The Last of Anime Club

Students this year do not have the opportunity to join the Anime club.

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Students this year do not have the opportunity to join the Anime club.

Students rush down the crowded halls after a long and stressful day, trying to arrive to the classroom where the club sponsor should be playing the next best anime series. The chairs that are usually full are empty and up for grabs as it seems there is no more anime club to enjoy.

Teens tend to gravitate towards trends and popular ideas of the 21st century. Overtime, as more people become educated on that specific idea that has gained popularity, they develop a personal sense of interest. Senior, Coby Davis, defines anime as a type of cartoon that has caught a lot of people eyes, 

“Anime is usually categorized as animation. I define it more as an art form that comes from Japan itself. From there, it had just been adapted from that over time, causing it to become more popular,” stated Davis. 

Two types of anime series are Dragon Ball Z and FullMetal Alchemist. They consist of both fantasy and action filled episodes. To a lot of people, it’s the graphics that attract them to watch anime due to the high end art styles that are used. Jacob Alviso, senior, likes anime since it’s something he has been familiar with at a young age. 

“Anime’s popularity didn’t start until a couple years ago. Overtime, it has grown to be mainstream and found in a lot of aspects of culture. I started the club because I watched a lot of anime growing up and I still enjoy to this day,” stated the former Club President. 

To a lot of students, school is tremendously stressful to them and they need something that will allow them to relax. Some people use their interests and hobbies to relax. Business teacher, Joko Riyanto, believes that the anime club is a good place for students to relax and enjoy their interest in anime. 

“The club was created for the students who enjoy watching anime, who needed a place to feel comfortable and socialize about it. They also created it as a place to relax and introduce different types of genres of the animation,” said the former Anime Club sponsor. 

Some people have interests they share publicly with others and some have private interests. A lot of people might have hobby that they might not want to share their interests with others. Davis believes that people just don’t want to associate themselves with the club.

“People began slowly leaving the club and originally, they already didn’t have a very big group number. For the most part, there were about fifteen people at the most. Even though a lot of people watch and enjoy anime on their own, some people just don’t want to involve themselves with the club,” stated Davis. 

Being involved in many hobbies urge students to prioritize what is more important to them. Reasons they might have prioritized a single hobby over the others is that it most likely has more importance or takes up more time. Due to lack of the Vice Presidents help to make sure there was always something to do in the anime club and Alviso being busy with marching band, he believes these are the reasons why the club wasn’t successful like he wanted it to be. 

“The club originally ended because I couldn’t run it due to being in marching band. A big part of my time during the first semester last year was actually taken up by marching band. The person who was running the club in my place probably just stopped caring about it and began to let it go,” stated Alviso. 

A lot of good things come to an end, the anime club is a good example of that. Although there weren’t many people in the club, that does not represent the growing interest in Japanese film and television animations that are increasingly popular.