The calendar has turned and once again we arrive at another Anime
Boston, now featuring the self-owned FUNimation, and the semi-revived
ADVFilms in the form of Sentai Filmworks doing a panel and Section 23
Films in the dealer's room. So far this year the weather is gorgeous
and the cosplayers are out in force, so things are relatively on-track,
with no registration related disasters. The layout of the con is
roughly similar to last year's with the dealer's room taking up the
first floor exhibit hall space, the second floor featuring the main
events room and the alternate big panel room on the second floor and the
majority of the panel space and artist's alley space on the third floor
of the Hynes Convention Center plus some other late evening/night
events in the Sheraton hotel attached to the Hynes/Prudential Center
complex.
Starting off the con for me was a panel on the academic study of fan interaction with the anime
industry. Sounds dry, but it was actually surprisingly
interesting. There's a burgeoning field of academic studies of anime
fandom and fandom in general to see how the sub-culture came about.
Following on to that was a panel on Japanese folklore and spirits.
Among other things there are the indoor spirits: the Bakeneko (a.k.a. the cat
spirit that can reanimate the dead), the Kitsune (a.k.a. fox spirits), and
the Yuki-onno (a.k.a. snow woman, kind of a boogeyman of the Japanese
mountains). There are also the outdoor spirits like the no-face ghost,
the slit-faced woman (don't want to meet her ever), the Tengu
(sometimes malevolent, sometimes mischievous mountain goblins), and the
Tannuki raccoon dog (much like a Kitsune only more of a drunk). Down by
the ocean there are the Ningyo monkey-fish (more or less a mermaid who's
flesh grants immorality but whose appearance means the onset of war) and
the Kappa "river child" (looking rather much like an amphibian the size
of a small child who loves wrestling but loses all of it power if it
loses the water on its head).
Some other kinds of ghosts include the Yurei spirits: usually family
members who died violently or without proper funeral rites, generally
seen with white clothing that is inverted in its folding, long stringy
hair, and a lack of feet. The spirits will be near where they died,
where they are buried, or near their beloved. A spirit that is not
placated can become a malevolent spirit that continues to haunt long
after anyone associated with it has moved on or passed away. One is
most likely to meet a spirit between the hours of 2 and 3 A.M., when the
veil between the human and spirit worlds is weakest. In the modern
world the numbers 4 and 9 are considered very unlucky. Business
buildings and hospitals in particular tend to skip floors 4 and 9. The
phrase "Moshi Moshi", used when answering the phone, is a ward against a
spirit being on the other end of the line.
Following on the Folklore
panel was the debut of FUNimation's new website, beta.funimation.com. Prizes were tossed out for proving why a
particular character is your favorite, the best scene, what would you
say to the creator of a show, and who would you want to have on your
side in a fight, study hall or at a party. Anime Boston 2011 also marks the return of Greg Ayers doing his
anti-bootlegging panel, this time focusing on toys and other merchandise.
Among other examples were the fiberglass filled Bleach plush toys that
made the people who seized them sick when the toys were burned. There
was also a note about poster dealers whose merchandise is all the same
size. Good chance of those all being bootlegs. The appearance of a lot
of Chinese characters is also a good sign of piracy, as there is very
little enforcement of copyright protections in China. The SonMay and
Mio(Mia?) corporations are particularly well known for bootleg discs.
Speaking of music....one of the big "gets" for this year's Anime Boston
is Mari "Lynn Minmay" Iijima, who put on a short concert Friday evening
in the big arena/event room. Lovely show, featuring Miss Iijima and her
piano playing a little bit of Macross, a lot of her solo works about
unrequited love, and a Kate Bush cover. Miss Iijima has a soft spot in her heart for England, London in
particular as she recorded her first album outside of Japan there. The
evening wrapped with a "Chibi Project-LIVE" demonstration of what
happens when a Derek Jetter action figure meets the Anime Boston 2003
autograph bat being wielded by Patrick "Founder of Anime
Boston/Animecons.com/Chibi Project? etc etc etc" Delehanty. Derek
didn't stand a chance.
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