Johnny Leitner (Co-President): Johnny is a junior majoring in science-business and minoring in anthropology. He is planning a study abroad semester in Tokyo next spring under the pretense of its value as a "cultural experience" ...the anime culture, naturally. For Johnny, the long plunge into the anime abyss began with Dragonball Z, a true anime "gateway drug." DBZ remains near and dear to Leitner’s heart, as his room features a Dragonball display described by some fellow fans as a "shrine." However, his anime tastes have diversified a bit. Johnny tends to like most of the anime that he sees, although "Sailor Moon" is a conspicuous exception. Favorites include Cowboy Bebop, Tenchi Muyo!, Record of Lodoss War, and X (series) and Mononoke Hime, Akira, Grave of the Fireflies, and Vampire Hunter D (movies). When not watching anime, Johnny can often be found roaming the reference section of the Hesburgh Library or watching reruns from the Minnesota Viking "glory years." They will return, oh yes. Oh yes.
Having found himself in a similar situation many times in the past, Johnny can empathize with Tenchi (depicted at the bottom of the image), and thus found this to be an appropriate anime representation of himself. Young Leitner also happens to be the unwitting heir to the throne of the universe’s most powerful planet... more details to come...
John
Schneider (Co-President): I am a sophomore double majoring in philosophy and
classics. I am primarily interested in classical and medieval philosophy - the
philosophy of people who don't doubt their own existence. I first came into
contact with anime when two of my brothers and I watched Ronin Warriors when we
were in grade school. My tastes have grown since then, but I still love action
series. My favorites are Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, Gundam 0083,
Jin-Roh, Naruto, Patlabor, and Princess Mononoke. My other interests include
mostly nerd stuff: video games, computers, reading, war, and global domination.
Yeah, I want to take over the world. I mean it's not like there are a lot of
job opportunities for philosophy and classics majors, and I have to do
something. What can I say? The evil machinations of my insane roommate for
world conquest are finally starting to rub off on me.
Dan Nguyen (Vice President): I got introduced to anime when I was in 4th grade at school, when I was
started to watched Ronin Warriors on TV. The show wasn't that good, but I
liked the way that it was animated, which was totally different from American
cartoons. It wasn't at all childish and had an actual storyline, unlike many
other cartoons. I watched a few other anime from then on till high school,
but none really interested me. I really didn't get deeply into anime until
high school. That's when a friend of mine let me watch his collection of
anime. After watching all of that, I was amazed at the storylines and the
quality of animation. From then on, I began to watch anime. What makes it
funny is that my brother and sisters caught on with it too. My sisters own
endless recordings of Digimon, Gundam Wing, and Samurai Pizza Cats (weirdest
show that I actually watched a few times). I personally own a bunch of anime
soundtracks and songs. Anyway, my favorite anime series are Cowboy Bebop,
Trigun, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Vision of Escaflowne. My favorite anime
movies are Metropolis, Akira, Princess Mononoke, Ghost in the Shell, Castle of
Caligostro, Escaflowne, and End of Evangelion. You probably can either find
me in my room, listening to anime music and reading a few web-comics or
studying somewhere in my dorm. If you really want to know anything about me,
I'm a junior biology major and anthropology minor, live somewhere in Zahm, and also
in the marching band.
John Espinosa (Secretary): This sword swinging guy loves action. His favorite anime are the ones with lots of blood and just as much killing. Hmm... not much else to say except that the killing should be left up to the professionals--the ones in cartoons preferably.
Nina Pura (Treasurer): Although I didn't know it back then, my very first taste of anime happened on the sci-fi channel. I saw bits and pieces of Akira and thought, "Wow, look at all that blood" (I had never seen cartoon like that before) Every week, I would scan the TV guide to get some sort of clue as to what the next anime movie the sci-fi channel would have. It's a shame I can't remember any of the titles I saw back then, but I do remember loving Robot Carnival and Vampire Hunter D (who is sooo sexy by the way) Some of my favorite anime/characters are Ninja Scrolls, Kenshin w/ the cute X on his cheek, Heero in Gundam Wing (OMG, that dude is bulletproof). Yes, I do watch Sailor Moon (Johnny forgive me) I have been caught singing to Sailor Moon music in
English, Japanese, Tagalog, and German. I like my anime BLOODY with lots of good fighting scenes and BIG SWORDS (either that or cool weapons). Oh yeah, I'm a junior, live in McGlinn, MIS major, ANIME ROCKS!
Anish Thomas (Webmaster): A man of mystery.... well, ok. Not so much as just the hermit of the 4th floor of Zahm. Hopes to one day challenge for the title of El Supreme Procrastinator, just as soon as he stops messing around on the internet....
Hino Lam (Honorary): Though he has just recently left the ND community in favor of the Real World®, Hino Lam continues as an Honorary Officer due to his great contributions as a co-founder of the Anime Club.
Changtze Chia (Honorary)