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The ''Daicon III'' and ''IV Opening Animations'' are two
8 mm film 8 mm film is a motion picture film format in which the film strip is wide. It exists in two main versions – the original standard 8 mm film, also known as regular 8 mm, and Super 8. Although both standard 8 mm and ...
anime short films that were produced for the 1981 Daicon III and 1983 Daicon IV Nihon SF Taikai conventions. They were produced by a group of amateur animators known as Daicon Film, who would later go on to form the animation studio
Gainax Gainax Co., Ltd. (stylized as GAINAX; , Hepburn: ) was a Japanese anime studio famous for original productions such as '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'', '' Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise'', '' Gunbuster'', '' Nadia: The Secret of Blue ...
. The films are known for their unusually high production values for amateur works and for including numerous references to ''
otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, such as anime, manga, video games, computers or other highly enthusiastic hobbies. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. ...
'' culture, as well as its unauthorized appropriations of the
Playboy Bunny A Playboy Bunny is a cocktail waitress who works at a Playboy Club and selected through standardized training. Their costumes were made up of lingerie, inspired by the tuxedo-wearing Playboy rabbit mascot. This costume consisted of a straples ...
costume. Usage of the songs "Runaway" by
Bill Conti William Conti (born April 13, 1942) is an American composer and conductor. He is best known for his film scores, including ''Rocky'' (1976), '' Rocky II'' (1979), '' Rocky III'' (1982), '' Rocky V'' (1990), '' Rocky Balboa'' (2006), '' The Karat ...
(from the soundtrack to the 1981 ''
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
'' film '' For Your Eyes Only'') as well as "
Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...
" and " Hold On Tight" by English
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band
Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangement ...
were also unauthorized. ''Daicon III'' was made by
Hideaki Anno is a Anime, Japanese animator, filmmaker, Film producer, producer, and voice actor. His most celebrated creation, the Neon Genesis Evangelion (franchise), ''Evangelion'' franchise, has had a significant influence on the anime television industr ...
,
Hiroyuki Yamaga is a Japanese anime director and producer, and a founding member of the animation studio Gainax. He is best known for directing the film '' Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise'' (1987) at age 24, directing '' Mahoromatic'' (2001), '' Mag ...
and
Takami Akai is an illustrator, game creator, character designer and animator. Career history Akai attended Osaka University of Arts majoring in fine art . While studying there, Akai created the character designs for the Nihon SF Taikai, Daicon III openin ...
and ''Daicon IV'' credits twelve people, including Yamaga as the director and Anno and Akai as animation supervisors. Despite the questionable legal status of the works, the production of ''Daicon III'' resulted in debts that were repaid by selling video tapes and 8 mm reels of the production, the profits of which went to the production of ''Daicon IV'', which later received the "Local Works" award in the Minor Anime Grand Prix section of the 1983 Anime Grand Prix, organized by the anime magazine ''
Animage is a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine published by Tokuma Shoten since July 1978. Notable works serialized in the magazine include Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli a ...
''. In 2001, ''
Animage is a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine published by Tokuma Shoten since July 1978. Notable works serialized in the magazine include Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli a ...
'' ranked the ''Daicon'' animations as the 35th of the "Top 100" anime of all time.


Summary


''Daicon III Opening Animation''

The Jet VTOL ship from ''
Ultraman The , also known as ''Ultraman'', is a Japanese science fiction media franchise owned and produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which began with the television series '' Ultra Q'' in 1966. The franchise has expanded into many television shows, fi ...
'''s Science Patrol descends out of the sky toward Earth, as a school girl, carrying her '' randoseru'', observes from behind a tree. The Science Patrol offer the girl a cup of water and ask her to deliver it to "DAICON". The girl salutes and races away, but she quickly experiences trouble as ''Punk Dragon'' blocks her path. He summons a
mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines, typically depicted as piloted, humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japan ...
from ''
Starship Troopers ''Starship Troopers'' is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. Written in a few weeks in reaction to the US suspending nuclear tests, the story was first published as a two-part serial in ''The Magazine of ...
'', and it and the girl begin battling. The girl tosses the mecha aside and Gomora rises from the earth. Using a booster concealed in her backpack, the girl flies up into the sky and evades Gomora's blast, with the mecha flying after her. They continue their battle in mid-air. A blow from the mecha sends the girl falling, imperiling her cup of water. At the last moment, she has a vision of the Science Patrol and regains consciousness. She snatches the cup before it crashes to the ground. Resuming her battle with the mecha, she catches one of its missiles and hurls it back at it, causing a huge explosion. The destroyed mecha launches a rocket, summoning
Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...
with the Ideon symbol. The song "Runaway" by
Bill Conti William Conti (born April 13, 1942) is an American composer and conductor. He is best known for his film scores, including ''Rocky'' (1976), '' Rocky II'' (1979), '' Rocky III'' (1982), '' Rocky V'' (1990), '' Rocky Balboa'' (2006), '' The Karat ...
(from the soundtrack to the 1981 ''
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
'' film '' For Your Eyes Only'') emphasizes the action as King Ghidorah and
Gamera is a fictional giant monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the Gamera, the Giant Monster, eponymous 1965 Japanese film. The character and the first film were intended to compete with the success of Toho's Godzilla (franchise), ''Godzilla'' ...
chase the girl while she flies through the air with her jet-propelled backpack. A Star Destroyer, a TIE fighter, and Martian fighting machines from the film ''
The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It was written between 1895 and 1897, and serialised in '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US in 1897. The full novel was ...
'' (1953) cross the background. Reaching into her backpack, the girl pulls out a bamboo ruler, which magically becomes a
lightsaber A lightsaber is a fictional energy sword featured throughout ''Star Wars''. A typical lightsaber is shown as a luminous laser sword about in length emitted from a metal hilt around in length. First introduced in the original ''Star Wars'' ...
. After slicing an Alien Baltan in half, the girl launches a number of miniature missiles from her backpack. Hit by one of the missiles, a Maser Tank from the ''Godzilla'' series catches fire. The '' Atragon'' breaks in two as the ''
Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a Names of Japan, name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial ...
'', the USS ''Enterprise'', an X-wing fighter and
Daimajin is a Japanese ''tokusatsu'' series centering on an eponymous fictitious giant warrior god. It initially consisted of a film trilogy shot simultaneously and released in 1966 with three different directors and predominantly the same crew. The seri ...
explode in complete chaos. The girl pours her cup of water on a shriveled
daikon Daikon 大根 (だいこん) or mooli, (مولی) ''Raphanus sativus'' var. ''longipinnatus,'' is a mild-flavored winter radish usually characterized by fast-growing leaves and a long, white, root. Originally native to continental East Asia ...
buried in the ground. As the daikon absorbs the water, it turns into the spaceship ''Daicon''. Bathed in light, and now wearing a naval uniform, the girl boards the ship, where the film's producers, Toshio Okada and Yasuhiro Takeda, sit at the controls. As the landing gear retracts, ''Daicon'' departs for the far reaches of the universe.


''Daicon IV Opening Animation''

The ''Daicon IV Opening Animation'' begins with an abridged, 90-second retelling of the ''Daicon III Opening Animation'' set to "Noah's Ark" by Kitarō from the album, ''Silver Cloud''. After this, "Prologue" by
Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangement ...
is heard, while the lyrics appear against a starfield and an outline of the spaceship ''Daicon'' passes in the background. The film proper begins as "Prologue" segues into "
Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...
", the song which follows it on the album ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
''. The girl from the previous animation is now an adult, wearing a bunny costume. She fights off a multitude of
Ultra Series The , also known as ''Ultraman'', is a Japanese science fiction media franchise owned and produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which began with the television series ''Ultra Q'' in 1966. The franchise has expanded into many television shows, fil ...
monsters and aliens and mobile suits then jumps into a throng of Alien Metron and tosses them aside. She is then in a lightsaber duel with
Darth Vader Darth Vader () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was first introduced in the original film trilogy as the primary antagonist and one of the leaders of the Galactic Empire. He has become one of the most iconic villain ...
, with Stormtroopers sitting in the background and the
Death Star The Death Star is a fictional space station and superweapon featured in the ''Star Wars'' space-opera franchise. Constructed by the autocratic Galactic Empire, the Death Star is capable of obliterating entire planets, and serves to enforce ...
enshrined in one corner. From atop a cliff, a xenomorph with artificial legs, a reference to Dai Sentai Goggle V's monsters who when grown giant, have the same metallic legs, wielding the Discovery One, knocks the girl down with an energy burst and the Dynaman robot (Dyna Robo) attempts to crush her. The girl lifts Dyna Robo off her with superhuman strength and smashes it against a cliff. The Stormbringer suddenly appears in the sky, and the girl jumps on it, riding it like a surfboard. A few scenes unconnected to the main plot are shown, such as
Yoda Yoda () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is a small, green humanoid alien who is powerful with the Force. He first appeared in the 1980 film '' The Empire Strikes Back'', in which he is voiced and puppeteered by F ...
as ''Yū Ida'' given a Japanese comedy routine with various characters in the audience. The girl is still riding the Stormbringer when she runs into a formation of Ultrahawk 1's. Then the ''
Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a Names of Japan, name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial ...
'', the '' Arcadia'' attached to the transformed
SDF-1 Macross is a Japanese science fiction anime television series. It is the first part of the ''Super Dimension'' trilogy and the '' Macross'' franchise. The series aired in Japan from October 1982 to June 1983. According to story creator Shoji Kawa ...
appear, along with an exploding
VF-1 Valkyrie In the ''Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Macross'' Japanese anime series and its English adaptation ''Robotech'', the first mass production, mass-produced transforming aerospace fighter aircraft, fighter mecha is called the VF-1 Valkyrie. The ...
variable fighter A variable-sweep wing, colloquially known as a "swing wing", is an airplane wing, or set of wings, that may be modified during flight, swept back and then returned to its previous straight position. Because it allows the aircraft's shape to ...
from ''
Macross is a Japanese science fiction mecha anime media franchise/ media mix, created by Studio Nue (most prominently mecha designer, writer and producer Shōji Kawamori) and Artland in 1982. The franchise features a fictional history of Earth and t ...
'' armed with a ''Gundam''-style beam saber. An air battle unfolds in an ''otaku'' coffee shop. The girl is then seen in a world filled with American comic superheroes. A host of machines and characters (from ''
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...
'', '' Conan'', '' Narnia'', '' Pern'', and others) fly past her into space, including a
Klingon The Klingons ( ; Klingon language, Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a humanoid species of aliens in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star T ...
battle cruiser, the moon ship from
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...
' '' First Men in the Moon'', the '' Millennium Falcon'', '' Lord Jaxom'' and the '' Thunderbirds''. Once back on land, the girl jumps off the Stormbringer and it splits into seven parts, which fly through the sky spewing smoke in seven colors. A sequence of famous spaceships crashing into each other is shown. Then, suddenly, "what could only be described as an atomic bomb""Daicon IV Opening Animation"
, ''Little Boy'' 2005 ed.
Takashi Murakami is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts (such as painting and sculpture) as well as commercial media (such as fashion, merchandise, and animation) and is known for blurring the line between High art, high and low arts. His wo ...
explodes over an unpopulated city, leaving behind a flurry of
sakura The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in ''Prunus'' subgenus '' Cerasus''. ''Sakura'' usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of ''Prunus serrulata'', not trees grown for their fruit (although ...
petals. Successive upheavals of the Earth give birth to new worlds. As a beam launched by the ''Daicon'' traverses the sky, lush greenery sprouts and grows. The camera then pans over a massive crowd of fictional characters, the sun rises, the camera zooms out to the
Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...
, and the film ends with an image of the Daicon logo. Afterwards, a short behind the scenes clip is presented (with another Electric Light Orchestra song playing, " Hold On Tight") showing the character designs, storyboards, early rough animation, backgrounds, effects animation, and the finished cut. The film ends proper with the girl bowing to the audience as "The End" is displayed on the screen.


Production

Originally, the productions were intended to be shot in 16mm film, but both were shot in 8 mm film instead and were completed only the morning before their debut. In order to pay off the debts of the productions, video copies of the animation were sold. Lawrence Eng declares this as the first example of
original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...
(OVA) predating ''
Dallos is a science fiction OVA series released in 1983. It was conceptualized by Hisayuki Toriumi, who also wrote the script and directed it with Mamoru Oshii. It is widely considered not only the first OVA released but also the first animated dir ...
''.
Kazutaka Miyatake , better known as , is a Japanese visual artist and anime designer known for the mechanical design of the ''Macross'' TV series and a number of its continuations from Studio Nue, of which he is a founding member. He has also contributed to the me ...
of
Studio Nue Studio Nue, Inc. () is a Japanese design studio formed in 1972 (as Crystal Art Studio) by Naoyuki Kato, Kenichi Matsuzaki, Kazutaka Miyatake, and Haruka Takachiho. Crystal Art Studio would change their name to Studio Nue in 1974. They were know ...
originally designed the mecha that appears in the ''Daicon III'' clip chasing the little girl for a Japanese edition of the
military science fiction Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction and military fiction that depicts the use of science fiction technology, including spaceships and science fiction weapons, weapons, for military purposes and usually principal characters ...
novel ''
Starship Troopers ''Starship Troopers'' is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. Written in a few weeks in reaction to the US suspending nuclear tests, the story was first published as a two-part serial in ''The Magazine of ...
'' in the early 1980s.


''Daicon III''

In 1981, at the 20th Nihon SF Taikai (nicknamed "Daicon III" because it was held for the third time in
Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
), an 8 mm animation was shown. Nihon SF conventions are usually organized by university students in the vicinity of the host city, and Daicon III was also organized by university students in the vicinity of Osaka, including Toshio Okada and Yasuhiro Takeda. At the request of Okada and Takeda, the animation was actually produced by
Hideaki Anno is a Anime, Japanese animator, filmmaker, Film producer, producer, and voice actor. His most celebrated creation, the Neon Genesis Evangelion (franchise), ''Evangelion'' franchise, has had a significant influence on the anime television industr ...
,
Hiroyuki Yamaga is a Japanese anime director and producer, and a founding member of the animation studio Gainax. He is best known for directing the film '' Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise'' (1987) at age 24, directing '' Mahoromatic'' (2001), '' Mag ...
and
Takami Akai is an illustrator, game creator, character designer and animator. Career history Akai attended Osaka University of Arts majoring in fine art . While studying there, Akai created the character designs for the Nihon SF Taikai, Daicon III openin ...
, all of whom were students at Osaka University of Arts at the time and would later become professionals. Anno and his team were not so enthusiastic, but Yamaga took the initiative to promote the project. Takeda explains in ''Notenki Memoirs'' that Anno had experience in paper animation, but never worked with animation cels. Since they had no professional skills or know-how, they went to professional animation studios to learn the techniques, and in order to reduce costs, they tried to use inexpensive industrial
celluloid Celluloids are a class of materials produced by mixing nitrocellulose and camphor, often with added dyes and other agents. Once much more common for its use as photographic film before the advent of safer methods, celluloid's common present-day ...
, which is not normally used. They were referred to Animepolis Pero, an anime hobby store chain, but they found that the cost of the cels were too expensive, so a single cel was purchased and taken to a vinyl manufacturer in east
Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
, where they purchased a roll for 2000 yen. After cutting and preparing the vinyl cels, they discovered that the painted cels would stick together when stacked and dry paint would peel off the cels. To keep costs low, they made their own tap to punch holes in the B5 animation paper used in the production. The work was carried out in an empty room of Okada's house where their business was also operated. While other people were present, the work was shared and Anno, Akai and Yamaga worked full-time on the production, the direction was not professional, but Takeda attributed Okada as the producer, with Yamaga directing, Akai doing character animation and Anno as the mecha animator. Takeda also said other individuals were involved and were used to trace cels or paint cels as needed, but still credits Yamaga, Akai and Anno with the production itself. Filming was done by a camera on a tripod and frames were called out by Anno because the production lacked timing sheets.
Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...
did not see the opening film at Daicon III, but was shown the film by Akai and Yamaga later that night. After watching the film, Tezuka remarked "Well, there certainly were a lot of characters in the film. ... ere were also some that weren't in the film". Akai and Yamaga later realized the omission of Tezuka's characters; they were subsequently used in the ''Daicon IV'' animation. According to Toshio Okada, the theme of water in the opening represented "opportunity" and Lawrence Eng, an ''
otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, such as anime, manga, video games, computers or other highly enthusiastic hobbies. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. ...
'' researcher, describes the theme as, "... making the best use of one's opportunities while fighting against those who would seek to steal such opportunity away." The team behind the animation that gathered for the SF convention was supposed to disband and cease its activities at the end of Daicon III. However, they regretted the loss of the experience, skills, and teamwork they had cultivated in running the event, and started an independent film project to cultivate a well-trained staff with the goal of holding another Nihon SF convention, Daicon IV, in Osaka two years later in 1983. Daicon Film was formed at that time.Yoshimoto Taimatsu ''Otaku no Kigen'' NTT Publishing, 2009, p.152 Okada sold Daicon Film's video and goods at his science fiction goods store "General Products", and sold more than 3000 videos that cost more than 10,000 yen. The profits were used to pay for the production of the next film. Daicon Film went on to produce the 8 mm
tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live-action films or television programs that make heavy use of practical special effects. Credited to special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, ''tokusatsu'' mainly refers to science fiction film, science fiction, War fi ...
films ''Aikoku Sentai Dai Nippon'', '' Kaiketsu Noutenki'', and ''Kaettekita Ultraman''. These films, as well as ''Daicon III Opening Animation'', were widely featured in the anime magazine ''Animec'', and Daicon Film gradually gained recognition.


''Daicon IV''

In 1983, Nihon SF Taikai was to be held in Osaka again, and it was the fourth SF convention in Osaka overall, Daicon IV. Daicon IV Executive Committee and Daicon Film, the organizing body of Daicon IV, were practically the same organization. Originally, ''Daicon IV'' was supposed to be fifteen minutes long, but the difficult production resulted in the cut time. The film officially credits a production crew of twelve people. Yamaga directed the production, with Anno and Akai as animation directors. Tōru Saegusa did the artwork and the animations were done with Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Mahiro Maeda, and Norifumi Kiyozumi. Professional animators from the animation production company Artland, including Ichiro Itano, Toshiki Hirano, Narumi Kakinouchi, Sadami Morikawa, and Kazutaka Miyatake, also collaborated. Anno and Yamaga were invited to Tokyo by Studio Nue, a science fiction planning group that had taken notice of the quality of Daicon III's opening animation, and introduced them to Artland, which led them to join the staff of the TV animation ''
Super Dimension Fortress Macross is a Japanese science fiction anime television series. It is the first part of the ''Super Dimension'' trilogy and the ''Macross'' franchise. The series aired in Japan from October 1982 to June 1983. According to story creator Shoji Kawam ...
'' that was being produced by them. Their activities in Tokyo became a stepping stone to their later professional careers. In addition, Akai's hometown friend Maeda, and Sadamoto, Maeda's senior at university, joined Daicon Film, and the core members of
Gainax Gainax Co., Ltd. (stylized as GAINAX; , Hepburn: ) was a Japanese anime studio famous for original productions such as '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'', '' Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise'', '' Gunbuster'', '' Nadia: The Secret of Blue ...
came together here. The production facility for ''Daicon IV'' was in a dedicated studio in a building called the ''Hosei Kaikan'' that was owned by a textile union. Takeda defined it as a literal anime sweatshop, the building was shut down at 9:00 pm and a majority of the staff would be locked inside and working through the night without air conditioning. Later, in 1984, Daicon Film made a tokusatsu film called '' Yamata no Orochi no Gyakushū'' using 16mm film, which was rare for an independent film at the time. This film was sold by
Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered ...
in 1985. At the end of 1984, with the project of '' Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise'', Daicon Film was dissolved and established as an animation production company Gainax. The process from Daicon Film to the establishment of Gainax can be seen in detail in the ''Wings of Honnêamise'' production progress series that was exclusively serialized in the monthly magazine ''Model Graphix'' at the time.


Reception and release

The ''Daicon III'' film was reported on in ''Animec'' magazine which resulted in requests for the film to be released publicly. In order to pay off the debts from producing the film, the decision was made to sell 8 mm reels of the film and videos. Additional original artwork and the storyboards were included in the release. The sale paid the debts and the profit would be used to produce ''Daicon IV''. Due to copyright problems an official release of the animations has proven impossible. For the American release of the film, the rights to use of the Playboy bunny costume was denied and the rights to
Bill Conti William Conti (born April 13, 1942) is an American composer and conductor. He is best known for his film scores, including ''Rocky'' (1976), '' Rocky II'' (1979), '' Rocky III'' (1982), '' Rocky V'' (1990), '' Rocky Balboa'' (2006), '' The Karat ...
as well as
Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangement ...
's music was consequently not sought. However, a
LaserDisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...
featuring ''Daicon III & IV Opening Animation'' was unofficially released in Japan as bonus material to a ¥16,000 art book of the animations. This LaserDisc is considered rare and highly valuable among collectors, easily fetching prices over a thousand dollars on online auctions.


Legacy

Since its release the animations have been referenced several times in Japanese media productions, especially those focused on ''otaku'' culture. Clips and characters from the animations appear in the 1991 Gainax OVA ''
Otaku no Video is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, such as anime, manga, video games, computers or other highly enthusiastic hobbies. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. ...
''. The opening sequence of the '' Train Man'' Japanese TV drama series from 2005 was inspired by and uses the Electric Light Orchestra theme and the lead character from the ''Daicon IV'' film. In episode 5 of Gainax's '' FLCL'', titled "Brittle Bullet", Haruko, wearing a red bunny suit, flies in on a bass guitar and yells "Daicon V!" before attacking a giant robot with a slingshot. Since 2008,
Otakon Otakon ( ) is an annual three-day anime convention held during July/August. From 1999 to 2016, it took place at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland's Inner Harbor district; in 2017, it moved to the Walter E. Washing ...
's AMV contest opened with a video inspired by and using clips from the ''Daicon IV'' film (with the sole exception of the 2017 iteration). At Fanimecon, Yamaga said, " he openings area source of pride and something you want to strangle." Akai, who wants to produce better films, stated, "I don't want to see them for a long time. Just thinking about them sends shivers down my spine." Lawrence Eng stated that without the ''Daicon'' animations,
Gainax Gainax Co., Ltd. (stylized as GAINAX; , Hepburn: ) was a Japanese anime studio famous for original productions such as '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'', '' Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise'', '' Gunbuster'', '' Nadia: The Secret of Blue ...
might never have existed. In 2001, the anime magazine ''
Animage is a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine published by Tokuma Shoten since July 1978. Notable works serialized in the magazine include Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli a ...
'' ranked the ''Daicon'' animations as the 35th of the "Top 100" anime of all time. In August 2023,
Wonder Festival The , or , is a semiannual (February and August) event held in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is sponsored by the Kaiyodo manufacturing company. The main focus is to display and sell " garage kits", which are sculptures that usually rep ...
Summer convention featured a special exhibition to commemorate the 40th anniversary of ''Daicon IV''.


''Daicon 33''

Gainax revealed the details of a new campaign to celebrate Daicon Film's 33rd anniversary. The new project is named "DAICON FILM 33" and was announced on January 8, 2014. The basis of the project is a "revival of DAICON FILM" and includes the release of several goods inspired by the original films from the eighties. The project's official site has started accepting pre-orders for the first lineup of memorial goods. A new illustration of the "Daicon Bunny Girl" has been drawn by
Takami Akai is an illustrator, game creator, character designer and animator. Career history Akai attended Osaka University of Arts majoring in fine art . While studying there, Akai created the character designs for the Nihon SF Taikai, Daicon III openin ...
, the original character designer of the opening animation films and one of the founders of Gainax. The art was displayed on the top page of Gainax's official site.


''Daicon III'' restoration

In 2021, Daicon Film regrouped to produce a remaster of ''Daicon III'', featuring involvement from an unspecified member of the short's original staff. The announcement was first published on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
by Kineko Video (then known as FemboyFilms), a fan group who had previously received a
cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent by one party, often a business, to warn another party that they believe the other party is committing an unlawful act, such as copyright infringement, and that they will take legal action if the oth ...
notice for their own restoration attempt of the short from an 8 mm print; the announcement was made with the permission of Daicon Film.


Notes


References


Works cited

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External links


Gainax's ''Daicon III and IV'' videos official site
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Gainax's ''Daicon 33'' official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daicon III and IV Opening Animations 1981 anime films 1981 films 1983 anime films 1983 films 1981 animated short films 1983 animated short films Anime short films Anime with original screenplays Japanese crossover films 1980s parody films Films directed by Hiroyuki Yamaga Lolicon Gainax Doujin anime