MIT Anime Club Showing #541 Friday 23 May 2008 Summer Showing #1 Note: this showing is in room 6-120 at 7:00PM 7:10 Macross Frontier 1-2 8:00 Pizza token sales (for the first 5 minutes) 8:10 Le Chevalier D'Eon 13-14 (or Macross Frontier 3-4) 9:00 Intermission 9:20 Le Chevalier D'Eon 15-18 (or Toshokan Sensou 1-4) 11:00 Short intermission 11:05 Venus Versus Virus 1-2 (or Special A 1-2) *********************************************************************** Contents: Open Officer Positions Geneon going-out-of-business DVD donation drive Membership Pizza Pizza Ordering Procedure Library Silence Programme ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Summer Showing #1 Another summer, another golden opportunity to watch anime without worrying too much about having psets to do or all that other jazz we have to worry about during the regular school year. We won't get into Summer series until after graduation but until then we have some exciting stuff for you. Like finishing Chevalier!! At least, finishing Le Chevalier D'Eon was our plan. But as of writing this announcement, ADV hasn't gotten back to us with permissions yet. So alternatively, we might be sampling some other recent series. We'll still try to show the rest of Le Chevalier D'Eon as soon as our schedule and ADV's permissions permit. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Open Officer Positions Help make the club better! For the next month or so we will be looking to fill the positions which remain after elections. The one elected position which remains is: - Secretary To hold these positions, you must be an MIT student (undergraduate or graduate). In addition, there are a number of important appointed offices (industrial liaison(s), acquisitions, communications), along with many voluntary positions that help keep the club running, keep the showings happening, and keep the library functioning. Please send a note to anime-inquiry to register your interest in running for office, and talk to the club officers about what it's like to be an officer. We have a page describing the election procedure here: http://web.mit.edu/anime/www/elections.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geneon going-out-of-business DVD donation drive So if you've been thinking about sponsoring a disc but haven't now's your chance, what better way to prove your love for a series than buying it for us. ^^ In late September, it was announced that Geneon, one of the largest US anime companies, is getting out of the DVD sales business. Unfortunately, there were still a lot of DVDs we wanted to buy from them! To supplement our normal acquisitions budget of money from the UA, memberships, and refreshments, we're also asking for your help in picking up good series that might be going away for good. For more information, see: http://web.mit.edu/anime/www/donations/geneon-oob-2007.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Membership Did your club membership expire in January? Renew now for continued library checkouts and other membership privileges. Or start a new membership for the term, the year, or a longer period. Ask for a form at the showing or print it in advance from our web site at: http://web.mit.edu/anime/register/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Pizza We'll be using the same token-based pizza sales system we have been using for awhile: we'll sell tokens two episodes before intermission that you can exchange for slices during intermission. This week's pizza options are: $1.50 Plain cheese $2.00 Pepperoni $2.00 Hamburger (this week's feature flavor) Future weeks will feature: - Sausage - Grilled Chicken - Hawaiian (ham + pineapple) - Hamburger ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Pizza Ordering Procedure To bring you a more reliable pizza experience, we're going to be taking orders using a new procedure. Instead of taking a poll on the blackboard and then selling slices for cash, we'll sell tokens early in the evening which can be exchanged for slices during intermission. If there are extra slices, we'll sell tokens for them at intermission, but advance orders will get priority. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Library The library will be open as usual this week and next, but it will close for our annual inventory during the first week of June. Any outstanding library items you have out, including things you borrow tonight, need to be returned by Sunday, June 8th. There will also be no checkouts on June 13th, but we expect to have the library running again by June 20th. The sampler DVD+RW from the beginning of the month is still available. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Silence Did you know that one of the club's officers' dead sister was a skilled swordswoman who pledged her life to defend anime watchers from distraction? Keep quiet during the showing if you don't want to find out who. OR: In case Gonzo's anti-fansub paratroopers drop in during the showing and try to take away our copy of "Special A", Jennie and Stephen will be hiding in the projection room with night-vision goggles and semi-automatic rifles to repel their assault. However, you also know how librarians feel about people who make too much noise, so stay quiet during the anime unless you want to be "shushed" in a fast and brutal way. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Programme 7:10 Macross Frontier 1-2 In the year 2059, the gigantic colony fleet "Macross Frontier" is making its way towards the center of the galaxy, and recently minted pop star Sheryl Nome has just arrived to give her first local concert. Among the Frontier residents in attendance are pilot student Alto Saotome and a green-haired super Sheryl fan Ranka Lee. But the concert has barely started when the ship is attacked by a group of mysterious of insectoid aliens who break in and start rampaging through the ship-city. It looks like the only thing that will stop them are some mecha that transform from jet fighters into a walking form. The Macross franchise celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, making it only a few years younger than Mobile Suit Gundam, but it hasn't been nearly as prolific: this is only its third regular-length TV series. It's hard to believe there's any less innate storytelling potential in giant colony ships, transforming fighters, and pop idols than there is in clunky mechs and political intrigue, and Macross should have a built-in US audience from the Robotech days: it must all be about the plastic toys. This latest incarnation isn't much of a departure from the formula (you'll see all the key elements by the first half of episode 1), but modern production standards are clearly visible, including well-integrated 3D CG. The character designs reflect the tastes of modern fans, though: Ranka is a young-looking 16, and Alto's bishonen look (other characters tease him about it) would make him a fine Gundam Meister. Another nice touch: one of the colony ship cities is a carefully-studied ersatz San Francisco. 8:10 Le Chevalier D'Eon 13-18 ADVISORY: This series has some depictions of life like violence featuring a lot of blood. Well, it's pretty life like, as life like as zombie killing will ever be. Anyway, be warned that it might be a tad be messy at times. During the time when Louis XV still ruled France, a certain woman was found dead in the coffin floating through the Seine river. D'Eon, the woman's brother, determines to seach for the killer of his sister, Lia. But there are some strange movements in France. And things become more strange when Lia's soul enters D'Eon's body... 9:20 Alternate: Toshokan Sensou (Library War) 1-2 In a somewhat implausible alternate-present-day scenario, a low-level armed conflict has broken out between the Japanese national government's heavily armed censorship squads and militias organized at the local government level to defend libraries and the books they contain. Recent recruit Iku Kasahara is charged with idealism from a childhood incident where an LDF officer came to her defense in a bookstore, but she has difficulties with the rigors of training, even before she is unexpectedly recruited to join an elite task force. This Production I.G adaptation of a light novel series is airing on Fuji TV's Noitamina block, which has had a string of successes with innovative shows that transcend neat (or gender-based) genre categorization, including Paradise Kiss, Jyu Oh Sei, Hataraki Man, Nodame Cantabile, and Moyashimon. 11:05 Venus Versus Virus 1-2 To passersby, the Venus Vanguard looks like your everyday gothic fashion boutique, and Lucia Nahashi would be happy to sell you a cross pendant. But if you're having problems with supernatural "viruses" taking over a loved one, they can provide a different kind of help. The Vanguard's latest client turned member is Sumire Takahana, who was just an unassuming high-school girl until she gained the ability to see and help fight the viruses. Though she seems clumsy most of the time, she has a hidden ability that might be just the power needed to stop the growing virus threat. This 12-episode series adapts an ongoing manga of the same name (also released in the US, by Seven Seas). In terms of premise, is has two obvious kinds of predecessor: first, supernatural shonen action series in the style of Bleach, Claymore, and recently-licensed D.Gray-Man; second, the "girls with guns" genre typified by Noir and Madlax. (Though neither of those explain where the Vanguard got their fashion sense.) Another point of comparison with Noir is that there is clearly a yuri subtext intended in the interplay between Lucia and Sumire, though in this case it's destined to stay confined to the subtext level permanently. 11:05 Alternate: Special A 1-2 Hikari Hanazono is an almost ideal high-school student: kind, energetic, and excelling at both sports and academics, she's not just in her elite school's "A" class: she's one of just seven students in the "Special A" class, which gets its own uniform and building. There's just one problem, though. Ever since she was a kid, she has known Kei Takishima, a boy who is a little bit better than her at everything. Hikari takes every opportunity to compete with him, but always ends up in second place to his number one. This is based on a shojo manga, though, so maybe they'll be able to grow from rivalry into something else. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- (This showing is made possible in part with funding from Finboard and the Undergraduate Association of MIT.) You have received this message because you are on the MIT Anime Club's email list for showing announcements. For a change in your subscription, please send mail to anime-inquiry at mit.edu.