My Visit With "M" Part 2: The White Base Editing Room & Early Fan Conversations

(The cover of Gundam Fun Club's White Base Editing Room vol. 2, of which I acquired from M during my visit.)

(While in Hyogo, I was able to visit a collector of rare books who will remain anonymous as requested. We will refer to this individual as "M" for the time being when discussing their perspectives and ideologies surrounding the works that will be discussed. These are a mix of my views, M's accounts, and other historical connotations that give further basis for the conversation at large. To view part 1, please visit this link.)

While visiting with M, I was allowed to peruse even more of their collection with not only the eye of an afficionado, but as a collector myself. My visit to the Hyogo ward hadn't kicked off to the best of starts, though while with M, my sense of initial upset quickly faded away when I was allowed to actually purchase not one, but several important works of art and texts from them. I made the jest, on both a serious and speculative note, that I'd like to acquire their copies of Gunsight, though with a laugh and a pat on my back, I was lead to other fanzines that M had stored. There were several hundred, and while I wanted to browse every single one I could, many of them he simply could not part with. Some, while available, had asking prices that I simply couldn't afford, such as the very rare Leiji Matsumoto omnibus of 0079 comics he penned. I was, however, able to acquire several fan books, one of which hailed from the Gundam Fun Club, who published an early zine known as the White Base Editing Room. 

This early text, launched by its relatively small team high school age fans and artists, was published during the earliest inceptions of Gundam's original broadcast. I wasn't allowed to acquire volume 1 as it was, according to M, harder to find than the others I did acquire. With that in mind, he did part with both volumes 2 and 3, of which he had double copies of. Over tea, we once again sat down to discuss the contents.

M was quick to note that these books in question were some of the earliest Gundam fan works to reach a particular mid level of "popular" circulation, though not on the scale of say Gunsight. "They are amateur at best, but I've kept them for so long because of the memories. This group in particular was also being read partially by college students." Had M interacted directly with any of these students? 

M told me no, but that many of the same variety of fan club would congregate outside of Sunrise's studios and hold impromptu meetings. Be it for the purpose of direct recruitment, to scour for discarded studio materials in the garbage or to meet voice actors, M recounted to me that many of these groups were very much responsible for not only fostering a localized community, but for archiving data. 

"There would be tons of young people grabbing (things). Papers, pens, anything that was thrown away. The studio(s) we joked never had to pay for garbage disposal!"

He told me with a curt laugh of a particular event of two particular two young women who belonged to a particular fan club, one of which only recruited girls who liked Garma Zabi.

"They had a particularly violent verbal altercation over an autograph from Katsuji (Katsuji Mori). He was in a hurry evidently, signed only one, and passed it along. Lots of angry accusations were thrown, lots of tears. I don't know if anyone actually received the autograph, even, but these sorts of things happened. The fans were very passionate at times." 

(The inner fold of the reverse of the White Base Editing Room vol. 2's cover, in which a memorial is noted for Garma Zabi. This is one of the earliest accounts of Garma Zabi's death being memorialized in a manner in which he takes center stage.)

These accounts are, in some respects, brand new to me. However, Sunrise's fostering of these communities flourished outside of their studio system or financial planning board simply on the basis of their open contact with their fans. This facilitation of direct conversations with fans, which is rather unheard of now, especially in the West, proved instrumental in propagating interest. Was it really that clever, however? For studios to openly allow fans to interact with voice actors, animators and staff in such a regard, much less appear at their home grown events to answer questions, seems in a modern sense to be a full on ploy. I told him that in the West, at least from my point of view, if anything like that were done in the modern era, it would be only to foster more monetary gain. M said the situation was actually otherwise, simply because the financial backing Sunrise received did not come strictly from the young men and women who flocked to the studios for their own merits. In this case, it was the fan clubs he meant, as the young high school age women were not the target audience for the toy companies.  

"Where one group (Gunsight's authors) felt left out, another fought for their own place as well. How could they be seen as immature when they were drawn mainly to the characters? I think that makes sense to say so." 

M was fond to recount on the openness and what that genuinely meant to them as well. "I think the strength in doing so was beneficial for both parties. On one hand, we young people got to engage with the very people who were creating. While they perhaps weren't creating specifically for us, it certainly felt like they were at times." M was also very clear in stating that his personal relationships with animators and creatives who worked at Sunrise at the time were exceedingly thankful for these groups on a variety of levels. 

If it wasn't Yoshiyuki Tomino, it was a voice actor or in-between artist who would cleverly slip out an autograph or two. On the notion of others speaking to the press of any variety: "I don't remember any bad actors then or extortionists. I laugh at the idea, actually, of anyone trying to extort a small group of overworked animators for information at the time. Sunrise was not Toei."

"I can remember Director Tomino (Yoshiyuki Tomino) coming to a conference that was held by someone who was little more than a college age amateur artist. He was, mind you, on a very, very busy schedule. He'd come, sat down, and listened to the comments (by the artist) very attentively, and nobody had noticed he'd shown up! When he asked a question of the organizer, she nearly fainted. We all laughed, but this sort of thing could never happen today. This was in the middle of the original broadcast, and very late at night. He probably had to be back the next day, but made time." 

The notion of extortion made us both laugh, though sparked another conversation derailment. Asking M further, I noted that Tomino's turn out of thousands of fans for the Anime New Century Declaration event of 1981 showed his investment in Gundam even post the original broadcast, though I was mildly corrected in part with even more accounts. "Director Tomino understands the power of fans and to me, as a creative, I can't ignore his energy here. He, among many others at the studio, were constantly giving interviews, and he knew the power of what Gundam meant (to others)." 

 (Yoshiyuki Tomino at the infamous Anime New Century Declaration event of 1981, which in part was done to promote the first Mobile Suit Gundam compilation film. This event brought together several hundred thousand Otaku and additional supporters of the medium and franchise, solidifying the presence and importance of the anime fan in Japanese social culture.)

As I read the copy of vol. 2 of White Base Editing Room, fan opinions and observations, at this point, were documented as early as June 15th of 1979, right in the midst of what seems to have been near real time with 0079 Gundam's broadcast. Published a week before the episode The Threat of Zeon, which was broadcast on June 25th of 1979, White Base Editing Room's team was right in the throng of the action and produced accounts that, in tandem with being on time with the timing of the broadcasts, also provided a record of then fresh ideals. 

Written with a mix of hand and professionally set text, the Gundam Fun Club's mascot was that of an anthropomorphic Kikka who sported both cat ears and a tail. This in turn introduced yet another subcultural element to the fanzine as is, which I found charming. Reading further, fans were quick to account for "important" characters, their traits and personalized observational data that blurred the lines between that of canon and the "head canon", or ideas surmised to fit personal ideas for fictional characters than delineate the ones set by the actual production staff / creators. Furthermore, the bolstering of Garma Zabi's presence in this volume was upheld by a rather unique fold-out pin up, one of which seemed to have been Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's original cel drawing for Garma while in his normal suit. 

The legitimate fan nature of this work became apparent from the author's notes in the back of the zine, which were both delightful though rather melancholic to me. I blame it on the concept of saudade, and in the very ephemeral nature of these sorts of texts, I'm often left with a feeling of ennui even for dreams fully realized. 

To quote the editor, known simply as "The Chairman", "Its hot during the summer, and this magazine has also gotten a little hotter. I was tired from editing this magazine, so tired that I can't say very much else anymore." Further reading notes that "The Chairman"'s co-editor, Mari, was so preoccupied with working on editing the zine that she didn't pay very much attention to her school work; "Dad, mom, Mari has been a very bad girl. I was going to school but was writing this magazine instead, so please don't blow me up!" 

Mari is noted to have come all the way from Chiba to Machida for a whole three days in a row just to finish up the editing, which apparently put a strain on her both physically and mentally, though appears to have lied to her parents about the nature of the trip, "It's for a test and a part-time job offer." Young women, in this case, saddled their social responsibilities with that of taking care of their fan club responsibilities, and the sentiment can be so sorely felt today. 

(The very unique Garma Zabi fold out within the fan zine, which is printed on high quality glossy paper akin to actual magazine pin-ups found in say Animec and Animage. The piece seems to be a direct zerox of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's cel drawing before painting.)

Editing of these sorts of texts wasn't an easy feat, though in the guise of fan works, this apparently was nothing new to M. Of all of the groups that M interacted with in particular, there were stories he shared of petty quarrels, upsets and even thefts. "There was a group situation in which there was a large theft of funds, and because of this, many began to vet very closely. Many of these young people had taken part time jobs just to fund these productions or got small loans, even. It could be very complicated, and most printing was very amateur." 

M pointed out to me in the byline of the back of my particular copy that the "The Chairman" was actually named Noriaki Ishikawa, who was exceptionally active and yet a high school student all the while. "The printing was done in small batches initially, though the first volume was such a success that a bigger endeavor was made. Small printing companies were helpful to young people, and I'm thankful for that to be the case."

Having had participated in a variety of fan zines, some successful, some absolutely abysmal, I was impressed at the level of organization of The White Base Editing room and how succinct the information was put together. Clean and to the point, fan impressions of the Gundam episodes accounted for gave immediate credence to what it meant to be in the heat of the action, and more importantly, the power of human congregation. 

One particularly interesting factor to me was the advertisements in the back, which gave note to other readers of the existence of other fan clubs, recruitment and even meet up spots, particularly the "Club Mate Room", which was located in Noriaki's personal apartment.

(A contest and further correspondence held from the editor states that "I want you to guess the names of 5 characters. For those who answer all of these questions directly, 3 of them will be randomly selected to receive a hand painted animation cel, and 7 people will receive a special White Base Mobile Suit Gundam notebook. The address to mail your answers to is "White Base Editorial Office", Sugimotoya Apartments, Room 6, 4-13-8 Haramachida, Machida City, 194 Japan." The cels in question are left to mystery, though one can assume they were Gundam based.)

(Additional meet up information and advertising of like minded, if not curated fanzines, by the Editing Room team. "241 Yokohama Asahi Post Office P.O. Box No. 15, Honmura-cho, Asahi-ku, Yokohama City. This is for vol. 2 of "Mobile Suit Gundam Fan Club." I would like to introduce "My White Base"'s exchange meeting "On The Side". The president of this publication, Chiko, is rumored to be assisting a very famous manga artist, and as expected, she is one of the members. This parody manga is really good, so why not give it a read? Please be usre to enclose a 50 yen stamp when making purchasing inquiries.) 

(One of the earliest depictions of Garma's death being immortalized by fans of the original broadcast is followed by several eulogies and poems all dedicated to his passing. This is not dissimilar to Rikiishi Toru's fictional death being mourned by thousands of fans of Ashita no Joe, though on a smaller scale.)

Through a variety of fan impressions, ideologies around Gundam's earliest inceptions can be found from the basis of early concept art that gets actively used, particularly in this publication. Access to these materials, now scarce and exceptionally hard to acquire in the West, prove the actual proximity to Sunrise that these young men and women genuinely had. 

I was taken aback at the amount of details, directly and indirectly, and pondered dreamily about how many of them spent hours upon hours cutting, arranging, photographing and ultimately printing these early books. History, made with a labor of love, became a true testament to the endearing nature of Gundam, one of which, had it not been for their presence, wouldn't exist today.

I asked M if he knew about any information that would suggest that some of these high school collaborators went on to become industry members. He did not give specific names, but did note that it would be best for me to consider the artistry found in the books themselves. 

"They give context clues." Some are, as it would seem, better than others, though I was quick to personally not assign that value to a manner of history I still didn't understand. With that in mind, I did acquire two books from the same fan club, so I would personally dig further on my own time. 

(Accounts within White Base Editing Room go up to episode 8, which aired on May 26th of 1979, proving the raptness of on time correspondence with the episodes. Specific quotes found important by the editorial team, including characters and official staff on board, are a unique way to share both information and impressions. Access to official settei art show, once again, closeness with the original staff at Sunrise, as this depiction of Persia was never found in any of Animec's officially licensed settei booklets at the time.)