On Mother Town - The Passion of Being Rotten, Doujinshi & Yamato's Original Fans
(The cover to Mother Town Vol. 6, published by the Yamato Fan Club in 1980, personal archive.)
Archiving and documenting fanzines has become more than just a base layer niche interest of mine, and it goes without saying that having any 1st hand accounts like so on hand is beyond meaningful and resourceful. They are, as written, the word of the people, far beyond perhaps the bias of academia. In a world where everything now is typically shared on the web, opinions of all sorts can be readily accessed in a variety of means - readership to print magazines and more, in the digital age, continues to wane, and viewing a zine from before this day and age can be rather cathartic. However, in the spectrum of mid 70s to late 80s animation history, most documents we all still have immediate access to are still, sometimes to a great misfortune, filtered through a vapid Western lens. Approaching the very means of access in which they come can be, at times, daunting. We have many storied 'benefactors' of culture and scholarship, both profound and constant, however, I'm growing a bit restless - getting the juice straight, with pulp, however, is more my style.
That's all it is - a point of view. I've never been one to readily accept the status quo, and what once was a simplistic hobby has now turned into a Gonzo-like adventure to find, save and collect the word of the people, no matter how old it may be. First hand accounts, especially in doujinshi, run the gamut from being hyper casual to extremely analytical; I've come across a variety of texts that bolstered their word on being as nitpicky as possible about Sakuga as a cultural phenom to texts that simply rank how cute Amuro Ray is compared to Kai Shiden. There is an altruistic magic in there being no one way to create, and it goes without saying that the broad cultural difference between Western publishing vs that of doujinshi is palpable.
From my own experiences, I've found that doujinshi, even as discussed as a medium, has a unique element of celebrating the austerity of the auteur as well as the penmanship of the everyday novice. As someone who's participated in years of ceaseless shopping, supporting and creating derivative works for say DL Site or Fantia, the gods of Comiket, for instance, still vow to keep the show going. I've found that there is simply no one way to create anything. Preferences, while important, are immaterial to the creator of these works themselves at times - delivering magic is far more pressing.
The world gained another star in the sky when I happened upon Mother Town. I'm not even hesitant to say that its the star of my Yamato collection even, and it was all thanks to a particular Yahoo! Japan auction at the beginning of December. I was just coming off of the high of scoring a few rare texts from vendors, both public and private, to add to the archive. Perhaps in my incessant need for information, I kept hunting on my own - I was thousands of miles away from the tucked away bookshops I haunted in Japan last year and couldn't dig as deeply as I would like. The web, while vast, hardly connects others the way it should when acquiring these resources. Perhaps you're not looking in the right places, one would think. Perhaps I am - there is simply a dearth of individuals who happen across 40+ year old very particular tomes and offer them up. I'm a very picky collector for these archives, however. Everything I do buy eventually does go public, so when I ran across major lots of Space Battleship Yamato doujinshi, I was elated. Finally, as it would seem, I'd be able to share something special with you all as well as with myself.
I'll take a step back to recount a bit more. Many of these texts offered in this auction, while vintage, had already made their way to the web ages ago in the corners of E-Hentai or chan sites. Where there was no ground to discover there, I was fortunate to see that this individual was parting with texts from the late 1970s in particular. Yamato holds a special place in my heart; Leiji Matsumoto's titular series still reigns supreme in its visual influence years later, and in all frankness, there will be nothing like it ever again. Even if he is no longer with us, I can't dissuade myself from saying that his imagination had long captivated me even as a young child. By my late teens, I began to learn about the hand that Yoshikazu Yasuhiko in particular played with the series' initial TV and later film run. I only bore first hand witness to this once I was in Hyogo seeing Yas' boards on display and his legendary painting (and its initial sketch) on display for the Farewell, Space Battleship Yamato poster. Seeing the lots for sale brought back warm memories of this particular moment, so I went ahead and, as I often note, "put some skin in the game" for my bids.
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(A sample of two of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's storyboards and his original concept sketch for the poster of Farewell, Space Battleship Yamato from the official Yoshikazu Yasuhiko: Divine Animator & Draftsman exhibition pamphlet, personal collection, acquired in Hyogo.)
Its no matter of happenstance; in the end, I acquired 7 books from the vendor, 4 of which were Yamato related and the oldest that I could find. Of these texts, I found myself drawn to a particular volume called Mother Town. There was, however, a small caveat. Fanzines, no matter how many I touch, de-bind, and archive of this era, tend to have specific air to them. I wasn't expecting to become so absolutely engrossed in a zine to this degree, though there is undoubtedly a refreshing aura to this publication that one seldom sees while hunting and gathering. As stated before, many mid to late 70s fanzines and journals have a particular auteur-ism that evades the realm of doujinshi that many Westerners know today. Layouts, typically done cheaply and often handset, were the work of high school and college age fans who simply wished to communicate, often times in the only way they knew how. I cannot go off of prior or later issues of Mother Town to confirm if this can be said about the publication, though with volume 6, there is a distinctive professionalism that betrays the fan nature of the book itself.
Doujinshi, fanzines, manga research journals, whatever they deem themselves, were the voice of the people though and though in the pre-internet world. There is a unique element to Mother Town that instantly draws you in once the book is actually in your hand - its grey cover, worn and withered, had clearly traveled in many hands. Mother Town, as titled, refers to the port city in Iscandar's ocean as seen in Yamato, though this is also a somewhat ambiguous reference to the group itself. The artists and organizers, while relatively mysterious and often unnamed in this particular issue, appear to have been college age Yamato fans. The themes, while tongue and cheek, boast a longing for and dedication to a series that had continued to capture the hearts of its original fans even after its original broadcast had long ended. Volume 6, published July 30th of 1980, two years after Farewell, Space Battleship Yamato was released in theaters, offers a unique perspective and a fresh eye on Boy's Love (BL), criticism, fanfiction and even crack shipping before the phenomenon had a dedicated name. Earlier Mother Town doujins seem to hail from 1978, though I was not able to acquire them during the sale.
This particular doujin features tons of, if not all, adult themed works. While the gag comics are plenty, this is no simplistic, babyish parody work. Am I surprised? Not quite, though there is something quite refreshing about opening a text that's well over 40+ years old and seeing that sentiments on sexuality are forever constant. I often have to remind myself when I'm archiving these texts to first view them as an outsider looking in. After becoming acquainted, the more I immerse myself, there then becomes a point where one can't ignore the very humanistic aspect of producing a fanzine like so. Some things simply don't change. Everything seems to remind me of my own work from time to time, and to have found like minded individuals creating such a thing so long ago made me more than mindful. No matter the context, this book, like many, was still meant to be approachable towards the subculture that it initially served.
Such is the striking maturity presented in Mother Town. While the publication was clearly heralded by early college age Otaku, the organization of the text is startlingly cutting edge. The mere capability present transcends any cultural relativism that anyone could ever posture. While neither an obtuse hentai or yaoi, all of the stories present within Mother Town, down to the art, don't shy away from the notion of sex or sexuality. Eroticism, even in a lengthy fanfiction present with original characters, seeks to pose a "what-if" about same sex relationships aboard the Yamato itself.
Based on the bylines and final credits, this particular group seems to have gotten coverage in Animage from time to time in their 'Best Fanclub' lists and reviews. Concurrently, this particular issue advertises the release of an anime research journal known as COSMIC, which would focus on Fujiko Mine, Lana from Future Boy Conan and Sayla Mass. This text, which is quite rare, seems to have been advertised here first during a 'special release announcement'. While Sayla and Fujiko had long captured the hearts of Otaku, the presence of Lana tied to these women, especially at the middle of 1980, gave more context on the burgeoning (if it could be called as such) Lolicon boom as well.
(A back page advertisement and announcement for vol.7 of Mother Town as well as COSMIC, a journal that would, as advertised, focus on Sayla Mass, Fujiko Mine and Lana from Future Boy Conan.)
The need to produce doujin works, be it for fandom connectivity or even work opportunities, saw an uptick in authors, especially in the realm of Comiket and the boom of Otaku subculture magazines during the late 70s onto the 80s. The increase in fan authors and illustrators alike could be, for better words, disjointed yet elaborated connected all the same. Many texts I own reference important events, such as meet ups, sales, or even the questing for a new, interesting theme for a circle. What would be the frame of focus? The point of contention, even? Pre-internet Otaku clearly found no sense of levity in producing texts and tomes to catapult their ideas. Some were more apparent, some more secretive depending on the themes presented, and yet underrepresentation remained a constant until it simply wasn't. Yamato, while playing a major factor in the avid presence of the Otaku, cannot be ignored in such a sense when discussing any doujinshi - a series once deemed to be initially for children produced a work like Mother Town, after all.
Space Battleship Yamato, in fact, was uplifted by the "Yamato Nerds" as Yoshikazu Yasuhiko recently deemed them as. In the June 2024 issue of the arts journal Geijutsu Shincho, coverage of Yasuhiko's recent retrospective gave further credence to these fandom histories. When asked about the impact and further prevalence of Yamato in the realm of both animation and pop culture at large, Yasuhiko gave a rather unique perspective of the fan not only being crucial to his own success, but to Yamato's overall breadth of experience. As one of the most (in my opinion, anyhow) innovators on board with Yamato, even to the obvious and hidden nths of the production, I was elated to see Yas note that, while he originally felt that anime provided only a means of entertainment for children, it was the "older teens" who were most drawn to Yamato to begin with, even beyond its 'simple' narrative structure.
This direct response was, in my opinion, one of the most important aspects of the public response to Otaku, no matter how quantified. One simply cannot offer a generalization to the themes present in a work like Mother Town, for instance, as a blanket for derivative works. There is a highly distinct element to Mother Town that suggests so much about the authors themselves, many of which worked and published under cheeky pseudonyms or simply remained anonymous to begin with. A show meant for children, after all, would garner stares if one mentioned they drew highly sexualized depictions of Yuki Mori in the afterglow of sex - regardless of her numerous panty shots in Yamato proper, the steps that were taken further demonstrate the inexplicable urge to simply be rotten.
While I don't know the authors personally, the inference can easily be made that several were Fujoshi, and their cultural ecosystem thrived thanks to the democratization of fanzines and networking. As I have noted in several texts I own, Otaku moved quick as they did move often, be it through word of mouth, advertisements, being in the throngs of the animation industry itself or through high school and university 'research clubs'.
Where some left no expense spared, others produced the eponymous copy book - cheaply made and often times shoddily bound xeroxed texts that showed their freedom of press. Mother Town, while neither shoddy or professional, hits a uniquely sweet spot. Based on the timeline of the publishing developments that I can note, this particular group, deeming themselves the Yamato Fan Club (there is no information to date as to if this was the official Yamato fan club or not), seems to have been active as deeply as the show's original broadcast, even.
Mother Town is daring. Its sensual, exciting and imbued in a sense of visual pride that goes beyond the standard fare I'm used to seeing from this particular era. Authors make note of their favorite illustrators, such as Yuki Hijiri, Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and Mineo Maya as being direct sources of inspiration. If one can't tell that there is something unique in opening a zine and seeing Susumu Kodai and Daisuke Shima lip locked, well, you have a ways to go.
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