Otakon 2008.... WITH GRAVY
Well, Otakon 2008 has come and gone and if I had to sum it up in one word it would be: EPIC. But since I DON’T have to sum it up in one word, I’ll have a more thorough report! Lots happened, so I’ll make this bullet form and try to be as concise as possible.
Thursday:
-Took the redeye flight the night before and arrived Thursday at 6am. Thanks to Phil and Kevin for picking me up so early
-Baltimore’s totally different from LA. The buildings are very nice looking, with lots of old-style architecture. Oh yeah, the area between the airport and the cities is full of greenery, something I don’t see often in LA lol.
-Went to registration at 6-7ish where it started to rain a bit…while we stood in line outdoors. Phil happened to salvage a wooden board from a bookshelf earlier to use for artist alley, so we used that for cover (and got lots of weird looks).
-Registration went pretty smoothly since it wasn’t totally administrative and hardcore like AX.
-Though, we had a problem with the convention when Anita needed a wheelchair and there wasn’t a single one in the entire convention center.
-Gave Phil & Kevin their gifts. Phil got a box of Galaxy Angel trading cards while Kevin got a Pedobear t-shirt (bought by the guys from AX). Lulz were had.
Friday:
-Lots of setup for the artist alley, 3-4 tables worth, with touch screen monitors and everything.
-The guys’ “Rocket Punch!” artbook was epic. Think it sold pretty well.
-Saw a Pedobear cosplay. I made it take a picture with Kevin. Too bad he didn’t have the t-shirt on at the time.
-Ran into more Pokemon cosplayers (outside of the gathering) than I expected. There was this one Hikari/Dawn cosplayer who just kept running into me numerous times throughout the day. We proceeded to accuse each other of stalking.
-Chibi Ash cosplayer! I challenged him to a battle on my knees. The next night I also saw a Chibi Hikari. She knocked my Munchlas over after the picture ^^;;
-1st JAM PROJECT panel was fun. The entire band were fun-loving, especially Fukuyama who would make funny faces whenever people took pictures of him.
-Pokemon gathering was fun. There was a MissingNo with a slot that says “Free Rare Candy x99!”
-However, the gathering wasn’t as organized as I hoped for it to be, unlike the one at AX.
-JAM Project concert was…how do I put this…orgasmic. They did most of their trademark songs, and everyone was into it. Unlike many singers nowadays, JAM sounds exactly the same as they do on the CDs. Best convention concert I’ve ever been to.
-Gundam Panel was fun. It was more for hardcore fans since it’s got a couple of inside jokes. I had no problem with it though!
Saturday:
-Went to the Tokusatsu panels. Was a nice discussion and saw some really funny and weird things in “Tokusatsu Hell.”
-JAM Project 2nd panel was just as good as the first. I got to ask a question (about whether Kageyama would like to do more super sentai songs in the future) and got a priority ticket in the process.
-With the priority ticket, I got to leave the panel a tad bit early to get in line early. Turns out that there were a whole lot of non-ticket people waiting in line hours before. Lucky I got the ticket and ended being the 4-5th person.
-Everyone in JAM shook our hands passionately, especially Endoh. Man, I love these guys. I got my blank autograph board signed so they could sign really big with lots of space.
-Finally saw Rebecca at the AMV contest. We had a lot to catch up on. We went to the artist alley then had dinner afterwards and exchanged lots of stories.
-Nightime: Darth Vader issued an open challenge to all cosplayers. Joker, Indiana Jones, and MGS people couldn’t take him down. Who actually beat him? Silent Bob, to whom Vader just bowed down to. And Hard Gay, who chased Vader around and even took the lightsaber in the crotch, but with no effect. Vader put up his hands and admitted defeat.
-Went to “Anime for Old Farts” panel, where a room packed with middle aged people reminisce about incredibly old shows they used to watch. There were lots of “OH!!!!! I remember that!”
-Late dinner after we left to con. On the way to the diner, we drove through quite a bit of the ghetto area. Kind of like downtown LA ^^;;
Sunday:
-Since Kevin refuses to wear his Pedobear t-shirt, Phil decided to wear it. He had so much fun with it.
-Pretty slow day, even in terms of cosplay. Wandered the dealers hall and artist alley a bit.
-Second Pokemon Gathering: there was an Ash with all 8 badges and badge case, and even Richie/Hiroshi! Oh, and Riley! He was epic!
-Played with a Pokeball beach ball for a while until security stopped it ^^;
-Did some battle poses. There was this Aipom whom I met in the first gathering who was totally awesome. He had Ipod speakers playing pokemon music all the time. He’s my Pokemon of choice in my battle pictures XD
-Like the first gathering, it quickly became disorganized after a few group pictures. Everyone was in each others’ way because there’s no one really coordinating the pictures and everyone wanted to do their thing without considering whether they’re blocking others. Was a real shame because there were some really good cosplayers who just faded into the back because they were shy and were overshadowed by the louder people.
-Met up with Rebecca briefly before she had to go back
-Oh, I ran into Stalker-Hikari again but this time she’s in lolita outfit. She spotted me (twice). The final time I was sitting in the artist alley table and we chatted a bit, exchanged cosplay.com info, etc. She’s pretty cool, albeit the stalking! j/k j/k (ChibiLoner, if you’re actually reading this, please don’t kill me!)
-Stayed in artist alley until it closed. Chaos of packing and leaving ensued.
-Left for the airport before the crew had their post-con sushi dinner because I had to catch my flight. Was a shame, but whatever.
Final Thoughts:
-Otakon felt more fan-friendly. Since it’s not as big AX, their policies and procedures aren’t as formal as AX.
- I love the convention center itself. It felt really comfortable to be in and lots of slopped walls (fun for poses). The interior is pleasant; it’s neither cramped or overwhelmingly big.
-Artist alley was wayyyy bigger than AX’s. Lots of space behind the tables and definitely more tables available.
-Dealer’s Hall didn’t have much variety and wasn’t presented as well as AX booths. And of course, AX dealer hall was like 3-4 times bigger.
-Autograph policy: the autograph tickets are actually in limited quantities, which I think is a flawed system. For those who attended the panel and didn’t get a ticket, they lose out to the people who camp out in the lines hours before and skipping the panel. Panel attendees should automatically get priority over standby people.
-It was freaking awesome meeting everyone: Phil, Kevin, Rick, Matt, Anita, Eli, Lu, Aaron, and Dan. You guys are all so fun and I hope to get the chance to hang out with you guys again even though I don't know if I'll be able to Otakon every year. Come to AX sometime!
Swag:
Not much, but: small buttons (Kyouya, Cactaur, Kamina, and ROLF), Abaranger shitakjiki from Kevin, 2 copies of the "Rocket Punch!" artbook which I actually left in Baltimore but will have them shipped to me; JAM Project tour t-shirt, JAM World Flight 2008 Best Selection CD, and last but not least, autograph board signed by all 5 members of JAM Project.
Pictures:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v299/Char350/Otakon%202008/
There are also pictures of me with awesome general and Pokemon cosplays in the Friends album, so check that out too!