This year’s Anime Boston was my third convention but my first ever convention as a member of the press. I must say that this slight change really made a difference in how I viewed and participated in the activities of Anime Boston.

I arrived to the Prudential Center at 8:30 a.m., where I met my fellow Manga Recon contributors Erin Finnegan, Chloe Ferguson and Melinda Beasi. From there, we departed to room 202, where we were holding our panel discussion, “Please Save My Manga!” We talked about manga that had either been just plain cancelled, was endangered of being cancelled or was just not easy to follow. I spoke about Cyborg 009, What’s Michael and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Altogether, the experience was a blast! We had a bigger crowd than we expected and they were eager to talk to us. We had some interesting discussions about digital distribution and other series. I would describe the experience as talking to a big group of your friends; they are there because they want to be, and are extremely interested in learning what they can learn from you.

From that point on, I checked out the Artist Alley. The artist alley is always a very interesting portion of Anime Boston, as I’ve always considered the con to be more about the fans. I was impressed with the level of craftsmanship that went into a lot of the work, ranging from Mario Star cell phone straps to steampunk bracelets to originally designed t-shirts. It’s always fun to talk to the artists as well, seeing where they come from and what has inspired them to create. One girl had a stand that read “Which Pokémon do you look like?” Unable to hold myself back, I rushed over and was told “Horsea.” I am not disappointed.

Finally the Dealers Room opened up, which is always one of my favorite parts of Anime Boston. Not because of all the cool things I can aimlessly spend my money on, but again because of the fans, how they interact with the dealers and largely the dealers themselves. In fact, the first person that caught my eye and was consistently fun to watch was a younger, plump boy in his older teens. He traveled to the nearest model kit station, picked up five boxes immediately and said, “I’ll take these…to start!” I saw him the most out of anyone in the Dealers Room, singing the Gundam theme to himself as he carelessly spent money. I met a girl who was as excited as I am about Detroit Metal City, one of VIZ’s newer titles coming out, and a young vendor who preached the importance of toys and model kits.

On a more personal note, I have achieved the status of regular costumer at a local comic book shop, thanks to my efforts of asking them to order Eyeshield 21. The Dealers Room is overall a place where you really get the feel of what Anime Boston is. You get to experience firsthand why people love to come there and why they keep coming back. Whether you find something you really want or are just meandering around, it is a bonding experience for everyone.

After my journey into the Dealers Room, I made my way over to the ADV panel, featuring David and Janice Williams. I was expecting a blow-out experience, filled with up-to-date industry information and news on what ADV plans to do in the future, but was let down by David’s introduction. He simply said, “I’m going to take questions for the next hour, so let me have it!” There were no industry information, announcements or really anything concerning the company. When asked about the financial situation of ADV, David dodged the question saying, “I am not qualified to answer that.”

As Ken mentioned in his report, there were some interesting questions that were brought up and some more interesting answers on the Williams front. From a marketing standpoint, I was very interested when David and Janice brought up the fact that they both, physically, pay attention to fans’ buying habits, whether it be through internet forums, seeing what the biggest cosplay theme is at cons, or by looking at people in the Best Buy anime section and seeing what titles get picked up. David and Janice both had some insight into the digital distribution area. David compared it to DVDs when they first came out, saying that he was pleased with how it was working right now, but knew that in a few years, we would have a better system, one that has all the bugs and problems worked out and had been outfitted to run smoother and more efficiently. I was very pleased to hear such a smart and sensible approach to the idea of digital distribution.

With that, lets move onto Saturday. Right away, I swung over to catch Mike Toole’s “Panel to the West,” which centered on the ancient Chinese legend “Journey to the West.” Personally, this was a very exciting panel; I have grown up reading an abridged version of the legend, as well as being exposed to the countless adaptations. The panel offered a time-line look at the adaptations, specifically focusing on everyone’s favorite, Monkey (Son Goku, Sun Wukong). Toole started the discussion with videos of Tezuka’s animated film “Alakazam the Great,” a bright and colorful pseudo-Disney film about Monkey’s origins and misguided adventures. Toole went through the various live action series (Monkey, Journey to the West) and the animated adaptations (Saiyuki, Monkey Magic, Dragonball), where he ended with a delightful video by the BBC to promote the Olympics. Done by Jaime Hewlett (creator of the Gorillaz), the video offers a beautiful modern look at Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy. This panel was amongst my most favorites, rekindling my love for this series.

With this panel completed, I head over to my other favorite, “The Absolute Worst of Osamu Tezuka.” For someone who has just started to really read and enjoy Tezuka’s work more recently, this was a real treat. Mike Toole and Daryl Surat hosted the panel and let me say, I couldn’t find a better team. They are intelligent and really know their stuff but have a great sense of humor that really connects with the audience. They described the panel to the viewers as such: “Tezuka was quite possible one of the greatest manga and anime artists ever. He was responsible for Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion but the funny thing is, he used all the money he made from these great series to make some really awful stuff.” They were not lying. They showed the opening sequence of Tezuka’s film Cleopatra: Queen of Sex where live action bodies with animated faces were shown eating dinner and discussing time travel. Other notables include the Dororo anime and the Phoenix anime. In a way, it was magnificent and inspiring to see this kind of experimental animation but I couldn’t keep from laughing.

After this funfest, I headed over to the “Sailor Moon Forever” panel. Sadly, after learning that it was just going to be questions and most of them ended up being about how to make Sailor Moon attire or why the panelist didn’t dress up (which was a letdown), I left halfway through.

Finally, as the night closed in, I made my way over to the Troy Baker panel. Troy, for me, is better known as Kanji Tatsumi, a high school ruffian who hides his emotions behind an iron fist. As this was my first voice acting panel, I didn’t know what to expect but I ended up being pleasantly surprised. Troy took a lot of questions and talked about his experiences with the industry but you could really tell that none of it got to his head. He was a very down-to-earth guy, aware of his own faults and that it really took hard work and a great amount of luck to get where he has gotten today. At one point, a member of the audience stood up and proclaimed that she had been standing in line for two hours to get his autograph, only to be turned away. Troy replied, “Get me after this and I’ll sign whatever you want, and that goes for all of you!” I commend you, Troy Baker, on caring about your fans as much as they care about you.

All in all, Anime Boston this year was a grand experience, especially from the point of view of the press. As I previously mentioned, Anime Boston is really a fan-driven con. The panels I went to really drove that point home to me and I am elated that the community is thriving and excited about anime. I would mark my third experience as a triumphant success and hope that next year will be even more exciting.