This week, the members of the Anime Club welcomed a speaker, Matthew Nickolau. Nickolau, an alumni of Lake Central, spoke about how to watch anime with different streaming sites from mainstream Netflix to underground Daisuki. This presentation was a special occasion for the club, which usually has a more routine schedule.
“At the beginning, if we have a new club member, we introduce them. At the end of the club meetings we do anime suggestions. We pretty much just go with the flow. We might watch episode of an anime or something like that,” Giana Grahovac (11), Club president, said.
The presenter was the brother of an existing member, Michael Nickolau (11). Nickolau said that his brother was the reason he became interested in anime in the first place.
“[My brother and I] watch anime downstairs in our basement very often. Late at night, I’d catch episodes of things which really aren’t on American cable anymore, unfortunately,” Michael Nickolau said.
Matthew Nickolau also told stories from his experiences at different anime conventions and gave his opinions on anime as a whole.
“I hope people have come to understand that anime is not a genre, but merely a platform with different genres,” Matthew Nickolau said.
Mrs. Kathryn Clark, English, has been the sponsor of the club for around seven years. However, she said she’s never taken an interest in anime herself.
“The thing I appreciate about these kids is how excited they get over it. It’s hard to be in high school, and there are so many high schoolers that turn to drugs or detrimental things. For people to be passionate about something, even if it’s not a mainstream thing, is pretty cool,” Mrs. Clark said.
