Organization Spotlight:

A new and interesting club has wiggled its way onto campus this semester called the Otaku Guild and they are super excited to spread the name and get things started. The Guild is a club for students that are interested in or avid fans of anime, Japanese animated television programs and movies. The group also expresses a lot of interest in other niche things like manga, which are Japanese graphic novels, video games, and cosplaying, where a person dresses like and emulates a favorite character. The Guild also attends conventions, or ‘cons’ as they are often colloquially referred.

For anyone who is unfamiliar with anime, this territory may be seem bit intimidating at first, but joining a new club is a great excuse to park the homework for a few hours and partake in fun activities with great people. The Otaku Guild typically meets on Thursdays at 4:00 PM to discuss the possibility of upcoming events and talk about other club business.

When asked to describe the club and what types of things they enjoy, Brandi Pugh, the Otaku Guild President, responded with, “Our club is a nerd club, essentially. We are mostly centered around things like anime and manga, but we also cover topics like video games, comics, and cosplaying. We want to create a safe and happy place for people to get together and to discuss the things they enjoy. This way they can make new friends, and become somewhat of a family.”

Pugh is determined to spread the word and encourages more members to join. “We roughly have 35 members, and would love to have more! The more the merrier!” she says.

It is not mandatory to know anything about anime to join. Clubs are outlets for people to do the things they love and explore potential new interests while simultaneously meeting new people and creating relationships with those that share those same interests.

Because the club is new this semester, there have only been a few meetings, but future plans are in the making. They also plan to have small fundraisers here and there.

 “Considering we are just now starting up we have not done too many activities or fundraisers, but we do plan on getting to that soon! We will be doing small fundraisers for holidays, as well as perhaps looking into designing some gift bags and other crafts to sell. We also tossed around the idea of doing a bake sale, as well,” explained Pugh.

When asked to summarize the types of activities the group has done and will do, Pugh responded with “as for activities, so far we currently have an anime meet-up, that we do every other week, as well as working together to attend a few cons. At cons we are planning to cosplay together, and we will be hosting a few panels for the entertainment of other con-goers.”

Although the club is still just beginning, Pugh was ecstatic to mention that “Yes! We do have a logo! I designed it myself for our club. We have a mascot too, which was also designed by myself with ideas of the other members. She is currently unnamed, but she is a nekomimi, which is a girl with cat ears and a cat tail.”

For more information about Otaku Guild, contact Brandi Pugh on Facebook or swing by one of the regular meetings.