Well this is where Otakon takes over the T5W’s for the
next few weeks. I’ll be going through my
entire Otakon travel log and picking my top 5 moments from each of the six
prior cons. Naturally you can expect a
seventh on/wrap up report following Otakon 2016. Hope you enjoy this walk down memory lane as
I head towards what is probably the most emotional/most important Otakon
since…well ever.
Every generation has a legend. Every journey has a first step. Every saga…has a beginning. That was 2010 and this was my first Otakon. And
it was an event that changed my life forever…here’s 5 reasons why.
#5-Post Fire Drill
Dance
The “Fire Drill” that took place during Day Two could
have killed the attendance, but as soon as it was over, things got back to
normal…starting with an epic rave scene taking place near the Registration
Desk. What started as a Yuri/Yoai joke
turned into a full blown dance event with some very good tunes, “What is Love”
will be forever associated with this event from now on btw, and some
hilariously freaky sights. Speaking of
freak, my hats off to Princess Zelda for being sandwiched between Spartans,
Batman and the Joker and still finding time to get her freak on with Link. You Go girl!!!
#4-Dealers Room
The Anime Mall of America, if you can’t find it here,
then the only other choice you have left is to go to Japan. DVD’s, Swords, Plushies, Key Chains, Video
Games, Gundams (LOTS OF GUNDAMS), you name it, likely some booth down in that
room had it. The prices were interesting
(330 bucks for Nero’s Devil May Cry 4 Sword HOLY S***), but if you had the
right amount of cash and a smart head, there was no way you were avoiding this
room the whole weekend, much less walking out empty handed. Me for example: Stuffed Ryo Ohki Backpack for
Amanda; Ichicgo’s Zangetsu Bankai Wooden Sword Replica; X: The Complete Series;
Escaflowne: The Complete Series; Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Collection; and
Interstella 555, and somehow I was still $20 below my $150 budget. I LOVE THIS ROOM!!!!
#3-Cosplay
Look to your left, look to your right. Now look behind you, then in front of
you. All around you there were at least
three Clouds, five Sailor Scouts, six Ed Elric’s and plenty of characters I
have never even heard of. You have to
hand it to some of the people at this event.
Call them nerds, say they have no lives or are the rightful outcasts of
society, but their dedication to some of these outfits is staggering. Precise detail in both clothing and weapons
had cameras going off like gunshots.
There were even people there dressed as non Anime characters: there was
a massive Doctor Who photoshoot on Saturday and I saw plenty of Marvel
character floating around as well. Plus,
you think nerds are just overweight men sitting in their parents basement
playing WoW, then you should see some of the drop dead gorgeous women dressed
as Yuna from Final Fantasy or a Sailor Scout.
Should have sent for a poet…it was all so beautiful.
#2-Littlekuriboh
Panel
With no real warning or early announcement besides the program we were given, Little Kuriboh, the creator of the wildly popular Yu Gi Oh: The Abridged Series, came stateside to talk with us. Along with the rest of his cast, LK was kind enough to give us a bit of personal history and his plans for the rest of YGOTAS. To top it all off, LK and his team even debuted a brand spanking new episode of YGOTAS that had not been released onto the net yet. Say what you will about Abridged Series, but when you get a room full of packed fans at 9am on a Sunday, you know that this is something important. Oh and did I mention I got to meet Little Kuriboh in person and get his autograph and photo?
#1-Being There
It only took FOEVER, but after several summers of beach
trips and a lack of funds, I finally made it to an Otakon convention. I was blown away by it all and it made me
tear up inside walking around and knowing that there really were more people
out there into this stuff that I had imagined.
It was great getting into a conversation with a random fan and getting
more of an interested feel rather than one of ridicule cause you didn’t know as
much as he or she did. Plus, you got
everyone’s jokes, there were very few stares saying “WTF are you talking
about?” The one lesson I took away from
this weekend was: You Are Not Alone. It
was a dream, an honor, and a privilege to be among all of those amazing people
and I looked forward to being there next year, doing more and seeing more. I hoped to somehow spot a first timer and
walk over to them with a smile and say “Buckle Up and Hold on Tight, long
weekend ahead of ya, now go and have fun.”
And this was only the beginning. The journey continues next week with one of
the greatest sequels of all time…well in my eyes anyway.
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