Otakon 2008 – The lengthy re-cap. More like a review.

I’m in Minneapolis right now for the Twins-Yankees game (yes, I know they aren’t doing very well, but I am a fan, no matter what) and other site seeing. For now, this gives me a lot of time to think about Otakon 2008, the convention of otaku generation version 15.0.  First, I’ll discuss the good things about Otakon, the bad and the really F&#$ed up. More after the jump-off.

The GOOD.

Cosplay was REALLY good. Really GOOD.

Could it be that there were more people, or more cosplayers coming into the mix. Cosplay was diverse and very creative. Despite the usually bland Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy/Naruto/Bleach that continues to plauge con after con, at least SOME of those were actually interesting and unique. I also saw a lot more seniors, little kids and disabled guests get into the act. I wish I could be everywhere to take photos. I might have to spend an entire day and not go to panels next year because of the awesome cosplay. Despite a 4chan panel not in exisitence this year, a lot of anons and memes (although some might think of it as “cancer”, but as long as they aren’t hitting furry staff members with a boom box, then it’s fine with me) were cosplayed as well.

Staff wasn’t as pushy as last year.

We know it’s their job to keep us from becoming an unruly crowd, but I have to pat the back of all the UNPAID volunteer staff for keeping the peace and helping us out when things get rough. It takes huge cojones to work a con of this magnitude. Keep up the good work in future Otakons.

Yaoi and Yuri Paddles were banned!

From the bottom of my heart, I can not be so happier to see such crap go out of the window.

The Bad

Traffic and crowd control needs work.

A lot of panels had long lines. On the 3rd floor where many of the panels are held, it can be really hard to maneuver when you have a line that you don’t know where it starts or ends. I had trouble getting to panels because of this. It also sucks to have to be forced to sit on a hard ground for an hour or more. Then again, I’m not the best in shape right now, so it’s partly my fault.

On the issue of crowd control, too many people litterally stand in the middle of the Sharp Street crosswalk to take pictures of cosplayers. It is incredibly frustrating when you want to go all the way to the end of the convention center and face incidents like this. I’m a nice person and I love to be nice, but I DON’T like being pushy and yelling at people constantly for people to move along.This is the job of the staff/BCC security, not me.

The F&#$ed up.

Too many people, too little space.

This year, more people came to the BCC than ever before (26,000) to be exact. While that might be considered a smaller number compared to Anime Expo, the convention center can only hold so many people. While the new Hilton Baltimore next year may alleviate that problem with it’s skywalk connection, we might need to see a return to a cap on memberships like in 2005.

As a result of this sudden attendance increase, I wasn’t able to get into a lot of panels I wanted to attend. I’m not talking about the late night events, but even a panel at 12 noon on Friday I wasn’t able to get in. Fortunlately, due to the huge popularity of “Bad Anime Bad” that I was shut out of on Friday, they decided to redo it on Sunday morning.

At the rate Otakon is going, we are looking at a experience like San Diego Comic Con where it’s nothing but wall to wall people.

Despite some niggling issues, Otakon remains a fun event to attend. At a time where things in my personal life remain bleak, it is the shining light in a world of darkness. I already have RSVPed for my hotel next year, and you should do so soon! The Inner Harbor area of Baltimore is becoming more accustomed to the American otaku. As a result of this symbotic relationship, room rates are going down as a result. In the not-too-distant future, Otakon will become more established and trends in the fandom will come and go, but the spectacle will remain. It would probably take a great depression, world war or natural disaster for this convention to subside.

Otakon 2009 is scheduled for July 17-19 once again in at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.