Conlife: SacAnime Winter 2017

SacAnime Winter 2017 was just over a week ago and I'm still experiencing a hangover from it. If you've watched the vlogs from the weekend then you've pretty much seen what it was like. However there's a few things didn't make it on those videos that I wanted to share with you.

I should start with THE STREAK CONTINUES! Honestly every con we attend seems to out do the last. We've honestly enjoyed every con we've been to dating back to SacAnime Summer 2014 and we've managed to have more and more fun each one we attend. Thank you to everyone who contributed to making this weekend one for the books.

This con was special to me because it's the first time we've actually felt some what established. A year ago we had our first table in Artist Alley. Most people didn't know us, more people were confused, and less gave a fuck about us. Fast forward to a year later and we're meeting people who have almost all our gear and seeing the same faces from last year come up and reconnect. It's truly a mind blowing and humbling experience. We've still got a long way to go, but it lets us know we're on the right track and we can count on you guys to have our backs. The only downside is it's getting harder to remember each of your names, but rest assured we do remember you, we might just need a reminder!

Of course none of this happens without you guys. If you don't come up to our table, we stop going to conventions. If the gear doesn't sell, we cease to exist. We both look forward to these conventions every year and once they end, we're already looking towards the next year. It's nice to meet the people behind the screens and get to know all of you. If you ever want to hang out at our table, you're more than welcome to. The only thing we ask is for you to be respectful to those around you and not molest our statue of "Thickness". She's good luck, don't soil her. 

Again, thank you to everyone who showed support the past weekend. The love is real, yo.

- Matt

SacAnime Winter 2017 Vlogs

We completely failed at vlogging SacAnime Summer 2016. I said I would do it better next time in that video. I'm happy to say I think I lived up to my word.

For SacAnime Winter 2017 I wanted to release a vlog for each day of the convention. The plan was to release them daily but when you're editing at 3 am after working the vendors hall and roaming the convention after hours, it makes it difficult. 

I just uploaded Day Three a few hours ago, thus completing the vlogs. Here is all three vlogs, hope you enjoy it!

Now that's not all for the vlogs though! I still have a bunch of left over clips I plan on putting together as a bonus video. Stay tuned for that!

Thanks for watching, and if you liked it please like, comment, and subscribe! /youtubeshit

- Matt

The Bad For You Podcast

We kicked off last year at SacAnime Winter 2016. This year we're continuing our productive streak with the first episode of our new podcast entitled "The Bad For You" Podcast. 

Since we're venturing into new territory with podcasting and YouTube we thought it'd be best to give an introductory podcast and share how we got started.

The podcast won't have a set schedule release date since Daniel and I live in different cities but we hope to have new episodes fairly regularly. We also plan on touching on a variety of subjects from anime to style to how to cope with our Overwatch addictions. We'd even like to hear what you, the supporters, would want us to talk about as well.

I know that video is a little over exposed, but we'll be working out all the production kinks as we go but for now, check out and enjoy episode one!

Thanks for a great 2016, here's to making 2017 even better!

- Matt

SacAnime Summer 16 Vlog

We had every intention of filming every second of our time at SacAnime Summer 16 but for various reasons the camera was the left untouched for most of it. I decided to throw together some of the footage we managed to get into a shitty vlog. I promise the next one will be better but for now check this out!

- Matthew

A Thank You From Daniel

Sac Anime has been over for a little over a week now. I’ve been spending my time since recovering from the exhaustion, readjusting my sleep schedule and easing back in to school and work mode again. It’s kind of funny just how much of a getaway going to conventions is for me. Once it was over, I was already counting down the days to Sac Anime Winter.

Now that I’ve fully adjusted back into the “real world”, I was able to kind of take a look and meditate on just how amazing these last few cons have been for us. How fortunate we really are. I’d call us blessed, but that word just doesn’t seem to encapsulate just how lucky we really are. It started to hit me during one of our routine “business meetings” over game chat in Overwatch. In passing, we were talking about all of the people who had been posting pictures onto Instagram of themselves rocking our gear. The next day I checked out the photo feed of pictures Senpai Social Club was tagged in again just to see. It dawned onto me that less than a year ago the feed used to be full of only pictures of us modeling our stuff cause we had no one else to. Now its starting to feel like we’ll never have to model our own stuff again.

The amount of support that people have been showing us is astounding, and I feel nothing but humbled that people support us as much as they do. Whether its buying our clothes or just stopping by the table to say hi. Its all appreciated. I can’t express enough how grateful we are and I really just wanted to take this time to say thank you to everyone. You’re all awesome as fuck and we look forward to seeing you all again in the cons to come.

I’m currently typing this in class during a lecture that’s about 10 minutes longer than it really needs to be. You really could have just let us go early for the day, but you didn’t.

 

- Daniel

 

Con Life : SacAnime Summer 2016

I don’t know how we got so fortunate. I sound like a broken record at this point but it really is insane to me how each convention we attended manages to out do the previous one. One of our neighboring artists has been attending multiple conventions for the past few years. I asked her what her worst con was and to my surprise she answered pretty quickly. After digesting the past weekend, answering that same question would be very difficult for me. Maybe it’s because we don’t vendor too many of these things, maybe we’re just lucky. Maybe, and I know this sounds lame, it’s because of you guys.

Despite having a set up here before, the nerves of vending a convention was still there for us. We did pretty well at SacWinter but even though this was a bigger convention we still weren’t sure how we would do. The location we were placed in was far less favorable than our last one. We were towards the end of Artist Alley near the entrance of the loading docks. It seemed like that brand new spelling-error-free banner I had made would be for naught. Miraculously, many of you managed to see it and even say it drew you to our table. 

Fridays are always the slowest days. The fact that our two neighboring artists didn’t show up that day didn't help either. The most we could of hoped for was people to catch us out of the corner of their eye walking to and from the bathroom. Our expectations were set extremely low for Friday. However, they were blown out of the fucking water once all of you guys started to drop by. That momentum carried over into the entire weekend and got us to survive on what little sleep we got.

It was insane how many new and familiar faces we saw throughout the whole convention. Vending a table like ours isn’t going to get a lot of traffic, especially when you're surrounded with bright colors and artists that make me ashamed to have hands. Our name confuses people, we don’t have artwork, and we’re not an actual club, not in the traditional sense at least. To put it short, not many people get what we do. But all of you guys who repeatedly came to our table and talked to us do. Everyone who changed into our gear directly after purchasing understands it. You’re all in the know and that makes you a part of the club.

We got the idea for the brand over late night gaming sessions and to see what’s become of it in just over a year still blows our minds. To have a group of Deadpools say we were the best booth to represent was dope as fuck. To hear a long time supporter say they’re proud of us gave me an emotional nosebleed. I’m getting kind of monologue-y so I’m going to end it with a thank you. Thank you to everyone who came up and showed support! Words can’t express how much we appreciate everything. 

SacAnime Winter is just around the corner and we’ll do our best to be there. Also if we are there and you just want to say “Hi”, by all means do it! We may look like ass holes, but really we’re only just a little bit douchey. No but really though…say Hi.

- Matthew

Fanime Was Lit

Well shit has it already been two weeks since Fanime? It’s hard to believe something we looked forward to for so long has already come and gone. We had an insanely good time and it was nice to be “con-goers” again after running a table at SacAnime Winter. I’ve been meaning to do a write up on Fanime but <Goldblum voice> Life…uh…finds a away…to get in the way </Goldblum voice>. Instead I’m gonna write some random sentences and you can fill in the context. 

Guys twerk better than girls. Linecon, amiright. Yo Son I heard you like gears. These badges are fucking ugly. Why is a mirror wearing a top hat? Can you feed it to me? Oh Shit, Waddup! It’s Yami Yugi! Micropenis! I’m gonna build a wall and make the titans pay for it. Can you step on me? Hip Hop in the main room. Wake up the hero! Karaoke is lit. CWF! My brother in arms. Everything you know is wrong. Critic Acid and Salt are used to preserve tomatoes.

That probably makes zero sense to most of you reading but if you know, then you know.

So whats next for the Senpai Social Club? Our next confirmed con is SacAnime Summer 2016 where we will have a table in artist alley. We plan to have a couple new releases by the time the con rolls around. There might even be a special release debuting there. Until then be sure to keep up with us here or on our social media profiles to get the latest updates.

Thanks to all the supporters who came and said whats up. It’s always nice interacting with you guys. Special shout out to Jade, Megan, and Percy for kickin’ it with us the whole convention. Also gotta thank Rian Synnth, Karlibra, and Law of EMZ for supporting us. Fanime 2016…twas lit fam. 

Stay woke, kohais

- Matthew

2016 Anniversary Release : The White Dugout Tee

Where did the time go? There are some days where it feels like only a month had passed since we took our first squad photo at Fanime 2015. With Fanime 2016 right around the corner it’s hard to believe it’s been almost a whole 365 days since this photo was taken.

When we started Senpai Social Club we had no idea it would grow into what it has become. All we knew is that we wanted to become a “thing”. We forged so many ideas in our Playstation Party chats that we knew we had to bring them to life. The first of those ideas would become our flagship shirt design, the Dugout Tee. We originally printed only enough shirts for the three of us but an error by our supplier gifted us with a couple extra shirts. One of which we were able to sell to our very first customer.

Since then it’s been an incredible ride and learning experience. With this being our first major milestone, we’re taking it back to where it all started, the White Dugout Tee. We were originally going to release both color options of the Dugout Tee but ultimately decided to go with black to fit our “all black” motif. However, this is a special occasion and it calls for a special release.

Limited to 20 pieces, the White Dugout Tee will first be available Fanime 2016 attendees. They will then be put up on the web store following the conclusion of the convention. These shirts will not be reprinted once they sell out.

Thank you all for the support over the last year. You guys will never know how much it means to us here at Senpai Social Club. Here’s to you, plebs.

- Matthew

High School [Anime] Never Ends

It’s a question I ask myself more often than I’d like to admit as a dedicated anime fan. I lament the thought of even asking myself such question for I know it suggests the future possibility of letting go of something I don’t want to, though the question still finds ways into creeping into my psyche. Ten years from now, will I still love anime the way I do now? Part of me says “yeah, no duh, it shouldn’t even be a question”, but another part of me recognizes that I’m only getting older, and anime characters? Well they’re about as stuck in high school as my old classmate Justin. Well, until he eventually dropped out after his third semester as a super senior. Point is, as the years go by, my ability to relate or even remember how to relate to a majority of anime characters in most anime shows will start to fade.

As high school kids in real life start to more and more resemble toddlers to me, so do the matters of high school kids in anime seem more trivial to me. Sure I can relate to the angst and uncertainty these characters feel, but I can also see the stupidity and naivety just as easily. The struggles that these characters experience feels less and less real or compelling because the real life you is smarter and more cynical. Sorry, I might be projecting just a bit. 

While I can confidently say I still enjoy anime set in high school settings such as shows like Clannad, Full Metal Panic!, Angel Beats, and School Rumble just to randomly name a few, I do find myself tending to enjoy shows more often when they handle more young adult matters. Not because they’re more mature per say, but because I find them just more relatable. This is to be expected as this is where I currently find myself in life. Some shows I really enjoyed, that partially had to do with their more older setting, include Golden Time, Wagnaria!!, and Servant x Service. 

All three shows are fairly silly and comedic, but to me they have a certain relatable charm that capture where I’m at in life. Yeah Golden Time is still a romantic comedy anime, but it focuses more heavily on the quality of the relationships as opposed to the idea of just getting into a relationship for the sake of being in one. Like how Golden Time is in a college setting, that was the main difference I noticed in the relationships I formed while in college as opposed to the ones I had in high school. In terms of Wagnaria!! and Servant x Service, both anime deal with joining the work force. While these shows do feature high school kids, the main drive of the shows is very much becoming an adult and working. No silly high school shenanigans, just silly work shenanigans. The humor is the same, but at the same time not, cause it’s not set in high school. It sounds silly, but it’s also really all there is to it. If a show can keep away from the boundaries of a high school, then it’s less likely for people like myself to project their disdain for the immaturity of high school onto the show itself. Everyone can relate to a character maybe being stupid, but high school stupid is a time sensitive experience we will all outgrow. Except for Justin. Justin just dropped out of it. 

My main point out of all of this is that anime relies heavily on the high school setting when I don’t think it has to. Sure, it’s what the market demands, but I also believe there is a largely almost untouched young adult market that is looking for more shows that speak to them. Anime doesn’t need to be set in high school to keep its charm. At this point, its become almost absurd how many shows utilize the high school setting. It in of itself has become almost a joke within the anime community along with the obligatory hot springs and beach day episodes. All I ask is for a larger recognition from anime studios that the older anime community is only going to continue to grow and that there is a lot of room to thrive in a market that doesn’t appeal to just teen angst and up skirt panty shot fetishes. Anime set in high school should never disappear, but it also shouldn’t be more than half of the shows coming out every season, but what do I know? I’m just a nerd with a laptop.

I’m currently typing this while marathoning an anime set in high school.

- Daniel