Anime Boston 2009

Anime Boston 2009 was held in the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Massachusetts from May 22nd to May 24th. This was in fact, my first experience at an anime convention. Overall I had a very pleasant experience. I got to put some faces next to names (or voices) like Daryl Surat of Anime World Order and Mike Toole of Animejump fame.

Upon my arrival to the Hynes Convention Center I was immediately able to get my badge and began wandering the halls, camera in hand. I made the mistake of not taking a schedule at first so I mostly just wandered around snapping photos of the cosplayers. Thankfully I stumbled into a few friends, including a DAPDX fan who was able to point me to the Anime Squares (think Hollywood Squares) panel where I met up with Daryl Surat. Daryl along with Rym and Scott of Geek Nights, voice actor Troy Baker, and many others played the stars in this game show. I nudge Daryl into letting me be one of the contestants for the sole reason of getting a chance to call Troy Baker, David Bowie. It was meant as a complement. Anyone who looks like David Bowie is ok in my book. The prizes included DVDs where as the consolation prize was Pocky. I lost and threw my pocky in the crowd as a gift.

Much of my free time in the panel was spent wandering the dealer's room. There were many booths from regular swath of companies like ADV Films, Funimation, and Media Blasters. Merchandise consisted of things like manga, DVDs, robot toys (Transformers Masterpiece and some Soul of Chogokin), Gunpla, and other various things. Prices for toys ran a little high for my tastes so I ended up buying DVDs. I did see many people buying Gundam models and anime figures, which were the dominate products. My haul consisted of the three Tekkaman Blade DVD sets and Discotek's new release of the Fist of the North Star movie. I highly recommend both.

Afterwards I attended a panel where former DAPDX member Todd and some other giant robot fans attempted to educate the masses on the essentials of mecha anime. Their top five consisted of Tetsujin 28, Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, Gundam, and Macross. Possibly the best part of the panel was the conclusion in where we all turned our sorrow into anger and chanted SIEG ZEON!

Mike Toole and Neil Nadelman hosted an excellent panel on the origins of anime in a talk called "Anime Eiga." The purpose of the panel was to uncover some of the older anime films from an era when anime was not quite like was we see it as today. Both Mike Toole and Neil Nadelman are incredibly knowledgeable in anime history. Neil Nadelman is also a gigantic Gundam fan and has worked for Sunrise translating the original TV series and the One Year War OVAs. He is in fact the man who popularized the use of the term "Zeke" as a derogatory name for Zeon soldiers in the Gundam universe.

Daryl Surat along with Rym and Scott of the Geek Nights podcast hosted an event called "Know Your Creators" that aimed to teach anime fans about the people behind the shows. While it is very common for people to refer films by their directors such as Steven Spielberg or George Lucas, anime fans do not typically follow shows based on their directors and/or creators. By discussing big figures in anime as Mamoru Oshii, Ichiro Itano, and Go Nagai it is the hope that fans will start to learn to seek out anime based on who created it. One piece of advice given at the panel is to use Anime News Network's Encyclopedia to learn about all the important staffers to one's favorite anime.

Following the "Know Your Creators Panel," Daryl Surat and Mike Toole presented the "Worst of Ozamu Tezuka." Tezuka is quite literally known to many as "the god of manga" and while much of his work is quite prolific, some of his early work is extremely obtuse and experimental. Most notable the so-called Animerama series consisting of Cleopatra, A Thousand and One Nights, and Belladonna are some of the most bizarre anime you'll ever find. Also included in the panel were hilarious scenes from the Astro Boy live-action series from the 1960's. Picture a stone faced little boy in plastic armor with a hair helmet and you've got the one film Tezuka wanted to forget.

The final panel I attended on the last day of the convention was a "State of the Industry Panel." Originally representatives from ADV, Funimation, and various other companies were going to discuss the current market with the fans. Neil Nadelman was asked to help out with the panel, but when the guests of honor refused to show up he stepped in to take questions from the audience and give the fans some incite on what's happening with today's anime market. He was also assisted by Toon Zone journalist Eric Stehmer. Much of the talk in the panel discussed the affects of Digital Distribution on the market and the vast changes in how anime DVDs are being marketed to both consumers and the retail outlets. Also one of their major points was the fact that in Japan, anime is merely the medium to advertise merchandise while the whole international anime market is primarily geared towards selling the shows themselves. In reality, the merchandise (i.e. the stuff covered by CollectionDX and Anime.CollectionDX) is the most important aspect of anime's profitability. I have nothing but praise for Neil and Eric who essentially saved the panel from utter ruin.

Most of my thoughts are summarized in the attached audio report. Please enjoy some of the terrific cosplayers and other assorted photos. I have to thank all the people involved from the planners to all the cosplayers who were happy to have their picture taken. Overall I have to say Anime Boston 2009 has convinced me to attend future conventions. Maybe I'll even try to run a panel.

Bonta-kun from Full Metal Panic. A really great outfit.

Dio Brando, a man who is always a mystery... not what he seems to be.

Always bet on the Duke.

Edward Elric as played by a girl. Just like in the show!

KOS-MOS ver. 4 from Xenosaga.

The less said about the cat ears, the better.

One of the many Hatsune Miku cosplayers.

A slightly less dog-eared Ranka.

A Sheryl with her ever ready Dunkin Dounuts coolatta.

Belts and zippers a plenty. Just like every Square-Enix character.

This guy borrowed my pen so I asked for a photo in return.

Two girls dressed as two of the many, many, many characters from the Touhou Project series of vertical scrolling shoot em ups.

A typical nerdy gameroom. Yes that is my laptop.

Mike Toole and Daryl Surat talking about the worst of Ozamu Tezuka. Highlights included the Live Action Astro Boy movie and Phoenix 2772 aka Space Firebird 2772.

Toon Zone journalist Eric Stehmer and freelance translator Neil Nadelman at the "State of the Industry" panel. Not present: the industry representatives.

Myself and the indomitable Daryl Surat.

More: Audio
Link: Post page to del.icio.us | Digg this