Anime distributor AnimEigo and parent company MediaOCD have released the latest episode of The Anime Business on YouTube. The new segment in the ongoing documentary series about the pioneers of the Western anime industry features Helen McCarthy, a noted author who has been important figure in the anime scene for more than 40 years.
McCarthy has written more than a dozen important books about the history and evolution of anime and manga, including Anime!, The Anime Movie Guide, 500 Manga Heroes and Villains, A Brief History of Manga, and Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation. She also co-authored The Erotic Anime Movie Guide and The Anime Encyclopedia, with Jonathan Clements, and co-founded Anime UK magazine.
Episode 11 is available now on the official AnimEigo YouTube channel at:
https://www.youtube.com/@AnimEigo/videos
McCarthy reflects on more than four decades of anime fandom that began in the early 80s after her boyfriend (and now partner), artist Steve Kite, returned from a summer trip to Majorca with a Mazinger Z toy robot and some manga by the creator Go Nagai. The mix of bold visuals, kinetic action and unique characters was captivating, but in a pre-internet age there was no information about this wonderful creation from Japan. But her passion was ignited and McCarthy embarked on a lifelong journey to document the history of anime and help to nurture anime fandom, particularly in the U.K.
McCarthy created a monthly anime newsletter, the first of its kind in the U.K., and followed with a 6-year run of Anime UK magazine. Her first book, Anime! A Beginner’s Guide to Japanese Animation was published in 1993. Along the way she met a variety of players in the burgeoning U.K. anime scene including Andy Frain, the founder of Manga Video/Manga Entertainment, which became a major anime distributor in the U.K. and North America.
As anime transformed from an underground phenomenon into a mainstream trend, McCarthy recalls the clash of opinions that arose between fans that liked the closeknit and grassroots community they forged and entrepreneurs looking to cash in. She recalls being dismayed upon hearing about an attempt by Manga Video to trademark the word “manga” for marketing and corporate applications.
As anime’s popularity continued to grow in the U.K. during the 1990s, its path to mainstream success was slower than in North America. McCarthy notes how the U.K.’s sluggish but eventual nationwide installation of broadband in the early 2000s finally helped to grow anime’s popularity exponentially and develop critical internet-based fans. She also notes a significantly different U.K. convention culture which only has a handful of dedicated annual events that draw much less attendance than counterparts in the U.S. and how larger U.K. pop culture events still do not offer similar or effective platforms to promote anime. But she fondly underscores the more intimate, familial and fraternal nature of the U.K. anime scene and she emphasizes it is the fans and the friendships that have impacted her life the most and give her the greatest satisfaction.
Helen McCarthy’s books and scholarly work in the field of anime enshrine her in the genre’s storied history. Her best-known book, The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, which she co-authored with fellow anime historian, Jonathan Clements, was first published in 2001. Now in its 3rd edition, the book features more than 10,000 entries and is a substantial reference with detailed information, credits, and content advisories. For any ardent fan of anime and manga, McCarthy’s books are highly recommended reading.
The Anime Business is a first-of-its-kind series featuring a wide range of entrepreneurs and visionaries that helped to pioneer and shape the North American anime and manga industries. It is produced and hosted by industry veteran and MediaOCD founder and AnimEigo CEO Justin Sevakis. Episodes 1-10 of The Anime Business and bonus clips are also now available to stream on the AnimeEigo YouTube channel.
All episodes of The Anime Business are available in English. Japanese subtitles are also available via a special grant from the Kleckner Foundation. Additional episodes and interviews are currently in production. AnimEigo and MediaOCD invite fans that would like to help support and crowdfund future episodes of The Anime Business to donate at: https://www.mediaocd.com/plans-pricing
Source: Press Release
