Yup, I've realised I'm a hipster. I ‘discovered’ manga before it became big and achieved mainstream success in England! *tongue very much in cheek here fyi*
Japan has held me in awe for so long due to a variety of factors. I was (and still am) a huge Mysterious Cities of Gold (MCOG) fan, which I found out was a specific style of animation called anime. For me the series had it all; relatable characters, amazing adventures and a thrilling story line. I found out much later that the series was only 39 episodes long but back then it seemed to stretch on forever, like Dogtanian, Ulysses 31 and Willie Fogg; all large sequential series that showed on BBC 1 and ITV weekly and then in large chunks in the morning during those looong summers.
Whilst wondering through our local WHSmiths (a newsagents here in England) I saw Manga Mania on the top shelf, next to the more salacious magazines. The art seemed reminiscent of MCOG so after seeing it a few times over the next few days I finally picked it up and fell down the rabbit hole. I vividly remember going over the next few months with my friend to WHSmiths and reading Fire Tripper, a lesser Rumiko Takahashi work but for me at the time I didn't know any better and it was perfect! My uncle who was only slightly older than me, saw that I had an interest in manga and gave me Devilman and Akira to borrow on VHS- not bad for a 13 year old kid enthralled by this new genre. At the time Akira blew my mind, I didn't understand it then and don't even pretend to now but I knew that I was watching something special.
This was the later sign of the shop.
There was a local comic shop in our town called 'Rodneys Books and Games' which sold games, VHS films and books too. Every Saturday, my best friend and I would go to browse and occasionally purchase something. Even though I knew they sold anime and manga it wasn't until I'd been given the films by my uncle that it clicked, these were the same genre and style that I'd liked- for all those years I hadn't noticed them but now I was all about them. The first series I worked through and completed was The Guyver, getting only a couple of pounds a week it took me a couple of years to complete the entire 12 part collection.
Rodney's only had a few tapes here and there and most were the mainstream fare like Urotsokidoji, Winds of Amnesia and Wicked City. These were hardly the highlight of the medium but they attracted a certain curious and/or thirsty crowd. I was more interested in the story and art than gratuitous tentacle stuff so I got into Ghost in the Shell, Akira etc.
My interest in manga peaked at the same time of the Marvel and comic boom in the early to mid 90's and I soon forged a group of friends who became Japanophiles and comic buddies, recording and swapping recordings off the Sci-fi Channel and Channel 4 late on Saturday nights. However, getting some cool or fresh manga was difficult as it was still pretty cult. I found loads of stuff in Forbidden Planet but it was at premium price...
I became a huge Yoko Kanno fan and bought all the soundtracks I could find that she had worked on. These are some from my collection. That Memories one cost me £30 (that’s 1997 or so prices!)
These are my bootleg soundtracks from back in the day. I don’t think they work...
Later on, with the advent of the internet, getting stuff became easier as I could always get things on eBay, usually bootleg copies of stuff that hadn't made it's way West yet.
I'd buy a series, usually for about £15 to £20 and consume it over the coming weeks. I found that the guy I was buying from lived just in the next town do I'd get on the bus, pop over to his house and buy a few series at a time. This was how I watched Haibane Renmei, Cowboy Bebop, Serial Experiment Lain, theVampire Princess Miyu TV series, The Big O and many, many others.
With the onset of Pirate Bay and other file sharing platforms I just bought a hard drive and got loads of stuff that way but the DVDs were the best for me as they felt real and looked impressive rather than ephemeral and disposable. I still have a lot of these bootleg series in the loft, alongside my real copies of stuff I bought, but these were halcyon days of anime and manga and I miss the camaraderie of a tight group sharing and discussing cult stuff. Yup, I've realised I'm a hipster but what can I say? I discovered manga before it became big and achieved mainstream success! *tongue very much in cheek here fyi*
LINK: Fire Tripper- Cult Manga Review
LINK- Akira Soundtrack Vinyl Review
LINK- Monster City- Cult Manga Review
LINK: Japan: My Journey to the East
LINK- The Offworld Collection- Book Review
LINK: Manga Exhibition at the British Museum
LINK- The Midnight Library and the Idea That You Can’t Go Home Again
LINK- The Transportive Nature of Objects (And the Power of Mini Consoles)