Apollo Smile!!!1!1!1

[davemerrill]

If you were in anime fandom in, say, 1997-1999 you might remember Apollo Smile, the Live Action Anime Girl! Well, she had two whole issues of her own comic book back in the day and they were pretty bad. In fact one might say they were... Stupid Comics.

Which Mister Kitty certainly agrees with, because that's what's up at Mister Kitty's Stupid Comics! So take a trip back in time and enjoy a thorough dissection of the amazing space adventures of Apollo Smile and her spaceship which is at one point controlled by dancing.

part one: http://misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcov ... cs500.html

part two: http://misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcov ... cs501.html

I actually have more respect for Apollo Smile now than I did back in the day; she was a professional dancer who knew how to entertain audiences, and I think she was just a little ahead of her time, to be honest. But these comics are terrible.

[usamimi]

Oh man, they're even worse than I remember them! XD

Yeah, I mean, we joke about Apollo Smile but she really knew how to sell herself, and she DID have talent! I agree that she was def. ahead of her time. If she was around now, she'd totally be a regular at every con, right there with all the professional cosplayers and Youtube video shoutmen.

[labsenpai]

If she was around now, she'd totally be a regular at every con, right there with all the professional cosplayers and Youtube video shoutmen.

Everything otakudom struggled to do in the mid-90's seemed a decade late compared to Japan, and a decade too early for the US.

[llj]

She was actually older than I thought she was, back in the day. I'd assumed she was in her early 20s in her heyday, but I was about a decade off.

Wonder what she's doing now.

[usamimi]

If I recall she is now a teacher of a dance academy on the East Coast.

[mbanu]

Wonder what she's doing now.

In 2012 she did an interview with one of those public access TV shows about her current business: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vF1f8Vz84k

[DKop]

...how the mighty have fallen...

[mbanu]

Well, she's 49 now -- even in Japan that's probably a little too old to continue as an idol singer. (^_^;) Running a dance school seems like a good career shift.



Maybe something fun, an autographed photo of the type Apollo Smile used to sell out of her web store, courtesy of Rydias on DeviantArt.




Also a few pins and buttons, courtesy of the Wayback Machine copy of her webstore. (^_^)

[Akage]

Yay! New member! Welcome to the boards!

I never understood why they tried to make her into a thing. I remember seeing her mug plastered in a comic book shop near my college and I just wondered how hard up any company was to milk the small anime fanbase that existed at the time.

I agree that, had she come out 15-20 years later, she would have had a Youtube channel complete with thousands of fans, many of whom would beg conventions to invite her as a guest. I've never cared for the current trend of inviting cosplayers to conventions as "official guests". Seems sort of silly to pay people to attend a con when cosplayers attended and shared their love of the hobby for free. I dunno...maybe I'm officially an old curmudgeon con goer...

[usamimi]

I never understood why they tried to make her into a thing. I remember seeing her mug plastered in a comic book shop near my college and I just wondered how hard up any company was to milk the small anime fanbase that existed at the time.

As far as I know, she wasn't part of any company: she was a self-made lady that promoted HERSELF as a performer, and gathered fans slowly over time. I have respect for that: that's not an easy thing to do in the pre-internet, pre-social media days!

I actually have those first 2 buttons in that photo, mbanu! A friend gave them to me a few years ago, since they knew I was into old anime stuff & whatnot. XD