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". M's collection of fanzines, doujinshi and internal studio manga publications was exceedingly vast, but I was able to acquire a few items that he allowed me to/that I could afford.

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. 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.

This group participated together even post Gundam's original broadcast it seems up until early 1981 from the other books I have in my possession alongside the ones from M's collection.

Website Backup: (with more information. A translation for parts 1, 2 and 3 are up alongside some criticism)

https://retroanimechris.blogspot.com/2024/06/gundam-fun-club-white-base-editing-room.html (full backup)
https://retroanimechris.blogspot.com/2024/06/my-visit-with-m-part-2-white-base.html - crit and info
https://retroanimechris.blogspot.com/2024/06/the-gundam-fun-club-white-base-editing.html - 3 part translation (others coming soon)

MEGA Backup:
https://mega.nz/folder/C9FhmYiK#-s6CXMylpjbWJtiTdMyjnA
Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/mobile_suit_gundam_fun_club_vol_2 (page 2 is somehow page 1, they can't seem to get it right.)

Questions? Comments? Contact me via adoggart@gmail.com or @retroanimechris on X.

As I am back from Hyogo, I am translating an onslaught of books I acquired including some other rare materials in the coming days, months, etc. I bought over 300+ books! I'm crazy!

Additional information:

-Zeon's organization chart ties into OUT's June 79' issue, where ranks were, at the time, only shown in the earliest of promotional materials/Yas' early Gunboy concept art. For instance, Kycilia is a "Major General" whereas in the actual broadcast, she is a Rear Admiral. (https://x.com/retroanimechris/status/1806005707302445217/)

-Voice actor names and roles are different at this stage in reference. For example, Banjo Ginga was still being referred to as Tanaka Takashi (the translation somewhat also read as Tanako Tsune, though I believe it would technically be the latter). Gihren's information once again makes a callback to the earliest info in OUT magazine. Dozle Zabi's VA is also noted to be Shozo Iizuka, who played Ryu in 0079. This is, however, possibly an error as Dozle's role was actually played by Daisuke Gori in every inception. I wonder if, in this case, Iizuka played Dozle's small roles in his few/early appearances at the time this zine was made.

-This text speaks about Sunrise's fairly early Studio II and how hard it apparently was to get Gundam going animation wise alongside 1st hand accounts about Tomino forbidding the staff from being "unserious" about animating akin to works like Daitarn 3.

Base +6

This is a rare treasure, thank you for uploading this.

Base +7

You're welcome! I have volume 2 and several others like it that I'm uploading and translating this year. Thanks for visiting! I'm glad I was able to be of help.

Base +6