Cruithne - Talec's Otakon 2004 Report Page 2

Otakon 2004

| Page 1 - Costume Creation | Page 2 - Friday | Page 3 - Saturday | Page 4 - Sunday |

First day of the con! We actually had set out the day before, stopping at a random motel somewhere over halfway toward Baltimore for the night. We had lunch at a random Pizza Hut that was part of a strip mall and admired its spiffy decor, and then trekked off in search of the Marriott we'd be staying at! (Expensive? Oh yes...)

Once we got everything into our room (very easy to find, located at the end of a hallway XD), we... milled around. Didn't know where the convention center was, didn't really want to wander in the uber heat+humidity. :D; We ended up following a costumed woman (dunno who the costume was of), who inadvertantly (I think XP) led us to the Convention Center. (There was also a Kyoji cosplayer (he's from G-Gundam) in the same hall as us. That was really spiffy. :D)

After some difficulty (and the very long pre-registration line), we got our badges (there was some trouble with the registered names... I don't remember what it was exactly now, so I won't go in detail. 9_9), and walked all around the con!

We went looking for the REO group, and failed (they were all in the art room, which we didn't find until the next day), so we moseyed on over to the Dealers' Room and found lots of very cool and expensive stuff. I was particularly interested in the wallscrolls, manga, and model kits (ZOIDS! <3), but was surprisingly disintereted in the anime discs. O.o

After a while, I got a sugar drop (I get those a lot ;_; it sucks.), so dad and I trekked off to find a place with food. Dad, having had Bad Experiences with Burger King in the past, didn't want to go there.. so we went looking for the McDonald's that supposedly existed. As you might have guessed, we didn't find it (turned out the map was wrong), but we did find the very large Lexington Market. It's cool, but then I always like places like that. :3

After consuming sustenance (mmmm sustenance), we headed back to the hotel room, where we dropped off some stuff we'd acquired. I touched up my helmet a bit, and then wore it back into the convention. ^_^

We went to a voice actor panel! I only recognized Chris Sabat (many many many people, including Kuwabara and Vegeta), though. x_o
After that, the room presented a sub of a show that's marketed in the US as "Hare Guu". It's really funny and strange, and I keep meaning to look for it, but I keep forgetting to. XD;;

We also went to Otaku Idol, a karaoke contest. I really liked it (though the speakers could have been of a better quality X_X), and one of my online friends (I even recognized her, too, from photos of the previous year's Otakon XD) was competing and got to third place. :3

When we finally returned to the hotel for sleep, I of course wrote down a report of the day and played some Battle Network 3 instead. XD But yes! Had to get my folder all set for the tournament the next day!

There were so very many cosplayers. It was utterly awesome to me, since I'd only been to a small sci-fi/fantasy convention before, and those weren't costume-intensive. XD We photographed a bunch, but it was only a small fraction.

Each picture is linked to a larger version. Enjoy. :)

Jin, from YuuYuu Hakusho!	Voltron's back. :O	Signs were quite popular on Friday. :P
Wolverine, Cyclops and Gambit. :D Also a Cloud and someone else from Final Fantasy off to the side. :P	I did manage to find Commander Beef, but was too shy to say anything. :3;;	My character at M3 at that time was Gyro Man, so I couldn't resist getting a photo of this foodplace in the Lexington Market. (That face is mine, btw.)
Trying out my helmet. I wore it around it con for the night. :)	Helmet and gloves from the back.	Cloud from Final Fantasy 7 and someone else. (I haven't played the FF games, alright? XD)
Woman with a big gun. :D ~~Dunno what series, though.~~ From Hellsing!	One of many, many Inuyashas.