Ah! Otakon! The 2001 version! This was my first Animé convention ever, and I have been waiting for this for a LONG time. I managed to get a lot of stuff, spend a lot more money than I thought I would, and found out that the Convention Center has crap food. Anyway, on with the show!
Well, it started out well enough. After getting some crappy breakfast from the really slow McDonalds near the Light Rail (it's like an above-ground subway. Think the train whenever they showed Kiyone & Mihoshi's house in Tenchi Universe.) my mom and I rode up to the Convention Center. Unfortunately, the damn Howard Street tunnel fire from a few weeks ago STILL wasn't completely cleaned up yet. (Avid baseball fans know what I'm talking about.) Anyway, that meant the Light Rail didn't go to the actual Center stop, and finished at Camden Yards. That was OK since the two were practically neighbors. We got into the Center, and after a few detours, finally found the Registration booth. I paid for all three days while mom paid just for today. I had managed to get a Wing Zero Custom badge (If my scanner worked, I'd show you.) while mom got a Heero-Relena-Wing Gundam badge. I looked at my Pocket Otakon Guide, which is an indespensable tool for these things, and saw the Anime Music Video Contest was starting at 12:30PM (We finally got in at 11AM). Unfortunately, we didn't count on the lackluster map they gave us, or the fact that the Videos were held in a separate area from the main groups. After some wandering around, looking at the set-up of the Dealer's Room and watching about 5 minutes of Lupin III and Otaku No Video, we finally found the Anime Music Video Contest.
The contest was just awesome. There were five catagories: Dramatic/Sentimental, Dramatic/Serious, Action/Regular, Action/Upbeat, and Humorous/Satirical. (Click here to view listings of all the videos shown.) The first video up was Dramatic/Sentimental. There were videos of all kinds in this catagory. One focused on the Eva pilots from Neon Genisis Evanglieon, more specifically Asuka and Shinji, to the tune of Vertical Horizon's "Everything You Want." There were two music videos based on the video games Lunar: Silver Star Story and Final Fantasy IX. Lunar was to the tune of "Who Wants to Live Forever" by Queen and Final Fantasy was set to "She's So High" by Tal Bachman. Lunar wasn't too good, but FF was OK. The best video was called Dreams of Red and featured Sailor Mars with Sting's "Desert Rose" playing. Dramatic/Serious was as good as the previous catagory. There were Trigun and Cowboy Bebop videos there, set to "In the End" by Linkin Park and "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney repectively. The best of those videos had to be Love is Flowers. Why? Well, it featured Shoujo Kakumei Utena, and the song was the notoious "Hit Me" by Britney Spears, except for the fact that the vocals were male, sung by Ahmet and Dweezil Zappa. That video, although supposed to be serious, deserved to be in the Comedy section. Action/Regular had the fewest entries, but they were pretty cool to check out. One was Cowboy Bebop vs. Trigun set to "Bodycount" by Usual Suspects. Square's popular video game, Xenogears, got into the action with a video with "Camera Obscura" by Enigma, and even Dragon Ball Z made a showing with "This is Your Life" by Dust Brothers with Tyler Durden. Pretty cool. The Action/Upbeat catagory got rolling early, with Rhythm Animation featuring various animes such as Sailor Moon and even Pokémon. It was set to "Rhythm Generation" by Two-Mix, the people who made all those cool songs for Gundam Wing. Anyway, that video included just about every single anime in existence. It had Bebop, Trigun, DBZ, some Digimon, Cardcaptors, Tenchi Muyo!, FLCL, and more. After a brief, but funny Tenchi Muyo! video, another funny one for Irresponsible Captain Tylor, an FLCL video, and another Utena video, we got to one of the funniest videos around. Featuring FLCL and DiGi Charat, with various other animes joining in, A.T. Chang made a video with "Happy Boys and Girls" by Aqua. Just about every single shot of anime characters dancing was on that video and was cool to watch. Then we got to my favorite catagory: Comedy. There was an El Hazard video set to the tune of "Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot" by Caramba, while another was about Napster and one had set the Powerpuff Girls Theme to Mahou Tsukai Tai OAV. The best came fast and furious. Patrick Delahanty made a Suvivor: The Japanese Animation video, with Ryoko from Tenchi, Keith from Voltron, and others participating. Keith was the first to be voted off. There was also a video featuring Elmer Fudd chasing Ryo-Ohki in "Kill the Wabbit" and one about Anime Dinners. The two best had to be White Shonen and "Right Now." WS was set to "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" and starred Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon, Vash from Trigun, and somebody I didn't reconize from Bakuretsu Hunter. Right Now was set to the song of the same name by Van Halen and was a more visual video than the others. It had various statements starting with "Right Now..." and included such gems as "Right now people are complaining about violence and nudity in anime.", "Right now those people should shut up.", and "Right now these lyrics make no sense." Unfortunately, I don't know who won each catagory. Oh well.
Mom had left to go to a doctor's appointment early on in the contest, so I stayed. After the contest, they showed the final Card Captor Sakura movie: Sealed Card, where a special card has been released and is taking all of the Sakura Cards from her, and she can't admit she loves Li. It featured classic Cardcaptors. From Kero-chan's constant appitite and coolness to Tomoyo's starry eyes, to Sakura's brother's rivalry with Li. The movie was short, but very entertaining. Kero provided many laughs for the entire audience. After the movie was over, I went over to the Dealer's Room and bought three tapes: A Slayers tape, Tenchi Muyo! in Love (#1), and a Ranma (subtitled) tape for $10 each. Note: $50 is NOT enough money at these places. Anyway, after spending an hour in the Dealer's Room and checking out all the stuff (Not as much Digimon or Pokémon stuff as I thought there would be. Lots of Gundam stuff though.), I headed over a Video Room and watched some subtitled Big O. Dorothy and Roger make a good couple. I managed to catch two episodes: The one about the pianist robot, Intro, and the one where Roger and Angel were stuck in the bottom of the sea. Seeing a half an hour to waste, I stayed and watched a creepy episode of Vampire Princess Miyu. It was the first episode of the OVA. At 8PM, I left to get in line for Mystery Anime Theater 3000. I figured getting there an hour early would be beneficial. Boy, was I wrong.
The place was PACKED. There were people sitting down in front of the doors, on all sides, plus people lined up on the various stairways. In all, over 4,000 people showed up. This meant a long wait and a half an hour delay. Since I got in near the back of the group, I didn't know what was going on, but they were playing around with the channels, specifically 2, 42, and 69. Once everyone was seated, the show started. The gang decided to start off with some haikus. Tom told Crow about the Japanese poems, about how the lines went in a 5-7-5 syllable order, and the last line was usually about a particular season, like autumn or baseball. After some re-writes, Crow finally got his poem:
After the hilarious MAT3K, it was time for me to leave. Mom picked me up and we went to Wendy's very quickly (even though it was close to midnight, I hadn't had anything to eat since morning. I tried a hot dog there, but it was grey on the outside and pink on the inside.) and I watched the Tenchi Movie.
I had gotten around 3 hours of sleep in the past 24 hours. Since mom left for work early, I had to go to the Light Rail at 6:30AM. I went down to the Burger King at BWI Airport for breakfast, then headed back up to the Convention Center. I got there at 8AM, and they hadn't opened the doors yet. Finally, they opened it up at 8:45. I listened to my CDs for a while before then. When I got inside, I tried to go down to watch FLCL, but the doors weren't open yet, so I went and watched some Mobile Suit Gundam (the original). At least, that's what I thought. Well, the guy running the projector couldn't get any power, so the start was delayed a half hour. I watched 15 minutes of Episode 1, which was dubbed. Seems the DVD couldn't gain access to the subtitles, while the audience laughed at the hokiness of the 70's. I left to attend the Music Video Workshop, but it was delayed and I didn't feel like waiting in an extra long line AGAIN, so I went back and watch MSG. After that was over, the Oh My Goddess! Movie was supposed to start playing. Well, it was not to be as something else with VERY bright lining aired with poor quality. In 5 minutes the room went from very crowded to very sparce. I went down to the Dealer's Room and bought another Slayer's tape (My new fav anime.) as well as one Escaflowne subbed and one Neon Genisis Evanglieon dubbed tape. It was a steal, as the Escaflowne tape was $10 while I got NGE free when I bought the Slayers tape. After getting a 5-pack of Pokémon toys and a large Kabuterimon (My fav Digimon) figure, I left.
I quickly ate my smushed lunch, and went to Panel 2, where this one guy was talking about the differences between Japanese and American animation as well as the history of anime. There we found out where the sweatdrop came from (some manga did it, and it caught on. He didn't know the specific title.) as well as the symbols behind the big eyes, how anime guys were the luckiest people in the world, and where the females got the giant hammers, paper fans and frying pans from. (The same interdimensional portal Bugs Bunny and Tom the Cat used.) After that, it was time for the MAT3K Cast to do their stuff. They brought in their versions of Crow and Tom, as they explained how they made the robots, as well as how they make the scripts for each movie. They also explained how they choose the movie. The one they REALLY wanna do is Lensman, but not only is it way too talky, but it's got some adult content. As of now, they have yet to figure out which movie they're doing next. After that, I watched 3 live-action music videos from Japan. One had the singer in a moehawk (I think the singer's name is X) and he was acting very badly while performing "Endless Rain." The other two were by this Japanese heartthrob, but to be frank he'd fit right in with KISS. The first song was a bunch of random love stuff starting with "I'll" and the second was just gross. Throughout the entire video there were stuff exploding out of real people and all that stuff you'd see in Friday the 13th. They even had him singing to a damn skull! Finally, the videos were over, and I watched episodes 9 & 10 of Macross TV until 5PM, when I decided to leave. I checked out the Dealer's Room one more time, and left at 5:30. Unfortunately, the damn chemicals that caused the Howard Street fire made some manhole covers flip their tops, literally. This meant that just about every single road around the Convention Center was closed off, for that and so that the people attending the Orioles game could leave. Rain made the trip home worse. Mom wanted to pick me up, but she had to park in a garage on the other side of the center. It was chaos all around. I got home in time to watch Samurai Jack though. Unfortunately, the power decided to go out right before the giant robots attacked at the end of the movie, and I missed it. Dammit! >:(
Day 3 was the worst start out of the three days. Seems the idiots at the MTA decided that Sunday was special, thus the Light Rail wouldn't start running until 11AM. Considering the latest I could leave was 6:30 AM, this was a long wait. I stupidly hadn't had breakfast, so I walked down to the Burger King a mile and a half away and had breakfast. After that, I started to mentally organize my different fanfics. Finally, the train came at around 10:45. I finally got to the Center at 11:10, and tried to go to a Music Video Overflow, but all the seats were taken. So, I went down to the Dealer's Room, bought three Slayer's tapes for $15 (I love the sales they have the final day.) and wandered around until noon, where I ate some melted cookies for lunch. I also picked up another 5-pack of Pokémon figures that wasn't there the previous two days as well as a Super Deformed Wing Zero model kit. My first Chibi model! Hooray for me! ^_^ After lunch, I watched about fifteen minutes of Gigantor, which was even hokier than the original Gundam. Amazing how one button controls everything for that robot. I decided to leave so I could catch "Otaku No Video" at 1PM.
It was a video about this teenager who has just entered college, and how his life is turned upside down when he, being Kubo, meets his old friend Tanaka and he shows Kubo his giant anime collection and his friends. They introduce Kubo to all the different details of animation and special effects, and soon Kubo becomes an Otaku. He ends up being dumped by his girlfriend, Ueno, when he doesn't call for days. He gets a pot belly and everything. Kubo is sulking, but when Tanaka says that they are discriminated against, Kubo vows to make Otakus normal and become the Otaking! Together, they create little dolls they call "Grand Prix" and enter a business. Within a year, they have a multi-million dollar company. They hire a new artist in the form of Fuhinaka. In order to expand their sales, Kubo goes to build a factory in China. However, when he gets back, he finds that a new president has bought out Grand Prix and forces Kubo's friends to vote him out of the company. What really hits home is the fact that the president is the husband of Ueno, Kubo's girlfriend! Kubo lives in the slums for a while, and a few days later, sees a new Grand Prix store open up. Who does he find there but Tanaka! He explains that after Kubo was booted, he was too, and now he can barely afford to eat, but old habits die hard. Kubo gives Tanaka a speech and the two start from scratch. They decide to make their own animated series, but they don't have the money, and neither of them can draw. However, Tanaka manages to get Fuhinaka, the creator of several popular lines in Grand Prix, to work with them and make a new character: Misty May from "Great X" who is a cross between Sailor Moon, Cardcaptors, and every fanboy's dream girl. The videos are an instant success, and within ten years, they have bought out Grand Prix. Kubo explains that in order to fully be Otaking, they must build a theme park where cosplay is every day. They do, and by 1999, Otaku World is born. Thirty-five years later, Tokyo is under water, as is Otaku World. Kubo & Tanaka, dressed as Amuro and Char, enter the amusement park, where the old gang readies the ship for take off. The theme park turns into a rocket as they set out to find a planet just for Otakus! In between the breaks in the anime were interviews with various real-life Otakus. Some who don't have a whole lot of friends, some who spend all day collecting anime, some who "relieve" themselves by watching the shows, and how none of them have girlfriends. It was hilarious all around, a definite must see if you can find a copy. Afterwards, I went to a panel about Fanfiction, where I spent the remaining 40 minutes of Otakon. I didn't reconize any of the panel members, but that didn't matter. They talked about the ups and downs about being a fanfic writer, and about how to write a good fic. Otakon officially closed down at 4PM.
Overall, I throughly enjoyed myself. Even though the place was packed (not so much on Sunday) and the lines were long, I would instantly go back when it comes to Baltimore again. The Dealer's Room was the most crowded place of all. Sometimes you had to wait 10 minutes just to see what the booths have! Most places had videos galore, both dubbed and subbed. One place was selling real and plastic swords of various origins, while along the one wall was a huge place devoted to Gundam models. Bandai had a place set up where their various animes were previewed, including real Japanese MSG, with no subtitles. CD shops were also popular, as well as manga shops. Most manga shops had a few hundred issues for sale each day. And of course, any good anime convention wouldn't be one without costumes! The most popular costumes hands down were Cardcaptors. You couldn't go 10 feet without seeing at least one Cardcaptor costume. Most wore one of Sakura's outrageous outfits, but there were quite a few Li's as well. There were even some Kero's and Meilyn's! Second on the list was Dragon Ball Z. Friday had plenty of Gokus. Some just wore the costume, some had their hair blonde, while one guy had wigs for regular, SSJ, and SSJ3 Goku! Sunday had an awful lot of Cells and Android 16s, while Saturday was mainly Gohan/Great Saiya-man day. What surprised me was the fact that two of the more popular characters, Vegeta & Trunks, were sorely under-represented. I saw ONE Trunks costume, and that one didn't even have the hair or sword! No Vegetas as I could see either. Third on the list was Sailor Moon. There were plenty of Sailor Fuki's running around, as well as some of the schoolgirl outfits. Trigun and Tenchi Muyo! round out the top 5, although they weren't as prevelant. I saw no Tenchis whatsoever, but lots of Ayekas and Ryokos. Digimon had a good showing. A few people dressed up like Kari, Gatomon, Wizardmon, and Davis. Pokémon wasn't really represented well. There were two Ash/Misty groups and one Jesse/James group with their hair NOT dyed! -.-' Anyway, I had an enjoyable time, and I suggest that you attend the next Otakon! If you do, be sure to bring LOTS of money! As far as I know, no real announcements were made at the Otakon. One thing I have to say is this. If you want Autographs, be sure to bring something to pass the time and get there at least 2 hours early. Yes, you heard me. I saw a huge line for Autograph sessions that were hours away! Oy. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the report! And no, I didn't wear a costume, nor I ever will.