Stop! Anime Time: An Anime Boston Preview
By: EyeSpyeAlexWith convention season officially underway, I am excited to announce that The Geekly Grind will be attending Anime Boston again this year! I had such an amazing time last year and I can’t wait to see what this year brings. With the convention schedule recently announced I was able to see what the staff and volunteers had planned for attendees. Here are a few things I am hyped about seeing.
The Panels
This 3-day convention has a nice spread of events designed to keep attendees entertained the whole time. With AMVs scheduled for Friday and Saturday, including an overflow on Sunday, I know I’ll be spending some time there. The Disney Through AMVs session is always a fan favorite, and I will be doing my best to check it out. Fans of Sailor Moon can also check out the Official Sailor Moon panel on Saturday. Representation is also alive and well and can be seen in the Female Anime Directors panel on Friday. Night owls can rejoice as panels go well into the wee hours of the morning. One in panel in particular that I’m excited about is the From Under The Bed: Horror in Anime and Manga panel on Saturday night.On top of fan run panels, there are a ton of industry events happening during the convention. Sentai Filmworks starts off the industry panels with theirs starting on Friday morning. Funimation will be hosting both an industry panel on Friday and a favorites panel on Sunday, where staff will discuss their favorite shows. Rounding out Friday is the Sunrise panel, the Viz Media panel, and the Sekai Project panel. Friday evening will have industry panels for older fans, like the Funimation Peepshow and the Manga Gamer Industry Panel.Saturday is just as busy, with Sony Music Entertainment presenting the SACRA Music panel. Also happening on Saturday is the GKIDS 2018 slate panel and the Aniplex Industry panel. Crunchyroll will be hosting an industry panel, a spring simulcast panel, and a premiere panel across all three days.
The Events
If the panels aren’t enough to keep you busy, Anime Boston will be hosting both fan-led and professional events and premieres all weekend. Some fan led panels include Cosplay Death Match, Cosplay Chess, and a Cosplay Lip Sync Battle, to name a few. Fans of game shows can also attend the Cosplay Match Game. On top of that, there will be two masquerades this year. One on Friday, which is Sailor Moon themed, and another on Saturday, with musical guest Asaka performing. If you cannot make it to the masquerade to see Asaka, fear not as both they and FLOW will be hosting an autograph session on Sunday. Fans can expect to see FLOW in concert on Friday. Kaoru Wada and Jeff Williams will also be composing together in a concert on Sunday.If that isn’t enough, there will also be several anime premieres happening during the convention. There will be English dub premieres of both the Parasyte live action movie and the Tokyo Ghoul live action movie. Both of these are great events for fans who want to enjoy the live action films without reading subtitles. Mary and the Witch’s Flower and Napping Princess will also be premiering at Anime Boston. On top of that, the home video premieres for both Re:Zero and Monster Hunter Stories Ride On will be available for fans. Crunchyroll will also be hosting a movie night to premiere the film Bungo Stray Dogs - DEAD APPLE.
The Guests
Anime Boston always invites such wonderful guests to the convention for fans to meet, and this year is no exception. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, known for her voice acting work in Star Wars Rebels and as director of Naruto: Shippuden, will be in attendance. My Hero Academia fans can look forward to seeing Monica Rial (Tsuyu), Rachel Robinson, Christopher Bevins (Sero), Clifford Chapin (Bakugo), and Justin Briner (Midoriya). Also in attendance is Hideyuki Tomioka, the producer of Inuyasha. He is joined by the director of Crayon Shinchan, Yuji Muto, among many others.With Anime Boston happening March 30th until April 1st, there is limited time left to secure a pass for the convention. Hopeful attendees looking to go to Anime Boston can find out more about registration rates here.