Anime Boston report
May. 31st, 2009 11:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladyofthethreadA bit late but I’m finally posting my Anime Boston report. The con was busy but I had fun. ^_^ Hi to those I saw over there. *waves to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
animeangel, animeangelblue, blackmarth, doorknocker_dog, hystericraider, jezeroth, ngmaster, ryoko, sakuralenayuy, thedreamerworld, usa_ko, wildhorseranma, yeu* I know some others also went and I’m sorry I never ran into you. ;_; It seemed hard finding people this year and there were some I only saw for like 5 minutes the whole con. Also missed those who were at AB last year but attended different cons this year.
The seam finishes workshop went okay and cosplay chess was fun. For those who didn’t see the match, there actually was something to the little hints about chess in my earlier entries. Since Fruits Basket was important in the cosplot this year, I got cast as one of the kings with my red Ayame costume! :-D Didn’t enter any of the contests but still got hall ribbons from the staff vote contest for D’s tailcoat outfit and Eugenie. I wish I’d gotten to hang out and wander around more but my schedule just turned out to be more booked than usual due to the workshop and chess commitments.
Thursday: Traveled to Boston by bus with my brother and got there a while after 2. We were stuck in the Marriott this year which was a bit annoying. The elevators weren’t stopping on the second floor due to renovations; we had to take the elevator to the lobby or third floor and then take an escalator to the second floor so we could cross the bridge into the mall. Including the walk across the mall, it took about 15 minutes each way between our room and the con center.
Settled in and picked up badges. I usually don’t bother with cosplaying on Thursday but I figured it would be a good time to take some pics since the con was going to be somewhat busy for me. I put on my Eugenie costume and we went over to the Sheraton. Unfortunately, the photos I wanted most (pics with the grand piano on the second floor since Eugenie plays the piano) turned out to be undoable because the lighting was bad and my brother didn’t pack a flash. :-(
Friday: Since not much was happening yet, I wore Ayame for about an hour so my brother could take pictures. I never had a proper photoshoot of it before even though I made it for AB ’07 and knew there wouldn’t be time on Sunday.
Changed into Count D’s tailcoat outfit for the rest of the day and carried around the phoenix. Almost as soon as I walked into the con center, I ran into terrific Medusa and Eva the mermaid cosplayers. *_* Was a pleasant surprise since so few cosplay PSOH and of course, I took their picture. Wish I'd been able to get one with them. Checked out a couple of panels, including the Japanese tea ceremony one. Chatted with some friends at the Funimation booth, which seemed to be the best spot to find people due to the Romeo x Juliet stuff. Finally managed to meet Henry from ACP, too; despite being at several of the cons they covered the past couple of years, I never ran into him before.
Went back to my room to pick up panel stuff and almost ended up being late for my own workshop. ._.; Even rushing across the mall with my box of kits and bag of costume pieces, I made it with only 2 minutes to spare. Turnout was small, only about a dozen people, but I hope the attendees found it helpful. (Thanks for coming, blackmarth! :-) I can go over the stuff you missed at the beginning but it might have to be after AnimeNext.)
I was nervous since I’m normally rather quiet in person (despite babbling a lot here). I can’t even remember the last time I talked that much in 90 minutes and my throat was getting a bit sore by the end. o_o; Ended up reading out of the booklets more than I intended due to being nervous; will try not to do that as much next time. And looking back, I really should have had everyone sit closer together so I could show things more easily. (I brought my Ayame coat, Ekaterina chemise, and Suioh to show off seam finishes or stitching on them.) I think some got a bit bored since it took a few minutes to get around to everyone. ^_^; Something to keep in mind for AnimeNext.
Went back to the hotel to drop off my panel stuff and then headed to the ball. I seem to be dancing more as the years go by and maybe, if the pattern continues, I’ll finally get up to three dances next year! Got asked to dance by Akio from Utena. Took me a moment to realize it was Ada since I always see her as K when she’s running cosplay chess and staffing. ^_^; And a girl asked me to dance with her friend, who liked my cosplay but was too shy to ask herself. I didn’t remember how to lead very well though because it’s been ages since I danced and I’m not used to dancing the guy’s part. ^_^;;; Guess I should try to review before next year since it seems like Count D can end up dancing as either a guy or girl!
Saturday: Chess rehearsal was relatively early Saturday morning so I wore my blue brocade D since it’s one of my simpler costumes. One of the other cosplayers at rehearsal was joking about giving me Splenda so it seems D's death from the 2007 chess match is still remembered. XD Went back to the room to drop off my Ayame roses after rehearsal and meant to pick up Suioh but forgot until I was walking back to the con center. Didn’t feel like going back so no bird on Saturday. Attended the ICG panel. Forget what con it was but they showed a presentation that involved a dragon costume with 40+ people inside. Wow. O_O Bought a couple of prints in the artist’s alley and was a bit surprised the artist seemed to remember me from Otakon.
Changed into Eugenie and, fittingly, picked up the Gankutsuou artbook in the dealer’s room. Didn’t buy anything else since we were going to be short on luggage space going home. Wandered around a bit more but wasn’t really running into anyone I knew. Figured everyone was getting ready for the masquerade and just went in to sit down. (A nice thing about being a panelist was priority seating for the masq so I got a good seat without being in the huge line. :-D) Congratulations to everyone who got awards! ^_^ I guess it was because the con center closed at midnight this year and they had to clear the room for the next event but the hall contest fashion show and awards seemed very rushed. :-/
Sunday: Finished packing, put on my Ayame costume, and checked out before going to cosplay chess. It was fun and went much better than last year although 2007 is still my favorite of the ones I’ve been in. The con’s theme was “mystery” so the cosplot was a murder mystery that ended with Tohru being put on trial for the murder of Sailor Moon and the jury being selected from the surviving chess pieces. The theme for chess was “nice vs. mean” so with Tohru being on trial, Ayame was the king on the nice side.
I twirled around and tried to be appropriately flamboyant for my entrance but never got moved so I didn’t do much during the game itself. Tried to look worried when the mean team sent Gary Oak (from Pokemon) over to put me in check and patted Kiki (the nice queen) on the head after she defeated a whole bunch of zombies. Nodding or shaking my head during the trial scenes as appropriate although I'm not sure how visible that was.
Of course, Ayame voted “not guilty” in the end. ("My dear little brother Yuki would agree: Tohru wouldn't even hurt a mouse. Not guilty.") Then, there was silly stuff with Tohru zapping people with a friendship gun to make them be friends and I think I confused B-Kun (one of the con mascots) since he turned out to be the closest guy I could hug. That was awkward. ._.; To account for the Sohma curse, I sort of wanted to run offstage and leave a stuffed snake behind if I got hugged by a female character. But Ada didn’t think it would be visible enough and said to try to avoid getting hugged by girls. Then, there was more silliness with the real villain reversing the setting and zapping everyone with a hatred gun so I whacked people with my roses before things finally got back to normal. XD;
No pictures yet but there should be a lot eventually. My brother is kind of backlogged since he had finals right before AB. He has photos from Sakura Matsuri press day, the festival itself, and AB to process. Meanwhile, here’s a cosplay chess video I found that includes my entrance. (It’s a couple of minutes in.) That person has the rest of the game up, too.
animeangel, animeangelblue, blackmarth, doorknocker_dog, hystericraider, jezeroth, ngmaster, ryoko, sakuralenayuy, thedreamerworld, usa_ko, wildhorseranma, yeu* I know some others also went and I’m sorry I never ran into you. ;_; It seemed hard finding people this year and there were some I only saw for like 5 minutes the whole con. Also missed those who were at AB last year but attended different cons this year. The seam finishes workshop went okay and cosplay chess was fun. For those who didn’t see the match, there actually was something to the little hints about chess in my earlier entries. Since Fruits Basket was important in the cosplot this year, I got cast as one of the kings with my red Ayame costume! :-D Didn’t enter any of the contests but still got hall ribbons from the staff vote contest for D’s tailcoat outfit and Eugenie. I wish I’d gotten to hang out and wander around more but my schedule just turned out to be more booked than usual due to the workshop and chess commitments.
Thursday: Traveled to Boston by bus with my brother and got there a while after 2. We were stuck in the Marriott this year which was a bit annoying. The elevators weren’t stopping on the second floor due to renovations; we had to take the elevator to the lobby or third floor and then take an escalator to the second floor so we could cross the bridge into the mall. Including the walk across the mall, it took about 15 minutes each way between our room and the con center.
Settled in and picked up badges. I usually don’t bother with cosplaying on Thursday but I figured it would be a good time to take some pics since the con was going to be somewhat busy for me. I put on my Eugenie costume and we went over to the Sheraton. Unfortunately, the photos I wanted most (pics with the grand piano on the second floor since Eugenie plays the piano) turned out to be undoable because the lighting was bad and my brother didn’t pack a flash. :-(
Friday: Since not much was happening yet, I wore Ayame for about an hour so my brother could take pictures. I never had a proper photoshoot of it before even though I made it for AB ’07 and knew there wouldn’t be time on Sunday.
Changed into Count D’s tailcoat outfit for the rest of the day and carried around the phoenix. Almost as soon as I walked into the con center, I ran into terrific Medusa and Eva the mermaid cosplayers. *_* Was a pleasant surprise since so few cosplay PSOH and of course, I took their picture. Wish I'd been able to get one with them. Checked out a couple of panels, including the Japanese tea ceremony one. Chatted with some friends at the Funimation booth, which seemed to be the best spot to find people due to the Romeo x Juliet stuff. Finally managed to meet Henry from ACP, too; despite being at several of the cons they covered the past couple of years, I never ran into him before.
Went back to my room to pick up panel stuff and almost ended up being late for my own workshop. ._.; Even rushing across the mall with my box of kits and bag of costume pieces, I made it with only 2 minutes to spare. Turnout was small, only about a dozen people, but I hope the attendees found it helpful. (Thanks for coming, blackmarth! :-) I can go over the stuff you missed at the beginning but it might have to be after AnimeNext.)
I was nervous since I’m normally rather quiet in person (despite babbling a lot here). I can’t even remember the last time I talked that much in 90 minutes and my throat was getting a bit sore by the end. o_o; Ended up reading out of the booklets more than I intended due to being nervous; will try not to do that as much next time. And looking back, I really should have had everyone sit closer together so I could show things more easily. (I brought my Ayame coat, Ekaterina chemise, and Suioh to show off seam finishes or stitching on them.) I think some got a bit bored since it took a few minutes to get around to everyone. ^_^; Something to keep in mind for AnimeNext.
Went back to the hotel to drop off my panel stuff and then headed to the ball. I seem to be dancing more as the years go by and maybe, if the pattern continues, I’ll finally get up to three dances next year! Got asked to dance by Akio from Utena. Took me a moment to realize it was Ada since I always see her as K when she’s running cosplay chess and staffing. ^_^; And a girl asked me to dance with her friend, who liked my cosplay but was too shy to ask herself. I didn’t remember how to lead very well though because it’s been ages since I danced and I’m not used to dancing the guy’s part. ^_^;;; Guess I should try to review before next year since it seems like Count D can end up dancing as either a guy or girl!
Saturday: Chess rehearsal was relatively early Saturday morning so I wore my blue brocade D since it’s one of my simpler costumes. One of the other cosplayers at rehearsal was joking about giving me Splenda so it seems D's death from the 2007 chess match is still remembered. XD Went back to the room to drop off my Ayame roses after rehearsal and meant to pick up Suioh but forgot until I was walking back to the con center. Didn’t feel like going back so no bird on Saturday. Attended the ICG panel. Forget what con it was but they showed a presentation that involved a dragon costume with 40+ people inside. Wow. O_O Bought a couple of prints in the artist’s alley and was a bit surprised the artist seemed to remember me from Otakon.
Changed into Eugenie and, fittingly, picked up the Gankutsuou artbook in the dealer’s room. Didn’t buy anything else since we were going to be short on luggage space going home. Wandered around a bit more but wasn’t really running into anyone I knew. Figured everyone was getting ready for the masquerade and just went in to sit down. (A nice thing about being a panelist was priority seating for the masq so I got a good seat without being in the huge line. :-D) Congratulations to everyone who got awards! ^_^ I guess it was because the con center closed at midnight this year and they had to clear the room for the next event but the hall contest fashion show and awards seemed very rushed. :-/
Sunday: Finished packing, put on my Ayame costume, and checked out before going to cosplay chess. It was fun and went much better than last year although 2007 is still my favorite of the ones I’ve been in. The con’s theme was “mystery” so the cosplot was a murder mystery that ended with Tohru being put on trial for the murder of Sailor Moon and the jury being selected from the surviving chess pieces. The theme for chess was “nice vs. mean” so with Tohru being on trial, Ayame was the king on the nice side.
I twirled around and tried to be appropriately flamboyant for my entrance but never got moved so I didn’t do much during the game itself. Tried to look worried when the mean team sent Gary Oak (from Pokemon) over to put me in check and patted Kiki (the nice queen) on the head after she defeated a whole bunch of zombies. Nodding or shaking my head during the trial scenes as appropriate although I'm not sure how visible that was.
Of course, Ayame voted “not guilty” in the end. ("My dear little brother Yuki would agree: Tohru wouldn't even hurt a mouse. Not guilty.") Then, there was silly stuff with Tohru zapping people with a friendship gun to make them be friends and I think I confused B-Kun (one of the con mascots) since he turned out to be the closest guy I could hug. That was awkward. ._.; To account for the Sohma curse, I sort of wanted to run offstage and leave a stuffed snake behind if I got hugged by a female character. But Ada didn’t think it would be visible enough and said to try to avoid getting hugged by girls. Then, there was more silliness with the real villain reversing the setting and zapping everyone with a hatred gun so I whacked people with my roses before things finally got back to normal. XD;
No pictures yet but there should be a lot eventually. My brother is kind of backlogged since he had finals right before AB. He has photos from Sakura Matsuri press day, the festival itself, and AB to process. Meanwhile, here’s a cosplay chess video I found that includes my entrance. (It’s a couple of minutes in.) That person has the rest of the game up, too.
