Ryan ChartrandWhat’s the greatest anime ever made?
Some say “Akira,” others, “Neon Genesis Evangelion” or “Ghost in the Shell,” but the members of Cal Poly’s Minna No Anime club say it’s a hard question to answer.
“It kind of changes, because sometimes I’ll see something new and I kind of go ‘oh wow’ but I still have loyalty to the old thing,” said club secretary and computer science senior Jennifer Pawlik. “I’ll always have a special place in my heart for ‘Twelve Kingdoms.'”
This 17-year-old club meets from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. every Saturday to watch ten different animes picked at the beginning of the quarter by officers. Five hours may seem like a long meeting for some, but Minna No Anime’s president insists the time flies.
“It seems like a long time, but we’re watching shows,” said club president and graphics communication senior Annaliese Christman.
The club uses their meetings to expose members to newer anime straight from Japan. That way, members who may have an interest in anime but are unfamiliar with seeking it out get a chance to widen their horizons.
However, Cal Poly’s Minna No Anime club isn’t all about watching Japanese cartoons. This group of 43 voluntary dues-paying members (members are encouraged but not required to pay $5) also attends conventions and competes in dance/costume contests.
Currently, the group is preparing a dance for a convention called Fanime in May.
“It’s a three-minute mix that starts off with ‘Thriller’ and it’s based off an anime that takes place in the 1930s,” Christman said. “It doesn’t look anything like stereotypical anime. The one we did last year, that was pretty stereotypical anime, we were dressed like school girls.”
As for other stereotypes of people interested in anime, Pawlik says they don’t represent her club.
“We have a lot of different people,” Pawlik said. “We’re more diverse than Cal Poly as a whole.”
The anime club does struggle with one group of people – the shy members. Both Christman and Pawlik agree that it’s sometimes difficult to get people involved or to not sit in the very back of the Business Silo where they hold meetings. But Pawlik says she understands how those members feel.
“When I first started coming to the club, I would sit in the corner and watch a show and think ‘don’t look at me too hard or I might fall apart,’ but now I have no problem going up front and making announcements,” Pawlik said. “I definitely enjoy the excuse to get away from programming.”
Minna No Anime generally lets shy members come up and introduce themselves when they prefer. Mostly, they just want to offer people a venue to share their interest with others since it is difficult to find other people who enjoy anime.
As for that infamous subdivision of anime known as Hentai – pornographic anime – Christman says they don’t pay attention to it during club time, but she’s pretty sure there are members who have trouble staying away from that tentacle lovin’ fun on their own time.
According to Pawlik, the Minna No Anime Hentai policy is “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
For more information about the Minna No Anime club, email minnclub@polymail.calpoly.edu or visit www.minnanoanime.org.