Otakon 2010: Fan Panels
August 7, 2010
I have rarely been disappointed when attending a guest panel but few if any guests panels can cover the broad range of topics that the average fan panel can. You will find all levels of quality in fan panels but the good ones will teach you something while making you laugh. I have found that the large number of submitted panels usually let the panel selection committee pick the cream of the crop and give you some stand out lectures at Otakon. I know a good number of people who did not get panels this year (including myself) but I liked almost all the panels I saw so they obviously took great care in deciding what to pick.
Fan panels are a gamble, but one that often pays off especially at places like Otakon where people are vying for a panel slot so the competition is steep and so is the talent. I try to squeeze in as many fan run sessions as I can but it can be tough when there are so many guests. I feel like I attended so few panels this year, but all of them were good so maybe it worked out.
One of the most controversial panels this year was the You Don’t Like Moe – And Here’s Why! panel with Otaku USA’s original OGT and Pontifus. The panel attempted to give a high-level look at what moe is and why people hate moe as passionately as they do. The problem was most of the literary analysis terms were going over the heads of the audience; they needed more hand holding before being thrown into such academia. While talking down to the audience is patronizing likewise assuming everyone has a degree in literary theory in otaku culture is equally ineffective. But it did spawn some passionate debate at the end. We had a huge three and a half hour conversation on the bus ride home about the very topics brought up by the panel.
Over the weekend I attended two fandom specific panels The World of Sailor Moon: Countdown to 20 years and The Mecha Fan Panel. For the most part panels like these have a bad rap of being rather asinine displays where people just shout about what they like best, but both of these panels showed how to do it right. For Sailor Moon there was some brief information about the anime but then it went further into why reading the manga is great and how richly it stands against its more well-known TV counter-part. They also discussed the live action TV show that came out a few years ago and even showed a funny trailer for it set to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers theme song. Equally funny was the short clip they showed of Sailor Moon Abridged which succeed in making me check it out. A good portion of the panel involved back and forth conversations about the Sailor Moon revival currently in full swing in Japan and other places around the world and of course the hopes that the U.S. would join in. Interspersed throughout was some trivia and giveaways. On the completely other side of the spectrum, the Mecha panel was going strong with a condensed history of the genre and some of its well-known creators like Go Nagai and Tomino. I did have to laugh as Carl (of Ogiue Maniax) kept holding his tongue when they got a fact or two wrong but it was mostly minor. There was plenty of pleasant attack name shouting thrown in and overall the panel was spry and lively. These guys did the panel last year, but this time around they were much better prepared plus had visuals.
Otakon Bonus Round!
August 6, 2010
As if we didn’t have enough Otakon coverage we also did a short podcast for Anime3000′s Bonus Round about the Otakon trip. Also along for the discussion is Caleb aka One Great Turtle, blogger on Anime wa Bakuhatsu da! and all around nice guy. And prior to our appearance you can hear from Otakon press relations manager Alyce Wilson.
Bonus Round – 8/5/10 – Otakon: It’s Fantastic!
More Otakon 2010 posts:
Otakon 2010: Industry
Otakon 2010: General Impressions
Otakon 2010: Guests
Otakon 2010: Events
Otakon 2010: Fan Panels
Otakon 2010: Events
August 6, 2010
Otakon has more events on its roster than most from multiple concerts over the weekend to premieres of anime and all kinds of cosplaying in between there is more to do than you can shake a stick at. Some cons you have free time to spare, but not so for this year’s big east coast anime con. I’m not even sure it is possible to go to every single big event, I know I certainly didn’t, but I do have a run down of the few things I was able to scramble to over the weekend.
For the last couple of years Otakon has upped the ante on their Opening Ceremonies by including an original piece of animation produced from a major anime studio. It was doubly exciting to see Production I.G’s name attached to the 2010 project. This year’s theme was music so an original song was created for the short as well and the creators were in attendance. All that being said, the piece of animation itself was rather underwhelming. Otakon mascots Hiroko-chan and Hiroshi-kun battle it out in over the top Guitar Hero fashion culminating in taking on a monster. The animation starts off very storyboard-like with a sketchy feel which was much preferable to the Flash animation of the majority of the sequence. The song was a little more exciting though the vocals were being drowned out a bit. It really wasn’t a memorable opening sadly. However, having a majority of the guests in one place was a real treat and what the Opening Ceremonies is really about anyway. Home Made Kazoku really made their presence known as MC Micro sang a few bars and Hiroaki Yura Eminence’s founder was entertaining the audience with his wit and his amazing violin skills.
Otakon 2010: Guests
August 5, 2010
When it comes to guests, it is amazing just how many Otakon is able to pull out every year. Just when you think they’ve finished the list, the roster gets bigger. This year’s theme of music brought a lot of people including performers and composers. But not to be out done by their musically inclined peers (or younger) a number of talented people that make anime come to life where on Otakon’s already full to bursting guest list. From directors to voice actors and everything in between there was more than enough talent to fill every day. The Japanese guests always draw us the most for their unique perspectives on the industry and fandom plus of course their insights into the making of our favorite shows is second to none.
I consider the guest section the main entree of our conventions. It is where you get the meatiest information and experiences that can usually only be obtained at a con. Otakon staple Masao Maruyama brought a selection of guests from Madhouse including Hiroshi Koujina and Aniplex brought along the creators of Welcome to THE SPACE SHOW. These guests alone would make Otakon a guaranteed must see event on the east coast but we also got Yuji Mitsuya who was the hidden gem of the convention and sorely overlooked by most of the attendees. Takamasa Sakurai (our interview with him will be up at a later date) was a wild card guest but I was interested to see what he had to say if for nothing else he is not your normal guest. And those were just the guests I saw. There were over two dozen great talents I did not get to see and while Narutaki saw several guests I did not, we would have needed a team to cover all the people at Otakon this year.
