did you, would you, could you, anime club?

The roughly mid-90's and earlier (generally pre-Toonami, pre-anime boom) era of anime & manga fandom: early cons, clubs, tape trading, Nth Generation VHS fansubs, old magazines & fanzines, fandubs, ancient merchandise, rec.arts.anime, and more!
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llj
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Re: did you, would you, could you, anime club?

Post by llj »

People have to remember that contrary to popular culture's depictions, many nerds aren't charming and misunderstood. Anime fan nerds in particular are often just fucking annoying. Take the most annoying anime fan forums online and then imagine hanging around with these people for 2-4 hours non stop. At least online you can log off when you're tired of some posters.

I've never been "officially" a member in an anime club but I've dropped into anime clubs or meetings every now and again just to test the waters. A few of them were okay, but I just could never muster up enough motivation to set aside time for them. The others range from mildly irritating to "These guys are just out and out assholes." The vast majority of the anime clubs I looked into were ones operating outside of school, like the ones at Meetup.com or those I'd heard of through various local fan channels. Come to think of it, I'm not exactly sure my University really had a very active anime club. I think I remember going to one of the meetings and I was informed that there were only 3 members, and they rarely showed up. Very curious, because this was at a time when anime was becoming popular in North America.

At this point in my life, I'd have no incentive to start an anime club. Honestly, I don't even know if it's practical to marathon an anime TV series with a group of people anymore. I'd more likely to host a regular movie club and then throw in an anime film every once in a while than actually dedicate a club to anime.
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Re: did you, would you, could you, anime club?

Post by davemerrill »

"One nerd club is enough." That's a wise piece of judgement on the part of the university, I think.

There were MAYBE five other people in my high school that would have been a part of any sort of anime club, I think, and that's being very generous. A general "nerd club" would have garnered perhaps ten. It did seem like the newer classes had a higher percentage of fans of SF-comics-gaming, though. I graduated in 1987 but the classes of '88 and '89 and '90 seemed to be not only more into movies and TV and games, but it didn't have the same social stigma it did among the graduating classes of '86 and '85. At least that's how it seemed at my high school.

While running the Atlanta clubs, both the C/FO and Anime X, I do remember occasionally hearing about people in town who were going to start up their own rival clubs, and there would always be this weird competitive vibe, that was compounded by the people who would tell us about it in a breathless, "You won't believe what those people on the other side of town are saying about you!" sort of tone. And we were always like, so what? If they want to start their own anime club, why should we care? Knock yourselves out!

There was a club at GA Tech (O-Tekku) and a club at Emory and a club that met at a comic book store down in Decatur, and I think there was a club that met at a comic shop up in Duluth, I believe. But I don't know that there was another anime club that was doing what we did in terms of convention room parties, promo tables, and running con anime rooms, or publishing a monthly newsletter, that kind of thing. After a few years of running AWA we'd start to hear the same talk from people, the whole "did you hear somebody else is going to start their own anime con" talk, and our response was still a "great, good luck to 'em."
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Re: did you, would you, could you, anime club?

Post by davemerrill »

llj wrote:People have to remember that contrary to popular culture's depictions, many nerds aren't charming and misunderstood. Anime fan nerds in particular are often just fucking annoying. Take the most annoying anime fan forums online and then imagine hanging around with these people for 2-4 hours non stop. At least online you can log off when you're tired of some posters.
We had certain types that I later found out were fairly universal among anime clubs - the quiet middle aged guy who would not speak even when spoken to, the creepy future child molester, the giant unwashed Faulknerian man-child, the over-caffeinated juvenile motormouth, the guy who bought a lot of bootleg tapes at the comic book con and wanted to show them off... fortunately they never outnumbered the friendly, fairly socialized people who were there because they enjoyed Japanese cartoons, but it seemed the opposite some times.
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Re: did you, would you, could you, anime club?

Post by SteveH »

I never ran an anime club per se, nor was I an active member of one (as in meeting, viewing, etc.) but I WAS heavily involved with the local Star Trek club, to the point of running it, creating a convention and all that crap. My 'anime evangelism' was spent running room parties, showings and outright anime rooms at other conventions.

Of course 'room party' mutated into 'VCR gang bang tape cloning' crap and brother, I'm sure we've all got some hard core war stories regarding that s**t. :)

Saying that, I'd love to hang with folks here for a few hours, watch some good stuff, eat some food. It would have been finestkind to have watched new episodes of Yamato 2199 with folk, or One Punch Man.

But it would have to be invite only, vetted. I've reached the age where I just will not put up with a whiny voice "why can't we watch some Ranma 1/2?*" and such like.

(*insert name of whatever current annoying titfest MOE bulls**t show that's hot with the ANN crowd here)
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labsenpai
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Re: did you, would you, could you, anime club?

Post by labsenpai »

davemerrill wrote: A friend of mine who ran a club in Ohio told this story; in the late 90s the officers decided they were going to step down, and they wrote a notice in the club newsletter for a few months running about how they were stepping down and that if the membership wanted the club to continue, somebody in the membership needed to step up and take over the operations of the club. The final meeting came and nobody had come forward.
I
I hung out at a few OH clubs then, so I'm curious which one you're referencing. Although, most clubs fizzle out this way.
The three clubs I would attend in fluctuating regularity were Animate OSU (authors of the most holy Venice archive), Akron Animation Assoc (home of the Turnpike), and the Purdue Anime Club (involved in ACEN?). The surest way to enjoy the club experience was not to be the newbie without a single pirate tape. You wanted to be the guy conversing out in the hall with the officers, because you've seen what is being shown and you can help plan something new. Back then, pure interest wasn't enough to keep a club going. There was technical, usually expensive work that had to be delegated. I regret not having the right schooling (Comp Science, Japanese Lang) to do more than what I could. If I could recruit an anime "A-TEAM" that could buy, sub, host, etc., then I'd step right back into my college sneakers.

*cue flashback of former otaku friends fading into star field*
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Re: did you, would you, could you, anime club?

Post by yusaku »

I remember back in 2000 that I was in an anime club. One of the club members saw me in the anime section at one of the now obsolete video stores. He was in his forties and I was twenty seven. The guys in there club were all older than me. Some of the guys were close to being in their late forties. They were all computer experts of some kind. The host was a network administrator who got all the stuff from Japan. I started drinking because the host liked to drink. They invited a young anime troll, who was an asshole because we like to drink. I stopped going because that buzzkill. It was even akward on the email chats because of that troll. He really killed the club for everyone, I did not say anything back because I felt guilty because I knew it was not a good Christian behavior to drink booze. So, I stopped coming because I got sick of him roasting us all about drinking.

If I ever start or join a club, everyone must be 30 and no self righteous assholes allowed! I put on Panty, Stocking, and Garterbelt of Devilman I do not want to hear any sermons. The same goes for smoking or drinking. Anime as we all know can get pretty nasty, and that is part of the fun. I do not like judgemental, squeamish and inexperienced people to hang with. My sense of humor can be perverse, mean, and a little nasty at times. I am not going to get too bad on anyone, but I just got done watching SouthPark episodes on Hulu, so you can better understand what I am saying here. I do not drink or smoke any more, but I know it was a priority for me when I did, I got to be comfortable.

I like sexuallity and violence in my entertainment sometimes and I want to be around people who are the same way. I also want club members that are social and economic peers.
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DKop
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Re: did you, would you, could you, anime club?

Post by DKop »

yusaku wrote:
If I ever start or join a club, everyone must be 30 and no self righteous assholes allowed! I put on Panty, Stocking, and Garterbelt of Devilman I do not want to hear any sermons. The same goes for smoking or drinking. Anime as we all know can get pretty nasty, and that is part of the fun. I do not like judgemental, squeamish and inexperienced people to hang with. My sense of humor can be perverse, mean, and a little nasty at times. I am not going to get too bad on anyone, but I just got done watching SouthPark episodes on Hulu, so you can better understand what I am saying here. I do not drink or smoke any more, but I know it was a priority for me when I did, I got to be comfortable.

I like sexuallity and violence in my entertainment sometimes and I want to be around people who are the same way. I also want club members that are social and economic peers.
So your good with watching the 1990's Manga UK library of titles like Angel Cop, Violence Jack and Mad Bull 34 for an anime night? Out of the 3 I mentioned, I might pass be somewhere away from the TV when Evil Town starts playing, especially when it gets to the massive orgy-rape part. I don't need to see that again :lol:
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yusaku
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Re: did you, would you, could you, anime club?

Post by yusaku »

Dkop I used to own angel Cop. However I have mellowed out quite a bit because so much really good Mature and R rated anime has come out. Death Note, Gilgamesh,Ghost in the Shell, and man other really smart and and artistically beautiful anime have made the violent and explicit sexual content not necessary. Anime like Fruits Baskets, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and His and Her Circumstances are romantic enough I do not miss the sexual explicit so much any more.

I do not watch the hentai any more. I sold all my hentai and porn collection just to get rid of it. I still got a few hentai manga and comics because I accidentally bought the stuff. I do not drink or smoke cigarettes any more. Yet, I remember what it was like to need to drink and smoke so my anime club will include all the above.

People are complicated. I would qualify members and then segregate them into different viewing areas. Smokers can be on an enclosed patio and boozers anywhere. I would save the more raunchy, violent stuff for later in the night or I would let it show in a certain room so people who are into that stuff can see it whenever.

People go to be who they are at heart. I never hang out at the cigar shop anymore with my friends because I can not afford to become a three pack a day smoker again. Yet, life was something kind of wonderful when I did smoke and drink with them. I remember a lot of good times at the cigar shop. If a guy is into kinky anime, I was there at one time. I get it. I left that place some time ago, but I totally get it. The anime club I was in we smoked, drinked, and watched some very ecchi, borderline hentai, anime. It was so much damn fun.

I am such a square now. I do not even watch porn, smoke cigarettes, or drink alcohol. I am too old to be comfortable with the anime teen and twenty-something fans. Too pious, practical, cautious, and socially responsible to have the kind of fun most people are into these days. I do not gamble either. I digress.

I think I need to work harder at my hobbies because life is getting a little lame.
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Re: did you, would you, could you, anime club?

Post by mbanu »

Members of the Vancouver Japanese Animation Society, hanging out at the local anime store Anime Jyanai in the summer of 1995: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5unZ22I_XM

Including a cameo by William Chow, who ran the Arctic Animation fansubbing group. (^_^)
mbanu: What's between Old School and New School?
runesaint: Hmmm. "Middle School", perhaps?
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Re: did you, would you, could you, anime club?

Post by PinkAppleJam »

yusaku wrote:I am too old to be comfortable with the anime teen and twenty-something fans.
I have felt the same way for a long time; I have little energy so unfortunately have far less patience... and many of the newer anime shows makes one feel a bit creepy D:
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