Anime Ascendant

An anime club help site that offers advice and support

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COVID-19: Can Anime Clubs Survive?

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COVID-19: Can Anime Clubs Survive? + Alternatives to Meeting in Person

With the coronavirus epidemic, also known as COVID-19, canceling building openings and gatherings to prevent the spread of the virus, do anime clubs have a chance to survive?

Yes, they can. To take a step in the direction of the times when anime and manga fans made friends online–“OMG, so retro,” may be your thought process–then, yes, anime clubs can survive by going back to the internet.

Ways to keep a club going without meeting in person:

The essence of running events online isn’t different from running events for in-person events. 

  • Book a venue or space. Book a space online. If it’s a Google Hangout or YouTube Live, make sure you have a Google account and create a Hangout or YouTube Live event (literally search how to do these). If it’s a Skype, Facetime, or conference call event, make sure you have an account with the respective apps or get a conference call number and code. If it’s a webinar or Netflix Party app event, make sure you have an account on that platform or app.
  • Make sure the event title, date, location, and time(s) are correct and booked. This isn’t different from in-person events. Just make sure the event title is short.
  • Create physical flyers, posters, and marketing materials. Create digital flyers, posters, and marketing materials. You can make a digital flyer that can go on Instagram or social media through Canva.com.
  • Distribute physical marketing materials. Send digital marketing materials on social media and through email. Also post these on your websites if you can.
  • Follow up with people who are in the club by phone, email, and texts. This isn’t much different from in-person events since cold marketing or sending out marketing materials don’t work the most to get folks to events. It’s more important at this time to follow up with possible attendees.
  • Order supplies and food for the event. Make sure your computer or phone is set up for the online event. This means making sure your laptop has a camera, its microphone and speakers work, and any clamps, tripods, headphones, and gear are nearby.

The important part about being a club is being connected.

That means reaching out to the club leadership and members to check in. If a friend is nearby, call them, text them, connect with them and make sure the COVID zombie apocalypse hasn’t taken them.

Have some ideas? Write it below!


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How Do I Keep My Anime Club From Falling Apart?

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How Do I Keep My Anime Club From Falling Apart?

I’m trying to make my club better. We’re halfway through the year and our club is basically tearing apart. It was going well at the beginning of the year but now it’s getting boring (and people are leaving).

Besides, “What do I do?”, the real question here is, “How do I keep my club from falling apart halfway through the year?”

Why It Happens

Usually when that happens, it’s because there isn’t structure (consistent and interesting screenings or officer presence) or there aren’t any new ideas coming through the regular meetings (same thing every week in and out).
One other thing: usually when a group falls apart, it may be because there is someone or something that is really negative. People don’t want to feel any negativity since they’re using your group as an escape from it. Pinpoint that negative piece and take it out, even if it is an officer, because that negativity will drive members away for at least 2 or 3 years.

What to Do

After the Officer Meeting: Once you’ve figured out what’s making your group so boring, negative, or complacent and you’ve talked it over with your officers, send out an email saying that things have changed and why. Apologize for the hiccup and show how you’re changing–and how they can become active members to make your anime club the best club at your school. An example of this type of communication is Domino’s, who used study groups to make new and better pizzas, and sent out flyers and emails apologizing and saying how they’ve changed. Now Domino’s is on the same playing field as Pizza Hut and Little Caesar’s.
Activities: Change how a meeting is run like putting a loyal member in charge of a regular meeting or do mini activities like scavenger hunts, guest speakers, and parties. Check out “Fundraising Ideas Inspired by Japanese School Festivals” and “The Ultimate Anime Club Meeting Ideas and Activities List“.
Marketing: The way to get people to return is to also look at your marketing. Are you guys putting up flyers and talking to friends? Are you emailing folks about your meetings and events? I would sit down with your president and the other officers and see how you can get people interested in the club and/or anime again.
If you don’t think these will work or it’s too late for them to work, still do them and come up with a game plan for next year to prevent this from happening. Planning ahead will fix many hiccups along the way.
Hope this helps!
Do you have some other ideas for solving this problem? Leave a comment!


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Anime Club Game Idea: Sugoroku (Japanese Backgammon)

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Anime Club Game Idea: Sugoroku (Japanese Backgammon)

A fun way to get to know your members is to play a Japanese game called Sugoroku. We also included the Japanese version of rock-scissors-paper, janken, so your anime club members don’t scramble around looking for their dice.

What is Sugoroku?

Sugoroku, which translates to “child’s dice game” or “Japanese backgammon”, is a game similar to American board games. Players usually throw dice and move around a board. Because we’re short on dice, we are using janken or rock-scissors-paper to decide who gets to move to the next boxes.

How to Play Sugoroku

❶ Play janken, or rock-paper-scissors.  Winner will be A. Loser will be B.

❷ A (Winner) will ask B (Loser) the question.

❸ B (Loser) will answer the question and sign their name on A’s paper.

❹ A (Winner) can move to the next box/question. Sorry, B, try again!

Worksheet

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There are 2 formats available for this game.

Sugoroku – PDF

Sugoroku – DOCX

 

 

 

 

 

 


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The Ultimate Anime Club Meeting Ideas and Activities List

“So…what’re we doing today?” The quizzical stares, the deer-in-the-headlight eyes, always haunt me at some of the meetings I held my first few attempts at creating a cool club meeting. (If you’re looking for ideas that aren’t in person, see the post “COVID-19: Can Anime Clubs Survive?“)

To avoid disastrous moments of awkward silence and “let’s get out of here” whispers, here are a few ideas you and your officers can do:

Icebreakers

Birthday Race – Make two teams. Within a time limit, the members must make a line sorted by birth dates. The team to make the line first is the winner.

Meishi or Business Card Game – Make pairs. Each pair will get a 3 cards. They’ll write their names on the cards. On the back of each card are stamps. Each stamp is worth different points. The members don’t know how much each stamp is worth until the end of the activity. Members will first introduce their friends (“This is Amy”). One person from each pair will janken or play Rock-Paper-Scissor. The winners will take one of the losers’ cards. Members who lose all of their cards must sit down. Once most of the class has sat down, the activity should end. Show the members the points per stamp. The pair with the most points wins.

Pass the Present – Wrap a small present with 6 to 10 layers of wrapping paper or newspaper. Play a Japanese song as the members pass the present around. When the music stops, the member holding the present must answer a question before unwrapping a layer. The game ends when someone finally unwraps the last layer and claims the present.

Suguroku – Give each member a worksheet. The members will play janken or Rock-Paper-Scissor with each other. The winner will become A. The loser will become B. The loser must answer the winner’s question and sign in the appropriate box. Now the winner can go forward by one box.

Truth or Lie – Members will say or write 3 things about themselves. Only 1 of the 3 statements will be a lie. The other members will guess which is a lie.

Parlor Games

Fruits Basket – The members will sit in a big circle. One chair will be removed, so one person will stand in the middle of the circle. The member in the center of the circle will say a statement about themselves (“I am sixteen years old”). If any of the sitting members can say the same thing about themselves (“I’m sixteen years old too”), they will change seats. When the moderator of the game says “Fruits Basket”, everyone will change seats.

The Hot Seat / Taboo – Members will split into teams. Each team will pick a new “hot seat” person. The “hot seat” person will sit in a chair facing their team. The “hot seat” person can’t see the board. The team will pick a category (ex: Japanese Food, Shoujo Anime). There are 10 words in each category (Shoujo Anime might have High School Debut, Ouran High School Host Club, Skip Beat, Honey x Clover, Otomen, Kimi ni Todoke, Lovely Complex, Peach Girl, NANA, Sailor Moon). The team can’t say any of the words in the category. They can only give hints to the word. Give them a time limit. If the “hot seat” person can say the words on the board within the time limit, they get one point per word.

 Karuta– Make many cards with Japan-related pictures (kimono, chopsticks, rice, sushi, sashimi). Put the members in small groups. Each group will get a set of the cards and they will spread them out evenly on the tables. The caller (whomever is calling out the Japanese words) will say the words in Japanese. The members must hit the correct picture card to get a point. The member with the most picture cards is the winner.

Ninja – This game has the same rules as Red Light, Green Light.

Shiritori – One person says or writes a title or word from an anime, manga, Japanese video game, song, or movie. The next person will say or write a word starting with the last letter from the first person. For example, if Person A says “Dragon Ball”, Person B will say a word starting with L (Love Hina, Legal Drug, Loveless).

Activities

Cosplay contest.

Decorate paper fans.

Do a manga or anime swap.

Do a manzai, or stand-up comedy, day.

Do Japanese calligraphy. Get some Japanese calligraphy brushes, inks, and papers and learn to write basic kanji (calligraphy) or your names.

Do Japanese story-telling, or rakugo. You can watch a video, bring in a rakugo artist, or you can do it yourselves (think of it as funny campfire tales).

Have a haiku contest or haiku reading day.

Knit or crochet stuffed animals or mascots (also known as amigurumi).

Learn the borrowed Japanese words used in English.

Learn the dance steps to popular songs from artists like Vocaloid, AKB48, and ARASHI.

Look up popular Japanese fashions from Harajuku, Tokyo, and Shinjuku.

Make buttons with your favorite anime, manga, or Japanese characters.

Make felt animals or mascots.

Make hanging paper koi.

Make keychains with your favorite anime, manga, or Japanese characters.

Make paper lanterns.

Make T-shirts of favorite anime, manga, or Japanese characters.

Make your Japanese name. Find the meaning of your name in Japanese or make up your own Japanese name. Remember, the kanji, or Chinese characters, are important to the meaning of your Japanese name.

Origami cranes are great for cheering up any depressive souls. Japanese people usually make origami cranes when someone’s in the hospital. Did you know 1,000 cranes equals a wish?

Play go.

Play Inaka Basketball.

Play Othello/Reversi.

Play Sengoku. This is an old conquest game played in Japan. You will need a map of Japan with the prefectures clearly defined and a lot of magnets in three different colors. Put the members into teams of three. Each team will pick a Japanese unifier (Nobunaga, Toyotomi, or Tokugawa) and a color as their team name and “armies”. Pick a prefecture. One person from each team will stand up. The moderator will ask an anime- or Japan-related question. The first person to raise their hand and get the answer right wins the prefecture. The team who “conquers” the most prefectures is the game winner.

Play Shingo, or the Japanese chess.

Scavenger Hunt – Make a list of things to find using Japanese words.

Visit the Japanese Consulate in your area.

Movies/Videos

Watch an anime or Japanese movie. Before watching the video, please get the anime company’s screening permission.

Make an anime radio show or podcast.

Make an anime music video.

Guess that Anime Opener/Closer. Members will make teams. They will choose a category (ex: Shoujo Anime, Shounen Anime). The moderator will play an opening or closing song from an anime. Members will guess what anime it’s from.

 

Add your ideas in the comments below!


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Small Sponsorship for Clubs

smallsponsorship_header Anime Ascendant offers small sponsorships for anime, manga, and Japanese culture clubs with events. Please complete and email the Anime Ascendant Small Sponsorship Application Form along with the necessary documents to contact@animeascendant.com.

Criteria for Application:

-Sponsorship is only for events outside of regular meetings. This can be a party, mixer, screening, fundraiser, or volunteer event.

-Before applying, the applicant club must link Anime Ascendant on the club website.

-For libraries, please send information on the process of donations to a library-affiliated club.

-Applications must be emailed with necessary documents at least 4 weeks before the event, including the day of the event as 1 day. If the documents are missing or the form is only partially completed, the application will be disapproved.

-Event(s) must promote Japanese culture, not just Japanese animation or manga.

This sponsorship only supports club events.

The sponsorship can be used for:

Decorations (streamers, table cloths, flowers, etc.)

Entertainment (guest speakers, DJs, performers, etc.)

Equipment (amplified sound equipment, megaphones, walkie talkies, etc.)

Food (drinks, food, serving utensils, eating utensils, cups, food warmers, etc.)

Prizes (anime, manga, Japanese cultural items, books, etc.)

Marketing (fliers, handouts, banners, posters, etc.)

Other (anything that doesn’t fall into a category above)

Steps in Applying for a Sponsorship

1) Submit this form via email at least 4 weeks before the event, counting the day of the event as 1 day.

2) Once the application has been reviewed, your club/organization president will be contacted. This contact will ask for details about the events and other sponsors.

3) If your sponsorship is approved, your president will be contacted about how to sponsor your club/organization.

The club/organization must place the Anime Ascendant logo on all marketing materials. If the Anime Ascendant logo or link is not placed on the club/organization’s website, all sponsorships will be invalid.


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Taking Over an Old or Inactive Anime Club

So you’re taking over an old or inactive anime club, and it looks like there’s a lot of dust to wipe off.

Make sure your club is still recognized.

For schools and libraries, clubs usually have to be recognized every year, so you’ll need to redo the application process or meet with the person in charge. The good thing is, if the original advisor for your anime club hasn’t left, you don’t need to make another constitution or find another advisor (unless they say they don’t want to be the advisor again).

Community clubs don’t need official recognition.