Kara Dennison
October 8, 2020 
It seems like there’s anime and manga out there about nearly anything you can think of. From ballroom dancing to agricultural school, anime and manga covers a surprising amount of life experiences. This is especially true of after-school club anime… and a lot of these anime clubs have us eyeing surprising hobbies!
From the relaxing to the aggressive to the classical, here are three anime series whose clubs have drawn our interest in unexpected ways.
Chihayafuru
The Japanese card game known as karuta has existed for more than 400 years. People in Japan know it well, and some even play competitively. But fans abroad had a whole new world opened up to them with the manga-turned-anime Chihayafuru.
This anime’s club is focused on a form of the game known as uta-garuta, which involves swiftly matching a poem being read aloud to its corresponding card. Chihayafuru combines the game with high school drama and a deeply-rooted love triangle. But even without the romance and drama, the games themselves are surprisingly exciting. The series has brought karuta to international attention… and while we probably can’t take it up anytime soon, it’s fun to learn about.
Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater
If you live anywhere near a body of water, you probably went fishing at least once in your childhood. Whether you’ve kept it up or let it drop is another thing altogether. But Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater will definitely bring the nostalgia, and this anime’s club has us itchin’ to be fishin’.
Protagonist Hina moves back to Ashikita and finds herself in her school’s Breakwater Club. That is — the fishing club. At first, she’s more interested in the Handicrafts Club. But after finding a childhood friend is in the fishing club, she opts to stay. And, moreover, finds she likes it, even if there’s a learning curve.
Watch Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater now!
Iwakakeru -Sport Climbing Girls-
We’ve all seen those rock climbing walls at gyms and indoor parks. Some of us may even be into climbing them. But for many of us, they either look like too big a challenge, or have proven to be one. Not so for Konomi, the heroine of Iwakakeru -Sport Climbing Girls-: she climbs her way right into this anime’s club!
Iwakakeru drives home that sport climbing is no joke. It takes strength, dexterity, skill, and wit to make it up those walls. One step wrong can bring you to a complete stop. One would think that gamer girl Konomi would be at a loss. But as a top tier puzzle-solver, she can turn those walls into visual puzzles and work through them. She’s a surprising savant, and makes us want to give those walls another try… maybe.
Watch Iwakakeru -Sport Climbing Girls- now!
What other after-school anime clubs would you join? Have you ever picked up a hobby because of an anime or manga you loved?
