Anime club

Ananime clubis an organization that meets to discuss, show, and promoteanimein a local community setting and can also focus on broadeningJapanesecultural understanding.Anime clubs are increasingly found at universities and high schools. Organizers may also use public meeting spaces such as a libraryor a government center.Many anime club attendees identify themselves asotaku.Although the core of anime club attendees are in their twenties, there are generally no age requirements. Adults in their fifties and sixties and teenagers also attend.

Activities

Kazenodaichi Taiko, aTaikoensemble based out of Bowling Green, Ohio performing at a convention organized by a university Anime Club

Anime club meetings can occur on a weekly or monthly basis. In addition to viewing anime, clubs engage in other activities such as viewinganime music videos,readingmanga,karaokeandcosplaying.Many clubs host online forums to further foster community interaction, and feature a library to lend books and manga to members. Participants of an anime club often are also involved in volunteering and organization of localanime conventions.

Dependent on the scope of the club, activities can also have a broader range, to include playing of table top games such asshogi,go,andmahjong.Outside activities includesakétasting and visits to cultural events such asNational Cherry Blossom Festivalor akendodemonstration.

Anime showings

An anime club at a library viewing anime. A girl is drawing andPockycan be seen on a table.

Typically anime clubs exhibit shows in their originalJapanese languagetrack with Englishsubtitles.Dependent upon policy of the club, animefansubs,official subtitling, orlocalized dubscan be shown.

Larger clubs can have multiple viewing rooms. Usually one room features localized anime and the other fansubs. The fansub room can also be known as the 'divx' room, named after the popularvideo codec.

Due to the long running andepisodicnature of some anime, exhibition is scheduled in blocks with breaks. Often, a twenty six episode series will be screened over the period of several months.

There are also informal policies in some club circles regarding the total length of a viewed show. For example,BleachandInuYasharun for 366 and 167 (or 191 with the Inuyasha: The Final Act) episodes respectively. At this length, a club may be perpetually showing episodes, effectively depriving another show of that spot. Additionally, it may be difficult for new members of the club to follow or become interested in a storyline that has already progressed far.

Public exhibition

When gathering in a public place to show licensed media, written permission from the domestic rights holder is required. This is known as Public Performance Rights or exhibition rights.

North American anime licensors, such asFunimationandBandai Entertainmenthave established programs to help facilitate public screenings of their licensed content at anime clubs.

See also

• Genshiken– amangaandanimefeaturing a college anime club.
• Otaku no Video– comedy anime spoofing the life and culture of otaku
• Community center– a common place for anime clubs to meet
• Mu Epsilon Kappa– a national society of anime clubs in the United States