“It’s not just about the artists themselves,” said the first-year photography student at Ryerson. Although devotees are commonly perceived as “socially withdrawn,” according to an article in The Conversation, Selena Chea, a member of Ryerson’s K-pop club, RU K-pop, asserts that the social aspect of her fandom is central to its existence. Like anime, K-pop is another East Asian art form that allows its fans to identify and connect with a marginalized culture. We created a community that supports and leans on each other” “So when you have enough people that are looking there’s a real desire to create that space and to protect it.” “Part of the reason why people are drawn to is because they’re looking for a safe space,” said Laird. When fans unearth these safe networks of marginalized art and groups, communities slowly “become kind of a pseudo-family,” she said. Laird explained that anime, as a visual medium, has the capacity to facilitate spaces for imagination, allowing followers to escape from the obstacles of everyday life. Laird, an assistant professor in Japanese film and popular culture at the University of British Columbia, the anime fandom can act as a place of refuge for many marginalized groups, including racialized and queer communities. Cosplaying is a performance art that enables fans to use makeup and costumes to bring their favourite characters from anime, television or film to life.Īccording to Colleen A. “But the one thing I did know was anime.”Īnime, which means animated cartoon in Japanese, is a form of visual entertainment with varied artwork styles and storytelling methods. “As an international student coming from Trinidad, I didn’t know how to have a conversation,” said Liu. Having immigrated to Canada in August 2013, Liu wasn’t sure how to connect with his Canadian peers. As a previous executive member of Ryerson’s cosplay and anime clubs, Liu saw anime as a thread of connection between him and an unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar people. Shane Liu, a former Ryerson student who graduated in 2019, also found solace in fandoms at the heart of the Japanese art medium. The club provided anime-lovers like Wong, who has since transferred to Simon Fraser University to study interactive arts and technology, with a space to relish in their shared niche interests-attending streamings of their favourite shows, cosplaying, going to conventions and socializing outside of their university’s monotonous walls.įor Wong, anime clubs are a place where marginalized folks can come together and celebrate a marginalized medium in the West, she said. “I was like, ‘Oh my god, I found my people,” she said. So when she discovered the University of British Columbia’s small anime club in her first year, relief cascaded through her. It quickly dawned on her that Vancouver’s predominantly white population would make it difficult for her to make friends or meet people who looked like her and harboured the same interests. When Trisha Chockie Wong moved from Hong Kong to Canada in 2016, she was terrified of the inevitable feeling of isolation that comes with being an international student in a foreign country.
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