KyoKyo
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Posts posted by KyoKyo
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Met a guy on my UPS delivery route who runs a smoke shop. Talking to him one day when I delivered he mentioned how he was worn out from a busy weekend because he had a convention to go to. I casually said "oh, like some sort of tobacco industry con?" He hesitated before saying "no....uh an anime convention." I asked him was it Otakon. "....yes...." Once I broke the ice he went full on fanboy. It was pretty funny. I still see his car every now and then with a NERV sticker on the back and a Zero Two sticker with "WAIFU" written across her face.
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Honestly, 2021 is going to be another bust for anime conventions and as mentioned in other posts, I'll be impressed and pleasantly surprised if many of them come back at all. This pandemic has permanently changed the fandom and not for the better.
On 2/8/2021 at 9:58 PM, Zeeba Neighba said:And this will be because the guys now in charge are the ones who take DOCTORS seriously.
You mean Fauci, specifically....
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On 1/21/2021 at 7:34 PM, Daniel Perales said:
I hope I get vaccinated myself by then as well.
I don't plan on it unless I'm forced to in order to attend a convention and if that happens, then I might just ditch cons entirely. My job exposes me to covid hazards every day and I haven't had so much as a sniffle since this whole thing started. Both my wife and mother-in-law got it and were asymptomatic. I was tested and came back negative. Maybe I'm lucky and my cells are hard at work. Who knows.
I think the entire convention industry is going to undergo a massive "reboot" after this pandemic scales down. I personally don't think large fan-run cons like Otakon will survive in their current form, if at all, and the smaller ones like Nekocon will pick up the remains. I hope I'm wrong but it looks like the direction we're headed in.
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On 1/22/2021 at 5:07 AM, GasparAKAShiggitay said:
I've been wanting to hit up NekoCon as well since I have a friend in Newport News / Hampton Roads I could possibly stay with...
Nekocon is a great convention. It's a big small convention. Great facility and incredibly easy to access since the HRCC has a massive parking lot, free of charge.
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I'm sure many of you have received the email from Brooke Zerrlaut about the future of Otakon. The prognosis certainly doesn't sound positive but I'm wondering if there are any long-term plans to reboot the convention in the future if the con does in fact permanently close its doors in its current form. It seems many large fan-run conventions will not make a full recovery from this and the con industry in general is going to take a massive hit, especially those like Otakon that will potentially lose 2 years worth of attendance. (Others like Katsucon were lucky enough to squeeze in before the 2020 shutdowns.)
It seems like many big staples of the con scene will either be permanently shut down or have to restructure or downsize. I'm hoping Otakon makes a full recovery as my group has been going since 2004 but I'm not entirely optimistic.
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On 1/13/2021 at 1:11 AM, Daniel Perales said:
I'm thinking the same as well. I mean, AnimeNEXT already announced they're going to have an "Online" convention this year because the Atlantic City Convention Center is going to be used as a vaccination "mega-site" at the time the con supposed to be held. I speculate that this can also happen to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center as well.
At this point I'm hoping for Nekocon in November 2021 and that's it. I haven't bothered to register for Otakon and I doubt I will just to be disappointed again.
In regards to the vaccination "mega-site" I'm predicting a repeat of last year where the WWCC was "Desperately needed" as a field hospital then wound up sitting empty.
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I'll be happy if there's an Otakon at all this year...
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Honestly I plan on waiting until well into the New Year to try and pick one up. I've got a list of Ps4 anime titles that I've been wanting to play anyway. I went 10 months before getting a Ps4 all those years ago. However, the way Sony handled the whole pre-order launch was a total disaster. I'm not really sure what they were thinking (or not thinking).
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I have every badge starting from way back in Otakon 2004 and I have an old T-shirt from Otakon 2005. I have programs from the past 6 or so years. My older ones were sadly lost during a mass attic cleanout.
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Harborplace seems indicative of the current economic state of both malls and Baltimore in particular. Sad to see how its declined in the 30 years I've lived in MD.
Send in Manny Khoshbin to fix it up!
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Man I feel old watching these and they only go back to 2013.....and I've been going since 2004...
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Snagged the Marriott Marquis! woohoo
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I mean it was bound to happen. Miku Expo DC was in the heart of covid-19 territory in PG county. With all the turmoil this year, it's probably for the best anyway. Here's hoping Nekocon in November goes on, but I doubt that too.
On 6/10/2020 at 12:24 AM, Daniel Perales said:You just had to say it:
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Looks like all the good stuff is taken. Guess I'll check sometime after Labor Day.
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Miku Expo in DC will be next on the chopping block
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10 hours ago, .taro. said:
We do have people exploring various options for ways to get you opportunities to help support us with things like limited edition 2020 merch. We'll also be looking into re-opening member registration so if you missed the early bird rate, you'd be able to lock in 2019's rate for 2020. Nothing official to announce yet, but keep your eyes out.
It would be cool if you guys had some limited 2020 merch available at other cons later in the year or into next year at the booths you usually set up.
I typically attend Nekocon in the beginning of November and you guys typically have a booth there. I'm saving all my "lost 2020" merchandise.
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So DC is planning on using the WWCC as an alternate care facility into August? If it gets to the point where they're actually using it that late into the summer, we'll have more problems than just cancelled anime cons.
Personally I feel that Otakon and Events DC is playing it on the safe side. I'm going to be in DC the first week in August. I'll be curious to see if the convention center is actually being used or will be standing empty.
Hopefully Otakon can recoup some of the financial losses such as facility expenses etc.
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Even if things start to clear up, Otakon is a poster child for a coronavirus "resurgence." 30k people all packed into a confined area right as a pandemic is winding down, I can't imagine DC allowing such an event to take place. Looks like the rescheduled Miku Expo is the next thing to look forward to. It's sad. It's like 2020 never happened. Wasted spring, wasted summer.
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Honestly I will be pleasantly surprised if Otakon actually happens this year. Even if the pandemic begins to subside by the summer, there is still a huge risk factor and a chance of a temporary resurgence of the illness as people begin to go back to their daily lives and interact with one another. For now I'm banking on Nekocon in November.
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Go check out Somali and the Forest Spirit. It's almost finished airing on CR and the dub is on episode 5.
Also...
Oresuki
Fate/Zero
Fire Force
Interviews with Monster Girls
Yurucamp
(just a few of the top of my head)
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On 7/30/2019 at 11:39 AM, RFS said:
The Imperial Family: A Closer Look [F] - Probably the worst public speaker I saw this weekend which is a shame since the subject matter was really helpful. He couldn't go more than 4-5 words without saying um and ah or uh, which I get. Public speaking isn't for everyone, I get that, but don't speak in a normal speaking tone and then put crazy amounts of emphasis on uh, almost to the point of shouting. For instance, he was talking about the royal family and said, "So he married, UM, and had 5 concubines, UH, and like, had 7 kids."
I think I know who you're talking about. Pretty sure he did a Kancolle panel at Katsucon last year and drove my wife up the wall with the uhms. I think he may have also co-hosted the beer in Japan panel this year.
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9 hours ago, Kui Shanya said:
- Lack of industry presence, the worst aniplex panel I've ever seen. Really irritates me how every company basically ignores the east coast entirely when I always remember all of their exclusives selling out by Sunday
- Bluefin pulling out two weeks before the convention is actually garbage. Again not Otakons fault, but really embarrassingly unprofessional from bluefin and felt like a hole in the dealers room experience for me.
I've been going to Otakon since '04 and have watched as the industry presence has slowly diminished over the years. I remember the days in Baltimore when Geneon was still around and they had an enormous Hellsing photoshoot set and Funimation had a sign the size of a car hanging from the ceiling. It seems that the move to DC has further diminished their presence. The industry hardly makes a showing at even smaller east coast cons nowadays.
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6 hours ago, mellow-osity said:
So, I'm seeing alot about the food policy, but did anyone personally have food taken off of them? I walked in every day with a Starbucks coffee, a few granola bars, one day with a wrapped up subway sandwich with chips, and a couple tangerines. From this explanation, I figured that's why they were so lax about it:
The policy was unevenly enforced. I saw some people being told to discard their gatorade bottles and small snack bags while others like myself were allowed to come in with mini Dasani bottles, beef jerky, granola and other stuff.
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The Good: The line management and overall logistics were massively improved this year. Staff were courteous and informative and it didn't take us very long to figure something out if we were unsure or lost. The autograph line was massively improved for this year. It's typically been an Otakon tradition that something goes wrong with the autograph line but I was surprised how smoothly things were handled
The Bad: I was disappointed with the focus on hip hop this year for the musical guests. This isn't necessarily bad rather its not my preference but I was hoping for a greater variety of acts this year. I really miss Aun and Hide.
The Ugly(ish): The food. I felt that the prices were either up this year or that the portions were down relative to price since the WWCC switched vendors. I know you guys can't control that but a bag of chips, a nigiri tuna sandwich and soft drink cost as much as the gourmet burger meals at Capital Burger across the street. My other problem was the no outside food or drinks policy. This policy seemed to be unevenly enforced and I was really disappointed to see it enacted at all. I understand the WWCC doesn't want you to order 30 boxes of Papa Johns to the convention center, but I think the policy could be detrimental to con-goers on budgets, with families or with medical conditions. You could literally go broke just staying hydrated with the $5 bottles of water the vendors were selling. I was lucky and brought in granola bars, small Dasani bottles and beef jerky and wasn't stopped but I saw some people being told to remove gatorade, chips and other small snacks.
4 hours ago, Tachibana said:The situation with the Women in Anime panel. Ugly enough for its own thread.
I'm wondering if Erika Harlacher is on the shyer side. I noticed at the video games VA panel Stephanie Panisello and Ellyn Stern seemed to dominate the conversation while Jen Cohn and Richard Epcar said a few things while Erika didn't say a whole lot unless directly asked.
Will Otakon cancel again this year (2021)?
in General Chit-Chat
Posted
Governor Hogan is lifting many if not most of the COVID related capacity restrictions for restaurants and businesses in Maryland. Large venues like convention centers will be allowed back up to 50% capacity effective March 12th. I'm wondering how soon DC will follow suit. With thousands of national guardsmen and steel fences around much of the capitol, I'll be pleasantly surprised if Otakon goes off this year. Too bad it isn't in the BCC this year...