I've been conning for years and help run a convention (shameless plug - www.animepunch.org). I've been to large cons (ACen, Ohayocon) and many smaller ones time and again. So I have a sense of what to expect and what constitutes a convention putting on a good show. That being said, Otakon is different. It's bigger for one thing - 40,000 attendees. The only US anime convention that trumps it is Anime Expo (and as I understand it, that has fewer trappings of a traditional con and is more designed to show off the latest and greatest releases and what not).

Lots More After The Jump

Awesome

So how was it? Well, the person who scaled the glass roof (and god only knows how they got up there in the first place) to leave a message in duct tape for the other con goers clearly thought it was "Awesome". Apparently this is a yearly ritual. If so, perhaps next year the message could be "Some Con"? I wonder if the response in previous years was the same, as this year...we all pointed.

Arriving Thursday night after a 6-hour sojourn from whence I hail (Columbus, Ohio), I immediately was struck by how quiet Baltimore is at night. The only thing stirring were the panhandlers and derelicts. And even most of them had rolled against a building and bedded down for the night. Vagrants notwithstanding, it is a very clean city with amazing architecture, combining old towers and monuments with new buildings in a rather dazzling way.

Here's a taste of the cities architecture while wannabe parkour types try to show off at the fountain next to the convention center.

Parkour

While parking in the city was extraordinarily pricey, moving one's car to the outskirts of Baltimore was the way to go. You had your choice of either a free lot or the airport for $8/day (slightly more secure) and then riding the light rail back into town, which was less than $2 a trip. Or you could risk not having your ticket checked, which it was pretty likely to not be, and ride for free. Friday was the longest the registration line ever got during the course of the con, and that clocked in at less than 2 hours. That's very, very good for a big convention. It was a welcome change from the regular difficulties Anime Boston and Anime Central in Chicago saw (yes, I did wait 9 hours in line for a badge at ACen, and it ruined the con experience for me).

And already the fantastic cosplay abounded. Maeter and Tojiro from Harlock Maeter.

Little Cosplayer

During my initial tour of the con, I couldn't help but stop in the HD theater they had set up. Massive seating in that room. The image quality of the projection didn't seem noticeably different than what I'd seen in my own humble Ohio State anime club, but the sound…oh the sound! Quadrophonic delight. And the PAs they had were up to the task of filling a room that must've seated around a thousand people. Later, during the con, I would view 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time' in this theater. Released theatrically in New York City on June 13th, 2008, this could be considered something of a regional premier of the latest animated version of the 1965 novel 'Toki o Kakeru Shojo'. And it is Shojo, make no mistake about it. There is a science-fiction backdrop, but the primary focus is on the relationships between the main characters in the movies. I found it palatable enough to hold my interests, even if it felt slow in places. The animation was clean and unassuming, with some nice artist metaphors representing the time travel experience. Definitely worth a view if you get a chance.

Unfortunately, the only other time I wandered into the HD theater, it was showing Battle Fairy Yukikaze. A strange mix of 'Macross +' fighter combat, and, well, yaoi homoeroticism. I was unprepared for the latter ingredient, and when it seemed to eclipse the elements that compelled me about the story, I quickly located the egress.

One major event that I heard about while standing in line was a Touhou panel. Unfortunately for those who tried to attend, the panel was either replaced or moved. The panel that was in its place - "Cosplay Psychology" - decided that mocking Touhou fans would be a good idea. Needless to say, there were some unhappy congoers there. I think this underscored a problem in general with the con, which was that the schedule changed rapidly, and while the convention did as good a job as possible with disseminating that information, anyone who had made plans before arriving had to exhibit a certain amount of flexibility.

I loved that Otakon had an indoor sports arena to use for programming. I have no idea what they paid for it, but it was worth it. For the first time ever, I went to, and enjoyed a full Masquerade. Usually the things are just too crowded and I would leave early if I attended at all at other cons. This Masquerade was flawless though, as there was plenty of room for everyone, giant video screens (complete with nice on the fly video effects and solid camera work), and perfectly miked sound. Later on a train I met James, one of the guys who worked behind the scenes producing the show. He actually was part of Anime Boston's staff, but came down to help out with this production. When I mentioned how well staged I thought it was, he said it was all the camera guys doing the work real time. He was a little bitter that it had to be done that way and showed my friend and I a picture of the guy running the lights/video boards...and he was passed out.

The highlight of the Masquerade was when a Link took the stage complete with Navi on her shoulder and a strange elongated ocarina. What followed was a tour de force of dueling flu- Ocarinas. Navi's part and the background music were prerecorded, but that only made Link's performance more astounding. The performance can be viewed here.

Link
I had a chance to talk to her briefly. She studies classical music in a conservatory. And yes, the sheet music in front of her wasn't just for show, it had the whole thing written out.

Overall one likes the feel of Otakon. For a convention with 40,000 attendees, it's laid out in such a way that you can run into people you know from elsewhere or have met previously at the con. Next year the convention is considering expanding into space offered by a nearby Hyatt Regency. Hopefully this will not dispel the sense of intimacy with one's fellow congoers that this Otakon creates, but succeeds at reducing the long lines for programming by providing more programming over all.

It is true that some of the programming/panels were lightweight, or well, just plain bad. I recall sitting in the 'Phenomenology with Shinji Ikari' panel and being disappointed by the level of discourse in general. Yes, you want to keep the discussion at a level that your audience can enjoy, but I thought there were opportunities to talk about some of the neater philosophical aspects of various shows in that panel, and the panelists seemed to be neither interested in doing so nor well versed enough in the philosophical establishment to accomplish this had they been so inclined.

The panel on how to shoot your own fan film was...brutally realistic. That is, they shot a fan film, which involved a good deal of waiting around. The film can be viewed here.

To be fair, they did have a speaker who talked to the audience while the director and others prepped things. If they had actually been able to show their stuff while we waited, that probably would've helped alleviate the boredom, but they seemed to have some technical difficulties impairing that.

I've heard from other sources as well that much of the actual programming for the con wasn't as good as it could have been. I recall specifically seeing a crowd of at least 1000 people waiting to enter the Phoenix Wright mock trial, only to hear later that it wasn't much fun at all (apparently no one ever objected to anything). Still, the programming was at least present, and it was a good enough backdrop to what was an outstanding con and a good experience.

Some of it did rise above the rest. I was particularly thrilled to hear Peter S. Beagle give live commentary on The Last of the Unicorns as we watched, and to have a chance to talk to him. Yuri Lowenthal was funny, charming, patient and brilliant as a guest. He would do lines from characters upon request, and it never had occurred to me how talented one would have to be to voice Sasuke. He exhibited great diplomacy with people asking questions, which were sometimes a bit trite seeming, or the one congoer who insisted on giving him candy (even though there was apparently some policy against it).

There is much to be said for watching a premier with a large audience. I am not exactly caught up on my Hellsing, but viewing the 4th installment of Hellsing Ultimate was an exciting experience. The fan girls 'awwed' at Scroedinger while I was blown away by seeing the action on a bigger screen than I ever had before. The Major's final speech, espousing war as a virtue, is amazing and enthralling, and in a room of a thousand there was not a sound for the entire five-minute monologue.

Of course there was a dance. The music was actually a notch above what one hears at most conventions or raves these days, and Otakon is to be complimented for their innovative use of space. Taking a larger area and one smaller room and giving each a mix was certainly extra effort, but was well worth it. Technically they were flawless as well. The sound was leveled just right, and everything worked while I was present.

The artist alley didn't quite fill out the space given to it. Part of the reason for this is a particularly ambitious artist signed up for 12 tables (using relatives and aliases apparently) to display her work. This has become something of a well-known scandal, and while the artist may have been highly regarded before this (if less well known), rumor has it the consequences of her actions are going to be a tightening of enforcement of the already strict artist alley policies. So once again, a convention truism holds, that it only takes one person to ruin it for everybody.

Chugworth

There was some decent art to be seen in the alley. There was an 18 and up section as well that was mildly amusing. My own personal highlight was getting to meet the authors of Chugworth, a webcomic that is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. Seen here, I nabbed an autograph from them.

Dave also sketched some sort of face in addition to signing his name. I think I was the only one who had talked to them in awhile. Certainly that is true of Peter Fernandez, which was a shocking and unfortunate state of affairs. Peter is the man who took Mach GoGoGo and transformed it into Speed Racer back in 1967. And when I say transformed, I mean he translated the script, did the dubbing, rearranged the theme, most other aspects of direction and production, and voiced Speed and Racer X. Truly an incredible and under appreciated talent that I had a chance to talk to. He seemed to have the artist's view of the state of the industry today. He recognized changes, and other than a cameo in the 2008 Speed Racer movie, he also has participated in the short piece "The History of 'Speed Racer'" due out in October.

Dr. Horrible

I don't think words can capture all of something as big as Otakon, and every convention goer's experience will be different. While some might've been impressed by the 2 story tall styrofoam baby, I was more happy to see the occasional Dr. Horrible wandering around.

So until Otakon 2009, keep the awesome where I can see it.