RI Anime Con 2024: Several Steps In The Right Direction

• Author: Samantha Ferreira

• Editor: Samantha Ferreira

Introduction

If one were to look at the anime fan community of thirty years ago, it would be nearly unrecognizable to folks today. Streaming services like Crunchyroll and HIDIVE did not exist, and access to the medium was limited to whatever a person could scrounge up at the local comic shop or video store. Those who wanted to go deeper couldn’t hop onto a fandom Discord, and social media was little more than an abject fantasy. 

Even so, the humble anime convention stands as a comforting connection to that bygone era. From 1983’s Yamato Con, to 1991’s AnimeCon, and Anime Boston 2003, these events have served as a unifying bastion of pure, untamed fandom. At their core, cons are transient spaces, where lovers of all things anime and manga can gather for a day or three. Whether they’re meeting up with friends, taking in a few panels, or simply spending far too much money on merch they need right now, folks can typically find no shortage of ways to occupy the weekend.

The Ocean State has occupied a unique place in the greater tale of American fandom. In 1986, Warren’s Lorraine Savage founded Hasshin RI (later Anime Hasshin!), which would find a global membership in more than fourteen countries throughout its fifteen-year history. The club’s magazine, The Rose, was a treasured resource, known among fans for its extensive tape list and in-depth convention coverage, interspersed with art by folks like Robert DeJesus and Akito Tanemura.

It was in this hotbed of early fandom that The New England Anime Society made history in 2008. The Providence Anime Conference, which was held at the Providence Convention Center, was intended to be a three-day refuge for adult fans. With a 21+ age requirement and programming that catered to folks who wanted something different from Anime Boston, the staff hoped to welcome more than two thousand to the Providence Convention Center. Unfortunately, just over two hundred made their way to the event. While those who attended the event still recall it fondly, it would be the only convention to be held at the venue for fifteen years.

In 2023, Altered Reality Entertainment broke this streak with RI Anime Con, a two-day event held at the same venue, on the same weekend as Otakon. While Altered Reality had great success in running events like RI Comic Con and Terrorcon in the past, their first attempt at an anime convention was marred by a combination of first-year issues that plague all new cons, as well as numerous unforced errors, which prevented the show from reaching its full potential. 

RI Anime Con returned to the Providence Convention Center on June 15 and 16 for its second year. And, against all odds, so did I.

Exploring RI Anime Con

Beyond the security checkpoint at the entrance to the Rhode Island Convention Center, fans were greeted by the venue’s wide, open hallways. Small gatherings of people milled about, chatting as they walked by local rock group Clemenzi Crusaders, who were playing covers of popular video game songs.

The Exhibition Hall

Much like last year, the Exhibition hall was held in Ballrooms A, B, and C, which is was open, combined space split into two major sections.

A curtain divider was set up near the far wall, which was flanked by a handful of tables. Behind it, was an open space that allowed fans to meet voice acting legends like Tiffany Grant (Neon Genesis Evangelion, Monica Rial (Dragon Ball franchise, Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, My Hero Academia), and Bennett Abara (Sailor Moon, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations).

Several larger-scale displays were erected at the rear of the space. Notably, a life-sized, ridable recreation of Appa from Avatar: the Last Airbender and a half-dozen elaborately-wrapped itasha cars drew the eye of passers-by. I remarked to Kennedy, with whom I was covering the event, that they resided in the space of the previous year’s panel space. They gave a surprised expression, as we both silently wondered where panels would be held this year.

The early hours of the event were, for the most part, quiet and uneventful for many, as artists and vendors chatted with one another, and attendees milled about the show floor. It wasn’t uncommon to see a group of four, five, or six people huddled in a corner as they chatted about the shows they were watching, local goings-on, or when they were planning to attend the weekend’s Pride festivities.

By noon, the floor had filled immensely, though it still wasn’t what one would expect if they were to imagine the bustling halls of, say, Anime Boston, Otakon, or even Connecticon. The sea of people carrying blue, Cardi’s-branded shopping bags had grown immensely, and the larger stalls had attracted a steady, eager stream of shoppers who were buying everything from Funko Pop toys to imported Japanese snacks.

The biggest crowds, though, formed in the voice actor area. By eleven, none of the tables had seen lines shorter than four people deep, and folks were eager to chat with, and get photographs and selfies with, the folks who worked daily to bring their favorite characters to life.

Through it all, the staff proved remarkably efficient in keeping crowds and lines orderly. Many of the staffers were veterans from previous events, and their experience was a genuine asset as the day progressed. Even the busiest autograph lines proved to be orderly and well-wrangled.

The Panel Room

The weekend boasted more than a dozen panels and events over the course of the weekend, which included voice actor interviews, game tornraments, and workshops on cosplay prop-building. In their inaugural event, the panel space was a small curtained-off cubicle erected inside the Exhibition Hall,  which proved to be a pain point for attendees and panelists alike.

I’m pleased to say that this wasn’t the case for Rhode Island Anime Con 2024.

This year’s event saw panels get their own room on the second floor of the event. The room was a spacious hall, with capacity for roughly one hundred, and a stage adorned with comfortable recliners and a large video screen. As a veteran panelist, I can’t help but remark on how cozy the scene looked, and how large of an upgrade this was year-over-year.

Programming & Panels

For this year’s event, RI Anime Con’s panel lineup consisted of a series of alternating, 45-minute panels, which ran 15 minutes past the hour. The main ballroom, meanwhile, featured larger-scale events that ran on the hour.

However, what did stick out was that the overall panel schedule was on the lighter side, with generally surface-level topics like “Anime Openings that SLAP!” and “Toph and Zuko's Life Changing Field Trip.” 

Meanwhile, the marquee events in the main Ballroom tended to to favor interview events surrounding specific franchises. For example, One Piece, Sailor Moon, and Soul Eater.

In comparison to last year, the content slate was a massive improvement. However, both Kennedy and I showed some concern that the content slate wouldn’t offer enough to entice attendees to stay the entire weekend. We noted this to Altered Reality Press Relations Manager Susan Soares, who noted that they were seeking to expand their panel programming next year.

Sailor Moon Panel

For this year’s event, Kennedy and I took in Behind the Sailor Senshi: A Sailor Moon Panel, which was hosted by Cherami Leigh and Bennett Abara in the main ballroom. The event took the form of an interview show, which saw an interviewer asking questions of the two actors.

The program opened with an inquiry as what goes into developing voices; what qualities do they look for, and how do they bring them out?

Abara paused before answering first. “I feel like I tell this story all the time,” she began, “but I grew up, in my back yard, playing Sailor Jupiter. I was watching the DiC version, I few up with DiC. It was crazy, because I love Jupiter so much, because I was always the new kid in school, because I was an Air Force brat. I was the tall kid; I was kind of the tomboy, but I also liked to figure skate, well not figure skate, I liked to ice skate. She figure skated,” she recalled, chuckling a bit as Leigh laughed with her. “So, more than twenty years later, we did the, we’re doing the show. It was weird, because I was, doing, ‘Oh, this is horrible, preparing for my homeroom.’ It’s not that I was intentionally, like, going to make it this way. It’s more that I just understood who she was, and I don’t know if that answered your question!” she finished with a chuckle.

“It definitely informed your choices,” Leigh noted, before answering, herself. “Any time that I work on a show that has been dubbed before, or has another voice actor, specifically English voice actor,” she explained, “I feel that there’s an added pressure and responsibility. And additionally, for this show, this is such a legacy property that I watched growing up, as well, that there’s an added pressure for that. So, for this, there’s an immense amount of pressure that was very, very scary. But, in finding that audition voice, I certainly was influenced by those previous English voice actors, and the Japanese performance. And, instead of trying to copy and paste and mimic what they did, it was ‘what did that inspire in me,’ so that it’s sort of, we’re all connected, because we’re all, whatever, I guess the essence of that character… how does that work, and how do I relay that magic of the character?” 

She continued, explaining, “for my first session, I was terrified, when I messed up about two times, and all I had to say was ‘Sailor V!’ for an eyecatch. [...] And I said, ‘I’m just really nervous, because there’s responsibility for this, and this is such a beloved character, and how do I know I was the right choice? I don’t want to let anybody down?’ And the director said, ‘You should all know that you guys were all chosen by the creator.’”

“They told you that?” Abara asked, adding, “they didn’t tell me that until, like, way later.” She added, “It was very cool. I think both of us, have, like [...] we want to do a good job!” She noted that she read in an interview, that “when we auditioned, they picked, like, the top five or something, took our names off of them, labeled them, like, Audition 1, Audition 2, Audition 3, and sent them over blind to Japan. And then, the creator of the show, the creator of Sailor Moon that we grew up watching, literally heard our voices and said ‘That’s my Sailor Venus, that’s my Sailor Jupiter.’”

Leigh agreed, stating “And what’s crazy, I did not audition for Sailor Venus. I was called back for Sailor Moon, and so she heard my Sailor Moon audition and said, ‘no, that’s Venus,’ and didn’t have to hear anymore. Just ‘that’s Venus.’” She paused, adding “As the girls were learning to trust themselves in their power, once we knew we were chosen for these roles, kind of like the Guardians were, it was like, trust in this is where you’re supposed to be, and enjoy it!” She added that her director told her, “Stop. Reframe it; instead of seeing all the people you’re afraid to disappoint in front of you, and all the actors in front of you, like you have to impress them. See that they’re behind you, and they’re with you.”

Abara noted that she felt this upon going into the world, explaining “the Sailor Moon community, I still believe, is my favorite fanbase. It’s so nurturing and welcoming, and very much like ‘we’re behind you.’”

Leigh recalled meeting with Linda Ballantyne, who played Sailor Moon in Cloverway’s dub, and Katie Griffin, who played Sailor Mars in DiC’s adaptation, and remarking of how friendly the three casts were amongst each other. “They were unaware of this, I said ‘a lot of casts don’t get along [across generations], but with Sailor Moon that’s never been the case.’”

The host’s questions continued, to questions of whether the fundamentals of voice acting have changed with the recent proliferation of online resources, be it through YouTube, books, or other formats.

Both Leigh and Abara were adamant that voice acting is still acting, and that those who find success in the medium are those who grasp this are more likely to find success. Abara explained, “If you want a long career; if you want to play different kinds of characters, different genres, not just anime but, like, video games and animation, you want to do all sorts of stuff, you’re going to need the ability to adapt and match those circumstances. Acting classes, don’t discount those; and voiceover classes are helpful, will teach you the technique, and they’ll teach you how to approach an animation script. They will teach you the to modify it, but I find the students in classes who do way better are the ones already have some sort of an acting foundation.”

Leigh concurred, and explained that they also take classes to keep up with the evolving market, but they’ve been acting from a young age. “I think that, if you only get into this business saying ‘I just want to be a voice actor,’ not only are you limiting your chances to be able to pay your rent, but you’re also cutting yourself off from some great opportunities.” She mentioned that other forms of acting, like motion capture, require their own forms of training that don’t aren’t necessarily compatible with voiceover, such as dance training. Leigh added that those who aren’t comfortable on camera also place themselves at a disadvantage. “There’s so much content that it is on us to have social media pages, or to do videos to promote the shows. They’ll bring us out to conventions and do all that stuff, so it is important for us to be comfortable on camera, and doing press and things like that,” which requires its own form of personal training. These trainings don’t need to be in the form of a class or a course, but she emphasized that actors must continue to evolve, in order to match the ever-changing market.

They both noted that they liked seeing the rise of online resources and remote recording, both of which became more commonplace as a result of the lockdowns at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Abara remarked that she saw it as a great equalizer, especially considering that, historically, actors would need to be local to the studio, or travel for every recording session. However, aspiring actors would ultimately need to consider moving to Los Angeles or Dallas at some point, as they are the hubs for the industry as a whole.

Leigh warned the audience, though, to not just pack things up and move until they have a job in-hand. “Never, ever, ever pack up your whole life unless you have another job or opportunity. Try to have an in before you uproot your life!” She added that, early on, roles would likely be small - fifteen minutes a week for a simuldub, maybe two hours in a full month, and “that’s not enough to pay the bills; so it’s gonna be a part-time job for a very, very long time.” That’s to say nothing of industry shifts.

“Acting is so inconsistent, “Abara explained. “If you want any stability, there’s plenty of folks who just focus on acting, but that’s just so stressful to me. I don’t like living that way; I don’t like being unable to pay my mortgage.” As such, most people have another source of revenue to keep the lights on. 

After this question, the floor opened to questions from the audience, which included inquiries on being known worldwide, to questions on recording styles. Through it all, Abara and Leigh were affable and eager to talk with the audience, often weaving their own stories into their answers.

In Conclusion

In my coverage of the inaugural Rhode Island Comic Con, I remarked that the event inspired “a general shrug of indifference, tinged with boredom,” though I did note that there was potential for the event to become something special.

While this year’s event didn’t reach those lofty goals, it did make many solid steps in the right direction. The expanded focus on user content worked to the event’s benefit, and their work to present a more rounded content profile did help to breathe life into the event, as a whole.

That said, the event is still feeling some growing pains. The decision to hold RI Anime Con on the same weekend as RI Pride and Fan Expo Boston undoubtedly hurt attendance, as they found themselves competing for attention with the largest Pride event in New England, as well as an established geek-centric convention by a more experienced organization. Hopefully, next year will find the event taking place in a less-populated weekend.

Moreover, the lackluster panel selection did leave this superfan losing interest by late afternoon. After all, the Dealer’s Room is only entertaining for as long as one’s money holds out, and panels are only fun for the attendees if they match their interests.

Still, there is a lot of potential for the event to become a convention that befits the state that gave rise to so much early anime history. The staff has shown a great interest in improving the event year-over-year and has been taking feedback seriously. While it still stands as a local curiosity today, it’s hard to not feel real optimism for the future after seeing the improvements firsthand.