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What's the Password: A club of uncompromised secrecy in the Mid-West
by Shawna James  
Eau Claire, Wisconsin may look like an ordinary city, but as the home of an underground secret anime society called Otaku Anonymous it is no ordinary place. Members of Otaku Anonymous, known only by aliases, take their secrecy seriously - though officers courageously identify themselves by supplying their real names for contact purposes.

Sergeant at Arms, Traegorn RavenHawk (Trae Dorn to the credit bureau) explains. "One thing you will notice is the idiotic aliases listed instead of our membership's actual names," RavenHawk tells Akadot. "It started as an odd joke, the whole 'anonymous' concept, but has snowballed from there."

The Otaku Anonymous hierarchy is set up to run like a rogue maritime vessel. The president of the club is the Evil Pirate Captain Anime Robot Vinnk (known as Kevin Tambornino for tax purposes). Vinnk boasts that OA is the number one underground anime club in the nation. "And the only club I know of to make their meeting room into a pirate ship, declare war on other organizations, have a member named Tubo the Wonder Krunk and have an official club position of 'cabin boy.'"

Tiffany Grant and Captain Vinnk
"Well, we have had people join based off of just the website back in the day when we openly recruited," RavenHawk pipes in, explaining the complex way a person can join OA. "Since then, we've half closed the door to outsiders. How? We just stopped telling people where we meet. If someone stumbles in, they can join. No questions asked. Well, we'll probably ask lots of questions, but that's just because we're stalking you."

Specifics on where OA meets are murky at best. "Ummm...I used to be able to tell you that. Really," states the Basic Info/FAQ section on the OA website. "Crap in a hat, stupid new policies...Let's just say 'At a predetermined Time and Place.'"

OA's main goal is simple: "To gather people with similar tastes in anime, and watch stuff," RavenHawk notes. "We also make fun of all that is wrong with the world. Like 'Pokemon,' and the dub of 'Armitage.'"

RavenHawk continues by describing how OA's screenings work. "We try to focus on stuff that isn't quite as 'common.' I mean, we all know what 'Tenchi Muyo' is about, but how many casual anime fans have seen 'Here is Greenwood?'...And we have an odd fascination with the 'Hanzo the Razor' films."

Screenings take place Friday nights and run from 8 p.m. into the wee hours of the morn. '"Till the last man standing," Captain Vinnk interjects. "Sometimes they have gone on until dawn."



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