While I did take a single day trip in 2021, I hadn’t been
able to have a full four day Otakon experience (including Pre Reg Day) since 2019. The Pandemic really slowed down a lot of
things and while Katsucon was back in full swing earlier this year, more or
less, I still chose not to go due to fear of the new Omicron variant still
ravaging the place. But Otakon, this was
something I was never going to pass up, come Hell or high water. And trust me, on a personal level 2022 has
been more mentally trying than any before it and that’s saying a lot. Plus, a near Covid scare on my end threatened
to derail the trip right at the starting line.
BUT, in spite of all the drama, Otakon 2022 did happen for four days and
man, it was something I really, really, really needed. From tearful reunions to being able to walk
the halls of the Walter E. Washington again to all the crazy adventures, this
was an epic return for Otakon for the ages and at last, I get to talk about my
five favorite moments. Probably my most
anticipated Top 5 Wednesday of the year, it’s my Top 5 Otakon 2022 Moments.
#5-Unofficially Running Just Dance Ever since I first found it in the Game Room at Katsucon,
I’ve loved spending the late hours of a convention in the Video Game Room at
the Just Dance station, dancing to all manner of song with fun strangers.
I didn’t start playing it at Otakon until it
came to DC and this year I did want to make some time for it.
On Saturday, even though I wanted to get in
at least one more raunchy late night panel, I ended up hanging out at the Just
Dance space til the Game Room closed at 1am.
During that time, I’d noticed the playlist for the game was much smaller
than it was on Saturday.
This lead to me
going on a quest to find someone who could maybe hook the Xbox back up to the
Wifi to get all the DLC.
Someone did
come along and offer their phone as a Mobile Hot Spot and I somehow ended up being
the DJ til the end of the night, choosing a song or two of my own while also
taking requests from others and keeping track of time so we wouldn’t overstay
and get into trouble.
It was wild I
somehow fell into this role but it was fun.
Also, fun fact, the two songs that drew the biggest crowds were Rasputin
and Apache, two very old classics with awesome choreography, that’s crazy.
#4-I found the perfect gift for my sister
Fun Fact: whenever I go to a Convention, I always try to
come away with gifts for two people in particular: one of my very best friends
who I’d been trading gifts with during the holidays ever since we met, and my
little sister.
I’ve tried to get her
items from all across the Anime item spectrum from plushies to stickers to Blu
Ray to a Tequilla Gundam Shot Glass from the G Gundam Blu Ray Box Set (ok that
last one I got on my own during the Pandemic but I was always gonna give that
to her).
This year, however, I found the
big one, an item I never stopped wondering if I’d find but never thought I
would.
I have a cute nickname for my
sister based on our mutual love for Full Metal Panic: Bonta Kun, after the
lovable Teddy/Mouse hybrid mascot from the Second Season, Full Metal Panic:
Fumoffu.
Well…I FOUND A BONTA KUN PLUSHIE!!!!
AN OFFICIAL ONE!!!!!
The second I locked
eyes on it, I asked for a price and immediately bought it without hesitation
(it wasn’t badly priced so I didn’t break my budget).
Being able to give a Bonta Kun to my Bonta
Kun…oh man no way I could ever pass up that opportunity.
#3-Manly Battleships brings the Late Night Comedy
In 2015, I met a Korra cosplayer named Brook and an
instant friendship was formed.
During
our first meeting, she told me about a fun late night panel I could come to
that she was co-hosting.
It was here I
was introduced to the raunchy comedic masterworks of Manly Battleships.
Brook and her partner in crime, Mr. Panda, always
bring the crazy, the naughty and the sexy to any panel they chair and they have
a variety of presentations for the late night crowd. For this years Otakon, I
got the chance to attend two of these panels.
The first was the supposed “Final Chapter” of their long running “You’re
Wrong and You Should Feel Bad” series and Panda tore into EVERYTHING he could
in the span of an hour from ripping apart Gundam, poking holes at Otakon
history, tearing down the walls of Attack on Titan and demystifying The Lord of
the Rings.
The second was a game show
called “Waifu or Daifu” that Brook had come up with during the Pandemic.
Through a variety of categories (School
Girls, Aliens, Catgirls, Bad Boys etc), contestants had to choose a “Winner”
from three mystery dates with five questions at their disposal.
The Winners got to see about 20 seconds of
naughty material of their date of choice….the losers got something a bit darker.
And it all culminated with an epic finale I
wont go into details about here.
Let’s
just say when it comes to Manly Battleships, ending the show how they did…well,
“This is the Way.”
#2-Jet "MotherF******" Black
I haven’t really made it a priority to meet many
celebrities at Conventions mostly because of the long lines and wait times to
even meet them.
There are times when I
have lucked into meeting one of my many Anime VA heroes like Johnny Yong Bosch,
Laura Baily and Travis Willingham.
This
year, Otakon was going for broke for its first full year back.
The dynamic duo of Steve Blum and Beau
Billingslea, two very long time friends most know as the bounty hunting duo of
Spike Spiegel and Jet Black from Cowboy Bebop had come to DC.
Thanks to my eye for detail, I noticed that
Steve had a table next to his eternal VA bestie and a small line was
forming…which meant THAT was where the autographing was to take place.
My friend Johnnie hopped in line with his
nephew, Dom, while my friend Maria, Johnnie’s Wife, got into Beau’s line.
I was just finishing lunch with Maria before
setting off to get coffee for a friend…wheeeeen I walked right passed Beau
Billingslea on his way back to his table.
Grumbling and cursing, I reunited with Maria, who offered to pay for me
to get a selfie with the legend himself (in the process she also secured a
special deal where she, Johnnie and Dom could get a photo with both Steve and
Beau).
HOLY CRAP!!!! I got to speak with
Jet Black, get a photo and fist bump him…even telling him I turned around and
hoped into his line when I saw him on the way out, which made him feel very
touched…I had to sit down for a second afterwards.
#1-Many Happy Returns
The one thing I’m always looking forward to with any con
is meeting up with my friends, my dearest Convention Family.
Some of them I’d seen a few times in the last
few months for various events in the Maryland/Pennsylvania area.
Some I did get to see at Otakon 2021 and
spend the day with them.
But there were
a couple of others I hadn’t seen in a long, long time: one because of the
Pandemic and the other because we could never get the timing right.
One reunion in particular was seven years in
the waiting and I got to spend so much time this weekend with this friend as if
I was making up for lost time.
The other
reunion in my mind saw a friend from two years ago rush to me, hug me and sob
into me, clearly they’d had a rough couple of years, more so than most of
us.
I’ve never had that happened before
and I lost track of how long I hugged them for.
But there was also those friends I can always count on to make my Convention
experience memorable even when times of stress emerge.
I’ve been doing Otakon a long time and I’ve
met so many amazing people through it, people who make me smile and laugh and
cry when I need it.
Theyre the reason I
keep coming back and always do whatever it takes to get to Otakon or Katsucon
so I can see them again for a few days.
And given how the last couple of years have been for me, I can say that
I’m not about to let that attitude slip.
I’ve got a lot of work to do before Katsucon in February 2023.
But you can be damn sure that for this
family, so close to my heart, I’ll be there…and you can bet your ass I’ll see
everyone again at Otakon next year, July 27-30, 2023.
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