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   2017-09-11                                   /        \/        \/    /   \
                                               /       __/         /_       _/
   So let's  talk about our first meeting at  /        _/         /         /
the anime club yesterday: It sucked! Hahaha.  \_______/_\___/____/\___/____/_
EOF.                                            /        \/        \/    /   \
                                               /        _/         /_       _/
   Nah, ok.                                   /-        /        _/         /
                                              \________/\________/\___/____/
   For  reasons  I'll publish a  phost about
another  day I am super clean right now, I  haven't had a  drink or a pill and
only minimal  caffeine for a week  so am finding dealing with some life things
to  be very different and  difficult. We  roll  up and  find the  club and I'm
already awkward as fuck from being out of my element and talking to new people
and that's being amplified by my  current chemical situation and that  in turn
sets off  genuine  anxiety  in me. Even after we greet  some people,  find out
where we're supposed  to  be and find a place in  the theatre  to settle in my
stomach is sour and my head is a mess of  stress-noise and all I want to do is
turn into smoke and slip out through the air vents.

   Things  got started and the organiser went  over  what we're  watching. The
event  was hyped as a  "mystery anime" screening, so no one  knew what we were
watching until the day. He announced it was  "an  old one" and in that  moment
I'll confess I did get a bit excited because old anime is good  anime but then
in the next moment he mentioned it was from 2012 and,  I'll tell you,  I  felt
real fucking old haha. 2012 is not "back in the day" holy shit.

   Then  the icing on  the cake: the anime we were watching was Daily Lives of
High School Boys.

   There are a few titles that have stuck with me as being so dumb that  for a
while they put me off anime entirely and one of those is Daily  Lives  of High
School Boys. I remember it being reasonably  popular and  hyped  when  it  was
released and I very patiently gave it a watch but didn't get it  at  all. It's
dumb  random humor with  very little  smarts  or  substance, just yelling  and
flapping  around. I hated it then and I hate it now, although this time around
I did recognise Yukana's  voice in the high school girls bit, I didn't pick up
on that the first time I watched it.

   Most of the crowd seemed to like it, although most of  the time I genuinely
couldn't figure out what they were laughing  at. One guy in an I [heart] Anime
tshirt couldn't stomach  it  and  bounced after half  an  episode.  I feel ya,
homeboy.

   In  the end  we  managed  to  stick it out until the intermission and  then
decided enough-is-enough and  just  went  for a walk  in  the early-Spring sun
instead.

   The  group itself was about what you'd expect:  a  couple  quirky  types, a
handful of quiet "just  here to watch the show" types  and a few rowdy social-
but-awkward types,  they did  all seem  pretty  nice though  and  were  really
welcoming. We suspect the group that parked in front of us in the theatre were
the "in-crowd".

   In the interest of giving things a proper try  and because I know that this
experience is probably colored by my  current headstate, we plan to attend the
next  couple meetups  too and see  how things  go but  as a first outing  this
didn't  go so well.  Not a bad experience, mind, just  not the hook back  into
anime fandom I was looking for.

   Next weekend is Melbourne's  smaller anime  convention so that'll keep  the
ball rolling. It's  also the  one time a year I  link up with  other Melbourne
doll people so stay tuned for me pissing on about that. Later, gaters.



EOF