Well, this weekend was definitely something. After a year of waiting, and three years of
advance warning, Otakon 2016 arrived and there was no way to fully ignore that
this would be the last one in Baltimore, Maryland. As much as it hung like a cloud over the
weekend, I can safely tell you it dampened no spirits. In fact, it infused everyone with the desire
to make this weekend the best one possible.
And at the end of the day, it feels wrong to rank this amongst the other
years gone by (I would say it’s up there though, could be a T5W for another
time). Otakon 2016 was, in simple terms,
special. It’s almost kind of tough to go
through and choose 5 moments that stood out amongst everything else and,
really, it all kind of gels together. But
I cant break this cycle that began weeks ago.
So here we go. The epic
conclusion to this sort of unintentional miniseries within the Top 5 Wednesday
features, my Top 5 Moments from Otakon 2016.
#5-Japan Still
Loves Eva…A Little Too Much
This was a fun way to kick off Saturday. I’d seen a couple of Evangelion themed panels
from the Moderators of Evamonkey.com and had always been entertained (even got
to chat with one of them and he’s a dead ringer for David Tennant as the 10th
Doctor). With this panel, “Japan Still
Loves Evangelion…A Little Too Much” I got to see Japans kind of creepy love for
this series that has it’s colors pasted on bullet trains, Pachinko Machines
(with custom cutscenes that make me wonder if this is why we haven’t seen
Evangelion 4.44 yet), even hotels and…horse racing? Yeah I saw a stallion mode
Evangelion Unit 01. I also saw a
Transformers Eva 01 but yeah the horse was.
Not a bad way to start the day…even if im not drinking Eva style coffee.
#4-One Punch
Man/Charlotte
There were a couple of big screening events during the
convention. Charlotte’s English Dub
premiere was actually pretty good. It
started out kind of funny but got a little serious in the second half…not
surprising after I found out it was done by the same studio that did Angel
Beats, which followed a very similar structure.
The powers possessed by main character Yu and his total arrogance over
himself made me realize that he was actually the legit love child of Light
Yagami and Lelouch Vi Britannia…CONGRATS SHIPPERS, IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED!!! By comparison, his female lead companion,
Nao, is pretty much the offspring of L and Haruhi Suzumiya, a good detective
but with a bit of a God Complex. As for
One Punch Man, unlike the group I was with, they had never seen the dub of this
show before (id caught it on Toonami).
The reaction of the audience was amazing and even if it was just the
first couple of episodes, I was still laughing myself sideways (especially when
Saitama comes into battle trying to kill a Mosquito with bug spray). And the group I was with loved it and we
traded some fun observations. Even
though we never met up the rest of the weekend, it’s short times spent with
total strangers like this that make some of the best times of the convention.
#3-Evangelion
ReDeath: Sing Along Redux
This was one viewing I wasn’t going to miss, no matter
what. Ever since the first time I came
to Otakon, I’d always been around on Saturday to see Evangelion ReDeath. What’s it about? Well here’s what it says in the Otakon hand
guide: “It doesn’t bother Shinji that
his father (who might be a pimp) thinks giant robots are babe magnets. It
doesn’t bother him that he shares an apartment with a strangely masculine
German girl. It doesn’t even bother him that the world may be coming to an end
thanks to a long forgotten Prince song. The only thing on Shinji’s mind is the
nookie, whatever that is. No one said
adolescence was easy.” This is
easily one of the funniest parodies I have ever seen and it has never gotten
old. This year, we got a new “Sing Along”
edition. And the audience was the most
pumped I think ive ever seen it for this screening. When “Big Balls” by ACDC and, most
importantly, “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen kicked in, everyone sang, everyone
cheered. And when Gendo’s theme played…I
don’t think ive ever seen so many people get into the aisles to dance. For the last screening of Evangelion ReDeath
in Baltimore, this screening goes down in my books as the best of all seven
times ive seen it.
#2-Dejavudea
Otakon has always been a favorite con for Dejavudea and
she’s been a regular attendee for years.
I had a feeling she’d attend but im always never prepared for her to
recognize me and give me a hug. There
are times I wonder what the heck I did to earn her friendship but I end up
never questioning it. Her infectious
spirit is enough to get anyone pumped for a convention. As always, she was shooting footage for her
Vlogs on her Youtube page and leading her merry band of dancers, Dantsu to
Pantsu, into battle (not really but you know what I mean). She even participated in a Love Live dance
event on the final day, doing what she’s always done best, getting out there
and dancing with friends to catchy music from Anime. Dejavudea’s become a good friend and I’ll
always voice my support for her and her endevors on this blog when I can. I’m glad I got to chat with her in short
moments across the weekend, she’s easily become as important an element of my
con life as many others I know. Here’s
hoping I see her again down the line at Cons outside of Baltimore. Til then, always get her back no matter what,
even in spirit….V.
#1-“I don’t have
friends. I’ve got family”
The screenings I view, the merchandise I buy, the cosplay
I photograph…the real gift I take away from any Otakon ive been to, especially
in the last few years, are the friendships I gain each time I go. Many of the people I hung out with over the
weekend I met back in 2013 and they’ve been back ever since. Each time, we reunite, if even for a little
bit, to chat, catch up on life, and enjoy convention adventures together. This year felt different though. I was practically making it my mission to get
in some quality time with as many friends as I could, thinking this could very
well be the last time we’re all around each other like this (as of this moment
many of them, including myself, are not sure about attending Otakon 2017 in
Washington DC next year). This
Convention in this city brought us all together and has seen our growth as fans
and friends year after year. The people
ive met are not my friends…they are my family and I miss them dearly everytime
we part ways. As you can imagine, saying
goodbye this time was particularly tough.
I think one of the hardest moments of truth from the whole weekend was
on Thursday when I found the Ice Cold Water Man and could hear how sad he was
that Otakon was moving on. He’s a vendor
for a lot of Convention Center events but im sure from his tone, he loved us
more than anything else and we always accepted him as part of our convention
community, part of our family. Parting
ways with him and the city was never going to be easy. But just because the con ends, doesn’t mean
we wont stay in touch. Im not letting go
of these friendships as long as I live…and I’ll always remember where they
began, right here in Baltimore at a little convention…called Otakon.
Well…that was pretty lengthy. Might be the post con depression talking a
bit (yes it’s a real thing and no laughing matter). But I was perfectly ok with everything that
happened over this weekend. I’ll never
forget it and I’ll never forget this con taking place here. This is, and always will be, my home. So here’s to you Otakon…til the day we meet
again.
…and now I need to start thinking of new ideas for future
T5W lists. While I think on that I should
say to keep an eye on the blog on Friday…something special might be coming back
since ive seen a couple of good, new titles over the weekend hehehe. See ya then everyone.
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