Turning Japanese with anime
Carmichael Cruz
Issue date: 10/7/08 Section: A & E
Although the premise of an anime club on campus may seem simple, the club offers more insight and substance than meets the eye.
The anime club at Mt. SAC has been on campus every year for the past eight years uniting students from all sorts of backgrounds. They are a four-time Anime Expo award-winning organization.
The club tries to show two to three episodes of anime every meeting, with genres that range from comedy to action, or maybe even a combination of both.
"We promote the Japanese culture, which has a big influence on American culture," club adviser James Gonzales, technician of event services, said. He explained how movies like "The Matrix" and "Ultraviolet" were "rip-offs" from anime and manga, Japanese comic books.
"I've been very into the Japanese culture," Gonzales said.
Gonzales has also been the adviser for the Filipino club, Asian club, and MeCHA. He enjoys the entire Asian culture and even helped create "Teaching Japanese Through Anime."
The discussions at club meetings look into topics beyond simply plot and characters. A frequent topic is the clarity and accuracy of the subtitles and dubbing.
"If you know the language, it can be totally different than what's on there," Gonzales said.
Discussions of interest include how the Japanese perceive Americans and how hip-hop has become part of their culture.
The effect of the anime club is not just on campus, they help their sister schools as well, like Nishi High School in Japan.
"We do a lot of international things people don't know about," Gonzales said.
Even with the array of topics and programs they run into, the club still offers an arena for students to come together and discuss their favorite topic.
"We watch anime," student Jackie Nguyen said. "We have fun."
Student Jeremy Lopez enjoys the privacy.
"It's like that feeling of watching Saturday morning cartoons with a bowl of cereal, except that it's in a school environment where our parents aren't watching over us, criticizing us for still watching 'cartoons'," Lopez said.
Club member Steven Kunz said, "We can talk to people who know what I'm into. We're just a bunch of fans. We don't have to worry about stereotypes."
They have a common ground.
"It's watching anime and being a fan of it," interim vice president and treasurer Victor Sierra said. "We are all fans of anime, we all have a little bit that we love about it."
What makes this club so popular is the diversity that comes with anime.
"There's mainstream anime and non-mainstream," Gonzales said. "It's just like the movies. It's crazy. I've had American students interested in becoming Japanese and Japanese people interested in becoming American."
President of the anime club Adam San Miguel said that they are developing Magic card tournaments that will help both the club and charity.
The anime club meets every Tuesday from 4-5 p.m. in room 7-2114.
The anime club at Mt. SAC has been on campus every year for the past eight years uniting students from all sorts of backgrounds. They are a four-time Anime Expo award-winning organization.
The club tries to show two to three episodes of anime every meeting, with genres that range from comedy to action, or maybe even a combination of both.
"We promote the Japanese culture, which has a big influence on American culture," club adviser James Gonzales, technician of event services, said. He explained how movies like "The Matrix" and "Ultraviolet" were "rip-offs" from anime and manga, Japanese comic books.
"I've been very into the Japanese culture," Gonzales said.
Gonzales has also been the adviser for the Filipino club, Asian club, and MeCHA. He enjoys the entire Asian culture and even helped create "Teaching Japanese Through Anime."
The discussions at club meetings look into topics beyond simply plot and characters. A frequent topic is the clarity and accuracy of the subtitles and dubbing.
"If you know the language, it can be totally different than what's on there," Gonzales said.
Discussions of interest include how the Japanese perceive Americans and how hip-hop has become part of their culture.
The effect of the anime club is not just on campus, they help their sister schools as well, like Nishi High School in Japan.
"We do a lot of international things people don't know about," Gonzales said.
Even with the array of topics and programs they run into, the club still offers an arena for students to come together and discuss their favorite topic.
"We watch anime," student Jackie Nguyen said. "We have fun."
Student Jeremy Lopez enjoys the privacy.
"It's like that feeling of watching Saturday morning cartoons with a bowl of cereal, except that it's in a school environment where our parents aren't watching over us, criticizing us for still watching 'cartoons'," Lopez said.
Club member Steven Kunz said, "We can talk to people who know what I'm into. We're just a bunch of fans. We don't have to worry about stereotypes."
They have a common ground.
"It's watching anime and being a fan of it," interim vice president and treasurer Victor Sierra said. "We are all fans of anime, we all have a little bit that we love about it."
What makes this club so popular is the diversity that comes with anime.
"There's mainstream anime and non-mainstream," Gonzales said. "It's just like the movies. It's crazy. I've had American students interested in becoming Japanese and Japanese people interested in becoming American."
President of the anime club Adam San Miguel said that they are developing Magic card tournaments that will help both the club and charity.
The anime club meets every Tuesday from 4-5 p.m. in room 7-2114.
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