Posted in: Anime, TV, YouTube | Tagged: The Anime Business

The Anime Business Ep. 11: AnimEigo Series Spotlights Helen McCarthy

The Anime Business Episode 11 spotlights historian Helen McCarthy, her contributions to boosting anime's popularity in the West, and more.

AnimEigo and parent company MediaOCD released the latest episode of The Anime Business on YouTube. The new segment in the ongoing documentary series about the pioneers of the Western anime industry features Helen McCarthy, a noted author who has been a prominent figure in the anime scene for over 40 years.

McCarthy has written more than a dozen essential books about the history and evolution of anime and manga, including Anime!, The Anime Movie Guide, 500 Manga Heroes and Villains, A Brief History of Manga, and Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation. She also co-authored The Erotic Anime Movie Guide and The Anime Encyclopedia, with historian Jonathan Clements, and co-founded Anime UK magazine.

Helen McCarthy on Her Contribution to The Anime Business

McCarthy created a monthly anime newsletter, the first of its kind in the U.K., and followed with a 6-year run of Anime UK magazine. Her first book, Anime! A Beginner's Guide to Japanese Animation was published in 1993. Along the way, she met a variety of players in the burgeoning U.K. anime scene, including Andy Frain, the founder of Manga Video/Manga Entertainment, which became a major anime distributor in the U.K. and North America.

As anime transformed from an underground phenomenon into a mainstream trend, McCarthy recalls the clash of opinions that arose between fans who liked the close-knit and grassroots community they had forged and entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on it. She recalls being dismayed upon hearing about Manga Video's attempt to trademark the word "manga" for marketing and corporate purposes.

As anime's popularity continued to grow in the U.K. during the 1990s, its path to mainstream success was slower than in North America. McCarthy notes how the U.K.'s sluggish but eventual nationwide installation of broadband in the early 2000s finally helped to grow anime's popularity exponentially and develop critical internet-based fans. She also notes a significantly different U.K. convention culture, which has only a handful of dedicated annual events that draw substantially less attendance than their counterparts in the U.S. Additionally, she observes that larger U.K. pop culture events still do not offer similar or effective platforms to promote anime. But she fondly underscores the more intimate, familial, and fraternal nature of the U.K. anime scene, and she emphasizes that it is the fans and the friendships that have impacted her life the most and give her the most satisfaction.

Helen McCarthy's books and scholarly work in the field of anime have earned her a place in the genre's storied history. Her best-known book, The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, which she co-authored with fellow anime historian Jonathan Clements, was first published in 2001. Now in its third edition, the book features more than 10,000 entries and is a substantial reference, providing detailed information, credits, and content advisories. For any ardent fan of anime and manga, McCarthy's books are highly recommended reading.

The Anime Business is a first-of-its-kind series featuring a wide range of entrepreneurs and visionaries who helped to pioneer and shape the North American anime and manga industries. It is produced and hosted by industry veteran and MediaOCD founder, as well as AnimEigo CEO, Justin Sevakis. Episodes 1-10 of The Anime Business and bonus clips are also now available to stream on the AnimeEigo YouTube channel.

The Anime Business Episode 11 is available now on the official AnimEigo YouTube channel.

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