Geek Babble- Anime Boston 2022

I had been wanting to go back to Anime Boston for a while now, and trying to coordinate attending the convention with a friend resulted in me attempting to attend in 2020.  Two guesses how well that went and why I was not able to attend the convention until 2022.  The last time I had attended Anime Boston was in 2016, and it was the convention I was looking forward to most of all, even if it cost quite a lot of money last time.

This year, for some reason, Anime Boston took place over Memorial Day, when it usually takes place over Easter weekend.  As usual, it took place at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston amongst multiple hotels, with the main Sheraton hotel also playing host to a number of panels.  Things started out relatively well, with badge pickup on Thursday evening going relatively quickly and smoothly despite the extra vaccine checks.  No major events took place on Thursday evening, and it is highly recommended to pick up one’s badge that evening as badge mailing is still not an option.  Not only that, but on Friday morning, things started VERY early.  In fact, the first panels started around 9:00 AM, and there were plenty of attendees at the one I had attended, which was an informative panel centered around Otaku Culture.  Subsequent panels after that were just as informative, with many emphasizing connections between anime and everyday life or emotions, or providing information on various aspects of Japanese culture and anime.  Now, Anime Boston did have a theme this year, “Bento in Boston,” and the two food-related panels I went to were also very informative.  Anime Boston’s reputation of being a “programming-centric” convention still holds up, but one thing that did irritate me was the schedule release.  Now, while the schedules were released about a few weeks before the convention occurred, the photoshoot schedule was not announced until around a week before the convention itself, if that.  Another thing is that there were plenty of last-minute changes to the scheduling app, which is a sign of the times, and perhaps will work for those who say “I’m bored, I wonder what’s going on right now.”  However, it resulted in me running out of my hotel room to attend a “Nazism in Anime” panel I had found interesting but was not included in the initial schedule release and thus did not realize was taking place until partway into the panel.

Now, while the venue layout at the Hynes Convention Center remained very similar and still very user-friendly, one difference immediately noticeable is that the long lines of Anime Boston 2016 caused by backups at the metal detectors and inspection of each individual’s backpack/purse etc were no longer there, as the machines had been replaced by a more sophisticated type of detector.  Attendees can just walk on through, with secondary checks of backpacks/purses etc being randomly performed, though with security not being very intrusive, part of me did question the effectiveness of such detectors.  The other thing is that the venue itself has not grown, and while the crowds were larger than in 2016, the hallways were still manageable in that attendees were still able to reasonably walk down and across them without them feeling too cramped and congested.  The mall attached to the convention center and home to several of the hotels was also more crowded than in 2016, but there was still plenty of space to walk around despite the increased crowd size.  The biggest improvement to the mall, however, would have to be the huge number of food choices, including a branch of “Eataly” with various kiosks serving Italian food and several other fast casual restaurants.  But be aware that just like in 2016, some restaurants will require waiting a very long time for a table especially on Saturday evening but the increased number of choices is an overall improvement.

Now, despite the larger crowd size, one thing that helped out with crowd control is the fact that many attendees still have not brought back their big, bulky, and heavy costumes, and many attendees are also refraining from acting flamboyantly or doing elaborate skits and taking group photos in the hallways, all of which take up space.  Whether this is due to money, mood, or masks, I don’t know, but the vibe is different from in the past, with peoples’ enthusiasm much less extroverted.  However, the crowds were a bit of a problem both in the dealers room and in the artists alley, with constant stop-and-go traffic.  Do note that the dealers room is no longer attached to the artists alley, instead moving into a separate room on a separate floor and resulting in much more space.  It is still only “average” for a convention the size of Anime Boston, but the amount of merchandise was very good, with plenty of focus on figurines.  However, it is the artist alley that seemed to be the big attendee draw, with a lot of vendors having to say “sorry, I’m sold out of that” various times when I went there on Saturday in the late morning.  The former dealers room space next to the artist alley has instead turned into the space for guest autographs, and there was much more space than necessary in the one time I stopped by on early Saturday afternoon.  One other addition to Anime Boston that I would also like to see at other conventions is a “museum” exhibit, going over the convention’s past, bringing out old guide books and promotional materials and just highlighting the people who made the convention operationally possible and feasible in the past.

So, a great convention all around, then.  But so far I have ignored the one thing that had dampened my enthusiasm for Anime Boston in the past: the convention’s high price.  Now, for those who don’t know, after conventions started taking place again around mid-2021, the prices for lodging had increased significantly, possibly in an attempt to recoup losses suffered during the lockdowns.  Fair enough, though it’s still painful.  For Anime Boston, that meant an increase of approximately 10 percent, and hotel rooms were going for approximately $240 to $250 per night for the ones close to or attached to the convention center.  But that’s not the whole story.  See, several other conventions I attend had their prices go up by much more than 10 percent, and Anime Boston had made a few improvements in the last 6 years to be a more enjoyable convention.  Sure, it’s more expensive to attend than in the past, but the convention’s improvements mean it is not as bad a value anymore versus other conventions.  It will still be something to consider but I do wish to eventually return to Anime Boston, because six years is much too long to be away and I was glad to finally make it back.

Related posts:

Geek Babble- Anime Boston 2016 Geek Babble: Brief Anime Boston 2016 Impressions Geek Babble- Some Oddities From Katsucon 2011 Goodbye, Anime Detour, and Thank You- Summer Flame Day 2015