So continuing from part 1, here is part two of Otakon 2016.
Otakon Past vs Present
Over the years I’ve seen Otakon grow into something more than it originally was. Although the majority of the focus is still on celebrating Asian pop culture (anime, manga, music, movies, video games, etc and its fandom), general pop culture fandom has grown greatly as well. In the past Otakon around 2001-2002 was the place for me to see new or obscure anime I’ve never heard of. Today with simulcast streaming and digital downloads I can get info about and watch an anime series in no time, instead of waiting, possibly years for at least an official translation. The same can be said about manga. Online (not exactly legal) readers are everywhere, and with high speed internet and smartphones/tablets, there is an endless stream of options to access media. You would think with all of this new technology, anime screening rooms would be empty. But surprisingly many the screening rooms were full this year. I think one one the reasons, the premieres of new series or movies has helped. Crowds have ballooned to the point where Otakon outgrew the convention center. I remember my first Otakon in 2002 attendance reached 12,880 people. Fast forward to 2013 and it was 34,211 (2016 was over 29,000). Moving to Washington DC had to be done at that point.
Cosplay
As usual the cosplay at Otakon was great. There was a lot of variety, from the latest most popular anime/videogame series to a few classics. Again still focused on anime inspired costumes, but general fandom cosplay has increased. Thankfully there seems to be a decrease of internet meme inspired cosplay lol. There were a lot of photo shoots to attend in 2016, and I didn’t get a chance to go to everyone I wanted to as well as attend panels at the same time. Hopefully I can work out a better schedule in 2017.
Dealers Room
The dealers room was actually bigger this year with many more companies showing up to sell their products. I got a few dvd’s I’ve been trying to collect for years at a great price, though I only picked up one manga volume. I was also glad to see the free swag improved compared to 2013.
Artist Alley
This is becoming my favorite place to buy artwork. There was a ton of variety on display, like fan made posters, postcards, glasses cups, trinkets, etc.
Otakon Leaving Baltimore
As I said earlier this was also the last year of Otakon in Baltimore Maryland. Otakon 2017 with be in Washington DC. This comes with some pros and cons. The obvious pros being way more room for attendees, guest, event, less long lines, and possibly more/bigger concerts. Also a better metro system, and a bigger variety of restaurants to choose from.
But there are some cons. The first and arguably the biggest, is the overall cost of attending Otakon, travel and hotel cost. Both will be much more expensive and may turn off past attendees. Also DC at least for me cost a bit more to get to (by train) and takes longer to reach than Baltimore. Then there’s the overall feel of DC vs Baltimore. Otakon has become so synonymous with the city Baltimore Maryland itself that it would feel a bit weird starting out in a new place at least at first. Having said that, I feel 2017 will be a great year for Otakon and I will (hopefully) look forward to going this year.
