Almost a week since returning from Otakon and I still haven’t unpacked my bags completely. I had such a good time, that maybe this is just my way of subconciously prolonging the con. Naaaah, probably just laziness, as my wife might say.
This year’s trip to Otakon was full of interesting foreshadowing. At church in the weeks leading up to my annual solo trip, the sermons were all from Proverbs and full of warnings not to tempted by wayward women! Mmmm, okay, not that this has ever really been a problem. My other worry was about getting a speeding ticket. Well, took care of that before leaving Chicago, by getting one on Wednesday! Needless to say, I was a lot more careful during my 1400 mile round trip to Baltimore.
I got a lot of things done ahead of my departure this year so I got out on the road pretty early, 4am, and made the trip in about 11.5 hours. It was great getting to Baltimore with enough time to hang out. I got through pre-reg pickup in about 10 minutes. This left me enough time to briefly visit with my friend Cathy and her boyfriend before heading off to the MegaTokyo dinner meetup. It was great seeing Omo, The Big N, and everyone again. And this year, I wasn’t too tired to go to Pickles for drinks after dinner.
As usual, it took me about 3 hours to get into costume Friday morning. No matter, I was really excited because I had new, more comfortable, boots this year! Tsubasa Infinity Arc Sakura is one of my favorite cosplays, but I could never stay in it very long because the old boots hurt too much to walk in very long. This time everything felt and looked great, and I got some nice compliments too. Sadly I didn’t get any picture requests, but I didn’t spend a lot of time in the places where that usually happens anyway. And I’m still not quite brave enough to get pictures taken in the photo suite, next year I think I will.
I signed up for karaoke then took off for the Madhouse panel and then the AMV overflow showing. There was some question before the con about whether the overflow would even happen, so I was very happy to see it on the final schedule. I’ve never made the Otakon AMV contest finals, so the overflow is the only chance for my AMV to be seen at the con. I was really happy to see Puri-on on the big screen! After spending so much time making it, I was glad that it looked good on the big screen. And getting a Creator’s pass to see the AMV contest finals is a great perk!
I ended up taking too much time doing other things and missed my turn at karaoke. This turned out to be a good thing though. I signed up again, and while waiting a friend from ACen came in. I’d met Nicole at ACen back in May. She and another friend, Joanna had driven out to Otakon together from Illinois. This was Nicole’s first Otakon and, as it turned out, her first karaoke performance. So when her turn came, she was a little nervous. But my friend Alissa hopped on the stage and helped her out. She sang “I Am A Pioneer” from Tenchi Universe, one of my favorites. Yay! ^^ That’s one of the great things about OtaCafe karaoke, the singers are always so supportive of one another.
After singing, Nicole and I headed for the dealers room. She was looking for a Strike Witches figure and I was hoping to find a couple of friends who are usually working the con there. Unfortunately I didn’t find them, but I did find a cute Pikachu plush that I hoped would be the perfect gift for my friend Rebekah’s daughter. Rebekah lives near Baltimore, and when she found out I came out every year for Otakon, we decided to meet up. I hadn’t seen her in years since she got married and left Chicago. And it would be the first time I’d meet her daughter. Unfortunately, her daughter got sick that day and we wouldn’t get a chance to meet until Sunday after the con.
I spent the rest of Friday getting pictures of cosplayers and going to see the awesome Yoshida Brothers concert. This is why you must go to opening ceremonies if you can. I wouldn’t have even thought to see the Yoshida Brothers if I hadn’t seen their film clip at opening ceremonies. After the concert I went to Voice Actors After Dark. I like how they turned the tables on the fans, where depending on a coin toss, either the fan asked some lewd question or the VAs ask the fan! XD Good show!
The Friday dance was way too crowded, and quite honestly, the music did not appeal to me at all. So I bailed on that after about 15 minutes. Otakon really needs a bigger space for the dance. It just isn’t fun when the only dancing you can do is jumping up and down in place. On that note, I’ll end this tower of text with one of my favorite cosplayer pictures this year. You can see the whole set here.
