Any tips for meeting anime fans?

I feel kind of silly asking this but it's something that has frustrated me over the years, so I figured maybe I could get some advice from others on here:

I've been a fan of Japanese anime and manga for over 10 years, and I've had an incredibly difficult time trying to meet other fans or people who have similar interests. I only have a few close friends who I grew up with in high school, but they don't really care for a lot of my hobbies anymore. I know this will sound kind of pathetic but I've only met like two people in the last 8 or so years who even knew what anime was, and they both moved. One solution that seems simple is to just go to anime conventions, but my job requires me to work on the weekends and unfortunately almost all conventions I've ever checked out online for scheduling lands on some of our busiest days during the year, and I'm the only person in my position on the weekend at my job so I can't take it off. I live in Western MA and I've tried looking for clubs around the area but it's a dead zone out here. I've been told there are a ton in Boston but that's about three hours away.

I looked into online services for meet up groups, and I've only found a few and from the people I've talked to online they are rather sketchy guys so I didn't really feel comfortable. Anyway, hopefully this isn't a dumb question, I just wanted to get some suggestions and any tips would be really helpful. :)
 

Grail

Feel the funk blast
That's a tough one Tama. I sympathize with your position in wanting to make friends without getting stuck somewhere with an axe-murderer. Is there a community college near your area? If I were you, I'd look into learning Japanese. I think that would put you in an environment where you're most likely to meet other anime fans without being put in a potentially awkward or unsafe situation. Plus, you'd be learning a skill that would help you enjoy Berserk even more! :carcus:
 

Dar_Klink

Last Guardian when? - CyberKlink 20XX before dying
I don't think it's too silly of a question, it's always nice to meet people with the same interests and can be frustrating if nobody IRL shares them. Most of my real life friends that like anime/manga are people I knew from high school and haven't "moved on" from those interests. I actually still watch a few shows and movies with them from time to time.

Anime/manga liking friends that I met after high school are mostly online, we've become close enough to meet in real life, including some good pals from this very forum, but that was mostly at conventions or during weekends off from school/work people have had.

You could look into maybe some card/comic shops in your area that have game nights, usually they have some anime or manga fans or at least people into Sci-Fi, fantasy, and other nerdy shit. Getting into tabletop or trading card games could be fun and net you some good friends that share that obsession/interest.

If you have the means, time, and desire to do it, you could take some cheap community college courses and maybe find some people on the campus that are into that sort of stuff. You're especially likely to meet those types in a Japanese language class... although it's a gamble on whether or not they're socially well-adjusted. :troll:

Overall though your best bet is conventions and offline meetings of communities like here or other anime related forums.

Always be ready for sperglords, weirdos, and just plain embarrassing people though. Not from Skullknight of course! We're all too cool for that here. :badbone:
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Grail has some great advice. But I'd proffer a more drastic solution. Just judging from the details in your post, it doesn't sound like you like where you live very much. Is moving an option..? Not necessarily because of the lack of anime fans, but being in a place devoid of the kinds of people you're looking for, where your friends have moved away from, and being at a job that doesn't let you take time off when you need/want has got to be stressful.
 
Thank you everyone for the suggestions! I never really thought of card shops, I know we do have a local one here in our town and I enjoy games like Magic so maybe I should look into that. I am taking college classes to become a nurse right now, but I have thought about the option of moving when I'm finished, for other reasons too. Unfortunately my current school doesn't have Japanese courses offered, but I'll be going to UMASS next year which does. :) You are all very helpful I appreciate it.
 
Attending another university will definitely allow you to find more people with similar interests. I understand that it can be very hard! Especially if you live in an area where there isn't much of a community.
I'll agree with looking at comic or card shops. They often have gaming areas where you can meet others, or at least find out where you could.( make sure the rules posted on the wall don't say "Don't bully others! This means even girls!" :schierke: )

The best place to meet anime fans is attending anime conventions, although it is not always possible due to cost, location, logistics..etc. But cons often have their own forums where local fans plan meet ups. If you have facebook, try finding a anime/ convention group that is within your area I live in Oregon but am a member of a Sakuracon group, which is an convention in Washington. However I still meet a lot of people from Oregon since the con is a big event in the Pacific Northwest.
So if you find a similar group, odds are you'll find fans near you that might otherwise not be interested in clubs or comic shops.

As a fellow woman into anime and other nerdy stuff: if you ever feel uncomfortable at a meet up it's best to look elsewhere. Environments that see you as a novelty or a "fake geek" are not worth your time. I'm stating the obvious, but it's an important point none the less.

It might be difficult initially, but once you find the right people you'll eventually get involved in their various social circles and meet more and more fellow fans!
 
Yes I'm excited for next year, I believe UMASS still has an anime club, although when I asked them if I could attend a number of years ago they told me if I wasn't a student they wouldn't let me. I'm going to try to get the weekend off next year to attend anime Boston since that's the closest, but it all depends on what week it lands on. I never thought of checking for meet ups on the forums of the conventions, I'll check that out. :) Thanks!
 
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