Ah, a new anime magazine has entered the market courtesy of Anime Herald! I guess it’s time to look at a bunch of mainstream anime characters plastered from cover to cover while biased-sounding articles glazing up all of the popular shows like Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, Naruto, Dragon Ball, and the like. Well… might as well see how cringe this magazine truly is and…
Wait.
Why does this look like it was designed to be a professional magazine? And… why are these topics and columns unconventional and seem informative and interesting!? Did I just stumble upon an anime magazine that broke through the expected tropes and took itself seriously? Only one way to find out…
Let’s go!
Overview
First off, please forgive me if this review seems a bit unconventional. For the past eleven years, I’ve mainly reviewed manga, anime, and the occasional video game, so I’m used to breaking things down by Story, Characters, Art, Animation, Sound, Graphics, and Overall Thoughts. This is the first time I have ever tackled an actual magazine, so I’m just going to wing it and offer up my thoughts as I see fit.
The overall synopsis (if you wish to regard it as such) of this magazine is to offer a well-informed read through varying topics that you wouldn’t expect to find in most online publications. While a typical anime magazine would host articles such as a columnist’s top five series to watch, maybe something about underrated anime you should check out, or put a feature article on a popular show to draw in fans, you’ll find a more refined approach here in Anime Herald’s initial offering.
From explaining who Carl Macek is and why the anime industry wouldn’t be where it is today without him, to an interview with Nekotofu, all the way to topics such as the history of manga on stage, and using Girls Band Cry as an example of how capitalism consumes counter culture, a reader will find depth and intelligently-written articles that challenge the way you think and view the anime and manga industry.
It’s not very often you find something as thought-provoking as this. There had been other instances of this online, such as the Hey, Answerman columns on AnimeNewsNetwork, but rarely do you see it compiled into a magazine that is available in both digital and print formats!
The Content
Now that we know what we are dealing with, let’s take a brief look at the initial columns, articles, and pieces in Issue #1. I won’t do super in-depth with these, as a brief overview of what to expect will suffice. Besides, you should have a reason to pick it up and read it for yourself.
Woah, Hey! There’s a Lot Going On in the Best Scene of Delicious in Dungeon!
After a well-crafted introduction by Samantha Ferreira, we jump into an article by Lucas Deruyter. Here, Lucas explains what Delicious in Dungeon is. He explains how stories can sometimes be more than just what their premise suggests and backs up that claim by analyzing the “Whoa, Hey!” scene from the anime’s first season. Any fan of the show will remember that scene, but in case you haven’t seen it, Lucas does a nice job of quickly describing what that scene was before diving deep into how Falin was shaped as a character going forward, and the impacts that had on the overall anime, and going so far as to compare the healer archetype to some of gaming’s powerhouse mainstays such as Final Fantasy and Overwatch. Lucas pours his heart out about the depths of character development and how just one scene can be the catalyst for all that!
Actually, Carl Macek Rocked! Why the North American Anime Fandom Owes Him Its Gratitude
Carl Macek is the co-founder of Streamline Pictures. In this article by Borealis Capps, we take a look at how this figure was so important to the industry, but how it wasn’t an easy path to get there. Speaking of ridicule, mockery, and being depicted on a criminal level, life wasn’t easy for Macek. Still, he persisted, and this article goes in-depth as to how he persisted. A lot of that hardship was due to World War II, and it wasn’t until 20 years later that anime first made its way to U.S. shorelines. The article does a great job detailing that journey of anime to Western shores and the role Macek played in all of it, along with the backlash he faced for some of the choices he made early in his career, such as cutting some things out of Robotech, which angered fans. This was an excellent read that accentuates that sticking to your beliefs, if good-natured, will allow you to endure and reach your goals, even in the face of adversity.
Exploring the History of the Anime Press
Here, Samantha Ferreira takes the reins and gives us an informative history of this article’s namesake. Today, you have powerhouses in the anime world such as Crunchyroll, AnimeNewsNetwork, Tokyo Otaku Mode, Otaku USA, MyAnimeList, Anime Herald, and others (even us at The Outerhaven! I’m not going to leave my name out of the hat!) to bring you the latest in news in the worlds of anime, manga, light novels, and the such, but it wasn’t always like that. Samantha takes us back to 1977, when Fred Patten began publishing a monthly newsletter for the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization (C/FO). From there, the magazine Fanta’s Zine was born. From there, we see the progression of anime journalism through publications of Animag and Anime-zine all the way through to how Viz created its Animerica magazine in 1992. In short, if you want to know the full history of how the anime media came to be, how fans received their information, and how all of that transformed into the digital age today, this article does a nice job of summing all of that up for you!
Comedy, Catharsis, and Cooking the Canon in Toda’s Menu for the Emiya Family
Alex Henderson mentioned the name of Emiya, and instantly, anime fans can recall one of life’s great pieces of sagely advice: People die when they are killed! However, he’s not here to teach you the knowledge of the summoned heroes of the past or the scholarly wit of those who summoned them. Instead, he’s here to give you something else that you can sink your teeth into… literally. He examines the spinoff series Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family. It’s a nice deep dive that shows a contrast between the seriousness of the main entries of the series and the lightheartedness of the spin-offs. Warning, though… There are some spoilers abound, so read with caution if you’re unfamiliar with the series!
Interview with Nekotofu
Our next offering comes from Chiaki Mitama, who had the opportunity to sit down with Nekotofu, a prominent doujinshi artist who gained popularity with the hit series Onimai: I’m Now Your Sister. The interview covers several topics, ranging from Trans-Sexual Fiction to Nekotofu’s involvement in the anime adaptation’s production, to how the series went well beyond its expected length! It was a fantastic interview from start to finish and well worth the read!
The Roots of Fandom: Exploring Fanta’s Zine
A follow-up to the History of Anime Press article, this one focuses solely on Fanta’s Zine. If you’re looking for a more in-depth look at one of the earliest publications of anime journalism, Samantha Ferreira looks at how the publication went from an experiment to a reality! A nice article that builds off of a previous one, showing continuity!
Enduring Orange
Next up, we get an article from Lydia Rivers talking about the anime Orange. I remember doing a first reaction on the series because it involved time travel, and anyone who knows me knows that time travel is my #1 go-to story in the realm of science fiction. Lydia talks about what the color orange means to her, how she experiences the color, and then goes into the anime, how it correlates, and then talks about how Ichigo Takano, the series’ creator, brings their story to life and how it defied her expectations. She dives into what the show does, but more importantly, doesn’t do, and why it is significant. There is a bit of a personal investment in this article as well, which ties into the exploration of the title, which I thought was quite tasteful.
Lupin III, Bega’s Battle and the Birth of Anime FMVs
I will admit… I was never a Lupin III fan. The premise just wasn’t something that resonated with me; however, what Madeline Blondeau is talking about here is more along the lines of anime cutscenes, FMVs, as we called them back in the day, and Bega’s Battle was the first video game to utilize them. It was an interesting history lesson into how FMVs came to be, and how we can all thank Bega’s Battle for starting it all. What was a novelty at the time soon became something expected. I’m sure everyone saw those FMVs in Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and IX and wanted more of them (I know I did). So, it was nice to read about what started it all. Would FMVs have been a thing without Bega’s Battle? Probably, but there always needs to be a first!
Interview with Helen McCarthy
We dive into the second interview in this issue as Samantha Ferreira talks with Helen McCarty, who was the founding member of the U.K.’s anime community. The interview gets her thoughts on what she felt was the biggest change since joining the anime community, her journey to writing The Anime Encyclopedia (to which I own a copy of, by the way, and it is one of the prized possessions in my anime collection!), to her time running Anime UK, and more! It was another insightful interview from one of the pioneers of our community!
Ruminating on the Last Twenty Years of Podcasting
Anime podcasts are something I’m not necessarily a stranger to… I mean, I’ve hosted one here on The Outerhaven for the better part of the last decade, and one independently before that nearly 15 years ago. After reading Daryl Surat’s article, I too agree that the term podcast, much like the blog, has truly lost its meaning over the years as the world becomes more connected and things just kind of blend into one another. He goes on to talk about his personal feelings on podcasting, especially with the sage-like advice about allowing hobbies to become lucrative avenues for you. The simple breakdown is that if you want to do an anime podcast, do it because you love it, and don’t make it your job. I mean, that’s what I’ve been doing since 2009, and I still have my passion for it today. I felt that this article was pretty relevant to me. It may not be to everyone because everyone wants to make money on the internet these days, but since podcasting is a passion project for me, I knew exactly where Daryl was coming from!
The Death and Rebirth of RahXephon
Next on the list, we have Adam Wescott talking about RahXephon… a show that is similar to Neon Genesis Evangelion. While I have seen the latter, to be honest, I’ve never even heard of the former. He draws parallels between the two shows and quotes Zac Bertschy about the show being a more adult version of NGE. He even notes how there is so much more exposure for Evangelion than there is for RahXephon, which undoubtedly played a role in my ignorance of its existence. I mean, hype and clever marketing can do that to a person, you know? Thankfully, Adam offers up a synopsis of the show in his own words, which paints a clear picture of what it was about. It was also interesting to learn how a lot of the staff members who worked on this would go on to be cornerstones of Studio Bones, and what series they went on to helm!
2.5D: A Short History of Manga on Stage
I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of headlines where a series receives a stage play adaptation. You don’t typically see a lot of those headlines here in America, but in Japan, anime, manga, and light novels seem to hit the small stage in abundance. Erica Friedman dissects the earliest works to be brought to life on stage, and how it all led to the establishment of the Japan 2.5 Dimensional Musical Association, which is the official term to describe theatrical adaptations of manga/anime/etc. While stage plays are mainly Japan-focused, Erica mentions that some are coming to North America, namely citing Sword Art Online and Sailor Moon. What is a work that you would like to see here in… never mind, everyone is just going to say Demon Slayer, aren’t they?
Exploring Gunbuster’s Roots in Shojo
Dawn H starts by saying that many anime fans are familiar with Gunbuster. That’s when I paused and said to myself, “What is Gunbuster?” Yes, even though I have nearly 800 unique anime series watched and under my belt, I can’t know or be aware of them all, and Gunbuster is one of those. Reading this article gave me a bit of insight as to why… I’m just not into mecha anime all that much. I think I can count on one hand and still have fingers left over of all the mecha anime I’ve seen, which are Neon Genesis Evangelion, Heroic Age, and Suisei no Gargantia. Yep. That’s it. So, while I didn’t have much of a connection to this article, I can still appreciate the education. While I still may not watch it (it’s not available in English anyway), at least I can appreciate it for what it was through Dawn’s recounting of the series.
Censorship, Sex Work, and Murder: The Foundations of Ero-guro in Japan
I’ve heard of Ero-guro before… mainly because I was very familiar by a certain person. When I saw their name in Lynzee’s article, I smiled because she, too, knew exactly what should have been mentioned… and that person, of course, is Edogawa Ranpo. No… not the character from Bungo Stray Dogs. Of course, I’m talking about the famous mangaka who specialized in detective/mystery series. Of course, Ranpo is one of several names dropped when discussing the erotic-grotesque genre and how censorship played a role in inhibiting such works. I’m sure one form of censorship will seem familiar to today’s audiences, and that’s the banning of books. We’re seeing it happen today in 2025, but it’s simply just history repeating itself, and this article does a great job and pointing out how it happened in Japan at the end of World War II. However, there was a still a place for ero-guro… and that was in the world of academics. This article lays it all out nicely!
Witch Hat Atelier’s Kamome Shirahama
We dive into our third interview in this issue. This interview seems akin to some of the ones I have done with Hiroyuki Sawano, Shoko Ugaki, Kazami Sawatari, and others in the sense that the answers were quite short. I know the process, though. Oftentimes, a written interview needs to be translated into Japanese, presented to the person, answered, and then re-translated back into English. This process favors short questions and even shorter answers because it means there are fewer things that could get lost in translation. Despite the quick replies, we still get to learn a bit about Shiramana, such as their favorite food while in Toronto for the Comic Arts Festival, what they thought about the international audience for their series, what they like about Dungeons and Dragons, to some of their favorite things about Witch Hat Atelier. Another fun interview!
Will Glomp 4 Pocky: A History of Convention Signage
I’m starting to realize there’s a theme here. A lot of the articles in this magazine are all about the history of something. This time, we’re looking at signs at conventions. While this is an unconventional topic that seems out of left field, much like every other article before it, it’s intelligently written and goes into detail about the practice of putting Sharpie on posterboard and how sometimes things got a bit too out of hand, and signs started to get banned. I mean, when you’re offering up kisses for money and advertising that to all convention-goers, or taking up precious space in already-crowded areas, something has to be done, right?
Girls Band Cry: How Capitalism Consumes Counterculture
Hoo boy. All I had to do was read the headline, and I instantly knew where this closing article was going to go. Girls Band Cry was my Anime of the Year for 2024, but despite the many avenues I have to watch shows throughout the year, I will admit that I had to sail the seven seas to watch this one because no streaming service in America would pick it up. The article starts off talking about exactly that. Then, the article did what nearly every other article in this issue did… it broke down into yet another history lesson. I was kind of hoping for a look into the industry, probably discussing the reasoning behind the lack of licensing for streaming in North America, and did not expect to hear about the 1920s jazz movement in Japan. To be honest, I kind of tuned out a bit because by the time I got through 100+ pages of articles, I was all historied out.
Overall Thoughts
One word sums up my experience reading this issue: Unconventional. I whimsically alluded to how trope-ish anime publications were in my opening, only to be marveled at how Anime Herald constructed an intelligent magazine. Being over 100 pages long, I knew that it was going to take some time to sink into this one. I know that this is quite a long review, as I didn’t want to just sum up everything in the magazine in one or two paragraphs. I wanted to take my time, read through each section, and give some thoughts or at least a brief overview of each article’s offering without giving away too much. Hopefully, that approach came across well.
So, after the dust had settled, what did I honestly think?
I think the magazine, overall, was intelligently and well-written and dove into topics that one would not expect at the surface level of an anime-inspired magazine. As I said in my opening, when you hear anime and magazine uttered in the same sentence, you would expect it to be filled with a bunch of fans glazing their favorite series. You wouldn’t expect writers to take the time to break down some of the key moments in history, examining their historical impacts, or talking about shows in personal or impactful ways. You get all of that here in the first issue of Anime Herald; however, for all of the great writing and work put into it, it all comes as a double-edged sword.
Not every anime fan is a history buff. Not every anime fan finds the topics covered here interesting. Sadly, some of those anime fans actually want people glazing up their favorite series. They want to know why Jutusu Kaisen and Demon Slayer always end up on everyone’s social media posts when they’re looking for moots. They want to see people agree with their opinions when it comes to their favorite anime. They’re not looking to read articles about convention signs getting banned, how the anime press came to be, or the birth of Fanta’s Zine. Because of such, this magazine could be a turn off to several anime fans.
Was it a turn-off for me? Not in the least bit. Thankfully, I’m very appreciative of Japanese culture, and I’m always interested in learning about the anime and manga industry as a whole. I even made reference that I have either not seen a show that was talked about, or was just simply unaware that something existed. Rather than skipping the article because I felt it didn’t pertain to me, I dove in and learned a lot of things. Even if I’ve been watching anime for over 20 years and have done nearly 2,000 reviews in my 11-year span with The Outerhaven, there is still so much that I have yet to watch and learn about. For that, this issue was more of an education than anything, and I enjoyed it, but at the same time, I have to look at it through a critical lens, and that lens tells me that this is more of a magazine for a niche audience than something that is made to appeal to the broader community.
And that’s okay. Niche exists for a reason. It exists for people like me. Besides, the common ground between the niche and the broad is interviews. Everyone loves a good interview, and this issue serves up three quality ones to sink your teeth into. In fact, I felt that they were the highlights of the magazine.
My only other critique would be that too many articles focus on the history of something. Again, learning is nice, but I need a little more variety in a magazine. Yes, the topics themselves were diverse enough, but when everything is about, “and this takes us back to (insert year here),” I can’t help but respond with “And another history lesson.”
If you read the magazine in small doses, it may not be totally apparent, but even still, reading it throughout the week, it was still fairly apparent.
All in all, this is going to be a love-it-or-hate-it magazine depending on your expectations. Again, I thought it was good for a first issue, but there are those who might have their expectations broken and not see the value in the publication. I have to keep that in mind when scoring this because I can’t just base it on my own tastes and merits.
For that, I’ll give this a 3 / 5 for the masses and a personal rating of 4.5 / 5 for the inner fan in me who appreciates learning more about the industry as a whole.
This issue of Anime Herald Magazine was provided for review by Anime Herald.
Credits:
Issue Design: Katy Castillo
Cover Illustration: José Salot
