T5W#183-Top 10 Favorite Conventions Part 2

Previously on Top 5 Wednesday

To celebrate the fact that Katsucon starts tomorrow, I decided to take a look at 10 Conventions ive been to in the last 10 years and split the usual Top 5 into a 2 part Top 10.  If you missed last weeks list, it’s right here for ya (http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2019/02/t5w182-top-10-favorite-conventions-part.html).  If youre caught up, here’s the…I guess true Top 5 of this set, the conclusion of my Top 5 Favorite Conventions.  Be sure to check back next week for my Top 5 Katsucon 2019 Moments and see if that has a chances of finding a slot alongside these legends.

#5-Otakon 2018

Talk about welcome to the new world.  I was so devastated when I didn’t get the chance to check out Otakon’s DC Debut Year in 2017.  Thanks to my friends, I was able to come to 2018 and finally put to rest whether or not the grand move was worth leaving Baltimore behind.  It was.  The Walter E Washington Convention Center is amazing and I cant wait to see how Otakon grows within it.  For my first weekend there, I was able to reunite with most of my Otaku family (even a couple I never expected to see) and run into some familiar faces from Katsucon.  The photoshoots were fantastic.  The new Dealers Room and Artist Alley were two underground lost kingdoms of riches.  The Dansu to Pantsu Dance Gathering somehow managed to top the united dance group one I went to at Katsu 2017, complete with probably my favorite encounter with Dejavudea to date (though or random first encounter at Katsu 2015 was still a lot of fun).  Otakon has a second lease on life now and ill be damned if im gonna miss another going forward.

#4-Katsucon 2015

Ever since I started going to Otakon, Id been hearing whispers about its not so far away cousin, Katsucon.  Some claimed it was bigger, some claimed it was better.  When I entered the Gaylord Hotel and Convention Center on that cold night in February 2015, for a moment, both claims were correct.   The new setting of the Gaylord Hotel and Convention Center was incredible, especially at nighttime.  The Dealers Room might not have been as big but still had just as much to offer as any Otakon Dealers Room.  Plus, Katsucon lived up to its reputation as one of the big cosplay hotspots on the East coast, seeing legends like Fawnina and Dejavudea in attendance amongst many others.  One look no further than the still yet to be topped Sailor Moon photoshoot from that weekend.  It was the beginning of a new yearly chapter for me as a convention goer and Katsucon started it off with the best first impression.

#3-Otakon 2013

Four years in, and coming off of a kind of dismal Otakon 2012, my expectations were dialed back a little bit for Otakon 2013.  Perhaps because of that, it ended up being a huge success for a number of reasons.  You had the guest list including Crispin Freeman; the special screenings including Rurouni Kenshin and Evangelion 3.33; new dance offs, hilarious fan parodies.  But the biggest takeaway for me?  Meeting a group of Otaku who I have kept in touch with ever since and have come to call family.  Some even started attending Katsu as well in the last few years.  This year I learned better than ever: going to cons is fun, going with friends…that’s magic.

#2-Otakon 2011

Otakon 2011 is the Godfather Part II, The Empire Strikes Back, Aliens, Toy Story 2 of the Otakon saga, aka its one of the greatest sequels in history.  It surpassed Otakon 2010 in nearly every way imaginable from guests (Johnny Yong Bosch and Eyeshine), to events (the cast of KON performing the KON soundtrack live), to cosplays, to sweet Dealers Room deals to general atmosphere.  I also got to experience this year with a friend from work and he still looks back fondly on that weekend too, finding his own fun adventures in addition to the ones we shared.  This weekend also had one of my rare “perfect moments” where everything seemed so right I couldn’t help but cry a little bit.  All this and Fanboy Soze too.  Other Otakons would come and be good (as seen above and back in Part 1), but none have yet to fully eclipse the brilliance of Otakon 2011’s pure magic.

#1-Katsucon 2018

I didn’t think it was possible.  Many had tried for years to do this but it never happened.  But the more I thought about it recently, the more I thought…yep it’s time.  Otakon 2011 has finally been dethroned from the King of the Convention mountain top.  To be fair, it’s only edged out a little bit but WOW I did not expect Katsu 2018 to go as well as it did.  More Otakon friends around me, meeting cosplayers I never thought id get to meet (and becoming friends with some of them down the line), martial arts demonstrations, epic photoshoots,  hilarious panels and wanderings with random strangers.  Then there was that Sunday, where every farewell felt like the most caring, loving moment in existence…followed by the last half of Your Name just to make you cry some more.  This was a convention done to near perfection, one of the best times of my life…the best Anime Convention I have ever been to ever…right now of all time.