Konichiwa
Hi, Just moved to this area, just moved to this country actually. There's not much here for anime except for on the web. Wanted to know where the anime and cosplay conventions were around here but I guess this place sucks.

Yeah, SC isn't the place for conventions. The closest one for you would be Anime Weekend Atlanta, next month. Next year there is Animazement in NC.

Tomodachi
I was wondering where the best places to buy anime would be in Columbia. I mostly order them off the net or download. What's everyone watching nowadays? What's everyone into right now? I like Yuri anime like strawberry panic. My favorite is still Full Metal Panic Fumoffu. There doesn't seem to be too many anime fans here. What else is there to do here then.

Actually, there are anime fans, they are just hard to find. A few years ago I found a really large comic shop that sold anime and manga, but I couldn't tell you were it was. Man, it's been more than a few years, more like five years ago. Sumter is an hour east of Columbia and they have an anime group who meets twice a month or more. We have a meeting Spartanburg, but that's an hour and a half north of Columbia Doing a search I found Acme Comic Shop, Comic Nirvana in Lexington, Heroes and Dragons, Legends Comics in Sumter, and Silver City Comics in Cayce. Other than that, Best Buy. Lately the group has been watching Gantz, Coyote Ragtime Show, xXxHoLiC, and Cardcaptor Sakura. We're going to be throwing in something new soon. As for me, I just finished up Death Note and I'm about to move to the Live Action movies, and I've been watching Tsubasa Chronicles.

I don't know about the other places, but Legends Comics here in Sumter is 99% American comics. There's nothing wrong with that, but if you're looking for anime or manga, it's not the place to go. Stawberry Panic was okay. A lot of this "yuri" (I think it's really shoujo-ai), doesn't really do it for me... at least not "that" way. Good storylines. The chicks aren't all that hot though. Too skinny or FLAT, as I like to say. Nana isn't yuri, but it's drawn the same way, and despite that, I REALLY liked it. It was just very disturbing when the punk Nana stood up from the bath and had that very sickly, disgusting Paris Hilton/Jewish holocaust survivor kind of ass. Ewwwww... (No offense to holocaust survivors. Oh great, now I'm going to be remembered as the anti-Semitic guy.) If you're looking for other fans in Columbia, there are people in this forum's section who meet. You'd have to check that post and talk to them. I really don't know the details. Another place would be NASHI, which is the anime club based out of USC. You don't have to be a student at the college to go to their meetings, but you can't be a full member. I'm not sure what the difference is, but you can get their details through contacting tigoxgirl@yahoo.com, because she's NASHI's current President. The only other option, if you're willing to drive for 30 minutes to 1 hour (depending on where you live in Columbia), is to come to my club's meetings in Sumter! Just go to the "Sumter Anime Club" section for info on that and if you've got any questions, dont' hesitate to ask.

sugoi!
Thanks man, I'll check it outs. Mostly I just watch anime by myself before I go to sleep. I went to an anime convention in Toronto Canada called anime north for the second straight year in a row and it was a lot of fun, but lots of jail bait, if you know what I mean, haha. I'm going to make a costume to go to it next year. I don't see a need to join an anime club except maybe to meet people that share the same interest. What could they possibly meet to do besides watch/review anime. It's like trying to choose an after school club like in the anime. Oh, I wanted to know also if there was like a tutoring program at the University or anything that I can pay someone to teach me japanese or other languages. Perhaps 3 times a week or so. I also would like to learn the piano. So many aspirations, so little time. Just like so many anime, so little time to watch it. Moe!

Yeah, that pretty much is the reason for going to an anime club: To meet other anime fans. You make friends with people you would've otherwise never gotten a chance to talk to. While we do use anime as the grounding factor, it really is just an excuse to hang out, talk, and play video games. (At least, that's the case with my club. NASHI is a college club, so they can't do that.) I don't know about the tutoring program. Hopefully, somebody else can let you know.

Founding President of NASHI here. While NASHI's schedule is three hours of anime you have to make note of the experience of collective viewing. Its one thing to say you finished Cowboy Bebop in your room at 2am with the soft glow of your TV vs being in mini theater with 30 other people giving a standing ovation then to discuss the finer points in the show and what you liked about it. Also this is not all NASHI does, its main purpose is in fact to meet new people and to form friendships you might not have had a chance to form. Even if your not interested in the anime you can always hang out with those not viewing the anime and join them in the after club actives, which you missed out on Mockingbird or say go with them to conventions. NASHI may be a college club but the word 'college' is there for formality. They do in fact hang out, talk, and play video games, just the question is where and when. Lastly SC is a GREAT state for convention going because its in the middle of everything almost. We are between Animazement and AWA, while Neko-con and Katsucon aren't far off. For those seeking a wider fan base Dragon-con is in Atlanta also and lastly Otakun is within driving distance. In all NC would be better but if you have a car SC is not that bad of a state for a con goer. ((BTW A Full Member of NASHI means you get to vote on everything, like who becomes a officer where a non college member couldn't vote or become one.))

I should've qualified what I said a little clearer. NASHI is a college club, so they can't play video games in the official room they're meeting in. Besides that, I figured you could hang out, etc, etc. It was probably misleading to place that () after all of those factors as opposed to making it clear it only dealt with the issue of gaming. Yeah, I'm sorry I couldn't stick around for the last hour of the meeting as well as the "after-meeting", but I still haven't gotten a full night's rest for a long time, and I was trying to be "responsible". I do drive for a living and there's nothing worse than an overly tired delivery guy. In some ways, a meeting on Thursday in Columbia is convenient since I deliver to the post office near the airport, and in other ways, it's a horrible day to meet if you live in Sumter and like sleeping. BUT, I'll sacrifice some sleep the next time I come. I just have to make sure to get several good nights of rest before that, because with the "hangover-like" thing I have now, I would not be the generally "okay" Corey.

Aaaaah my mistake then. Well, I'll drive you in you want this Thursday, but IF NASHI asked for a second room technically they could do the video games thing. In fact one time the first year Perry brought on of those playstations with a mini TV screen and we played Rival Schools 2 in the back of the room. ^_^ Good times.

I like the whole theater experience, like what the guys at USCA do. Believe it or not, this group started their viewings at Converse college. The experience of seeing anime on the big screen was awesome. It was also great getting together with girls that I normally wouldn't hang out with and share what we liked and why and then introduce them to new things. They were living on a lot of old stuff and stuff shown on tv. So it was neat to help open them up to other things than that and what the demo disc from Newtype gave them. Granted none of us may be friends now, almost two years later, but the experience was great and I missed that. It's one reason why I started this site. I liked getting together with others to find new anime and talk about what we've seen. Not only about that but other things like movies, computers, and some gaming. So being part of a club/group can be a great experience. Beats being hold up in a room for six hours watching a series all by your lonesome.

Watashi wa kami sama
Hi, I am interested in you club NASHI. When's the next time you guys meet and where? I was born yesterday to Columbia so I know nothing about this place so it would be nice to meet some people to hang with. I'll be staying in Cayce for 2 months then finding a place of my own. I'm planning on setting up my own projector theater in my house once I get settled. Sometimes I prefer to watch by myself cause then I can rewind or skip the OP and END songs depending on how fast I want to get through the series. So you guys have about 30 members attend usually? What's the age range? I hope I'm not the oldest there, haha. I'm flying into Columbia Tuesday morning so perhaps I can attend the next get together. Let me know what's up, thanks.

I went to NASHI last week for its first meeting of the semester and there was a total of 64 people there. Over the years the norm is around 40 to 45. The age range currently seems about 90% 18-22 year olds aka college age with the oldest being a few people in their late 20's. Current place and times are in the thread labeled NASHI in the Columbia subforum.

That's funny, I like to skip the opening and ending parts of anime because the music sucks over 90% of the time. But, that's just an opinion. The only themes I remember liking are Trigun's and Cowboy Bebop's, but the reason I liked the former was probably because it's a metal song and I happen to be a metalhead. When we were forced to watch the intro of that one anime at the NASHI meeting, I was thinking very emo thoughts. Slit across, not down, for attention.

I like most songs I listen too if anything for one listen or two. Other then that I skip just to get to the plot. And you have it wrong, "Rippy the Razor says, "Remember kids is down the block, not across the street. Its about time you got something right in your life.""