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An index of prominent figures in the early anime fandom?
Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2018 6:31 pm
by Fireminer
There have been attempts to list and categorize people important in the anime fandom, such as
Fanlore. But what if there is someone who has just started researching into the early American anime fandom and needs a comprehensive index of people that he should read into, then whose names would appear on that list?
Re: An index of prominent figures in the early anime fandom?
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 10:07 am
by mbanu
The history of early American anime fandom seems to be mostly a history of clubs; not sure if this is because of how it really was, or if those folks are just the ones who wrote and were written about the most.
The early C/FO clubs:
C/FO Los Angeles: Fred Patten, Mark Merlino, Judy Niver, Wendell Washer, Robin Leyden.
C/FO Philadelphia (Philadelphia Animation Society): William Thomas III
C/FO New York: Jerry Beck
Star Blazers Fan Club (New York/New England): Michael Pinto, Brian Cirulnick
Earth Defense Command (Texas/National): Derek Wakefield, Meri Davis
Also maybe Pat Munson-Siter of "Bird Scramble!" if you want to head off into APA-land.
Re: An index of prominent figures in the early anime fandom?
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 10:40 am
by mbanu
Also Laurine White of C/FO Sacramento! Definitely Michael Burgess and Barb Edmunds of C/FO Denver (Denver Anime International). Michael Sherman of C/FO Cleveland, maybe. Maybe Wayne Haarbye of C/FO Tuscon/Tuscon Animation Screening Society?
Jim Whittaker of the Star Blazers Fan Club Boston Chapter (Boston Japanimation Society)
One not related to clubs -- Joanne Ninomiya, the program director for KIKU in Hawaii, original source of many early fansubbed tapes. (^_^)
And one connected to California clubs somehow, but I'm not sure how -- James Long. (^_^)
Maybe also August Ragone; in the earliest years, kaiju, anime, and furry fandom seem to have been all jumbled together.
Re: An index of prominent figures in the early anime fandom?
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 7:23 am
by Fireminer
mbanu wrote: ↑Sat Dec 15, 2018 10:07 am
The history of early American anime fandom seems to be mostly a history of clubs; not sure if this is because of how it really was, or if those folks are just the ones who wrote and were written about the most.
The early C/FO clubs:
C/FO Los Angeles: Fred Patten, Mark Merlino, Judy Niver, Wendell Washer, Robin Leyden.
C/FO Philadelphia (Philadelphia Animation Society): William Thomas III
C/FO New York: Jerry Beck
Star Blazers Fan Club (New York/New England): Michael Pinto, Brian Cirulnick
Earth Defense Command (Texas/National): Derek Wakefield, Meri Davis
Also maybe Pat Munson-Siter of "Bird Scramble!" if you want to head off into APA-land.
mbanu wrote: ↑Sat Dec 15, 2018 10:40 am
Also Laurine White of C/FO Sacramento! Definitely Michael Burgess and Barb Edmunds of C/FO Denver (Denver Anime International). Michael Sherman of C/FO Cleveland, maybe. Maybe Wayne Haarbye of C/FO Tuscon/Tuscon Animation Screening Society?
Jim Whittaker of the Star Blazers Fan Club Boston Chapter (Boston Japanimation Society)
One not related to clubs -- Joanne Ninomiya, the program director for KIKU in Hawaii, original source of many early fansubbed tapes. (^_^)
And one connected to California clubs somehow, but I'm not sure how -- James Long. (^_^)
Maybe also August Ragone; in the earliest years, kaiju, anime, and furry fandom seem to have been all jumbled together.
I truly appreciate your inputs! Thank you!
I looked up some of the name of the people whom you listed, and there are some like Joanne Ninomiya that actually went into the industry in one way or another. Is it common across the board, that the people who were most important in the early fandom did eventually made a living out of their love for manga/anime?
Also, correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Fred Pattern have some connection with the Furry fandom, which in turn in the beginning was related to the sci-fi fandom?
Re: An index of prominent figures in the early anime fandom?
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 7:24 am
by Fireminer
Fireminer wrote: ↑Sun Dec 16, 2018 7:23 am
mbanu wrote: ↑Sat Dec 15, 2018 10:07 am
The history of early American anime fandom seems to be mostly a history of clubs; not sure if this is because of how it really was, or if those folks are just the ones who wrote and were written about the most.
The early C/FO clubs:
C/FO Los Angeles: Fred Patten, Mark Merlino, Judy Niver, Wendell Washer, Robin Leyden.
C/FO Philadelphia (Philadelphia Animation Society): William Thomas III
C/FO New York: Jerry Beck
Star Blazers Fan Club (New York/New England): Michael Pinto, Brian Cirulnick
Earth Defense Command (Texas/National): Derek Wakefield, Meri Davis
Also maybe Pat Munson-Siter of "Bird Scramble!" if you want to head off into APA-land.
mbanu wrote: ↑Sat Dec 15, 2018 10:40 am
Also Laurine White of C/FO Sacramento! Definitely Michael Burgess and Barb Edmunds of C/FO Denver (Denver Anime International). Michael Sherman of C/FO Cleveland, maybe. Maybe Wayne Haarbye of C/FO Tuscon/Tuscon Animation Screening Society?
Jim Whittaker of the Star Blazers Fan Club Boston Chapter (Boston Japanimation Society)
One not related to clubs -- Joanne Ninomiya, the program director for KIKU in Hawaii, original source of many early fansubbed tapes. (^_^)
And one connected to California clubs somehow, but I'm not sure how -- James Long. (^_^)
Maybe also August Ragone; in the earliest years, kaiju, anime, and furry fandom seem to have been all jumbled together.
I truly appreciate your inputs! Thank you!
Please forgive me for my ignorance, but what does "APA" stand for? Is it some kind of publication?
I looked up some of the name of the people whom you listed, and there are some like Joanne Ninomiya that actually went into the industry in one way or another. Is it common across the board, that the people who were most important in the early fandom did eventually made a living out of their love for manga/anime?
Also, correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Fred Pattern have some connection with the Furry fandom, which in turn in the beginning was related to the sci-fi fandom?
Re: An index of prominent figures in the early anime fandom?
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 7:45 am
by Fireminer
Also, this
article on Iyashikei states that the the first known fansub came out of a C/FO chapter situated near an Air Force base in Japan. Is this the truth, and if yes then which club was it?
Re: An index of prominent figures in the early anime fandom?
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 11:38 am
by Drew_Sutton
Fireminer wrote: ↑Sun Dec 16, 2018 7:45 am
Also, this
article on Iyashikei states that the the first known fansub came out of a C/FO chapter situated near an Air Force base in Japan. Is this the truth, and if yes then which club was it?
I don't know about fansubbing, but I think I remember Joe Vecchio being interviewed on a podcast some time ago (maybe an Anime World Order episode) that when he was in the Air Force in the 80s, he was stationed in Japan and they would make and send tapes back to the States. I don't remember if he was a part of a C/FO on base or if he was a member of a club back in the States. It's been a while so I may misremember some details but I don't recall him ever saying he or anyone on base fansubbed anything.
Re: An index of prominent figures in the early anime fandom?
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 12:46 pm
by davemerrill
Just want to add James Long to the list of figures - he was one of the people that started the Battle of The Planets Fan Club in 1979.
Meri Davis took over the Earth Defense Command club from Derek Wakefield in 1985 or 1986, and in 1990 organized Project A-Kon, the oldest continuously operating anime convention in the United States.
August Ragone was/is an influential figure in Asian media fandom, and appeared on San Francisco TV's "Captain Cosmic" show to talk about Space Battleship Yamato and show off his collection of Yamato stuff right when Star Blazers first began airing in 1979 - people all over the US saw this broadcast.
Re: An index of prominent figures in the early anime fandom?
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 1:13 pm
by davemerrill
I don't know about the "first fansub" claim, but the C/FO chapter based in Japan was based at the Misawa AFB, and the chapter was known as the "Rising Sun" chapter. Vecchio was a member of this club, and another member was Revell Walker, who went on to organize the "Ani-Magic" convention in California from 2000 until 2009.
Re: An index of prominent figures in the early anime fandom?
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 5:50 am
by Fireminer
Please pardon my ignorance, but were the C/FO based on airbases in Japan any different from those in the States, like in age or professions? I only know that American servicemen have the right to bring their families to live within designated communities near their bases (Are these communities within or outside the perimeter of the bases anyway?)