Otakon 2012 Unleashes Anime Fandom upon Baltimore

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Parent Category: Expos and Conventions

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 24 July 2012 16:24

Written by Renzo Adler

Ah, Baltimore; Home of crabs, John Waters, The Wire and one of the largest anime conventions in America. Otakon will be unleashing a horde of anime fans, cosplayers, industry movers-and-shakers, upon the Baltimore Convetion Center (1 West Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD 21201) July 27 – 29, 2012.

Otakon (that’s short for Otaku Convention) has, since 1994, been one of the great East Coast anime conventions with a focus on fan created panels and workshops. The eclectic mix of subject ranges from the academic to the comedic. Panels include:

• Giant Robots A-Go-Go (An overview of the history of robots in Japanese comics and animation hosted by yours’ truly)
   
• Dragon Quest- The Bedrock of the RPG Genre
   
• Anime’s Craziest Deaths
   
• Culinary Manga
   
• Japanese Rock Music
   
• The Worst Anime of All Time
   
• Dubs That Time Forgot

Activites include a massive gaming room featuring tournaments and consoles throughout gaming history, singing competitions, workshops, art exhibitions, model kit building contests, anime and movie screenings and ALL THIS while also being surrounded by a veritable legion of fans in bizarre costumes.

Along with fan made panels, there will also be panels and autograph signings from various people in the anime and manga world, including:

• Peter S. Beagle (author, The Last Unicorn)
   
• Christine Marie Cabanos (voice actor, Madoka Magica)
   
• GASHICON  (illustrator)
   
• Aya Hirano  (musical guest, voice actor, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
   
• Tetsuya Kakihara (voice actor, Gurren Lagann)
   
• Masao Maruyama (producer, founder of Madhouse Studios)
   
• Shin Sasaki (director, producer Mobile Suit Gundam series)
   
• Hidetaka Tenjin  (illustrator)

I’m not going to lie to you. Otakon isn’t an event for the faint of heart. You’re plunged into a hellishly humid and hot Baltimore, surrounded by people to whom subtlety and quiet are alien concepts. But like a rock festival, Otakon is an insane event surrounded by an incredibly positive (sometimes a little too positive) energy. Not to mention, it’s a refreshing change from the more bloated conventions like San Diego Comic Con and New York Comic Con that have become movie studio mouth-pieces (though that isn’t to say Otakon is small either).

Otakon is loud, crowded, obnoxious, and utterly insane, and I love it. Be there and be square.

To learn more, go to http://www.otakon.com/

Otakon
July 27 -29, 2012

Baltimore Convention Center 
1 West Pratt Street
Baltimore, MD 21201 

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