History
The Beginning
Once upon a time, in the fall of 1997, Erin Ellis arrived upon the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and found that it had no anime club. This situation required immediate rectification. So, in the fall 1997 semester, flyers went up about campus announcing the first meeting of the Japanese Animation Society. This attracted others, such as new transfer student Scott Dillin, who had aspirations similar to Erin’s, Ed Caldwell, who had no life and much revolutionary fervor, and Phil Lee, a recent graduate of the University with an absurdly large tape library.
The Middle
The spring of 1998 saw changes for the better and the worse. On the one hand, the club settled on a name [or Phil did, anyway], and resolved to be known as the Carolina Otaku Uprising. See, once acronymized, it’s “COUp,” as in “d’etat,” and then you think “oh, how clever” and laugh. Yes, laugh. Okay, start laughing before we break your goddamn head open. There, that’s better. On the other hand, attendance plummeted due to the slackening of the club’s flyering campaign and the lack of a regular meeting place. For perhaps two months, the Uprising met in a different room each week, including such hideously uncomfortable venues as Hamilton 100. Still, the core members kept the faith, a few new recruits joined, and the quality of features remained steady.
The Later Middle
In the fall semester of 1998, the club found found a permanent home in the well-equipped and -upholstered Dey 113. A massive and sustained flyering campaign attracted a substantial influx of new members. The Daily Tar Heel published an article on the club that, miraculously, contained absolutely no use of the word “tentacles.” Finally, as this history is written, The club finished screening its first major episodic feature; on December 1, 1998, the twenty-sixth and final episode of Martian Successor Nadesico was greeted with applause by new and old members alike. Nadesico was replaced by new TV series to accompany Rurouni Kenshin [Kenshin, of course, will last for years], such as Shoujo Kakumei Utena and Mobile Police Patlabor.
In 1999, the University granted the Uprising campus office space, which is presently being converted into the much-ballyhooed Carolina Otaku Uprising Lounge, Office, Crash-Pad, Arcade, and Bootlegging Center, complete with overstuffed furniture, desks, sleeping accomodations, Phil’s Gyruss cabinet, a still, and high-end VCRs. The club women’s auxiliary, GLOC, incorporated itself during the summer and unleashed a vicious wave of yaoi glory upon the unsuspecting. Throughout the year, the club became a notable force in the larger world of anime fandom. COUp successfully operated the main video room at the 1999 Animazement convention, earning the acclaim of all and sundry, and attended Anime Weekend Atlanta in force, showing the flag, selling zines, singing and chanting in public areas at late hours, and stalking costume players. AWA saw the first return of a graduated member; the Reverend Smith traveled from Southern California to march with his revolutionary brethren and bear his fabled redneck katana for a time.
The Future?
COUp continues its quest to become the dominant organization for the promotion of Japanese animation in its area, state, region, and nation. The club will once again show the colors, terrify the unwary, and break the knees of its enemies at Raleigh’s annual Animazement convention, so long as Phil does not get sick and the Reverend does not have to go back to work and subsequently turn into a demented spastic. However, he will pay cab fare from LA if he has to. In addition to showings at major events, we will continue to run regular meetings with a strong lineup of quality anime, and carry the truth of the Uprising’s cause to all corners of the Earth with proud revolutionary fervor and swift, brutal violence. For behold, here is wisdom: