Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Author Talks: Adult Animanga Club
Location
This program can be joined either virtually or in person at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL), 3rd Floor, Room 304.
Adult Animanga Club aims to bring together adults in a space to discuss anime and manga. All topics under the umbrella of animation and manga are welcome. We will be watching anime from Crunchyroll and discussing selected manga. This is a bimonthly program. We will meet on Wednesday evenings for anime and manga discussion, and Saturday afternoons for movie screenings.
This week's club meeting will be dedicated to discussing The Fangirl Diaries: Finding Community in the
Anime Fandom of the ‘90s and ‘00s. Author Erica Victoria Espejo will be joining us virtually for a talk and Q&A.
(Source: McFarland Books)
About the Book
Discovering your true self through fandom is a complicated journey. In this coming-of-age memoir, Erica Espejo
will take you back to the turn of the millennium where anime fandom in the United States was growing from niche
to mainstream. Sailor Moon was broadcast in English, and a generation of otaku timed their VCRs and watched in
awe as the course of media fandom changed forever. This intimate and humorous memoir tells the story of one
such eager fan who would go on to define her young adulthood with fan creations, cosplay, conventions and many
other engagements with a variety of anime, manga and other media. An early adopter of online communities
through newsgroups and tape trading, the author brings an informed and deeply personal perspective to the
changing meaning of fandom. This book can be borrowed from New York Public Library.
About the Author
A cosplay ancestor and legend - at least that’s what TikTok says. Humbled by these words, Erica Victoria Espejo (aka Cosplay Ancestor Eri) has been in the cosplay and convention community for the past 25 years. She runs “Scarlet Rhapsody (www.scarlet-rhapsody.com), a collective of 20+ years of convention lore. She’s been covering anime and pop culture events these past two decades. She is also an award winning cosplayer competing in masquerades since performing at AniMagic 2000. She is currently the Reputation Red Angel in the idol group, Angel Hearts and the girlboss of Neko World Order in Cosplay Wrestling Federation. She authored “The Fangirl Diaries,” a non-fiction book about the intersection of girlhood and anime fandom at the turn of the millennium. She currently resides in Irvine with her two cats, Karma and Nico.
All programs are subject to change or cancellation.