When Anime Boston announced their Sailor Moon English and Japanese dub guests, I started doing some research on each of them. Once I learned which season or episode that they were involved in, I went digging through DVDs and VHS in hopes to find something for the guests to sign. Ideally, I wanted all the signatures on one item. Well, that didn’t happen.
For Linda Ballantyne, the English voice of Serena/Sailor Moon, it was easy because most of what I had had her character on it. I had to make sure I picked the right season. For John Stocker, the Director, I wanted him to sign my Super Mario Brothers Super Show box set because he was the voice of Toad. It was difficult to find something for Toby Proctor, the English voice of Darien/Tuxedo Mask, and Yuko Minaguchi, the Japanese voice of Sailor Saturn. I literally had to look through every DVD and VHS to find an image of their characters on it. Luckily, I came across an old VHS with a small image of Tuxedo Mask on the front and a DVD with a small image of Sailor Saturn on the back.
All right, onto the day of the signing! It was a Friday afternoon and the wait was long for the English dub cast. I waited for more than half an hour to get into the signing room. There were a lot of fans on line. Since we were idle, most of us sat on the carpet and interacted with nearby neighbors. So, no matter where we sat, we more or less knew who was in front and behind us. Once the line started moving, we would get up and got back in place again. Fairly, simple right? Well, *clears my throat* as I reached closer to the signing room, two individuals kept trying to get closer and closer. It came to the point where, while I was sitting on the floor, one of them was towering over me, literally. I looked up and saw her chin right above my head and her feet was too close for comfort from my behind. I was like really?? Where the heck is your line etiquette? I got up and moved away from them. So when it came time for us to enter the room, the other individual almost made a dash for the door! The girl behind me called them out on it. Guys, I understand the hype, but let’s not be rude and disrespectful to others. We are all going to make it to the signing room.
The signing was obviously way smoother. When I reached the threshold to the room, a staff member saw the amount of items that I was holding and gave me the “uhh…” stare. Since there was a limitation on the amount of items to sign, I assured him that the three things in my hand were not for all of the guests. I had a Super Mario box set for Stocker, Sailor Moon DVD for Ballantyne and a VHS for Proctor. Stocker was the first person I encountered at the signing table. I had to double check about the voicing of Toad and I asked, “Did you do the voice of Toad?” He kindly responded with “Yes, I did” and signed the box for my brother. After I took a picture of him, he then passed the box set to Ballantyne, who obviously gave me the “uhh…what?” look. Completely understandable. I told her that that’s not for her to sign, but the DVD in my hand was. Then she kindly let me take her photo. Lastly, Proctor signed my VHS and allowed me take his photo too. After the signing session I went on with the rest of my day.
John Stocker, Director
Linda Ballantyne, Voice of Sailor Moon
Tony Proctor, Voice of Tuxedo Mask
The next day was the Minaguchi signing, which was much later in the afternoon. I made sure to get there early enough to get a ticket for the autograph session. I think at some point people lucked out and couldn’t get on line for the signing. Same as the other Sailor Moon signing, there were a lot of people. However, there wasn’t any poor line etiquette. Everyone seemed pretty relaxed during the long wait. Once the line started moving, the ball kept rolling. People went in and out pretty quickly.
When I entered the room, there were 3 other people waiting for their chance to get something signed. I believe only 4 people were permitted in the room at a time. When it was my turn, I handed over the same Sailor Moon DVD that Ballantyne signed. However, I asked Minaguchi to sign the back, where Sailor Saturn’s image was. After she signed it, she kindly posed for a photo with my DVD.
My Sailor Moon adventure had ended at Anime Boston. I was able to obtain all the Sailor Moon guests autographs without any complication. Maybe someday, I’ll get the rest of the English dub cast or other Japanese cast members too.
© 2014 Linda Thai
Photography by Linda Thai
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