Anime Boston 2011
Anime Boston happened this past weekend, and I attended for the fifth year in a row. :) That seems special to me, somehow, especially because circumstances dictate that I may not be able to attend next year. I went with my sister (dressed as hippies, because we're so intensely obsessed with Hair right now XD), and-- when we weren't fighting-- it was a really great time. We were only able to go on Friday and Saturday, but those days were so awesome that I don't really mind missing Sunday that much.
Mostly we went to see things involving voice actors. Which was actually a fantastic choice because VOICE ACTORS ARE FREAKING AWESOME. Anime Unscripted (which is basically a group of voice actors playing Whose Line) was incredibly hilarious because the participants were so awesome-- which is to be expected, as it was Chris Ayres, Sean Schemmel, Brina Palencia, and J. Michael Tatum.
And on the subject of J. Michael Tatum, I'd like to say that he is officially one of the most amazing people in the history of ever. My sister and I legit went to three different panels he hosted because he was so entertaining- his regular solo panel, his 18+ WTF panel (aka the panel where you ask all of the awkward personal and sexual questions you can't in a regular panel and he swears a lot), and the Fanboy to Industry Professional panel he took over because the original host couldn't make it. All of which were incredibly entertaining.
There's a few reasons for this: 1) J. Michael Tatum is hilarious. I couldn't breath half of the time during his panels because I was laughing too hard. 2) He's incredibly smart. He actually quoted from memory a Shakespearean sonnet and spoke very eloquently on Shakespeare's works (as he's a huge Shakespeare geek), and what he had to say about his own work was intensely interesting. 3) He's incredibly good at being purposefully and accidentally inspirational. During his WTF panel, he actually spoke very frankly at the end about what it was like for him growing up when and where he did, and essentially made an unscripted, unrecorded It Gets Better video. And he gave the best advice I've ever heard- you don't necessarily need to follow your passion to be happy, but you need to bring your passion with you wherever you go in whatever you do, and that's how you really live a fulfilling life.
I was incredibly lucky to actually be able to talk with him for a little while after the Fanboy panel along with a small group of others. He was so fantastic, and stayed for as long as he could to talk about his work with us, especially as a script writer, and even analyzed Iago's motivations in Othello and talked some more about Shakespeare. And, after he hugged the the others and myself while saying goodbye, I was very, very happy to be able to tell him how grateful I was for his attendance at the convention and to let him know just how much he made my weekend, and how happy I was that he'd made what might very well be my last Anime Boston so great. He actually hugged me again for saying it, which made me feel all special. :) I always feel like I can never tell the people I admire how much I like them, so it was really great to finally be able to convey that.
SO ON THAT OVERLY SAPPY NOTE, Anime Boston was great. I'm really going to miss it if I can't attend next year, but if not, I'll always have memories of this year and previous years to keep me warm. :D And maybe I'll go to new conventions, too! It might not be the same, but who says change is a bad thing?
Mostly we went to see things involving voice actors. Which was actually a fantastic choice because VOICE ACTORS ARE FREAKING AWESOME. Anime Unscripted (which is basically a group of voice actors playing Whose Line) was incredibly hilarious because the participants were so awesome-- which is to be expected, as it was Chris Ayres, Sean Schemmel, Brina Palencia, and J. Michael Tatum.
And on the subject of J. Michael Tatum, I'd like to say that he is officially one of the most amazing people in the history of ever. My sister and I legit went to three different panels he hosted because he was so entertaining- his regular solo panel, his 18+ WTF panel (aka the panel where you ask all of the awkward personal and sexual questions you can't in a regular panel and he swears a lot), and the Fanboy to Industry Professional panel he took over because the original host couldn't make it. All of which were incredibly entertaining.
There's a few reasons for this: 1) J. Michael Tatum is hilarious. I couldn't breath half of the time during his panels because I was laughing too hard. 2) He's incredibly smart. He actually quoted from memory a Shakespearean sonnet and spoke very eloquently on Shakespeare's works (as he's a huge Shakespeare geek), and what he had to say about his own work was intensely interesting. 3) He's incredibly good at being purposefully and accidentally inspirational. During his WTF panel, he actually spoke very frankly at the end about what it was like for him growing up when and where he did, and essentially made an unscripted, unrecorded It Gets Better video. And he gave the best advice I've ever heard- you don't necessarily need to follow your passion to be happy, but you need to bring your passion with you wherever you go in whatever you do, and that's how you really live a fulfilling life.
I was incredibly lucky to actually be able to talk with him for a little while after the Fanboy panel along with a small group of others. He was so fantastic, and stayed for as long as he could to talk about his work with us, especially as a script writer, and even analyzed Iago's motivations in Othello and talked some more about Shakespeare. And, after he hugged the the others and myself while saying goodbye, I was very, very happy to be able to tell him how grateful I was for his attendance at the convention and to let him know just how much he made my weekend, and how happy I was that he'd made what might very well be my last Anime Boston so great. He actually hugged me again for saying it, which made me feel all special. :) I always feel like I can never tell the people I admire how much I like them, so it was really great to finally be able to convey that.
SO ON THAT OVERLY SAPPY NOTE, Anime Boston was great. I'm really going to miss it if I can't attend next year, but if not, I'll always have memories of this year and previous years to keep me warm. :D And maybe I'll go to new conventions, too! It might not be the same, but who says change is a bad thing?