Going to college is all about forming new relationships and creating strong bonds, and though there are specific groups and clubs on campus that are meant to make friends, there’s one club that inadvertently teaches friendship and connection: the Japanese Manga and Gaming Encounters club (JMAGE).
JMAGE meets every Tuesday for a general meeting where it highlights upcoming events. The club meets again on Fridays to watch anime shows the group chooses, usually viewing the shows from 5 p.m. until midnight, and the group will occasionally meet on Saturdays for an anime-themed game night referred to as “Saturday Showdown.”
However, JMAGE is about much more than just watching anime. The members are in the club for a full appreciation of Japanese anime culture, which includes attending conventions, making trips to Sushiko in Columbus, seeing limited runs of anime films in theaters and simply having discussions about the cultural aspects of anime and manga.
Jacob Lederer, a sixth year studying accounting and mathematics, is the president of the JMAGE club and has been a regular member and treasurer of the club in previous years.
“I love that I can watch new things with other people, because we watch what everyone likes, not just what I like,” Lederer said. “We have a good community to talk about the stuff we like, not just shows we like but other shows as well. It’s a fun way to compare interests.”
Lederer stepped into the presidency this year and immediately took action. He changed the voting structure of what the club watches, he implemented new forms of freshmen retention and created a new cycle of showing the anime to better cater toward the members.
The group starts a new show nearly each month. So far, the group has voted on watching the shows Mob Psycho 100 season two, Princess Principal, The Ancient Magus’ Bride and Darker than Black.
Though OU is only in its sixth week of classes, JMAGE has already had one Saturday Showdown, voted in its shows, made a trip to Columbus to see Promare and have made plans to go to the Louisville GalaxyCon in November and the Ohayocon in Columbus in January.
Valerie Young, JMAGE’s advisor, believes the club is successfully student run in every aspect — from planning the weekly meetings to organizing convention trips.
“They are very welcoming of new members,” Young said. “I do not push or dictate or even suggest activities, the students handle it.”
Young became the advisor through the suggestion of a student, because her daughter was invested in cosplay.
“A student in one of my classes remembered my saying that my daughter, who was in high school at the time, was into cosplay,” Young said. “I occasionally would run into some members of the club at a con [convention] when my daughter was younger, and I drove her to cons.”
Ser Spinelli, a senior double majoring in studio art and media arts and studies who uses they/them pronouns, is the public representative for the club and believes it’s a great break from the stress of college. Their favorite part of the club is going to conventions.
“I think everyone in their life should try to go to a comicon or an anime convention because it’s an experience unlike anything else you’ll get in your life,” Spinelli said. “It’s always difficult to go to one because you have to have a lot of money, but going with the club isn’t as expensive because we divide the cost up between us.”
Spinelli also likes how the club is more than just an anime focus. Through going to conventions and the trips to Sushiko, they love how JMAGE is a haven for all things Japenese anime related.
More than anything, Lederer and Spinelli love how the club is a place for social acceptance for something considered controversial in this day and age.
"At my high school no one cared about anime and everyone made fun of it,” Spinelli said. “You hit college and people stop caring, so they don’t care if it’s cringey or if it falls out of the mainstream. JMAGE is really nice in that regard because most of the people who are into it are open to talk with others about it and learn instead of just turning their head away. It’s the right kind of people in the right kind of place.”
Lederer knows it can be intimidating to join the club at first, but believes if people give it a chance they’ll have the best time exploring the distinctive visual style through friendship.
“It’s hard for people to make that first step to come in, they kinda look like a deer in the headlights, but when people open their eyes to it they can sometimes become die hard fans and it’s awesome,” Lederer said.
Spinelli agrees with Lederer about the group being somewhat intimidating, but they want people to know it’s the exact opposite. They believe JMAGE is just a club for people to come together over one commonality and form lasting friendships.
“It’s important to emphasize that a lot of us know each other, but we’re really open to new members,” Spinelli said. “We are a tight knit group, and that can be intimidating, but I think that’s our strength, because we accept people in easily, and through a common interest we become a great group of friends.”
