Otakon 2009 Recap

Otakon 2009 took over Baltimore once again this year on July 17th through 19th. This year, droves of anime fanatics invaded the city with their intricate cosplays, “Honk if you [wikipop]Yaoi[/wikipop]!” bumper stickers, and an excitement level that could only be matched by the smell of the game room at closing on Sunday. In fact, on July 12, Otakon.com reported that preregistration had hit 17,985, that’s up 4.6% from last year!

Long badge lines and several rounds of Marco-Polo led to the convention itself – but these obstacles were well worth it for the weekend that fans had in store. After watching setup for the Dealer’s Room on the live-webcam all morning on their iPhones, attendees were finally able to empty their wallets at noon on Friday. Once again, the Dealer’s Room offered a wide variety of anime or Japanese related merchandise to fit the interest of the girliest, macho, n00best, or veteran fans – yes, there was something for everyone.

Although the venue tried their best to be environmentally-friendly, they failed to provide bins for soul-eating weapons.

After swiping some official Otakon merchandise, there were aisles and aisles to browse through – Pawstar, Anime Pavillion, Rising Sun Imports, and Pandora’s Cube made appearances, to name just a few. Several other cons, including Katsucon and Nekocon, were advertising this year for their upcoming conventions, as well. Cute lolita dresses, awesome Gundams, worthless little trinkets with adorable faces, and sweet swords were all available for purchase this year.

But everyone attendee knows that you can’t simply dump your money into the dealer’s room and call the weekend complete – you have to save some funds for the Artist Alley! For just a moment, I’ll shamelessly plug myself – I spent most of Otakon this year chained to my booth in Artist Alley. See the bottom of this article for more information! Now that that’s out of the way, Artist Alley held a lot of talent this year and a lot of great buys. Baka Squared had an excellent display of stickers and prints, Fake Radish Studios wowed us all with some sweet plushies, and All The Small Things made us “awwww” at their adorable talents. Buttons, stickers, parasols, prints, commissions, jewelry, hats, books, and tentacle hentai clocks all made an appearance in Artist Alley and the Art Show this year.

Of course, Otakon offered many other opportunities for entertainment that you get free with your entry fee! Six anime viewing rooms plus a HD theatre played back to back anime and anime-inspired movies and shows all weekend including Code Geass, Sgt. Frog, Prince of Tennis, and Death Note. Member created panels and workshops were held all weekend as well, ranging from “Cosplay Cosmetics 101” to Steampunk Fashion and Gadgetry” and even “How (Not) to Write a Lemon”. Gamers were able to whet their thirst during the weekend in the Gaming Room, offering an array of tournaments and aisles and aisles of TVs with games ranging from Super Smash Brothers to Dance Dance Revolution and Call of Duty. The Masquerade held on Saturday evening was, once again, a showcase of talented costume makers and entertaining skits to keep the audience rolling in laughter or tearing up with emotion for hours. But Otakon would not have been complete without a trip to the Otaku Raves – those flashing lights, hot beats, conga-lines, and talented break dancers are a once-a-year experience!

So here’s to you, Otakon. Thanks again for a great year. It was exciting to meet those talented guests and attend your awesome concerts! I’m sure I’m not the only one marking the days on my calendar for next year, just gotta’ hone those Rock Band skills and put the final touches on my cosplay!

Article by Sarah Barrett. First two pictures courtesy of Amanda Rudolph.

I extend personal apologies for getting this article out so late after the convention, I’ve run into a lot of technical difficulties lately that slowed my progress significantly. I actually had a power outage for several days! I assure you that all future event coverage and news will be handled in a quick and thorough manner by BaltimoreGamer.com!

Check out my gaming bead-sprite and other art work at Deviantart