Blood, gore, romance and panties - not the typical content in a traditional cartoon.
But these super-violent and ultra-sexed animations are "not cartoons - it's anime," according to Alison Merner, a sophomore biochemistry and anthropology major and Office Manager of the UB Anime Club.
The club meets every Tuesday at 8 p.m. in 330 Student Union. UB Anime President Jason Wesolowski, a senior mechanical engineering major, says the club "is dedicated to the proliferation of Japanese animation."
"Our goal is bringing a piece of Japanese culture to the UB students," says Wesolowski. "Anime is a large part of Japanese culture, just like how Hollywood movies are in the U.S."
"Anime is deeper than plain cartoons," says Jason Dluga, a senior business major and External Affairs Officer of UB Anime.
Anime is not just for children's entertainment, and for every "Pokemon" and "Monster Rancher," there is a plethora of genres for each discriminating taste.
There are many types of anime, ranging from pure action to romantic comedy to the unbelievably bizarre. "Cowboy Bebop" deals with a group of penniless space bounty hunters who spend each episode chasing down criminals. "Onegai Teacher" ("Please Teacher") is about the romance between a human boy who marries his teacher after discovering she is an intergalactic alien. And "FLCL" ("Furi Curi") is so abstract that even the most hardcore arthouse film critic will have a troubling time analyzing it.
The UB Anime Club is best known for its monstrous thirteen hour screening of various Japanese anime series every semester. However, the club does not simply sit and watch anime at tedium during each meeting. UB Anime is poised at keeping its gatherings fun and interesting as well as having club members contribute to the community.
Many of the meetings have "specified themes that coincide with various events and holidays," according to Treasurer Natalie Abdo, a sophomore pre-pharmacy major. Before Halloween, the club screened "Witch Hunter Robin," a series that revolves around "hunters" in modern day Japan who capture menacing witches using untraditional methods.
UB Anime holds numerous contests, raffle giveaways and charity events, such as the aforementioned thirteen-hour anime marathon. Club members also partake in annual trips to Chinatown in Toronto, Canada, where they indulge in the numerous shops filled to the brim with anime and Japanese paraphernalia
For the club's genuine interest in both content and service, UB Anime has won the Special Interest Service Hobbies Award for the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 school years. The SISH Award is given to a club that proves to be an active and outstanding organization in the community.
Wesolowski has mixed feelings about anime becoming mainstream in the U.S. "On one hand, there is more anime for people to see."
However, "many series are poorly translated," according to Wesolowski. Anime such as "Dragonball Z" and "Cardcaptors" have horrid translations that change the overall feel of the shows.
In fact, Wesolowski notes that the WB took the original title "Cardcaptor Sakura," and changed it to "Cardcaptors." It is another example of why he feels the quality of traditional anime "is being degraded."
With over 700 videos and DVD's available to borrow from the UB Anime video collection, the club is fully prepared to meet the viewing needs of students who wish to expand their horizons with this now-mainstream form of entertainment in its purest form.
"We show anime in Japanese and subtitled (in English). It provides much better translations," says Wesolowski. "That is what the club is trying to accomplish - letting people view anime as it should be viewed."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
