Otakon 20 is as good of a con for a turning point as any. It was as good as any Otakon for Yoko Kanno and Shinichiro Watanabe to return. In that sense it’s not special. But of course, because of these two people Otakon 20 (which is just the 20th Otakon, not the 20th anniversary–that’s next year) became something quite special.

I mean, this Otakon is like the “Hey Let’s Troll Japan with Premiers” con.

Piano Me – If there’s a Guinness World Record of # of anime nerds dropping jaws simultaneously, we might have beaten it. Okay, we probably didn’t–because the concert hall + simulcast room fits maybe 7000-8000 people tops, people had to get in line for tickets days prior, and it’s generally a pain in the rear. But man, it was a slice of Kanno Glory at its finest–whimsical, emotive and generally makes you want to stand and sing along. Invariably it brings back ALL THOSE FEELS from that magical Tanabata show from 2009. I’m surprised I didn’t cry. So when WAH shows off of being at that show, I actually get where he’s coming from, because Piano Me is directly related to that stuff. It’s a slice of Cho-Jiku Tanabata Supersonic. If I were to break down Tanabata Supersonic into parts, it would be like, there’s a “Macross Frontier” part (see: AX2010), and the creative art project piano part (see: Piano Me). There are other parts of course, like “Warsaw Philharmonic”  part or “Seatbelts” part or “crowd interaction” part or “music art project pt.2” part or “encore” or you get the idea. Tracklist here. I will probably go into details on this in a separate post.

OreImo S2 OAVs – Manabi didn’t throw a straight all right! But I think Otakon’s audience reacted honestly and appropriately. Fushimi got his response.

Space Dandy – Sure is dandy. Write-up here (by Sal) but I provided the assets. After Watanabe’s first panel, it was all Space and Dandy. I didn’t stay for the Q&A in his second panel but he went into details in the setting. There are a lot of jokes (think Beta tape in Bebop) in the setting. I also remember LOAE making a lot of jokes, which is kind of funny because I guess he does talk in a way that reflects how Watanabe thinks, except he doesn’t actually speak that way. Somehow there’s a glimmer of hope spotting Fushimi-sensei in Watanabe’s Sunday panel.

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Anime USA, thanks for all the fish.

I mean, it’s like mindblowing.gif.

Day 1 was pretty okay. Other than 600 people cramming into a line for 350 people in order to get the first batch of the Yoko Kanno/Chiaki Ishikawa tickets, everything went very well. I met up with most people that scattered my twitter follower list that were at the con between day 0 and day 1.

The panel I’m doing with WAH is actually in the BCC, Panel 4. I probably should fix that huh. Kawaiikochan’s Dave Cabrera will also guest to do some game content because Wah and I are not exactly gamers. It’s 7:30pm Saturday!

Yoko Kanno is still the sly cat that she always was. Could use more iM@S content. It’s kind of funny when some random blog reader (hey there) went up to a friend who was decked out in iM@S gear (he’ll be wearing a biking jersey tomorrow) and asked if he was omo. I guess the world is kind of all one? UNITY MIND.

OreImo was fun, and I’m glad we put that behind us. Yes, the sucker punch still has its sting in anime form.

This is the notes post for the Otakon panel Otaku Hotspots in Tokyo hosted by Wah over at Analog Housou and I! Featuring special guest Dave Cabrera!

You can download the presentation here.

Here are some of the links to what we talked about (and some that we didn’t). This post will be updated as the panel progresses (and afterwards…).

Now that the con is over, we’ll try to update this as soon as the post-con funk goes away~

Hotels

• R&B Ueno
• VIA Inn Akihabara
• Mystays – Asakusa, Ochanomizu

Arcades

• Taito HEY arcade
• Sega arcades
• Donkii Akihabara – good place to buy cheap glowsticks. Top floor is the AKB48 theater after the arcade floors.

Akiba Shops

• Kotobukiya Akihabarakan
• Trader
• Liberty
• Mandarake Akihabara
• Akiba Culture Zone

Akiba Foods

• Shatzkiste
• Little BSD
• A-Button
• Garten
• Jangara
• Manten Curry
• Marugo
• Good Smile Cafe

Akiba Others

• MOGRA
• DEAR STAGE

Others

• Ufotable Cafe
• Shibuya Mandarake
• Sunshine Theater Ikebukuro
• Odaiba stuff
  • Noitamina Shop & Cafe (Aqua City)
  • Gundam Stuff
  • Sega Joypolis Tokyo
• Koe Pota event listing

STC filmed the panel. Gee thanks!

Just the facts, ma’am. And some opinion and advice. I’d say this post may update but I got no time to do so, realistically speaking. [And ho, Update 1–Otakon lounge and booths][Update 2: oh boy new rules for concerts this year woooo whole sections out of the door][Update 3 added FUNi][Update for correct panel info]

The latest schedule (now a PNG). Just get it on Guidebook instead.

TM Revolution’s concert with Home Made Kazoku is at the Arena at 4pm on Saturday. TMR is also selling a special compilation CD at Otakon. See their booth in the dealer room. Details for the show here.

Yoko Kanno’s concert with Ishikawa Chiaki is at main events at 1pm on Sunday. Piano Me will probably need an advance lineup if you want to be in the live audience (and by advance I mean like, 9-10am), but [T]here is a simulwatch room as well for late comer types. I presume merch is also available in the dealer room, since there’s a booth for her. The concert will now require tickets. The tickets are available in limited quantities Friday and Saturday from 1-3PM, and Sunday 9-10AM. They are first-come first-serve (2 per person) at Sharp street lobby by Hall D. To go watch the concert live you will need a ticket. You don’t need a ticket for the simulcast. And you still have to line up for the concert as usual! Details here.

Good Smile Company is going to be at Otakon, at least sharing a booth with Daisuki. Goods TBD.

Daisuki will be doing their usual deal as per AX, booth and a panel. I assume Crunchyroll is doing the same thing, but it’s worth checking out if they’re doing any interviews with guests. Would be cool if Ishikawa showed up.

Aniplex is basically done with their Otakon plans. We have the charity poster, we have the OreImo event (and a poster giveaway there). There’s probably a booth autograph session since there’s only 1 con autograph session with the OreImo guests, and 2 con autograph sessions with the SAO ones. And of course they’ll be selling leftover AX merch. Adachi will be live drawing at the World of SAO panel.

The OreImo Premiere screening might or might not require a room clear. I hope not, because this way I can catch the Young Animator Showcase that goes before it. Well. Maybe. This could be complicated.

Mangagamers said at AX there are 5 titles for Otakon, so yep. And probably more leftover AX merch to sell.

Otakon has their Thursday festival. It’s cute but also a little quaint. And this year is no different. What’s different is it’s at the West Shore Park.

Studio Nasu, the Otakon video Game people, are doing a pre-con game room thing for their Otakon game backers (of any level). It’s neat and I probably should spare you the details–check your email or the project updates if you are a backer before Thursday night.

What is this I don’t even.

Funimation is doing the Wolf Children dub premiere at Otakon. They’ve got their usual lineups of actors and actresses. Some loot based on badge tags. You know the drill. More importantly is the Evangelion 3.0 screening on Friday…

Lastly, the rumored autograph random draw–TMR and Yoko Kanno both have 2 autograph sessions and Otakon is actually doing a ticket lineup (on Friday morning 10am) for these autograph sessions to lessen the line/crowding at the autograph area. Details here. I am going to be there like, crack-ass dawn, because I have to be somewhere at 10:20……

Oh hey, a 21+ lounge at Otakon. Pimp. Friday night 8PM, top of Hyatt Regency. A cash bar and … dance lessons?

PS. Again, free iM@S tags if you can catch me!

PPS. Come to my panel 7:30pm Saturday in Panel 4 (BCC) lol.