Anime BBSes (Animag's Valley of the Wind BBS, etc.)

The roughly mid-90's and earlier (generally pre-Toonami, pre-anime boom) era of anime & manga fandom: early cons, clubs, tape trading, Nth Generation VHS fansubs, old magazines & fanzines, fandubs, ancient merchandise, rec.arts.anime, and more!
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mbanu
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Anime Fan Since: 2001

Anime BBSes (Animag's Valley of the Wind BBS, etc.)

Post by mbanu »

Has anyone gone hunting for these?

A fun reminiscence from 1992, courtesy of Chet Jasinksi of Metro Anime and Atlantic Anime Alliance fame:
Chet Jasinski wrote:__Why call a anime BBS?________________________________


It would be interesting to take a survey and find out just how many
anime fen have a computer with a modem. I would roughly put it at about
ten percent. However if you asked how many of those that did have a modem
knew there were BBSes that had anime areas or anime conferences I would bet
that many would say they didn't know. You'd be surprised at how many don't
even realize that there are anime clubs out there. For instance, I didn't
know about anime clubs until about 1983/4 when I went to LunaCon a science-
fiction convention the was held in New Jersey. It was there that I picked
up my first issue of Anime Hasshin's newsletter The Rose. Needless to say
I subscribed immediately.

When I bought my computer in 199O I had a modem installed only because I
had read in issue number five of ANIMAG that they ran a BBS called the
Valley of the Wind devoted to the magazine. I thought to myself, ah,
finally a chance to communicate with other anime fans. What a novel idea.
The only way I had had a chance to talk with other anime fans before was at
conventions, and back then, I only went to LunaCon. So between the long
months I only had my newsletter to keep informed of what was happening and
what was new. But now that I'm on-line with the BBS community there's no
need to have to wait for a monthly club meeting or a annual convention. I
can call and leave a message asking about anything concerning anime.
never a dull moment.

It was through anime BBSing that I discovered there were other BBSes
that were devoted to anime. On the Valley of the Wind I file captured
their anime BBS list. It was my good fortune that there was one listed
in New Jersey. That BBS happened to be run by the Donna Rule, the moderator of
fidonets anime echo. She is also part of the anime distribution system
(ADS) which is a group of anime BBSes that distribute anime files amongst
one another (more on this below).

This brings me to the reason I call an anime BBS. When you do log on to
one you can either find a local anime message base which is referred to as
a special interest group (SIG) or you will find a national conference that
is seen on other BBSes throughout the country. Fidonet, Relaynet, WWIVnet,
WWIVLink, and USEnet (Internet) all carry anime conferences. They all don't
necessarily call it a anime conference. Through these conferences you have
incredible resources at your finger tips. You will have the oppurtunity to
communicate with people who like the same shows as you do or you might ask
a question concerning if there are any anime clubs near you. There will
usually be people who can help you with any question you care to ask. For
instance, last year I wanted to know about peoples experiences running an
anime room. I received many replies on the ins-and-outs of it, what I
should bring, as well as how to handle the people who get a little over
zealous. I found it very informative and used many of the ideas I was
offered. Too bad no one told me to be prepared for those mundanes who come
in and ask why their eyes are so big (sigh).

Anime files are usaully the second most important reason that I call.
Up to the mid-eighties there was not much fan subtitled anime going around
and if you wanted to understand what was happening in your favorite anime
you had to get your hands on a script or synopsis. Some fanzines were
helping in this area but again, many people didn't know that anime clubs
existed. So anime BBSes helped fill in this need, particularly the anime
fans on USENET who use 'ftp'ing (file transfer protocol) to get access to
anime files at many ftp sites. They deserve much of the credit for anime
scripts/synopses that are available today. On fidonet, a group of dedicated
anime BBSes have started the ADS to help in the exchange of anime files.
Primarily, 2O32, NUL, and Tomcat are involved in this system.

There was, and still is no better place to call then a anime BBS to get
a script/synopsis you might want. A simple call and a quick download meant
that you would have an understanding of your favorite show in no time.
Sometimes you have to look around other anime BBSes but it could usually be
found. If not, you could always ask on any one of the anime conferences
above if anyone knew if a script or synopsis was available for a particular
show.


It wasn't much later that a logged onto GEnie and found the JAPAN RT.
At that time we only had one category, and a good library (file) area. Now
the Japanimation has grown to three categories and a even better library.
The broad range of topics really adds to the enhancement of the Japanimation
On-line area. More so than most dedicated anime BBSes that can sometimes be
very limited to the number of available topics. Figure in the national
reach that GEnie has and you have a anime BBS that is warm cozy place to sit
back and spend a couple of hours with other friendly anime fans.


Following is a list of the some of the best anime BBSes in the
country. You'll be sure to find lots of anime files at these,
some even rival GEnies Japanimation library.

Anime Archive (6O2) 861-1872 New Mexico
NUL 2 (512) 615-6852 Texas
2O32 (3O5) 384-9566 Florida
Anime Central (4O7) 645-2241 Florida
Neo-Tokyo (3O3) 465-5228 Colorado
Fox Propoganda (916) 383-456O Sacramento, California
Anime Lane (818) 762-3695 Pasadena, California
Anime Online (619) 272-8752 San Diego, California
Tomcat (6O9) 877-O7O3 New Jersey
Just say HEH! (716) 292-6449 New York

If you would like to see if there is a BBS carrying a anime conference
near you, just download NABW3.BBS in the library in the Japanimation
text area.

C.JASINSKI[Chet]
mbanu: What's between Old School and New School?
runesaint: Hmmm. "Middle School", perhaps?
User avatar
mbanu
Posts: 476
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2017 3:26 am
Anime Fan Since: 2001

Re: Anime BBSes (Animag's Valley of the Wind BBS, etc.)

Post by mbanu »

(Courtesy of the OSA BBS archive, of course: http://www.nt2099.com/OSA/PUBLICATIONS/ ... IMATS2.TXT)
mbanu: What's between Old School and New School?
runesaint: Hmmm. "Middle School", perhaps?
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