by Kate Rohr

Addicted to anime

“Full Metal Alchemist,” “Death Note” and “Black Butler” are just a few of freshman Kathleen Nicely’s favorite TV shows. Why have you not heard of them? Probably because they cannot be found in any basic cable Thursday night lineup – they are anime, or Japanese animated cartoons.

“[Anime] is pretty much the pop culture of Japan as a whole,” Nicely said. “It’s like TV shows and comics kind of combined together. It’s sort of everything for teenage Japanese culture, really.”

Nicely first became interested in anime when she bought her first graphic novel in fourth grade. Today, she watches the TV shows, plays the video games, reads the books, called manga and even sketches her own anime characters.

“I’m not really sure what the draw is exactly,” Nicely said. “It’s pretty much just the entire culture developed around [anime.] Just by watching anime, you’re pretty much taking in stuff about Japanese culture, like pop culture.”

By watching anime and reading manga, Nicely has learned a lot about Japanese culture and has even learned a few Japanese words.

“A lot of the jokes in anime usually relate to something in their language, like puns and everything,” Nicely said. “In order to really grasp that, an understanding of their language is somewhat necessary, but also learned quite easily.”

According to Nicely, there are two types of anime TV shows: shonin, meaning ‘boys,’ and shojo, meaning ‘girls.’

“Shojo manga is girl’s manga,” Nicely said. “It’s girly and cute. It is very pink and happy and bright and cute.”

However, Nicely prefers shonin, or boys’ manga.

“I’m not one of those people that likes just the romantic story, everything’s happy,” Nicely said. “Shojo manga manages to have very realistic action scenes and fights, but at the same time it develops the characters and their relationships with each other.”

In addition to reading and watching anime, Nicely draws her own.

I have four or five [sketchbooks] at home,” Nicely said. “I’ve been trying to teach myself to draw on Microsoft Paint. It’s not easy.”

She explains that manga is a different type of animation than normal cartoons.

“A typical drawing of manga is kind of somewhere in between drawing cartoons and drawing realism,” Nicely said. “You have to have the structure correct, but at the same time anime characters pretty much have the structure of a model, more or less. I mean, they’re perfect.”

Nicely typically draws either characters she makes up on her own or those from a show.

“They have some sort of character with a weird personality quirk, that’s just completely bizarre, but hilarious,” Nicely said. “Never ceases to amaze me.”

Hittin’ the hockey hard

Senior Mary Kate Jenks is five foot two with a small frame and delicate features. But ask her what her favorite sport is, and she won’t hesitate to tell you: hockey.

“I think it’s kind of weird,” Jenks said. “It’s kind of a manly sport, so you wouldn’t think that a girl would be so obsessed with it. And being from Kansas City, it’s such a random sport to like.”

“I think I really liked how fast the game was,” Jenks explained. “Basketball was cool, but hockey was so physical and really interesting to watch.”

Jenks started following hockey when she in fourth grade and her older brother began playing. Though she loves the game, Jenks herself has not played since the fourth grade.

“[It did not work] because I was so little!” Jenks explained. “Literally I was out at Stick and Puck, which is where you just shoot the puck around. I can’t skate, can’t shoot the puck, and doing it at the same time, it was not pretty. And there were all these big boys that were running, well, skating around me, and it was really embarrassing. So I told my dad I was done.”

Though Jenks does not play hockey, she still follows the NHL season religiously.

“I watch hockey every night with my dad,” Jenks said. “I watch it, and then we try to go see my brother play, like when he plays at Ole Miss [for a club team].”

Each season, Jenks chooses her favorite team that she will follow throughout the season. This year she chose the Pittsburgh Penguins, although she admits that Boston Bruins center Tyler Seguin is one of her favorite players.

“Let’s be honest, I definitely pick the hottest guy of the year that I like,” Jenks said.

Dr. Who fanatic

While sophomore Shelby Hawkins admits to being obsessed with many British television shows, there is one she loves above all the rest.

“‘Doctor Who’ is the one I’ve been a fan of the longest, and I’ve introduced the most people to it,” Hawkins explained.

According to Hawkins, “Doctor Who” is a British science fiction show that follows the story of the Doctor, an alien who travels around space and time.

“It’s a really fun show,” Hawkins said. “It can be hilarious in the most geeky ways. Like one second you’ve got Shakespeare, the Doctor meets Shakespeare and they’re making jokes about each other. And then the next scene you’re crying because the characters that belong together got separated. It’s just kind of an emotional roller coaster.”

Hawkins explained that “Doctor Who” ran from 1963 until the 1980’s, and was revived in 2005 with a modern cast. Hawkins has seen all the episodes since the revival, and some episodes from the 1970’s.

“[The old episodes] are so cute because the effects are terrible and the acting is really exaggerated,” Hawkins said. “They’re much cuter. Now it’s genuinely good, while watching the old ones, they’re just fun to watch.”

Hawkins follows the current seasons closely, but not only by watching the show.

“I do read obscure blogs, and I follow a lot of stuff [about “Doctor Who”] on Tumblr and I follow fan art and read short stories,” Hawkins explained. “During the most recent season I was online a lot and I got all the conspiracy theories from fans as they came out.”

Hawkins has convinced many of her friends to become fans of “Doctor Who,” and believes many people would enjoy it.

“It’s more fun to be a nerd if you’re watching it because there are history jokes and science jokes,” Hawkins said. “Some people hear something about the capacity of a neutron, and they’re like ‘I’m done.’ But the characters have enough drama and other sorts of relationships that it’s fun to watch even if you don’t really like that kind of thing.”