cable, they show some Japanese
animation, but since they're on Chinese
channels, we non-Ch i nese-speaki ng (or
Japanese-speaking) people have to follow
the stories by watching the characters"
reactions and actions instead. They show
Kimagure Orange Road and Doraemon in
Chinese here.
By the way, what's the title of the
show that features a pink-haired girl (I
know, so many shows have pink-haired
girls) with a pink flying fish? You know,
with the guy in shades and the blonde
girl who (probably) owns the school. Oh
yeah, they superdeform a lot when
things go crazy. (Please answer this
question. I'm going crazy here calling
the show by the pink-haired girl's name
in Chinese, "Wa Wa.")
Kamehameha!
Cliff Sawit
Quezon City, Philippines
AfliMERIC*
Wow, learning Chinese to more deeply
appreciate anime! What dedication!
We've been getting a lot of fetters from
fans in the Philippines lately (like Yasker
Yu, Aaron Ronquillo Cheryl Murillo—
thank you all) so at hast you know you're
not a /one. We asked Translations Editor
Tosh Hum! Yoshida if your description rang
any bells. After some head-scratching (and
a brief conference with Associate Editor
Taka Kara hash!) the consensus was that
it's probably KINGYO CHUUIHOO!
WAPIKO-CHAN, otherwise known as
"GOLDFISH ALERT/' Hope this helps!
Art With a Purpose is Okay
Trish-san,
1 just finished reading Philip Kauffold's let¬
ter, "I Do Not Watch Sex Videos/’ in
ANIMERICA Vol. 2, Issue 7,1 realize that
everybody has their own opinions, and I
respect them tor what they believe. He
stated that Overfiend is just a shallow
story overrun with soft pornography. I dis¬
agree. Yes, the entire series is violent and
has an ample amount of explicit sex in it,
but you must look within the story to
understand why Overfiend was made this
way* Here is my interpretation.
The story is actually quite good and is
about how mankind, in their ignorance,
forget the past, thus dooming the world to
repeat an event that should never happen
again. When you watch Overfiend, you
must look at it in two ways*
Watch it with an open mind and see
the goodness of the story as Akemi and
62
4
Nagumo fall in love and stay in love with
each other no matter what happens
throughout the rest of the series. Although
the Overfiend has taken over Nagumo's
body and conscience, Nagumo's heart
and soul still cry out to Akemi.
Now look at it another way. The
races in the three realms interpreted the
legend from their own viewpoints,
expecting the rebirth to bring about a
new era of peace and love among the
people of the realms. They made the mis¬
take of looking at the legend only from
their own good viewpoints. If they had
looked at the legend from the point of
view of the Overfiend, they would have
realized that his view of a utopia would
be quite different. Focus on Amano and
Megumi and you will realize that this is a
story of tragedy.
As fur the violent content of the
series, it was required because it deals
with cataclysmic events. The explicit
sexual nature was also required to show
that the same thing that is very beautiful,
such as making love between two people
who truly love each other, can also be
very ugly.
I realize there are people out there
who will watch Overfiend just for the sex,
the violence, or both* But I hope there will
be those who watch it for the story and
appreciate it through their own interpreta¬
tions, Look deeper and you will see
Overfiend is a beautiful story of love and
tragedy, with great animation and back¬
ground music to compliment it.
Doomo arigato gozaimasu,
Michael L Sc hall
Lin wood, NJ
Sex Sells
Konnichi Wa, ANIMERICA!
I'd just like to reply to Phillip Kauffold's
letter on censorship* He had some very
interesting points to make, and I'd like to
say what the situation is like in the U.K.
Manga and anime has been getting a
lot of very bad press here* The tabloids
have been having a field day ripping ihe
genre to shreds, and provoking a lot of
angry and concerned parents to write to
M.P.'s screaming for blood. What they
don't seem to realize is that films such as
Overfiend, Wicked City and the like are
not really what manga fans over here like,
or indeed, want to watch. Many fans over
here hate this type of film because it pre¬
sents the hobby they love with a very bad
QtTuben/94
 name. Most of the time the violence and
sex in the films Is unnecessary.
But, as Manga Video (the U.K.'s main
distributor) have found out, they sell like
hot cakes, and the more they sell, the
more they will be flogged by the media.
Bad publicity is publicity nonetheless, and
so the snowball grows. Video distributors
need to get off to a good start if they want
to succeed. Hopefully once they have a
nice wad of cash under their mattresses,
they will begin to gamble with their
choice of titles, bringing wider choice for
the manga fan of the films they do want to
see and getting rid of the bad publicity
and the prejudices that people have about
anime and manga. We can only wait with
bated breath.
Please will you print my name and
address, as I would like a pen pak
kind ot "entertainment" provides an outlet
for such violent urges> preventing people
from acting out these fantasies. (One thing
we can all he grateful for at least, is that
the characters depicted in anime are not
real women and men. At least we know
no one is being exploited or hurt to pro¬
duce these animation films.)
As we all know, it's a complex issue.
And that's why we need to keep talking
about it If we censor adult entertainment,
the people who most need to hear oppos¬
ing viewpoints will go underground where
we can't challenge them with our opin¬
ions, As fans of the anime and manga gen¬
res, perhaps it's our responsibility to let
the whole world know that we do not tol¬
erate sexual violence or harassment of
anyone. under any circumstances.
Phew! Enough heavy stuff! See you
A NiMERICA welcomes letters from its read¬
ers. Address correspondence to: Letters to
the Editor, c/o Viz Comics • P.O, Box
77010 • San Francisco, CA 94107 or via
the Internet to viz@netcomrcom. We are
unable to answer letters individually.
Concise, typed letters have the best chance
of being published. We reserve the right to
edit for space or clarity.
ANIMEFHCA FAN ART GALLERY
We ve received some really lovely illustra¬
tions this month (thank you!), hut because
we ran out of color pages this month, we
decided that tve'd rather see them in color.
next month. We hope that you'll agree. fn
the meantime, keep that art coming!

Peter Allport, "S.D." Allport

next time! —Annette
_ J
60 Parsonage Road
Cranleigh, Surrey, GU6 7AJ
ENGLAND
BACK TO SCHOOL
Michael and Peter: Thanks for your
thoughtful contributions to the ongoing and CONTEST!
debate about adult anime and manga. As
you know, we here at AN I MERIC A oppose WHAT YOU DO:
censorship of any kind, Hitler and his ilk Answer a few brief questions on club stationery, clearly stating your
used censorship to squelch any opinion affiliation to your club or organization.

that opposed their own abhorrent views. If WHAT YOU GET:

we censor othersthey may censor us!
Adult animationr, comics, video
games, movies, and other forms of expres¬
sion bring up issues that need to he talked
about, not silenced. Adult "entertain¬
ment" is not all the same. All of it portrays
explicit sex, but not all explicit sex pro¬
motes violence against women (and
men!). Think of the sex scenes in CRYING
FREEMAN between Freeman and Emu
Hino—both are willing partners, both
inexperienced and gentle with each other
Explicit but not violent. Nobody is hurt,
nobody humiliated.
Some forms of expression portray
sexual violence negatively. They show
you the suffering and pain victims go
through, enabling you to empathize with
them. They motivate you to put a stop to
violence.
The depictions of explicit sex I have
trouble with are the ones that make inflict¬
ing pain, humiliation, and even death
seem "sexy. * They teach viewers and
readers that it's a "turn-on" to hurt people,
that women (and men) who say "no" don't
really mean it.
Some, however, would argue that this
Everyone who replies wili be put on a new ANIJV1ERICA mailing list.
Each month, we'If send you a copy of our monthly newsletter, updat¬
ing you on all future Viz releases, as well as providing information on
how to receive permission to screen Viz Videos. Five winners will be
selected from all completed surveys to receive screeners of the brand-
new movie, RANMA 1/2 The MOVIE 2, "NIHAO MY CONCUBINE/' as
seen at San Diego Comic Con with Rumiko Takahashi!
ABOUT YOUR CLUB:
* Name of your organization
• Number of members
* School or university affiliation
* Particular club interests or specialities
ABOUT YOU:
■ Does your local comics speciality store carry anime and manga?
* Does it carry ANIMERICA or other animation magazines?
Do they have the kind of video or comics selection that you need?
* Does your college bookstore carry comics?
• If so, does it offer any manga titles?
* How about graphic novels or videos?
• What about anime videos?
Please send your completed survey to:
AMI ME RICA MAGAZINE,
DEPARTMENT "L"
c/o Viz Communications Inc,
P.O. Box 77010
San Francisco, CA 94107
The information you send us will help us to serve you better by mak-
ing your club well-informed, not to mention providing you with more
and better access to your favorite anime and manga!
Thank you for your help.

Oi r-r/94
6*
AftiMFnif.4
 The Animessages Poll
O ur thanks to everyone who responded to the questionnaire in our latest
issue. Among other questions, we asked you to fist your favorite anime
shows, characters and manga. A different category is presented each month,
Listings are based on polls postmarked August 94.
Here’s what you told us:
YOUR FAVORITE ANIME CHARACTER

1 RANMA 1/2 (RANMA 1/2)

2 SHAMPOO (RANMA 1/2)

3 LUM (LUM * URUSEI YATSURA)

4 A-KO (PROJECT A-KO)

5 ALITA (BATTLE ANGEL)

Winners, Winners! Weh/e Got Winners!

In our July issue we announced that three lucky winners would be selected
from completed polls postmarked no later than August 1994. And here they
are:

Jim Duke * Alexandria, LA

Grace Mixon • Melbourne Village, FL
Kim Del Castillo * Chattahoochee, FL

Congratulations! All three of you win a copy of RANMA 1/2 TV VOL. 6t the lat¬
est installment in Rumiko Takahashis hilarious martial arts comedy of the
sexes, courtesy of V\z Video! If your name wasn’t picked, don't worry—if your
card is postmarked during the month of September, you’ll be automatically eli¬
gible for that month’s drawing, with winners to be announced in the November
94 issue. So get those completed polls in and remember, If it s Anime in
America, it's Gotta Be ANIMERICAI™ See you In thirty.

DR COMICS & MR GAMES

Ocrafccn/94
64
AttiMEHitA
 Pioneer OVA Series are available
simultaneously on VHS and Laserdisc,

Seven episodes of mega-hit Tenchi are available now.

with more on the way! What’s more. hot. new episodes
of the exciting Moldiver series will be released soon.
And both series are available on Laserdisc
(bi-lingual/ CAV). English-overdubbed VHS and
subtitled VHS featuring the original Japanese dialogue.

Kishin Heidan
Machine God Corps

f iiUl
jTHiTtHt i nr** Ip MiMFhrs tt
JpMfJn
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Valuable Pioneer OVA merchandise giveaway program will be

announced soon, so please hang onto your proof-of-purchasel

The Art of Entertainment

©1994 Pioneer LOCA, inc All artwork © amt ™. All nights reserved Prices may hie higher in Carafe.
 CD Rom
Available for
*Your Screen!
Mac & Windows •yf/so Includes \/j0aJukebox
Taking Orders Now witffJriusic from the original
Call (212) 679-4096
or write: soundtrack. _
Software Sculptors
149 Madison Avenue
Suite 202
New York, NY 10016

SOFTWARE SCULPTORS

US.MANGA

| Contains Brief Nudity & Via I e nee

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For More Information Please Contact Animation Division (310) 604-9701

1123 Dominguez Street Suite "K" Carson, CA 90746 Fax (310) 604-1134
 More than just entertainment, Japanese animation is also a valuable form of cross-cultural communication. In this section,
Animerica's own Osaka-based Yoshitaka Ishigami reviews the very latest in importedanime.
Sold Thru Order Nos. Price in YEN
—Banda! Visual VHS: BES-1053 ¥7800.^7800 —
LD: BELL 704 (CLVI
Length Release Date
Four Approx. 40-Mi n. Vol. 1
On Sale Now
Vote-
THE CONCEPT More than ten years after its Japanese debut,
MACROSS returns once more, this time as a direct-lo-vkteo series
which, untike the uneven MACROSS It, boasts creative staff from
the original series, Preview audiences at this year's Anime Expo
are stilt talking about the incredible combat scenes. Can you
afford to be left out?
WHY SHOULD I ORDER IT?: Let's admit it For ail the years that
we've been ooohing and aaahing over Haruhiko "Hat"
Mikimoto's character designs, we realty should have giving
Shoji Kawamori his due, The best thing about MACROSS PLUS,
hands down, is Kawamori in the director's chair. And you can bet
we'll be first in tine to buy the CD soundtrack, when it's finally
released—the only anime music we've heard recently that's more
memorable is the score from ORGUSS-02.
WILL IT EVER BE RELEASED IN ENGLISH?: Absolutely.
Manga Entertainment's recent purchase of L.A. Hero puts them
squarely at the head of the class when it comes to big-budget.
Bandahbacked anime releases Look for the first MACROSS PLUS
volume to be released by Manga Entertainment in English this
February. With an announced price of $12.95, is it any wonder
toe US. anime industry is buzzing iike a kicked-over beehive?
Can similar price reductions at other companies be far behind?
THE BOTTOM LINE: "I love the extra footage at toe end of the
MACROSS PLUS laser disc. Gee, why didn't I think to pass off DO
You REMEMBER LOVE? a$ a [tSw dramatization of the 'real-life'
events revealed in the MACROSS/ROBCTECH continuity? This is
one group of people who love their work.'—Avery Tom
ANiMtfttct
Hot young pilot Isamu Dyson is
voice-acted by TENCHUs Ryo-Oh-
Ki the Cabbit in this eagerly antici
pated sequel to MACROSS. Don't
you just igve itf
VOICES TO LISTEN FOR:
Takumi Yamazaki ("Ryo-Oh-Ki," NO
NEED FOR TENCHl!) as Isamu Dyson
Megumi Hayashibara ("Hello Kitty/'
HELLO KITTY AND THE MAGIC APPLE)
as Lucy
After conducting meticulous market
research, the producers decided to make
the "new" Macross a large-scale produc¬
tion, Its core will consist of four compo¬
nents: The upcoming television series
Ma cross Seven, the animated Ala cross fea¬
ture scheduled for next summer in japan,
the live-action Macross movie being devel¬
oped in Hollywood even as we speak, as
well as the new Macross Plus OAV series.
Macross Plus is amply funded by sev¬
eral movers and shakers in the industry,
including Banda i, Big West, Hero, MBS,
and Shogakukan. Based solidly upon the
talents of the aforementioned Shoji
Kawamori, Macross Plus also features the
first-rate talents of artists new and old alike,
including mecha designs by Kazutaka
Miyatake, a screenplay by Keiko
Nobumoto, and animation direction by
Ichiro Itano.
Macross Plus has a density and ten¬
sion that's never before been seen in an
QAV series, itano's super mecha-combat
frS
scenes are a particular must-see item. It's
said that for reasons of health, Etano won't
be involved in the new' Macross Seven tele¬
vision series, but from a fan's point of view,
it's enough to see him going strong in
Macross Plus.
just as the classic staff are returning for
the new Macross, so are some of the clas¬
sic Macrossthemes. I can't help but look
forward to the appearance of virtual idol
"Sharon Apple" in Vol. 2, The times and
environment may have changed since
those early days, but that good oL Macross
trinity of mecha, idols, and the luster of
youth must surely be one reason fans con¬
tinue to love Macross. If nothing else, the
new project will be remembered as one
which was brought back from the grave by
the enthusiasm of foreign fans. How many
other anime series can say the same?
YOU’RE UNDER
ARREST
Sold Thru Order Nos, Price in YEN^
Kodansha/ VHS: BE S-1043 ¥5500/¥5500
Bandar Visual LD: BEAL-694 (CAV)
Length Release Date
Four Approx. 30-Min. Vote. Vol. 1 On Sale- Now
THE CONCEPT Kosuke Fujishima fans must be deeply sad¬
dened now that the ARi MY GODDESS anime series based Oh
his original manga has ended, but mourn not KSS, the
Japanese animation studio which makes high-quality anime its
company motto, has just the thing for you with an ait-new
Fujishima anime series.
WHY SHOULD l ORDER IT?: When it was announced in
Japan that Fujishima's senes would be animated, fans worried
about two things: (1) Will Natsumi and Miyuki be cute? and (2)
What about the mecha? Luckily. Studio Dean had the sense to
bring in Atsuko Nakajima of FtANMA 1/2 fame to handle char¬
acters, white equal care and attention is lavished upon function¬
al (and very cool-looking) mecha designs.
WILL IT EVER BE RELEASED IN ENGLISH?: Given
AnimEigO's success with OH! MY GODDESS; it would seem
only natural that they follow up Fujishima with Fujishima.
However: seeing as a good chunk of the cash in the production
pot belongs to Japanese merchanding juggernaut Bandar,
rights for the YOU'RE UNDER ARREST animated series may not
be so easy for the North Carolina-based subbers/'dubbers to
score. Stey tuned.
THE BOTTOM LINE: T loved toe character of Urd in the AW,
MY GODDESS manors series and YOU'RE UNDER ARREST'S
Natsumi is just as good, How can you rtof love a gid bom of two
pro wrestlers who thinks the best way to make a turn during a
high-speed car chase is by kicking a guardrail?" —Roberta
Nakamura
VOICES TO LISTEN FOR:
Sakiko Tamagawa ("Lychee/ RANMA
1/2, "6/C TROUBLE IN NEKONRON,
CHINA") as Natsumi
Akiko Hiramatsu ("Nene,"
BUBBLEGUM CRISIS) as Miyuki
The first OAV volume of YouTe Under
Arrest, a manga series which has enjoyed
just as much popularity in japan as Ah! My
OcrobEn/94

i© 1994 Ko-suke FujishimayKoO'ansha.'Bandai VisuaE/Marubeni
Fujishima fans will have reason to rejoice when hi$ best¬
selling YOU'RE UNDER ARREST manga {coming soon rn
English from Dark Horse Comics} is released as a four-vol¬
ume direcMo-video animated senes.
Goddess (if not more), was just released in
japan this September, Using the "law
enforcement" theme that's so popular
these days, You 're Under Arrest also con¬
tains the warmth fans have come to expect
from a Fujishima series.
Media is an important part of You're
Under Arrest, and the animated version
holds true to this principle, Miyuki's mini-
patrol car, Natsumi's "motocompo" (origi¬
nal Jy a carry-on motorcyle), and Motorcyle
Officer Nakajima's GSX-R Police Special
were designed not only for good looks, but
for top performance as well. Bandai's dis¬
play of a full-scale mini patrol car and
motocompo at press conferences and even
the 1AFCON modeling convention has
become industry news.
The animated version of You're Under
Arrest proves that these are high times
indeed for Fujishima fans.
D( iubtn/94
WHERE TO BUY JAPANESE-
ONLY VHS, LD and CO TITLES:
Unlike the anime scene of even a few
years ago, these days there are several
places more than willing to special-
order anime and anime CD Soundtracks
direct from Japan hr you. Others only
self stock available on-hand Most ot
the time, all you really need is a little
patience and\ for fastest service, a
major credit card. Some retailers
request 3 small deposit (or even full
payment) on special orders; call for
instructions* Be sure to have your credit
card and order numbers ready when
phoning, This is by no means a com¬
prehensive listf but it ought to get you
started♦ ANIMERICA assumes no respon¬
sibility for the quality of sendee provid¬
ed. Happy shopping!
Credit Cards
I SPECIAL ORDERS
CATALOG
JAPAN VIDEO
1737 Post Street
LASER PERCEPTIONS
1739 Noriega Street (25th Avenue}
San Francisco, CA 94122
CALL: 1.415 753.2016 or FAX:
1,415.564 3B21
CATALOG: $2,00 S&H fee
MIKADO LASER JAPAN
1737 Post Street
San Francisco, C A 94115-3617
CALL: 1 415.922 9450 or FAX:
1.415.922.1662
PLANET ANIME
2435 Times Boulevard
Houston, TX 77005
CALL: 1 713.523.7122
SIGHT & SOUND
27 Jones Road
Waltham, MA 02154
CALL: 1,617 094.8633
69
3k
Tli Compact View
VfKe
You've seen the anime, now listen to the music I In Japan, animation
music is every bit as respected as music from more mainstream
soundtracks. The Compact View helps you to understand the some¬
times confusing world of anime CDs by reviewing the very latest in both
dame sue and imported releases.
ANtMERlCA Recommends
MOBILE SUIT V-GUNDAM,
Score I
HELEASED THRU: Star Child / King
Recced
LENGTH: 44:07 (14 tracks)
ORDER NO.: KICA 153
PRICE: Y2SOO
Most any incarnation ol Mobile Suit
ffundam has had generally excellent
music, bin with V-Gundam. I really think
they've hil an all-time high. Just Hip
amount of original music composed for ihe
series alone boggles me: that if also hap¬
pens to be great music is a bonus, Of the
three BGM discs produced for V-Gundam
so far. Score I is perhaps the best. Nearly
all ihe signature (hemes are rap resented
here, everything from the standard bailie
music 10 each character's own theme,
even ihe proud menial theme for the V-
Gundam itself The original opening and
ending themes are also included, and while
"Stand Up to ihe Victory" may have a little
loo much screamin' guitar for same,
"Winners Forever" more than makes op for
it. V-Gundam Score I is a must for any fan
of the series, or for anyone interested in
what constitutes "good Gundam music"
these days
Julie Davis
CD Time Capsule
ANIME HOT WAVE, Vofs. 1-2
RELEASED THRU; VAP
LENGTH: 57:31 (15 1 racks) / 50:22
(15 tracks)
Order No,: VRCG-00401 / VPCG-
83205
PRICE: ¥2500*2500
Ever find yourself debating whether or
not |p spend US$30.0035.00 on an anime
CO when all you're really sure of is ‘hat
you like the cool theme song? Many
anime features have eventually get
around to releasing a "Best Of" collec¬
tion; VAP's "Anime Hot Wave" collects
music from several different series, and is
perhaps the best-known of its typo. Vol, 1
contains nothing but opening or "main"
themes from such classic TV shows as
Petlabor, Dirty Pair. Kim&gure Orange
Read end Cars Eye. as well a$ many oth¬
ers. Vol, 2 shows a bit more variation.
Yes. it contains ending themes lor many
of the shows heard on Vol. lr but it also
adds thamos From additional shows such
as Lupin lit, City Hunter, end one of my
personal favorites, IWafsorr Ikkoku, Both
volumes are excellent. The only possible
flaw is Thai both volumes contain so
much good music, you're bound to end up
wanting more.
Ryan Gavigan
ANIMERICA Recommends
ROBOT CARNIVAL ORIGI¬
NAL SOUNDTRACK
released THRU: JVC Musical
Industries, Inc.
LENGTH: Approx. 67 mins, (27 I racks]
ORDER NO.: JMM002
PRICE: S16-95
This track-pa eked Streamline Pictures re-
release of ihe "Robot Carnival Original
Soundtrack" gave me a Krary K«n shovel
full o' bricks in the noggin'. Why didn't
someone tell me about this sooner5 For the
price of a Ranma 1/2Graphic Novel, t cou!d
have had twenty-seven Irtlle pieces of
anime heaven Irom the likes of anime com¬
poser legend Jo Hisaishi and the fabulous
music director Yasunon Honda {Macross,
Battle Angel Mo Need for Tenchif). The
opening bharne is full of brass and fan¬
fare perhaps frig his ningly so, Track 5's
"Presence III" is lovely and so sad. Track
13'$ "Heart Si Hand" is bubbly and bouncy,
fust like the Japanese idol singer rt was
written in honor of (read the enclosed liner
notes and find out which onEf. "Niwa Tori
Oloko to Altai Kubi" (Chicken Man and Rod
Neck] on Track 17 is relentless and full ol
menace. And ihe best thing 15, there isn't 3
strokin' drama track in ihe bunch.
Roberta Nakamura
QfoSANAL UartON PKTUME $CW»Ih4C1C
ROBOT CARNIVAL
ROBOTIC H
PERFECT
COLLECTION
CD Time Capsule
ROBOTECH PERFECT
COLLECTION
RELEASED THRU; Harmony Gold
LENGTH: 23 tracks
ORDER NO,; SDF-CD1
PRICE: Oul of print: available used only
Listening to this one was like going back
in lime. Released in 1905 by U.5.
Renditions, the Robotech Perfect
Coiteciion has been sold out for years
now, but you still see it popping up Irom
lime to lime, Every tuna you remember
Irom the series and a few you don't are
here, including the majestic "Main
Them a," Reba West's hopeful ditty "My
Time To Be A Star," three versio-ns oh he
rousing “We Will Win," as well as the
"Sentinels iMedley," which, according to
die accompanying liner notes, was pro¬
duced by veteran Robotech music com¬
posers Michael Bradley and StevB
Wittmack as a move away from the sym-
phonic/orchestral Star Wars sound of the
original Robotech It: The Sentinels BGM.
It's amazing how Heba West's voica,
once remembered so unkindly, has taken
on a patina of nostafgia and even charm
over these past nine years, f had to bor¬
row (he Robotech Perfect Collection ham
a friend, but who knows? Maybe you'll
find a copy somewhere for under
US$100.00. Hey, it could happen.
Tristi Ledoux
AHiiHtaitA
Animation tliat’s NCT fen l\ids!
This poor young lady’s The Ultimate In Science Friction!
GUY: Double
problem isn’t what she Target. The
does, it’s what she ultimate Science
can’L.and she’ll do Friction adventure
just about is back, now
vrS* ANYTHING to get it dubbed in English!
I1*# right! You’ve never Contains both the
3B[ seen anyth i ng quite original GUY-
HP like P (FRANTIC, AWAKENING OF
f I FRUSTRATED & THE DEVIL and
I I FEMALE), the GUY-SECOND

GUY I © 1990. GUY || ©1992 MEDIA STATION

/ i animated video that 1 TARGET on one
* 4 gives a whole new \ incredibly hot
meaning to the phrase \ VHS cassette!
“Coming Soon”! \ QOU13LE TA.RISET

Cat. #VHSF/(X)I $29.95 s.r.p. ] Available in both U!Ira-Explicit Uncut (Cal. # VHSG/DUBU) and General Release
Contains Graphic Sex and Adult Situations. (Cat. #VHSG/DUBG) versions, $39.95 s.r.p. Contains sex and graphic violence.

LEGEND OF LYON
Legend ok Lyon:
FLARE 1 &2 Flare 1 & 2.
Naked blades and
barely clad
warriors confront
the monstrous
forces of an alien
horde in two
epics of Sex,
Swords and
Sorcery!
WARNING:
Contains
extremely graphic
depictions of sex
and violence!

Legend of Lyon: Flare 1&2 - Both films on one VHS cassette!

CnL. #VHSL/0()1 $29.95 s.r.p.

For more information, or to order direct, contact:

A D VISION • SOFTCEL PICTURES 2709 CHIMNEY ROCK, HOUSTON, TX 77056
phone (713) 965-0886 rax (713) 965-9318
 "Hitting me will cost you dearly, Teach!"
The person waiting for Tokiro Ehara, newly
t
appointed English teacher at famed Mitsuba o
x
Girls High School (and, incidentally, still a X
O
>
virgin), is Miyako Rase, whose pure and
innocent face hides her "playful11 nature!
When he accidentally finds out her secret .
Tokiro marshals his pride as a teacher and plots
to make Miyako a proper student - hut gets
wrapped up in her cute charm instead.

Part 1 : Available October 26, 1994

"Hitting me will cost you dearlyr Teach!"

Part 2 : Available December 19, 1994 !

H®meroem
Affairs
WARNING : Contains Nudity & Adult Situations. Must be over 18 years old to order. PLEASE include statement of age
when ordering.

In Japanese with English subtitles. Approximately 50min. Available in N.T.S.C. format only. Retail suggested price $24,95 U.S.
Funds only We accept check or money orders. Include $4.50 for shipping and handling. For Canadian orders please pay $24.95 U.S.
funds plus $12.50 for shipping , handling and duties. Please allow 8 to 10 weeks for delivery Please make checks payable to Star
Anime Enterprises. With your order PLEASE print your address dearly.
Please send your order to : Star Anime Enterprises P.O. Box 119 Sea Cliff, NY 11579-0119
For Credit Card orders, Please call Planet Anime at (713)523-7122. Visa, MasterCard and Discover
accepted.

For Retailer’s orders only : Call (516)674-3125 Monday-Friday (E.T. 9AM-6PM) Star Anime En,erPrises
ATTENTION!! Original cells and backgrounds of this animated program are available for sale. Each order comes with a certificate
of authenticity from J. C. Staff International Corporation. If you are ordering the video there is no charge, just notify us with your
order that you wish to get the catalog too. If you are ordering the catalog separately, please include a money order or certified check
made payable to Star Anime Enterprises for $2.00 U.S. funds. Do not send cash or stamps.
 ”- - 5 m

HIBIKI AND S1LVIE ARE LOVERS ONCE MORE

IN THIS BRAND-NEW, 100% MADE-IN -
AMERICA SEQUEL TO THE PHENOMENALLY L 1
POPULAR ANIME/MANGA SERIES!

To Order Comics or Other Merchandiser Send Checks & Money Orders to:
VIZ $hoj>-B¥-Mail • P.O.BOX 77010- SAM FRANCISCO, C A 94107. Or Phone (Orders Only!}:
^415} 546-7073 Ext 27 Beth MasterCard and Visa accepted.

00 YOU UKE ANIME $ MANGA? To receive your guide te m exerting world of Japanese animation and comics, wed USS2JS0 te
cover shipping mi handling. Your S&H lee is deductible from your fits! order of $\2M or more.

IN OUR NEXT ISSUE...!

Interest in anime and manga is growing, and so is ANIMERICA! Your favorite anime and manga monthly has expanded to a whopping 72 pages of celebrity interviews, the
latest reviews> our exclusive manga features, and more of the news you want to see. It's all here in ANIMERICA, America's premiere English anime/manga monthly! Voted
the best anime publication for the second year running by attendees of Anime Expo 94, America's largest anime and manga convention.

Anime Feature
A GRAVE VOICE IN ANIMATION
Isao Taka data's been called Hayao Miyazaki $ right-hand man, but he's also an
accomplished animator in his own right B& here when ANIMERICA finds out what
the creator of Central Park Media's critically acclaimed film GRAVE OF THE
Fireflies has to say about the state of the animated art.
Manga Features
They Abandoned God Shook Hands With the Devil and Became the Mercenaries of Hell. They're the Pilots
Sentenced io Kaoru Shiniani's
AREA 88
Don't blame Shintani if his stint as assistant to Leiji Matsumoto (SPACE CRUISER
YAMATO. SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN HARLOCK) shows. AREA 88 is a cosmic
wheel of karmic pain (oris that a karmic wheel of cosmic pain?) picking up right
where we left off a few years back, now approaching a thrilling conclusion!
Rumiko Takahashi's Electrifying Tale of Boy Meets Alien

I.L'M * URUSEI YATSURA

When a horde of aliens straight out of Japanese folklore descend upon the Earth,
an “average" boy named Ataru is chosen to play a game of winner-takes-all tag
with their beautiful princess. Lum. If he can catch her. the Earth will be spared. If
he fails, it's an eternal time-out for the rest of humanity...! Before there was
RANMA 1/2. there was LUM * URUSEI YATSURA by Rumiko Takahashi. Look for
© V987 Akiyuki Nosaka/Shincfoosha

the subtitled TV. OAV and movie series from AnimEigo!

PLUS—
The Latest News from Japan and America
Reviews of the Hottest Subtitled and Dubbed Anime Titles
New Developments in the World of Manga
Results of our Readers' Poll and... Vol. 2, No. 11 of ANIMI
Much, Much More! MANGA MONTH
NQTE TO SUBSCRIBERS; Ship date is not She same thing as delivery dale. Please November 2i
allow one to two weeks for your ANIMERICA to be delivered to you* home. Thar* you.
SHE’S THE STAT^OF THE^iSMFN BOTH BEAUTY 8c COMBAT
From the fertile mind and pen of Japan's legendary Co Nagai comes CUTEY HONEY, the transforming female battle android
with more impressive figures than a Hollywood latent Agency... and just as many weapons! In a futuristic world where villains
come in all shapes and sizes, Honey is the ultimate warrior, capable of changing both her form and capabilities on command!
She’s also the sexiest creature ever Manufactured, with each combat chasis more luscious than the last... but just because she’s
man-made, don’t mistake her for a tjyt The heart that beats inside Honey’s ample chest is as capable of love and emotion as any
® 1994 GO NAGAI l DYNAMIC PLANNING / TO El. LTD

NEW CUTEY HONEY, Volume I comes to home video September 23!

NEW CUTEY HONEY, Volume 2 follows, November 18!
2 complete episodes per tape! (Over 60 minutes per volume!)
WARNING: CONTAINS NUDITY, ADULT SITUATIONS & GRAPHIC VIOLENCE!
In Japanese with English subtitles. Digitally mastered & transferred VHS HiFi Stereo.
To order any A.D. Vision video, call (713) 965-0886 or write to: A.D.Vision, 2709 Chimney Rock, Houston, TX 77056. Please remember to include full
* 84 50 shlppm9 and haidling for the first tape or disc, and $1.00 for each additional item. (Orders outside the continental U.S. include
Si 2.00 plus 52.00 per additional unit.) Mastercard, Visa, personal checks and money order accepted. Dealer rates available upon request.
DESIGN

EXCELLENCE
For over a decade,

fans the world

over have thrilled

to the hi-tech,

hi-impact adventures

of this true Japanese

institution. Gundam.

r-17 rmIt ' /I1

Wk
ii~za
to
K 1
International, Inc. has
continued to be the name
synonymous with The
Gundam. For all your
Gundam needs write or
call today to obtain the
complete list of current
Gundam merchandise

ionaf}lnc
feRjL, ' V-
0me, PA 19003:'>
Fax: 6W.896.174S