Students from The University of Rhode Island’s Anime Club gathered in spirit on Halloween night for their annual holiday party, which included a costume contest and a movie screening.
In order to bring awareness to the group’s second party of the year, the club made additional outreach efforts, according to club president Marcus Haase.
Before getting into the costume contest, the group played Google’s Halloween game, ‘Doodle Halloween,’ together on the projector. The objective of the game is to draw specific patterns and sequences in a given amount of time in order to fight off threats and advance your character (a cat on a broomstick) to higher levels.
After a few minutes, when more members had arrived, the group started their costume contest, which involved multiple categories, with the two big ones being best overall and funniest, according to Haase.
“The main difference between the party we had in September and this one is after the movie, we are going to have a costume contest with the people who decided to dress up,” Haase said. “I went to Newbury Comics in Warwick to buy some prizes, a [Naratau] statue, a Manga and then four Pokemon packs.”
Multiple members of the club decided to enter in the contest, including club member Ryan McGrath who dressed up as Jotaro Kujo from “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.”
“I was really looking forward to dressing up as an anime character,” McGrath said.
The event was a great way to celebrate, allowing for students to take a moment to chill, lay back and reunite with friends they may have not seen in a while, according to club member Madison Blain.
“It’s a nice break from school and what have you, to just sit, relax and have fun dressing up,” Blain said. “I mean, it’s Halloween,”
Blain decided to dress up as Ai Hoshino, the pop star and main protagonist from the anime “Oshi NoKo.”
While many decided to go with an anime-themed costume, some decided to go with other costumes. Dressed as the Mad Hatter from “Alice in Wonderland,” Haase decided to match with his girlfriend, Cadence Belisle, who dressed as Alice.
“We were trying to find something that wasn’t going to cost us a lot of money compared to a lot of the other costumes,” Belisle said. “We went through like six different options.”
A returning member of the anime club, Belisle expressed that her decision to attend was influenced partially by positive experiences with the club in the past.
“I came mostly to support the club as a whole,” Belisle said. “I enjoyed the Halloween party last year and I just really like the club environment.”
The movie choice, “Spirited Away,” a 2001 fantasy and adventure film directed by Hayao Miyazaki, was decided on through a group vote on four movies that were chosen in advance by the e-board, according to Haase. “Spirited Away” follows a 10-year-old girl as she journeys to free her parents and herself from a supernaturally-filled amusement park.
In the upcoming weeks, the club plans to use its funding to buy activity-related items including a Nintendo Switch, according to Haase.
“[Funding] is for a lot more accessory-based stuff, ” Haase said. “Our vice president Liam DiAdamo always has a switch, so we are planning on buying a switch dock.”
The club meets in Pastore Hall room 208 every Monday and Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Interested students can visit the club’s Instagram at @URIanimeinstagram.