The first fifteen years of Wonder Festival was marked with changing tastes in garage kit subjects and shift towards finished models and toys.
Author: Sean O'Mara
Creator of Zimmerit. ARTMIC OVAs, Kazuhisa Kondo, and Kow Yokoyama are his aesthetic ideals. Can occasionally be found at Otaku USA Magazine and once upon a time at Colony Drop.
The Tragedy of Katsuhiro Otomo and Steve Oliff’s Full-Color AKIRA
At a time when manga in English was hot and new, Epic Comics’ release of AKIRA pulled out all the stops and added unparalleled color. If you’re looking to read it today, well… too bad.
The Unusual Production History of Genocyber
A cult classic in the schlock n’ gore OVA genre, Genocyber took an unlikely road from pitch to production.
Left in the Dust: Uncovering the Secret of the Stampede Valkyrie
Before Macross sequels hit video shelves and airwaves, Shoji Kawamori’s Stampede Valkyrie was one of a handful of rarely seen and now mostly forgotten designs created for Macross side-projects.
Whits End: Mamoru Nagano’s Unused ZZ Gundam Design
In the midst of the rushed pre-production process on the third Gundam TV series a last-minute design change created one of the more interesting production footnotes in Gundam history.
Gunpla Boom Ephemera: Kunio Okawara’s Gouf Lady
With the gunpla boom riding high and Bandai rolling out its new Mobile Suit Variations series, original Gundam mechanical designer Kunio Okawara tried his hand at sculpting an original garage kit.
Never Let a Good Idea Die: ARTMIC’s History of Recycled Ideas and Design
Drawing from their experience in TV anime, 3D photo stories, and other media, ARTMIC created rich OVAs that, more often than not, shared familiar thematic elements along with a consistently recognizable visual style.
Kenichi Sonoda, Lumroid, and Hobby Shop Musasiya
Before he started working for Gainax and ARTMIC, a young Kenichi Sonoda illustrated a series of popular advertisements for a hobby shop in Osaka.
Flip Through Nitto’s Second S.F.3.D Original Catalogue
Take a quick trip back to 1984 and check out the latest SF3D Original kits from Nitto.
Doujin, Cosplay, Garage Kits and Dinosaurs: A Look at Do-Pe Magazine
There was no shortage of anime magazines in the 1980s, but what about all those other things the maniacs cared about? Cosplay, garage kits, doujin, dinosaurs… Do-Pe covered an eclectic array of otaku interests over its brief three-year run.