When I went to meet with members and officers of the Longwood Anime Club, I expected to find a small group of people dedicated to experiencing Japanese animation and culture. I had known anime fans in my school career, and had an image in my mind of what an anime club looked like. I remember listening to conversations, seemingly in a foreign language, that left me puzzled.

I could not have been farther from wrong. Sitting down for a dinner interview, I found a table of friends engrossed in lively conversation about anything from school to video games to, yes, Japanese animation. I had the opportunity to speak with newly elected club President James Gibbs, and newly elected Secretary Kat Donovan.

The anime club generally spends its evenings, as would be expected, watching anime. Donovan said, "At the beginning we pick two shows for the night. We watch one episode, and then at about halftime, we vote on whether we'd like to watch the next one or not … We had a classic night two weeks ago where we watched a lot of stuff from the 90s. Donovan explained, "We try to mix up what we watch each week. Different genres, and different styles of anime."

The dictionary defines anime as "a Japanese style of motion-picture animation, characterized by highly stylized, colorful art, and futuristic settings." However, with all of the varieties of Japanese animation, it's hard to boil it down to just a few key features.

Gibbs said, "I just love the culture [of anime]." He went on to say that he felt "anime stories are certainly different … In relation to western animation, it seems like anime has more in-depth stories." Gibbs added that "you can get away with a lot of stuff in animation that you can't do in live action."
The club also actively participates in campus activities. Donovan said, "This past weekend we were at Spring Weekend. We made rice balls and we did face painting. We also do Oktoberfest, and we're also doing Relay for Life. We'll be selling chocolate and bacon." Member Ben Ryan said, "I believe we are making and selling chocolate and bacon to sell before the race. We're cooking bacon at the actual Relay."

The meeting I attended included over two-dozen members, ranging from mathematics to psychology majors. As they prepared to move into a new year, the Anime Club went about the process of electing officers for the fall semester. Candidates for office were all invited to give speeches, which ranged from serious discussions of qualifications such as "was president of the anime club at my high school" to more comical words such as "I believe the anime club needs change. Therefore, if you elect me to this position, I guarantee next year it will not exist."

However, the club does much more than simply watch anime programs. This year, members had the opportunity to attend an anime convention in known as Katsucon in Baltimore, Md. This convention took place in February and gave anime fans an opportunity to shop for their favorite shows and artwork, meet their favorite artists, and attend panels on what goes into making an anime program.