Longwood's Anime Club is reaching epic proportions this semester with 77 members on their roster, and they're still growing!
Though many people associate anime with cartooning, it's an entirely separate art form. It's defined as a Japanese style of motion-picture animation, characterized by highly stylized and colorful art, futuristic settings, violence and sexuality. There's a whole culture and mania associated with anime that many people may not know about.
Senior and Anime Club President Karen Covington said, "The club was founded four years ago by Michael Souza, Kevin Leahy, Whitney Rice, Curtis Calhoun and Josie Hatfield for the purpose of gathering fans of anime and Japanese culture together to basically have fun every week." The current club officials include President Covington, Vice President Ashley Weaver, Secretary Andrew Kippenhan , and Treasurer James Gibbs.
Anime Club meets every Wednesday evening from 7 to 10 p.m. in the "C" Room of the Student Union. Anyone is allowed and encouraged to join; there are no requirements to be a member and they invite anyone to join the fun.
During the meetings they discuss upcoming school events and their participation in them, such as Oktoberfest. They also watch anime shows that their members bring in, and then they vote on them. Covington said with a laugh, "Our most recent meeting was our Halloween party where we had a costume contest and 'dubbed' our own dialogue over muted anime shows. The results were quite hilarious."
This semester, Anime Club participated at both the September Involvement Fair and Oktoberfest for the first time. At Oktoberfest they sold tamagoyaki, which is sort of like a sweet omelet, and rice balls. One of their members also provided face painting. In the spring, Anime Club will be traveling to Washington, D.C. to attend Katsucon, a popular anime convention. They've attended Katsucon for the past three years now and have had a great time during each visit.
Longwood's Anime Club is one-of-a-kind. New members are always welcome; in fact, they're encouraged. Come to a meeting and find out what anime is all about.
