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.
Otakon came and went in an amazing and thrilling blur. I remember the highlights but the details even a few days later are still sort of fuzzy in my head. So in many ways this con report is just as much for me as it is for anyone reading it. This is my chance to sort out what I felt and what I did in my own mind because there was just so much information to process. I was almost always doing something. In fact, I wore myself out so much there was two or three times I just had to stop and nap or get food even if it meant missing out on something awesome. At first I was worried that there were not going to be any Japanese guests worth talking about but in the last few weeks before the con they pulled some great guests out at the last second and turned my perception of how great this was going to be right around.
Reverse Thieves 