Anime UK magazine
Encyclopedia
Anime UK was a British magazine founded in 1991 dedicated to Japanese animation
and published for six years before ceasing publication in 1996. Peter Goll, Steve Kyte, Helen McCarthy
, and Wil Overton founded the magazine in London, England. Published for six years, it was sold worldwide and was widely admired for its innovative design, high production standards and varied, entertaining content. Its stated aims were to make the then arcane and unknown world of Japanese animation accessible to non-Japanese speakers, and to promote a positive and open image for a medium that received some negative press during its early years in the U.K.
To re-create the visual excitement of a Japanese anime magazine, the team dreamed up features such as Kyte's A-Z of anime in pullout form so it could be carried in a pocket for reference, paper dolls of well known anime characters, postcards and folding desk calendars. One unexpected hit was Ah Oishii! (Ah, delicious!) a simple recipe
illustrated with anime characters. Printed on the inside back cover so it could be cut out and filed, it was so popular with readers that many submitted their own recipes and art, and it ran until the magazine folded.
A number of the writers and artists who worked for the magazine have achieved greater success elsewhere, including authors Jonathan Clements
(the magazine's staff translator), Peter J. Evans and James Swallow
. Contributors from Europe, America and Japan included Frederik L. Schodt, translator and author of the seminal Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics
, and anime and manga
historian Fred Patten.
In glossy
, full-colour card covers, the magazine progressed from a bi-monthly publication with partial colour to a monthly, and eventually to full colour, although a dispute over editorial policy with Andy Frain of Manga Entertainment
resulted in no paid advertising from the then-biggest UK anime retailer. In early 1995, in a move by Goll to secure better financing, the magazine was re-launched as a professional high-street monthly publication with new numbering. The magazine's name was changed to Anime FX and it was published by Ashdown Publishing, with the same editorial and design team and from the same offices in Mortimer Street, London W1.
It ceased publishing in February 1996, leaving many contributors unpaid for the last few issues. Many contributors subsequently moved on to the UK's only other contemporary anime magazine, Manga Mania. Ironically, by the time of the magazine's cancellation, Andy Frain had left Manga Entertainment and their promotional material was finally sent to the Anime FX offices, too late to be included in the final issue.
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
and published for six years before ceasing publication in 1996. Peter Goll, Steve Kyte, Helen McCarthy
Helen McCarthy
Helen McCarthy is the British author of such anime reference books as 500 Manga Heroes and Villains, Anime!, The Anime Movie Guide and Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation. She is the co-author of The Erotic Anime Movie Guide and the exhaustive The Anime Encyclopedia with Jonathan Clements...
, and Wil Overton founded the magazine in London, England. Published for six years, it was sold worldwide and was widely admired for its innovative design, high production standards and varied, entertaining content. Its stated aims were to make the then arcane and unknown world of Japanese animation accessible to non-Japanese speakers, and to promote a positive and open image for a medium that received some negative press during its early years in the U.K.
History
The magazine grew out of Anime UK newsletter, a fan publication started after the 1990 Eastercon (the British National Science Fiction Convention.) Overton, one of the early subscribers, took the newsletter to his boss Goll, who offered to fund and publish a magazine devoted to anime through his company, Sigma. McCarthy was the magazine's editor throughout its run. Overton and Kyte were designers and house artists.To re-create the visual excitement of a Japanese anime magazine, the team dreamed up features such as Kyte's A-Z of anime in pullout form so it could be carried in a pocket for reference, paper dolls of well known anime characters, postcards and folding desk calendars. One unexpected hit was Ah Oishii! (Ah, delicious!) a simple recipe
Recipe
A recipe is a set of instructions that describe how to prepare or make something, especially a culinary dish.-Components:Modern culinary recipes normally consist of several components*The name of the dish...
illustrated with anime characters. Printed on the inside back cover so it could be cut out and filed, it was so popular with readers that many submitted their own recipes and art, and it ran until the magazine folded.
A number of the writers and artists who worked for the magazine have achieved greater success elsewhere, including authors Jonathan Clements
Jonathan Clements
Jonathan Clements is a British author and scriptwriter. His non-fiction works include biographies of Confucius, Koxinga and Qin Shihuangdi , as well as monthly opinion columns for Neo magazine...
(the magazine's staff translator), Peter J. Evans and James Swallow
James Swallow
James Swallow is a British author and scriptwriter. He is the author of several original books and tie-in novels, as well as numerous audio dramas and videogames....
. Contributors from Europe, America and Japan included Frederik L. Schodt, translator and author of the seminal Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics
Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics
Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics is a 1983 book by Frederik L. Schodt. Published by the Japanese publisher Kodansha, it was the first substantial English language work on Japanese comics, or manga, as an artistic, literary, commercial and sociological phenomenon . Part of Schodt's...
, and anime and manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
historian Fred Patten.
In glossy
Gloss (material appearance)
Gloss is an optical property, which is based on the interaction of light with physical characteristics of a surface. It is actually the ability of a surface to reflect light into the specular direction. The factors that affect gloss are the refractive index of the material, the angle of incident...
, full-colour card covers, the magazine progressed from a bi-monthly publication with partial colour to a monthly, and eventually to full colour, although a dispute over editorial policy with Andy Frain of Manga Entertainment
Manga Entertainment
Manga Entertainment is a producer, licensor and distributor of Japanese animation in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia and New Zealand...
resulted in no paid advertising from the then-biggest UK anime retailer. In early 1995, in a move by Goll to secure better financing, the magazine was re-launched as a professional high-street monthly publication with new numbering. The magazine's name was changed to Anime FX and it was published by Ashdown Publishing, with the same editorial and design team and from the same offices in Mortimer Street, London W1.
It ceased publishing in February 1996, leaving many contributors unpaid for the last few issues. Many contributors subsequently moved on to the UK's only other contemporary anime magazine, Manga Mania. Ironically, by the time of the magazine's cancellation, Andy Frain had left Manga Entertainment and their promotional material was finally sent to the Anime FX offices, too late to be included in the final issue.