SuperFolder WildRogueFolder
Hello. My name is Jason Smith, and I’m the president of the anime club at Croker High School in Everett, Washington.
What got me into anime in the first place? That would be Adult Swim’s programming block Toonami. I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge fan of most shows on Adult Swim: Family Guy is stupid, and Rick and Morty fans are some of the most obnoxious people on the planet: you’re not smarter than everyone else because you watch a cartoon, folks. (A/N: this is a joke. Don’t get offended). But every Saturday night, with the help of a few Red Bulls, I stay up until midnight to watch Toonami, and don’t go to bed until it’s over at 4 a.m. Ever since I first watched it, I’ve been learning how to draw the characters and buying the mangas for the anime they show. I’ve even been trying to make the Absolution out of LEGOs.
You might think I’m obsessed with this block. But I can’t help it! It feels like a safe space for people like me: nerds. Geeks. Weaboos. (Although I prefer the term Japanophile. Sorry, that sounded pretentious).
My dad is actually the one who introduced me to Toonami. It was airing on day-time Cartoon Network when he was a kid, airing stuff like Dragon Ball Z, ThunderCats, Ronin Warriors, Gundam Wing, and Batman: The Animated Series. I think it’s so cool that Toonami has been bringing anime across the Pacific for so many generations. It also introduced him to bands like the Gorillaz and Daft Punk. So thank you, Toonami, for giving my dad the coolest taste in music ever.
The other day, my friend Samantha Swanson approached me with an idea. Samantha and I have been friends since the fourth grade. We bonded over our shared interest for the Land of the Rising Sun. Samantha is in the anime club with me, but she’s also the president of her own club: the origami club, another fascinating Japanese cultural export. I’ve tried it myself, but I don’t exactly have the patience for it.
“Jason! I have a crazy idea,” she said.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Why don’t we merge the origami club and the anime club?” She was practically shaking with excitement.
“B-but, I’m not that good at origami! You know that!”
“It’s ok. I’ll help you. Think about it! We could be co-presidents! And we can have all the members make little origami finger puppets for their favorite anime characters!”
“Tell you what,” I said. “You make a finger puppet for me, and I’m in.”
“It’s a deal!” She said, and we both shook on it.
The next day, Samantha came up to me, holding a plastic bag. She pulled out one of her finger puppets, and handed it to me with a huge grin. “Ta-daaa!” she exclaimed. I inspected it. It was an origami figure puppet of TOM, the robotic host of Toonami! “Wow, this is incredible,” I said. “I made myself one too!” she said, pulling it out of the bag. “If you’re TOM, I’m SARA!” With that, she pulled out a finger puppet representing SARA, TOM’s female AI co-host.
“Wow, you’re amazing!”
“So, are you in?”
“You bet! Let’s do it!”
We both hi-fived.
