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Every year they gather. Otaku from around New England and beyond converge on Boston in the spring to celebrate that which they love. This year, like those in the past, filled the halls of the Hynes Convention Center with all manner of anime lovers, young and old alike. From cosplayers to manga readers, video game lovers, and casual viewers, Anime Boston provides a great level of service no matter what your preferences. This year I was fortunate enough to attend the events and let me just say, Anime Boston is the best convention you'll find on the East Coast.

Taking place over the course of a three day weekend, Anime Boston 2009 managed to make for a fun and exciting Memorial Day weekend! With a wide selection of guest speakers, representatives from various publishers, a slew of interesting events, and a massive dealer's room, there was more than enough to keep a body occupied for three full days. Unfortunately I was only able to attend for two out of the three, due to other commitments, but I took away a lot of memories, plenty of laughs, and some cool toys from Japan. But where to begin?

I suppose the first topic we should discuss is the wide array of people that attended Anime Boston this year. We're talking the numbers were in the thousands! Elbow room was a precious commodity but thankfully everyone was friendly, in good spirits, and were swept up in the overall atmosphere. To say that the con-goers were outgoing would be an understatement. People who didn't know each other exchanged smiles, jokes, photographs, and even helped each other out. The convention was so large that it was quite easy to have a difficult time deciphering where a particular panel was, but chances are very good the Cloud, Mario, or Pedo Bear next to you would be able to help you find your way. Not that you probably want help from a Pedo Bear, but I digress, and that brings me to my next topic: Cosplay!

Man, oh man, were there some fascinating outfits this time around. It's safe to say that anime lovers are a unique bunch and there's plenty of room for interpretation with costumes, but there's just something about being in the midst of it all that's intoxicating. When you're walking by the Dealer's Room and a cosplayer dressed as Rorschach suddenly start breakdancing or watch as "L" from Deathnote dishing out lollipops to passers by, you just can't help but smile. From a harp playing Luigi to an armada of Kingdom Hearts characters walking around, the atmosphere was priceless. Granted about 50% of the costumes had more to do with video games and sci-fi characters, rather than anime, but it was fun just the same.

As far as what was a popular cosplay? Well, there were plenty of L's, that's for sure, but Bleach, Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, Code Geass, Pokemon, Ranma, Trigun, Sailor Moon, and Fullmetal Alchemist were in abundance. There were many other obscure costumes that ranged in complexity, from homemade (Wolf Link anyone?) to store bought (a sick looking Master Chief). One of the real joys of the cosplay over the weekend was breaking free of the Hynes and making your way into the adjacent Prudential building. I really enjoyed sitting, going through my notes over lunch, and watching as people who had absolutely no idea what anime was gazed in horror as people dressed up took over the place.

What's next? How about the Dealer's Room! Maybe I'm mistaken but the supply of vendors seemed much larger this year than it did in the past. In a massive auditorium all manner of wares from Japan and beyond were put on display. Vendors such as WizzyWig, Sasuga Japanese Bookstore, Anime Sekai, and Yes Anime were some of my personal favorites that I bought from. FUNimation had a very well-designed and supplied booth and promoted their upcoming Romeo X Juliet. ADV's booth was a joke, Media Blaster's was full of porn, and Nintendo even made a showing to push Fire Emblem for the DS. One of the more interesting tables in the Dealer's Room was probably the Boston Japanese Consulate's area. They had all kinds of fliers and travel information from all over Japan and really played up the anime lover's appeal well. (Keeping my fingers crossed to win that trip!)

When not perusing the halls of the Hynes and spending all of your money in the Dealer's Room other events definitely kept you busy. Several rooms showed anime episodes and movies, but these were more like places to relax than anything else. More interesting panels such as making plushies, studying Japanese, tea ceremonies, anime you should see, and ones about creating manga barely scratched the tip of the iceberg. As was the case in years past there was a (disappointing) game room to chill in and other places to crash and relax. At night there were some naughty panels as well as masquerade and cosplay events, dances, and such. Honorable mention has to go to the AMV events, which are hilariously entertaining as always.

Now, it's also important to note that the anime industry was there was well. FUNimation and ADV all had panels where they talked about what's going on in their worlds (no Viz, Bandai, or Media Blasters sadly). The winner was easily FUNimation. The industry leader had plenty of recent stuff to show, previewed upcoming stuff (such as Romeo X Juliet - looks cool by the way), and talked about what their plans are for the future. According to the panel you can expect to see two to three times as many Blu-ray titles in the coming year, single volumes will be phased out, and they also mentioned looking into old Geneon licenses such as Samurai Champloo and Tenchi.

On the other side of the coin the ADV panel was a joke. David and Janice Williams, who have been at conventions in the past, attempted to run the panel with a positive spin, but they didn't do a very good job of it. With at least half of the attendants the FUNimation panel had, the ADV panel was dry, boring, and lacked any kind of spark to get you interested in their brand. There were no real new license announcements (the "possibility" of old CPM titles do not count), no new releases to talk about, nothing to show, and no information about the company what-so-ever. They aren't doing Blu-ray because they feel it's going to die like laser disc, they won't release a title if Best Buy won't sell it, and David said that "ADV is plugging along and doing their thing". Whatever that means. He also congratulated FUNimation on winning the American market and said they deserved it. Making matters worse, at least from my perspective, were the hecklers behind me bashing ADV. I presume they are the average anime fan and quite honestly their views of the company's policies and situation mirror my own (and John's I presume). If this panel was any indication of their status, ADV is circling the bowl and barely clinging to life. Unless they do something soon they are in danger of going out of business or being bought out, but then again I suppose the three or so people who I saw sleeping during the panel or the 1/3 of attendants that left after 15 minutes wouldn't necessarily notice either way. A couple of years ago people cheered at the ADV panel. Now? Not so much.

After that depressing affair I'm pleased to say that the upbeat spirit of Anime Boston overcame me once again. Saturday saw the V.G.O. (Video Game Orchestra) performing some rousing renditions of theme songs from games such as Chrono Trigger, Halo, and Final Fantasy VII. The real treat came soon enough since V.G.O. was the opening act for Kalafina, who were making their US debut. They brought the house down and really put on a fantastic show. Anime Boston really outdid themselves by getting these ladies and by the time the concert was over I was left wondering how could they top themselves next year.

Anime Boston 2009 was an awesome experience, and it's one that was unfortunately over too soon. I only wish I had more time to go to panels, talk to fellow anime lovers, shop the Dealer's Room, and interview guests, but I simply ran out of time (darn full time job!). Then again, there's always next year. Rain or shine you can expect to find me at Anime Boston 2010, April 2nd through the 4th. If you plan on attending Anime Boston next year and want some helpful tips for getting around the city, where to eat, what else to do, just drop me an email! We'll probably be able to put together a column with these tips prior to the convention. Then again that's a ways off. Until then, enjoy your anime and your summer!

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