Every once in a while, you’re going to go to a convention
that doesn’t meet your expectations.
Heck, once or twice you’re going to attend one that just flat out
disappoints. I was incredibly excited
for Otakon 2014, if only to reunite with my newfound friends from the previous
year. But then came the Pre Reg day…when
Otakon didn’t have it’s act together getting the badges out and ended up
leaving thousands of attendees having to wait til Friday to get their
badges. The backlash was downright
disheartening. How could a convention
I’d come to adore screw up so badly? It
left a damper on the weekend for a lot of people, myself included. There were some good moments too. But overall, 2014 was one of the weakest
Otakon’s ive ever attended. But enough
of the gloom and doom, here’s what I DID like about 2014.
#5-The Senshi Hunt
With the arrival of Sailor Moon Crystal and the brand new
English Dub of the Original Series, Sailor Moon was bigger than ever this
year. To celebrate, VIZ enacted a
special scavenger hunt in the Dealers Room.
Five “official” Sailor Scouts (Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus)
were all floating around with special stamps.
To win a prize, you had to seek them out and get them to stamp a special
card (Moon was last since she was stationed at the main booth and gave you the
card in person). It sounded like fun and
I went for it. I found Mercury and Mars
pretty easy (man did I try my best to flirt with Mars lol). But that’s where the easy part ended. The others were sneaky and it took me almost
the whole weekend to find them. Wasn’t
frustrated though, it was pretty enjoyable actually. By Sunday, I did manage to track down Sailor
Jupiter and somehow found myself teamed up with a mysterious girl (seriously I
never knew her name) to find Sailor Venus.
Accosted suddenly was actually a bit of fun Mercury, Mars and Jupiter
like Moon were stationary but Venus was the mover, the one to shake things up a
bit. But low and behold, at a water
fountain giving a wheelchair bound con goer some water like a true
Superheroine…was SAILOR VENUS. And with
her stamp, me and my mysterious comrade managed to get back to the Viz booth
and get Moon’s stamp…and our prize 2014 Sailor Moon Celebration coin to
commemorate the victory
#4-The Abridged
Panel
Otakon 2014 was chalk full of problems that dampened the
weekend. And at one point, it threatened
to derail one of the most important panels.
The room in which the Abridged Panel was to be held was not being
cleared out following the previous panel.
So since most of the people in the Kurosawa Panel were present, they
would have secure seats for the Abridged Panel while it remained unlikely even
those very close to the front of the line would get inside. It was one thing to see a convention goers
reaction to this…it was another to see the Abridgers themselves get involved. LittleKuriboh, 1Kids, Nowacking and Megami33
all got to talking with the staffers about how unfair it was. I was in awe of the Abridgers dedication to
the fans and wanting to make sure everyone got to see them. Anyway, the Abridged Panel did happen and I
did get in. We all got to enjoy some
Abridged making tips and see some material from the upcoming Tokyo Mew Mew
Abridged as well as the Season Finale of Pokemon Bridged and a sneak peak at a
new Naruto the Abridged Series. But for
those who could not get inside, they were rewarded with the announcement of a
second Abridged Panel being authorized for an hour or so later in the day. Wow. I
actually got to meet up with all of the Abridgers and shake their hands,
thanking them for everything they did for us.
They’re still rockstars for a reason.
#3-Dante Basco
Panel
For those who do not know who he is, Dante Basco was the
voice of Zuko on Avatar: The Last Airbender, he also voice General Iroh (Zuko’s
Grandson) in The Legend of Korra. But
once upon a time, he was also known as Ruffio, leader of the Lost Boys in
Hook. The line for questions and
requests was long, but Basco took them all with a welcoming smile and plenty of
charm. He reminisced about his days as
Ruffio and Zuko as well as working on Homestuck. He even regaled us with tales of Hook, his
acting career and growing up in a neighborhood where he was a minority within a
minority (Asian American living in a community of predominantly Blacks and
Hispanics). We even got a fresh poem to
open the panel and man does he know how to mix words in a natural way. Stories were shared, hugs and selfies were
offered and Dante Basco officially made my list as one of the best guests
Otakon has ever had.
#2-Meeting my
first Anime crush
Well all have that first Anime crush, that girl or guy
who captures you with their style, attitude, beauty and general
awesomeness. For me, that was always
Sailor Mars, the Senshi in red high heels and a penchant for setting things on
fire. Im sure I watched Sailor Moon just
for her (everyone rates her pretty low but I stay strong in my camp). So it was a huge surprise to see Linda
Ballantyne (the OG Sailor Moon) and Katie Griffin (the OG Sailor Mars) make an
appearance this year. It was an even
bigger surprise to cross paths with them while I was on my way back to the convention
center after getting dinner. I actually
took a chance and stalled the two for a moment just to get a picture with
Katie. I’ve been starstruck around voice
actresses and cosplayers before. This,
however, was the voice of one of my all time favorite Anime heroines and
Waifu’s…yeah this was a pretty big win.
#1-Baring my Soul
with a Stranger
I couldn’t believe such a cloud had been cast over my
convention, my home. This was supposed
to be my big get away, my paradise away from the harshness of the real
world. But now it felt just like the
real world, full of negativity and horrible feelings…ok again with the over
dramaticness. How bad did it get? I ran into a Dantsu to Pantsu group
practicing and ended up sitting next to a girl working on her cosplay wig. I bared my soul and feelings with this girl,
Leah, even watching her stuff while she took a break for a moment. Just had to do something to keep myself
positive and though Leah was miffed, she smiled a lot as we chatted (she did
call me old though but eh, 30 is an age that’s been thrown at me before, I took
it in stride). I only say this girl one
other time during the weekend, but this first chat kind of put Otakon back on
track for a little bit. Or at least, it
reminded me even during dark times, the con can still find a way to introduce
you to someone you really need at the right time.
I often go back and forth on which year was worse, 2012
or 2014. One thing is certain for sure,
what came next year was something even I couldn’t believe. What do I mean by that? Check back next week for the final recap
before we get to Otakon 2016.
No comments:
Post a Comment