The Chibi Project

Test Performed: Juice
Test Date: April 19, 2003
Special Conditions: Conducted in front of a live audience at Anime Boston 2003
Objective: To test Chibi Moon's endurance to the acids and staining agents found in fruit juice.

All photos are clickable for larger versions.

Anime Boston 2003 set a lot of records. It was the first time an anime convention had been held in Boston, it had the largest pre-registration count of any first-year anime convention, it had the largest attendance of any first-year anime convention, and it was the first time any anime convention with an attendance of over 3000 had to cap their attendance. It was also the first time the two head scientists behind The Chibi Project had ever held a panel specifically for The Chibi Project...and the first time an experiment of The Chibi Project was ever done in front of a live audience.

We spent quite a bit of time planning what to do for this historic event. The original plan was to conduct a test on a Beyblade toy for our new Side Projects section, but unfortunately the Beyblade toy did not arrive at Anime Boston as anticipated. Not wanting to disappoint our loving fans, we came up with a backup plan.

We raided Anime Boston's green room and swiped a large decorative bowl. After dumping out the plastic fruit and washing it off, we managed to swipe some cranberry juice before Scott McNeil discovered it and headed down to Panel 1.

When we arrived, we were completely shocked to not only find that we had an audience, but that the room was full! Standing room only!

After greeting some friends, it was time for the panel to begin. We told the tale of how The Chibi Project started. One of our team members wanted a Sailor Saturn toy, but Sailor Chibi Moon came with it. So, on a previous visit to Boston, she brought it along and gave it to PatrickD with the instructions, "Do whatever you want with it." ...at which point she proceeded to stomp on it with her huge boot. Surprised that the boot did hardly any damage, it was decided that we should try tougher tests. From that, The Chibi Project was born.

PatrickD played a DVD that ran through photos from the history of The Chibi Project, from The High Velocity Train Test up through The Washing Machine Test. With our running commentary throughout the slide show, the crowd seemed suitably entertained. The destructive tests, such as The Soldering Iron Test, The George Foreman Test, and The Rocket Test were the favorites. The off-the-wall humor of The Deep Woods Test (aka "The Chibi Witch Project") also earned a few laughs.

After the slide show, we moved on to a video of an interview with voice actor Scott McNeil. Ironically, Scott was holding a panel at the exact same time over in Main Events. In a video clip, Scott tried to think up an experiment for The Chibi Project. Unfortunately, he's "kind and gentile" and couldn't think of much.

Following the McNeil interview, we gave our first Side Project some time in the spotlight. We showed the burning Burning Gundam video in its entirety as we began the Q&A session.

After the video finished and we had answered a few questions, it was time to start the experiment we had promised everyone. We pulled out the fruit bowl, poured in the cranberry juice, and (with just a hint of drama) dropped in Chibi Moon.

It was sort of anti-climatic, but since it was a last-minute test, it was the best we could do at the time. To make up for it, we pulled out styrofoam cups and offered to let people drink from the bowl while Chibi Moon was drowning in it (face down).

In the photo above, you'll see Chibi Moon floating face-down in the juice. Notice the remains of Burning Gundam in the plastic baggie in the lower right.

Many fans grabbed a cup and lined up for a bit of juice. During this intermission in the panel, many fans took the opportunity to get a photo of Chibi Moon, the remains of Burning Gundam, Sock Ally, or The Chibi Project's creators.

We spent the rest of the panel answering questions from the audience. There were a lot of excellent questions about the history of The Chibi Project, the other members of our team, and some of the comments we have received.

Near the end, it seemed to degenerate mostly into test suggestions from a handful of people...but there were some excellent suggestions and we may consider performing some of them in the future.

From time to time, we get e-mail from fans (like you) asking if we'll be at conventions near them. While we can't possibly travel to every anime convention, we do get around a lot. If you'd like to see us at an anime convention near you, tell that convention to contact us about being guests and/or running a panel. We've done it before, we'll do it again if we can.

Damage Assessment: None, but she's sticky now.
Conclusion: Chibi Moon is resistant to staining. Chibi Moon is resistant to acids found in cranberry juice.