Animecca
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Animecca |
| Publisher: | Mecca Publications/Elaine Barlow |
| Editor(s): | ? |
| Type: | News, Reviews |
| Date(s): | 1992-1998; as Animecca 1995/6-1998[1] |
| Medium: | Online |
| Fandom: | Anime |
| External Links: | http://animecca.animeonline.org/; Archived 1998 |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Animecca was an online fanzine that featured columns, interviews and news for early anime fandom. It offered awards for fansites and was viewed as a reliable source of news and endorsements.[2] [3][4] It was hosted by The AnimeOnline Network.
A 1998 screencap of the front page (Volume 3, Issue 4) is preserved by The Lost World of Early Anime Fansites. It ended later in 1998:
Animecca Magazine has ceased publication. Bi-monthly reviews, news, and occasional interviews can be found in their respective sections of the AnimeOnline Network. For more information about Animecca's beginning and end, you can read the What Was Animecca section. We at Animecca thank you for your support during our run online and we hope you'll continue to support the AnimeOnline Network.The earliest preserved version of the site, from December 1998
The site was linked to under various URLs, including animecca.com[5] and animecca.animeonline.org/. A 1998 link from Anime Planet 2 lists it as discontinued.[6] Another link page last updated 2000 indicates that the domain name had changed to animefandom.com at that point.[7]
What Was Animecca
Animecca started long before it began keeping archives (1996). Animecca began as a small BBS called "The Knight Sabers BBS" run between the hours of 12am and 6am out of Elaine Barlow's teeny dorm room at the University Of Connecticut in 1992. As time progressed and Elaine's knowledge of the net and web design increased, she soon developed a personal webpage (Elaine Barlow's Personal Webpage) which contained a cliché "Click here to see some anime I like" link. The page was a small review page, which featured maybe three reviews per month depending on how many were on the shelf at Suncoast.It took a long time to go from this small website to a larger publication, but once a few great U.S. companies came on board with support and encouragement, Animecca soon launched itself on an official domain, http://animecca.com. The entire site, once fully developed, contained 6 reviews, very limited news, and some graphics. After a long time Animecca developed a few volunteer staff members as it grew into a large 36 section magazine. However, Elaine Barlow remained the driving force behind all reviews, news, and interview coverage.
As large and as popular as Animecca Magazine was at by 1997 in terms of its sole dedication to the U.S. industry (despite the unhappy rants of the hardcore anime fans), and despite several ups and downs, it still remained online though very much condensed and absorbed into The AnimeOnline Network. It was entirely fan run and financed by Elaine Barlow for its entire run online.
By the end of 1997, its editor, due to health complications, became unable to continue to maintain the magazine without volunteers... though a search was made and some were found, in the end without financial compensation and finding the volunteer effort to be too time consuming, most of the volunteers diminished. The magazine, in its huge state, could not be continued with only two people to run it on a monthly basis.
Mecca Publications had become a successful web publishing house, pulling in more and more outside web work by this time and Elaine Barlow, as the head designer, had her priorities divided between earning a living and running a non-profit, very expensive magazine without help.
The decision was then made, in the beginning of 1998, to discontinue Animecca.The timeline of Animecca Magazine, from What Was Animecca
References
- ^ Kyuusaku on Anilist: "I used to be a professional reviewer of anime for several (defunct) publications, including Animerica Magazine (2002-2004), and AniMECCA Online (1995-1998)"
- ^ The Ichiban awards page, archived 1998
- ^ fe_chan reviewing Serpent's Anime Page: "Just for SAP it has received awards from anime turnpike, Animecca and Anime Otaku Award just to name a few."
- ^ Linked from Anime, the Drinking Game: "The AnimeOnline network, home to Animecca magazine, one of the best online anime fanzines."
- ^ Linked from a site preserved on OoCities
- ^ 1998 link from Anime Planet 2
- ^ A page by Yoriko linking the site as http://animefandom.com/main.shtml