Otakon 2008 Review- A Cosplayer’s Perspective.
This past weekend was the 15th annual Otakon convention, held at the Baltimore Convention Center in Maryland. With over 25,000 attendees in count, the convention itself pulled out all of the stops. And for this little cosplayer from New Jersey, it was as good as she remembered it.
Cosplaying at Otakon can be incredibly fun but a little tricky as well. People come from all over the country to cosplay at this event, so it is a great time to meet others and network. Because of the convention’s sheer size in numbers, this is also the time to see works of grand and amazing proportions. There are those who are willing to pull out all the stops for the hall contest and masquerade, bringing out some of the most detailed costume work that has been seen in a while.
Unfortunately, because of incidents in the past, Otakon cracked down on their weapons policy. No guns and oversized weapons were permitted within the con center, therefore putting a damper on a lot of people’s plans for costumes. (including some of my own. No Resident Evil for this con) The actual convention center security was incredibly rude and was quick to snap at people if they didn’t hear or understand them the first time. If someone was asked for a photo and they stood in the wrong spot for too long, the security would be quick to bite their heads off, making both the cosplayer and the photographer either angry or annoyed.
Speaking of the small annoyances of the convention, let’s discuss the weather situation. According to one of my friends who was a staffer, there were more cases of dehydration and heat sickness reported at this con than ever before. Friday and Sunday proved to be the worst out of the two days, with temperatures in the high 80’s. Because of this, loads of cosplayers (including myself unfortunately) fell victim to the heat and missed a good portion of the convention. Just goes to show that your health has to come first before your cosplays.
One of the main events for cosplayers and con-goers alike is the masquerade event held on Saturday night. Now, like all masquerades at various conventions, there are the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to skits. Because I was helping out friends with their skit, I got to sit back and watch a majority of the masquerade for myself.
In total, there were forty skits. And within that number, almost fifty percent of them were Yaoi related or dance numbers. Granted, I am all for a fantastic dancing skit once and a while, but not one after another after another. And the yaoi? Forget it. It was old the first time I saw it and has continued to just grow on my nerves. I know fangirls adore it, but it’s just the same idea over and over again. In my personal opinion, keep it to the fanfiction kids. The audience and the judges are tired of it. And I speak from personal experience.
But within the bad, there was the good. Skits such as the Flute playing Link, Enchanted at Otakon, Clover Music Box, The Broaden Your Horizons Skit, Not Another Hare Hare Yukai Dance, and The Final Fantasy Purgatory Skit were like breathes of fresh air into the stale and long line-up. While some had dancing in them, it was well-done and very thought out. The comedy was cute and clever and made the crowd generally laugh out loud. For those few skits, it made the wait in between each very well worth it.
Overall, Otakon did a fantastic job at making sure that there attendees had a grand old time. I know on a personal level that I had a great time this year. Despite being sick on most of Friday, it was one of the better Otakons I’ve been to in the past eight years and I look forward to returning next year.
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