Anime on DVD Boston Gathering

September 19th, 2000 hosted the second Anime on DVD Boston area gathering. The weather was brisk, but there was plenty of sun and good clear skies after several days of overcast weather. The majority of us met at the Harvard Square T-Station stop, though a few people made their way to the restaurant ahead of us.

Just a bit around the corner from the T stop is a really slick restaurant, Fire & Ice. You can see the huddled masses outside. Just a bit further down and off-camera to the left is the Brattle Street theater, where last year they showed almost the entire Studio Ghibli anime catalog theatrically - subtitled!

Fire & Ice is on the lower level and is quite an interesting set up, not one I'd seen here in New England previously. You take your bowl, fill it with uncooked meats, fish, vegetables and sauces and then take it to one central area where they spread it out in a drug-like line and cook it for you. And quite good prices too! Since its the only real item on their menu, 14.95 for an all you can eat is definitely worth it.

And for those who were with me at Otakon, yes, I did eat this time around. Lots of sirloin and chicken. Chicken good.

We put together a good long table for us and as we all made our way back to the table, much anime and various computer discussions ensued. Favored topics? Some people complain too much, the history of rec.arts.anime and many discussions about how many beers grimjackx was having as every time a picture was taken, he'd have another one in his hand.

You can't see it in the picture above because he's hiding it behind someone else. From bottom left to the top and back down the right: Tom, I don't remember, I don't remember, sdstone, Melanie and Amethyst Beveridge, Megazone, "Rat" if I recall correctly, Chris, Rich (aka grimjackx), Don and Brad Ackerman.

During the course of the meal, Amethyst did her darndest to use her "psychic powa" and sped up her body to steal various pieces of utensils and to cast confusion upon Megazone so she could get his food. Unfortunately for her, her mother is immune to such tricks and every attempt was successfully thwarted.

In total, we spent about an hour and a half at Fire & Ice and had a really good time. The food was delicious and the overall atmosphere great. Definitely someplace we'll be hitting again in the future. From there we all gathered outside again and planned our next order of business.

Our first target was Anime Crash. The main object of purchase there was various sizes and flavors of Pocky. I'm still not sure if I like Pocky yet, even after a couple of boxes. Megazone made a recommendation on something called "Fran" which is similar to Pocky but considered more expensive (and therefore better). I'm already liking Fran better. Fran tastes much more interesting as it's a chocolate stick itself with the chocolate around it. Melanie snared some almond Pocky and I also got a small 300 yen Sakura in schoolgirl outfit PVC figure. Not enough CCS stuff out there.

Our next stop took us to the first floor where Million Year Picnic is. This is one of the older comic book shops in Boston and is extremely cramped. It is however filled with a lot of good things. I did my best to pressure Don into buying the really nice Evangelion Unit 02 figure (msrp 16.95). I couldn't resist my own pressure and bout the Unit 00 one. Shiny. I also added more manga graphic novels to my pile by picking up Silent Mobius vol. #4 and the first super-tiny Lone Wolf & Cub graphic novel. I was pleased to note I was not the only one who walked out with an Eva toy though. Don however did not fall sway to my evil ways.

Our next stop is Tokyo Kid over the in the Garage. I hadn't been to Tokyo Kid since last fall when I went in and asked if they had any anime DVD's, only to be told "What, there's maybe 3 or 4 out? That'll never take off. Worse than laserdisc." Going there today, they're still heavily VHS with only a few DVD selections. Their new store however is much nicer and more spaced out. I chastised a few people from the group for looking at VHS, though I couldn't resist checking out the Sprite title CPM recently announced. Oh yeah, hentai.

I think everyone snared something in this store. Lots of interesting things (stay away from those SM CD's though!). I snared myself a really cute Sakura PVC figure (12.95) and a big CCS wallscroll. I've become weak when it comes to CCS items lately. Here's the PVC on my laptop edge.

After that, we all filed out into the Garage. Amethyst had fallen asleep (after several hours of intense staring at Megazone). Most of us were starting to tucker out a bit as we made the traditional mistake of eating first, which makes us all move a bit slower. I think everyone had a good time. I know I and my family did. I hope those of you who attended had a good time as well!