Another Otakon come and gone

[Omnislash024]

Otakon 2006 took place last weekend. It wasn an O.K event although I must say that the lack of organization and any kind of decent anime made the con sort of average. I might have also been able to see alot more if I hadn't been dragging around a friend of mine all blessed day, as usually i like to go to those cons alone. But whatever.

Highlights of the con was when the guy that did the character designs for Escaflowne and numerous other anime, drew me a pic of Merle and autographed it. I also got anothe character drawn by the dude who did the anime in Kil Bill. He drew O-ren for me, which is blessed awesome. (This guy also did character designs for Samarai Champloo, etc.)

Worst thing that happened was not being able to get into the Kingdom Hearts panel. The room was simply filled to capacity, but the staff should have known that people whould have been interested in that and should have picked a much larger room then it was scheduled in.

Also sat in a Transformers panel, but let me tell you that they weren't official people and they knew jack about Transformers. If you are reading this Valk, I gotta ask, we really have needed you there. Might be a future job career for you bud.

Loot: Chrono Crusade, Azumanga Daoih, Dna2 box sets, Tenjo Tenge Vol8, My Hime Vol1, Manga, Sora Figure and a Bleach key chain for my mad loot. Oh and a Transformers the Movie poster.

[Red Dragon]

Re: Another Otakon come and gone

Give me your TF poster! GIVE ME IT NOW!!!

[John Mora]

Re: Another Otakon come and gone

"Blessed?"

Anyways, I am verily jealous that you got to meet Nobuteru Yuuki.

[DK]

Re: Another Otakon come and gone

I was supposed to go but couldn't

Fortunatly, I don't like much anime anyways.

[IRC]

Re: Another Otakon come and gone

"Blessed?"

Sometimes religious people say bless instead of damn. As in God bless it instead of goddamnit.

[Armored]

Re: Another Otakon come and gone

God bless your soul IRC.

[Magus]

Re: Another Otakon come and gone

A friend of mine went this year. Since I got him an Evangelion shirt when I went (2002? 3?) he got me a Stand Alone Complex shirt, which was nice.

I would've enjoyed a meeting with Nobuteru Yuuki very very much. The guy did Escaflowne, Chrono Cross and Record of Lodoss War character designs.

When I went to Otakon the lack of organization and the people were damn embarrassing. Seriously, anime's great and all - or at least the great anime is - but those freaks need to take a ****ing chill pill. Bro. I remember this girl thanking Yasuhiro Nightow (the Trigun creator) in front of everybody for saving her life because Vash the Stampede is staunchly anti-suicide. I mean, that's great but... Trigun sucks. :P

I'd imagine Otakon being more fun with more friends though. Would've been nice to crash the Kingdom Hearts panel. I mean, really, tip it over.

[Hikari]

Re: Another Otakon come and gone

Sounds like fun, Omni. I haven't been to a con in a over a year. Every one I've attended has been terribly disorganized and mismanaged even Animé Expo. At that one, I thought I was quite reasonable and polite, but people at the hotel were rude and even misleading. I was extremely angry and disappointed. In fact, I was treated as though I were some sort of weirdo, and I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts like any regular tourist or guest of the hotel.

Anyway, I hope that eventually the people who put these things on (I can't say organize them) will understand the logistics of crowd control and volunteer coordinating. They should take a lesson from such public venues and organize accordingly. If I was running such a thing, I would gather a good group of people and put them in charge of specific areas of the event and then I'd meet with them frequently to make sure every contingency is well thought out. I'd also organize some more interesting sessions (besides the same old VA panels) and make certain that animé of every time period is represented. Of course, I'd also be insane by the end of it. ^_^

I do enjoy checking out the art room and the dealer's rooms though. Koji and I have purchased some wicked stuff. We have quite a collection of animé and collectibles between us. I'm hoping to cosplay with him and some friends next year. That'll be ultimate.

[Omnislash024]

Re: Another Otakon come and gone

This year's Otakon, to say the least was very poorly organized. Most of the time, it seemed like it was hastily placed together. There were 7 Video rooms that ran programs during the con and the first thing you see is that Video 7's programs and Video 1's programs have been switched between the rooms.

There were things that people simply could not get into. Video1 was a massive ballroom (it once upon a time hosted the Dealer's Room) and yet, it was filled to capacity as the AMV (Anime Music Video) Contest screening played. Nevermind the fact that, before this year, there was a video room totally devoted to just playing AMVs which are popular things to go to if you are just plain bored.

In fact, there were not any rooms devoted to anything until Saturday. Usually there would also be a "live action room" and a "children's room" that played dubbed anime. This year, the programs seemed jumbled.

THen, we have the Kindgom Hearts Panel event. Middle of the day, Middle of the con and you would think that many people would be interested in talking with or meeting anyone associated with that game. Two freakin blocks of line and they host it in a small room.

And as I said, Transformers panel. Nobody knew what the heck they were talking about. Almost complete waste of time, except for "You've got the Touch" and "Prime vs. Pikach

I don't even want to get into the massive blockage that was created late Saturday night because people wanted to get into either the "Sex and the Fury" show (which is a live action film about sex and violence) or the "hentai" themed panel that was running next door. Like it's not obvious, being at those cons that anything to do with those subjects isn't extremely popular and thus should probably be spaced enough away from each other, in order to control the lines.

They get more and more people each year, so i just can't understand why there was such a level of disorganization. Even the damn schedule book, sucked. It used to be a nice convenient book you could put in your pocket and flip through to get anime/program summaries. This year it was a piece of paper that you had to fold out.Cumbersome, hard to read, hard to fold back.

Oh and yeah... please open the Dealer's Room and the Game Room at the proper times.

(Sorry for the rant.)