PRESIDENT
ZHIJIE CAO

Well hello there, it seems the kouhai (or senpai) has taken the reins from President Truman…

Currently in my second year of my Computer Science and Mathematics Statistics degree and my Chinese Diploma, I am definitely looking forward to the next 4 years!1! I’m a fusion of a gamer and a weeb, so you can either catch me being hardstuck Diamond in Valorant (or feeding on the rift) or watching the latest seasonal anime. (Kanojo, Okarishimasu? Re;zero? Sumi and Echidna best girls btw)

It's safe to say that anime and manga have had a considerable impact on my life thus far. Initial D was the first one of hundreds, and I haven’t looked back since. Death Note made me question human morality. Great Teacher Onizuka made me laugh my ass off. Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru? made me start lifting myself. Kimi no Na wa made me happy. Oyasumi Punpun made me sad. This is but a fraction of the great experiences I’ve had.

I’m happy to serve as President for this term, and despite times being rough, I promise to put 110% in ensuring that all members are getting the most out of the Society for Anime and Manga Appreciation, and hopefully we can all see each other in person sooner rather than later.

Feel free to email me at zcao0010@student.monash.edu if you have any questions or concerns, or just wanna have a chat! And from the wise words of the great sage Hubert, stay ‘funky fresh’ guys! ❤️

VICE PRESIDENT
NICHOLAS GAMBLE

Hey there, everyone! It’s time for round two!
The name’s Nick, and I’m back again; this time as Vice President!

I’m currently a third year student, studying I.T. and Arts. I’ve had a lifelong interest in space, and enjoy art, reading, gaming, DnD, and watching anime (obviously).

I got into anime quite late compared to my fellow committee members; only developing a full-fledged interest in mid-2018. At the start of the following year I joined SAMA, and that’s how I wound up here.

You can often find me talking with my friends about my chosen topic of the day, playing Among Us with whoever can handle my outstanding 900 IQ plays, or rambling on about the inevitable heat death of the universe.

This has been a tough year, but hopefully we will soon be able to see each other in person, at meetups and events. It might take a while, but when that time finally comes, I look forward to meeting everyone and hanging like just in the old days!

If you have any concerns, or just want to talk, please don’t hesitate to send me an email or message, I’m always happy to have a chat!

SECRETARY
AMY HUANG

Hi everyone! My name is Amy and I’m super excited to be your Secretary for 2020/21. I’m currently a fourth year Law & Commerce student, and I’ve been a SAMA member since starting uni. I first encountered anime through watching Chinese-dubbed Detective Conan and Cardcaptor Sakura as a kid, and have been down the weeb rabbit hole ever since ⭐

A recent anime series I’ve been into lately is Fire Force, and my other favourites include Gintama, Lovely Complex, Yamada and the 7 Witches and Steins;Gate, just to name a few. Outside of anime my interests include Final Fantasy(!!!) and other JRPGs, baking, knitting, playing piano and learning about sustainable living.

I have made the most amazing friends thanks to being a part of SAMA and I hope that in my time as secretary, I will be able continue to facilitate the same warm and welcoming environment that first drew me to the club. I hope everyone stays safe during this trying time and that we’ll all be able to meet in person soon! Please don’t hesitate to message me on Facebook or Discord, I’m always happy to chat about anything and everything!

TREASURER
HUA CHEN LI

In the wise words of Arnold, “I’ll be back”.

Hello, I am Hua Chen Li. I like Maths, Games and Anime, believe it or not. Currently a 4th year at Monash, learning Science and Commerce. I’m not a huge fan of exercising, cooking or doing anything else productive.

Maths is a passion, something that I need to work for. I enjoy the challenge, and it feels like I get a slightly bigger picture every time I learn something new.

I’m more of a Nintendo boy, although I enjoy watching professional Starcraft 2, more than playing it. I play Protoss. :P

Anime has been with me since what feels like my entire life, watching the Chinese dubs as a child, then waking up early as well to catch morning anime. These days, I stick to watching seasonal anime and reading manga, as well as sinking my time into Arknights. Gacha time.

I’m excited for the future of SAMA, to meet everyone in person and hang out like usual.

ASSISTANT TREASURER
DAMIEN AMBEGODA

Hi, I’m Damien Ambegoda and I will be the SAMA Assistant Treasurer for 2020/21! I’m really hyped to be running all sorts of different events with the excellent SAMA committee and I hope everyone looks forward to them as well. I’m currently a second year Law and Computer Sci student.

Technically my love for anime and manga started when I was 5 when I used to watch Pokemon every morning before primary school but really it all started in year 7 when I started to get hooked on the Detective Conan (Case Closed) manga from my school library’s manga collection. Ever since then, I’ve been consuming all sorts of different weeby content and I’ve been loving it ever since. I love the usual shonen anime/manga but I’m a little bit of a sucker for some thought-provoking animes so if you got some recommendations, please tell me!!

I’m a pretty avid gamer ever since I was 4 when my parents bought me a PS1. I love playing all sorts of different games from JRPGS to platformers to your classic multiplayer games like CSGO, LoL and Valorant. Honestly Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney is what got me into law in the first place so I have that game to thank for that. Check out my steam at https://steamcommunity.com/id/dax246/ and feel free to add me. Hit me up if you want to talk about all things gaming or if you’d love to play some games together.

I’m also a massive fan of Japanese music. I don’t think I would have gotten through university or Year 12 without it. My favourite band right now is Sakanaction and I cannot recommend them enough. I love every band that Enon Kawatani has been a part of and remember fondly taking the 601 bus listening to Indigo la End’s bangers. I’ve listened to many of the biggest Japanese J-rock artists but I’m always looking to expand my playlists with some other great artists.

SOCIAL REPRESENTATIVE
VANESSA LIN

Currently studying International Business and Japanese, Vanessa, Nessa or plushie stealer, is your SAMA Social Representative for 2020/21. Look forward to her lame jokes and Jojo references in the weekly emails, and the occasional funny anime meme on Facebook. Constantly questioning her life choices in spending all her savings on another plushie, Vanessa is otherwise a language enthusiast, excel spreadsheet loving otaku.

It was the year of 2003, when 2-year-old Vanessa was plunked down in front of a big box TV, made to watch My Neighbor Totoro in Cantonese dub while her mother was preparing dinner. It was at that moment Vanessa knew, she had been introduced to ✨✨a whole new world✨✨

Yes, Vanessa’s mum is the MVP who unknowingly made her fall in love with anime and subsequently become an otaku. Since then Vanessa has accumulated years of experience being a weeaboo. One would call her a veteran, however her taste in anime is...questionable. She is that one girl that is up to date with One Piece and won’t shut up about Haikyuu and BL/Yaoi. Yea, you read that correctly, this girl may or may not watch shounen shows just for the doujins, but we don’t talk about that around here >,>  . She is also that one girl who will steal plushies if she sees them, you have been warned Ψ(｀◇´)Ψ

When she doesn’t have her hands full with reading the latest BL doujin, building gunpla, or listening to anime openings, Vanessa does enjoy the other things in life. For example, she loves camping, playing Among Us with friends (yes she has a few of those…. unbelievable right?∑(O_O；)), photography and spending time with her family. 

If one wishes to contact Vanessa, she is on Facebook and can also be reached by email at wlin0019@student.monash.edu. Please troll her, she loves it (゜▽゜;)

MEDIA MANAGER
WU-WEI LI

Hello everyone, I'm Wu-Wei Li, the media manager of SAMA for 2020/21. I'm currently a 2nd year Engineering and Commerce student that has been watching/reading anime and manga for as long as I could remember.

I began my journey with the Chinese dub of Crayon Shin-chan and Doraemon and have been a fan since. I've seen and read many series, these days I mainly read or binge older shows as I can barely keep up with the seasonal shows anymore. I'll do my best to screen all kinds of shows so everyone can have something to look forward to. If you have any suggestions for shows you want to see screened or just want to have a chat feel free to get in contact with me on social media (e.g. Discord, Facebook).

Outside of anime and manga, I also enjoy playing games and watching eSports, particularly Dota 2 and CSGO. I don't have any particular team I support, mainly support whichever team is the most fun to watch at the time. These days I typically play whatever I have time for, for example a game of Dota, some gachas or the occasional chess game with some friends (gotten into it recently).

Here's hoping for a great year, and that all goes well so we can all meet and hang out in meet ups and/or events.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR
VIV ZOU

Rumour has it the spirit of a past creative director still haunts the SAMA artist group, summoned forth by calls of art collabs, banner competitions or promise of pocky. Now, this lingering soul rises out of the great abyss to serve the club once more...

Meet Vivian, the once young and naive kouhai has now become a certified senpai but the passing of time has not reduced any of her passion for anime and art, if anything, she now has more experience and anime knowledge under her belt. Viv’s anime journey started with watching Chinese dubbed Card Captor Sakura and Digimon religiously on those old block TVs, eventually branching out into FMA, Soul Eater, Steins;Gate, etc (all subbed thank god), and now peaking at being part of the SAMA committee.

Ready to serve the club in all its creative aspects with her trusty iPad and Apple Pencil, Viv is not only keen to provide advice about art programs, awesome artists to follow or how to survive tabling at conventions, she is also always seeking a good spazzing session about Ghibli movies, all the good boys of Haikyuu or why Dungeon Meshi is the best and most underrated manga ever. (Seriously, everyone needs to read it!) Besides these, she would also never say no to a good karaoke or board game sesh with friends.

Although Viv may be forever attempting to balance being a Medical student, having an addiction to anime, and most recently getting into Animal Crossing and D&D amongst other things, she is always up for a good chat on discord or Facebook. And hopefully face to face at events and artist meets once COVID chaos settles!

SPONSORSHIP OFFICER
ANDREW OLDFIELD

“Was anime a mistake? Yes. But as much as it was a curse, it was also a blessing too. For every piece of garbage like Evangelion, Akira, and Made in Abyss, we had pieces of divine wisdom like SAO, Eromanga, and Cory in The House. It is even said that our world is actually an Isekai, with Jesus as our OP protagonist.” ~ Miyazaki 20xx

Hi, I’m Best Girl Andrew, the OP “transported to another world” character of this Isekai anime we are living in. Now I know what you may be thinking: “Are you actually someone from another world or just some delusional Chunibyo?”. To that I answer “YES!”. Now, as it may not have been obvious, I am a fan of Isekai, but do not think that this means I have bad tastes. Rather, on that contrary, I would say that I have some of the most delicate and pure tastes. People say I should watch good shows, but I have already watched SAO multiple times, and while I do enjoy the occasional sips into a more cultured show like ****** Reviewers  or ******** DxD, I feel as though I must occasionally watch one of the lesser shows like Gurren Lagann or Steins Gate. As Gigguk once said “Anime is trash, and so am I”.

Of course, you may wonder “Your holiness, with such great tastes, what is the best of the best from all of that which your third eye and big brain have seen?”. To that I answer, No Game No Life. Why? It’s simple, [           ] cannot be defeated. Thus by that logic, their anime can also not be and hey, let’s be real, the animation is amazing, the show is so much fun, and the movie still makes me cry every time.

Oh yeh, something about what I do at Uni too, Blah blah blah… Boring, who cares? Not me.