On the Big Screen!

On December 2nd, 2001, Anime on DVD presented the Boston area DVD premier of Bandai's upcoming release of Love Hina Vol. #1 in its original Japanese language with English subtitles. Our event, coordinated by site social director Rebecca Irvin and site owner Chris Beveridge along with the great help of Bandai's Jerry Chu and those in the DVD production department, was the first of its kind to be done by this site, and with it now behind us, it looks like it was a very successful event.

We had rented out the video theater that the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline, Ma has for special events and business courses. The smaller screen and the limited number of 45 seats is geared towards more intimate events, and the romantic comedy of Love Hina proved to be quite the right choice for our start.

After we ironed out all the details and got things set up (such as actually getting picture, after we took care of the ear-bleedingly loud default setting the volume was at) we started on the next part. Getting the free goodies we had ready for the throng of people awaiting downstairs. But one critical piece was missing....

That's right, we had our Divi-Chan on hand, ably played Tiffani Nadeau of our music section. Divi was there to pass out tickets to those entering the room for a special drawing to take place after the showing. Once people got their tickets, Melanie and I proceeded to hand out Pocky supplied by Tokyo Kid, Gundam MS08th Dog Tags and Trailer Preview CD's from Bandai Entertainment.

With everyone in attendance and the seating practically filled, we kicked off just ten minutes after the appointed time and took in 100 minutes of Love Hina. The show went over quite well judging by the amount of laughter throughout and we'll be providing a full review in another week or so.

After the show was over, I decided to use this event as a main part of our December Contest program and did a raffle for everyone that walked into the room.

Our first prize was a copy of Crest of the Stars Vol. #1!

Our second prize was the complete four disc collection of Jubei-Chan, The Ninja Girl!

In the end, both Rebecca and I were thrilled with how the event went and were glad we were able to work with Bandai to bring this to fruition. We're definitely looking at doing this a couple times next year as we explore what we can do with other various studios, so be sure to keep an eye out if you're in the Boston area.

"Love Hina rocks! I was very pleased with how this was organized. I was not disappointed at all. When can we do this again?!" - Eric M.

"Thanks for the event. It was fun and I'd like to attend screenings such as this again." - Andrew S.

"The event was very entertaining! I've been looking forward to the release of Love Hina on DVD, and it was great to be able to preview it a couple of months before it goes on sale. I always enjoy opportunities to watch anime with other fans, as none of my friends are really into it. The screening room was very nice, too! A big thank you to Anime on DVD and Bandai for arranging this event!" - Skye S.

"Thank you to both AnimeOnDVD and Bandai for the wonderful event. I greatly enjoyed the show, and I am now looking forward to getting the Love Hina DVD's even more than I was. I very much hope that you do hold more events in the Boston area in the future." - Scott S.

"Thank you for allowing us to preview Love Hina yesterday. The shows were wonderful and humourous. A couple of points:

[...], thank you very much for the opportunity to see this series. I enjoyed the day. I'd also like to thank Chris and Rebecca for their time in preparing the event. It went off wonderfully. Tiffany, you looked adorable in your Divi-chan costume.. I hope we get to do something like this again!" - Elana S.

"_Much_ fun. Well worth the trip up from CT. Lunch was excellent! Divi was great! Love Hina was awesome. Plan more, and the CT crew will be there for sure" - Shawn O.

"It was great! The venue was perfect for what we did, and I really appreciate the Crest of the Stars DVD I won. Thank you very much! It was nice to get the cool Bandai swag. I definitely will go to any other showings that AoDVD and any other studio want to put together. Great time. Thanks!" - Shawn S.

"Very cool event - I had a lot of fun. Lunch was great, it was cool having time to hang out and talk to other AoDers in person. Love Hina was a lot of fun, I'm looking forward to seeing more." - MegaZone

"I went to both the luncheon and the showing itself and it was great fun - especially while the crowd of AoDers will milling about after lunch and before the showing. We just couldn't stop laughing sometimes.

I really hope that we get a chance to do this again, as I love hanging out with other anime fans and watching stuff together - anime's more fun with a crowd - and we certainly had a crowd.

Hopefully other companies will follow suit and AoD can show more cool stuff just before release..." - Derek G.

"Great job guys I was really pleased with the organization and the show was great!
p.s. I was one number off from the Jubei-Chan" - Dave G.

"I had a great time...it was well-organized, well-hosted, and well-attended. Love Hina was a cool show too. Thanks AoD! Let's do this again." - Ken P.

"Thanks Rebecca and Chris for a really great time. Nothing beats getting together with fellow anime fans and watching Love Hina." - Adam F.