Check the schedule or directions page if you want to know where to find us
Showings are generally broken down into 3 segments. The first hour will show 2 episodes of a series chosen by an exec member. These could be anything and depends very much on the individual exec member but will (normally) be something everyone can enjoy. After these two episodes are over, there is an hour long break in which to socialise and is the primary time to get things from the society library. Then, in the final hour, we show 2 episodes of an ongoing series that will be shown throughout the term. For example, last year we showed Genshiken and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya in their entirety. These series are decided primarily through discussion with the exec, be it on the forums, at meetings or on the street.
We have a society projector, DVD player and speakers which we can use in emergencies. However, over the last year the exec opted to use the inbuilt AV Data Projector and Sound System in conjuction with a member’s laptop instead. This meant less fiddling about getting set up, less things to carry from the society storage cupboard, and that we could easily go between DVDs or flash drives for showings.
In Term 3 of the year, showings take a different form. With the onset of revision of exams people find that they will probably have less time for showings. Because of this we don’t show a full series during term 3. Instead, the last hour involved submitting series to the society, who then voted for the series they’d most like to see. This seemed to work very well, and we saw a lot of great shows, even some that you wouldn’t expect to like.
Recently, exec/society meetings have been held after the showings have ended. After returning the equipment and library to the storage cupboard, the exec and anyone who wishes to come along use The Lounge or a meeting room to discuss society matters. Anyone interested in becoming more involved in the society, or even someone who just wants to bring something up with the exec in person should think about attending.
Every week the society holds one of its socials, which are a great chance to get to know the society and to have fun in the process. The time is Monday evening from 7pm, and the location is the Phantom Coach pub - a short walk from campus on Fletchamstead Highway. First-timers need only to follow the crowd of CompSoc members who usually leave from right outside DCS (Department of Computer Science) at 6:15pm, as their weekly social is at the same time in the same pub.
About once a term the society organises a shopping trip into Coventry. The society will meet up on campus beforehand, then take the bus into the city center. These are great for new members who are interested in local shops for getting anime or manga, or for older members who just want to spend a bit of money.
The schedule usually knows what’s going on, and you can see what we get up to in the socials in our Photo Gallery.
About once a term we have a ‘video weekend’. We book a room (usually not L4) for the majority of both Saturday and Sunday, and watch some anime. These weekends have taken a variety of forms. Two such examples are the Movie Classics Weekend and the Weekend of Win. The Movie Classics Weekend is exactly what it sounds like; we get together and show some of the movies that have made anime what it is today and are widely regarded as classic movies. The Weekend Of Win was conceived with the objective of introducing some of the greatest works of art of the anime genre and then have some fun while doing it. Last year we showed Haibane Renmei and FLCL in their entirety, played games and even had a barbeque.
We’ve also tried an ‘All-Nighter’ event, ala the Student’s Cinema (most recently our ‘Extreme AllNighter’, which featured the sickest, most depraved anime we could find, and was hilarious!) and this was met with much more enthusiasm than our traditional video weekenders are. We suspect it was the content that generated so much interest, but we may try the same format for more traditional content.
Both types of event have a very similar format: You settle down nice and comfy with all the cusions / pillows and what-not you’ve brought and mark out your territory for the remainder of the event - it’s important to get this right as this will be your ‘holy land’ which you must defend!
Once the males have finished their battles of strength and have accepted the territory borders we get our anime on! There’s not set length of time before a break, but you can expect it to happen in spells of about 1.5 hours. After 10-15min break we continue to get our anime on.
Depending on the timing of the event, we usually have an extra-long break for lunch/ mid-night snacks etc.
Lastly, a note on the event as a whole: it’s a very informal thing, and not nearly as scheduled as (we attempt) weekly meetings - generally we have fairly small groups which make it far more fun, and the whole event just ‘goes with the flow’.
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In Term 3, during the third and final hour of our showings, we invite our members to bring their own DVDs and nominate them to be shown. This usually occurs thus:
We (the exec) will ask for nominations from the audience, those with something to nominate ought to come down to the front and then take turns to rant about how brilliant it is at the rest of the gathered membership. If you don’t feel comfortable in front of our (wonderfully) massive membership one of the exec will be happy to do this for you (they may pretend they’re not, but that is just some exceptional acting thanks to the Student Union Impact Training courses!). Once all the ranting and raving is done we put it to a show of hands to nominate enough material to fill an hour. You’re allowed to vote for as many series as interest you, though the vote is generally restricted to 3 choices (any more and the exec start to lose count of the votes).
If your nomination is not selected, feel free to bring it again next week again and again until we give in!