sleepy_pig_2003

Screenings are fine and legal, you just have to either get permission or buy a public screening license.
Anime clubs are still using permissions to do screenings in all the universities in the world (except now because of Odex, not in Singapore)

sleepy_pig_2003

Oh yes, and BTW, I came across this website and video/DVD/whatever rentals seem ok (don't need a license):

http://entrepreneurs.about.com/b/a/081926.htm

So essentially taking money for renting out videos doesn't need either permission nor licensing.
Only screenings is different, if it is not in a private home, but as long as permission is sought or licenses are negotiated it should be good.

What about Singapore-specific video rental laws, is there any?
i.e. anybody know how Video-EZY does it?

SDF-2

Before cosplay and fansubs killed anime screenings, MAC regularly screened anime till a time no one will want to come for anime screenings. Everyone will watch anime in their comfort and free time. People will want to go to anime events to look at cosplayers. Look at the increasing number of DSLR photographers and you will know why. Hence a sub culture like cosplay, born out of Japanese sub culture like anime, took the main stage. When did anime fans, anime merchandise dealers took central stage of the scene since 2004?
Anime culture became sub and cosplay culture become the main thing of cosplay events.

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lockie

Kinda sad that that is so. Somemore some "wapanese" or in our case, "Sapanese" actually went to natsu matsuri cosplaying, thinking that it is part of the main japanese culture.

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sleepy_pig_2003

Melvinmint:

I'm really interested in the history of MAC and how public screenings became uninteresting.

Could it be that screenings were dubbed in English? (I saw an event in the Asian Civilizations Museum --- everything was dubbed!)

Do you think there is a possibility that these screenings could be taken up again? What about anime libraries / video rentals? If people are being scared out of downloading by Odex, wouldn't this format be able to make a comeback?

SDF-2

I will tell you now. It can be long.

The history of Miyuki Animation Club can be traced back to 1995. One of the co-founders is this engineer from KL by the name of Mak Kum Shi. When he relocated to Singapore to work, he and his friends decided to form Miyuki Animation Club which was under Thomson CC Youth Wing.

At 1998, the club moved to Fengshan CC at Bedok North under the Youth Wing Group. Anime screenings were organised and the titles they screened are [B]Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory[/B], Macross: Do You Remember Love etc. The club organised the first event incoporating Cosplay in Dec 1999. And the event shifted to Suntec City in Dec 2000 and that is where many fans know about Miyuki Animation Club. Miyuki Animation Club also helped AXN to organise cosplay segment in June 2000 at The Hereen.

From 2001 to 2004, besides the screenings, the club also organised the Anime Red WHite Songs Battle and so on. It is to be noted that anime screenings were to be of less importance as digisubs can be viewed anywhere and not necessary at anime screenings. So, fans gathering sessions have those PS2 gaming sessions as well as comics drawing sessions. The organization of the manga drawing session and the sales of anime related items is in tuned to promote the doujins for future EOY events.

But all have to take note especially that anime screenings sessions gave way to Red White Songs Battle preparation sessions. The importance of Red White is akin the club's National Day Parade where many practices have to perfect the singings by the singers whom are a hybrids of anime fans and cosplayers.

The successes (this can be debate) of Red White and Cosplay events lead to me and another Committee helper thinking whether the words "Animation Club" should dropped and replaced with the words "Events Organizing Committee".

The turbulent period from Jan 2004 to Sep 2004 where MAC faced issues divided the Committee. Red White Songs Battle 2004 saw its initial planning period turned into the political battle between the old timers and the new members. The new timers lost and in the first time in the Club's nine years history saw her Treasurer and Secretary left the Committee while on duty. The day before the show started, seven dancers cum helpers, including the MCs left the show, prompting the production team to make major adjustments to the MCs. The pulling of the good show did not help in raising the spirits.

Members were non in existant or there is no one to count the numbers of members. What benefits will the members have if they come for regular gaming, manga drawing sessions and pay EOY at a less discount rate?

Plus, the Fengshan CCC which MAC was under, wanted MAC to take part more of the Consitutency actitvies. The younger generation, I mean those who did not joined the Committee during "The 7 Samurais" period (June 2001 to June 2002), wanted out of Fengshan due to the fact the other consituencies offered the carrot-more autonomy in club affairs and still get funding. While Fengshan CC going through a change of committees for their Youth Committee giving this "same funding, equal autonomy and more actitvities" treatment.

It is therefore the Commitee of MAC decided to dissolve the club in September 2004 at the last Annual General Meeting. The number of members attending the meeting is 1, compared to the full house situation where MAC conducted the AGM in August 2002.

It will be early to judge that digisubs killed anime screenings. Fans who have the hands full that do not have the time to volunteer for club activities. This is true till this day even when MAC became STAC and how many volunteers can shoulder the big responsibilities of running the Club. To a degree, what the crackdown done to us was that the anime fans were empathy towards affairs of the scene.

If you ask me, what happens if there is a major club existed before all this boo-haha, will ODEX think twice before invading our online territory? I will say no. Past experience with the fans gave me this conclusion, "We do not want to be controlled. We want to watch anime and goes to events, take photos on cosplayers and judge them. We will want to label some cosplayers as cos****s, for some extreme cum elites cosplayers cum anime fans."

It is no wonder that the media labelled our online forums as a whole like a "lawless Mondigasu".

So it is just another question, are we going to change that? Mind everyone here that changes are not going to be easy as few of your predecessors did as in Red White Songs Battle 2004 but were defeated badly. But if the club going through "The 7 Samurais' period can propelled anime awareness and creating a hype like Cosplay and prompting the creation of "Singapore Cosplay Club Square" and Kallang CC Cosplay Club, then why not?

It takes sacrifices, just like what the Taiwanese did in organizing anime, cosplay and doujin events.

I spoke too much but I have not done that for a long time.

Thank you for reading.

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DigiGatou

Not really understanding the Red White Song Battle thing, but it just read so terribly horrific.

But the entire thing was mostly political battles that ruined the club..So what I'm thinking is, set up some club, organised screening/rental and that's it.
That's the main point of the club.

Of course, this is just my own idea lah..since there are already many cosplay events and the such.

SDF-2

It is not that horrific. But it is just that the cause of bringing a better life to all anime fans turned to be bitter in the end. That will not only happen to MAC but to the other clubs as well.

Mak Kum Shi and other founders' idea of setting up MAC is to gather all like-minded anime fans to gather and the ultimate goal was to setup an Animation production company, just like Gainax.

Sadly, he did not see it.

So, what noble cause we may have in the beginning, will lead to nothing when the spirit changed. MAC is a good example.

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gearchi10

I'm starting to see far too many cosplay events lately. Its making it seem like we're more crazy about dressing up in costumes than to watch anime. At least, that is probably what the general public will think

SDF-2

It does not happens here in Singapore only. Taiwan is having the same thing. The recent issue of Taiwanese host Jacky Wu sending wrong messages about Suzumiya Haruhi is a pornographic novel making Otaku issues resurfacing.

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Melmint

haruhi is porn !!!!? OMFG

well i know alot of AV acctress cosplayed as haruhi and ****...
sad

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SDF-2

On the programme he said that but denied it later. Look at the sganime threads bah.

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Zermine

SDF-2 - thanks for sharing bits of the history on the anime scene in Singapore. I am a newbie to both cosplay and anime. The bits of history gave me a much more understanding. I wonder if you knew anything about SCC or SCC square ? Thanks.

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SDF-2

I do not know much about SCC or SCC Square. So I can not really comment that.

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sleepy_pig_2003

SDF-2: Thanks for the post, that was really enlightening - that'll really help anyone trying to write about the history of anime in Singapore

Melvinmint: AFAIK the original/real Haruhi is only rated PG-13 in the US (check your US DVD releases in amazon)

Just to clarify (for anyone not understanding that porn comment

Haruhi, just like other titles, are subject to the comiket 3rd floor syndrome - doujinshi (fan-created manga parodies) are almost always created parodying popular series, and some of the doujinshi and fan productions feature adult material.

So the general populace in countries in which Haruhi is not officially sold, have no idea what the original titles are. Therefore, if someone sells an r-rated or x-rated doujinshi in some magazine or shop somewhere the doujinshi might be mistaken for the original.