It’s a Monday and students are staying after school. After finishing their make-up quizzes, they still have time to kill before the late buses arrive at 3:45. What do they do with the extra time? One option many students may not know they have is to attend a meeting of the Anime Club, where they can meet the president, senior Katie Ledford.

Ledford has been an anime fan since she was extremely young, although she didn’t realize it at first.

“When I was younger, I watched Pokemon, but I didn’t know it was anime. I didn’t really get interested until seventh grade when I went to Cooper Middle School’s
anime club.” There at Cooper, Ledford was introduced to the world of anime, and has been hooked ever since.

From her blossoming love for watching anime came her passion to draw anime. She began by drawing regular cartoon characters, but when she went to Cooper’s anime club and met people there who drew, she became more accustomed to the anime style.

“At first my drawing style was similar to the styles of the anime shows that I watched, like Naruto and Fruits Basket. Now, my drawings are more realistically bounded and have proper anatomy.”

If you were to see Ledford watching any anime show now, it would be Cowboy Bebop or Soul Eater, which are two of her favorites at the moment. Her favorite overall, however, is Eden of the East.

Ledford’s two favorite characters are Alucard from the show Hellsing because he is an “overall funny character, but it’s a different kind of fun,” and Tohru Honda from the anime Fruits Basket.

New people are always welcome to stop by a meeting of the anime club. The club meets weekly on Mondays.

“It’s a fun place to meet people who like anime or manga, and also video games. You’re guaranteed to have something to talk about with someone,” said Ledford.