Otakon 2002 was some of the most fun i've ever had. Mostly i wanted to go to meet some web comic artists, but i was also interested in the gaming. I'm not much of an anime fan. Anyhoo...
Otakon was first brought to my attention by a friend i used to work with at the library (he quit about a week after we met; job too boring). His name was Brad. In an odd coincidence, he's the same guy to got me into MegaTokyo and web comics in general. That's all in the "About" section though...
My brother and I decided not to preregister. In retrospect, that might have been a good idea. The pre-register line was very short. And i heard the "non-pre-register" line was just as short last year. It seems to alternate. Hmm...
The night before Otakon, a friend of mine, Theo Meyer, contacted me on AIM asking me for a ride to Otakon. "Yeah, right, like my Dad's gonna plan to pick someone up with this late notice?" But he was so sincere, i asked my Dad. He sounded surprisingly linient. Luckily, Theo only lived about ten minutes from me. So, we did indeed give Theo a ride to the first day of Otakon.
Anyway,
DAY ONE: Friday 26th
Theo, my brother Thomas, and I got to the Baltimore Convention Center at about 7:30. We planned to get there at 7:00, but we had trouble finding Theo. When we got there it damp, like it had just rained. "That's a bad sign", i thought. I could not have been more correct. my Dad dumped us off at the BCC and were there in the LONGEST LINE IN THE WORLD (this is a sly refrence to Ian J's comic about Otakon 2000)!! "Well, okay, at least it's not hot", i thought. Geez did i ask for it. About two minutes after waiting in line it starts POURING! I don't mean rain, i mean a downpour! And so, for the next 45 minutes we were stuck in the rain. Occationally the line moved a little bit for some reason. Fortunately, there were a few humerious events to aid the pain. One was a poor cosplayer with a Red Robot costume which consisted of several cardboard boxes. This poor sap was stuck in the rain with his costume falling apart and nobody could help themselves from laugh. It was pretty darn funny for some reason. The other helarity was some guy next to us in line. At one point he tried using his backpack as an umbrella. That proved to be a poor move when his right arm was suddenly covered in black ink. "What the hell?" is all anyone could say. He put the backpack on the pavement and rinsed off his hand as best he could in the rain. A few minutes later the line moved again. He moved his backpack and under it was a large black puddle of ink. They just don't make backpacks like they used to.
Well, once we got out of THAT line, we were stuck into ANOTHER LINE! But at least this one was indoors. Everyone was soaked, of course. There was some guy walking around handing out paper towels, which didn't help much. We needed blowdryers. Unfortunately, the bathrooms were not equipped with them. They handed out registrasion cards for us to fill out. Theo got his hands on a bunch of extras and entertained himself by filling them out with random people and leaving them in his wake. Such cards were filled out as Cthulu, Adesh Francis (yes, the guy who works on this site), and Tchicouski (the pianist, i can't spell).
ANYWAY, lemme fastforward to the good stuff. We finally got to the point where we had to decide on a card design. If you went you'll know what i mean. Theo chose the design of the guy in the yellow and red jacket or whatever. Thomas chose the one of (as he put it) "giant robots with lightsabers". I, being the most keen on symbolism and theme, i chose the one of the woman with the gun and the watch. I thought it looked nifty. Actually, when i chose it i didn't know about the gun.
All right!! Now we were in! Badges equipped, we could roam the BCC freely. Immediatly after getting our badges lamenated and chained we saw the Red Robot guy again. His boxed were actually okay, if duct taped excessively.
Well, we wandered around for a while; we couldn't really do much. it was about 10:00. The Dealers Room and Artist Allery did open until 12:00 and the Gaming Room at 3:00. We slipped in and watched the last five minutes of a MegaMan show. It was pretty bad. We left shortly. We then watched a few music videos. Theo and I stood in the back. Thomas was too lazy and had to sit down. One music video had the song "Only Time" by Enya. That got my attention since it's one of my favorite Enya songs. There was also one video which was only game CGs. I'm not into anime much at all so this was more my thing. After a few videos, Theo and I wondered where Thomas had gone. After two seconds of searching we gave up and left without him.
For the next couple hours Theo and I just wandered around. I was taking pictures of cosplayers like mad. Besides that, nothing interesting happened.
Once the time hit noon, Theo and I moseyed over to the Dealers Room. This is when things get fun. There, I met up with Brad (i mentioned him earlier) and his comrads. They were equipped with Walkie-Talkies. A cool idea. Also, Brad was cosplaying Largo of MegaTokyo. His costume consisted of a "L33t M3" Shirt, a grey jacket, and a "L33t Z0mbi3 Gun". The gun was just a black plastic toy gun written on with white out.
Also at the Dealers Room, i found a very special cosplayer. A Ness cosplayer! I was kinda' surprised. We chatted and i got a picture of him (doing the classic "fuzzy pickels" pose). Apparently, i was only the second person to recognize his costume. But, even more amazing is that only a few minutes later i found ANOTHER NESS COSPLAYER! In the same room! Oddly, they were dressed EXACTLY THE SAME! But the second guy had a bat and yo-yo. He was just as amazed that i recognized his costume as the last guy. I told him of the other cosplayer and the amazments continued. Thus did my little quest of "Uniting the Nesses" begin. A bit later, i found the first Ness in the Dealers Room again and told him of the second Ness. both were very keen on finding their counterpart. I helped 'em out by directing them in the right direction. I'll talk about these guys again; it wasn't the last time i saw them...
Sheesh, enough of that. Here's the lowdown on what i bought. First i got the MegaTokyo "Capture the B34r" Poster. That was kewl. The only other thing i bought was a doozy. A $100 TAI CHI SWORD! It is freakin' awsome. It was made by Paul Chen, who's apparently THE weapons dude these days. It's a spring steel blade and about 3'. It's NICE. And i got a good deal. Seriously, if this thing went on E-Bay, it could go for thousands. Well, maybe...
Theo and I then met up with Thomas again. but we ditched him again about ten seconds later. Then it was Theo's turn to buy stuff. He got a couple of Ninja swords: a Tanto (knife) and Wakizashi (short sword). They were made in China, which is decient. At least they weren't made in Pakistan (here's a hint on weapon buying: if it says a country on it it can range from bad to decient; a company: decient to very good; a freelance weaponsmith: good to awsome). Never buy anything with "Pakistan" written on it. Not to dis the country, but they're weapons are pretty bad (quality wise). Theo also bought a wooden Tai Chi practice sword. That was kinda' nifty, but i have no idea WHY he bought it.
Now that we had a bunch of stuff to lug around, Theo and I left to the Artist Allery. I was a little dissapointed. I found one out of four web comic artist i was hoping to meet. That one was Jeorge "Vaz" Rivas. We chatted for a while. He said i was about the only one who knew him as the artist behind Underpower. He drew me an awsome sketch of the Elf which i need to scan and show to you all. He also had some art up for auction. Last i knew, they were going for about $60 a pop. He also had some prints of them. I wish i got one. Oh well. I saw no sign of Ian and Matt, Piro and Largo, or Ian J.
For the rest of the first day, nothing much else happened. I played a lot of Super Smash Bros. Melee and kicked butt. I found the tournament to be rather amusing. There was to be one SSBM tournament that day. It was amazingly popular. The announcer said, approximatley, "Okay! SSBM applicants please line up single- HEY!!! SINGLE FILE LINE! GET BACK OVER THERE AND WALK OR THERE WILL BE NO TOURNAMENT!" I was rather amused, espessially since i wasn't in line.
When it got to be around 5:00, Theo and I were set to leave. Thomas was nowhere to be found. My dad had arrived and Theo and I were happy to dump our stuff. Fortunatly, Thomas had my Mom's cell phone and my Dad had his. My Dad called him up, barely able to get the reception. Apparently, he was in line to get autographes from the MegaTokyo gang. Also, my brother cannot count. With one call, he said there were 10 people in front of him. Ten minutes later, he said 9 were in front of him. We waited about 45 minutes for Thomas to get his poster signed and get a nifty sketch from Piro. Sigh, once he had arrived at the front enterance, we were on our way home...
DAY TWO: Saturday, 29th
Theo didn't go this time; he only got a one day pass, so it was just me and Thomas. This time my Dad just dumped us off at the enterance and we walked in. No lines THIS time!
Well, on this day, everything opened much earlier. But, it wasn't until long did i discover I FORGOT MY CAMERA!! I was very sad. But... Thomas had our Mom's camera and gave it to me. He was only interested in getting pictures of Nazi Nani MegaTokyo. I noticed he'd only taken two pictures on the first day, compared to my 17. Well, now that that was alliviated we parted and went alone.
Not much happened for a while. The next interesting thing was me playing a single game of DDR. In line, i chatted with some woman from New York. She was pretty nice, and had far more experience with DDR than me. I'd played only once before in a Canadian movie theater (that's another story). She frequents arcades. Needless to say, my ass was kicked.
While i was in the Gaming Room, i saw someone interesting. Remember the Ness cosplayers? Yep, i saw them again! I met the first again in another line for DDR. I asked him: "Have you found your counterpart?" he said: "No, not yet." Well, my quest of joining the two Nesses was not complete, and in an odd coincidence, I found the other one! Amazing! I told him the other was around in the same room. I directed him towards the DDR machines and went off ahead to tell the other.
That was the last i saw of them. I wonder if they ever met...
(Note: Actually, I can't remember if my meeting them the second time happened on the first or second day... D'oh!)
Well, most time passed, and i wandered around some more. For a while, nothing happened, but then i saw a familiar face! It was Sean Johnston, who i know from school. It was pretty funny how we met at Otakon. We were passing through the same door to the building with the Gaming and Art rooms. We both did a double take and said (almost in unison): "What are YOU doing here? I never expected YOU to show up!" Well, we wandered around together for a while. i had nothing else to do, and he was looking for his group of friends he came with. I'm not gonna write up our entire conversation, because i know you're not interested (i don't remember anyway). Almost immediatly after Sean and I parted, the best part of my day arrived...
It was then that i saw, at the enterance to the building were i met Sean, Ian McConville, Matt Boyd, and Vaz. Awsome! I quickly introduced myself and told them of mine own comic. I also told them i e-mailed them (they were none too surprised). I'd already met Vaz, but he didn't immediatly recognize me (i don't blame him). I then got some random guy to take a picture of me, Vaz, Ian, and Matt. I will treasure that forever. I hope i didn't scare them too much, but i was pretty excited... After that, the three said they were to go to the Artist Allery and set up. I complied and gave my regards. They then walked to the Art room.
I tried to make it look like i wasn't following them, but that's exactly what i did...
I should've just followed them directly...
Once i got into the Art room, i saw Ian and Matt at their table. They were already attracting a small croud. I fought my way through (i was probably being rather invasive, oh well) and greeted them again. ian was drawing sketches for fans, so i chatted with Matt. Matt Boyd goes to College Park, which is where Adesh and I may be going for college (hmm...). So, i asked Matt what he thinks of the place. He seemed quite proud of the place. I asked him what he knew about the computer science department. "It's quite strong" is about what he said. Odd, when i visited the college i was none too impressed with the place. 'Course, Matt is a journalism major. i should've been more specific. I'm interested in design and programming of video games. The college seems mostly equipped for robotics and research. Anyway, this ain't a college application.
Ian and Matt then mosied over to the MegaTokyo table. Wait a sec- the MEGATOKYO TABLE!! All right!! I dashed over there and got into a surprisingly small line for sketches and such. Sadly, this is where my story gets dissapointing. In the line, i met Largo. He was very very bored. He was pretty funny though and made the line seem even shorter. After Largo sat Ian and Matt. Yay! i could now get a sketch! But... Ian then drew a little sign that read: "Food + Ian/Matt = happy Ian/Matt" Yes, Ian and Matt went to lunch. D'oh!! I hoped i could catch them back tat the art room before Nazi Nani MegaTokyo. Anyway, i then met Kristen "Merekat" Perry. She was pretty cool and had some really nifty prints for sale. None seemed to spark any intrest in me though... Sorry Merekat! She was giving out prints of "Pirogoeth" for free, so i of course took one. I asked her to sign it and she did of course. After her was Piro and Dom (dun, dun, DUN!). Dom... Dom was even crazier than the legends had made him sound. The guy in front of me in line got a drawing from Dom of "Now for Something Completely Different: A Man.. in a Bikini!" VERY amusing. i also met Piro and told him what i tole Ian and Vaz. I told him of Conglomeration and that i e-mailed him. "I'm sure you did" he said. No kidding! Piro signed my new print too. It was then that Piro got a little restless. It was time for he and the rest of the crew to get ready for the panel. Because of this i couldn't get any sketch or drawing from either Piro or Dom. I was rather dissapointed. But i still had my signed print and that was better than nothin'. Worst of all is that Thomas had taken back the camera! This proved to be the worst thing of the day. i then went to where Nazi Nani MegaTokyo would be, not knowing it wasn't for three hours (i also forgot a watch). Okay people look, I feel like a freakin' dumbass. Here's why: when i got to the panel room, there were already two lines, one at each enterance. THREE HOURS EARLY!! I thought i might weasle my way through the front door and cheat (i still didn't know what time it was). Judging from Piro's anticipation i expected about a 30 minute wait. No way, d00d. I asked some guy what time it was. it was about noon. "Well, do i want to see this panel THAT badly?" i then realized that i had inadvertantly started a THIRD LINE! About ten people lined up behind me in mere minutes. "Well, i guess i can just stand in the back" i thoght. Jeebus, was i wrong! I didn't know they'd stop letting people in after a while. So i went from potentially having front row seats to now seeing it at all! I was NOT HAPPY! And that also meant i had to waste a few more hours. I got ripped off for a small lunch ($3 for a soda? what the hell?!).
Once the panel started i went back to the room and attempted to enter and just stand in the back. My soul was blown into tiny pieces by some guy holding up passes for the "backup panel" at midnight. I'd missed it. I gave up my front row seats for a lot of walking around and an expensive lunch. I declined the pass. There was no way i'd stay until midnight.
*SIGH*, the day started sucking badly. I then wandered around aimlessly, checking back at the art room for Ian or Ian J. To no evail...
During one trek back to the art room i saw one girl dressed up as Kidd from Chrono Cross. A very nice costume. I really liked Kidd anyway. Awsome, i gotta get a picture. i was then crushed by the fact that Thomas already took back his camera. AAARRGGGHH!! Nevertheless, i complemented her and in the sweetest voice i've heard, she simply replied: "Thanks!" I walked away kicking myself for forgetting my camera. My day was fully sucking at this point.
And yes, i've got a thing for female theives in video games. I have a poster of Rikku from FFX in my room. So what?
Also while wandering around, i found another friend i never expected to see: Ben Fan. Sean had told me before that he was here. We chatted. Ben had bought a bunch of anime stuff, including some action figures. I've known Ben for about a decade now, and he hasn't changed a bit. That's just the sort of thing he'd be into: anime action figures. Ben was just leaving when we met, so we gave our regards and parted.
Well, it took another hour after the panel was over for me to find Thomas. Jsut before i found him i saw a cosplayer of Fighter from FF1. The coolest thing was that he has "Sword Chucks" from 8-Bit Theater, one of my favorite comics. I instantly thought of one of Brain Clevenger's most helarious lines: "Sword-Chucks, yo!" So, if you saw a dorky white guy yell out "sword-chucks, yo!" in the halls of the Baltimore Convention Center on July 29, 2002, you now know that was me...
Then i finally found Thomas and we headed towards the exit. I thought of what i'd accomplished during the past two days. I'd met four out of five web comic peeps: Ian and Matt, Vaz, and Piro and Largo. But i hadn't seen Ian J. yet! NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
But wait! Could it be? Is it? It is!! As Thomas and I entered the main lobby Ian J himself walked right by us! If not for his trademark shirt we wouldn't have recognized him. Geez, was he in a hurry! Thomas and I ran after him calling out his name. Finally, with a hearty "IAN!!" from your's truly he spun around and saw us. We introduced ourselves and i told him pretty much what i'd told everyone else. I, being far less shy than Thomas, stole most of the conversation. After a minute we shook hands and he ran off again.
Well, the day ended on a good note. I'd met everyone i hoped to. For me, Otakon was over. Next year, i hope Adesh and maybe some more of my friends will go too. 'Course, none of them are anime freaks and none are nearly as into Japanise games as me. Adesh is most likely to go out of the rest of the Conglomeration crew. Oh well, i guess we'll find out next year.
