By Karen Lopez
Since its origins in 2002, the Long Beach State Anime Club has encouraged students to participate and rekindle their love for the well-known Japanese animation style, anime.
Club meetings typically involve watch parties, discussions on different shows and themed game activities like board games and “Jeopardy,” according to the club’s Event Director, Cory Suzuki.
An applied statistics graduate student at CSULB, Suzuki said the club has varied attendance, with some meetings hosting up to 80-to-100 students while others hold smaller crowds.
Suzuki cites his personal experience with the club as giving him a “sense of belonging.” Over time, he said, this feeling grew into collaboration and friendships alongside others with the same interests.
Suzuki’s feeling of “belonging” is shared among other members of the club as well, like second-year pre-illustration major, Ines Cuenca.
“They welcome you with open [arms],” Cuenca said. “I felt nervous going in when I was a club member but seeing how lovely they are, I just loved it.”
Cuenca was introduced to her first anime, Attack on Titan, by her cousin. She cites this show as providing her inspiration for her greater love of drawing, painting and coloring.
Now, Cuenca is in charge of graphic design for the club.
The Anime Club also welcomes students like Samuel Sorich, who said he likes to participate in cosplay– the practice of dressing up as characters from media like movies, books, anime and video games.
“I’m a member of the cosplay community,” Sorich said. “I’m mostly interested in meeting other cosplayers. I know a few cosplayers on campus.”
Sorich, a third-year marine biology major, said he enjoys attending club meetings but often cannot attend regularly due to the workload of being a STEM major.
Despite this, Sorich said he does see other members of the cosplay community at anime conventions. According to Suzuki, the club plans to hold their own mini-convention on campus in the coming months, titled “Beach AniWaves.”
Taking place on Feb. 22, the club said the mini-convention has been a five-year-long planned project.
The Beach AniWaves mini-convention is a subsidiary of CSULB Anime Club, and is being overseen by Cuenes. The event is in collaboration alongside CSULB’s Esports Association and Tabletop Game Club.
They invite all students and non-students to enjoy a day of Wotagei dance, cosplay, photo booth and video game tournaments, like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Popularized by Japanese idols and their fans in the ’70s, Wotagei is a Japanese dance form with rhythmic choreography, singing and colorful accessories.
This time around, Suzuki has faith that this year’s mini-convention will be successful because for the first time, they were approved by the university.
“I think it was Presidents’ Day back in 2019– he wanted to do a Beach Con and we did do a smaller scale,” Suzuki said. “Over the years, it’s been attempted as well with student life and development services here. It’s been such a challenge to get it off the ground with working parts of administrative duties.”
Every Thursday at 7 p.m., the CSULB Anime Club meets at the Hall of Science in room 100. Updates, future events and student tickets starting at $10 for The Beach AniWaves mini-convention can be found on their Instagram.
