Cel Shaded Jason Yadao

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Library invites anime fans to join club

THIS WEEK your friendly neighborhood anime and manga columnist would like to welcome a new club that will be appearing regularly in the "Meeting Roll Call" roundups.

The Aiea Library anime club, organized by the library's young-adult librarian, Diane Masaki, will be holding its third meeting on Saturday at 3 p.m.

"The anime club is mostly geared towards teens, although adults are certainly welcome to join us," Masaki told me via e-mail.

Attendees at the Kawaii Kon anime convention in April might remember a booth set up in Artists Alley hosted by the state library system; this club is the first visible fruit of that effort.

"Mostly it was the fact that several people who attended Kawaii Kon wanted Aiea Library to start (a club)," Masaki wrote. "Also, there is the popularity of manga among the young adults at Aiea Library, so I decided to give it a try."

Masaki has been using material from Anime ADVocates, the branch of ADV Films devoted to helping anime clubs, as the basis for her programming. Among the materials is a DVD with trailers for, and full episodes of, ADV shows.

What exactly will be shown during the 90-minute meeting, though, will remain a mystery until Saturday.

"I plan to show the trailers, then two of the episodes on the DVD," Masaki said. Refreshments also will be served.

Masaki herself is a casual anime fan, although she faithfully records episodes of "Inu-Yasha" and enjoyed a recent marathon of "Bleach" episodes. Her favorite, though, is a decidedly old-school choice: "Ikkyu-san," the story of a boy training to be a monk who can be mischievous around his teachers yet generous to others.

"I LOVED 'Ikkyu-san' when it was on in the '70s," Masaki wrote, "but that was also the time when 'Kikaida' was ultracool."

The library is at 99-143 Moanalua Road; call 483-7333 or e-mail dianem@librarieshawaii.org ...

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We're sticking with the "back to school" theme in "Drawn & Quartered," albeit with a much happier spin. Wilma J. takes a look at the romantic school comedies "Happy Hustle High" and "Love Roma" in the Sunday Today section ...