Anime magazine history, Part 2: 1978-1980
In retrospect, what we saw in Part 1 (1975-77) could be considered a “wild west period.” There was no overarching plan, because there was as yet no cohesive marketplace to build a publishing industry around. Thus, the only magazine that regularly covered anime, Monthly OUT, was essentially a fanzine in magazine clothing. But each issue got stronger and more confident as relationships were built with studios and creators.
Fans began to view OUT as a “town square” where they could see their opinions reflected by the editorial staff. Loyal readers even chose a collective noun for themselves: OUshtians. Like Christians of old, they reasoned, they were the rejects of society who found strength in their fellowship. Once you score a reader base that sees your magazine as part of their own identity, you can weather just about anything. That was vital fortification, because over the next three years OUT was going to get plenty of competition.
As recounted last time, the singular event that ignited this engine was the unexpected blockbuster premiere of the Space Battleship Yamato movie in August 1977. It took everyone by surprise (including its producer) by not only revolutionizing the perception of anime (not to mention inaugurating the word for public use), but also single-handedly launching an entire new marketplace. For the first time, publishers could actually SEE their target audience, lined up in front of movie theaters to see Yamato. And most of them were teenagers.
When the producer of the first Yamato film announced that a sequel was on the way for August 1978, the “wild west period” was over. Now some actual planning could begin. The stage was set for things to become very interesting.
Presented here is a chronological record of the next three years, going month by month. If you were an anime fan with your own spending money, these are the magazines that were made for you to buy. Also included are some other publishing milestones that were made possible by this extraordinary momentum (titles in red).
1978
26 TV productions including Captain Harlock, Daimos, Starzinger, Future Boy Conan, Daitarn 3, Galaxy Express 999, Gatchaman II, Treasure Island, and Space Battleship Yamato 2.
11 feature films including Farewell to Yamato and Lupin III vs. The Clone.
At the beginning of the year, publisher Minori Shobo had the anime world all to itself. OUT magazine had now shed all content that wasn’t related to anime or manga, following the whims of the fans who had become the editorial staff. The March issue (published in January) struck gold with a major feature on design powerhouse Studio Nue, one of the earliest examples of a magazine spotlighting those whose names had previously been seen on in TV credits. The work of bonding fans with creators had begun.
Incidentally, the cover date on OUT was always two months ahead of the publishing date because it came out in the latter half of the month. This was typical practice at the time; if you came out in the first half of January, your cover date would be February. If you came out in the second half, your cover date would be March. This kept you ahead of the calendar with an aura of “freshness.”
February
Rendezvous was the ongoing bimonthly companion to OUT, closer in concept to a mainstream entertainment magazine. It offered anime coverage alongside live-action film and TV articles with more color pages and a larger format.
March
Rendezvous Comic was yet another spinoff, a bimonthly manga anthology that alternated with issues of Rendezvous. It also featured articles on anime and manga topics, continuing the editorial mission in another sphere.
April
May
May 1: World of SF TV/Comic/Anime/Movie
As a followup to their World of TV Anime special (Dec 1977, above right), the editors of Manga Shonen released this 200-page catchall volume of seemingly whatever they had on hand to gain some more traction on the rising tide of interest in science-fiction. From book/comic/magazine/album covers to a historical timeline of titles from all over the world, it was delightfully random. Within a few pages, you could go to speculative technical drawings of Star Wars mecha to early Crusher Joe art to a Leiji Matsumoto manga with “SF” itself as the only connective tissue.
May 26: Animage Vol. 1, July issue
This date belongs among the most significant in anime history. Whereas OUT was created by an independent publisher (Minori Shobo) Animage came from mainstream publisher Tokuma Shoten, the home of Terebi Land and many other long-running titles. After an internal debate led by editor Shigeo Ogata, it was agreed to take a gamble on the anime world. That gamble is still paying off today. The name, by the way, is not a portmanteau of “anime” and “age.” According to Ogata, it’s “anime + image.”
Naturally, the new Yamato movie dominated the cover and lead article. There was also some fancy black-on-black printing you may not have noticed if you didn’t know to look for it.
Click here to see a page-by-page review on Youtube.
Read Shigeo Ogata’s personal account of the magazine’s origin and launch here.
The table had been set for Animage not only by OUT, but also Tokuma Shoten’s Roman Album series. As told last time, the first volume (September 1977) was dedicated to Space Battleship Yamato. Six more volumes had followed since then, each focused on a different series or movie. They were the first books of their kind, setting a valuable example for all future anime publishing. Look for them in an appendix at the end of this article.
June
June 10: Space Battleship Yamato Complete Records Collection
Words fail when trying to sum up this release. “Monumental” hardly begins to cover it. This is not only the single greatest Yamato publication of all time, it leaves absolutely nothing out in its goal to document the making of the first TV series from start to finish.
This trilogy of hardcovers, released all at once in a heavy slipcase, elevated anime-based publishing to a production standard normally reserved for revered classics. All at once, it gave loyal fans everything they’d wanted from the start and showed the rest of the world that anime was worthy of their respect.
As the undisputed king of anime in the late 70s, Yamato was a publishing bonanza with books from multiple publishers in multiple formats that laid many foundations. They go beyond the scope of this article, but can be seen in excruciating detail over at Cosmo DNA.
June 15: SF Anime Fantasy mook
Published by Shinshokan, this special issue of Paper Moon magazine was a grab-bag of coverage for all sorts of fantasy-based titles from around the world with a healthy focus on Japanese anime and cinema. Star Wars was just about to be released in Japan, which explains the choice of cover art.
July
July 10: Animage Vol. 2
You may have noticed that after Animage debuted in late May, there was no new issue in June. Instead, the date of July 10 was chosen for the second issue, which sported another Yamato cover story with blue foil-stamped ink. That choice for a publishing date would eventually have a heavy influence on things to come, barely imaginable at this early stage.
August
September
September 10: TV Anime Complete Works
If the name Taku Sugiyama doesn’t ring a bell, here’s where you get to add it to your mental roster. He was among the first generation of anime directors in Japan, beginning his career in 1965 and contributing to some true classics for both the large and small screen. (See his credit list here.) He would go on to found an animation art school and is still around in 2023, delivering lectures and training animators. He was also one of the industry’s first historians, and the two paperback books shown above represent his earliest efforts.
Volume 1 of Complete Works presented a chronological encyclopedia of every TV anime from Mighty Atom (1963) to Attack No. 1 (1969), published in June 1978 by Akimoto Shobo. Volume 2 followed on September 10, logging all programs from Tomorrow’s Joe (1970) to Space Battleship Yamato (1974). All the basic data from each series was concisely presented, covering a total of 157 shows.
It goes without saying that many books and encyclopedias have come along to eclipse these two since then (see a large collection of them here), but someone had to do it first, and it’s entirely appropriate that someone of Sugiyama’s stature led the way for everyone else.
October
November
November 5: Terebi Anime Big Parade
Anime was quickly expanding its reach beyond children, and with this expansion came more in-depth coverage. This book from Shueisha covered the entire production process, using materials from popular shows to explore how TV anime was made. It probably served as a valuable recruitment tool for those who were beginning to consider it as a career.
After Minori Shobo dropped both of its alternating Rendezvous titles, Animage and OUT held course as the only two monthly anime magazines through September and October. In November, a third competitor stepped into the fray.
November 15: Manific #1, December issue
The source for Manific was Rapport publishing. It got off to a rocky start, only available directly from the publisher rather than in bookstores. It lacked the flash of Animage and the mileage of OUT, so the editors tried to set it apart by focusing on older anime (along with some live-action titles) that wasn’t getting attention elsewhere; a respectable goal, but not conducive to high sales.
December
With this, we reach the end of 1978 with three monthly contenders for your anime dollar. Where would it go from here?