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!
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