Macs in Anime & Manga

In my book The Anime Companion I have a side bar devoted to some of the better known anime (Japanese Animation) with Macs in them.

With this page I plan to start documenting Mac references in anime, in manga , in related novels, listing manga & anime creators known to use Macs and a few Miscellaneous sightings.

Help me out with your Mac sightings.

In Anime:
801 T.T.S. Airbats OVA 1994 - 1996	OVA 1: As Isurugi plays with his model plane and Pyogora figurine for a split second we see on a high shelf behind him two large boxes with Apple logos. OVA 4: Isurugi uses an Apple Newton, either a 100, 120 or 130 to look up database info on the Zero. OVA 6: There is an Apple IIci box on shelf over door in Isurugi's room. On the General's desk we see a very old Mac, which from the style of the disk drive is probably a Mac Plus.
Adventures of the Mini-Goddesses	Apple Computer is listed in the credits. Again thanks to Charles Gousha "During the second ending animation, Urd is fooling around on an iMac." Thanks to Gary Ransford Ono Masahiro sends the following "In episode 42 of The Adventures of the Mini-Goddesses (TV, 1998-1999), there is a shot where Skuld talks to Ganchan the rat about the everyday life of (the Japanese equivalent of) Joe College and Ganchan imagines himself to be a college student. He operates an iMac in a 'balloon' or a smaller visual field which is encoded to appear to be generated by his mind."
Akira (movie 1989)	Not in the anime itself but in the soundtrack. Ohinata Kayoko comments in the liner notes that the composition was done with a Yamaha DX3 keyboard and a Mac Plus
All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku (OVA series 1992)	Kyusaku uses a Mac in several scenes, the first being when you first see him in the apartment. And thanks to Gary Ransford for pointing out that "ADV's animated menus for the All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku DVD are an exact replica of a Mac OS8 desktop. "
Armitage III (OVA 1994)	When Armitage & Sylibus are walking through the commercial district you see a shop scene with several boxes sporting the Apple logo. Thanks to Daniel Snyder for the tip.
Blue Seed (TV 1995)	Sakura uses a Mac in episode 18, on the When Gods Walk the Earth tape.
Clamp School (TV 1997)	Ep. 4 There is a Mac in Ebihara sensei's office some sort of LC model.
Cowboy Bebop Movie	In the police station, the same scene in which the anti-terroirm squad is ordered out, you see a blue tower Mac on a desk.
Di Gi Charat (TV 1999)	"During the ending animation, they're working on an iMac." Thanks to Gary Ransford
Excel Saga	In episode 15 of Excel Saga, Sumioshi's workstation has a snow white G3 iMac. Thanks to Gary Ransford
FLCL (OVA)	The following is from a message sent by Leonid Bashkirov:: "from Gainax's innovatory 'FLCL' OAV, namely the very fourth episode - a very shot sequence featuring device quite similar at the room of Kamon the Naota-kun's father, fishily looking like a iMac G3 all-in-one desktop!"
Galaxy Angel	Unverfied: From Gary Ransford: "Macintosh operating systems appear frequently in Galaxy Angel Season one. Most notably in episode 19, where the president's aide is communicating with a henchman on a computer running Mac OS9. The Control Strip can be made out in the lower left hand corner."
Geobreeders (OVA)	Ep. 2 There is a Mac & Next black box in the coffee shop scene. Thanks to Gary Ransford for pointing out that in the 2nd OVA series we see a strawberry iMac being carried in the countryside.
GTO (TV 1999)	Episode 12 After finding out Fuyutsuki has no PC and would like an iMac Teshigawara gives her his old Powerbook. He also has a G3 400 on his desk.
GunBuster (OVA 1988-89)	In the "lecture" segments in the graphics in the background are HyperCard stacks.
Gundam Seed	Daniel Wang send the following note: "Gundam Seed, Episode 1 (not sure): Cagalli Yula Athha may be using a relatively new PowerBook to check the news, if you reverse the side of the power buttons on the laptop.
.hack//SIGN	The opening sequence has what is definitely an Apple Pro Mouse, the keyboard and monitor are too vague to identify. Thanks to Daniel Wang for letting me know about this one and to Charles Gousha for his opinions on the equipment.
Hand Maid May (TV)	Thanks to Ono Masahiro who sends the following: "In episode 5('Kyÿmade...Hontÿni')of Hand Maid May(2000), there is a scene where Saotome Kazuya works at night in his apartment after an agent from the manufacturing company confiscated his small android.A computer on a shelf on the right of his desk would seem to be a Mac. Judging from its having two built-in disk drives, it would be a Macintosh SE (with two 800K floppy disk drives), or from the position of the name plate,it would be a Macintosh Plus (except Dyna Mac,probably it was the first Mac which had Kanji characters).
Key the Metal Idol (OVA 1994)	Last episode. Tsurugi's safe house has a PowerMac 7100. Thanks to Charles Gousha.
Lupin III: Dead or Alive (Movie 1996)	Lupin uses a PowerMac 5200 which was one of the all in one PowerMacs and released in May 1995.
Macross Various Series	Suspected by many, Proven by none. Many fans think there is a relationship between the Mac and the titles of the various Macross series. The major possible links are: Macross <-> Macintosh Macross II <-> Macintosh II Macross Plus <-> Macintosh Plus Macross 7 <-> System 7 not forgetting, Sharon Apple herself Thanks to Lawrence Eng for reminding me of this.
Martian Successor Nadesico (TV 1996)	"Nadesico, episode 12 (where the Nadesico's computer goes nuts) Uribatake, the Nadesico's chief engineer, has a Mac Plus aside the main workbench in his quarters. Odd, that, considering the series takes place 200 years in the future." - Charles Gousha
Miami Guns Ep.11	Lu uses 1st generation iMac.
Neon Genesis Evangelion (TV 1995)	In Episode 21, during the flashbacks to when Gehirn existed a guard uses a Newton with an attached card reader to verify Ritsuko's identity. You can even read the buttons on this ancestor of todays PDAs. Thanks go to Leonid G. Bashkirov, observer/content-manager of Mactime.ru for a message that included a screen shot and image of a Newton. In Episode 23 Ristuko uses a Newton MessagePad 100 as her remote control unit when she is explaining the secret of the dummy plugs.
Neon Genesis Evangelion: End of Evangelion (Movie 1997)	We see Maya using a lap top computer. The design could be any gray portable but the keyboard resembles a Macs, the determining clue is the Apple Command Key to the left of the spacebar. Again thanks go to Leonid G. Bashkirov for this info and great screen captures.
Perfect Blue (Movie 1998)	Mima's Mac is clearly seen more than once as she checks the web page devoted to her. This model is in the Performa 5000 series - probably a Performa 5320 (Japan sale only) Thanks to Charles Gousha. Also Mr Shibuya, the script writer, is seen at his work desk with a Powerbook screen clearly visible. The curved top of the screen identifies it as a Powerbook 100, a very light weight model at the time it came out. Again thanks go to Leonid G. Bashkirov for this info and a screen capture that helped me identify the model.
The Place Promised in Our Early Days	Mac Studio displays are being used at the Wartime Special Information Processing Research Lab.
Pretty Sammy 2 (OVA 1996)	A pretty magical girl & her brother looking for a copy of a new operating system called Mach-8 & thwarting an evil American software - company - owning billionaire who is out to control the operating systems of the world.
RahXephon	Daniel Wang send the following note: "RahXephon, Episode 1 (not sure): Ayato sits down by a store... the poster behind him says "iMat".amw.net/seed_ep1.html and apple.com.
Saber Marionette J, episode 3 (TV 1996)	When Cherry boots up, the sound is the startup chime from a Mac LC. Again thanks to Charles Gousha
Sailor Moon TV	Unverified: A note from Rory (Gashapon): " I forget the name of the episode, but in Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, the one where everyone is down with the flu except Minako. She and Chibi Usa go to a hospital for medicine, and in one quick scene there is a Mac seen sitting at the reception desk. I think it's either a Apple Mac Plus or Plus ED, I've used them before, the all-in-ones with the little screens. " With the subtitled DVD sets due out soon I'll verify this one when I get to that episode.
Sailor Moon R The Movie (1993)	Unverified: A note from Stephanie Zurligen: "In the Sailor Moon R movie, there is a part where the white cat Artemis turns on a computer to show the girls some calculations and a CG model. The tone you hear the computer make is the familiar one from the early Perfoma models, I don't remember which models, I just remember it being exactly the same startup sound as one of my old Performas that I had 5-10 years ago." It does make a very Mac like sound. Does anyone know if PCs in 1993 had startup sounds?
Serial Experiments Lain (TV 1998)	Each episodes title is spoken with the Whisper voice of System 8 & Lain's computer uses the Copland operating system. "Serial Experiments Lain: In layer 7 "Society" the street hacker is using Apple's HotSauce 3-D web browser to check out the MacUser.com web site." - Charles Gousha In Layer 11 Apple's "Think Different" slogan is seen. For much more on computers and Lain see the: What is the relationship between Apple and lain? web page
Someday's Dreamers [Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto] (TV 2003)	The following is from a message sent by Leonid Bashkirov:: 'Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto' anime, the very third episode. ... the mentioned episode contains quite noteworthy still as well, depicting powered-off iMac G4 in the backround at the magician's (Oyamada Masami) office.
Vandread	Daniel Snyder, anime fan, Angry Young Paleontologist and occasional poet send me the following info: 'Paiwei, "Anime's Least Believable Nurse", is working on an iMac in Episode 2.' Specifically these are blueberry iMacs.
Voices of a Distant Star	Shinkai Makoto created this masterpiece in his apartment on his Powermac using store bought software and his skill as an artist.
Weiss Kreuz	Email from Teep includes the following information: "Michiru's computer from episode 1 and the bad guy computer in episode 3 and Omi's computer in episode 7 make Macintosh noises and appear to be Macs from what we see on the screens. The 'look and feel' of these computers is very Macintosh. On the other hand, in Episode 8, Omi hacks into the police database using a Windows box. You can clearly see the icons for My Computer, Network Neighborhood, and Microsoft Network on his computer screen. As well, there is a Start button (carefully labeled "Suta-to") in the lower left corner of the screen. All of this points to an Evil Empire OS. News flash, Omi: *real* hackers use *n*x." More really cool information about this series can be found on his web page at: http://www.bedford.net/teep/wwk4.htm
You're Under Arrest! OVA 2	In the second OVA "Tokyo Typhoon Rally" we get a good view of the laptop in the mini-patrol car. It is either a PowerBook 140 or 170, both of which had the same case design. Incidentally this is not the same laptop as in the first OVA.
You're Under Arrest! the Movie	"Miyuki's patrol car has a PowerBook as its mobile computer, running MacOS 8.1 (The MacOS startup logo is very visible.) (Unconfirmed: this may be a PB 500 or 5300." - Charles Gousha
Yukikaze	The writer in the openning sequence of episode one on the ship is using a black Mac Powerbook.
In Manga:
Death Note	L uses Macs; for example v.1 p.51 and 60, Light uses a PC. Perhaps an indication of the battle between good and evil? (GRIN)
GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka	In Volume 3 p. 31 a Power PC is clearly visible while Kikuchi alters some images.
Gunsmith Cats:	Gunsmith Cats: Bonnie & Clyde In the 'Hot Feeding' chapter Rally is using a classic style Mac when talking to Becky on the phone. Note the keyboard layout is flipped. Thanks to Error 404, somewhere in the EU, for the tip. Gunsmith Cats: Kidnapped In the "Long Night" chapter Rally mentions using a Mac for a database search. Later in the chapter titled "Midnight Plus Four" we see a Macintosh Color Classic (Slice) in use.
Love Hina	In vol. 5 p. 76 of the bilingual graphic novel from Kodansha Keitaro finds out that that Su owns a G3, in fact we also see an iMac in the room.
In Related Novels
Kimagure Orange Road	In both volumes one & two of the KOR novels Ayukawa uses a Mac. Thanks to Peter Payne for the info, he also has a web page with translations of the novels.
Sgt Frog (Keroro Gunsô)	From: Ono Masahiro: Here I add two Mac references in Keroro Gunsô/Sgt. Frog manga. In episode [chapter] 24 in volume 3 of Keroro Gunsô (the Japanese edition), Hinata Natsumi wears an OS X T-shirt. (I don't know whether the Tokyopop edition has the same numbering system. ... In episode [chapter] 48 in volume 6 of Keroro Gunsô, Sergeant Keroro uses a customised iMac in order to analyse an earth swimsuit. You can see also his 'customised' Mac logo in the scene.
Creators known to use Macs
Asamiya Kia	Asamiya Kia, well known writer & artist of such works as Silent Möbius, Compiler & Steam Detectives is a Mac user (Animerica vol. 6 #9 p.31).
Kishiro Yukito	Best known for his work Battle Angel Alita, he also uses a Mac. He mentions using Macs on his web site at: http://www.yukito.com/
Monkey Punch	The author the internationally famous Lupin III manga and one of the first manga artists to set up his own web site.
Nagano Mamoru	At the end of Five Star Stories 1 the author is described as "Artist, comic writer, musician designer, & Macintosh recluse..." Check his Laboratory for examples of his work, including startup image graphics.
Shirow Masamune	There are several references to using the Mac as an art tool by Shirow Masamune in Intron Depot 1 & 2 Thanks to Charles Gousha
Miscellaneous:
Manga Artist Homepage Guidebook	The cover art for this Japanese book has a mascot with the blue Apple logo on her arm flanked by a winged iMac and a Mac mouse. Several of the entries inside have Mac related art. Published by ON LIMITS/Dream Network ISBN 4-87777-009-7

I also watch Japanese TV shows, I do live in the San Francisco Bay Area after all, & my favorite 'puter shows up regularly there. If you are fortunate enough to live in an area with Japanese programing keep your eyes open.