The UR Japanese Anime Club was organized in fall of 1997 and recognized as an official club at the University of Richmond in January 1998. The club was formed primarily to view/show titles that were not widely accessable on the large screen in the Media Resources Center at Boatwright Library and introduce the uninitiated to anime, as well as to promote a small UR student / former student community of sorts. The club was effectively disbanded in 2002 due to both waning student interest and the rapidly growing mainstream accessibility of anime through both commercial and internet distribution / digital fansub channels. As such, organizations like this club once was are largely no longer necessary.