The room is dark and the viewers silent as battle cries, sorrowful sobs and joyous exclamations fall over the fixed audience. A large screen displays illustrated tales of adventure with wide-eyed, slender and well-muscled characters unlike that of any American cartoon. This is the Animé Club, a group of people sharing an enthusiasm for Japanese animation.

We've all seen images of it on television, in video stores, or on the web, but many of us may not have a clear notion of what animé is about. Animé (Japanese animation) films and series are almost immediately recognizable even to novices due to the superior nature of their illustration as well as some trademark motifs such as the bulging, child-like eyes of its characters.

Animé often draws from Japanese and other Asian mythology in the weaving of its complicated plots. In contrast to a lot of American animation, animé explores many mature, deep themes. The role of modern technology, for example, an even more pervasive aspect of daily life in Japan than it is in the U.S., is a recurring theme in many animé films.

Whereas Disney and other traditional American animations display concrete concepts of good and evil, animé films often explore the ambiguity of morality, in many ways a more realistic reflection of the human experience.

Animé also takes a different approach to its portrayal of death. Even in films intended for young audiences, death is depicted as a natural part of life and is readily accepted, exemplifying another difference between Japanese and American cultures.

The Animé Club at Penn State is dedicated to making the vast and diverse world of animé more readily available to a larger audience.

"We offer a lot of things different people can appreciate," Nathan Urban (graduate-physics) said. "I'd like to encourage people to come out and give it a try."

Urban, the president of Penn State's Animé Club, first became interested in animé in the fall of 1993 when he started college at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and attended his first Animé Club meeting. Many of his hopes for his newly founded club here at Penn State stem from his experiences as a member of the old club there.

"At my last club people organized a Japanese cooking night and even Japanese language classes, although that wouldn't be necessary at Penn State since the university already offers such classes," Urban said. "Once we get going there's a lot of stuff we'd be able to do here, like create a library for the club's collection and have festivals where people could show their collections and posters."

According to Urban, the Animé Club was originally founded by someone else in the fall of 1999, but didn't actually meet until the spring of 2000. "The club met about six times and then the president at the time decided not to continue with it. I took the mailing list to start it back up and see who was interested in helping. We've finally managed to pull something together," Urban said.

The intent of the club, originally focused more on cultural appreciation with a foreign film theme, has shifted more towards exposing newcomers to the world of animé, as well as creating a forum for enthusiasts to share their collections with others.

"There aren't a lot of sources (for animé) here," Urban said. "You have to either know someone with a collection or order online. The club gives us an opportunity to show new things that haven't made their way over here yet."

A strong appeal animé has to offer is its variety of themes and genres. According to Urban, enthusiasts are attracted to animé for many diverse reasons. The topics covered are representative of anything you would find in American television shows or movies, but differentiate themselves through the unique nature in which they are portrayed.

"The media itself is appealing," Urban said. "The artwork lets you do things that don't come across in typical sci-fi or fantasy films. People perceive the plots as being better thought out than a lot of American shows, which is not to say that there aren't cheap thrills. But the better titles are quite involved."

Urban also disagreed with the perception many people have that most animé films possess extremely violent content. "There is a lot of that, which attracts a number of people to it, but people should know that there's a lot more to it. You can find pretty much anything you want to see, it's so diverse," he said.

The club has had only two official meetings this semester, but interest already seems to be building. Urban hopes to increase awareness of the club by distributing flyers and posters. "We're kind of getting into things partway through the semester," Urban said. "We're hoping to get organized to do a lot next semester. I hope we can get our membership up, a better room and hopefully some funding."

The first meeting was a showing of six episodes of a series called Bastard!, with a swords and sorcery-oriented theme. Last Tuesday offered Ruin Explorers, a sexy, adventure-fueled series. In the future, Urban hopes to show some of the long-running series animé offers. "I'd like to make it so that if you don't like one series that we're showing, you can come back in a few weeks and see something different," Urban said.

The Animé Club is currently experiencing difficulties due to lack of funding and restrictions on A/V usage in their current meeting place, Thomas Building. For updates on the club's status, contact its president, Nathan Urban, via e-mail at nurban@psu.edu, or check out its web site (www.clubs.psu.edu/psao/) for more information.