Bethel Anime Club

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10 dvds for $50 (but you need to buy 10) with free shipping.
The retailer (Rightstuf) is in Iowa, so free shipping is usually quite fast (once they ship the stuff). The Rightstuf is very reliable.

Greetings to all–
Tonight is the night of the big “Grave of the Fireflies” showing! Remember, it starts at 7:00 in CC313, and there will be discussion afterwards. Grab any friends who like thinking and discussing (and maybe crying–you mustn’t forget that this is an extremely sad film) on your way over. I’m really looking forward to it; see you there!
(In other news, “FLAG” episode 3 has come out and been uploaded to our server; we also noticed that the copy of “Mushishi” episode 14 on there was corrupt and uploaded a clean one. Only one episode to go until “Mushishi” is finished!)
–Matthew

Greetings!

Welcome to the Bethel Anime Club for its fifth year in operation (and its second as an official club)! On behalf of the whole club I extend my warmest greetings to the new folks on this e-mail list—as I said at the Opportunity Fair table, we are genuinely thrilled to have you with us! I am sure that I speak for us all when I say that getting to know you will be a pleasure of the highest order.

This e-mail is intended to put everything you need to know about the Club and the way we’ll operate over the school year in one place (and in the pedantic, heavily parenthetic style you will soon come to recognize as the Anime Club President’s). I’ll start with general information, and then mention a few important things about the way the web site and the e-mail list work.

Grave of the Fireflies Showing:

We are kicking off the semester with a big showing of Grave of the Fireflies, a classic with a place in Roger Ebert’s “Great Movies” books and a movie that is guaranteed (insofar as it’s possible to be guaranteed) to make you cry. We’re really hoping to get a bunch of people for this one, so tell your friends, bring your family, bring people you run into on the streets—it’ll blow anyone’s prejudices about anime out of the water. We will have a post-film discussion (Film Forum-style) led by Joey Horstman, the director of the Film Studies minor at Bethel; I strongly encourage you to stay for that. The event will be in CC313 this Saturday, September 9^th, and we’ll start at 7:00.

 
Regular Meetings:

Regular meetings will begin at 7:00 in AC337 on Saturday, September 16^th, and take place at the same time every Saturday thereafter. Most meetings will last somewhere between two and two and a half hours; the first meeting may run a little bit long because of introductions (both to the people and to the series). We’ll be keeping up with our regularly scheduled shows most weeks, but during Fall Break and Thanksgiving Break (when many people will be gone) we’ll have special viewings of movies or very short series. You aren’t required to do anything for these regular meetings except attend with a cheery demeanor, ready for good company and good anime!

 
The Web Site:

The Anime Club Web site is located at http://bethelanime.ath.cx/ and it’s supposed to be the place to go for discussion and information. Over the next week you’ll be seeing info about the series we’re watching and a complete schedule for the semester going up there, as well as discussion pages for each show, so check back regularly. A few notes about the way the website works:

            —The front page is a collection of all of the e-mails that have been sent to this e-mail list; thus after a little while this introductory message will drift off the bottom and be replaced by weekly reminder e-mails with incomprehensible titles like, “don’t eat Mushi, eat Uokichi!”

            —The permanent content is accessible via the “Pages” menu on the upper right. If you have funny problems getting to sub-menus (right now “Archives” is the only one with a sub-menu), it’s because you’re using Internet Explorer. I’m going to join the Bethel ITS Help Desk itself here and recommend that you use Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/) for all of your browsing needs, and particularly for visiting the Anime Club web site. (Personal plug: I use Opera, available at http://www.opera.com/, which works fantastically with our site and which is clearly the greatest, and definitely the fastest, browser ever.)

            —When the discussion pages are available, you’ll hopefully want to leave replies on them. Although it is possible to post a reply without registering for the site, it’s easier if you register by going to the “Register” link under the “Meta” menu. The catch is that the automated e-mail system is not working, for reasons too complex for our feeble minds to comprehend; once you’re registered please send an e-mail to myself (fismat@bethel.edu) or Matthew Williams (wilmat@bethel.edu) and we will give you a password (which you can then change if you so desire).

            —Cool things: the “Archives” menu contains all of the stuff associated with the Summer Anime Club for 2006, including some very in-depth episode descriptions (unfortunately only for the first three-quarters of the summer) as well as odd mini-essay things for certain episodes (check out, for example, NieA_7 weeks 8 and 9, and week 6 of Mushishi).  “Free (unlicensed) anime downloads” is exactly what it sounds like—fast, legal, high-quality downloads of the unlicensed anime we viewed over the summer and of one or two other random shows we think are good. During the course of the school year episodes of Yume Tsukai and Windy Tales, the two unlicensed series we are viewing, will be available for downloading the day after we watch them. As soon as I’ve got pages prepared for our series, they’ll go in the “Currently Viewed Anime” section.

 
The E-mail List:

There are a few quirks about the Bethel Anime Club e-mail list. One I have already mentioned: every message sent to it automatically gets put on the web site. The other really important one is this: hitting the “reply” button on any message sent to the e-mail list will reply to the whole list by default. Be sure to check to whom you’re sending when you respond to one of these messages! In the past the e-mail list has occasionally been used for our random discussions; although it’d be nice to keep such things on the web site so as not to swamp everybody’s inboxes, if a spontaneous discussion does break out I probably won’t stop it. You all have the power to send to the e-mail list; if you have something relevant (an amazing deal on DVDs, for example, or a link to a really good online essay) that you think we should all see right away, don’t hesitate to do so.

 
Final Words:

Reminders/previews will be sent out to the e-mail list each week on Friday evening or late Saturday morning. If you have any questions at all (or even if for some incomprehensible reason you want to be removed from the e-mail list), please e-mail me at fismat@bethel.edu—I am here to help. If you have a problem with the web site, particularly with the downloads, it’s probably faster to directly e-mail our Vice–President–cum–Webmaster Matthew Williams at wilmat@bethel.edu. (You don’t have to be named Matthew to be an Anime Club officer. But considering the fact that our previous President was named Matthew Zipf, it apparently helps.) I’m looking forward to a wonderful semester with all of you—I will see you on Saturday!

—Matthew Fisher, Bethel Anime Club President

Hey All– A hearty “welcome back to school” to all of you who were off in other places during the summer–the Anime Club was much less people-y without you (and we desire to be as people-y as possible). We look forward to once again having a full crowd!
We’ve got a great lineup this semester, and I’ve got some exciting news, so listen up!
Today I staffed the first Anime Club Opportunity Fair booth, giving away free Pocky, making people watch chunks of my video, introducing the club, showing off this season’s shows, and generally being intrusive in the universally accepted Opportunity Fair style. I generated as much interest as I had hoped (getting several people to commit verbally, which I realize actually means very little but still made me happy) and, what is more, ten people–of their own free will!–went to the highest level of commitment and signed up for the e-mail list! (Looking over the names I see that our Club continues its trend of attracting a few more girls than guys. Not that I’m complaining. I like beating the demographics.) What this means for you is that I’m going to try to be a tiny bit stricter for the next few weeks on e-mail list usage; I love our spontaneous discussions, but as long as there are Young Feathers about we probably shouldn’t overwhelm them with a barrage of e-mail about Kurapica’s gender (still female, last I checked). For at least that time let’s try to put discussion on the website, and I’ll use the e-mail list for reminders, upload announcements, etc.
The next e-mail you see from this source will be partly an intro to the club for all the new people (we are adding them to the list right after this e-mail is sent), and partly a bunch of general information about this semester’s series, meeting times, and our big Grave of the Fireflies showing on Saturday–you all should read it for that info. You should see it later on tonight [tomorrow morning at the very latest].
Here’s to an increasingly excellent-looking new school year! I’ll see you on Saturday…
–Matthew

No, you mustn’t say that! Windy Tales 13 WILL be released by the end of the school year! I Will It To Be So!

The download server is broken – it aborts partway through.
Matthew Fisher wrote: > Hey all– > I completely forgot to tell you the real info about the Mystery Show > on Thursday. The series is called “Magical Play,” and it stars a > cheerful (and relentlessly empty-headed) young girl named Padudu who has > come to Sweetland to earn the chance to be a Magical Girl on earth. > Naturally the only way she can do this is by fulfilling certain > predetermined quests (particularly fighting other Magical Girl > candidates) in order to collect “hanamaru” (the twirly things we see > floating above her head in the opening). When Padudu first arrives in > Sweetland she inadvertently wins a magical battle by falling out of the > sky and crushing a girl named Pipin (who wears a live rabbit as a > backpack; the rabbit’s ears are detachable and become a double-bladed > fighting staff) flat, upon which Pipin becomes her greatest rival. (When > the two try to fight the battle is broken up by my favorite characters, > the someone clueless police officers Ketchup and Mustard.) Padudu is > delighted to have a rival. > > The second episode, the one which we watched, introduces us to Queen > Purilin and her faithful minion, Zucchini. The Queen is revered by all > the people and rules relatively beneficently, but she uses various > underhanded techniques to ensure that her power will never be > threatened. One of these is weaning off all of the new Magical Girl > candidates that show too much promise; as the episode opens Zucchini is > punishing himself for failing to notice someone who obtained twelve > hanamaru in just a few months. This person is “Myumyu,” the woman with > the flatcats for clothing. She’s secretly a conniving trickster who will > do anything to get her hanamaru, but when Padudu falls hook, line, and > sinker for her story about having her mother’s dress stolen from her > Myumyu decides that the girl’s so stupid she’ll be useful. (“As the > Japanese say about a fool and a pair of scissors: this one might be good > for something.”) Zucchini shows up to defeat Myumyu but, as we all saw, > is distracted by her flatcats’ attempts to eat Uokichi, Padudu’s fish. > Zucchini is thrown off the cliff as Padudu pronounces Myumyu her “new > best rival,” and as the episode ends Zucchini begins smashing his head > against a rock in punishment for considering anyone other than his > master, Queen Purilin, to be cute. > > So why are they wearing live animals? Well, the only answer we’re given > is that every magical girl must have a “life-partner” to fulfill various > functions for them. Pipin’s rabbit-backpack serves as a weapon and as a > place to store things (in one episode everyone goes inside and discovers > that the rabbit’s interior resembles Guu’s stomach). Myumyu’s flat cats > serve both as clothing and food disposals (a surprisingly useful > function). And Uokichi serves as clothing and an endless food source–no > matter how much Uokichi Padudu eats, he’ll never be all eaten. > > And that’s the story of “Magical Play.” If you liked it, go out and > watch it–it’s a minimal time commitment, and it’s bizarre enough to > keep you interested. And I haven’t even mentioned the episode in which > the “Sister Prince” team battles the “Brother Princesses,” or the one in > which Padudu and Myumyu end up in a literally three-dimensional world > and are at something at a loss as to what to do… > –Matthew

Maybe it will park forever like Windy Tales.
Matthew Williams wrote: > Just an FYI, the long awaited Mushshi 25 is now available for direct > download from the website. Just one more episode and this wonderful > series will be complete! > > -Matthew W

Just an FYI, the long awaited Mushshi 25 is now available for direct download from the website. Just one more episode and this wonderful series will be complete!
-Matthew W

Hey all– I completely forgot to tell you the real info about the Mystery Show on Thursday. The series is called “Magical Play,” and it stars a cheerful (and relentlessly empty-headed) young girl named Padudu who has come to Sweetland to earn the chance to be a Magical Girl on earth. Naturally the only way she can do this is by fulfilling certain predetermined quests (particularly fighting other Magical Girl candidates) in order to collect “hanamaru” (the twirly things we see floating above her head in the opening). When Padudu first arrives in Sweetland she inadvertently wins a magical battle by falling out of the sky and crushing a girl named Pipin (who wears a live rabbit as a backpack; the rabbit’s ears are detachable and become a double-bladed fighting staff) flat, upon which Pipin becomes her greatest rival. (When the two try to fight the battle is broken up by my favorite characters, the someone clueless police officers Ketchup and Mustard.) Padudu is delighted to have a rival.
The second episode, the one which we watched, introduces us to Queen Purilin and her faithful minion, Zucchini. The Queen is revered by all the people and rules relatively beneficently, but she uses various underhanded techniques to ensure that her power will never be threatened. One of these is weaning off all of the new Magical Girl candidates that show too much promise; as the episode opens Zucchini is punishing himself for failing to notice someone who obtained twelve hanamaru in just a few months. This person is “Myumyu,” the woman with the flatcats for clothing. She’s secretly a conniving trickster who will do anything to get her hanamaru, but when Padudu falls hook, line, and sinker for her story about having her mother’s dress stolen from her Myumyu decides that the girl’s so stupid she’ll be useful. (“As the Japanese say about a fool and a pair of scissors: this one might be good for something.”) Zucchini shows up to defeat Myumyu but, as we all saw, is distracted by her flatcats’ attempts to eat Uokichi, Padudu’s fish. Zucchini is thrown off the cliff as Padudu pronounces Myumyu her “new best rival,” and as the episode ends Zucchini begins smashing his head against a rock in punishment for considering anyone other than his master, Queen Purilin, to be cute.
So why are they wearing live animals? Well, the only answer we’re given is that every magical girl must have a “life-partner” to fulfill various functions for them. Pipin’s rabbit-backpack serves as a weapon and as a place to store things (in one episode everyone goes inside and discovers that the rabbit’s interior resembles Guu’s stomach). Myumyu’s flat cats serve both as clothing and food disposals (a surprisingly useful function). And Uokichi serves as clothing and an endless food source–no matter how much Uokichi Padudu eats, he’ll never be all eaten.
And that’s the story of “Magical Play.” If you liked it, go out and watch it–it’s a minimal time commitment, and it’s bizarre enough to keep you interested. And I haven’t even mentioned the episode in which the “Sister Prince” team battles the “Brother Princesses,” or the one in which Padudu and Myumyu end up in a literally three-dimensional world and are at something at a loss as to what to do… –Matthew

Our first choice is AC 337. Second choice is CC 431.
Matthew Williams wrote: > Can anyone confirm or deny which room we will be in this semester? I > wanted to get some posters printed out this weekend so they are ready > for Monday, thanks! > > -Matthew W