Anime Boston
So. I've been meaning to post since I got back from Anime Boston, but have yet to do so. I have to go get the camera developed, since all I managed to bring with me was a disposable camera (our digital one broke months ago).

We went shopping a lot, spent a lot of time in the Dealer's Room, although Artist's Alley was more interesting. People have such great talents! I bought a nice bowl from a potter. I liked most of the stuff they had, but that one somehow spoke to me. It's brown. Foodsafe, even. I'm bringing it with me to college.

We got in line for autographs from Troy Baker and Travis Wellingham. Troy wrote "Something Bizarre" and Travis responded with "Something Awesome!" I liked Troy Baker right off. He seems like a cool guy. I had no idea who he was, but the girls I was with are huge fans of his. He's really cute, at least.

We also went to Troy Baker's panel and the Voice-Actors' Roundtable panel. I have a new respect for voice actors, and they're really fun to listen to. One of them looked really familiar, and I can't quite figure out why. I can't even remember her name right now. She was probably in a movie or show I've seen somewhere. After listening to everyone though, I'm convinced that I should watch Trinity Blood at some point.

We went to a "Main Event" concert for a group called Kalafina. I'm not sure that Japanese music is quite to my taste, but they sounded great and I got a Single from the table selling their CDs in the Dealer's Room. Before Kalafina came on though, a "Video Game Orchestra" came on. They're made up mostly of music students local to Boston --from Berklee College of Music, among others (I saw part of Berklee's buildings while walking to the Convention Center! I was excited). I have to say, this is the first time I've ever had my jaw literally drop in awe. They were just so good I couldn't believe it. I guess I'll start with instrumentation: Two percussionists, a vocalist, a cellist, two violinists (I think they were violins), a clarinetist, two flautists (one doubling on piccolo), a soprano saxist, and a keyboard player. Why was I impressed? First off, the music sounded really, really hard. I think I could play the flute part in a few (or ten) years of very intensive study. I'd never really thought about video game music, but it's really advanced. Second, the instrumentation. I've never actually heard a soprano sax live before--I didn't even know they existed until a couple months ago, and the first one I saw was in the past month when a saxist in the band brought one in. But I've heard that it's extremely difficult to sound good on a soprano sax. The guy playing it sounded absolutely fantastic and even had a solo for quite a bit of one piece. And the pic player! There's a long running joke that the only way to get two piccolos in tune is to not have one of them. But this guy was completely in tune with the rest of the orchestra and played very well. I heard a lot of runs for both flute and piccolo, which is common enough, but these people did them so well that I wasn't sure I believed it. Those factors, among others, were what had me gaping in amazement for most of their concert. I wish I could play that well. [/amazed rambling]

Where was I? Oh yeah. I had a blast at AB, just because of that concert and the people I went with. It was a lot of fun, even for someone as ignorant of anime/manga as I am. Too bad none of the Nyeusi crew made it, but there's always next year.