So last weekend was AnimeBoston, an anime convention where attendees come together and rant about anime and stuff, and also cosplay as characters from games, anime, manga, movies, and comics.

I went as Balthier from Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lion War.

Thursday was the day I went. Drove to Boston and checked in. Met up with Ashley and her friends, since they were staying with me at the hotel. We hung out to refresh ourselves. Later that night, they ran off to do their thing, while I went to the pool for a photoshoot, which was a Cosplay Swimsuit Photoshoot.

I wore a "swimsuit" version of Balthier, which can be seen here. I was recognized the second I walked in as Balthier, since a friend (who wore an Aerith swimsuit), said I was "very Balthier". And as you can see, the FF ladies loved me. From left to right in that pic is Aerith (FF7), Rinoa (FF8, Me as Balthier (FF12), and Yuna (FF10-2). We met up with the other cosplayers, and filled the hottub. We played a few games of Telephone.

Friday was pretty much the debut of my Balthier outfit (better pic). I was the only Balthier, so I had a lot of attention from those who loved FF. I met up with a few familiar faces from last year, who did not recognize me as Balthier (since I was Cloud last year). I also caught up with a friend who cosplayed as Fran from FF12 (still looking for those pics of me with her). Unfortunately, her outfit didn't last long, but luckily we still got pics. I saw a plethora of Naruto and Full Metal Alchemist, but I was looking for outfits that caught my eye and interested me, like the Green Ranger, Tomb Raider, Link and Dark Link, and of course this lovely gal. Had lot of fun that day, but did not end there.

Later that evening was the Cherry Blossom Ball, a formal dance with formal dancing. No pics of me with Ashley sadly, since we looked absolutely perfect together (I wore my grey suit with a black shirt and she wore a black dress). The dance comprised of the waltz, foxtrot, and tango. I only know tango a bit, but that didn't stop me from dancing.

I danced with everyone. Girls, guys, ninjas, elves, monsters (wait......). Dustin, a friend of mine, did the tango with me a few times (actually we were mocking it. We also had a rose to go along) to amuse the crowd and he picked me up during a foxtrot. I had tons of fun.

Saturday I wore Balthier again for those who did not see it. And apparently there were those who did not see it. There was an FF shoot at noon (no pics of it, but will find some). I seen many FF cosplay a lot, but I was looking for FF12 cosplayers. Most notably are Ashe, Judge Zargabaath, and License Board. Other FF12 cosplayers (who I did not catch a pic of) were Dr. Cid (who I knew was around but could not find him), Vayne, and Larsa. Other FF cosplayers that I love the most were Jenova (I called her the hot mama of FF), Wedding Yuna (who is also my friend Paige, and also the Yuna I lifted up last year), Shiva from FF5, Garnet, Tifa, Zombie Aerith, and Cactuar. Bunch of fellas last year who I hung out with had an interesting FF cosplay this year. They are guys, however they cosplayed as the FF girls from FF7 and FF8 (Rinoa, Tifa, Seplhie, Quistis, and Yuffie).

Black Six came up for the night to see indulge in his RvB fanboyness. He had his dvds signed by the creators of RvB. We hung out with his friend AJ and went to go see Trocadero (Black Six's blondie head is at the bottom). They are the band that does the music for RvB. I really liked them, and the fact that the other bands sucked. And they did. I was mocking them and then went to go shoot some pool as they played. Black Six and AJ and another chick joined in later. Fun night it was, since I got to chill with Black Six again.

Sunday is the day things are slow. AnimeBoston usually has their Cosplay Chess on Sunday, since if they didn't, no one would be there. I was wearing the Tactics version of Balthier, since I did not want to wear the full get up. Only a few recognized who I was, since the remake of Tactics, and Balthier being in it is still obscure. The only thing I enjored was the "Basch Lives" Girls (another FF12 reference). After I had my fun, I packed up and left Boston.

And thats all I remember.

-Omi