Anime Boston is fast approaching and this year’s event is looking bigger than the last. It is the fifth-biggest anime convention in North America with last year’s attendance reaching 27,150. With some special guests, a new Premier Sponsor, as well as a world premiere, can this year smash last year’s attendance?
Anime Boston has been home to many concerts in the past and sometimes features the debut of Japanese artists in the US. This year will be no different as two different Japanese musical acts, ALI PROJECT and nano.RIPE, will be taking to the stage.
ALI PROJECT have been a musical duo since 1992. They are comprised of Arika Takarano (lyrics and vocals) and Mikiya Katakura (Composer and Arrangement). They can be heard performing in anime such as Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, .hack//Roots, Katanagatari, Noir, and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.
nano.RIPE is a Japanese rock band comprised of Kimiko (vocals and guitar), Jun Sasaki (Guitar), Nobuyuki Abe (Bass) and Yuki Aoyama (Drums). They signed with Lantis Records in 2010. The band can be heard performing songs for anime such as The Devil is a Part Timer, Bakuman, Hanasaku Iroha, Non Non Biyori and Non Non Biyori Repeat. They will be making their North American debut at Anime Boston this year.
Anime Boston is continuing its trend of hosting many important guests with this year containing some big names from the Japanese anime industry:
Masao Maruyama, one of the founders of animation studio Madhouse and founder of studio MAPPA.
Kyohei Ishiguro, the series director for the Your Lie in April anime adaptation (making his first appearance at an American convention).
Toshio Furukawa, the voice of Portgas D. Ace in One Piece and Piccolo in Dragon Ball Z.
The convention will also be home to industry panels and possible US anime premieres from companies such as Aniplex of America, Funimation, Sentai Filmworks, Sunrise, and Viz Media.
Crunchyroll was recently announced as the Premier Sponsor for Anime Boston 2016. After the announcement they said to stay tuned for special news and they certainly did deliver:
There will be a World Premiere at Anime Boston 2016 with Studio Trigger’s newest anime, Kiznaiver! The show will have its first 2 episodes live streamed during the premiere event on Sunday at 5:30 AM. Free Kiznaiver posters will be given to every attendee and there will be a special Kiznaiver t-shirt available for purchase at the Crunchyroll booth. More details on the premiere event can be found HERE. You can check out the shirt design below.
Anime Boston 2016 is shaping up to be one hell of a convention and deadline to pre-register is on March 22 which you can do HERE. More information on the guests who are attending can be found HERE and a schedule can be found HERE. Definitely keep an eye on this con when it starts March 25.
