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UFOSparrow's Fan/Con Blog
This is the stuff I geek out over after reading bad books. It's my Fandom/Convention/Anything Blog.
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have you ever shipped something so hard that you become irrationally happy and make a sound akin to steam escaping from a kettle everytime they so much as stand next to eachother
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Anime Magic 2023: Saturday
Saturday morning kicked off with breakfast in @shbumi's room, then she and I did some PoGo in the area.
At about 1040, we headed toward the hotel ballroom to join the line for Drag Show.
It seemed odd to be going to a drag event in the morning, but apparently Oriana requested it when scheduling. There were some technical hiccups and delays, so the show proper (which was scheduled at 1100) didn't start until approximately 1115.
And what a show it was! As always, a kickass event. I apologize for any blurriness to the photos, but it definitely was a great time.
After the drag show, we stuck around for an Iaido demonstration and discussion. @lechevaliermalfet got to go onstage for some hands-on work while @shbumi and I remained in the audience, listening as the presenter explained what the groups on stage were doing.
After Iaido, it was time for some lunch. And then for shopping!
We made sure to make a pit stop at @artbyquinton's booth. It's always great to see what new stuff he's rolling out and it's also a good chance to catch up if we haven't seen him for awhile.
After his booth, we checked out the other offerings on display from various artists and dealers.
It may seem a strange thing to say, but in some ways, the artist alley and dealer hall feel too big for a con the size of Anime Magic. Like, I love having so many booths to visit. But I also don't budget for AM the same way I would for say, ACen or Otakon, in terms of money for the exhibit hall. I budget less, since the event is smaller. So then I feel bad when I see the amount of cool stuff on hand. There were plenty of artists where I ended up grabbing business cards to hopefully support them at a later time.
After shopping, it was getting on late afternoon and it was finally time for another panel: The Best of Steampunk Anime.
This was a cool panel, and it was presented by a member of the Chicago Steampunk Exposition team. So you know he knew his stuff. First, we were given a short background on steampunk, then divided into small groups to brainstorm anime we thought *might* be on the list that our presenter intended to talk about. Each group offered up a title, and we ranked what was offered.
And then, we began to review this list by CBR. For each title offered, we had some discussion as to why CBR included it...and why our presenter would or wouldn't include it in his own list.
I think I had more fun and learned more in this panel than I have in almost every other steampunk-themed panel I've attended.
After the panel, we ordered dinner from Giordano's, but knew we would have an hour to kill before it arrived. So @lechevaliermalfet and I checked out the itasha car show while @shbumi chilled in her room.
I loved wandering the cars and looking at the different wrap jobs, even if I didn't always know the show being represented.
I also tried not to pay too much attention to Tattoo Alley, which was right next door. See, I had considered getting a tattoo during AM 2022 but decided against it. And this year, I had planned to get one if the tattoo artist returned - but you aren't supposed to get a tattoo during pregnancy. So I just looked at the increased number of options and hey, we'll see. Maybe if we attend AM 2024, I'll get one. Next year's con schedule is a bit up in the air, since we'll have an infant to consider.
We grabbed some drinks and extra snacks from the Hello Tokyo booth (and got some pocky balloons) and then headed back to the hotel for dinner.
After dinner, we went down to the Anime Singalong Dance Party with Kohei. It was scheduled for 2100, but technical issues meant that it ran late. As on Friday, it was great to just sing and dance along to anime OPs with a bunch of other nerds.
Kohei didn't get to put on as long of a show as Friday night due to the tech issues, as there was a concert scheduled immediately after him.
Crunk Witch are a married couple who go for an electro-pop sound. They did some kickass 80s covers during their show. Annnd they also hit tech issues. Really, this seems to be a recurring thing for AM.
Oh! and on a random note, I got a free glow bracelet from the Atlas cosplayer, who was hanging out just outside of the concert.
I don't expect free stuff from cosplayers, for obvious reasons, so it was cool to get something.
I also grabbed a Crunk Witch CD after the concert. There was a dance scheduled for after Crunk Witch, but for us, it was time to call it a night. We were wiped.
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this is a deeply unpopular opinion but i think in general we need to start holding conventions to higher standards wrt how they treat their indie artists. like when i went to momocon they set up mine and several other tables literally on top of each other and i had to chase down the staff to get us the spaces we paid several hundred dollars for. That sucked! but what REALLY got me is when i mentioned this was unacceptable the other artists involved nobody wanted to "make waves," one even told me i'd better not apply to heroescon because they'd laugh in my face for complaining. that was my first Big show, where i knew other artists even, and that response was so fucking weird i've never forgotten it lmao. then across a bunch of smaller shows:
-someone set off a fire alarm! there was no emergency exit plan in place, the staff disappeared and everyone in the artist alley just sort of had to Figure It Out
-some vendors being trapped in industrial loading zones for nearly /seven hours/ because the load-in info was incorrect and the people directing traffic were city police, who had no idea what the event even was
-me and several other vendors being locked OUT of loading zones and instructed to carry entire tables around the block, in the rain, because venue security "didn't like the look of us" and didn't want us bothering people attending a different event in the same building
-paying for a table, booking a room and traveling three hours and showing up to be told they had no record of me applying; if i didn't compulsively save all my convention correspondence i wouldn't have been allowed in
-"this 2020 season we'll be running our show As Usual but we understand if you want to back out because of personal reasons; we are unable to provide refunds"
also the usual stuff like lack of air conditioning or heat, shoving small artist tables right next to industry behemoths or resellers, or carbon monoxide poisoning caused by poor planning, lmao
anyway it's taboo to call out this shit because people are afraid of being blacklisted but god are we really SO scared of this industry we'll pay hundreds of dollars to get treated like this, do we need the tiny table shoved as far away from the main entrance as possible that badly? if a show blacklists you for asking for THE THING YOU PAID FOR is it really worth walking on eggshells?? we've GOT to respect ourselves more jfc
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Anime Magic 2023: Friday
I'll be honest. I don't have a good reason for why I didn't feel like writing up this weekend. I mean, Anime Magic was in August and it's now early November. Normally, I'm more on top of this stuff, so that I don't forget details. And I had fun at Magic...IDK. Can I blame pregnancy brain? Let's blame pregnancy brain.
Since we had to wait until @lechevaliermalfet got off of work, we didn't do a whole lot at Magic on Friday night. We didn't have to wait in the registration line this year, since we were able to get our badges in the mail. That was a small timesaver, which was great, since we arrived just in time to get settled into our hotel room, meet with @shbumi, and then go downstairs for Oriana's Drag Race. It was supposed to start at 1800, but didn't really get underway until about 15-30 minutes later.
That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, mind you - I bumped into someone I knew from the ACen Discord in the lineup outside of the Drag Race area when waiting for the doors to open. So I got to know him a little better.
As always, once the show began, Drag Race was a ton of fun, with great performances, lots of courage and creativity from the contestants, and laughter. Onc
Honestly, Drag Show is where most of my Friday night photos came from. In a new twist this year, Oriana granted the winner of Drag Race two performances in the Drag Show on Saturday, and also gave the runner-up a performance in the Drag Show.
After Drag Race, it was time for a late dinner at Sugar Factory. I think this might become a new thing for trips to Rosemont. Guess we'll see...
I decided to try something that wasn't a shake this time (though they had a deeply tempting Barbie shake). I couldn't even finish half of it - as always, very good, very rich food.
After dinner, back to the con for a little bit of exploring. We stopped at the manga library for a few minutes.
@lechevaliermalfet and I then said goodnight to @shbumi, who headed back to her room while we stopped in at the Kohei performance.
I think we caught the tiniest bit of Kohei performing at a previous Anime Magic, but this time we were there for pretty much the whole sing along. And there is something nice about sing-shouting your favorite anime tunes with a bunch of other fans that's energizing.
@lechevaliermalfet then called it a night, while I decided to stick it out for the beginning of the Midnight Dance Extravaganza.
There had actually been some technical issues during both Drag Race and Kohei's events and I'm sad to say that continued during the Friday dance. Props to the crowd for not getting super upset and finding ways to still have a good time, but it does sorta suck that AM keeps having these issue every year.
I didn't stay too long into the dance before cutting out to get some shuteye of my own. On the way back to the room, I saw these signs:
Definitely wonder what happened to bring those about! I couldn't tell you if they actually managed to enforce those rules during the weekend - I didn't pay enough attention.
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Anime conventions and their Yamato roots
by Dave Merrill
“Conventional” (ha ha) wisdom says that the first American convention devoted to Japanese animation was Project A-Kon 1990 in Dallas, Texas. This prototypical event was instigated by a group of Texas anime fans gathered under the banner of Star Blazers’“Earth Defense Command,” a Space Battleship Yamato fan club that grew to embrace all of Japanese animation. As of this writing, Project A-Kon is preparing for its 20th show.
But was A-Kon the first anime convention in North America? No. Not even close. For years, we’d seen references and offhand comments about a “YamatoCon” that was held in the Dallas area years earlier. Were these references true? Our crack team of researchers donned their explorer togs, dusted off their pith helmets, and began the harrowing search for enlightenment. Well, to be honest we sent some emails. Here’s what we found…
The first YamatoCon – that is to say, the first American fan convention devoted to Japanese animation – was held on August 13, 1983 at the Harvey Hotel in Dallas Texas. This one-day affair was the brainchild of Mark Hernandez, Don Magness, and Bobb Waller, each of whom had experience in the Dallas comics/SF fandom community and each of whom put up their own hard-earned cash to make YamatoConhappen. Scheduled the next-to-last weekend before school started, Mark Hernandez remembers the planning being as simple as getting commitments from dealers, finding a venue, and setting a date. Yes, it really is that easy to start a convention.
Programming consisted of the first 26 episodes of Star Blazersrecorded off TV, shown in continuous order (minus commercials, of course) and a bonus Yamato film. This 13-hour Journey to Iscandar (“It was a long day,” says Mark) was a primary attraction at YamatoCon, 1983 being a time when VCRs and blank VHS tape were expensive, collections of Star Blazers on video were hard to come by, and the experience of watching Star Blazers outside the morning or afternoon UHF timeslot was a draw in and of itself.
Star Blazers on video wasn’t the only activity, of course. Like other conventions past and future, YamatoCon had a dealers room consisting of 22 tables of for-sale memorabilia. It might sound small by the standards of 25 years later, but we must remember that anime merchandise of the day – what was available in the States, anyway – hadn’t achieved the tidal wave proportions it would reach in the wake of Robotech, to say nothing of the total saturation of the post-Pokemon, post-Sailor Moon years. Anime merchandise in 1983 consisted chiefly of books and model kits. Roman Albums, Anime Comics, black and white manga volumes, the occasional manga weekly, and other publications streaming from Japan in the wake of the Yamato Boom battled for the anime fan dollar alongside model kits from Yamato, Crusher Joe and My Youth In Arcadia…not to mention the endless ranks of giant robot kits from unseen shows like Mobile Suit Gundam, Dougram, Ideon, and something called Macross.Along with the remnants of late 70s super-robot merchandise sold here as Shogun Warriors, the anime con dealers room in the early 1980s was far from barren. In fact, I still waste my money on that sort of stuff.
Also available at YamatoCon were copies of Mark Hernandez and Don Magness’s Star Blazers fanzine Argo Notes. Future EDC officer/contributor, fan artist and “Between Galaxies” author Logan Darklighter won the model contest with, naturally, a Yamatomodel. It proved to be a pivotal day in Texas anime fandom. Approximately 100 attendees and 8 dealers made the show an unqualified success. Don remembers it this way: “I remember we got to the hotel early and set up the rooms, then went out to breakfast. When we got back, there were 3 young men sitting on the front steps, one of them had a convention flyer. Mark asked if they were there for the con, and they said they were. We went inside and out of their hearing range and had a little celebration. 3 people had come! We had no idea that the place would soon be packed.”
A showing of 100 might not sound like a lot in today’s numbers (“that was about 100 more than we expected,” said Don). However, when considered against the attendance at general SF conventions in 1983 – a time when your absolute largest cons MIGHT draw five or six thousand attendees and your typical Dallas or Atlanta comic book show maxed out at three – YamatoCon‘s ability to nail down that many dealers and customers is commendable.
The show’s importance went beyond the one day; people across Texas and indeed, across fandom as a whole, who were unable to attend or who heard about it after the fact were spurred into action by the mere fact of YamatoCon‘s existence. That such a thing could happen – that Americans could organize and hold a successful anime convention – was both revelation and reassurance. Anime fandom was going to be more than just a video room grudgingly tacked onto the local Star Trek show or a half-page of merchandise in the back of the latest issue of Fangoria.
READ THE REST HERE https://ourstarblazers.com/vault/317/
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yeah, its all fine and cool to say “fuck columbus” or whatever, but like. dude’s been dead for hundreds of years now. do things that actively help native lives in the present. learn about native lands and cultures. learn to appreciate but not appropriate. help us maintain what little we actually have when the government inevitably tries to take it from us.
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Cosplay at Anime Magic 2023
Not dividing these into separate posts, since I didn't get many pics this year on Friday or Sunday.
Sorry these are going up in October when the con was in August.
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
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Signs of a heart attack are different for each gender yet we only really teach the male warning signs. Make sure you’re aware of both and spread it to as many other women as possible!
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I saw a post telling bi people not to “invade” LGBT spaces. Which inspired me to make this.
Please reblog if you’re a bi space “invader” or support bi space invaders.
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If you’re living in the US and reading this right now, I need you to know that if republicans take over office this next election, human rights are as good as dead.
The Heritage Foundation, a major Republican think tank, has published a 1,000 page document detailing how they want conservatives to take over the government and what they think should be done as soon as they’re in office. It is, in a nutshell, a call for fascism.
If you’re trans, know that one of the things it includes is basically banning trans people from having our existence acknowledged and it’s worded in a way where you could reasonably understand it to mean that being trans and going out in public is enough to get you put in jail for exposing minors to porn.
If you’re an immigrant, sanctuary cities are also going to be dead under this plan as district attorneys who don’t enforce the federal laws they plan to implement will be charged with crimes as well and they’re banking on them not being willing to pay the fines they’d be charged with in order to protect you.
If you care about climate change and safety regulations, kiss the regulations goodbye and prepare to watch the environment slowly get destroyed.
Here’s a link to the video I watched on this
Here’s a PBS article on it
Here’s where you can read the whole thing if you’re so inclined
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FEMA is doing an emergency alert test on all TVs, radios, and cell phones on October 4, 2023, at approximately 2:20pm ET.
If you live in the US and you have a phone you need to keep secret for any reason, make sure that it is turned off at this time.
Yes, I'm doing this months in advance, and yes, my blog has very little reach, but I figure better to post about it more than less.
Please reblog and add better tags than mine, I'm bad at tags.
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Otakon 2023: Day 3 (Sun)
Sunday got off to a slow start for us. We began with the Otamuseum, since @lechevaliermalfet was curious to see what they had on display from the other years he's attended the con.
We then parted ways to attend separate panels. I went to the Isekai Like It's 1999 panel. It wasn't a bad panel, though the title wasn't wholly accurate. I did learn about some shows I decided I might check out. And I left with some panel ideas of my own, which made @lechevaliermalfet happy when he heard about it. He's been encouraging me to consider doing panels for years now. I still don't know if I will, but I definitely got the idea for a few research rabbit holes to dive into as a result of attending this one.
After the panel, we met up and some general wandering around and soaking up con vibes occurred, before again heading to separate panels. I went to the Dubbing Around the World panel, which featured voice actors from the UK, Latin America, and Japan. The moderator was involved in the voice acting scene in the US.
It was a Q&A panel, and even though some of the questions were very typical ("How do you rehearse for a role?" "Do you have a good working relationship with your fellow dubbers?" "What's your favorite line you've ever dubbed?"), the answers were so widely different, it was great.
I always understood intellectually that there were likely different practices between different countries. But actually hearing it broken down in comparisons of rehearsal and prep time, booking time frames, group vs solo recordings...that was very illuminating. This is honestly a panel I would love to see repeated through the years, at any con that can afford to do so.
After the panel, it was time for lunch and the final rounds of Arist Alley. We always buy a ton of prints -this year was no exception. Especially after I found an artist who did FMA artwork based around Nina & Alexander memes. What can I say? I'm a sucker for them.
After our final shopping rounds and some last-minute pictures of cosplayers, we said goodbye to Otakon.
And while I didn't screenshot it, DC traffic moved slowly enough that I actually completed the Pokemon Go Community Day tasks during our drive out of the city.
All in all, I did enjoy my time at Otakon. But I don't think it's a con that @lechevaliermalfet and I will be adding to our annual roster. And not just for the expense and additional travel time. There's something about the overall feel of the con as well.
While we appreciated the differences in panel focus, artist alley, and vendor selection compared to ACen, I think we just both still feel that we really only have 1 large con in us per year. And ACen feels more like home to us, in that sense. So Otakon is one that we may do every 5 years or so, just to liven things up.
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Otakon 2023: Day 2 (Sat)
Saturday, I started my morning with a Digimon panel - I don't get to go to these too often at cons, since Pokemon tends to be people's greater focus. Digimon is NOT a Ripoff: The Crazy Story of the Franchise was very informative. I honestly didn't know that both Pokemon and Digimon share some characteristics with the Megami Tensei franchise.
I am ashamed to admit that a lot of my knowledge of Digimon is too rusty to attempt to play a trivia game. The host was offering up different Digimon prizes, from trading cards to actual vpets. And he got a far longer line of competitors that I believe he thought he would get.
Next on my agenda was Idols Through the Ages. It wasn't a bad panel, but I was disappointed by the lack of engagement from the panelist. He mostly just read straight from the slides. But I did still learn more on the background of idol culture and the idol industry, so I still was happy with the panel overall.
After that, I met with @lechevaliermalfet, and O. to grab an early lunch. It was at this time that I realized that Otakon needs to work a smidge on their communication with their attendees.
See, @lechevaliermalfet and I were prepared to rely mainly on our cards for payment for the weekend - we were far, far away from any ATMs for our local credit union, after all, and everyone knows that con ATMs can run out of $$ quickly. We didn't want to be stranded in DC trying to find more cash at the last second.
So this announcement didn't really impact us. But it was still strange for Otakon to drop this little nugget on Saturday morning, instead of, perhaps, Thursday before the con.
I wasn't the only one who felt this way - there were plenty of complaints on the FB announcement made throughout the weekend. Justified complaints, I would say.
This was also the point where I once again wished Otakon had a Dining Guide section in their Guidebook, even if just for the food vendors within the con center itself - knowing when things opened and what their general price range was, as well as their cashless status, would've been a great resource for attendees. Just my take on it.
Btw, during the whole con, finding a table to sit at with our food was a struggle - with as many people as Otakon brings in, there never really seems to be a downtime for the con center food vendors until just before they close. So tables where you can easily eat are in high demand.
After lunch, we met up with R. and R.'s girlfriend briefly, then made our way to the Dealers Hall again. The BlerdCon booth had a dance party going, and I heard both the Macarena and the Cha Cha Slide. We observed the party for a couple minutes, because, well, duh. It's a dance party at a con - that energetic vibe can be hard to resist.
We also learned that the Mandalorian Mercs were on site, with a creative photo op area as part of their recruitment setup. No, we did not go take advantage, I'm sorry to say.
After the Dealers Hall, I headed to Animation Cels at Work: The Life and Death of Cel Animation in Japan. This one ran right up to the very last second of panel time and was very informative. The panelist not only traced the history of cel animation but also took some time to cover the current collectors' market for cels, explaining why certain cels are valued more than others.
I spent some time people watching and just sort of seeking a brief quiet space in the con after that. Wandering a con with friends is great, but I do strongly recommend learning how to navigate solo, for when nothing in the guide grabs you and you don't feel like spending money in the Dealers Hall or Artist Alley.
Some of this time was spent on Pokemon Go, because the area was great for Pokestops and actually getting to participate in gym battles. Please excuse that the screenshot is actually from earlier in the day. Really, it can be assumed that I'm playing Pokemon Go at any con, because cons are among the few times I'm around enough people to make battling gyms worthwhile.
I ended up in the Otamuseum, which was a small room dedicated to showing off some of the relics and factoids of Otakon's history. Since my one and only other Otakon was 2012, I definitely snapped photos of anything relating to that year.
I knew 2012's attendance had been comparable to the numbers I was familiar with from ACen, but I was still surprised to learn there were so many attendees that year. Honestly, I'd felt like there were more -but that's because the Baltimore venue was clearly becoming too small for the con at that time.
I once again met up with @lechevaliermalfet and O. for an early dinner before O. had to leave the con for the day. We spent part of dinner discussing another note that Otakon had made for attendees, via the Guidebook app.
My understanding is that this aggressive defense of the Saturday Dealers Hall hours are in response to a handful of complaints each year from attendees that could swear the hours had changed. And I'm sure that's frustrating for staff to experience. But this just came off as hostile when I read it.
After dinner, we parted ways with O., and headed down to Artist Alley. We got a few prints but my real prize for the night was a strange plushie.
He was labeled as being unloved and how could I say no for $10? I love weird, cute things.
After shopping, it was time for @shoujorockheaven - this focuses on girl rock bands in Japan and it's run by the same team as @awesomelybadjmusicvideos . It's honestly a great way to discover some new groups to listen to.
After the panel, despite still wanting that con vibe, we had to admit we were wiped. So that ended up being our last event for Saturday.
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Otakon 2023: Day 0 (Thurs) and Day 1 (Fri)
Time to get off my butt and actually write this up. I am combining Day 0 and Day 1 into the same post, because I don't really have a lot to say about Thursday itself.
Also: I have only been to Otakon in-person once before. You won't find a write-up on that one, as it was 2012, in Baltimore, and that's well before I started doing write-ups to help myself remember the con. I did do Otakon online during the COVID shutdown but I also didn't really do write-ups of my online con experiences.
We drove out to DC from IL, and overall, it went okay. The worst part was honestly getting into DC itself and into the con hotel, just due to traffic congestion and constant rerouting from Google Map to try to get us there faster. But we arrived with plenty of time to still locate the con center and get our 18+ wristbands (our badges came in the mail, so we had those).
Day Zero: Thursday
The walk to the con center from our con-affiliated hotel was fine (5 minutes, tops). Getting into the con center...eh. Otakon did make posts about where to go on Thursday.
Should be easy, right? Except that are multiple doors along L street and the map doesn't really indicate which one was the proper one. And there was only one lone staffer to direct people away from the wrong entries. Several people got snapped at by con center security for accidentally going to the wrong doors first. Including myself and @lechevaliermalfet
Once inside in the right area, con center security brusquely sent us through and into the line to direct us to the registration, wristband pickup, and info areas. Lines and crowding weren't too bad and any issues were more because of brusque & confusing direction from con center security, not Otakon staff.
Still, we got through fairly quickly. And that was all we had for Thursday that was con-related.
So, on to Friday!
Day One: Friday
Friday started off with our arrival at the con center and the realization that @lechevaliermalfet would get to go to the "fast line" for entry, as he didn't have a bag at all. I, however, had a backpack with a reusable water bottle, my wallet, etc. So I got to go through bag check. Thankfully, it went rather quickly.
The rules were technically "No outside food or drink" but from everything I've read through social media, people found this enforced differently all weekend. I was in line talking with an attendee who had jerky and other small snacks in her bag. Both of us were waved through, no problem, and weren't pulled aside for a closer bag check after we passed the metal detector.
Right away, @lechevaliermalfet and I met back up inside the con center to check-in on our plans for the day. @lechevaliermalfet was off to a screening room to watch Galaxy Express 999: The Movie as a relaxing start to his con. But I wanted to do panels, so off I went.
The first panel I attended was on Anime Adaptations of Western Sci-Fi/Fantasy Literature, right at 0900. This was an entertaining panel and I learned about some adaptations I hadn't known existed before. It was also decently attended for being right at the start of the con on a Friday morning.
During most of the panel, I kept thinking that the panelist sounded super familiar, but I couldn't figure out why. Turns out that I had watched another of his panels during COVID shutdown. One that I was looking forward to seeing in-person later on Friday.
After that panel, I went to History and Influence of Shoujo Manga. I am pretty sure I've attended similar panels in the past, either virtually or in-person, but I find that I usually still pick up new bits of information, since different panelists will highlight different aspects of history. This time, I learned about a manga magazine that I had never heard of before.
After the panel ended, I rejoined @lechevaliermalfet. Our friends O. and R. were also there - it was our first time seeing either in-person in years. We set out to obtain lunch while just catching up. Well, the guys caught up - I was busy griping about the Guidebook.
See, I've been rather spoiled by the ACen version of Guidebook every year - the notes features, the chance to rate panels, the way you can choose a specific schedule track to look at, the information in the dining guide, etc. What I noticed about Otakon's Guidebook is that there was a lot less to it overall. Sure, all of the important details were there - maps, panel info, schedule, guest info. But it just felt lacking after years of using the app for ACen.
That was a continued gripe for me all weekend. Just to note.
We had lunch at Capitol Burger, which was fantastic. It's only a few blocks from the con center. Prices are a little on the pricier side (think about $15-25 for a burger, depending on your toppings, etc) but the service was fast and excellent, as was the food.
After lunch, we went back to the con to do a basic walk through the Dealers Room, just to get a feel for what was on-hand. I was surprised at the lack of industry presence. I know that Discotek Media was on-site. But I didn't see VIZ, RightStuf, Crunchyroll, Sekai Project, or any of the others I've grown accustomed to seeing at ACen. Different audiences attract different industry partners, and I get that. It just surprised me.
There was a section dedicated to Macross, due to the anniversary. We stopped to take a look.
We also found one wrapped car on display, from Initial D.
The guys made some purchases at booth selling soundtracks - booths like these don't appear as often at cons as they used to, as O. pointed out.
R. and I stood in line at the Otakon booth to get some official merchandise. It moved at a good pace, but it still took us roughly 30-ish minutes to get through and make our purchases. They split the line so that there was space for cross-traffic to walk behind the booth, so you had to line up along one wall, then wait to be waved over to the next part of the line when you were close to the booth. It wasn't a bad idea, really, in terms of traffic flow. But it felt a bit unnecessary for how empty the room still was in the early afternoon.
Otakon was offering a pin trading program in the dealer's room, but I honestly just bought the con ones to keep for myself, not to trade. And a hat, since the sun was harsh outside and weather was also predicted for the weekend and I didn't have a jacket. The hat was slightly too big when I finally tried it on, lol.
As big as the dealer's hall was - and it was big - it felt very empty. The aisles were incredibly wide, which did allow for great traffic flow, but it still felt as though there was a lot of underutilized space. I took some photos for a bird's eye view of the area when we left. Con center security was making absolutely certain that no one stayed longer than 5 minutes taking in the view from above. And if you weren't taking a photo, they were even more eager to hustle you away.
From the Dealers Room, we said goodbye to R., who had to leave for the day. O., @lechevaliermalfet, and I headed to the panel I'd been looking forward to attending in-person ever since I'd heard it would be at Otakon: Awesomely Bad Japanese Music Videos.
I knew about this panel from following the @conventionalwisdomcomic for years and had caught it streaming during COVID shutdown. I enjoyed it then, but I thought that the vibe was likely to be even better in-person.
It was being shown in the AMV theater, and the staffer let us know they wouldn't be doing a room clear, so we were welcome to go in and find seats while the previous panel was wrapping up. So we caught the last 10-15 minutes of the Let's Make an Anime Opening! improv panel. It was...not great. Maybe if we'd been there from the get-go, it would've been better. It was run by the Chaos at the Coffee Shop podcast team and I think they're going to be releasing the song on social media at some point.
But they weren't who I was there for. And I was glad to learn, even before @awesomelybadjmusicvideos got started, that the vibe for being there in-person was much better than viewing it online. Just hearing people reacting to the facts and entertainment slides being shown while the main event got set up was enough to convince me of that.
Obviously, I didn't record during the panel itself. But it really is worth attending. I laughed so hard at some of the videos and some of the antics of the panelists. I also knew full-well that I would be exposed to the Tarako song, and I think @lechevaliermalfet sort of knew, but O. was entirely unprepared for it. Watching his reaction was a treat.
The team do put up their playlist online, so I'll tag their tumblr again: @awesomelybadjmusicvideos
After the panel, we said goodbye to O. for the day. We decided to explore the con a little bit, just to get more familiar with the center layout. Crowds were definitely starting to increase now that we were entering the late afternoon.
We found the video gaming and photoshoot hall. And we got to enjoy a game similar to Magical Drop
@lechevaliermalfet kicked my butt in this game.
We also got dinner from a pizza spot in the con center during this time. They only offered personal-pan cheese or pepperoni, and they were out of pepperoni. My poor pizza got a little messed up.
Still, it was good pizza and it worked well for a reasonably quick dinner. And we were able to just people watch and enjoy the Otakon vibes.
After dinner was Artist Alley. Again, widely spaced and therefore oddly empty feeling at times. We saw where the art auction was, but never got around to checking it out.
As we bought art, I was storing smaller items in my bag. Then I felt that it was damp. Since my water bottle wasn't leaking, we found an empty spot and I began to dump out the bag. Turns out I'd had a small, hotel-size bottle of lotion in my bag and it had exploded all over everything. Thankfully, the purchases it got on were wrapped in shrinkwrap, so the actual products themselves weren't damaged. But it meant that we decided to return to the hotel so I could try to clean up the bag and so we could drop off our purchases. (Spoiler: the bag wouldn't clean out properly, so I ditched it for the rest of the weekend.)
When we returned to the con, I checked out the line situation for a workshop I'd wanted to attend. Even though the workshop wasn't for another hour, the line had already reached its capping point. So, that meant it was time for The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly: A History of Space Westerns in Anime. I always try to have backup plans in case I can't get into panels I want to attend (or the lines for them, lol). Once again, I enjoyed myself during the panel and learned some new information.
After that, it was time for the only 18+ panel I attended all weekend: You Can't Do That on Japanese TV: Anime Censorship in Japan. This wasn't just about glowing beams of light to hide genitals, even though the panel was 18+. There was also discussion on pulling or delaying episode airings due to current events, or why there may be editing changes even from channel to channel if a show switches stations.
The room was packed, by the way. @lechevaliermalfet were like numbers 90 and 91 in line to attend it, and there were plenty of people behind us. I don't know if the room filled to capacity, but I'm sure it was over halfway there by the time it started.
And then, the last panel of the night: Into Another World: A History of Isekai. It was fine. It was the first panel I'd been to for Otakon where I found my attention drifting. And I didn't really learn anything new from it, unfortunately.
But it wasn't a bad end to Friday night. It just didn't leave us in the mood to keep hanging around the con to try to grab that one last panel before they closed the con center for the night. So we left.
And that was Friday.
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