On the bus to #Otakon city! (aka Baltimore.)
— Saber Fan # 1 (Disputed) (@hisuiRT) August 8, 2013
My hope was to get out of NYC before it rained and we did! Happy travels! #otakon
— thus spoke kate-san (masked+vaxxed) (@narutakiRT) August 8, 2013
Tag: Otakon
Otakon 2013: Let the 20th Anniversary Celebration Begin!
(note: No Ongoing Investigations, Type-Moon Weekly News Round Up, or All Points Bulletin this week.)
20 Years of Otakon? As if it wasn’t exciting enough every year anyway! They’ve pulled out all the stops to bring as many guests as they could pack in. There are also a load of concerts, screenings, and events that aren’t to be missed.
As always, we’ll be covering as much as we can running around the convention center day and night. Do stop us to say hello though! And be sure to attend Alain’s panel on Saturday evening: Kill ’em All and Let Sunrise Sort ’em Out: A Yoshiyuki Tomino Panel.
Pre-Otakon Podcast
Our tentative panel schedule:
Friday:
10:00 – Maid Cafe Show
11:15 – We Con Therfore We Are: Fandom, Convergence, and a Critical Look at the Modern Otaku
11:30 – The Real Life of a Manga-ka: Behind The Scenes of Rurouni Kenshin Panel
01:45 – West to East: Anime Adapations of Western Literature Panel
01:45 – Outsider Anime Panel
03:00 – A Study of Heroines: Compassion and Courage in Revolutionary Girl Utena and Madoka Magica Panel
04:15 – Suwa, Tachikawa, & Anime Mirai Q&A
05:30 – Anime Industry: The Before Times Panel
06:45 – Anime Amazons Panel
08:00 – Mystery Anime Theater 3000 Screening
09:00 – Otaku Game Show
10:30 – Live Action Anime: An Examination Panel
Saturday:
09:30 – I Love the 80s: Anime Edition Panel
10:15 – By Fans, For Fans: 20 Years of Holding On For Dear Life Panel
12:00 – Kanbe Q&A
01:15 – How Being Asian Got Me in Trouble Panel
01:15 – Vertical Inc. Panel
02:30 – Maruyama & MAPPA Q&A
03:45 – The Ghibli Girls Tribute Panel
04:00 – T.M.Revolution and Home Made Kazoku Concert
04:45 – Anime Mythology: Giant Robots & Superheroes Panel
07:30 – 45 Years of Shonen Jump: A Visual History Panel
07:30 – The One Piece Podcast Panel
08:45 – Kill ’em All and Let Sunrise Sort ’em Out: A Yoshiyuki Tomino Panel [This is Alain’s panel]
10:30 – Manga Gamer Panel
11:15 – ANNCast Live Recording
Sunday:
10:00 – Panel to the West
11:15 – Ace Attorney All Stars Panel
01:00 – Yoko Kanno Concert
03:00 – Con Feedback Session
OK, Three, Two, One Let’s JAM Project
Due to a combination of factors I missed out on going to Otakon in 2008 and therefore I missed the JAM Project concert. I regretted not going because it really did feel like I missed one of my very few opportunities to see JAM Project live. And JAM Project rocks pretty hard so it felt like a real loss especially considering how many positive reviews there were of the concert. But for Otakon’s 20th anniversary they decided to start pulling out all the stops even before 2013 by announcing the first Otakon Music Festival this year with three very special guests. The opening acts were Natsuko Aso and Faylan. I can’t say I really knew either singer apart from Faylan doing the opening to Canaan. But the headliner was obviously the band that would let me rectify my poor choice years ago.
Reverse Thieves 