Friday was full of things to do and check out. You can go check out Cosplay Deathmatch on the main floor or you can also check out the Anime Music Video contest. While the lines to get in the Hynes Convention Center looked long from the outside, a security person reported the longest wait was 4 minutes and 20 seconds to get into the con center. However, crowds seem to die down after 5PM as people were grabbing dinner and getting ready for Friday's concerts. Thought Anime Boston has the rave suspended, people can still check out the formal ball on the third floor.

Cosplay Couples Game by Jared
One of the new cosplay games that was introduced this year was the Cosplay Couples Game, which is a remix of the old Newlywed Game. Two characters are given a question and see if their answers match. The majority of the couples were not cannon to their stories, but that made things very interesting when it came to answers. This was a fun game that we came into without knowing what it was about. We hope that this game remains and it would be very fun to participate in the game next year if they keep it going.

Dealers Hall by Eri Kagami
The dealer's hall at Anime Boston is pretty awesome. Anime fans can find cute anime wares, walls of manga, a barrage of dvds, and the occassional cosplay wig. The Scarlet Rhapsody team did not go empty handed. A fair amount of fandoms were very much represented in the dealers hall. Certainly, it was easy to find the new Sailor Moon merchindise. I was able to grab some phone charms for my Sailor Mercury lovin' sister back in California. Jared was able to find several Kantai Collection figures - it came down to an Akagi figure. I was able to find a few good wigs for cosplay and j-fashion. Tasty Peach Studios is my new favorite place to shop for wigs. Additionally, because it was hard for some people to get into Artist Alley this year, I did spot some artists setting up shop in the dealers hall.

Additionally, you can also purchase Anime Boston swag and souvenirs. You can also purchase raffle tickets to support Anime Boston's charity of choice, National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Artist Alley by Eri Kagami
On the second floor, you can find the artist alley. This year, it was pretty tough to get in. The alley was about the same size as previous years. Additionall, the alley is also nice and room to walk around in. I've noticed some artists splitting booths to sell their wares. At most, I noticed four different artists per table. There was a ton of mixed media being sold from prints, original comics, clothing accessories, shot glasses, and more. Most art that was showcased featured Kill La Kill, Sailor Moon, and most shonen sports anime that most fujoshi types are into (if you catch my drift). I really didn't see anything that caught my eye right off the bat, but it's always nice seeing local talent showcase their artwork.

Art Show by Eri Kagami
Hidden in the artist alley, the art show showcases specific pieces of work by people in the artist alley. This year, it was very slim pickings. Not many people entered art pieces as they did in the years before. While there was some very interesting pieces based off Pokemon Eveelotions, there was a lack of variety. While Anime Boston does have a thematic art show on the third floor that showcased themed submitted art, this art show was very telling of anime convention art shows and how they seem to be dying down. Compare at Arisia 2015 and Anime Expo 2000 where there attendance was a fraction of the size of Anime Boston where there was literally a ballroom of artwork being shown off. I really hope shows like Anime Boston encourage artists to submit for the art show for 2016. It would make me sad if the art show continues to dwindle.

Tales of Tales by Jared
This panel took a look at all the different entries in the ‘Tales of…” JRPG series. After the overview they went more in depth about different themes and archetypes that show up in the series. It was a fun panel and it was nice to see how many people were fans of the long running series. This panel is a great introduction for those who are not familiar with the series, but also allows long time fans to celebrate this slightly obscure franchise. These panels are a must for anyone prefers their RPGs to be colorful and fun rather than dark and moody.

Macross Idol and Other Galatic Pop Stars by Eri Kagami
This is the second Scarlet Rhapsody panel to be featured at Anime Boston. "Macross Idols" features galactic songstresses. This is the only "themed" programming we contributed to the Mecha vs. Kaiju and it also was a test run should we continue to use it in the future. Because idol anime is the new moe anime (so last season!), I thought this would be a great way to bring idols and the theme together. I covered the differences between Robotech and original Macross Minmay. I also highlighted each of the idols in each of the Macross franchises. We also covered anime that might have been inspired by "idol saves the universe" such as the more recent AKB0048 anime series. Unfortunately, the presentation heavily relied on the Hynes WiFi. In the past, the WiFi has worked in our favor, but at 8PM on a Friday, everyone was on the WiFi.

I Heart 90s Shoujo by Eri Kagami
Following the Macross Idol panel, we rushed all the way from the second floor of the Hynes to the Sheraton. Thankfully, we just learned of the shortcut via the artist alley. We were in one of the main ballrooms for this panel. Much like our previous presentations on I Heart 90s Shoujo, we covered through different subgenres of "magical girl." This includes ordinary girl saves the world, school girl saves magical world, ordinary girl uses magic in every day life, etc. We removed the part on slice of life romance because we wanted to focus more on the magical side of things and discuss darker aspects of magical girl anime before there ever was a Madoka. Much like the "Macross Idol" panel, we did run into technical difficulties in which the video feed died during the video presentation portion of the panel. This time, the videos were on the laptop, but due to connection errors, we had to end the panel early.

To celebrate a victorious Friday upon completing three panels in one day, we went across the street over to Lir, an Irish pub. Because of Good Friday reasons, we went for the beer battered fish and chips. Because it was running late, we decided to take a Lyft back to our cozy apartment.

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