THE AWAKENING
1988. A black sphere mushrooomed over Neo-Tokyo. AKIRA woke. That was the awakening year – the dawn of the Newtype millennium – the seed of the global Otaku consciousness. The late 80s and early 90s was the nascent era of Otaku culture. Fans of Japanese animation, manga, hobby kits, games slowly opened their minds – like how Hikaru Ichijyo raised his eyes when his Veritech fighter was lifted to the flight deck of SDF-1 in the OP sequence of “Super Dimensional Fortress – Macross”.
Hobby Magazines from 1988 – 1992
Then, the Internet was still in its infancy and the World Wide Web was still a conceptual idea. The world has yet to wire up to become a truly global village. Akihabara existed but as a place to shop for consumer electronics. Otakus who live within and beyond the shores of Japan had to rely on hobby magazines to keep up with the scene.
The Otaku scene then was not like what it is today. Comparatively, the budding Otaku culture was more masculine and ‘buttoned down’. It was 燃え rather than 萌. The focus was on science fiction and ‘hardware’. The erotic bishōjo (美少女) element prevalent in contemporary Otaku culture was not as blatant then.
Contents of October 1988 issue of Hobby Japan
The content page of the October 1988 issue of Hobby Japan captured the essence of Otaku culture of that period. Science Fiction, Sword & Sorcery Fantasy, Military and mechanics formed the basis of Otakus’ interests. Otakus then were preoccupied with speculations and phantasms of the worlds that would be. They captured their imaginations with dioramas built from model kits and materials from DIY shops. These were the foundation for the latter era.
OVA Characters feature
The late 80s was the peak of OVA (Original Video Animation) boom. Hardcore anime fans who’d grown in size and age created a market for direct-to-video animation series. The magnetic tape (the video cassette) was the most commonly used storage media for content distribution as the optical disc was something that belonged to the domain of science-fiction.
These were the popular OVA during that time:
Gunbuster – Noriko Takaya & Kazumi Amano
Appleseed – Deunan Knute & Briareos
Bubblegum Crisis – Priss & Linna in Hardsuit vs Boomer
Hyper Magical Gals – Mami, Emi & Persia – modelled by BOME
Long Goodbye – Megumi Ayase
Anice Farm – from Sonic Soldier Borgman
These models were not pre-assembled, fully painted PVC/ABS girl figurines that you can buy off the shelf. Otakus who wanted to have a 3D model of their moé character would have to sculpt it from scratch or to assemble it from resin kits (aka garage kits). The cost (inclusive of tools and paints) and time required to make the models placed girl figurines out of reach of most fans except for the more hardcore otakus.
Garage kit new releases
The Wonder Festival (ワンダーフェスティバル) was one of the few events where you could find models of girl characters.
6th Wonder Festival Report
During those days, military and car model plastic (polystyrene) kits were then the staple for kit-building otakus. Most hobby magazines had dedicated chapters on military hardware specifications. There was not much coverage given to girl character models.
Technical Specifications
Tabletop role-playing game was not lost on the Japanese Otakus, although it was not as popular as it was among the English-speaking geeks in other parts of the world. Perhaps it could be due to the prevalence of video games. Yet, this geek tradition did have its followers. Japanese game developers also tried to emulate the computer RPG games (in the style of Ultima/Wizadry), such as the “Ring Master” made for the NEC PC-9800 series of personal computers. Lead miniature painting also found its way among the hobbyists.
Ad for Ring Master
Fantasy Miniature Diorama
Original sci-fi works were one of the main draws for the hobby magazines. Makoto Kobayashi (小林誠 ) one of the popular talents of the late-80s/early 90s, had his visual novel “A.S. Wars” serialised in Hobby Japan. He also collaborated with Kow Yokoyama (横山宏) on “S.F.3.D. Original” (which became the latter day Maschinen Krieger) . Being an illustrator, mechanical designer, modeller as well as mangaka, he was involved in the mecha designs for Z and ZZ Gundam, Giant Robo the animation, Venus Wars etc. He’d also done his own interpretation of Z and ZZ Gundam designs for “Model Grafix” hobby magazine and was collected in the roman albums “Gundam Wars II Mission ZZ”. (Check out “The Art of Makoto Kobayashi“, an excellent fan-site dedicated to the avant gard designer).
未来兵器A.S.
The start of the 90s probably saw the start of interest in girl characters. Bishōjo garage kits and soft-vinyl kits began to gain popularity among hobbyists, and Hobby Japan ran a guide on how to build your favourite girl figures.
November 1990 issue of Hobby Japan
Figure Kit Modelling Manual
Ranma Saotome (早乙女 乱馬) from Ranma 1/2 and Ayukawa Madoka (鮎川まどか) from Kimagure Orange Road were the popular girl characters from the ear. Lum from Urusai Yatsura was another hot favourite.
The hot Bishōjos of the era
As a sign that the kit-building culture was moving towards girl figures, hobbyists began showcasing their original works – translating their 2D works into scratch-built (sculpted) figurines.
魔法使い”雫”
Mecha animation remained the mainstay of Otaku culture from the 80s up till the early 90s. Sexy girl characters, if any, were a bonus and not something that was expected. There was a DIY-punk feel to the Otaku scene back then, as fans and hobbyists had to re-create their imaginations on improvised materials – from modellers to fan fiction writers/artists. Collectible art pieces (prints, models, figures) didn’t come by so easily as they were not put through mass production. Anime, Manga, Figurines (models) became (or started off as) an exclusive sub-cultural interest that flew below the mainstream’s radar.
It was not difficult being an Otaku during that time because I was still a ‘kid’ and it was not out of the norm for boys of my age to indulge in science fiction, robot toys and ‘cartoons’. Within my limited financial capability, I spent most of my money buying hobby magazines. I couldn’t read Japanese, but the pictures and illustrations were good enough reasons to blow my pocket money on those expensive magazines. Afterall , experiencing narratives via the visual medium is an aspect of Otaku culture.
(to be continued…)
