Forum - View topicI started an Anime Club, now what?
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Nerv1
 Posts: 601 |
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Note:I'm not good at writing long opening threads so let me know if there are errors or things that make no sense.
I was finally able to start an anime club at my high school this year, I was rather excited, until it was taken over. About 3 freshmen girls (I'm a junior) took over my position as club sponser and... they killed the club. We had a club fair these past few days and they started showing the negative side of the anime community( I won't go into detail, but you probably know what I'm getting at...) and made everyone think anime is gay and stupid. We ended up with over 20 or so people(pretty good huh?) who joined until another problem presented itself, they don't own any anime DVD's[how could they act as club sponsers when they don't have anything?!], our first meeting is next friday. I currently own 6 different series and I have no idea what to bring. Most of the "members" are girls and I don't know what they'll want to watch. Here's what I think will happen if I either of my 6 anime series: X and Escaflowne: Crazy fangirls will start screaming how "kawaii" the male characters are... Fullmetal Alchemist: everyone's seen this so I'll pass... Cowboy Bebop, Big O: It's aimed at guys, so they won't be interested. Evangelion: Not sure what will happen, but probably no one will watch it... so considering all of this, what should I bring? |
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larinon
 Posts: 992 Location: Midland, TX |
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Hmm, a couple things for you. First, is there a place where you live that has anime for rent? That is certainly a possibility, and it might be worthwhile to go check out what's available. Even if rental stores don't have DVDs for TV series they often have movies. You might look into some Miyazaki titles, e.g. Spirited Away or Howl's Moving Castle. Comics and gaming shops sometimes rent anime as well, so if you have any of those check them out too.
Are fansubs an option for you? There are some good titles out there not yet on DVD. Though I guess the main question is whether you have the necessary setup to watch fansubs. Just with what you listed, probably X and Escaflowne would have the widest appeal, other than FMA. If everyone has seen FMA then, as you say, probably it's not a good idea. The main point of anime clubs seem to be first the social aspect, or even of just finding a group with similar interests, and second discovering new and interesting titles. It never hurts to try something new. If you see something you think the club might like, try it out. And if you get through all of that successfully, then I hope the dub versus sub issue doesn't kill you. In the recent meetings of the club I sponsor, we've watched volume 1 of The Third and Tsubasa Chronicle, and those were well received by most. Kaze no Stigma and Hayate no Gotoku (on fansub) have worked well for us also. I think crazy fangirls (and fanboys for that matter) are just a fact of life. It happens, and hopefully it's not a distraction. Several of my students are serious Vic fans who seem ready to swoon at the sound of his voice, so I just have to roll my eyes and accept it. If you don't know this Vic I speak of, then I will leave your innocence intact for a little longer. Hope that helps. |
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Nerv1
Posts: 601 |
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Well, I usually just get some anime from my library and they only have: GITS: SAC, Bebop and BGC: 2040, steamboy, GITS, and Akira. Not much there and I was planning on bringing fansubs of Code Geass(i saved 3 episodes in my flash drive). As for the crazy girls, they started fighting over whose plushy was cuter today= creepy, people started laughing at them. They took over my role as club Pres. Last edited by Nerv1 on Fri Sep 14, 2007 11:23 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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DuelLadyS
 Posts: 1705 Location: WA state |
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Try visiting the websites of some of the big anime publishers- I know ADV advocates will send free DVDs to qualifying clubs... at least they used to, anyway. It could be a good way to start up a club library and get some new stuff to watch.
Aside from that, in the meantime you could work on anime-related materials that don't necessarily require any anime to view- for example, is there an interest in cosplay in your group? Perhaps a costume 101 would be in order, especially with Halloween around the corner. Does your school library have any manga in it? You could look into whatever processes are necessary to have them pick some up. Actually, it's probably in your best interests to do such events- anyone can watch anime in their spare time, so there's very little point in a club that just huddles in front of the TV, ya know? (And finally, if I was in your shoes, I'd sit those 3 girls and have a serious discussion. I wouldn't roll over and let a group of people with no apparent club goals ruin something I put a lot of time into starting... I'd have to know why exactly they felt the need to 'take over', what are their club goals, why they opted for a coup instead of discussing their ideas, etc.... but that's just me.) |
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Darc_knight
 Posts: 169 |
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I've recently started watching School Days and its absOlutely marvelous. Its drama is exceptional. Though I've only watched 2 episodes out of 12, i can say it's a great anime for women and men. Though its a little more harsh on the women becuase the girls might feel more sad, i think it would be an excellent anime for your club. Anyways, good luck with your club.
I take back what i said. This anime is quite explicit. Last edited by Darc_knight on Sat Sep 15, 2007 12:17 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Nerv1
Posts: 601 |
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The teacher who sponsered the club was talking to me about this, but I might end up "borrowing" those DVD's for a while... thanks for telling me though |
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Kelly
Posts: 868 Location: New York City |
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If they're really, truly that bad, could you confide in your teacher sponsor and explain that the raving fangirls might be putting the saner students off and enlist the teacher's help? Just a thought. As for my thoughts on what to show: We gals like action too, so don't discount Bebop that quickly if you have a mixed audience. It's not one of my personal favorites, but it's still a good series that most anime fans should get under their belts fairly early. It's a good choice because of some great stand alone episodes and minimal cultural barriers. Can't comment on Big O. Escaflowne is a good choice - it's a true gender crossover title with appeal for both male and female viewers. X is a good crossover title too - but I would advise reading the Tokyo Babylon manga first to get the full impact, and I don't know if everyone in your club would be willing to do that (and, needless to say, be sure that everyone will be okay with the fact that some of the characters are gay). Evangelion seems to be one of those series that everyone has to get under their belt eventually simply because it's probably going to be debated til the end of anime. But I don't know if I'd make it an early choice. You want to concentrate on grabbing people at this point - and I don't know if any of the head trip anime are what you want for that. You'd probably be better off sticking to more traditional action and inoffensive comedy to start with. Some parents might also consider it controversial - and you don't want to start out showing something that might get your club shut down by a ticked-off parent. As a general rule, if you'd turn it off if your parents walked into the room it probably isn't a good choice for a high school club. Wait on those kind of titles until you're starting a college club. Other than that, I'd suggest pooling your money for rentals from your local video store if you're the only one who can contribute series at this point. At the very least, you guys should be able to get through most of Miyazaki's major works that way. Good luck, and let us know how it goes! |
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jetz
 Posts: 2148 Location: Manila, Philippines |
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I'm not sure about Escaflowne. I'm a girl, and I didn't like it too much. The boys are cute, but I found the story boring. Code Geass is a good option, so you definitely want to keep that in mind. It has wars and battles for boys (not to mention the fanservice), cute guys for girls. It's funny too.
Don't give up on Cowboy Bebop yet. I surprisingly liked it. While you're at it, if you can get a copy of Samurai Champloo, you might want to show that as well. And about including cosplay to the scope of your club activities may be a good idea. In fact, maybe you should have activities that will enable your clubmates to learn more about Japanese culture - that's how the anime club I'm in works. It'll keep fan girls out  Our anime club just had a sumo wrestling exhibition the other day.
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Vortextk
 Posts: 892 Location: Orlando, Fl |
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I really wouldn't worry about getting something a specific gender or group likes. Just get good anime. If you have 20 something members, I doubt you will ever put ANY anime on and have them all like it a lot. Cowboy bebop is good and overall rated highly, so try it. Same with Escaflowne.
Take a poll maybe. Put down the names of like 10 popular anime in america, cartoon network/adult swim kind of stuff, and put like 10 others that are good/popular but more "hardcore" type. Like Haruhi or Genshiken. A lot of people like those anime but probably not the average watcher who just watches what is on tv. ( You did say most don't own dvds, and if they don't really do anything over the internet...american television is all they've ever seen of anime) You could get to know if 3/4 of them have seen certain series, you can probably not worry about watching that right off the bat and look at shows to broaden their general knowledge of anime. |
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panties
 Posts: 93 Location: LazyTown |
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I’m the president of my high school’s anime club this year, so I’d be happy to help you out.
The first thing you absolutely MUST do on your first meeting is hand out parental signature forms. I’ve heard far too many stories of clubs shut down and teachers getting fired because of a lack of communication on the kind of material shown in the club. Register a club email address so overprotective parents that need to know EXACTLY what their kids are doing at all times can contact you for more information on the anime you’ll be showing. I still have my club’s permission form on my computer, so if you want you can just fill in the blanks on the one I wrote:
Since you’ve currently only got six anime series to choose from, I’d strongly recommend checking out ADV’s Anime ADVocates and Funimation’s Operation Anime programs. ADV sends you DVD samplers like the freebie DVDs you get in Newtypes, and Funimation apparently sends you actual DVDs. (Although I still haven’t received the first DVD I ordered, Tsukuyomi Moon Phase, from Funi yet.) Bandai also has a program for anime clubs, but last I checked (earlier this week) that part of their site was under construction. Stocking up on Newtype USA magazines is also a good idea because they come with sampler DVDs, too, and three episodes of three different anime series for ten bucks is a pretty good deal. You should get a projector, speakers, and a laptop to show fansubs, too. I’ve read a lot of stories of clubs gone bad in “Why didn’t you join you school’s anime club?”-type threads on various forums, and one of the top responses to that question is usually something like “Because the club only showed older shows I’ve already seen.” I’d recommend alternating between showing fansubs of super-recent stuff that’s currently airing in Japan and anime DVDs of older shows. (Your school will honestly probably not care that this isn’t exactly legal. I talked to the principal at my school about showing fansubs, and his response was basically “I don’t care, do whatever you want.”) If you are going to show fansubs, DO NOT WATCH THEM ON YOUTUBE OR OTHER STREAMING SITES, because that would be unbelievably lame. Downloading is the only way to go. My club has a manga library in the back of the room, so if some people aren’t really interested in whatever anime you’re showing they can go check out the books and read instead. Encourage people to bring in their own manga for a wider selection. Don’t *just* watch anime and read manga, though. Have monthly events where you go out and do something, too. You can do quiz games with prizes, a cosplay contest on Halloween, a field trip to your local anime convention, ect. Best wishes that your club will succeed. [/Giant wall of text that no one except the OP will read] |
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Murasakisuishou
 Posts: 1469 Location: NE Ohio |
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I love you <3 Anyway, first, I would suggest reminding those girls who's in charge. A similar thing happened in my anime club; it started out sort of informal (one person would bring something every week, or we'd just have manga days where everyone brought in their manga stash and we swapped back and forth for the afternoon - a good idea if you're low on programming.), but then this one girl tried to take control and schedule everything, and now we barely get to the anime because she takes up half the meeting with her speeches about who's doing what when. Be polite, of course; let them know that it was you who started the club and point out that they're drawing unnecesary (and bad) attention to it. And if they don't back down, you'll just have to fight to get your position back. If they're really being as stupid as you're saying they are, chances are the club members will get sick of it. Now, about the anime itself; first, don't assume that girls won't be interested in things aimed at guys, or vice-versa for that matter. I'm a girl about your age, and Cowboy Bebop and GitS: SAC are two of my favorite series. Second, ask around and see if there's anything anyone's been wanting to watch, and then see if you can rent it or ask the library if they can order it from another branch. Also, you might want to look into having someone set up a Netflix subscription; they have lots of good anime titles, and a 1-disc-at-a-time subscription wouldn't be too expensive. They ship pretty quickly too, so you'd probably get one DVD a week. At my club (at least, before the one girl took it over) we did something where everyone brought in an anime that they wanted to share with everyone else, and we took turns every week. It's a good way to find out what your members are interested in as well as expose everyone to series they might not think to watch otherwise; I got into Stand Alone Complex that way, and now I own all of it x). Also, club members can be an invaluable resource for finding new anime, whether through their own personal collections or through their friends, cousins, or whatever. Every now and then, try to host a special event day to get more people interested. My club has done a couple of mini-cons, which were a lot of fun; we got a meeting room at the library and dressed up in simple cosplay, and we had karaoke and anime game shows and stuff like that. We also did a game day once, where we had a bunch of consoles set up and whatever games anyone thought to bring. Once again, not really expensive (you can usually get free meeting space at schools or libraries), but a lot of fun. Good luck with your club! Last edited by Murasakisuishou on Sat Sep 15, 2007 1:25 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Vortextk
Posts: 892 Location: Orlando, Fl |
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Heh I read it, mainly because when I go to a university I'm like...20% interested in joining one. Maybe, I dunno...we'll see what happens...I suppose 
And that'll happen sometime next year after I get my AA from my community college. Very good ideas and advice though. I can just imagine telling a principal that "Look, we're going to be showing some japanese animated shows in this club. Thing is, some of these are being subtitled online by fans because they're in native japanese, and then I download them and bring them in for everyone to watch. It's not totally legal so...what do you think?" I can see one of the following: a blank stare a "wow I totally care" sarcastic remark a "this is such a good chance to learn about another culture!" remark Permission form and all is a good idea though I really wonder at the % of parents that ever care. Like one out of every 50 parents renting a game or movie at work that asks me how appropriate grand theft auto is for their 11 year old. "Yeah..." But I guess that 1 is all it takes. |
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panties
Posts: 93 Location: LazyTown |
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This reminds me, my school's anime club was in ruins because of video games last year. The kids would hog the TV and play them all day, every day, and not let anyone actually watch anime. Needless to say, everyone dropped out of the club except the kids playing video games, including myself. Now that I'm president and I've outlawed videogames except for special occasions, we have double the members from last year, nearly everyone shows up to every meeting, and it's a lot more fun for everyone. It's fine if you're just going to do a one-time DDR tournament or something like that, but don't let video games overtake the club. Edit: And about the girl that tried to take over the club by scheduling everything.... That kind of sounds like what I'm doing.  Club Staff gets to pick what everyone watches at the beginning at the month, and I schedule it so there's not too much of one kind of show in a row. For example, the September schedule looks like this:
Day 1: Girls High Day 2: Full Metal Panic Day 3: Galaxy Angel AA Day 4: Samurai7 Day 5: Nurse Witch Komugi Day 6: Hellsing And so on. We decided not to let regular club members bring stuff in because based on an informal "What's your favorite anime?" poll on the first meeting, the vast majority of them seem to be casual Cartoon Network anime fans and no one on staff wants to watch Naruto and Bleach all day. Edit #2: @Nerv1: If those three girls are really as creepy as you say they are, you can kick them out. If they're that much a disturbance to the club, you have the power to deal with them in whatever way you see fit as president. Tell them they're a hindrance to club productivity and to sop being so obnoxious first though; don't just spring the news without warning on them. I heard last year the president of my school's club had to kick a special ed kid out because he'd watch porn during club meetings, block the TV with his massive fat, and make disruptive comments. He tried to get in again this year, but thankfully he didn’t turn in the permission form. |
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Nerv1
Posts: 601 |
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I'm not so sure about that. The Sponser teacher recognizes me as the club sponser along with the girls who stole my position as club sponsers as well so I'll have to see, they have complex problems and they literally "raped" Japanese culture. |
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banas
 Posts: 116 Location: In a house in a country in Southeast Asia.. |
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It's a dream of mine to also start an anime club.. I envy you.. Oh,well..
First of all, why the heck are you sticking with those crazy girls who snatched your position as president of the club? It's your club; you decide what happens, not them. I also think you should know what your club members know about anime. Give them some kind of a test, or a qualifying question, whatever. But if you want a club for others to appreciate anime, it's best to ask why they want to know more about anime. Cosplay is a good idea. You should get in touch more of the Japanese culture, I think. Do more activities related to that and anime. And really, really, really look for more DVDs. Escaflowne is fine, but I can't say I really loved it- Cowboy Bebop is well, fine too. Look for more DVDs. |
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