Cal High has had its very own Anime Club for roughly a decade.

Anime is essentially animated cartoons that hail from Japan and whose main audience includes teens and adults.

Characters are known for their iconic big eyes and their unique, colorful hairstyles and personalities.

There is no set drawing style for anime, but more often than not characters typically follow this trend as well as many characters being drawn to have either spiky hair or long, luxurious locks.

Some notable animes include “Naruto,” “Dragon Ball Z,” “Attack on Titan,” “Bleach,” “Transformers,” “Pokemon,” and “Sailor Moon.”

The themes of anime are endless, including magical schoolgirls, supernatural beings, horror, ninjas, samurais, romance, comedy, mystery, thrillers, and gigantic robots.

In the Anime Club, members participate a hodgepodge of activities, including discussing or watching different shows, drawing manga, playing various games, trading or selling old anime-related items, discussing cosplay, and planning club outings.

“The atmosphere of the Anime Club is very silly and friendly because you have people that are interested in the same thing as you are,” said senior Dennis Naroditskiy. “They’re not stuck up or anything. They’re fun to be around. It’s way better than most other clubs I’ve been in.”

Not only is the Anime Club a welcoming safe haven for all otakus, or anime fans, but it gets pretty hectic too.

“[Advising the club] is like herding cats – wild and crazy, but in a good way,” said librarian and Anime Club adviser Shannon Paladini.

For months, the club has been arranging plans to attend FanimeCon, a huge convention hosted at the San Jose Convention Center. The convention takes place from May 24-26.

The primary focus of the convention is anime, but there are plenty of other fandoms present, such as “Doctor Who,” “Sherlock,” “Supernatural,” “Homestuck,” “Adventure Time,” “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” “Legend of Korra,” Marvel and DC comics, and various video games.

Attendees will never run out of things to do at FanimeCon. One can shop in the Dealer Hall for a wide array of merchandise or play video games with other attendees in the Gaming Hall.

There’s also a Manga Lounge for those who wish to read manga, a Maid Cafe, different panels to attend, a music fest where anime-affiliated bands will be playing, a karaoke room, Stage Zero where you watch different videos or contests taking place, and an Artists Alley where you can buy prints or posters.

One very essential part of FanimeCon is cosplay.

“Cosplay is costume play,” said junior Alexis Viengmyxay. “You can dress up as any character from any type of media. Some people even go as far as to capture the character’s personality. People really into their cosplay will build it or buy it months before. Some will also start working out to build their physique.”

Many of the members from the Anime Club will be cosplaying for FanimeCon. So far, it has been confirmed that shows and movies the members are cosplaying from are “Bleach,” “Kill la Kill,” “Naruto,” “Star Wars,” “Sherlock,” “Soul Eater,” and “Alice in Wonderland.”

This year, the most complex cosplay will be worn by the club’s president, senior Sophie Zettle, who will be dressed in a full-body Kuma the Bear suit.

FanimeCon hosts a special event on May 25 called the Black and White Ball, which is exactly what it sounds like–a very formal ball.

The dances at FanimeCon are nothing like what students  may have experienced at school dances. The Black and White Ball is strictly formal, both in its dress code and in its dancing. People dance the tango, waltz, swing, foxtrot, mambo, and the cha-cha.

If an attendee doesn’t know how to dance, he can learn from the Black and White Ball staff every day leading up to the event.

The ball is a great and unique way to mingle with new people. Everyone dances there, and it has a very fairytale-like feel to it.

The overall atmosphere of FanimeCon is very welcoming. Senior Sophie Zettle has gone to the convention four years in a row.

“It’s just amazing how overwhelming it can be to be with all these other people,” said Zettle. “There were 80,000 people just on Saturday last year. Being around all those people that like the same things as you do is really nice.”

For those who like anime, manga, and welcoming people, FanimeCon and Anime Club are the places for you. The meetings take place in the library every Wednesday after school, and there are 45 members who all love anime and manga.