Anime magazine history, Part 3: 1982
45 TV productions including Xabungle, Baxinger, Macross, Space Cobra, and Captain Harlock: Endless Road SSX.
23 feature films including Gundam III, Queen Millennia, My Youth in Arcadia, and an Ideon double feature
January
Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind manga debuts in Animage.
Gundam racks up two more covers for the third movie coming in March. Urusei Yatsura gets one more.
February
One new cover apiece for Urusei Yatsura, Godmars, and Dougram.
Two more covers for Leiji Matsumoto; his Queen Millennia movie was coming in March.
March
Gundam III dominates the month with four covers; Dougram new TV series Xabungle take the others. That’s five cover stories for Yoshiyuki Tomino productions in one month (a new record).
April
The Anime carries the first cover story for the upcoming My Youth in Arcadia, to premiere in July.
My Anime promotes a new Goshogun movie as Animedia covers Godmars.
This is Animation 1
SF • Robot • Action Anime Edition
ジスイズアニメーション 1 SF・ロボット・アクションアニメ編
Color and B&W, 132 pages
April 1982, Shogakukan
The first of this 3-volume set took its title seriously. Instead of another catalog or encyclopedia, it examines in detail the art and craft of this specific genre set, interviewing some of the most popular creators in a variety of roles from writing to animating to mecha design and everything in between. One section investigates the dawn of computer animation, which was still in the vector graphics phase.
May
Godmars and the new TV series Galaxy Cyclone Braiger tie with two covers each.
June
Nausicaa gets her first cover appearance in Animage. This is for the manga; the movie won’t be out until 1984.
Legendary God Giant Ideon gets three covers in June for a double feature coming to theaters in July. My Youth in Arcadia gets its second cover story in Animedia.
This is Animation 2
Fantasy • Fairy Tale • Girls Anime Edition
ジス・イズ・アニメーション2 ファンタジー・メルヘン・少女アニメ編
Color and B&W, 132 pages
June 1982, Shogakukan
SF and action anime flew across the ocean first, but it was only one of many genres that had been in the picture right from the beginning. This volume turns its attention to some of those with the same depth as volume 1 (talking with some of the same creators), revealing that they required an equal amount of effort and craftsmanship despite their more simplistic look.
July
Ideon and My Youth in Arcadia tie at two covers each on the month of their premieres.
TV Anime Compendium Part 3
TVアニメ大全科
Color and B&W, 288 pages
July 1982, Akita Shoten
A digest of the many TV series and specials broadcast in the two and a half years since the previous volume. Volumes 1 and 2 were published prior to the launch of My Anime, so this was the first to be branded as a spinoff of the magazine.
August
Xabungle grabs two cover stories. My Anime runs the first Crusher Joe cover; the movie will be out spring 1983.
This is Animation 3
Sports • Gag • Life Anime Edition
ジス・イズ・アニメーション3 スポーツ・ギャグ・生活アニメ編
Color and B&W, 132 pages
Aug 1982, Shogakukan
The band played on with this volume, dedicated to anime most western audiences never heard of, but were staples in Japan and took just as much ingenuity to create. Many highlights in this one, including a very rare index of all the anime titles made in the pre-TV decades from 1917 to 1963.
September
The Anime publishes the first cover story for Superdimension Fortress Macross, to premiere on TV in October.
September brings two more covers for Urusei Yatsura, one each for Ideon, Godmars, and Xabungle.
October
Two covers each for Godmars (one year on the air) and Macross (just starting). One cover for the new Leiji Matsumoto TV series Endless Road SSX.
November
Two covers each for Urusei Yatsura and Final Yamato (coming to theaters in March ’83).
I Love Anime! From Yamato to Gundam
アニメ大好き！ ヤマトからガンダムへ
Color and B&W, 250 pages
Nov 1982, Tokuma Shoten
As suggested by the title, this is an extended love letter to the entire world of anime as told from a fan’s perspective. The author Noriaki Ikeda chronicles the rising popularity of anime and the explosive trends that turned it into a phenomenon. In addition to the industry, he also examines how the powerful engine of fan activity helped push everything forward. (He wrote many other pop culture books and later became an anime producer for Kadokawa.) Read the Space Battleship Yamato chapters here.
December
