Pizza and bloodshed came together in a fantastic way to make the Visual Art Society’s Movie Night a success.
VAS presented the Japanese anime film “Akira” in the Contemporary Art Gallery on Wednesday, Oct. 9. The film Akira was chosen because of its heavy impact on the anime fandom in America.
“It was a pivotal film for anime that heavily influenced people in America for 25 years after,” said Michael Aldana, faculty advisor of VAS. “Anime wasn’t a big thing before this movie. It was one of those big movies that kind of broke through. A lot of our students today coming in who are 18, 19 and 20 are really into anime, and so it was nice to see one of the pivotal films for the American audience.”
Akira influenced anime shows like Dragonball Z, Mecha and many others. The plot follows the story of Tetsuo, a young man who possesses psychic powers and goes on a bloody rampage, destroying the city of Neo-Tokyo.
“The animation was beautiful,” said Samantha Stephan, freshman art major and attendee of Movie Night. “That’s probably my favorite part of it. The characters were really interesting.”
Pizza was served to students in attendance, creating a fun atmosphere while also allowing students to expose themselves to various forms of art.
Though many students were able to relax and enjoy themselves while watching “Akira,” the film also served an educational purpose for those interested in art. One impressive aspect of the movie was the entirely hand-drawn animation.
“Animation majors specifically, they can get a lot from this, because none of it is CGI [computer-generated imagery],” said Dillon Raborn, president of VAS. “We always joke around here, ‘What better way to get the artist touch than with a mouse?’ You don’t have art if you don’t have drawing, and every bit of this was hand-done.”
VAS welcomes all students to enjoy Movie Nights, regardless of membership or major.
“It’s fun to just eat and sit here with my friends, and we have something to talk about,” said Olivia Moreno, sophomore art major and member of VAS. “We can talk about the movies, and usually the movies that we watch are very thought-provoking, complex and interesting.”
For more information on upcoming Movie Nights, email Aldana at [email protected].