Anime Wink

A photo of an ad for Graduation from Mixx 'The First Anime Game Released in North America!' Special offers for Mixx Readers: $24.99!

Yeah, Graduation. Ads for it are all over the Mixx's and Animerica's I have from the time.

xD The tonal whiplash is quite something.

Ah, nice! And yeah, it really was. Imports of Mixx and the UK's own Manga Mania were how I first read manga back then. Rarely had consistent issues so I just caught snatches of ongoing stories.

A photo of MixxZine's kaleidoscopic cover with characters from the four manga and the series logos amid chaotic shapes and colours.

A photo of our copy of the zine's contents page with a subscription offer pullout still attached.

The first page of the first manga inside: RayEarth

A dedication to the dear readers in the back, best wishes from the editors, with a survey to fill out and send. Obviously, this wasn't ;o;

Issue One of MixxZine, a relatively short-lived but impactful monthly manga magazine first published in 1997.

Characterized their chaotic colour-clash covers, the first issue of Mixx kicks off with two shōjo serials, Sailor Moon and Magic Knight Rayearth, and two seinen: Parasyte and Ice Blade.

A photo of thee Stand Alone Complex CD album from 2005, in this case put out by Beez, Bandai's UK subsidary. It has a very cool pixel grid-like artwork of the Major on the cocover, a close up of her head and shoulders, delivering a wink at the viewer.

For when you want to listen to some Incredible Math 🎶

Yeah, they were very much gateway shows for a lot of people. Especially Wing.

A photo of a page from Animerica with Gundam Wing and Outlaw Star - now on DVD! Prices range from $14.99 to $24.99 for Wing, while Outlaw Star is $44.99 for eps 1-9.

"Blade Runner in hyperdrive!"

Well, I have never seen Outlaw Star described that way before, aha. But yes, sizzling in the pages of Animerica in the Year 2000, Gundam Wing and Outlaw Star - this Summer's Hottest Anime Releases. 🔥

A photo of the red and blue variants of the compilation releases of a bunch of anime series such as Chobits, ROD, Gungrave, Trigun, and Love Hina. Each with 10 dvds in hard cases, the first volumes of each release.

Over 15 Hours of Japanese Anime!

I saw these MVM boxsets everywhere that stocked anime in the UK in 2005. But then, one volume of ten different anime at a budget price was tempting, and it's how I first watched Haibane Renmei and Tekhnolyze.

A photo of the cover of Animerica August/September 2001 issue ,with a Gundam wreathed in steamy smoke, red eyes blazing white hot. 08th MS Team, Getter Robo Armageddon, and the winner of Animerica Mecha Challenge feature

Mecha madness with Animerica's Fall 2001 issue, an appropriately giant size special with a cool Gundam cover to celebrate.

xD Yep, it's an accurate description

"The hunter for the past begins now." A photo of an ad for The Big O from an early 2000s Animerica with a cool, multi paneled, stylish design with character profiles for Roger Smith and Dorothy, and a vertical image of them in front of the titular big O.

Big O! Big O, Ohhh Big O! 🚨

The Big O. One of the shows that are a core part of my Toonami nostalgia. It throws a bunch of homages and influences into a blender and serves up a delicious, noir-favoured cocktail.

A photo of the back cover of Animerica issue 0. A gallery of Gundam Plastic Model Kits imported by Horizon, 30 in all.

A peek at the imported Gunpla scene of '92 with Animerica issue 0.

I had a little phase of Gunpla when I could afford to buy them late in the decade, but I was deep into Warhammer at the time too and could only afford one figurine hobby.

A photo of the issue of Rolling Stone's Japanese edition, with an illustration of Rei in white and black plugsuit holding out her hand above which the Earth hovers.

When anime made the cover of Rolling Stone: as the first of the Rebuild of Evangelion movies hit the big screen, Rolling Stone in Japan celebrated by making Rei Ayanami their cover girl of the September 2007 issue.

A full page ad from Newtype USA for Suncoast and the latest RahXephon dvd to be released. "It's 2015, do you know where your civilization went?"

From a 2003 issue of NewType USA: RahXephon x Suncoast! Where you could save $3 on any anime apparel if you pick up volume 4.

Recorded from a delve into a Minami magazine CD I'm currently doing: a sweet fan cam recording from Expo Japan 2001. Hironobu Kageyama gives his all, leading a karaoke of Dragon Ball Z's "Cha La Head Cha La."

Melting my heart to watch it all.

See you later!

It's always so cute how the DOKAN multimedia anime/manga CD-ROM mascot will bid you farewell as you finish exploring one of the CDs.

A ocloured sketch page of chibi drawings of a whole host of Lodoss War characters in various fun poses, including Deedlit, Parn, Woodchuck, Pirotess, and Ghim.

From a 1995 calendar that was in an archive of files for one of the PC-98 Record of Lodoss War games: an adorable illustration of chibi mischief and adventure.

A full-page ad for AnimeCon '91, held in San Hose, California. Guests included Leiji Matsumoto, Kenichi Sonada, and Yoshio Okada. Features included Anime film program, autograph sessions, live program tracks, art show, and dealers room.

Be warned! It's coming! AnimeCon '91!

A lovely little slice of earlier anime fandom in the USA history.

In terms of industry/studio recognition and support outside of Japan, this was the big one; the one that got the ball rolling for cons to come.

xD I've always wondered about the line delivery there.

Who decided that time has to flow into the future?
The lives that erase the stigma of the past will rewrite history
A beautiful blade will connect person to person
And sweep away the cycle of pain and sadness.

From one of Argentina's NUKE CDROMs in 2001: Turn "A" Gundam's OP1: Turn A Turn 🎶

One of my favourite moments from Escaflowne: The Movie (Ocean dub). It's a sensual intermission, a pause for breath with some wonderful line delivery from the late Kirby Morrow that just adds to the beauty of the scene.

One of the opening images from the movie, of a rocky plateau rising above clouds, with a blue cloudy sky in which the Earth and Moon hang in the sky. A round temple-like structure stands on the plateau.

A vision of Escaflowne's Gaea with a more savage, desolate beauty as seen in the movie.

Both it and Panzer Dragoon seem to draw from common pools of (Mœbius) inspiration: empires and tribes fighting for domination or to survive and thrive in a dying world, one with moments of striking beauty.

I'm not sure, but it may have. From what I've read, LDs aren't automatically guaranteed that they will rot just from the passage of time, it's more if they have damage or scratches that allow them to oxidise and rot. Some were just manufactured with defects that get mistaken for rot.

A photo of our copy of Anime UK Magazine's Project A-KO's themed cover, with A and B squaring off against one another as C-KO yells out with a cartoonishly wide mouth in the middle of them facing the reader

It's as easy as A, B, C-Ko!

Gloriously vibrant and characterful, @wiloverton.bsky.social's cover for the third issue of Anime UK Magazine for August/September 1992.

Ah, I guessed it was; thanks for the info! Created by would have been a better term as I was speaking more generally, and sadly couldn't find any scans of the zine to include alongside it for additional context.

A crt tv screenie photo of a scene with the sci-fi piratical gals with guns in sleek body armour, one (Feb) hefting up a huge slender gun while Janny Mann looks on with exasperation as Feb hefts up the 3 metre long gun "Hey, you can't handle that!"

"Get real." fires back a confident Feb in this close-up shot.

There's no gun too big for Feb Fall. 💪

📺: Sol Bianca, AIC, 1990 (VHS)

A photo of the cover of the Sol Bianca LD with its Vinyl LP square cover and artwork of two of the protags against a spacey background and a sleek sci-fi ship. Five Young Women Against an Entire Solar System... The Odds are About Even!

A photo of the disc, all big and shiny with rainbow relective lines across it

The back of the harder glossy cardboard cover with a very cool gallery of screenshots, premise, and credits, plus more illustrations.

Treasure's a Pleasure.... but a Blaster is a Girl's Best Friend.

The adventures of Space Girls with Guns on a shiny disc that still feels like it's from the future: the Laser Disc release of the original Sol Bianca OVA from 1990.

A shot of Grandis, Sanson, and Hanson from Nadia in profile, looking smug and sassy in their fedora's shades, and in Grandis's case, mane of fiery hair

Another shot of them from the front, with Grandis looming over her two henchman, pushing them down good naturedly on the head as they deliver a v-sign

Doin' jewel crime with fine style!

Reading about the internal power struggles that went on during the pitch phase of Nadia's production that led to Hideaki Anno helming the series was really something.

📺: Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, 1990

Do it Now in 2001 with ADV

A photo of our copy of Animerica December 2002, with Chihiro on the cover

December 2002's Animerica - it's time for Spirited Away hype!

Hitting US theatres in September that year, it was still building momentum when this issue hit shelves, momentum that would reach a crescendo when it nabbed an Oscar in April 2003 for Best Animated Feature.