This Weekend: Otakon in Baltimore

Otakon, one of the biggest and longest running anime conventions on the East Coast, descends upon our neighbors in Baltimore this weekend, visiting the Baltimore Convention Center Friday through Sunday, July 30th through August 1st.

Otakon was my first convention back in 1997 and I’ve attended it semi-regularly ever since! If you have never been Otakon, it’s comparable to the DragonCon of anime, convention-size wise. The convention is very well attended, to the point they often cap attendees during the con at some point during the weekend; so I would show up early Friday or Saturday morning if you haven’t pre-reg’ed. Registration for the con is about $75 for a weekend pass per person, which isn’t cheap… but I think with this con, you definitely get your money’s worth.

Otakon is also well know for being one of the few cons in America to regularly get Japanese anime industry guests and musical acts, which is no small feat. This year’s guest roster includes Masashi Ishihama (Animation Director The Girl Who Lept Through Time), Hiroshi Koujina (Director of Rainbow), Koji Masunari (Director of Read or Die), Masao Maruyama (founder of Studio Madhouse) and English voice acting favorite Vic Minogna (Eric in Fullmetal Alchemist and many, many others). I think though I am probably most excited to see Amy Howard Wilson, whom you old-timers out there might recognize from her voice acting role as Nova in Star Blazers.

I will be covering the con for Geekadelphia so expect a big Flickr pool, and possibly a few videos as well. If you plan on attending and want to meet up, feel free to drop me an @ on twitter to @danthefan I will be there Saturday and Sunday. See ya there!

Otakon
www.otakon.com