Uncovering a Lost Anime: How an Ancient Newspaper Unleashed the Search

Highlights

Streaming has made anime easily accessible, but there are concerns about the content that is pulled from streaming services, resulting in lost media.

Lost media refers to forms of entertainment that are thought to have existed but are currently inaccessible to the public. Media can become lost due to physical destruction, erasure or reuse, insufficient preservation, censorship or legal complications, as well as unfinished projects. Online communities of enthusiasts strive to locate and recover lost media.

The advent of streaming has revolutionized the accessibility of anime, providing a vast array of content like never before. As a result, some argue that we are currently experiencing a golden age of anime. However, concerns arise regarding the availability of content pulled from platforms such as Crunchyroll, HiDive, Max, and even Disney+.

What many may not realize is that these concerns are not exclusive to the digital era. Anime has been around since the analog TV days, sparking curiosity about what happens to discontinued anime series. In many cases, these series become lost media. Fortunately, physical media can sometimes provide clues about the existence of these lost anime, as evidenced by a fortuitous discovery in a random newspaper article.

What is Lost Media?

"Lost media" refers to forms of entertainment, such as films, TV shows, radio broadcasts, video games, music, books, or other types, which were once known or believed to exist but are currently unavailable or inaccessible to the public. This occurs for various reasons, leading to their loss and lack of accessibility to the general public.

Renowned figures like Alfred Hitchcock, William Shakespeare, and The Beatles have contributed to the collection of famous lost media. Therefore, it is not surprising that certain anime have also suffered the same fate over time and are no longer obtainable.

How Does Media Become 'Lost?'

Media can be lost for various reasons, with physical destruction being one of the most prevalent causes. Due to the flammability and decomposition of nitrate film used in early films, archives and studios have suffered significant losses from fires and natural disasters. Consequently, numerous early films, music, and books have been irretrievably lost.

Rewriting:

Erasure or Reuse: During the early stages of television, tapes were costly, leading to a widespread practice of reusing them. Consequently, certain TV broadcasts were overwritten and have since been lost.

Lack of Preservation: A number of media were not preserved as they were considered to lack long-term significance or value when they were originally created (unfortunately, a significant amount of older TV animation has been discarded in landfills due to this exact reason).

Censorship or Legal Concerns: Certain works may have been destroyed or restrained as a result of political or social controversies, or they could be entangled in legal disputes hindering their dissemination. It is important to recognize that media withheld due to rights issues are not genuinely lost, but simply inaccessible.

Incomplete Projects: There are instances where projects were initiated but left unfinished. Although remnants or partial versions of the media might exist, a complete version may never have been realized.

To clarify, although there are various interpretations of lost media, most 'Digital Detectives' (self-proclaimed experts) do not categorize the DiC Entertainment dub of Sailor Moon as lost. Despite its unavailability through legal channels, complete copies of the dub still exist on VHS, DVD, and various internet uploads. However, when it comes to preservation concerns, online communities actively search for and sometimes restore such forgotten media.

These dedicated enthusiasts engage in investigating leads, scouring archives, and exchanging information in their quest to locate and safeguard these overlooked fragments of history. While some notable discoveries have been made over the years, numerous pieces of media still remain elusive. Occasionally, the search for a lost piece of media is triggered by something as simple as an old publication advertisement.

The Famed Newspaper Article

In the days before the internet, printed media like newspapers and magazines served as the main source of information. Sadly, most of these have been discarded and recycled, causing them to be lost. However, occasionally, older newspapers resurface, and this is when interesting discoveries can be made. Recently, a fan stumbled upon one such newspaper from Japan and noticed something intriguing - an advertisement for an anime they had never heard of before.

The anime in question was Mon Cherie Coco (known as My Dear Coco in English). According to The Lost Wiki, this shoujo series was set to premiere on Nippon TV Video in 1972. While it did air thirteen episodes, the show was later canceled due to financial difficulties and the resignation of its producer, Kiyoshi Watanabe. Surprisingly, the anime did make sporadic appearances on local TV channels during the nineties, although it never received a home video release. As time passed, the show was eventually forgotten...until now.

Has the Show Been Found?

To date, no episodes have been located. However, since the newspaper's discovery, there has been some progress. Currently, only the opening sequence has resurfaced online, sourced from a laser disc that advertised different anime back then. Additionally, original copies of the manga trilogy by Waki Yamato have been found in the wild, although they remain untranslated. Furthermore, a few collectors have managed to acquire original animation cells from the black market, giving us a glimpse into the visual style of the series.

Regarding the anime, some Japanese viewers claim to possess tapes of the show, but none of these tapes have surfaced online to date. It is worth noting that the authenticity of these screenshots cannot be verified. Therefore, until the actual tapes or masters are obtained by individuals who are willing to share them, the series will remain lost. It is also uncertain whether it is worthwhile to continue searching for the show "Mon Cherie Coco" considering it was canceled after just one season. There is a possibility that the series was not of high quality initially, although finding lost media typically prioritizes retrieval over its quality. Meanwhile, the Digital Detectives are actively searching for this show, and it will be fascinating to discover whether it will ultimately be found, all thanks to a newspaper advertisement.