Once a year, the office people of both Boylston, Newbury and Mass Ave. Streets are greeted with the awkward stylings and acne filled faces of anime nerds. Many are dressed as Ichigo Kurosaki (BLEACH main character) while others sport the red cloud of the Akatsuki (Naruto's main antagonist group). I, however, took the high road, sporting cut off shorts and a "Two Pikachu's Shirt" (For those you who don't know what that is, go on Youtube and find the video under Snorlax). It was a interesting con; lets go over some of the good times and the bad.
-Highlights:-I did a panel! This was only my third con but at 10am on Friday, me and my other colleages over at Manga Recon sat down with about 30 people. We spoke of series long gone, forgotten by mankind, time and space. I talked about Cyborg 009, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, and What's Michael. It was a lot of fun and I'd love to do it again. I described it to a few people as "it was like talking too a bunch of friends. They really were interested in what we had to say and wanted to get involved."
-I found some really rare stuff for pretty cheap. I got Final Fantasy Tactics for 25$, Metropolis for $5 (Normally its 15), a first edition copy of Gyo (I gave it Scott cause I have Gyo memorized. Its about walking fish who scare people. Done), volumes 5-9 of "Here is Greenwood" for $30, and a pretty rare Gundam model. Overall, I spent $180 but it was totally worth it.
-The panels I saw were pretty impressive. I really enjoyed the Saiyuki or Journey to the West panel, it was a run through of all the adaptations since the 1960s following up until the adaptation done by Gorillaz Artist, Jamie Christopher Hewlett. I also saw a "Worst of Osamu Tezuka", which was hilarious and eye-opening within its own right. Osamu Tezuka, probably one of the greatest Manga creators ever, basically used all the money he had made from Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion to feed his own messy and incredibly bad creations. One of them was 4 live action actors in the future, however the heads were animated. It was creeply tasteful. Time well spent.
-I ended up having a lot of nice conversations with people. And they were just about OMG i love that series, we talked about Digital Distribution Issues, Old Manga, Costumes, etc etc. I felt like there was a nice community this year.
-This is a personal goal but it was achieved nonetheless. As I walking early on to go to my panel, the two sisters from Comicopia came up behind me. "Hey are you gonna come by and visit our panel?", they asked and of course I replied with a "of course!" I have finally been recognized as a regular costumer at Comicopia! They know my name and they cut me some deals at the table! I am very pleased!
-Fail Areas:-Not really any impressive cosplay. I saw a lot of work put in but nothing stood out. Some people just don't know how to dress.
-Some of the panels ended up just being fucking stupid. I went to the ADV Panel, which was David Williams and his wife, answering questions about ADV films. Only he wasn't able to answer any of the important questions (ADV's Budget, certain plans for the future) and avoiding answering the stupid ones ("Is this series coming out soon? What's happening with this specific licsence?") The same thing happened at the Sailor Moon and I just left.
-Anime Boston is kind of like the kid brother of Anime Cons. There really aren't as many announcements as NY or San Diego Comic Con. It kind of sucks for a review so its more of a fan based Con.
Other than all of that junk, Here are some pictures. you should go next year, It worth it if you can enjoy awkward people and nerdy things.
Look at those dead, judgmental eyes. Just look. He is mad at me. I'm not sure what I did, but this Gundam is damned pissed at me. Maybe it's because I've been spreading the gospel, or maybe he is just alone and scared. He is stuck to the ground, you know? Wouldn't you be mad?
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