Long before Gunsmith Cats or Gall Force, Kenichi Sonoda got his break thanks to doujin he published with a group named Comic Circle VTOL.
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.
Gunpla Doujin: Universal Century 0087
What was a diehard Gundam modeler in 1986 to do if they weren’t satisfied by Bandai’s kits based on the all-new Zeta Gundam? This doujin by Studio Mk-0 offered detailed how-to guides for improving your gunpla
Omega City 23 and the Origins of Megazone 23
Originally conceptualized at the height of the real robot boom as a 26-episode TV series called Omega City 23, Megazone 23 went through numerous changes and iterations before it became a cutting edge OVA. For the first time, the original pitch document of Omega Zone 23 is available to read in Japanese and English.
Garage Kit Heroines: Gall Force Star Front
Seemingly everywhere during the VHS era, this early standout in the girls n’ guns genre began as a 3D photo novel and a series of garage kits.
Hawking Model Kits in 1983: Hyper Dorvack Document
Distributed exclusively to the model kit shops and retailers, the Hyper Dorvack Document helped sell Dorvack model kits using the design sensibilities of Makoto Kobayashi.
AD Police Is the Closest Thing to a “Good” Bubblegum Crisis Spin-off
Fans have spent years lamenting the lack of a decent sequel to Bubblegum Crisis. The AD Police Files OVA series is often touted as the best of the sequels and reboots out there, but it’s the manga that inspired the OVA that’s really worth checking out.
The 1/220 Scale Gundam Garage Kits of Kazuhisa Kondo and Makoto Kobayashi
There’s never been a shortage of Gundam garage kits, but in the 1980s multiple manufacturers offered up a plethora of kits based on the designs of Kobayashi and Kondo in an unusual scale.
Shinji Aramaki’s Student Film Moon Struck Artemis
While part of the Okayama University Manga Club in 1981, Shinji Aramaki (MADOX-01, Appleseed) and other students created what an anonymous Wikipedia editor praised as “a masterpiece of the anime club era.”
Kow Yokoyama’s Robot Battle V
The creator of Maschinen Krieger kept busy in the ’80s by, among other things, penning a gritty sci-fi comic for a mostly forgotten video game magazine.
Makoto Kobayashi’s Dragon’s Heaven
Thirty years after its release Dragon’s Heaven still stands out from the crowd of early OVA titles.