This week, I'm taking yet another listener request and detailing how I began my process of researching Phantom Blood.
But first, our current leads - Sakura Con starts tomorrow, and both Junichi Hayama and our contact are locked in and ready to go. You'll likely be hearing very soon on if we happen to get any answers from Mr. Hayama. Other than that, still no word from any of the American anime distributors or from any of the film archives I happened to find. However, I did hear back from Japan P.I., and they said while they'd be able to contact Another Push Pin Planning, Klockworx, and Shueisha for me to inquire about the film, it'd cost around $600. I don't have that sort of money readily available at the moment, which is why I have set up a donation page for those of you who are interested in contributing, so we can make this happen.
Researching lost media (or anything in an investigative manner) is a big time commitment - take it from me, I've been researching Phantom Blood for 4 years! But, just because there's a time commitment doesn't mean the research has to be hard.
I like to compare research like this to digging a hole in the ground - you start at the surface with your shovel, and you begin to dig the basic materials - but as you get deeper, that's when you whip out your more advanced tools and, in some cases, think outside the box. You also begin to take into account the obstacles that might get in your way, and work around them.
The same principles apply to investigative research - you start at the surface level - the who, what, where, when, why, and how, and as you dig deeper into those elements, you begin to uncover more details and need to whip out your more advanced communication and journalism skills, such as media literacy and writing effective messages.
There's a lot that goes into lost media hunting - and investigative journalism as a whole - but it can be a rewarding process.
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I gave without hesitation, I hope it will succeed 👍
First off, awesome you got some leads! Second, thank you for the tips on how to research lost media. It doesn't seems as daunting now