Land of the Rising Cartoon

Widener might have all the materials your courses require, but where to go when you're looking for a library with a little less Hegel and a little more cartoons?

For the best library of animated films on campus, the undisputed champion is the Harvard Anime Society--dedicated to the adult-oriented Japanese cartoons known as anime (Japanese for animation).

In the past, the club has held free biweekly showings of anime films, and this year, it aspires to hold its screenings weekly, tentatively scheduled for Saturday afternoons in Loker Commons. This semester's offerings will include Nadesico, "a romantic comedy set in the future during a war between Earth and Jupiter."

Club screenings are free, but a $10 annual membership fee also gives students access to a 400-volume tape library. Club members can borrow up to three tapes per week at each weekly showing and return the tapes at the next.

The society has also negotiated deals with local anime purveyors--club members get 10 percent discounts on videos and other anime-related items at Tokyo Kid on JFK Street and Anime Crash on Mt. Auburn Street.

Serious anime fans who are interested in more than just bargain-priced video rentals can also try their hand at drawing their own anime-style cartoons with fellow club members. If you'd like to learn to subtitle anime, though, Widener's copy of "Spoken Japanese Simplified" might be a place to start.