Saturday is always my day for new cosplays, which this year meant Mahoro! Mahoro made her debut at ACen back in May, but I hadn’t finished styling the wig completely. For Otakon, I finished the wig with two points of hair that stick out at the side and did some other tweaks.
No trouble getting ready today. I got to the h.Naota fashion show only a little late. Really cool styles, and I especially like the fusion of the disgusting with the super cute in some of the outfits. One thing that would prove to be a continuing theme at this year’s Otakon was just how cool the Japanese guests were!
After the show, I got my first picture request, yay! And shortly after that, some jerk pulled the fire alarm somewhere in the convention center leading to the evacuation of over 28000 people into the hot Baltimore summer. Rather than wait outside, I headed back to my hotel room to freshen up, then I went to a cosplay panel in the Hilton which was unaffected by the BCC evacuation.
Once the center reopened, I did some karaoke and then went to the AMV contest. I think I’ve been having more and more fun singing at cons. When I first started, I was so serious. Mistakes just killed me. But now I have so much fun watching others sing and the friends I’ve made over the years, that mistakes don’t matter. I just laugh and go on, which is good since I totally goofed up a verse of the Clannad opening, Megumeru!
The AMV contest was pretty good. But one thing I never understand is why so many people leave when the Romance AMVs start to play. I know a lot of otaku don’t fair so well in affairs of the heart, nevertheless, they missed some sweet AMVs. Oh well… After that I headed over to see the Masquerade. I missed it last year, but with Yoshiki performing during the break, I had an extra incentive to go. The masquerade was okay for the most part. I was especially pleased at the absence of too many yaoi themed skits. And Yoshiki and Sugizo’s two songs did not disappoint. I would have loved to see X Japan in Chicago, but the tickets were just too expensive, so I’ll check out the tour DVD later.
I finished up Saturday with karaoke where I met a friend from last year, Cassandra and I dropped into the Overclockers panel. I had no idea what the Overclockers were, but I had no hope of getting into the rave before it ended so I just decided to try out whatever was nearby. It was fun. I love how there is always so much going on that you can always find something interesting. You just have to be willing to try new things. Afterwards I ran into Cassandra again which was nice as she was looking very cute. (^_^)
I got up early Sunday to make sure I could get one more song in at the OtaCafe. Today’s cosplay was my Toru goth loli nurse uniform. I was pleased, though not surprised to find Omo and The Big N in the OtaCafe ahead of me and thoroughly enjoyed seeing them sing again. I was also pleased to get so many picture requests! I guess nurse uniforms are just one of those timeless classics, LOL. Later I even got an exclamation of Hello Nurse! from some unknown person behind me.
The highlight of the day was the Home Made Kazoku concert. They were great! And I had fun dancing the whole concert, which made up for missing the rave on Saturday night. I really wish the concerts had a mosh pit so that those of us who want to dance, can do so without blocking the people who just want to sit.
So Otakon 2010 came to an end, but wait! There’s more! After the con I finally met up with my friend Rebekah. She totally did not recognize me in costume outside the BCC. We found ourselves talking to each other on cell phones a few feet away from each other! I was very happy to get a chance to show her one of my costumes. Didn’t faze her a bit, in fact she liked it. To make it all complete, some random guy asked for a picture of us together while we were talking.
After that, I hopped in the car with her husband and daughter for a quick ride back to the hotel and change into normal clothes for dinner. Her daughter Lilah is absolutely adorable. It was with great pleasure that I presented her with her first Pikachu plush doll which she carried proudly as we walked past the BCC on the way to the restaurant for dinner. A little girl carrying a Pikachu through a sea of cosplayers, priceless.
My Otakon adventure came to an end with a relatively uneventful drive home until I made a wrong turn. A wrong turn that ultimately saved me a ton of money in tolls without costing me much more time! Yeah, it was a great trip!