Anime Boston 2016: A Recap

UlasanAnime.com – Anime Boston 2016 marked my return to the convention after a year’s absence, a hiatus taken to recover from a previous trip to Japan. During that time, I found myself engrossed in watching Anime Japan streams throughout the weekend. It’s worth noting that I managed to catch about six hours of Anime Japan Niconamas while at Anime Boston 2016, not even counting the non-Anime Japan events being simulcasted, such as the premiere of Kiznaiver which was also broadcast to Sakuracon and Anime Boston. I appreciate Crunchyroll’s initiative in simulcasting Japanese events at inconvenient US hours and still drawing a significant turnout. This practice sparks the hope among event-goers for future simulcasted concerts, especially if they coincide with Crunchyroll-related IPs and conventions.

While I’ve already shared my thoughts on Kiznaiver in a previous post, I neglected to mention that ACP featured cosplayers at the event, which is now linked in the image at the top. It’s quite impressive, GJ Henry.

The Crunchyroll tie-ins were beneficial. I arrived at the dealer’s room very early on Friday and managed to get most of my shopping done. Jhouserock was responsible for ALI Project and nano.RIPE, but they encountered an issue with nano.RIPE’s stock as one of the boxes they were supposed to receive was missing. Consequently, all nano.RIPE merchandise sold out within the first few hours of the convention. Fortunately, they had a copy of “Lime Tree” (the ending theme for Saijaku no Bahamut) available, which was the one CD I desired. It came with a DVD of their 5th-anniversary live performance where they covered “Praline” and “Ryuseigun.”

nano.RIPE…ii na pic.twitter.com/m4XKDssL4o

— omo@KawaiiKon2024 (@omonomono) March 26, 2016

Even without the Million Live tie-ins, I would have enjoyed seeing nano.RIPE perform. Their music evokes a “Spitz-like” sound that perfectly complements the anime I watch. This style of music truly shines in a live setting. In that regard, nano.RIPE’s performance was slightly disappointing; they didn’t sound significantly heavier or more remarkable live, and the performance didn’t add much beyond the inherent human elements compared to their studio recordings. Nevertheless, they are incredibly enjoyable when you have a good seat and can pump your fists in the air. Kimiko delivers everything you’d expect from a vocalist in this genre, truly bringing a fitting context to the band’s sound.

Their Million Live tie-ins feature the group as the producers of the songs. Essentially, Sasaki writes the two songs, and Kimiko pens the lyrics. The rest of the band contributes to the studio recordings and arrangements, making them, for all intents and purposes, nano.RIPE songs, with Julia’s vocals added. Recently, they added another song to the Million Live discography, “Airu” (Aisle), which in the manga is a song Julia wrote for Tsubaki. More details can be found on the JP IM@S wiki if you’re interested.

During the nano.RIPE Q&A session, we asked several questions. Since I can’t recall all of them, I’ll provide a summary:

The bassist and drummer draw inspiration from common rock musician influences, ranging from Aerosmith to Marvin Gaye. On the Japanese side, Kimiko’s influences include B’z and Spitz, which is unsurprising.
Kimiko’s high-pitched voice was brought up, and she addressed it with self-admission. A fan, dealing with a similar issue, asked if she felt self-conscious about her voice. Kimiko’s response was quite charming; she explained that meeting fans who encouraged her led her to appreciate her voice, which she initially found embarrassing to hear.
Sasaki repeatedly identified himself as an otaku, introducing himself as both a guitarist and an otaku. He appears to be a reserved individual, and Kimiko mentioned that even Anime Boston staff sometimes mistook her for the band leader. He also jokingly remarked that he is often teased by the other band members.
When asked about writing for Million Live, Kimiko stated that she writes songs based on the situation, which is standard practice. Sasaki, however, humorously attributed his songwriting for Julia to their relationship, saying, “Because Julia is my girlfriend, I write her songs with love.” This prompted Kimiko to question, “Aren’t you a producer?” to which Sasaki Jun deadpanned about the girlfriend aspect again. It’s a shame I couldn’t follow up on that.
In response to a question about where they would like to perform live outside of Japan and the US, the band members offered various locations. Sasaki, however, expressed his preference for staying home as a hikkikomori, even recommending Ikebukuro, which is near his residence, as a prime otaku destination over Akihabara.
Similarly, when asked about ideal live show locations, Sasaki Jun again suggested his own home, as he dislikes going out, envisioning a small venue that could host about ten people.

Overall, the band members were light-hearted yet serious, with the exception of Sasaki, who maintained a consistently goofy demeanor.

I didn’t pay close attention during the ALI Project panel later that day, but it seemed straightforward and as expected. Arika is generally kind and graceful. It’s during moments like these that one reflects on Arika’s age, her artistic influences, and her unique blend of low-fi yet high-flung artistry.

You might also be interested in : Anime Boston 2016: Day Three

I should also recap the Kiznaiver seiyuu panel held after the premiere. The panel featured a MC, Kaji-kun, and Hibiku. Hibiku wore a sweater paired with a short one-piece skirt and black leggings, which, for some reason, made her appear younger. This might be due to the color coordination.

The interpretation was done in real-time by a male and female interpreter who spoke over the Japanese audio. Given my lack of sleep, my recollection might not be entirely accurate. Here are my notes:

As of the premiere, the voice recording (afureko) had reached the climactic part of the series. [Likely a one-cour anime.]
Initially, the script didn’t reveal much about the character development. [Similar to Kill la Kill.] Playing a somewhat antagonistic role in the first two episodes, Hibiku had to rely on her directors and improvise without much knowledge of her character. It was only later in the recording sessions, as more of the story unfolded, that she began to truly understand her character.
The atmosphere during the voice recording was generally fun and relaxed. [Definitely not like Kill la Kill!] There seemed to be good synergy among the Kiznaiver seiyuu, perhaps influenced by the story itself. One anecdote mentioned Hibiku bringing bread to a recording session, which inspired others to bring food the following time. There was also an instance where Hibiku and Kaji-kun visited a convenience store during a recording break.
The story is quite captivating, as both seiyuu eagerly anticipated each new installment of the script during the recording process.
Both seiyuu expressed their happiness at being able to discuss the show openly now, after having to keep it entirely secret. [It also seems this show is generally easy to spoil.]
They both indicated that by episode 3, many aspects are explained, particularly concerning Hibiku’s character. Until then, she was quite unsure about what was happening with Shinonono.
There was a brief technical outage early in the panel. We observed Hibiku and Kaji-kun giving a live video wave to those watching the stream, but the feed suddenly died. A laptop on stage, equipped with a camera streaming back to Japan, displayed the feed from the other end, showing Hibiku and Kaji waving at us. We waved back, though it’s unlikely they could see us clearly. Shortly after, the feed was restored but with a significant time lag of about 30 seconds. We then saw what had happened during the outage and Hibiku waving from a different angle on their end.
Regarding the sneak preview of episodes 1-2, there were no opening or ending sequences, nor any credits. [So, no, I didn’t see your name, Helios…]

What else can I say? Just sit back and enjoy the show, I suppose.

The rest of the convention felt much the same. This was my first anime convention of 2016, so walking down a crowded hallway filled with cosplayers always feels a bit fresh. Anime Boston 2016 was consistent with its 2014 iteration. The only noticeable difference was the lines for some guest autograph sessions, which were generally manageable. Waka had perhaps only a dozen visitors, but that was on a Sunday morning at 10 AM.

A friend of mine won the JHouseRock banner giveaway, which was a fortunate outcome for him. I suspect this was partly due to the limited number of nano.RIPE CDs available for sale.

The most prominent and frustrating issue at Anime Boston this year, as it has been every year since the bombing, was the bag check. This time, they introduced metal detectors, which further slowed down the process. While I understand the security measures, especially given the circumstances, this is primarily a political response. A bomb detonating inside the Sheraton, which doesn’t require such checks, would cause just as much damage. The crowded areas immediately inside and outside the convention center, preceding the checkpoints (due to the lengthy lines), also contributed to the delays. Entering the center with a bag during the early hours of the day added about 20 minutes. On Friday morning, from the street-level entrance, it took me approximately 25 minutes. By Sunday, the lines were more manageable, but it was certainly problematic during peak hours, and I avoided the Hynes all day Saturday. There was a back entrance where only a bag check was conducted, leading directly to the Artist Alley, with only a couple of minutes of waiting. However, this entrance was closed on Saturday. According to Anime Boston, there was nothing they could do to alleviate this situation.

Otherwise, pre-registration, auctions, concerts, panels, and the dealer’s room were all quite good. The merchandise sales for Love Live qualifier goods were intense; they divided the stock over three days, resulting in items selling out quickly. Much of the merchandise was also available online, so attendees might not have missed out on much beyond the experience of purchasing it at the booth itself.

I took this photo immediately after the dealer’s room opened on Friday, so there wasn’t much of a crowd. Thanks, Crunchyroll! Unfortunately, I was in a hurry.

If they did something like this for Cinderella Girls, it would be absolutely glorious.

This is a shot of a section of the BookWalker booth. It’s quite neat, these sketches.

I didn’t bother with a loot shot, but at this rate, I’ll have a wall of Waka’s sketches. Especially if I make it to Hawaii.

I had my Million Live merchandise signed by nano.RIPE. During the ALI PROJ performance, the dancers threw paper fans into the crowd, and I caught one, which I then had signed by Arikasama.

P.S. Food

We stayed at the Marriott Copley Place, which was quite expensive. On Saturday night, we dined at a family-style seafood restaurant, as seen in the top picture. There wasn’t much to write home about, other than the typical expensive Boston prices. To be fair, the menu items were reasonably priced, except for the more desirable dishes. I even restrained myself from ordering too much. However, after just two beers, the bill was equivalent to an Eli Eli Eli sweatsuit, which seemed a bit much for a regular dinner. One of our group was celebrating his 40th birthday, so there was no reason to hold back. At least the skewer of shrimp was exceptionally good. Would I return? Probably, if the mood strikes; after all, this wasn’t my first visit to Summer Shack.

I heard that Crunchyroll gave out bagels at the live viewing. Since I missed out, I just had some Dunkin’ Donuts after Kiznaiver. The Starbucks near the Marriott was never too crowded (and I avoided it when it was), so that became my go-to coffee spot. I also had about four cups of hotel coffee; I suppose if housekeeping brews them, they’ll bring you fresh ones next time. I certainly could have used more coffee at this convention. I still recall being half-asleep while watching the Fate nama and my brain thinking, “Wait, isn’t this just like Kizu… zzz.”

On Friday, we visited a Thai takeout place down Boylston Street. It was authentic and unfortunately, we had to rush because we arrived only half an hour before closing. For the rest of the time, we kept it simple, eating supermarket food for breakfast and ordering burgers from 5 Napkin Burger (a great burger, but over $20 each?). We owe this to a friend who went to pick them up. Oh, we had California Pizza Kitchen for lunch on Friday, but it wasn’t particularly photogenic. The worst meal was on Sunday at P.F. Chang’s. I don’t think I’ll ever go back. Since the food court area inside the mall was out of bounds, there were some food stands selling various items, which I would have liked to try but couldn’t due to time constraints.