Otakon 2004 Baltimore, Maryland Photos: 236 Date: July 30-Aug 1 2004 Where: Baltimore Convention Centre Attendance: 20,000+ Cosplay: Excellent Events: Excellent Socialising: Good Movies: Excellent Guests: Excellent Artist's Alley: Very Good Dealer's Room: So-so Dance: Very Good Overall: Excellent Reviewer: Hidoshi

Baltimore Heats Up

Otakon is the largest anime convention in North America, having trounced AnimeEXPO's attendance figures. This year marked my second visit to its doors, and man was the convention hot. Lots of good cosplay, lots of bad, many mediocre panels, but plenty of good ones. The environment was friendlier too, as were the people, many of which were excited about the special guests to the convention: L'arc~en~Ciel.

L'arc's performance was going down Saturday, and it was a "Free" concert, given that you were attending Otakon. A huge J-rock band in Japan, their North American showing excited many fans, and while I didn't attend, I was privy to many stories about the excellent -- and humorous -- events at the concert. Especially notable was Tetsu, the bassist, screaming "Do you like crap?!". Well, he meant "crab", but it just didn't sound that way.

The concert aside, Otakon itself was one heck of a show. I've been to enough conventions that I only rarely attend panels or masquerades, but there were two major items of note. The first was the drawing panel, divided into a 'contour' session on Saturday, and a 'gesture' session on Sunday. If you didn't attend these, you should have. The most important rule of drawing anime is to learn how to draw real things first, to learn the basics of actual art. Anime is just a style after all, and that thought was expressed extremely well at the panel. It's about time someone did a panel like this, and I'd like to bring such a thing home to Anime North.

The second item wasn't a panel so much as an event: Otaku Idol. If I may be honest for a moment: To any convention planners who run something like this, don't let the audience judge. Talented people lose because the audience is more concerned with instant gratification and traditional concepts, and less so with actual talent. Otaku Idol wasn't bad, but the audience judges made very poor decisions. I hope next year will see better planning.

The convention was run very well overall. I'm impressed with Otakon's staff. If there was trouble, it was taken care of immediately. If there were any problems, the staff was immensely helpful and prompt. Of any convention I've attended so far, Otakon's staff was the best. Kudos to everyone who helped out, including the DJs who ran an excellent dance. Next year however, a little more musical variety would be appreciated. Three hours of techno and dance is a little much. And to those attending the dance: If you're going to be there, participate. Don't just come to the dance and stand around. Even the 'circles' could stand to move a little more. If you're embarassed, don't be. Everyone there is just out to have a good time. They're not going to judge or make fun of you.

Summarily, I had a lot of fun. I got to meet Hawk, Emily, and Ananth from Applegeeks, and caught up with Ian and Matt from Mac Hall. I also met quite a number of IRC regulars from #applegeeks, and met Joy, Naku, Christian, and Pontus, who were all kinds of cool. The convention was well-run, the panels and events were excellent, and the people were friendly. I'd like to thank Dave especially for putting me up on Sunday night when the Wyndham fouled up my hotel reservations.