Otakon

[Radd]

Otakon is far smaller than west coast conventions like AX, I believe. However, an entirely different mindset goes into east coast conventions, which are fan run as opposed to having corporate sponsors. They're more like giant, anime fan parties, at least that's what everyone who's been to a west coast con tells me. I still want to hit AX sometime soon, though.

The convention was great, for Otakon. I'd say it's too big these days, and has been for years. Still, everyone in the con circuit goes to Otakon, so I get to see people that I often don't get to see anywhere else. Also, I mainly go for Artist's Alley, and while Otakon's Artist's Alley is stuck in a room away from the rest of the con, the con itself is so big that we still get a ton of traffic through there (as opposed to, say, AnimeCentral which is not nearly as big, yet still sticks AA in a closet, and the artist's are lucky to get a dozen people passing their table).

Otakon is guaranteed fun, however, if you know people in the con circuit. You're bound to meet up with them and have a great time, even if none of the panels and events are your thing.

I missed the L'Arc~en~Ciel concert, myself. I really wanted to go, but about an hour before the concert, me and a couple others decided to go get food. Word spread and a couple other friends asked us to wait for them, and to make a long story short, we got back just too late to get in. We did get a good look at the line, which was already wrapped around several city blocks as we made our way towards Checkers for some food. I also heard some great stories from people that did make it. The band apparently put on a great show, and had a great sense of humour, to boot.

I have to mention that Otazine debuted at the convention, a manga compilation made by many talented artists from the con circuit, and published by Otakon itself. I hope it sold well, because we all want to have Otazine be an ongoing thing.

[Spiggy]

Originally Posted by Mr_Paper

And NoSanninWa escapes yet another convention unphotographed...

If anyone did get a pic, I'm betting that it would fetch a pretty penny in the forums. Someone could've auctioned it off here and made a killing. Hell if they were nice they could've donated a portion to AS or a fansubbing group of their choice and pocket the rest. Oh well...maybe next time.

edit
I wanted to see Angela but that didn't happen

[NoSanninWa]

Originally Posted by Radd

I missed the L'Arc~en~Ciel concert, myself. I really wanted to go, but about an hour before the concert, me and a couple others decided to go get food. Word spread and a couple other friends asked us to wait for them, and to make a long story short, we got back just too late to get in. We did get a good look at the line, which was already wrapped around several city blocks as we made our way towards Checkers for some food. I also heard some great stories from people that did make it. The band apparently put on a great show, and had a great sense of humour, to boot.

You should've done what I did. I took one look at the line and decided to come back later. After the line finally disappeared into the stadium I arrived and went in a little bit late. I found my way to a pretty good empty seat between two other groups of people. Lots of people who waited on line got worse seats than I did.

By the way, in case anyone is curious about the line he mentions, I took a picture of it. It winds up and down several streets. This picture is three blocks from the stadium. In this picture the line is on the right hand side, with the stadium visible at the top left. Click on the thumbnail for the full sized image.

[Jonakr]

Hmm, yeah, we were pretty much at the end of the line. We got a seat off to the front, but way off to the side, so we got a pretty good view, but the sound balance was terrible. I walked in having only heard two L'arc-en-ciel songs and thus having no real idea what the band sounded like, and left having no better an idea than I had before O_O

What I could hear of the FMA song sounded a little off-key, though.

Edit: yeah, NSW's pic shows about where we were until the line started moving, although I can't see us anymore. It was really close to the end of the line, so we had either JUST gone around the bend, or else we were just underneath the walkway. Or maybe I'm just too blind to see it

[zalas]

Originally Posted by NoSanninWa

Well, I was at the fansubber suite. I spent a bit of time there on Friday and Saturday. I heard that Sugetsu had been there a few hours before me on Friday, but left before I arrived.

Were you at the suite for the party? I might have you on tape >.>;;

[anime-otaku]

I was at my Musajump table in the artist alley almost the whole Saturday, Trying to desperately sell my group's comics. So NSW, you should'nt have missed me -.-;

[Mr_Paper]

Originally Posted by zalas

Were you at the suite for the party? I might have you on tape >.>;;

Quick! Torrent that footage and begin the distrubution!! Title it "Where's NoSanninWa?" ^.^

[zalas]

Originally Posted by Mr_Paper

Quick! Torrent that footage and begin the distrubution!! Title it "Where's NoSanninWa?" ^.^

It actually has been torrented, but on a private torrent I believe. And yeah, people in acen tell me he's a blurry figure at 0:38 on it >.>

[Sugetsu]

I wanted to reveal Nonsanninwa's true indentity but I couldn't stay long at the fansubbers suite

Originally Posted by Radd

The band apparently put on a great show, and had a great sense of humour, to boot.

lol yeah the band had a great sense of humor specially the part in which they shouted: "Hello! did you eat crap!?" "Did you eat Crap!?" "I ate too!" ....

Can anyone please tell me what they were trying to say... Specially the "crap" part.

It was really fun being at the convention, although I had to wait two hours in line to get registered <_< By the way, I hanged the whole saturday at the convention with Jonakr and BriteDarkness. We spent most of hour precious time at the video game room <_< I had lost fun playing Samurai Showdown with my favorite character "Sugetsu" and kicking 30 asses in a row while Jonakr and BriteDarkness were falling asleep while waiting for me to go to concert (Thank you once again BriteDarkness, you are a good control pad holder )

One thing that impressed me a lot was the fact that the convention brought excellent anime and video games. I thought that they would only show the most popular anime and video games. I was getting ready for a good round of Pokemon and Yugio, and a lot of Mario Bross, game simulators and 3D fighting games, but instead I was shocked when I realized that they were showing stuff like Monster, Saint Seiya or Hunter X Hunter. On top of that, I noticed that most of the games up there were SNK games (Which are the best of course )

In other words those guys at the convention do really know what they are doing

[NoSanninWa]

Originally Posted by zalas

Were you at the suite for the party? I might have you on tape >.>;;

You might.

Originally Posted by anime-otaku

I was at my Musajump table in the artist alley almost the whole Saturday, Trying to desperately sell my group's comics. So NSW, you should'nt have missed me -.-;

I didn't miss you. You tried to sell your comic to me, but I was feeling very shy at the time and you were being very agressive with your sales pitch. Kowai.

Originally Posted by Sugetsu

lol yeah the band had a great sense of humor specially the part in which they shouted: "Hello! did you eat crap!?" "Did you eat Crap!?" "I ate too!" ....

Can anyone please tell me what they were trying to say... Specially the "crap" part.

That was "Did you eat crab?" Baltimore is famous for its crab. I ate crab too.

[teh_suck]

I was wearing cat ears, headphones, and Google (or Google-related, ie. GMail, Blogger) t-shirts all weekend. Did anyone spot me?

[NoSanninWa]

You were the guy in the gmail T-shirt at the fansubber suite?

[teh_suck]

Originally Posted by NoSanninWa

You were the guy in the gmail T-shirt at the fansubber suite?

Yes, that was me.

[Jonakr]

Originally Posted by teh_suck

I was wearing cat ears, headphones, and Google (or Google-related, ie. GMail, Blogger) t-shirts all weekend. Did anyone spot me?

I think I did. I might have tried (or maybe succeeded, I forget) to high-five you!

Edit: ha, I'm a moron, I didn't see the cat ears or headphones part

[BellaD]

So, who is going to this years Otakon (2006) ?? I might be if otakon is fun when one goes by herself , and do you have to register ? is it possible to just go there and pay at the entrance ? << pls pardon my stupidity .


Ohh and sorry for posting here I just didnt want to create another thread..

[Roughy]

Originally Posted by BellaD

Is it possible to just go there and pay at the entrance ?

I think you can, costs ya more though, and i think they're capped to 25k this year. so if you come and they're full...you're not getting in.

Also, yup, im going ^^.

like $1300 for the plane ride there and back alone

[NoSanninWa]

Originally Posted by BellaD

So, who is going to this years Otakon (2006) ?? I might be if otakon is fun when one goes by herself , and do you have to register ? is it possible to just go there and pay at the entrance ? << pls pardon my stupidity .

As always, I am going to be there since it's the best anime convention near me. Though (as always) don't expect me to be using this name.

I think Otakon is fun by myself, but it is fun with friends also. I like it both ways. If you don't want to be by yourself, hopefully some people here will agree to meet up with you.

[TnAdct1]

Since Baltimore's about an hour away from where I live, Otakon is definitely on my summer schedule.

[Tofusensei]

Ladies and gentlemen,

(please put aside any comments about where I've been lately for another time :X)

As you may or may not know, Otakon is the premiere anime convention on the eastern seaboard and arguably all of America. Every year, plenty of us fansubbers organize a trip there which includes a fansubbing panel at the con, nights in luxury suites at a 5 star hotel, and more alcohol+snacks than should be consumed in one weekend.

The Fansubber Panel this year will be at 10PM on Friday in Panel room #3. You are all invited. You're allowed to throw things at me, just nothing too hard or heavy (cream pies, tennis balls, etc )

We do have plenty of room available for those who would like to come. All you need to do is get your butt to Baltimore, MD for the weekend of August 4-6.

The going rate will be $100, which includes hotel stays on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, as well as the best parties you'll ever find at an anime con. If you or anyone you know is interested in coming and partying with us, just let me know. You may PM me on here, IM me at Tofusensei on AIM, msg Tofusensei on irc.enterthegame.com, or send me an email at Tofusensei@live-evil.org

We will allow groups of people to stay with us, and I guarantee much fun will be had by all. I might even have to bring the karaoke machine again :X

See you there!

For more information on Otakon, go to the website at www.otakon.com

You really should pre-register at the site to secure a badge for the weekend. The current rate is $60.

Thanks!!

Please respond in this thread if you are going to the con. Even if you cannot stay with us, you're welcome to party

So who is coming?

-Tofu

[NoSanninWa]

Originally Posted by Tofusensei

As you may or may not know, Otakon is the premiere anime convention on the eastern seaboard and arguably all of America.

Extremely arguable, but it is significant enough that I won't point out its competition for the title.

Every year, plenty of us fansubbers organize a trip there which includes a fansubbing panel at the con, nights in luxury suites at a 5 star hotel, and more alcohol+snacks than should be consumed in one weekend.

Shame that Wiggim's specialty drink won't be there this year. Still, the sake was good. I can't really believe how many bottles of assorted boozes were consumed last year. Some might find the snacks a bit lacking, but the booze is not.

The Fansubber Panel this year will be at 10PM on Friday in Panel room #3. You are all invited. You're allowed to throw things at me, just nothing too hard or heavy (cream pies, tennis balls, etc )

Wow! That's very good news indeed! I can't wait to throw things at you! Ummm... actually the throwing things isn't the good news. The good news is that the panel is on Friday this year, instead of Saturday. The last two years you were running opposite the Masquerade on Saturday. I'll be very happy to be at the Fansubber Panel again. Three years ago I thought that the panel was just awesome. Of course that was just before I started fansubbing myself, so it was part of my induction. I wonder how different it will seem to me now that I'm part of it myself.

I might even have to bring the karaoke machine again :X

In case anyone is curious, that isn't a joke. Unfortunately he didn't bring karaoke last year, but it was kinda amusing in the past.

Please respond in this thread if you are going to the con. Even if you cannot stay with us, you're welcome to party

Last year I thought that the party was a bit too big and noisy, but it was fun. I'll certainly see you again.