American University Anime Society’s Blog

Hey everyone. I know the AUAS blog isn’t as active as people would like, but we will try to establish a better system. Having said that, this post will be a general discussion of the state of the AUAS, and its plans for the future.

This semester, the AUAS has kept most of its core members, having a rather high retention rate–however, a major problem is the lack of new blood. The AUAS therefore must take new and innovative actions to gain new membership. And while most of the truly interesting stuff won’t occur until next semester, there are some plans this semester that hopefully will intrigue you.

However, first thing to say is a quick announcement. The AUAS will NOT be holding a meeting on April 6th, due to more of the club officers and (probably) members going home for Easter. Also, Le Cavalier D’Eon will not be shown as a long term show due to the fact that the fansubs are simply not keeping up the broadcasting of the show. It will though, likely return next semester at some point.

Now then, to more pertinent events. This year, the AUAS is doing an event called Springfest (yes, we’re not original when it comes to naming things) on April 11th, in honor of Cherry Blossoms Festival and Sakura Matsuri. This meeting will be on a Wednesday, and currently we are planing on show the Love Hina Spring Movie, and either Howl’s Moving Castle or Princess Mononoke at 8PM. Springfest, however, is still being made as this is being written–so any suggestions for the event should be made, and will happily be considered! A regular meeting will be held on the 13th as well.

The other big event the AUAS is doing is its usual end of the semester event, Uberfest. However, Uberfest will be taking on a different form this semester. Instead of the old 24 hour marathon in which only a few stayed for, we’re changing the format to a 12 hour all day event, being held May 5th. We’re also hoping to have the AU Gamers be there with us, though an official deal has yet to be made. We’re planning on showing the following movies at Uberfest this year

Hellsing: 3rd Ultimate (at 12PM)

The Girl who Leapt Through Time (2PM)

Paprika (4PM)

Jin-Roh (6PM)

Inuyasha the Movie 3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler (8PM)

The first Live-Action Deathnote Movie (10PM)

This format is different, but I believe it will be open to the rest of the campus community, and allow more regular fans come and relax the weekend before. Again, please comment any ideas you have for Uberfest this year. I know that some of you may be disappointed with the change, but I feel that it’s for the best. I think also we have a pretty good varied selection.

As for next semester, the AUAS will be implentating more radical plans. Starting next semester, the AUAS is considering having TWO meetings a week next year. There will be two shorter meetings Friday and either Tuesday or Wednesday. These two meetings would NOT be related to each other though, at least for the great majority of meetings; thus one could not attend any Friday meetings and go to the Tuesday meeting and be ok in terms of showings.

For Tuesday/Wednesday, we would start at either 7 or 8 PM, and show a movie (A One-Shot) and a long-term series, with the idea of the first being Deathnote. This meeting is meant more for the casual fan who wants to party on the weekend. The Friday meeting will be shorter than our current version, having only a Short Term and Long Term Show, for most members leave after our 2nd showing already. The current thinking is that the first two shows next semester would be Black Lagoon (Season 2, Short-Term) and either Le Chavalier D’ Eon or Code Geese. Again, if you have a strong opinion about this, feel free to comment away!
In addition, plans will be made to have other events as well, such as a How-To Cosplay event and a discussion on the trends and development of Manga, though these need to be planned out much more over the summer. Sometime in the summer as well, the entire year’s schedule will be created, and shown at all times on the website as well, so that people can discuss the schedule.

I want to ensure all of you who care that the AUAS will continue to serve you and your desires (well, of the anime and manga type anyways) and that it exists because of you, the members. The AUAS will continue to survive because of its members, and if you have read this, I sincerely appreciate it. Again, if you have any comments, feel free to either post here or on the message board. Thank you for taking your time to read this.

Sincerely,

Michael DeMinico, President