Wednesday, May 21, 2014

A New Generation of Anime Clubs

In the 80s and 90s, anime clubs served as the easiest way to access anime.  As anime has become more accessible through online streaming, Netflix, and dedicated anime channels, the place of the anime club has changed. 

This week on Wonderful Wednesdays: The Anime Clubs of Yesterday and Today


This topic was mostly inspired by an amazing panel at AB2013 about how to run an anime club.  The panelists were prior executive board members or RIT's Anime Club, and they shared their experiences and how the anime club scene has changed drastically over the past few years.

In the earliest days of anime, VHS tapes were the main method for watching anime.  Unfortunately, there was not a large American market for anime sales, and so the only option was to buy the tapes from overseas.  Those tapes were Japanese audio only, and no subtitles were available.  Fansubbed copies of the tapes were hard to get a hold of, since they were so rare.  This is where conventions come in.  Fansubbed VHS tapes would be copied during the convention, spreading the availability of shows.  There were very few titles available to be purchased in stores, so this was where the bulk of new shows came from. 

As you might be able to guess, the acquisition of new shows was challenging.  This is where anime clubs found value.  Libraries of fansubbed tapes would be available to borrow from anime clubs to their members, allowing them to see new shows.  The main purpose of anime clubs was to provide access to the new series, and also served as a social gathering to help people meet others with similar interests.

Fast forward to the mid 2000s.  The internet is widespread with multiple fansubs of more series than anyone could ever watch.  Very few official streams are available, but Toonami Jetstream attempts to stream many of their series online after airing them.  The internet age has begun, and anime is everywhere. 

Online streaming made anime accessible to the masses.  Unfortunately, the official streaming sites were slow to get started, and often only offered limited episodes available for a certain length of time.  They were unable to compete with the fansub streaming sites, who often offered unlimited free streaming.  Megavideo was the exception to this rule, forcing time-outs and offering premium subscriptions to eliminate them, despite not having copyright over the contents.  (Which led to it's shut-down in January 2012).

Official streaming has come a long way over the last few years.  With Funimation teaming up with Hulu to offer many series online with short ads, VIZ media offering Neon Alley, Netflix, and others, supporting the official release is easier than ever. 

We've looked at the progression of anime over the last few decades. Now let's take a look at where anime clubs might fit in this new "age of anime abundance".  Previously, I suggested that the value of anime clubs lies in two arenas: access to anime and meeting other anime fans.  While the internet availability has made access to anime less critical, it has created a new need: Exposure to new anime.  There are so many series out already, and new ones begin airing each season.  With this in mind, it can be hard to choose what to watch, and anime clubs can be helpful in giving exposure to shows that a person might otherwise not have seen.  This expansion of horizons could be considered a huge benefit in this time. 

The second main purpose of anime clubs was to provide a social structure to help people meet other fans.  This is less challenging now, with more people watching anime than ever before, but no less crucial.  Anime clubs provide an easy way to go out and meet other anime fans.

by masai-san at deviantart.net
There is also something to be said for being able to share the experience of watching anime with other people.  Anime is better, I would argue, when shared with a group of people.  Each person has their own perspective on a series, and sharing that can make it better than ever.  There is just something special about watching anime with other people.  I'm not sure if it's being able to make side comments, laugh together at the show, or just having something in common to compare to the next series.

The purpose of anime clubs has certainly changed over the last few years, but their new purpose is even more important: bringing people together.

That's it for this week.  Do you have any thoughts on what the purpose of anime clubs should be?  What do/would you like to get out of having one?  Comment below ^ __ ^

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