Shortly after Anime Boston’s doors opened, eager attendees began lining up at the Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium’s entrance, hoping to secure a spot for this year’s Opening Ceremonies. The mood was light, as folks chatted, read manga, or just passed the time on their phones. Within the hour, the line had wrapped around the entirety of the Hynes’ second floor, before doubling back on the opposite side of the far hallway.
The doors to the auditorium opened shortly before ten o’clock, and attendees flooded in. The stage stood at the front, flanked by screens that played anime music videos, interspersed with audience participation games like “Guess That Anime” and “Anime Chronology,” while an announcer instructed the crowd to fill every seat.
The Cosplot
Opening Ceremonies kicked off with the traditional “Cosplot,” a short skit in which event mascots A-chan and B-kun banter about the year’s theme, often name-dropping popular anime or events to mug to the crowd. For example, in 2018, the theme was “To The Stars…”, while 2012’s theme was “Take it to the [Mad] Max.” This year’s theme was, as A-chan joked, “look forward to it,” so she was looking forward to the convention all year.
As such, this year’s presentation was fairly low-key, with the duo trading a few jokes about current fan-favorite shows, like From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad’s Been Reincarnated!, Witch Watch, and Spy x Family Code: White before hurrying offstage.
Moments later, convention chair Omega Au and vice chair Eric Pescatore took the stage, welcoming everyone in the audience and offering thanks to the convention’s volunteer staffers. A short documentary featurette played on the video screens, which focused on various staff members working the convention and the duties they perform for Anime Boston year after year.
A polite applause rang through the auditorium as the feature ended, and the duo thanked Anime Boston’s sponsors. This transitioned into a brief discussion about the convention’s new “AB Ultra” membership badge, a second tier of membership that offered benefits like faster entry to events, early access to the Dealer’s Room, and a private lounge in the Sheraton.
With their announcements complete, Au and Pescatore took their leave and stepped offstage, leaving a clear venue for the show’s guests.
North American Guests
AJ Beckles
Voice actor AJ Beckles smiled warmly as he stepped onstage, and the crowd welcomed him with applause. “I don’t know if you all know this,” he began, “but I’m from Worcester, and since I started [voice acting], it’s always been my goal to come back here and perform in my hometown!” He thanked everyone for attending at ten o’clock in the morning, before exiting stage left. The audience responded with one final round of cheers for the hometown hero.
Anairis Quinones
Quinones was greeted with cheers from the audience as she took the stage. She took a moment to thank everyone in attendance for showing up early and explained that it was her first time at the convention. She noted that she was looking forward to hosting panels and meeting fans over the weekend.
Anjali Kunapaneni
Kunapaneni’s walk-on was surprisingly short, as he made a quick stride to center stage. Once there, he thanked everyone in the audience for attending and mentioned that he looked forward to meeting everyone before heading offstage.
Bryson Baugus
Baugus was a ball of energy as he bounded onstage. His excitement was palpable as he explained that he had made his first-ever convention appearance at Anime Boston 2017. After taking a moment to explain his panels for the weekend, he ran off as quickly as he entered, as the audience sent him off with polite applause.
Caitlin Glass
Glass jogged out onto the stage, excited to greet the audience. She explained that, like Baugus before her, it had been more than a decade since her last appearance at Anime Boston. She bounced around the stage a bit, unable to contain her enthusiasm, before hyping up the panels and events she’d be headlining that weekend. She then took her leave before hurrying offstage.
Greg Ayres
Ayres smiled brightly as he walked onstage, the audience cheering all the while. It was his nineteenth time at Anime Boston, which he’d been attending since 2005. Over the past two decades, he’s become an irreplaceable part of the convention and the community that’s come to define it.
Ayres looked out at the audience and quipped, “This is my millionth Anime Boston.” A few chuckles arose in response; Ayres continued, explaining that he was genuinely excited to be at the event, before talking up the events he was hosting over the weekend.
Kaiji Tang
Tang strode out next, smiling wryly. He paused for a moment before asking, “Which one of you was responsible for the 4 AM fire alarm?” A portion of the audience chuckled, knowing that Tang was referring to an incident at the Sheraton where the fire alarm went off for an undisclosed reason. He cracked a few jokes about his experiences in Boston, quipping that he “already waited an hour in the rain to get some shellfish,” prompting another wave of laughs. As with the other guests, he took a moment to discuss his upcoming panels and events before taking his leave.
Jill Harris
Following her introduction video, Harris dashed onstage wearing heels, a feat that is both impressive and utterly terrifying, given what could have happened if she tripped. She pointed this out as she took the microphone, exclaiming, “I am so glad I didn’t trip!”
Like the other guests, she took a moment to hype up her panels and the guests that would follow her momentarily, before hurrying offstage.
Juliet Simmons
Simmons bolted onto the stage, letting out a loud “Waaaaah!” sound as she ran. She came to a dead stop at center-stage, and looked out at everyone in attendance before remarking, “There are so many people here!”
Simmons noted that it was her first time in Boston and joked that “everyone was so nice, especially the firefighters at 4 AM,” referring again to the undisclosed incident that had occurred at the Sheraton that morning. The audience chuckled in response. She added that she’s “a nervous, awkward girl” before adding that she’s looking forward to meeting everybody and quickly taking her leave.
Kari Wahlgren
Wahlgren walked onstage with a confident stride, pausing to address the audience. She explained that it’s her third-ever Anime Boston and joked that at “my first one, some of you were probably not even born.” And, given that her first Anime Boston was in 2006, she was probably right.
She continued, explaining that it’s the first convention she’s ever been to three times, before talking about the roles she filled over the years. “If you’re in a career long enough,” she quipped, “you start playing the sexy granny roles.”
The audience chuckled in response. She highlighted the 20th anniversary reunion panel for the Samurai Champloo dub cast, remarking that it was the first time she, Steve Blum, and Kirk Thornton had ever attended a convention together.
Kirk Thornton
After his introduction video screened, Thornton calmly walked onstage, greeting the room with a friendly “Hey!” He paused before remarking, “I can already tell what kind of crowd this is by the reaction Don Patch got,” referring to his role as the quirky orange companion to Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo’s titular lead character. He added a playful “That’s on you guys,” to which the crowd chuckled in response. He talked about his planned panels for the weekend and invited people to visit his booth before exiting stage left.
Judges and Panelist Guests
Au and Pescatore returned to the stage and introduced the event’s masquerade judges and panelist guests. The cosplay judges delivered brief introductions and offered short anecdotes. They encouraged viewers to attend the Masquerade before hurrying offstage.
The panelist judges this year included writer Jarrett Melendez, anime historian and industry icon Mike Toole, and the hosts of the Anime World Order Podcast, Daryl Surat, Clarissa Graffeo, and Gerald Rathkolb. Each offered a brief introduction before promoting their panels and projects.
After they left the stage, VTuber Ironmouse appeared on the screens at the front of the auditorium. The audience erupted in cheers as she delivered a cheerful “I’m so, so excited to be here!” She invited people to attend her scheduled meet-and-greets, adding, “As long as you show up, I’m happy! […] I’m a little bit; no, scratch that; I’m very nervous!” before signing off.
Japanese Guests
Kana Ichinose
The crowd erupted as Ichinose took the stage. She greeted the audience with a chipper “I’m Kana Ichinose, and I’m from Japan, and I’m very excited to be here!” She added, “I’ll be here all weekend. We have panels and autograph sessions – I hope to see you all there, let’s make some wonderful memories together,” before leaving the stage, as applause followed her.
Yuriko Yamaguchi
The crowd was positively screaming as Yamaguchi took the stage, and she was just as eager to greet everyone in the room. “Hi, everyone,” she called out, “Nice to meet you!” She explained, “This is my first time in Boston, and I didn’t know what to expect!”
Hirokatsu Kihara
Kihara strolled out onstage calmly, clad in a Totoro T-shirt. He looked out upon the audience and let out a laid-back “Hi!”
The audience responded with a “Hi!” of their own. Kihara seemed unimpressed, as he repeated this three times, growing in intensity and expecting the same from everyone in attendance.
With the ice broken, he started talking about his first event in the United States, Anime Boston 2017. The audience chuckled at his jokes, and he showed a playful sense of humor as he talked. He highlighted his panels, noting, “At my panel, I’ll be talking about forty years ago, what things were like at Studio Ghibli.”
For a final word, he pointed at his shirt and proudly stated, “I’m the model for the Catbus!” The crowd erupted in cheers as he exited stage left.
Ryo Ayamine
An announcement was made before Ayamine-sensei took the stage. No photos or videos would be allowed. She took the stage to excited applause, and looked out over the room, before introducing her. “I’m really nervous,” she explained, before adding, “I’m sorry!”
The audience responded with a wave of cheers. The author introduced herself, noting, “I don’t have a whole lot of experience at cons or traveling internationally, so I don’t know what to say. But I am so glad there are so many fans of Japanese anime gathered here today!”
She thanked everyone in attendance for their patience, concluding with “I’m a little bit nervous, but I am excited for Anime Boston 2025, and can’t wait to meet you all!”
Blue Encount
The four members of Blue Encount took the stage to raucous cheers, as frontman Shunichi Tanabe exclaimed, “We are Blue Encount! […] We are so excited to perform for you [and] we hope you can make it. Catch you later!”
The Final Act
Ou and Pescatore took the stage one more, and asked for a second round of applause for this year’s guests. The two discussed the charity work that the convention was involved with, highlighting the charity auction and raffles. This segued into an invitation for attendees to volunteer for the convention, and a brief discussion of the convention’s programming lineup.
As a final treat for the audience, Au invited the members of Boston Iaido onstage for a demonstration of their art. In a ten-minute kata, several members exhibited an intricately choreographed, synchronized display of the martial art.
This was punctuated by polite applause, as Au and Pescatore thanked Boston Iaido once more. The two then took one last moment to thank the audience before sending everybody out to the show floor for another unforgettable weekend of anime excitement.
