Anime Boston 2025: New Year And A New Vibe

I have been to many anime conventions during my time at Comicon. Now that the initial shock of going to a large Con has mostly worn off, I can fully assess how my experience at Anime Boston has changed over the years.

Anime culture has evolved since the post-2020 manga boom. Anime and manga have become more widely accepted as part of general geek culture in America — and geek culture itself has become the dominant popular culture of the last decade.

Now, I’ve noticed more pop-cultural overlap between anime and other fandoms. In addition to the aptly titled, “Tariff-Free Manga” I saw vendors selling “American Manga” like Spider-Man Fake Red, Bone, and Something is Killing the Children. There were cosplayers dressed as Vi and Caitlyn from Arcane and the protagonist of Gideon the Ninth.

There was also a strong presence of queer fans and creators looking to buy and sell yuri and yaoi titles. Overall, I feel that the vibe at Anime Boston was as inclusive, respectful, and upbeat as I’ve ever seen. Conventions are honestly a much better metric for fandom than the internet. If this is the state of the wider fandom, then we are in good hands.