Before online forums and websites in Italy: Japan Magazine

During the boom of popularity of anime in Italy during the 80s-90s the average fan was very interested in discovering more about their favorite series, more aware of the differences between the censored dub and the original version, and as well wanted to meet other fans. However, in that era the forums and websites as we know them today didn’t exist yet. So, what did yesterday’s fans have?

Japan Magazine cover from 1991
(source: Guida al Fumetto Italiano)

In 1991 in the newsstands debuted Japan Magazine, a periodical dedicated to the current anime series. A versatile magazine, that through more than a decade changes many times covers, title and especially size. Japan Magazine’s inconsistent size was probably due to the change of publishers and the fact that technically it was a publication with pirated content, because it wasn’t authorized by the owners of the series, but this last part is speculation that was never officially confirmed. Correct or not, the rumors about the “pirate magazine” amplified its fame: Japan Magazine was the reference point for the newborn Italian otaku culture.

Its contents included articles about series on air and sneak peeks of what was about to come, interviews to the voice actors and comic artists, posters and spaces dedicated to the readers’ content. In fact, the readers could send their drawings and fanfiction to the magazine’s editorial staff! Furthermore, the staff replied to reader’s questions in La posta del Drago (Dragon Mail) and you could propose ads for selling, buying or exchanging in the column Fiera del Bambù (Bamboo Fair), where occasionally the ads were something along the lines of “I’m looking for friends to talk about manga and anime, you can write me at this mail address”. In the last period of its publishing history the Dragon Mail was accompanied by Matilda’s Mail: the first was about questions and daily general themes, the latter was dedicated to questions about the anime world and Japanese culture.

JM cover from 1993 featuring
unexplicably Dylan Dog
(source: Guida al Fumetto Italiano)

This all seems legit, right? Where is the pirated content then? In the early years of Japan Magazine, the periodical used to feature chapters of anime comics, that is a comic version of an episode created using frames from the animated series. Normally anime comics can be quality work, when they are made by a team that understands the visual language of comics. The point is that JM’s anime comics used to take already existing adaptations and modify them, sometimes cutting scenes and simplifying dialogues. We can see an example of this thanks to MikiMoz’s article, that presents us a Sailor Moon anime comic and the differences with the correctly translated version made by Marvel/Panini years prior. His article about the magazine is also quite interesting! During the third publishing phase of JM the anime comics were reduced and when they appeared it was a few pages put together by the editorial staff with frames of lower quality, they personally remind me of VHS recordings.

Page from the Beyblade anime comic
(2005, personal collection)

What’s more, in the early years a few issues had an annex of some VHS of movies or OVA (Original Video Animation) anime, and these were undoubtedly pirated, to the point of open conflict between publisher EDEN and authorized distributors such as Yamato.

This peculiar magazine, that sometimes can be considered similar to a fanzine, had three series through its publishing history:

• Series I (1991-1992) 10 issues
• Series II (1992-1995) 28 issues
• Series III (1998-2005) 66 issues

For this, although it’s not easy to identify the release date of each issue, it’s possible to estimate the year of publishing.

JM cover from the late 90s
(source: Guida al Fumetto Italiano)

During my childhood in the 2000s I used to buy Japan Magazine when I had the chance of finding it at the newsstand. I remember seeing different sizes, one time it was a small book, another time it was as big as printer paper! The number of pages changed as well and occasionally the title, and I used to wonder why it was like that. I own several issues titled JM Japan Magazine, and a few titles JM Cartoons, sized like a little book. Thanks to the archive site guidafumettoitaliano.com I could finally understand the bizarre journey of the magazine and it’s special editions, such as JM Cartoons. One of the articles that particularly impressed me was about drawing tools and it mentioned Pantone markers with many images as well.

JM cover from 2005
(personal collection)

In the end this was JM’s strength: in a time period where the internet didn’t exist or it wasn’t as accessible as it was today, images and information (although sometimes partially incorrect) were a precious treasure! After the golden age between 1995 and the first years of 2000, in the last period of its publishing history the magazine gradually lowered in quality, and concluded its journey in 2005. When I decided to write this article I looked for my issues of the periodical and I found two that are very likely from 2005. I hope to find the issue with the Pantone markers, so I could share the article here!

JM was a peculiar and a bit odd magazine, it wasn’t perfect but it was a product of passion from manga and anime enthusiasts. Thank you Japan Magazine for the happy memories of two generations of fans! <3