OA is affiliated with an aboveground anime club, the Anime Appreciation Society (AAS), an official Eau Claire University organization that Captain Vinnk also founded. "I formed OA about three years ago, mostly by accident," Vinnk explains. "I have been into anime for many years, but I became heavily involved once I entered college. I was watching anime in my dorm with a few friends. During the second semester my roommates' TV broke so we took the VCR downstairs to the TV lounge. A few more people saw it and stayed, after a while there was a group of about six of us (at that time mostly female) who would watch on a regular basis, kind of like a club. Near the end of that semester I decided we needed an Anime Club so Otaku Anonymous was formed. Since then I started Anime Appreciation Society, an official campus organization."

The work and responsibility of being in charge is both tough and rewarding. "It feels like being the Head of NERV," Vinnk confesses. "You just hope that people don't use the power for evil."

OA is also heavily involved with WestCon, a Wisconsin-based convention about two hours east of Eau Claire.

"Kevin actually founded WestCon, and ran WestCon for it's first three years," says RavenHawk. "Last year's WestCon V got voice actress Tiffany Grant as a guest. Since the current management of WestCon knew that Kevin ran an anime club not too far away, they asked him if we would help run the Anime Room with 'Mindworks,' a Wausau- based club. We have been asked back for WestCon VI." WestCon VI, though, has been inexplicably canceled in this past few days, along with the return appearance of Tiffany Grant, who was slated to attend the con again on May 12th.

Though OA admits that anime is still "only slightly" popular in Wisconsin, they still have opinionated feelings about recent anime trends. "The churn of mainstream anime, like the constipation/training half hour known as 'Dragon Ball Z,' has allowed shows like 'Love Hina' or 'Excel Saga,' shows that would have never been picked up ten years ago for American release, to make it to our grubby hands," RavenHawk expounds. "And many 'old school' anime fans who snub their noses at the 'DBZ,' 'Pokemon,' and Cartoon Network viewers should really be thanking the cretins for allowing the quality to make it overseas."

Check out the OA website at www.trhonline.com/otaku/