Anime magazine history, Part 3: 1983
45 TV productions including Urashiman, Dunbine, Votoms, Orguss, Govarian, Cat’s Eye, Mospeada, and Vifam
19 feature films including Urusei Yatsura Only You, Crusher Joe, Harmagedon, and Final Yamato
This was the year OVAs made their debut with Dallos as the first original production on the new format.
January
Two covers for Crusher Joe (movie coming in March), one each for Macross, Final Yamato, and Urusei Yatsura.
February
Two covers for Crusher Joe,, two for Urusei Yatsura, one for Final Yamato.
March
One cover each for Urusei Yatsura and Final Yamato, one for the new TV series Aura Battler Dunbine.
Two more covers for Crusher Joe. (On My Anime and Animedia.)
April
Macross and Dunbine both get another cover. New TV series Armored Trooper Votoms and Future Police Urashiman each get their first.
May
Macross scores an impressive four covers in May. Votoms and Urashiman get the other two.
June
Two more covers for Macross this month; Animedia honors creator Yasuhiko Yoshikazu as he begins to develop the TV series Giant Gorg for 1984.
July
Two covers for the new TV series Superdimension Century Orguss, one each for Xabungle (movie) and Giant Gorg (which won’t debut on TV until next April).
August
Rapport Publishing stops alternating Animec with Fanroad and Animec is now monthly.
This is Animation
Animation Yearbook 1983
THIS IS ANIMATION アニメーション年鑑 1983
B&W with some color, 408 pages
August 1983, Shokagukan
This is Animation
Animation Yearbook 1984
THIS IS ANIMATION アニメーション年鑑 1984
B&W with some color, 406 pages
September 1984, Shokagukan
These satisfyingly thick tomes served as “anime almanacs” for two years running with essays about the industry and overviews of every single TV episode, special, and film within a specified range. The range for the first volume was April 1982 to May 1983, and the second picked up from there through March 1984. The effort to assemble the incredible amount of data for these books is as likely an explanation as any for why they didn’t continue.
September
Urashiman earns two more covers. My Anime continues the buildup to Giant Gorg, Animedia rolls out the first cover for Genesis Climber Mospeada, and Votoms reappears on OUT.
October
Nausicaa gets her second cover story on Animage as the movie goes into production for March ’84 release. Fanroad goes monthly, bringing the total count up to seven magazines a month. It will stay that way until the debut of Newtype in March 1985 brings it up to eight.
New TV series Galaxy Drifter Vifam gets two covers in its debut month. Animedia runs a Macross/Orguss crossover cover.
November
Orguss and Vifam each get another cover.
My Anime carries the first cover for the upcoming Macross movie (July ’84). OUT devotes its cover to Mospeada.
December
Orguss grabs two more covers as the year ends. Others promote Vifam, Urashiman and the new TV series Famous Detective Holmes.
It’s Artland
イッツ アートランド
Color and B&W, 144 pages
Dec 1983, Sougeisha
A self-published “jam project” by the artists of Noboru Ishiguro’s Artland studio, which served as the animation hub for Macross and many other well-known SF titles (Ishiguro is no longer with us, but Artland is still operating today). Illustrations, manga, and articles about the daily grind in the anime trenches make it a unique package.
Cover Wars
A tally of cover appearances, 1975-1983 (not including collage covers, which added up to an amazing 63!)
Mobile Suit Gundam 32
Space Battleship Yamato 15
Urusei Yatsura 15
Legendary God Giant Ideon 14
Macross 12
9 covers each:
Galaxy Express 999, Godmars
7 covers each:
Cyborg 009, Queen Millennia 7, Space Warrior Baldios, Crusher Joe, Orguss
6 covers each:
Xabungle, Urashiman
5 covers each:
Toward the Terra, Lupin III, My Youth in Arcadia, Fairy Princess Minky Momo
4 covers each:
Gatchaman, Dougram, Dunbine, Vifam
3 covers each:
Tomorrow’s Joe, Triton of the Sea, Rose of Versailles, Locke the Superman, Future Boy Conan, Goshogun, Armored Trooper Votoms
2 covers each:
Tiger Mask, Braiger, Nausicaa, Giant Gorg, Mospeada
Where we go from here…
Newtype
A monthly magazine by Kadokawa, debuted in March 1985. It was launched by Shinichiro Inoue, former deputy editor-in-chief of Animec. Its large format and lavish visuals set a new standard. Became the home base for popular manga such as Five Star Stories.
B-CLUB
First published in October 1985 as a bi-monthly magazine from Bandai, later became monthly. It initially had a strong focus on models, but later began to cover anime and tokusatsu. It ceased publication in February 1998.
Anime V
A magazine specializing in OVAs. First published bimonthly by Gakken in June 1985, it went monthly in September 1986. Relaunched in October 1998, it became the general magazine Looker. Ceased publication in May 1999.
Globian
Another magazine specializing in OVAs. First published by Hiromedia in May 1986 with the June issue, it ceased publication in December of the same year with the January issue. Eight issues in total. Hiromedia produced OVAs, and the magazine mainly covered their works along with staff and cast interviews.
Fond farewells
My Anime
From the October 1985 issue, the format was reduced and it went biweekly. From the May 1986 issue, it returned to monthly, but in June it ceased publication with the July issue.
The Anime
Ceased publication in December 1986 with the January 1987 issue.
Animec
Ceased publication with the February 1987 issue. Fanroad went with it.
OUT
Continued to publish specials on various anime programs and had a successful manga spinoff titled Aniparo Comics that lasted 54 issues. It hung on the longest, ceasing publication with the May 1995 issue.
Still with us
Animage, Animedia and Newtype continue in monthly publication as of 2025.
Continue to a bonus page: spinoff books, 1981-83