“There were students who loved anime, and they were talking to me because they knew I liked anime, so they asked me if they could start a club and have me as the adviser,” said Mr. Adam Rudar.

Mr. Rudar teaches Introduction to Social Studies and Psychology at Notre Dame Academy. “I don’t remember what year it was. I think it was six years ago. A lot of people wanted to join the club and it has had pretty consistent membership.” Rudar later recalled the club started during 2010-2011 school year.

Anime is a genre of film and an art style that originated from Japan. Anime began in the early 20th century with the first cartoon animations ever made.

Manga, a comic format of anime, began in the 1970s and has remained fairly popular since then. Anime has remained very popular all around the world since it was first created in the 20th century.

Rudar said that at most of the meetings members “just sit and watch cartoons.” He also encourages students who are interested to come to a meeting. “If you like cartoons, you should join.”

“Many members talk about what they like and don’t like about a show before a meeting and outside of meetings,” said Rudar. He believes Anime Club has a very active environment at meetings.

“My favorite part of Anime Club is introducing people to something new, especially a new series. I also love the movies that we have shown and will be showing in the future,” said Dennis Guo, the president of Anime Club.

Guo became the president this year after the former president, his brother Willis, graduated. He will be the president until he graduates from Notre Dame.

“Originally it was my brother urging me to do something after school, but, soon after, I fell in love with the art platform again,” said Guo.

“As president of Anime Club I decide when we meet and what we will watch for that week. I always take ideas from the members and try to give it some thought. I will also try to introduce new series that people may not have heard of or seen before,” explained Guo.

“If you find a good anime, you can think of things you never thought of before,” said Rudar.