Geek Babble: Otakon 20!

Geek Babble has been missing in action for quite some time. It’s time to rectify that problem with an Otakon-centric post. If you just want to skip to the photos 115 of them can be found here.

2013 marked the 20th year of Otakon. As usual the weekend was absolutely packed with things to do at the largest anime convention on the East Coast. My group and I arrived on Thursday afternoon. While we waited to check into our hotel room I collected 3DS StreetPasses in the lobby. The task was made incredibly easy because every other anime fan had their 3DS with them. Amusingly enough, I ended up tagging the same 12 people over and over again during the weekend at the hotel. The rest of the evening was spent at the Otakon Matsuri after we picked up our badges. The matsuri was more or less a street fair event. There were quiz games, pamphlets and prizes to be won. Unfortunately, a strong thunderstorm brought the event to a temporary halt and we decided to return to our hotel. On the way back to our room a man tried to sell my friend a bottle of lotion he stole from the CVS. I noticed the same man at the store while I was buying an umbrella. My friend was taken aback and sent the lotion-peddler on his way. We spent the rest of the evening playing Dragon’s Crown on the PS3. (Fun fact: save data from another PS3 can be transferred but the game can’t be saved at all if player 1’s original PSN ID isn’t present on that PS3.)

I spent Friday morning deciding which panels and events I would ultimately attend at Otakon. Despite NIS America’s absence and Sentai Filmworks opting not to do an actual industry panel there was still a lot to see. FUNimation had three different panels, Crunchyroll had one, Aniplex was returning, Sunrise was around as usual (though Bandai no longer exists to complement them), Viz Media finally had a panel and Daisuki was literally the new kid on the block. I opted to skip the Friday morning panels (which included FUNimation.com, Crunchyroll and Sentai Presents) and opted for an afternoon panel. I ended up going to the Anime News Network panel in order to see a few of the West Coast editors in person.

The rest of the day was dedicated to snapping pictures of cosplayers and hanging out in the video game room– surprisingly one of the least crowded rooms in the convention center. While in the video game room I had a chance to check my 3DS StreetPass tags. I swapped out my copy of Shin Megami Tensei IV with Fire Emblem: Awakening in order to receive new teams and to send out my own. Compared to Katsucon my team is much stronger and will hopefully give some players a real challenge. I then used the SpotPass feature on SMT IV. You set up a demon as a card to send out to other players. Your selected demon leaves the party and can’t be used. During its adventure it will pick up rare items for you, gain stat boosts and randomly fuse with other demons. I lost my level 21 Hooligan when it fused and returned to me as a level 2 Napaea. The really interesting aspect of SpotPass takes place during battles. You can collect up to 12 demons via SpotPass and they will aid you in one battle. They all team up for one major Almighty attack that will damage any enemy multiple times. If you want to use the feature again you have to tag another 12 people playing Shin Megami Tensei IV. An easy task at an anime or gaming convention but not so much on an ordinary day around the town or even in a major city (trust me, I live in Philadelphia).

A single panel, spending time in the video game room and taking pictures of cosplayers was literally our entire Friday afternoon. We ended up spending the rest of the night playing State of Decay and Fallout 3 in our hotel room.

Saturday was the busiest day of the convention. I planned to attend most of the major industry panels, which meant I had to skip movie premiers and even the T.M. Revolution concert. I also opted to cosplay for part of the day which meant I had to get up early to put on my costume. One of my friends decided to come with me and after adjusting our costumes (I did Persona 3 Portable, he did Attack on Titan— pictured above in the hat) we were 15 minutes late to the Aniplex of America industry panel. Fortunately, there were plenty of seats, although I did miss a chance to grab a raffle ticket for the prize giveaway. After the panel ended I went to the Viz Media industry panel. My friend opted to skip the panel since he couldn’t sit down thanks to his Attack on Titan costume. I made it to the panel with plenty of time to spare and got a Neon Alley branded drawstring bag at the door. During the quirky (but fun) panel it was revealed the bag contained a card for a month subscription to Neon Alley.

After the panel I decided to return to the room for lunch. I ended up skipping the Sunrise panel in order to visit the dealer’s room for a while. Later, my friends accompanied me to the FUNimation industry panel. During the panel (more on that in my write-up) a large number of Bandai Entertainment license rescues were announced. The biggest perhaps was Cowboy Bebop on Blu-ray. When the Q&A ended I trekked down the hall (now alone again) to the Daisuki panel. I was curious about the Japanese company-owned streaming site as they literally got their start earlier this year. I was handed a Daisuki branded t-shirt at the door. They announced a number of new streaming titles including Cowboy Bebop in HD. The audience was also shown the first episode of the series. Thanks to the Daisuki panel I was not able to return to the dealer’s room before it closed. I instead went to artist alley before calling it a night.

On Sunday I had planned to see the Yoko Kanno concert but we were unable to secure the required free passes to get in. To make up for it I decided to watch the live simulcast. With that, we checked out of the Sheraton, took our bags to the car, grabbed brunch and returned to the convention center. During our meal at Dunkin Donuts a young guy tried to sell us a variety of bootlegged CDs and DVDs. Unlike the bootleggers in Philadelphia his selection was at least 20 years old, the best he had to offer was Dead Presidents. I then saw another person walk by with a flattop hair cut and we decided Baltimore was stuck in the 1990s.

We returned to the convention center and managed to
see part of the Yoko Kanno concert simulcast. I missed a lot of it but the little I saw was a lot of fun. Kanno was quite the performer and knew how to keep her audience entertained. Not wanting to go home just yet we meandered around the convention taking pictures of cosplayers and talking to the ones who had a spare moment. Finally we decided to call it a day and headed home. I almost regret skipping the closing ceremony because quite a few big announcements were made.

First, 34,100 people attended Otakon 20, up from last year’s 30,000. The convention certainly did seem more crowded as there were long lines and crowding for almost every major event. Second, Otakon will be leaving Baltimore for Washington, DC in 2017. If you want to read more about there’s an article from Baltimore’s perspective, Washington’s perspective and a Q&A interview at Anime News Network. In short, the convention center is simply not big enough for the large number of attendees and there are plans to tear down and rebuild the center within in five years or so. The con isn’t moving for another three years in order to finish up the five year contract with Baltimore. The Walter E Washington Convention Center is almost twice as large as the Baltimore Convention Center and would be perfect for Otakon. If the BCC expands as planned the convention could return in 2022. It’s hard to foresee what will happen in nine years but I hope for Baltimore’s sake everything works out. The city itself isn’t in the greatest shape and Otakon is its biggest annual convention. The city’s businesses get a $10 to $11 million boost from the attendees every year.

Personally, the move isn’t a huge deal for me. It’s only an hour longer drive and is literally a stone’s throw away from where Katsucon is held every year. From what I’ve read about the Walter E Washington Convention Center the area is a lot nicer and crime shouldn’t be a concern. That said, Otakon is synonymous with Baltimore and I do enjoy the quirky adventures there.