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Club fills niche for lovers of alternative, more graphic cartoons
BYJACKQLA1R
7
If you’re a cartoon nut and have seen every rerun of
“Tom & Jerry” and “Looney Tones,” there’s a club on cam
pus that might fulfill your need for alternative cartoon
entertainment.
Otaku Jinrui, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s
Anime Club, has been dedicated to bringing the newest
Japanese animation for free student viewing since the fall
of 1998.
But if you go to a meeting, don't be expecting the
same toons you watched in your pajamas Saturday
mornings when you were a child.
If you do, you’re in for a shock comparable to going to
the movie “The Cell” expecting to see “Autumn in New
York.”
The cartoons have violent content, which is one rea
son you don’t see many of the shows on cable television.
But that is not the only reason.
Michelle Myers, a senior English and history major,
said Anime tends to be expensive in the United States.
“That’s why we show it, so people can decide whether
or not they want to buy it,” she said.
Many students had never heard of Anime until popu
lar shows such as Pokemon came to the United States.
Now, Fox Kids is coming up with stuff that was shown
in Japan 20-30 years ago, Myers said.
“Pokemon is low-quality Anime,” said Josh Hesse, a
senior electrical engineering major. “And when the U.S.
does play Anime, it is highly edited.”
Anime are popular cartoons made in Japan., Hesse
said. They have awesome graphics and often play alter
native or rock music for background.
Also, a lot of the shows have real messages instead of
just fictional plots.
But the main difference is a lot of the Anime shown is
very violent.
For example, “Berzerk” showed blood, graphic
scenes, death and plots that would not be suitable for
children.
Hesse said the reason Japan can show such graphic
Anime, and the U.S. cannot, has to do with a code passed
in the 1950s.
“The United States passed a code that said all comics
shown in the U.S. had to relate to the kids market,” Hesse
said. “In Japan, that never happened.”
Japanese Anime is not just graphic, mind-corrupting
entertainment; there are different toons that can be
enjoyed by all ages.
But what sets Japanese Anime apart from U.S. car
toons is the fact that many of them do contain graphic
content.
“In the U.S., most cartoons are for ages four to 11, but
in Japan, you can find blood and guts cartoons for 21 and
up,” Myers said. “You can see grown men reading comics
on the way home.”
Anime is so popular in Japan that it held box-office
records there for many years, Hesse said.
In the United States, the appeal is on a smaller scale,
but a small group of fans is out there, which is the reason
for the UNL Anime Club. t
Most of the students who come to the Friday night
viewings have either been Anime fans for years or are
people who are interested in Science Fiction, said Hesse.
Nick Dinges was a member of an Anime club at
Lincoln Southeast High School and joined UNL’s club to
see what it was like.
Dinges, a freshman computer science major, said:
“This is for the hard-core people.”
Meetings are held every Friday night from 7-10 p.m.
in Ferguson Hall, room 217. They have short meetings
followed by screenings of different cartoons.
Slobberbone tries
new record label
BY KEN MORTON__
The tag “altcountry” has the
potential to haunt some bands. It
can mean little exposure and
getting shoved to the bottom of a
label’s priority list
Slobberbone, a four-piece
band from Denton, Texas, has
avoided the disappointment
experienced by many bands who
attach themselves to the No
Depression movement
The band has done it in two
ways.
First, Slobberbone rocks
harder than most rock bands,
% and second, the band has stayed
away from major labels and
stuck with smaller, independent
labels.
Slobberbone has also been
touring relentlessly in support of
their newest CD, "Everything You
Thought Was Right Was Wrong
Today,” and pulls into Lincoln
tonight to play Duffy’s Tavern.
Performance Preview
Slobberbone
—C Where:
—Q When:
, Singer/guitarist Brent Best
said the newest album was sup
posed to be maihly acoustic, but
the band shifted directions
about halfway through the
recording.
“We had just come off
recording and touring for
Please see BONEon 8
Sojourner Truth's influence focus of lecture
■ Discussion delves into
problems concerning rights
of women and minorities.
BY MELANIE MENSCH
“People who make history
know nothing about history. You
can see that in the sort of history
they make."
Gilbert Keith Chesterton
(1874-1936) British writer, critic
Isabella, a former slave, did
n’t know how to read or write.
But the 6-foot-tall woman,
strong-bodied and fiery in spir
it, would be known to future
generations as a legendary abo
litionist and women’s rights
advocate.
Although Isabella might
have thought her life an ordi
nary one, her extraordinary
impact on American social val
ues not only changed history, it
changed her name. She wduld
be known simply as Truth:
Sojourner Truth.
Beginning Thursday, all are
invited to discover the truth
about Sojourner and other
famous historic heroes at the
fifth annual Governor’s Lecture
in the Humanities.
Sponsored by the Nebraska
Humanities Council and the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
the free lecture kicks off the UNL
history department’s three-day
symposium on biography.
The keynote lecturer, Nell
Irvin Painter, will present her
speech, “Historical Biography
and the Privilege of Unknowing”
at 7:30 p.m. on Sept.7 in Kimball
Hall.
The Edwards Professor of
American History at Princeton
earned high praise for her book,
“Sojourner Truth: A Truth, A
Symbol,” in which she explores
Truth’s influence on American
women and blacks.
Jane Hoodi; Nebraska
Humanities Council director,
said Painter was a leading intel
lectual with an inspiring mes
sage of equality and freedom.
“We tty to choose people
each year with something to
say/’ she said. “Now in the 21st
century, we are desperate for
heroes and heroines. Some peo
ple might say there are none left
in a self-centered, materialistic
society, but I don’t believe that.
"We can look at the past and
see people like Truth, who
achieved so much, rose to the
occasion and renewed faith in
people.
“What better way to look at
someone else and to under
stand qualities in yourself, that
issues of the past are still the
issues of today.”
Along with Painter, five other
speakers will lecture about
important historical figures, like
Anne Boleyn, Charles Darwin
and Shen Dingyi.
All symposium lectures are
free and held in the Nebraska
Union on Friday and Saturday.
Kit Dimon, council treasur
er, said biography and history
impact today’s society more
than realized.
“History has everything to
do with the future,” she said.
“Without the humanities, like
ethics, philosophy and history,
we pass through life as boring
and dry.
“But we learn everything we
can about the people who settle
this land, who defined values
and changed the face of
America.”
Lloyd Ambrosius, UNL his
tory professor, said he hoped
the public would take advantage
of meeting great historians and
biographers.
“This is the first symposium
in a series that will happen in
future years,” he said. “It’s a
major event that I hope people
will attend and learn from the
lives of other people.”
Hood said she hoped stu
dents would attend the confer
ence to meet and talk with
experts afterwards.
“I think students would ben
efit from this opportunity to
come in contact with such bril
liant people,” she said. “Don’t
miss it.”
