While Gundam is everywhere today, for most of the ’80s and ’90s it was up to Western anime fans to carry the torch of Gundam through fanzines, magazine articles, and newsgroups.
Category: Features
From Garage Kits to Action Figures: The First 15 Years of Wonder Festival
The first fifteen years of Wonder Festival was marked with changing tastes in garage kit subjects and shift towards finished models and toys.
Lights, Camera, Garage Kits! The Cinematic Influences of Yasushi Nirasawa
Yasushi Nirasawa helped revitalize Kamen Rider in the ’00s, but could he have done it without the influence of Joel Schumacher?
Japanese Robot Invasion! 1980s Anime Mecha Models Arrive in the US, Part II
The second half of our look at the early history of mecha model kits in the U.S.; including Battletech, R.O.B.O.T., and court battles!
Japanese Robot Invasion! 1980s Anime Mecha Models Arrive in the US, Part I
The first part of a deep dive into the origins of gunpla and mecha modelling in the U.S., looking back to the 1980s when Japanese model kits invaded hobby store shelves and wargaming tables.
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.
“Could we do another Macross?”- A curated look at Noboru Ishiguro’s Interview with AnimEigo
Hidden within AnimEigo’s beloved Super Dimension Fortress Macross DVD Boxset lies a candid conversation with series director Noboru Ishiguro. However, the stories shared by (and of) the late director leave a greater impression than just the simple tale of a hidden commentary.
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.
Stream•Base: Riding the Gunpla Boom in the Early Days of Gundam Model Mania
The gunpla boom of the early ’80s saw an explosion of interest in mecha modeling and provided unprecedented opportunities for a group of model enthusiasts that dubbed themselves “Stream•Base.”
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.