I
chose to observe the UK Anime Club. Though I can’t say that I was particularly
interested in this group, I can say that I was curious to see how they
interacted with each other. Considering the stereotypes, I assumed that they
would be a close group of nerds, people who looked to Anime because there
wasn’t enough excitement in their real lives. Prior to attending the club
meeting, I wanted to get a feel for exactly what to expect. Do people dress up
to these kinds of events? What do they do at meetings–draw Anime pictures? And
most importantly, am I going to stick out like a sore thumb? While confirming
the meeting date with the club president, Ben, he informed me that any questions
that I had could be answered by viewing the club website, UKAnime.org, so
indeed, I did.
The
homepage of UKAnime.org was expected: anime cartoons and the usual tabs (i.e.
“Home,” “Calendar,” “About Us,” etc.), but there was a section for upcoming
events as well. Low and behold, there it was: Tuesday’s meeting description. I
gathered that we would simply hang out and watch some anime; however, I also
noticed that each week there was an optional club dinner in which they would
hook up an hour before the meeting to chat and eat at the restaurant of the
week. Not having had my fill of snooping, I decided to click on the “About Us”
tab. Skimming the paragraphs, I noticed a link saying “You Can View Our
Constitution Here.” Wow, these people really have a constitution… This must
be more serious than I thought. Proceeding to the constitution, I read Article
I which indicated, “This entity shall hereby be known as UK Anime.” Wow, they
really weren’t playing when they said they have a constitution. Hmm… I smell
nerds. Continuing my research, I looked at the calendar next. Apparently, they had an Anti-Valentine’s
Day party. Oh no, I love Valentine’s Day. Maybe they just don’t have valentines
to share the day with. What am I getting myself into? I have nothing in common
with these people.
Tuesday
evening finally rolled around, and I couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. I
didn’t want to arrive too early, and I definitely didn’t want to be late, so I
showed up to the student center about ten minutes early sporting my usual, drab
look: sweatpants, Uggs, and an oversized hoody. I made my way to room 111, my
nerves growing with the passing of each room in the poorly lit hallway. I could
see a small puddle of light ahead of me on the hallway floor, which signified
that the door to the room was open. Chatter from the room grew louder and
louder as I inched my way closer. Taking a deep breath, I walked into the room
and immediately scanned the crowd for Ben. Though I wasn’t sure what he looked
like, my common sense told me that he was the guy sitting on the table at the
front of the room as I walked in. Hah, I found him, and I didn’t even have to
ask anyone. Turning to my right, I flashed a polite smile and said, “Hi, Ben?”
“Yes,” he said shaking my hand.
“I’m Shawnee, I’m here to observe.”
“Ah, yes. Please have a seat, and I’ll
introduce you to everyone.”
I made my way to a seat in the back
corner. Surveying the room, I noticed its odd shape: it was longer than it was
wide. Three long rows of chairs spanned the length of the room with a projector
dividing all three rows down the middle and a projection screen on the front
wall. Smells of Subway and Panda Express, an unlikely combination, filled the
room. Roughly 15 to 20 people were evenly dispersed throughout the three rows,
some huddling together in the front row and others in the middle and back. Two rows ahead of me sat a pale girl with vibrant green hair. Not many can pull off
the look, but surprisingly, she did. Scanning the rest of the room, I also
noticed a fellow dressed with a Viking wig and hat–interesting. Everyone else
passed as normal.
I relaxed significantly once I realized
that I wasn’t over- or underdressed and no one was awkwardly staring at me. The
sound of talking and laughter was comforting: no one paid me any attention, and
that was how I wanted it to be. The conversations varied from talk of the
latest Anime films to that of boring people and alcohol. One girl in the front
said, “If you have to drink to have fun, then you must be a boring person.”
To which another girl replied, “Maybe
it’s not that they have to drink to have fun. Maybe they drink to change the
people around them and make them more
interesting.” I found amusement in this idea because Anime is so fantastical,
almost how perception is when people drink. Submerging oneself in an Anime film
for a few hours could surely make one think that they are apart of this fantasy
world.
To the left of me, there was a guy with
an open laptop controlling the projector, which played Anime music videos of
some sort. As soon as one would finish, he attentively played another. The
pattern continued for some while until I saw Ben stand to call the room to
attention. He began rambling on about T-shirt orders: “If you have not yet
submitted your T-shirt order form, then please do so soon… We are also accepting
designs for next year’s shirts… Next week, we will be watching… Before club,
we’re eating at… Oh, yes, and we have a guest today,” he said motioning towards
me. I shyly waved to everyone.
At the conclusion of his opening words,
he hit the lights, took a seat on the same table up front, and the movie began.
Some people left once the movie started, but at least they showed their faces
at the meeting. Ben pulled out his laptop and dimmed the screen; I guess not
even homework would keep him from attending the club. Looking around the dark
room, I noticed that several others had their dimmed phones and laptops out
too.
The movie was completely in Japanese. I
figured that out from the recurring picture of Japan–good thing I took
geography in middle school. At first, it was difficult to get into the movie,
but after a while, I adjusted to the subtitles and the over exaggeration of all
the characters. In one scene, the bad guy jumped down two stories and
dramatically flicked his hair, all while puffing on a cigarette. No broken
ankles or anything. Regardless, everyone really seemed to be enjoying the
movie. One girl even had her bare feet propped up on the chair in front of her.
Once Ben finished with his laptop, he spread out across four chairs in the
front row, crossing one foot over the other and using his backpack as a pillow.
Since everyone else was comfortable, I was able to loosen up and get
comfortable too. For a while, I almost felt like I was a part of the club. However,
there were moments when everyone would laugh hysterically, and I had no idea
what was so funny. I laughed along anyways. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
And I got lost in the film.
At one point in the movie, the
protagonist’s cat turned into a naked woman that followed him around all the
time. A female voice on the opposite side of the room spoke out, “I don’t
understand why they always have to have half-naked women in these movies. Why
aren’t there ever any naked guys?? This is so sexist!”
A male voice responded, “Because it’s a
male-dominated industry. Guys like naked women, get over it!”
“Fine, if you all want to sit around
watching naked girls, then I’m out of here!” At this, the girl gathered her
things and stormed out. There appeared to be a unanimous shrug, almost as if
everyone was thinking, Oh well, she’ll be
back next week. One monkey didn’t stop the show. The movie continued on.
Some people showed up late, and others that had left earlier returned.
Finally, the movie concluded. Ben stood
up for some closing words: “Don’t forget next week… T-shirt order forms… Again,
we’re eating at…” With that everyone slowly stood up and gathered their
belongings, some stretching, others yawning. It was late and time to go home.
Some people stayed back to talk, but a few others and myself moseyed out the
door. I arrived while it was still light out, and I left in the dark.
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