As EX moves into the year 2000 with a bold new look,
I'd like to take a moment and look back at the anime-related events that made
1999 so special. It really was a landmark year for anime, and this look back
should inspire us all. (Note: not all of these events may have actually
occurred.)
January
Fans wait anxiously for PRINCESS MONONOKE to be
released in theaters.
Anno Hideaki resigns from KARESHI KANOJO NO
JIJOU. The show is already so weird and bizarre that no one really
notices.
February
The movie GUNDRESS is released incomplete. Sequences
are not fully animated, music cues are not fully implemented, and special
effects are missing from some scenes. This goes largely unnoticed by the
general viewing public, however, since they didn't think that
GUNDRESS was going to be such a great film anyway.
Studio executives hail this as a "breakthrough project in minimalist
animation" and vow to produce more movies using this new "method."
March
Pikachu takes its rightful place alongside such American cartoon icons as
Mindy and Buttons and Harley Quinn as POKÉMON
moves to the WB. Warner sister Dot threatens to leave
if her salary isn't matched to the furry Pokémon's.
TURN-A GUNDAM begins airing on Japanese
television. Everyone immediately begins referring to it as "Moustache
Gundam."
April
Miramax announces a July 9 release date for PRINCESS
MONONOKE, but no one really believes them.
May
Nagano Mamoru's incredibly complex FIVE STAR STORIES
manga begins an English release at Kinokuniya bookstores across the
USA. Now English-speaking fans can be just as confused
as their Japanese counterparts but in their own native language.
June
Sunrise announces ESCAFLOWNE movie. The story will
be an original re-telling of the television series and is slated for a 2000
release.
July
July 9 comes and goes, but no PRINCESS MONONOKE.
Manga Entertainment announces they have the rights to the
EVANGELION movies. They are immediately besieged by
fans who want to know when it is going to be released and in what version.
The drain on their resources is so intense that the entire Chicago area is
blacked out for two days.
August
Bored of waiting for PRINCESS MONONOKE, everyone goes
to see PERFECT BLUE. Twice.
September
In an effort to seemingly kill their staff, Sunrise announces the
COWBOY BEBOP movie, which will be produced by the
same creative team that did the television show. They announce a 2000
release for the film. Unfortunately, this team is now working on the
ESCAFLOWNE movie, which is also slated for
a 2000 release.
The manga for RURONI KENSHIN ends.
October
PRINCESS MONONOKE finally appears in limited
release on October 30. Roger Ebert lauds the film as one of the best
he's ever seen.
By now, Pikachu has appeared on every magazine cover in America,
with the exception of HUSTLER and
MARTHA STEWART LIVING.
RURONI KENSHIN is licensed in the
United States, finally putting to rest months and months of idle
speculation, rumors, and general ugliness on the part of the fan
community.
November
POKÉMON: THE FIRST MOVIE opens and garners
$51 million on its opening weekend. Everyone rushes to cash in on the
POKÉMON bandwagon. Burger King starts
promoting Tuesday Nights as "Pokémon Trading Nights." Everyone
everywhere runs out of POKÉMON
toys. K-Mart announces that Pikachu and Martha Stewart will be introducing a
new line of products called "Pikachu Everyday." Towels, sheets, paint, etc.
The entire product line is electric yellow.
The FUSHIGI YUUGI DVD box is finally
released after over two months of delays.
December
PRINCESS MONONOKE makes Roger Ebert's Top Ten
Movies of 1999. It ranks #6.
Anime fans wait anxiously to see if Y2K
problems will cause all of their anime merchandise to spontaneously
combust. In most cases, it doesn't.
Ex animo,
Charles McCarter
Publisher/Editor in Chief
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