James Andrews

Woke up later than planned and made my way to the Hynes for day two. Arrived and the place was packed. Registration was in great order from what I can tell. I think AB has fixed that problem. Yay!

I spent much time roaming the halls, talking to people I know. Stopped by the Funimation booth picked up Crayon Shinchan season 2 part 1. I’ll probably be watching that on Monday.

I didn’t go to any panels though. I guess I was just not enthusiastic about the selection. A lot of it is the same thing that you see year after year. Things like “How to make a plushy.” and “Lolliata Fashion” just don’t do anything for the male 36yr old demographic (ie me). Any of the panels that I would have been interested in seeing didn’t start until 8-9pm which kind of sucks for those who are in my age range who did pay for a badge (I did not, I was comped), that there may only be 2-3 panels a day that they may have any interest.

Now to be fair, most of the attendants are in a much different age group, and I am sure that the selection of panels suited them just fine. It just isn’t my can of Coke. (I don’t drink tea ).

I left early about 5:30pm, I didn’t feel like waiting around until 8:30pm for a panel that I might enjoy.

One last comment before I put Anime Boston 2009 behind me. This is more aimed at the Hyne’s covention center more than anything. The first year AB was in the HCC there was a cafeteria that had tables and chairs where people who bought food from the HCC vendors could sit and eat. Last year and this year, and probably back in 2007 as well the cafeteria has been gone. Instead they have set up vendors outside the area where the cafeteria was. There are no chairs and not tables, essentially no place for people to get off their feet and eat the meal they just paid $8+ for. It is absolutely ridiculous, these guys make a fortune off kids with ridiculous prices, and they won’t even set up a place for them to eat. NOT COOL!

With that I am done, enjoy the last day of the convention everyone, I have an attic to clean out.

Today was Day one of Anime Boston. I arrived close to 10am, and the halls were bustling with folk heading to registration, figuring out where and what things were. The usual day 1 activities. I walked around taking photos, lots of costumes I recognized, lots of others I didn’t Some were well crafted and others, well not so much, but you expect that from anime conventions.

Those of you who have not arrived at the con will be glad to hear that registration ran very smoothly. I peaked my head in there a couple times and saw little or no lines. The dealers room is gianormous, and artists alley is filled with a lot of neat items. I didn’t spend any money in the dealers room, and probably won’t but I spent money in artists alley, an may spend a little more tomorrow.

I made it to 2 panels. One was QA with “Laura Bailey” is the voice of a Shin Chan, one of my all time favorite anime characters. Very amusing woman, great sense of humor, and pretty much filled every request asked of her. During this panel the last person who went to ask her a question, said “I have a question, but it’s not for you.” He then turned and proposed to his girlfriend. How sweet!

Next I made my way to The Chibi Project panel. TCP takes destruction of toys to a new level. It all started around 10 years ago with a small PVC figure of the Sailor Moon character known as “Chibi Moon”. Since then TCP has been finding new and amusing ways to destroy toys. Tonight they even did a live experiment for the audience, but you’ll have to wait for the episode to air to find out what it was and if they succeeded.

So 1 day down 1 to go (for me anyway). I’ll report back tomorrow evening with more fun.

This weekend is Anime Boston. Boston’s annual Anime convention. I don’t think I’ve missed any with the exception of 2002 when I was in Japan studying, so I’ve been able to witness AB’s explosion from small con at the Copley Plaza Hotel to the monster that has taken over the Hyne’s Convention center.

Usually my AB starts Thursday night. Leaving work early (or in this years unemployed just leave) an arrive early enough that I am fairly close to the front of the line. Last year I was amazed at how long the line was when I arrive, so this year I though I’d arrive earlier, and once again I was still amazed at how long the line was. Doors opened at 4pm, I arrived at 3pm When I got there the line had stretched down the length of the Hyne’s and around the corner headed to the Sheraton. I was right at the corner of Boylston Street and Dalton Street. The doors opened about 10 minutes after 4pm, so already they were off to a late start. Once you got in the door you were shuffled into a big room, corralled through a canvas tape/pole maze to a long line of booths. Where we waited for another 15 minutes for the AB staff to be ready to print out badges.

AB easily has 20 people to serve you with printing out your badge. Since I was comp-ed into the convention I did not have to wait in the long line, but I think people will be glad to know the line was moving pretty quickly from what I saw. Registration definitely seemed more organized this year, and it should after the nightmare from last year’s registration fiasco.

All-in-all I am looking forward to the convention. I will be tweeting about it using #animeboston through out the day tomorrow and friday. I’ll be shooting cos-players (with a camera, so stop thinking evil like that), if you see me I’m the guy that’s actually carrying the light rig with him where ever he wanders.