I went to Otakon for the first time this year. I went to Katsucon earlier this year which was my first anime convention. I had heard of Otakon before but I finally decided to attend this year because I am worth it. I was told it was large (it is), that many people will attend (they did) and a good number of people will come in costume (they did). I also have a collection of some great photos in another blog I just posted here and the complete collection of photos is going up on Facebook.
I did not wear a costume unless you call a black T, black jeans, black shoes and a pair of mirrored sunglasses an outfit. I call it my normal attire. I could also call it the Corinthian from "Sandman" by Neil Gaiman but I would never be so bold.
The Baltimore Convention Center held the convention this year and the convention drew over 30,000 people. While this may considerably less than the San Diego Comic Con or Dragon Con, it was still very large to me.
People did come in costume, these cosplayers, The costumes range from anime characters to movies and TV to video games to superheroes. One great thing about coming here and seeing one of your favorite characters is being able to squeal in delight. No one gives that a second thought here as it is appreciated. Doing this in an office building would elicit a completely different response. Yes, I got very excited when I saw two people who came as Zatanna.
Friday I ran around like an over caffeinated hummingbird taking lots of pictures. I am fortunate they did not break out the tranquilizer gun. Saturday I wised up. I realized I have a chance to get pictures taken with superheroes. So I took a picture of the character and then asked if I could have one taken with them.
Most of the pictures have me with dark glasses due to the flash. When I moved to a room with enough light that a flash was not needed I was able to see myself without the glasses. I realized that I needed to keep the glasses on.
This leads to my next point. The cosplayers are great people. They never said no to a photo request and many had poses prepared for the pictures. They even smiled when pictures were demanded (I do not know why people would demand a picture). Demanding is always such a good idea.
So I have a good number of pictures of superheroes and characters from my favorite video game, "Final Fantasy". There were many cosplayers and I could not catch them all.
Waiting in line is a guarantee at Otakon but this has a benefit. You can see many people passing by and you can get a lot of photo opportunities this way.
If I never hear the phrase "Marco, Polo" again it will be too soon.
There was a lot of enthusiasm here and a lot of jokes
1) Me: Hey, I just saw a Dalek over there.
The Doctor: Excuse me, I have to take care of something.
2) Me: Mr. J did you wrong.
Harley: That is why I am with Red now, silly.
I am glad I went. The pageantry itself made the whole thing worthwhile. I made new friends, have lots of pictures and new artwork
Comments always welcome.
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