With strict classrooms and overbearing exams looming in every semester, the life of a high school student is rarely a pretty one within anime's fictional walls. Lucky for them, anime also has an eclectic line of extracurricular activities to spark up their attitude. The school club has become a staple within high school anime.
While book learning can be exciting within its own right, seeing kids spend time together in game clubs, help each other in sports clubs, and learn cool, new things within culture clubs can be a much more fulfilling experience. That goes double when a brave few students decide to start clubs like no other. To give a few of the creative students out there some ideas, these are some of the most unique clubs within all of anime.
10 SKET Dan (SKET Dance)
While volunteer service can be a fun, after school activity for some students looking for extra credit or as a means to pass the time, SKET Dance's version of service with a smile takes things to a new level.
Much rather than just be a service club that volunteers for school events, the SKET Dan takes on bullies, handles mysteries, and helps tsunderes in their unique amalgamation of the battle shonen formula and Scooby-Doo. As their name implies, the SKET Dan are all about Support, Kindness, Encouragement, and Troubleshooting in all of their forms.
9 The SOS Brigade (The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya)
The SOS Brigade (short for Saving The World By Overloading It With Fun Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade) may not be an official club or supported by its Student Council, and it might be taking funds from the Literature Club, but that doesn't neglect the fact that it may very well be the most important club within the entire world.
On the surface, it just appears as a way for a group of friends to feed President Haruhi Suzumiya's delusions of finding aliens, time-travelers, and other mysteries in the world. However, in reality, they're actually trying to stop her from using her latent psychic/godlike abilities to accidentally warp reality with her daydreaming.
8 The Live-Action Film Club (Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!)
It's always fun to see anime about making anime. In Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! in particular, a group of friends set out to not only start their own anime club but reach mainstream, corporate success as a company of their own. Because the school itself didn't want their organization competing with the already established "Anime Club," three girls work in secret under the guise of the Live-Action Film Club (aka the Eizouken), essentially promising the exact opposite of what they're doing.
They do get results however as their director and artist combo work diligently to create masterful works within their own right, and their eccentric producer works hard to ensure that they will one day make money off of it.
7 The Model Club (Plastic Neesan)
Plastic Neesan takes a close look (or, at least, it tries to) at the hobbyist realm of making plastic models. Whether that means character figurines, cars, or replicas of buildings, this club has fun with their miniature sculptures.
Unfortunately for them, they also have a hard time focusing on the actual premise of the show. Struggling to actually make plastic models, the members of the Model Club often get sidetracked by various club squabbles, romances, and other misadventures. With only 2 minutes per episode, anyone can feel free to join the club.
6 Competitive Karuta Club (Chihayafuru)
While many schools can have competitive Chess Clubs and other board games, Chihaya Ayase struggles to keep the good name of karuta alive within Municipal Mizusawa High. Karuta is a Japanese tabletop game that involves memorizing and putting together classical, Japanese poems with tiles.
While the game is relatively more popular within its country of origin, karuta still doesn't have a wide competitive base, even today. Despite this, Chihaya tries to relive her childhood youth, reunite some old friends, and spread her passion to others as she reignites the sport.
5 The Host Club (Ouran High School Host Club)
Some after school clubs are academic. Others are competitive. A rare few are leisurely. That's where Ouran High School's Host Club lies, as its group of sophisticated and glowing high school boys all work hard to make a host club. Host clubs, in Japan, are bars and leisure clubs that have its wait staff, using the art of casual conversation and flirtation, double as entertainers for their customers.
The boys of Ouran's Host Club enjoy the flare and inherent campiness of the atmosphere and use it to entertain the various girls of their school (albeit without selling any actual alcohol). Their misadventures only get more interesting once they enlist the help of the new kid, Haruhi Fujioka, to help with their endeavors.
4 The Student Cultural Society (Kokoro Connect)
The Student Cultural Society gathers around an elite group of students, from different sects of social life and upbringing, together under one roof to do the impossible: Do nothing. The Student Cultural Society is a faux club within Kokoro Connect that is comprised of students that either didn't get into the clubs that they wanted to or pitched clubs that were rejected by the school.
Without much else to do, these kids gather together after school to pretty much just hang out. That is until they suddenly find each other switching bodies without warning. Now having to confront each other's lives and secrets, what will become of the Student Cultural Society?
3 The Far Eastern Magic Napping Society Of Summer Love (Love, Chuunibyou, And Other Delusions!)
If a student can actually manage to mouth the entire meal that is that club title, then they might come across one of the most interesting clubs around. The Far Eastern Magic Napping Society of Summer Love is a collaboration between a group of students who have (or did have) "chuunibyou," or Eight Grader Syndrome, as well as one girl that just really wants an excuse to nap.
Together, they set off on a variety of imaginary adventures to combat evil, protect their delusional club leader from hurting herself, and safeguarding their individual social statuses.
2 The Survival Game Club (Sabagebu!)
While gun laws are very strict in Japan, that doesn't keep their gun clubs from reaching a certain level of popularity. And though high schools certainly wouldn't approve of a gun club on their own, there isn't exactly a ban on BB guns. That's where the girls of Sabagebu!'s Survival Game Club are able to thrive.
Needing an escape from their humdrum, high school lives, these girls enjoy blowing off steam with a good (and relatively safe) fire fight, having loads of fun playing with each other and competing against other schools. While these are just games, Sabagebu!'s girls do a great job of giving matches a dramatic flare.
1 Earth Defense Club (Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!)
While the boys of the Earth Defense Club simply just want to goof around and relax, forces outside of their control (namely a cute, pink wombat) grant them the abilities of magical girls to defend the Earth from an evil trio. As the "Battle Lovers," these boys are armed to the teeth in dresses, wands, and positive attitudes so as to fight the loveless and spread the good name of love across the world.
Standing in their way is a harrowing though silly line of monsters and villains. With epic battles ensuing every week, this school must have a pretty decent afterschool budget.