Geek Babble – Belated Stories of my Adventures at Katsucon 19
As I sit here writing a fact suddenly dawned on me. I haven’t written a single thing for Damage Control in over a month. It was a busy and interesting month, to say the least. I’m back and ready to write! I can’t think of a better place to start writing than my time at Katsucon 19.
The night before the anime convention got off to a bad start. I reformatted my trusty Acer Extensa 5420-5687 to run Windows 7 and everything ran perfectly—until I dropped the laptop. The fall was less than a foot but it was enough to keep the machine from powering on. After some quick searching I found the problem is quite common with the Extensa models. Depressed about the incident but knowing I was leaving for Katsucon in a few hours, I shelved the laptop and continued packing. Before I left for the trip I borrowed a laptop from a friend. Sadly, that machine went unused for the duration of the anime convention.
Our group kicked off Katsucon on Friday by doing absolutely nothing beyond checking into our room. (We’d spent the previous night at a motel because of rate hikes when the Marriott purchased the Gaylord National Resort.) Once everyone was settled we ventured into the dealer’s room to see what was available. Smarting from just recently breaking a laptop and an upcoming wedding (not mine, mind you) I decided to be conservative with my cash. With the exception of three DVDs bought at the convention I purchased my anime from Rightstuf. Disappointed with the lackluster selection and a lack of excitement at the idea of spending money we headed back to our hotel room. Along the way we noted the BBYO: Jewish Teen Leadership conference going on right alongside Katuscon. The two very different convention attendees could be told apart by lanyard colors. If a person wasn’t cosplaying and they wore a black lanyard they were at the Gaylord for Katsucon. Orange was for the Jewish leaders conference. Having the conventions side by side was almost as strange as my stay at Anthrocon 2005 where the furry convention took place alongside a wedding.
(As an aside: I didn’t have a single problem with the BBYO but there were plenty of confirmed incidents and a few rumors regarding the teens. Allegedly the conference has been banned from the Gaylord for damages to some hotel rooms. In terms of sharing a convention space 2013 wasn’t a great year for Katsucon. Hopefully next year will be largely incident free.)
Once we finally got back to the room my friends settled on watching TV shows on the hard drive of the PS3. I sat down with my 3DS, sorted through my StreetPasses and played Fire Emblem: Awakening. I turned the game’s StreetPass features on and it wasn’t long before my game was filled with various teams from other players. By the end of the weekend all 50 roster spots would be filled—as of this writing I’m still battling teams I passed at Katsucon. Unsurprisingly, the bulk of the teams were at very high levels compared to my own party. I almost felt bad about sending my weak team out to sortie against others. Almost.
Later, I checked Katsucon’s programming schedule and headed out to see the FUNimation industry panel. Production Assistant Sarah Sullivan soloed the panel and it would’ve gone smoothly if not for a broken projector. The projector overheated no less than four times during the presentation. Fortunately, Sullivan kept her cool and the audience was understanding. Technology problems aside, I left the panel feeling satisfied. On my way back to my room I snapped a few pictures of cosplayers and realized I’d left my 3DS on the bed. Upon returning to the room I immediately began to play Fire Emblem. Snapping pictures of cosplayers, going to the dealer’s room, the video game room, attending the occasional industry panel and playing video games was how I spent my time at the three-day convention. It wasn’t until Katsucon ended that I wish I had done more with my weekend.
In a change of pace we decided to leave National Harbor on Monday instead of the usual Sunday. Not having to rush to check out and then return to the con for a few hours really changed the pace of the weekend. We decided to skip closing ceremonies and roamed the convention center halls for a while. Surprisingly, a larger number of people than we expected stayed behind during the convention. A lot of high school and college kids probably had Monday off thanks to it being President’s Day. Still, when Monday morning came only a handful of cosplayers remained and the Gaylord was pretty empty.
Enough about my adventures and on to a few select pictures from the convention. The full gallery can be found right here.
For the first time ever we had room with a balcony facing the inside of the Gaylord. It was nice to have the ability to walk out onto the said balcony and simply watch Katsucon take place below.
I was able to zoom in from eight floors above on the balcony to take shots like these. If I had been on the ground this shot would have never worked. Thanks, Sailor Scouts!
I was passing by and I simply couldn’t resist getting a shot of this group. Four different fandoms are all represented here. Have fun picking out the video games, anime and western cartoon these group members are cosplaying as.
While wandering around the gaming room I found this Eizo. I originally took a picture of him from the front but the bright blue bow on his hood and the sword on his back caught my eye. I asked, “what’s that on your back?” and he replied, “the sword from Panty and Stocking.” I couldn’t help but grin as I requested a second picture.
All and all, I wish I had attended a few cosplay photo shoots and taken the time to do some cosplaying. Additionally, I also wish I had spent a little less time with Fire Emblem and more time roaming the convention halls. Nevertheless, I had a great time and I’m definitely looking forward to Otakon this August.
About The Author
Angela
Executive Editor | Angela has had an addiction to video games and cartoons since she was young and impressionable. She enjoys writing long articles about these subjects and whatever else catches her eye. Mastodon