Hello everyone, my name is Brandon Juarez, I’m in the Information Systems BS program in the technical track, and I’m the president of the CUNY SPS Anime Club. The Anime Club’s mission is for students who love anime and manga to come together and chat with one another to show their love for Japanese media.

We are a club that accepts various opinions and doesn’t harass one another over their favorite shows. Students should consider joining as there are not many anime clubs on other CUNY campuses, and everyone here is very cool and accepting of many conversations. We chat with one another on Discord about underrated shows, music from anime-related media, video games, and you can even show off some memorabilia or clothes that show you love anime.

During Club Week, we started off small and soon students started joining to show their love of anime. We all met on Zoom, and I discussed what the Anime Club should be about. Students here want to relax and enjoy topics based on anime.

One recent event we had a couple weeks back was a virtual movie stream on Zoom. The film was Princess Mononoke and was chosen by members of the club. They even decided on what language they wanted to see the film. In fact, we have an in-person film viewing at campus coming up. We have decided on Summer Wars and are now deciding on the language to portray the film in.

I decided to start this club because everywhere I looked, there were barely any clubs based on anime in my neighborhood. There weren’t even any at my old BMCC campus. Back then, I was too afraid to start one. However, I decided to grow out of that fear and start one, as students deserve a place where they won’t be scrutinized and can get along with each other. Anime is about shows that are meant to make people pass time and to enjoy. They’re stories that help people relate to and to be invested in. We cheer for good guys, bad guys, antiheroes and side characters due to fantastic writing. It helps us escape reality and to view wonderful stories.

We will do our best to ensure that students come and enjoy a film that was chosen by our members. As for our next meeting, it will be on April 19 to discuss future activities and actions for the club. We exist to have students here at CUNY SPS to talk with one another in a safe space. If you want to join the Anime Club, please join the Discord link here.