The event opened much like previous years, as a short skit by mascots A-chan and B-kun set the tone for this year’s event. Afterwards, Andrea Finnin and Victor Leem the convention chair and vice chair respectively, took the stage, and performed the traditional greeting to the event.
They opened the event with a photographic retrospective of the contention’s ten years of operation, with a montage of photographs set to the Dropkick Murphys’s “Shipping Up To Boston.” And, like previous years, the two explained their donation drives for the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the annual blood drive.
As with previous years, they welcomed each guest to the stage, all of whom had warm words for Boston, the convention, and the attendees. In his tenth year, Wayland decided to lay off of his playful Sox-bashing for a moment to set his sights on the New England Patriots, much to the displeasure of the crowd.
Wayland was followed by Japanese guests Mint, Shotaro Kaizuka, Takamasa Sakurai, Tsutomu Narita, Kanako Ito, and Haruko Momoi. While many of the guests delivered their greetings in their native Japanese, Narita addressed the audience in English, as he reminisced about Boston and his years at Berklee College of Music. Each gave the requisite plugs for their events, and wished the crowd well.
After the Japanese guests addressed the members, Wayland returned to deliver a 1950s-styled comedic short on how to survive the apocalypse. Much like the videos they parody, this piece included humorously cheerful narration and a Leave it to Beaver tone as the family tries to stave off starvation and fend off radioactive zombie hordes. Wayland managed to work in a few creative uses for the standard Red Sox Jersey, none of which were flattering. The staff at Anime Boston reciprocated Wayland’s donation with a gift of their own: a black velvet portrait of a shirtless Wayland riding a My Little Pony (No, it wasn’t Rainbow Dash – stop asking!).
The gift exchange proved to be the final event of the ceremony, as Finnin declared the event over and unleashed thousands of screaming fans onto the Hynes.
