Anime Insider

Last updated

Anime Insider
Anime-insider-56-may-2008.jpg
May 2008 Anime Insider cover
Categories Anime magazine
FrequencyMonthly
Founded2001
Final issue
Number
2009
67
Company Wizard Entertainment
CountryUSA
Based in Congers, New York [1]
Language English
Website www.wizarduniverse.com/
ISSN 1547-3767

Anime Insider was a monthly magazine published by Wizard Entertainment, consisting of news and entertainment pieces relating to the Japanese anime and manga subculture. In its earliest incarnation it was published from Fall 2001 till Fall 2002 as a series of quarterly specials under the title Anime Invasion, then became a bi-monthly magazine in November 2002, and was renamed Anime Insider in April 2003. The magazine was changed to a monthly release schedule in July 2005, which remained its current cycle until it ceased publication in 2009. [2]

Contents

Wizard touted the magazine as "#1 anime and manga magazine in America" in circulation. While containing informative features, such as interviews or exclusive reporting, articles dedicated to satire or humor were often also included. A trademark feature in Wizard publications, word bubbles were added to printed pictures. With the demise of Newtype USA in February 2008, it was cited as the English-language anime magazine with the highest distribution and sales across North America.

History

The magazine began in 2001 as a one-shot special publication under the name Anime Invasion, but soon changed its name to avoid trademark infringement with another company's brand. Anime Insider was a quarterly magazine during its early years, and it eventually turned into a monthly magazine and remained on that schedule for the last half of its eight-year history. The magazine dropped its cover price in winter 2007 to $4.99 for the U.S. and $5.99 for Canada.

On March 26, 2009, it was announced that Anime Insider would be ending publication after running for eight years. [2] Rob Bricken, a former editor of Anime Insider magazine, wrote that Wizard Entertainment was ending publication of the North American anime and manga periodical. The editorial staff has been laid off. [3]

Anime Insider was also published in Indonesia since 2003. This anime magazine releases except Wizard Magz. Both the magazines are available on Alfamart store, but the magazine will be ceased in May 2011, that means 2 years after the original of Anime Insider was ceased first in 2009.

Content

News

The News portion covered events and trends in the anime & manga industries as well as coverage of conventions. Factual column Coming Soon consists of licensing announcements and expected releases, while By the Numbers incorporates digits relating to Japanese culture, video game, and anime/manga headlines, and Con Job lists upcoming conventions by location and programming. Entertainment columns within this section included Death of the Month (a character death from a selected series), Top Five (editors' praise for something related to anime culture), and Gratuitous Fanservice (a chosen pair of male and female characters designed to appeal to fans due to their appearances).

Reader contributed material

Animail, a combination of the words "anime" and "mail", was a section dedicated to answering questions submitted by readers. Results from Anime Insider's monthly web-poll, reader comments, and selected fan art are posted here.

Anime features

The feature A.I. Five summarized a popular anime title debuting domestically that month by suggesting the top five reasons why viewers would enjoy this particular series/OVA/movie. In their Flash in Japan segment written by Andrez Bergen, an anime series that was currently airing on TVs in Japan was profiled for American audiences, prior to licensing in the U.S., with quotes from the shows' directors. The article Last Man Standing was a fictional story that put two anime characters that are similar in nature (ex. ninjas) but are from different shows against each other in a type of imaginary match.

Manga Preview

Each month, a new manga title scheduled to be released in America was previewed in Anime Insider, publishing a chapter from an upcoming volume. Some manga included Trigun Maximum and Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl . The 41's manga preview was Disgaea 2 .

Main sections

DVD

Dedicated to information regarding domestic DVD sales, this section had a listing of new releases for that month. Recurring segments include Lip Service (interviews with voice actors), Eastern Egg (extras in Japanese DVDs), Must See (new release recommendation), Free Swag (merchandise sold with discs), and Disc Drive (Japanese releases).

Theatrical

This section focused on theatrical releases of Japanese-produced films and anime. Casting Call (suggestions for actors portraying anime roles) is the recurring column for this section.

Manga

Offering a listing of English releases and publishing news, the segment included What's the Difference (comparison of titles in both anime and manga forms), Must Read (new manga recommendation), and Read on Arrival (manga not available in English).

Television

This portion concentrated on anime broadcast on television in English-speaking countries and Japan. The Tune in Tokyo (profiles of anime new to Japan) piece was located here.

Music

Music incorporated Backstage Pass (profile of a Japanese artist), Face the Music (new soundtrack releases), and Pop Top (top-selling musical recordings according to Oricon, Japan's equivalent of the Billboard charts).

Video games

Video games covered both Japanese and non-Japanese games and news on consoles and game producers. Columns in video games consist of Continue (news brief), Must Play (new game recommendation), and Import Report (anime related or odd Japanese games).

Stuff

The heading Stuff was used to describe the portion on anime merchandise, anime figurines, and collectible card games. The only column was Thanks Japan (funny anime-related products from Japan).

J-life

This section discussed Japanese lifestyles and youth culture. Segments on commercially packaged food, drinks, and other products were under Eat It, Drink It. Interesting and occasionally unusual locations and travel hot-spots were profiled by Tokyo Correspondent Andrez Bergen in Tokyo Travelogue, and lessons in Japanese are given in JPN101.

Other sections

Other sections included From the Top (an editorial column) and Parting Shot (a bizarre photo of an event/place in Japan).

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Trigun</i> Japanese manga series

Trigun is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow. It was first serialized in Tokuma Shoten's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Captain from March 1995 to December 1996, until the magazine ceased its publication; its chapters were collected in three tankōbon volumes. The series continued its publication in Shōnen Gahosha's seinen manga magazine Young King OURs, under the title Trigun Maximum, from October 1997 to March 2007. Shōnen Gahosha republished the Trigun chapters in two volumes, and collected the Trigun Maximum chapters in 14 volumes.

<i>Magic Knight Rayearth</i> Japanese manga series by Clamp

Magic Knight Rayearth is a Japanese manga series created by CLAMP. Appearing as a serial in the manga magazine Nakayoshi from the November 1993 issue to the February 1995 issue, the chapters of Magic Knight Rayearth were collected into three bound volumes by Kodansha, and were published from July 1994 to March 1995. A sequel was serialized in the same manga magazine from the March 1995 issue to the April 1996 issue, and was published by Kodansha in three bound volumes from July 1995 to April 1996.

<i>Weekly Shōnen Jump</i> Japanese manga magazine

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. Chapters of the series that run in Weekly Shōnen Jump are collected and published in tankōbon volumes under the Jump Comics imprint every two to three months. It is one of the longest-running manga magazines, with the first issue being released with a cover date of August 1, 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tokyopop</span> German-American entertainment company

Tokyopop is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well as original German-language manga. Tokyopop's US publishing division publishes works in English. Tokyopop has its US headquarters near Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California. Its parent company's offices are in Tokyo, Japan and its sister company's office is in Hamburg, Germany.

<i>Entertainment Weekly</i> American digital magazine

Entertainment Weekly is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular culture. The magazine debuted on February 16, 1990, in New York City, and ceased print publication in 2022.

<i>Newtype</i> Japanese pop culture magazine

Newtype is a monthly magazine publication originating from Japan, covering anime. It was launched by publishing company Kadokawa Shoten on March 8, 1985, with its April issue, and has since seen regular release on the 10th of every month in its home country. Newtype Korea is published in Korea. Spin-off publications of Newtype also exist in Japan, such as Newtype Hero/Newtype the Live and NewWORDS, as well as numerous limited-run versions.

<i>Animerica</i> Monthly magazine published by Viz Media

Animerica was a monthly magazine published by Viz Media containing news, feature articles, and reviews on manga, anime, and related media, as well as a section that serialized manga published by Viz. After an initial November 1992 preview issue, Animerica's first regular issue was released in February 1993 with a March 1993 cover date. In 1998, Animerica Extra was launched as a separate manga anthology magazine which eventually focused specifically on shōjo titles. It was canceled in 2004.

<i>Super Play</i> British video game magazine

Super Play was a British Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) magazine which ran from 1 October 1992 to September 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wizard Entertainment</span> Producer of multi-genre fan conventions

Wizard Entertainment Inc., formerly known as GoEnergy and Wizard World, is a producer of multi-genre fan conventions across North America. The company started as the holding company for Strato Malmas' interests in the energy business.

<i>Wizard</i> (magazine) American magazine about comic books

Wizard or Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture was a magazine about comic books, published monthly in the United States by Wizard Entertainment from July 1991 to January 2011. It included a price guide, as well as comic book, movie, anime, and collector news, interviews, and previews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enterbrain</span> Japanese publisher

Enterbrain (エンターブレイン), formerly Enterbrain, Inc., is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing founded on 30 January 1987 as ASCII Film Co., Ltd.. Magazines published by Enterbrain are generally focused on video games and computer entertainment as well as video game and strategy guides. In addition, the company publishes a small selection of anime artbooks. Enterbrain is based in Tokyo, Japan, with a paid-in capital of 410 million yen. Enterbrain's current president is Hirokazu Hamamura.

<i>Shojo Beat</i> Shōjo manga magazine (2005–2009)

Shojo Beat is a shōjo manga magazine formerly published in North America by Viz Media. Launched in June 2005 as a sister magazine for Shonen Jump, it featured serialized chapters from six manga series, as well as articles on Japanese culture, manga, anime, fashion and beauty. After its initial launch, Shojo Beat underwent two redesigns, becoming the first English anthology to use the cyan and magenta ink tones common to Japanese manga anthologies. Viz launched a related imprint of the same name for female-oriented manga, light novels and anime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hakusensha</span> Japanese publishing company

Hakusensha, Inc. is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo.

<i>Shadow Skill</i> Japanese manga series

Shadow Skill is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Megumu Okada. The series has been adapted into four original video animations released from 1995 to 1996 and an anime adaptation produced by Studio Deen aired on TV Tokyo in 1998.

<i>Fairy Tail</i> Japanese manga series by Hiro Mashima

Fairy Tail is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. It was serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine from August 2006 to July 2017, with the individual chapters collected and published into 63 tankōbon volumes. The story follows the adventures of Natsu Dragneel, a member of the popular wizard guild Fairy Tail, as he searches the fictional world of Earth-land for the dragon Igneel.

Akita Publishing Co., Ltd. is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Teio Akita in 1948. As of May 2023, the company's president is Shigeru Higuchi. The company is known for publishing the manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Champion, which serialized works such as Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack, Keisuke Itagaki's Baki the Grappler, and Shinji Mizushima's Dokaben.

<i>Otaku USA</i> Magazine published by Sovereign Media

Otaku USA is a bimonthly magazine published by Sovereign Media, which covers various elements of the "otaku" lifestyle from an American perspective. The issues were accompanied by a DVD featuring three anime episodes but as of 2009 the DVD feature was dropped and the double sided poster feature of the Magazine was also dropped starting with the February 2010 issue.

<i>Shugo Chara!</i> Japanese manga series

Shugo Chara!, also known as My Guardian Characters, is a Japanese shōjo manga series created by the manga author duo, Peach-Pit. The story centers on elementary school girl Amu Hinamori, whose popular exterior, referred to as "cool and spicy" by her classmates, contrasts with her introverted personality. When Amu wishes for the courage to be reborn as her would-be self, she is surprised to find three colorful eggs the next morning, which hatch into three Guardian Characters: Ran, Miki, and Su.

<i>Shonen Jump</i> (magazine) Defunct North American manga anthology

Shonen Jump, officially stylized SHONEN JUMP and abbreviated SJ, was a shōnen manga anthology published in North America by Viz Media. It debuted in November 2002 with the first issue having a January 2003 cover date. Based on Shueisha's popular Japanese magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump, Shonen Jump is retooled for English readers and the American audience, including changing it from a weekly publication to a monthly one. It features serialized chapters from four manga series, and articles on Japanese language and culture, as well as manga, anime, video games, and figurines. Prior to the magazine's launch, Viz launched an extensive marketing campaign to promote it and help it succeed where previous manga anthologies published in North America had failed. Shueisha purchased an equity interest in Viz to help fund the venture, and Cartoon Network, Suncoast, and Diamond Distributors became promotional partners in the magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shueisha</span> Japanese publishing company

Shueisha Inc. is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company.

References

  1. Mitchell P. Davis (June 2010). Yearbook of Experts, Authorities & Spokespersons - 2011 Edition. Broadcast Interview Source, Inc. p. 196. ISBN   978-0-934333-73-3 . Retrieved November 28, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Michael Doran (March 26, 2009). "Wizard Entertainment Confirms End of 'Anime Insider'". Newsarama. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
  3. Anime Insider Ends Publication After Eight Years Archived September 18, 2016, at the Wayback Machine