Liquid Skin said:
I don't really see the point to be honest, haven't forums all but wiped out clubs now? Only vocational subjects like mechanics or other things which are "hands on" have any need for clubs now.
Gee, I hope not, I'd be out of a job then!
(heh, well second job, I do have a "real" job, but seem to spend more time doing my soc duties than I do my paid job!)
Thank you all so far for you thoughts and comments, Im finding it all really useful! Anyone who's not posted yet, please give your thoughts!
At the risk of sending you all to sleep, I'd like to give an account of my own journey into anime geekdom
(EDIT: I'd like to say "quick" account, but I'm kinda getting carried away typing here...)
Much like most of you I had been into anime for quite a while, but only casually and not even realising it. The first anime I ever watched was
The Moomins (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and I had no concept what "anime" was). Going through my teens I caught anime on and off, but never realised it for what it was (it was all just really cool cartoons to me) My brothers were really into it though, so I experienced the great anime boom of the 80's and 90's mostly from the sidelines.
It wasn't until I caught NGE and Nadesico on Sci-Fi that my anime fires were lit, and that's when I started buying anime (hmm, something like 5 or 6 years ago now). Anime fandom was out there, but its something I never explored 'cause it all seemed so geeky. Fansub was something I'd never heard of and it never occured to me such stuff existed. I bought my DVD's and watched them in dub, and it was good enough for me.
I'm naturally a shy quiet guy, so the thought of hardcore nerds really intimidated me. Even an anime forum like this one seemed really nerdy and intimidating.
It wasn't until a relationship breakup a couple of years ago that I considered joining NAMSoc. I was geting frustrated that there seemed to be so many anime titles to buy in the US, and I didn't know what was good or not. I'd been aware of NAMSoc about 4 years before by seeing a flyer in one of Nottingham's comic shops, so I dug it out and found their website.
I looked on their forums and it certainly was very intimidating. They were discussing all these shows I'd never head of (and at the time I thought I knew a fair bit about anime because I bought Newtype USA and imported all my anime from america) and had lots of strong views about different types of anime. Once I read for a while thought it seemed that for the most part they were all kinda friendly (and they were saying they liked Kare Kano, which I'm a huge fan of, so they couldn't be
that bad).
So I posted a little introduction, and got some friendly "hi, welcome, come along" replies. heh, I even emailed the soc president (Rob) and asked what the soc was like and if everyone was really "cliquey" (strangely enough he never replied to that...)
And so I ended up going along.
A couple of the people who had greeted me on the forums had said they turned up early to set things up, so I thought I'd turn up early as well and meet them while it wasn't overly busy and too scary.
I follow the directions as given on the website, and find an old looking community hall I'd always been aware of when driving past it, but had never thought to give a second glance. A short hunt for the back door, and I'm greeted by a reasonably large room with about 40 chairs set out in front of a large screen, and someone asleep on said chairs.
A brief if awkward introduction later, and I find Im talking to a chap called "Mordo", quite a large intimidating lad who quite happily met most of the steriotypes I'd had about anime geeks. He was happy enough to chat though (well, talk about himself), so we talked for a bit until other people started appearing.
For the most part I really felt out of place; most of what the people around me were talking about was stuff I'd never heard of, or the things I had encountered (for example One Piece on Toonami) I felt embarrassed for bringing up because someone would launch into a big lecture on how the sub version was so much better and 4Kids had so much to answer for, yada, yada, yada. I found someone reading a copy of Kare Kano and though "yes! someone to talk to!!", but the guy was really quiet and barely responded to my attempts to talk about it! (p.s. that was Phil, now one of my best friends)
I began to wonder why I was even there, but I kept a brave face and waited for the showing to start.
I was happily amazed.
The screen they had at the time was a big 8x6 foot bedsheet (we now have a proper full size projection screen), but when the digital projector they had kicked into life and I was faced with anime on the big screen I was like WOW!!
I was a bit disorienteted at first because it was all in Japanese and I was having to read sub's (yes, NAMSoc have a policy of showing subs only), but I soon got the hang of it, and hey! It was anime on a big screen!!! The stuff they were showing was anime I'd not seen before, Gundam 08th MS Team, Ah My Goddess, and Vandread. It was great!! Sure, I was picking a couple of them up half way through a series, but this was stuff I'd never even considered watching before!
At the end of the showing the light come back on, there's a big hustle to pack everything away before the landlady locks up, and I'm invited to the pub down the road where everyone goes for a chat.
I sat there quietly nursing my J2O (I'd driven) and listening to the people talk about what they had just seen (it had been the first ep of 08th MS Team and the resident mecha fanboy was desperately trying to defend it against friendly jeers from the others), but it wasn't too long until someone asked me my opinion on what I'd just watched and I chatted a bit too. It all still seemed a bit overwhelming to me, and still did for the first few weeks, but I kept going back.
I'm glad I did, because its changed my life (I'm still deciding if it's for the better or not!!)
I've been dragged kicking and screaming well and truly into the great anime geekdom called "Otaku" and well, I've never has so much fun. I've made friends now I wish I'd had all my life, people who share a common love of something I've fallen head over heels for!
After half a year of being a member they ended up making me the Society Secretary (nothing like dropping you in the deep end), and while it's not been easy it's a task I don't regret taking up. I've already had at least one "mid life crisis" as Secretary; hardcore anime fans whilst shy and quiet (or should I say "because" ) can be very outspoken and set in their ways, and sometimes it's like trying to herd goldfish with a toothpick getting them to work together. The social side of the job is hard too, I'm still a shy quiet guy, so when new people turn up it's incredibly hard for me to meet and greet them (please, someone else do that bit!!).
I'll fight tooth and nail though anyone who tried to take this all away from me! Because of it I'm meeting and talking to people I never thought I would ever have the chance to meet (who'd have thought I'd be chatting with the distro's!!), and I'm here on this forum too because of it
I'm being given the chance to help out with the industry of the thing I care about most in life, I may be a crazy Otaku because of it, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than where I am now (well, OK, a tropical beach with a big pile of cash may tempt me...)
Besides, where else would I get the chance to take 30 Otaku camping in Wales during severe storm warning on the premise of having an anime style beach party!! Beach volleyball in waterproofs has never been so interesting...
Are anime societies a thing of the past, and are they being wiped out by internet forums?
Maybe, but I hope not. Most of the new people we still get were like me, they had never been on the internet forums and their exposure to anime had been minimal.
Yes, soc's can be hard to get to know, Otaku are Otaku whether they are on the web or in real life. They can be quiet, closed people who are difficult to know, but once you do get to know them they can prove to be some of the most interesting people you'll ever encounter.
On the web you'll only ever know the face that a person wants to show you, in real life the masks are so much harder to hold in place.
Perhaps one day I'll have the chance to meet some of you in person, and to be honest I look forward to it. Anime fans are interesting indeed...
p.s. I humbly beg forgiveness for rambling on so much!!!
