Helen McCarthy

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Helen McCarthy (born 1951) is the British author of such anime reference books as 500 Manga Heroes and Villains, Anime!, The Anime! Movie Guide and Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation. She is also the co-author of The Erotic Anime Movie Guide and the exhaustive The Anime Encyclopedia with Jonathan Clements.

She was the first English-speaking author to write a book about anime, in addition to being "the first person in the United Kingdom to run an anime programme at a convention, start a dedicated anime newsletter, and edit a dedicated anime magazine." [1] [2] [3] [4]


In 1991 she founded Anime UK magazine, and in 1992 became one of the principal contributors to Super Play, an SNES title with a heavy anime and manga bias. [5] Anime UK became Anime FX after a change of backer and closed at the end of 1996. Andy Frain of Manga Entertainment, then the most influential anime distributor in Britain, took issue with the magazine's editorial policy and later with its involvement in the campaign against the trademarking of the word "manga", but this did not affect either McCarthy's position or the magazine's publication. She also contributed to Manga Mania magazine, and after Anime UK closed she edited it from 1997 to 1998.

McCarthy was able to apply her convention-running knowledge gained in SF and media fandom when Anime UK ran the successful one-day convention AUKcon, which attracted attendees from all over Europe in 1994. She has written numerous articles and essays and is a frequent convention guest, as well as speaking at film festivals and academic gatherings in Europe, America and Japan. She curated and delivered two successful seasons of lectures and screenings at the Barbican Cinema in London. [6] [7] [8]

[edit] Publications

Manga Manga Manga, A Celebration of Japanese Animation at the ICA pub Island World Communications (London) 1992. ISBN 0 9520434 0 8

Anime! A Beginners Guide To Japanese Animation pub. Titan (London) 1993. ISBN 1 85286 492 3

The Anime Movie Guide - Japanese Animation since 1983 pub. Titan (London) 1996 ISBN 1 85286 631 4

The Erotic Anime Movie Guide (with Jonathan Clements) pub Titan (London) 1998 ISBN 1 85286 946 1

Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation pub Stone Bridge Press (Berkeley, CA) 1999 ISBN 1 880656 41 8

The Anime Encyclopedia: Japanese Animation since 1917 (with Jonathan Clements) pub Stone Bridge Press (Berkeley, CA) 2001 ISBN 1 880656 64 7; 2nd edition 2006, ISBN 1 933330 10 5

500 Manga Heroes and Villains pub Collins & Brown (London) 2006 ISBN 1 84349 234 3

500 Essential Anime You Must Own to be published by Ilex (Lewes) 2008

[edit] References

  1. ^ An Interview with Helen McCarthy. Anime Digital (1999-10).
  2. ^ An Interview with Jonathan Clements, Pt 2.. Anime Tourist (2003-12).
  3. ^ An Interview with Helen McCarthy. Anime Tourist (2003-05).
  4. ^ Information on Helen McCarthy. AnimeCons.com (2003-05).
  5. ^ Super Play Magazine. underground-gamer.com (2007-12).
  6. ^ MCAD: Speakers and Guests. MCAD (2007-09).
  7. ^ Japanimation. Barbican Centre (2007-01).
  8. ^ Information on Helen McCarthy. AnimeCons.com (2003-05).
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