AGP#061 – The History of Anime and Anime Fandom with Helen McCarthy (AnimeNEXT 2016)

David didn’t make it down to Atlantic City, NJ for AnimeNEXT last
weekend, but Evan did get a chance to sit down with a living
anime legend: Helen McCarthy, founder of Anime UK magazine
and the author of the first (or first two, depending on
who’s counting) English-language book(s) about anime. Included in
the podcast is the full interview, in which Helen walks Evan
through her early exposure to anime, the state of anime fandom
when she first began writing about it, and the importance of
preserving the artistic history of anime. Big thanks to Helen for
taking the time to chat at a very busy convention!


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Runtime: 41 minutes

Show Notes


Opening Song: “Blues Machine”
by Scott Gratton

We start by talking about one of Helen’s panels, “The Last of
the Giants,” about the early post-war manga/anime
artists.

Manga artist and anime director Osamu Tezuka is the
biggest name mentioned, as he popularized a lot of what we
now know as anime and manga.

Rintaro is a director who worked with Tezuka and is still
active.

Evan briefly (and quietly) mentions director Osamu Dezaki
as an example of someone who worked with Tezuka and recently
passed away.



Helen discusses how she first got interested in
anime.

The series that she watched when she was younger
is called Marine Boy.



Followed by the stories of Helen running the first
anime-centric convention video room and first anime
magazine in the UK.

Helen name-drops a number of influential figures in UK
anime fandom here, including Steve Kyte, Wil Overton, Peter
Goll, and Jonathan Clements (who wrote Anime: A History and
co-authored The Anime Encyclopedia with Helen). 



Evan asks what areas of knowledge are still lacking
in modern anime fandom.

Ben Ettinger from AniPages gets name-dropped.

Yukiko Horiguchi is the Kyoto Animation animator Evan
mentions.

Our Song is the pop star-centric series Helen mentions.




Twitter: Ani-Gamers, Evan, Helen


Check out Helen’s blog, where you can also
find information about her books as well as contact
information.

Evan hosts the Crunchycast podcast on Crunchyroll and
writes for Otaku USA Magazine.

Evan will be at Anime Expo in Los Angeles on July 4
weekend.


Ending Song: “Blues Machine”
by Scott Gratton