Another Otaking Follower
Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 6:52 pm
Ohayo from Ohio! Gah, that sounds face palm worthy.
My name is Lee Barber, and I've been doing what I can for the bone-dry anime scene here in the corn-belt since 1989. My initial exposure to modern anime occurred in Cleveland when AKIRA and LAPUTA were on the art film circuit. I was also able to watch videos at an Indianapolis comic book show, provided by the venerable Dayton Animation Club. Nothing really fell into my hands though until I made a connection through the Anime Hasshin fanzine, to a true senpai in Los Angeles who traded master tapes for my illustration pieces. Of course, it was those incredible tapes that impressed fellow otaku more than my art.
Horribly, I picked the one university where nobody seemed interested in anime. So, I had to become a "satellite" member of midwestern college groups, namely Akron U, Purdue, and Ohio State. If you are familiar with the Venice archive or productions of Killer Nuts Anime, then you know what the latter club was doing in the mid-90's (with hijacked university hardware maybe...) For the most part, I was there to share the latest recordings from my west coast pal and make sojourns to conventions. MY first event was OTAKON 95, where the "King" himself told us that we were the next otaku generation. That was one highlight, another was actually making it to AX in 1996 and meeting my distant client with a million laserdiscs.
I'd say all the marvels lasted about a decade, vanishing after campuses and convention halls were replaced with career snafus and splitting paths. I'm glad that the internet tech my peers built has lasted, and the goal of a digital supply more or less direct from Japan has been met. Maybe I can't be the next Shirow or Sonoda, but watching Miyazaki with my young nieces is just as sweet. Telling tales here sounds fun too!
My name is Lee Barber, and I've been doing what I can for the bone-dry anime scene here in the corn-belt since 1989. My initial exposure to modern anime occurred in Cleveland when AKIRA and LAPUTA were on the art film circuit. I was also able to watch videos at an Indianapolis comic book show, provided by the venerable Dayton Animation Club. Nothing really fell into my hands though until I made a connection through the Anime Hasshin fanzine, to a true senpai in Los Angeles who traded master tapes for my illustration pieces. Of course, it was those incredible tapes that impressed fellow otaku more than my art.
Horribly, I picked the one university where nobody seemed interested in anime. So, I had to become a "satellite" member of midwestern college groups, namely Akron U, Purdue, and Ohio State. If you are familiar with the Venice archive or productions of Killer Nuts Anime, then you know what the latter club was doing in the mid-90's (with hijacked university hardware maybe...) For the most part, I was there to share the latest recordings from my west coast pal and make sojourns to conventions. MY first event was OTAKON 95, where the "King" himself told us that we were the next otaku generation. That was one highlight, another was actually making it to AX in 1996 and meeting my distant client with a million laserdiscs.
I'd say all the marvels lasted about a decade, vanishing after campuses and convention halls were replaced with career snafus and splitting paths. I'm glad that the internet tech my peers built has lasted, and the goal of a digital supply more or less direct from Japan has been met. Maybe I can't be the next Shirow or Sonoda, but watching Miyazaki with my young nieces is just as sweet. Telling tales here sounds fun too!