Once More, With Feelin'

For those of you who read this (both of you, now =P), I'd like to tell you what's going down on Tuesday: what we're considering, and how we want everybody to conduct themselves. Nobody commented the last entry to tell me what they think (and I had hoped you would), but that's okay; I'll get it out of you guys eventually.

What happened during the first meeting- or what didn't happen, whatever- doesn't matter to me a whole lot. The most important thing is that you guys keep coming. I just want you to be able to have fun, you know, and learn about anime. Learn and teach: that's our motto from here on out.


On TUESDAY, OCT 2ND, the day of our next meeting, we're going to be setting down some ground rules; I've already drafted those, have to run them by a couple of people still to make sure they're cosher. Most of them were generally understood, I thought, but I guess it's best to be sure. Some things we'll be talking about:

• Coach White suggested that our meetings happen twice a month on either Monday or Tuesday; we'll talk about that.
• I'll officially sanction this blog. Hopefully that garners a bit more attention. Speaking of which, yo, Ashley! =D
• We'll probably watch a few previews ADV sent me last week, but only if we have time.

I know a lot of you won't be able to come--I feel bad about it, but there's not a whole lot I can do about it. There will be more room for compromise once we have as many of us together as we possibly can; this blog and email is how the rest of you can make yourselves heard. Take advantage of that, or don't be heard. Okay? It's your choice.

I think that's about it. I'll see you Tuesday (well, probably sooner- whatever).

Portrayal of Will

When Hideaki Anno announced that he was going to return to his (in)famous '95 anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, by retelling the series in four movies which will eventually lead up to a completely new conclusion to the story, he had this to say (retrieved from the Anime News Network, presumably where it was translated):

"Many different desires are motivating us to create the new 'Evangelion' film.

The desire to portray my sincere feelings on film. The desire to share, with an audience, the embodiment of image, the diversity of expressions, and the detailed portrayal of emotions that animation offers. The desire to connect today's exhausted Japanese animation [industry] to the future. The desire to fight the continuing trend of stagnation in anime. The desire to support the strength of heart that exists in the world."

There are lots of things that go into this, lots of things to discuss, but what it comes down to is, like he said, the portrayal of will- and the revitalization of the anime industry. Anybody who watches anime even somewhat regularly generally can tell you that there's an incredible polarization in the quality; anime ranges from really good to really bad, and it's usually really bad. It takes time and focus to go over the thousands of shows that come out of Japan every year with a fine-tooth comb and find the good stuff...and not everybody is up to the task. Anime has become a gargantuan hub of cliches and even in the really good shows you don't really escape all of them.

Anno is one crazy dude, but what he says is true: the portrayal of will (of human spirit and achievement, and strongly argued ideals) is important, and if you can find something like that in any anime, then you've struck gold. Stick with it, guys, and that's exactly what you'll be doing in our club meetings.

P.S.: These blogs ought to be interactive, shouldn't they? Okay. Tell me what you think the anime club is really about. I'm saying that we should commit ourselves to finding quality anime that makes us think around a few corners or feel around a few corners, anime that give us something in return for watching them...but I'm also curious about what you guys think about the club, and anime in general, so tell me in a comment!