Con Highlights and Loot

Not another Otakon 2007 post! Last Otakon post, promise. For all the things at the con that could have been run better, I still had a good time and was glad I made the trip. Most of the panels were amusing or interesting in some way and blowing lots of money on useless stuff in the dealer’s room is always fun.

Free mini pencil boards and Paradise Kiss postcard.

Panel Highlights

The most entertaining panels for me each year are the English voice actor panels. Far fewer people this year asked the annoying question about how to get into voice acting, so the panels really stayed fun most of the time. The guests could just tell stories and be funny. There’s always a few creepy questions asked by obsessed fans that earn a collective what the hell, but it’s funny to talk about it afterwards.

What turned out to be the most entertaining panel for me was the one I was a little skeptical about, The Vic and Steve Show on Friday, in Panel 4 (a big room), which was filled up. I like Vic Mignona and Steve Blum. I mean it’s Edward Elric and Spike Spiegel, but with a title like the Vic and Steve Show, it sounded like it could be a really lame panel. They both are just naturally funny people who have this talent for putting people at ease, so it flew by. Surprised by how funny Steve Blum could be since I know him for brooding characters. The real men of genius Otakon parody they did was funny. It was kind of surprising to listen to a couple of the younger teens break down into tears when asking Vic some questions. Like do they see Vic or are they really seeing Edward Elric?

I did manage to attend the costume design panel early Saturday to get a better idea on how to go about constructing a costume. Just more of a curiosity thing than something I plan on doing. Learned a couple of neat tricks.

Right After that I saw on the schedule a AAA panel, thinking it was for AAA Anime, the company that distributes figurines and other anime related goods in the US. Decided to hear what they had to say. I knew it probably wasn’t what I was thinking when there was like a line waiting to get in the door, but I figured what the hell and got in line anyway as it started moving as soon as I walked towards it. Little did I know it was for AAA, some pretty boy band. Thank goodness I had an aisle seat to quickly flee! The two girls in the band were gorgeous and didn’t mind catching an eyeful of them, but man I wasn’t staying for that.

5cm

I’m glad I got to see 5cm on a large screen, even if it was a DVD projection instead of a film reel (it was shown in the 35mm theatre, which implies film, right?).

Visually, it’s stunning, but that’s not really the good part. I found the “story” resonated inside me quite strongly and still does right now as I think about it, or more like feel it in me in the gaps between my thoughts. Maybe it’s got a limited appeal, because a few of the people around my sister and I didn’t seem to think much of it when I eavesdropped on their conversations. I did get the feeling everyone at the very least found it to be pretty.

I don’t know. Maybe I’m projecting too much of my own experience into it. I think nearly died when the second one passes, revealing how fragile it can be.

Jennifer Sekiguchi

Normally, I’m not one to get autographs. I’m not one of those people who scoff at getting autographs or being a fan of a person, it’s more of a practical argument for me. What the hell am I going to do with that piece of paper? Stick it in a box somewhere where I’ll forget I ever had it?

Wahoo signed figure! Now I just need Wendy Lee to sign Haruhi and Michelle Ruff to sign Yuki.

Jennifer Sekiguchi voices Mikuru in the English version of Haruhi. I never ordered the MaxFactory Mikuru and have Haruhi and Yuki, so naturally I was under a cosmic obligation to fill the gap in the SOS Brigade and get Miss Sekiguchi to sign the base for me, so I bought a Mikuru on Sunday morning and climbed out of the dealers room and got in line for the voice actors autograph session. The Sunday autograph session got cancelled after waiting in line for an hour due to schedule miscues where most every voice actor was unable to attend. So they dumped us at the end of the Funimation line to get the sigs of Vic Mignona and Aaron Dismuke (Ed and Alphonse Elric). It looked like my plan was doomed and screwed out of seeing what Eminence was about. Getting the Elric brothers to sign some FMA stuff would have been cool too, but I’m a figure collector damnit and my shot down Mikuru plan took me out of the mood.

After standing in line at the Funimation booth for ten minutes, I left, bummed walking around with a Mikuru I didn’t really need to buy that day. Lucky for me I spotted Jen Sekiguchi at the Geneon booth now that the English VA autograph session was cancelled. Got her to sign the Mikuru base and some Paradise Kiss (which she directed) postcards and a Girls Bravo (voiced Kirie) pencil boards for me and my sister, who was happily listening to Eminence. Sekiguchi is total class and I’ve been a fan of her character portrayals for a while.

Loot

Uma from Magical Pokan

Every year I start out slow and am a very good boy and being tight with the wallet, getting only the things I planned to get, and not buying any impulse items. I got Max Factory’s Uma from Magical Pokan as a planned purchase for $40. Ha! Guess they were just trying to get rid of her. After that, I wasn’t too good. The only other intended purchase was Sweet Dreams from Shunya Yamashita, which wound up being the very last thing I bought on Sunday.

In previous years, I had gone absolutely nuts with pins and keychain charms. I still have about a dozen keychains, charms, and cell phone straps that I have nothing to attach to from last year. I was limiting myself to three pins, since I actually had room for those on my messenger bag. Didn’t blow that limit too bad with four pins and one charm, which was Mai, one of my favorite characters. That Ed pin is too damn cute.

Ed from Cowboy Bebop, Haruhi, Fuu from Samurai Champloo, Kotoko from Chobits, and Mai Tokiha

Cute Cinnamoroll pen, notebook, stapler, hole punch, tape dispenser.

I also collect Cinnamoroll items, which at the con I can only find at the Media Blasters booth. The Media Blasters booth cracks me up. They’ve got half of it covered with their anime dvds, the other half plastered with their hentai, and there’s one small section with cute Sanrio trinkets like Cinnamoroll two steps away from tentacle porn. Awesome!

Rounding out the artbook front picked up Noizi Itoh’s F.tw, which is definitely for the win. I’ve seen most of the book already, but I like having it in print. The third of Kozue Amano’s Aria (and other) works is more of the same, but it’s stuff I love. And I don’t know what it’s called but I also picked up a collection of pinups from various artists with a Tony Taka cover and another pin-up inside.

Two of my faves.

Ecchi goodness!

And I almost forgot, a Saber mousepad.

So cute.

In the End

In the end, I’d do it all over again, though I’d take a few more pictures of cosplayers and try to meet people I recognize from their blogs or message boards.